Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Dramata Kurage! ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Slayers and their characters are not owned by me. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and any other companies which own them. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit and I promise to give them back all in perfect working order.

8.0
I turned slowly as Lina slowly worked the information out of Milna. It was kind of scary how these people know so much about you, and follow you, yet you know nothing about them. I was finally looking at Lina and Milna, standing just behind Lina as she continued interrogating. What was annoying was that she also knew about the sword. I was starting to wonder if anyone out there actually didn't know the sword existed, because at the moment it seems everyone does.

I realised as the information slowly came that they were after Lina and not me, but they knew that I was a threat so had to attack when I was not around. It kind of added to the point that Veryna was making, and I realised that I was going to have to work alot harder. Lina then asked an important question. Whether Milna knew about the sword before we did or not. I looked closely as Milna took the question in, till finally she nodded.

I knelt down beside Lina and glared at Milna, my hand resting on the hilt of my sword to show I wasn't afraid to attack if she started. "I'm assuming you didn't know about the sword, which means whoever told you to attack Lina told you about the sword." I looked over to Lina slightly. "That means that not only did she know about the sword, but she must have known that I would succeed in getting the sword." I bit my lip a little. "Lina, whoever this person is, they know a hell of a lot about us, but we know nothing about them."

I stood up and sighed a little. The situation just completly sucked. We knew nothing but whoever was after us...I mean Lina, knows a lot about us. This was going to make things a lot tougher, we weren't going to be able to just travel about like nothing was wrong. They were going to be constantly after us so we were going to have to try and be a bit more discrete, and alot more wary.

I turned back to Milna and thought things through. "Lina, we're leaving now." I bent down grabbing Milna roughly, pulling her up sharply. I dragged her into my room and reached into my things, pulling out some rope. I tied her hands behind her back and felt sure she had nothing to free herself with. I then sat her in the corner of the room and tied her arms to the chair so she wouldn't move. I then moved back to the other room to make sure Lina was ok.

"We need to get changed and moving. They're going to suspect something if Milna hasn't reported back and they're only going to send more people in to make sure the job's done. I don't want to be here when that happens." I then closed the door to give Lina privacy and gathered my things to get changed. I hid behind the wooden changing curtain so I could keep my eye on Milna whilst I got changed. Then when I was finished grabbed my things, placed my swords around my waist and then untied Milna from the chair and dragged her back to the door connecting Lina's room with mine. I knocked on the door to check she was ready. When she opened it, I nodded and we were off.

We left the inn and our first order of business was to drop Milna off with the local authorities so they could lock her up. I figured that she might not be there long but it gave us enough time for us to lose her off our trail. We then headed off south in the early hours of the morning. I yawned as we walked in silence, the stars still out twinkling in the sky, but it was beginning to brighten. At least that meant the sun was coming out soon, although with people following us, I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

I took out the map as we walked and peered at it in the darkness. At least with the moon out, it gave me just enough light to work out our positions. Following south I found the town Deljourne that Milna had mentioned. "We're going to have to try and sneak around that town, unless of course you want to take them on." I didn't really know what was for the best. We could keep running, and then maybe we could get information on who was after us, but then we would be constantly followed. Or we could get it over with and charge in and confront whoever was after us, the only problem with that being we have no idea who is after us, and it's not really smart going in after someone you have no information on. You're just asking to get your ass kicked.

I put the map away and sighed. It's amazing how quickly things just seem to fall to pieces. Only a week ago we were having fun adventuring, finishing off our exploration of our own continent before going off to a new one we hadn't been to before. But now people were after us, and I'd just been given a sword I was supposedly destined to have for L-sama knows how long. And my visions that Veryna was oh so nicely showing me, were telling me that I had to do everything in my power to protect Lina, if only to stop what I felt was the end of the world.

Fun!

Kurage

8.1
I nodded slowly, moving closer to Gourry to peer over the map. “You're right. We should sneak in. I have no doubt we could take one or two at a time, but these people are trained, and knowing them, they'll try to separate us.” I pointed the map. “See this little gap here? That's a back way into the town. We could check it out to see if it's guarded, and even if it is, it hardly matters. They won't look for magic.” I winked at him.

He looked doubtful, but in the end, it was a good plan. I usually hate stealth, but I wasn't in the mood to fight off a bunch of Milnas. Face it, it wasn't fun. I had checked my hair after the fight, and I noticed that some of my hair had been severed when she had slammed the sword into the bed, and there was even a miniscule scrape on my neck. She was good, and I suspected her friends would be just as good or even better, knowing my luck.

I sighed and rested my chin on Gourry's shoulder. “I think we should sneak in tonight, or at least scope out the place first. That way, we can either see that we need for tomorrow night, or we can see what we have and jump in tonight. What do you say?”

I peered up at him, and noticed he looked a million miles away. I frowned and reached up, poking my finger up his nose. He jerked back and sneezed, then stared at me. I blinked up at him. “What is WITH you, Gourry?” I demanded. “You've been weird lately, a million miles away. I need you to be focused here. I need you to pay attention and help me out, because I don't want to do this without you. You know that, right? I mean, I could, yes, but I don't WANT to.”

My frown deepened when he just looked at me blankly. Wow. I had thought that had been pretty clear. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Forget it,” I muttered, walking past him. “Let's just get going.”

I hate it when people keep me out of the loop. Though Gourry is hardly the average person, he is still no exception. In fact, because it was Gourry…the secrecy and seclusion was a lot worse and more personal.

Dramata

8.2
I had caught a little of what Lina was saying but I was still think about how annoyed I was with Veryna, for the visions she was giving me and for distracting me from Lina. It felt a little strange for a moment when I could feel Lina's head resting on my shoulder but I didn't really pay much attention to it. However I jumped back when she suddenly poked her finger up my nose, making me sneeze and shaking me out of my trance. I listened to her yell at me, about needing me, wanting me to be focused on the job. Her words kind of rang in my head as she said she didn't want to do this without me. I was in shock.

I guess she didn't like my reaction, she must have taken it another way and muttered something before walking off. I grabbed her wrist firmly to stop her walking any further away. "Veryna is still bothering me." I said bluntly. I didn't want to hide it from Lina, she had a right to know about this. "I don't know what it is she's trying to do, or why she's showing me these things. I just know it's bothering me." I let Lina's hand go now since I had her attention.

I put the map away and sighed, scratching the back of my head. I suddenly felt nervous, I didn't want to say anything. I felt so stupid really, and I was so certain Lina wouldn't wait to tell me that. "You know what Lina, forget it. You're right let's get going."

She just glared at me with her arms crossed and I knew I wasn't going to get away with it.

"The sword is only to help you. I've been given it so I can protect you better." I didn't want to say anymore, I didn't want to have to go over what I remembered again in that dream. I didn't want to have to burden her with what might happen if we failed, if I failed her. I was her protector after all and that meant not just protecting her physically.

I added on, thinking I should tell her why I didn't protect her aswell as I should at the inn. "I wasn't in your room sooner because Veryna was holding me in that vision. It was like nothing could disturb me out of the sleep until she was finished." I looked down at the ground now because I felt bad for not protecting her better. "Maybe I should stay awake for a few days or at least till we know we're safe. I can't risk that happening again."

I looked up at her and smiled slightly, patting her head and ruffling her hair a little. I just wanted her to know I was ok really, and that she shouldn't have to worry about me. "Ok, let's go now." I said and we carried on walking.

I figured we'd reach the town by nightfall, which would allow us to scope out the area and work out a way we could sneak in. I just hoped that the authorities would hold onto Milna for long enough for us to infiltrate the town.

We continued walking throughout the day, taking brief breaks to rest up a little, we hadn't has breakfast and not alot of sleep so we had to try and take that into account. The rest of the day was uneventful. We had taken to walking just off the track south so we wouldn't be spotted as easily and just as the sun had disappeared from the sky, we had reached the town.

We worked our way round the edge of the town in the cover of the trees, heading for the spot Lina had pointed to on the map. I was keeping a close look into what I could see of the town. I was looking out for any signs of Milna's gang, I was trying to work out the extent of their gang, and see how much of a threat they were. However I couldn't see anything so either there weren't many, or they were well hidden. The only people we did see were those that Milna had mentioned, in the places she said they would be, the entrance, the inn and the magic shop.

Finally we reached the spot and we knelt down to make sure we wouldn't be seen. I peered through the foliage and could see another of Milna's gang posted to protect the gap. I grumbled a little and looked to Lina. "Either Milna is lying or they realised they had a weakness and added an extra post, which probably means they have more men in there somewhere." I looked back and tried to work out the best strategy.

I'm sure they knew of Lina and myself, so we couldn't just walk up and say a nice hello and walk on by without trouble. Lina could cast a spell but that would attract the attention of anyone nearby. We'd have to use stealth but be quick too. I nodded to Lina, signifying her to wait for the moment. I circled back around a little and quickly ran against the back of a building. The darkness was helping me in keeping hidden. I slowly moved alongside the building, keeping close to the walls and well hidden.

I reached the edge of the gap and looked out slightly, and saw one man on his own patrolling with just a sword by his side. I needed a distraction. I looked down and saw a few pebbles. I picked one up and threw it against the wall on the otherside of the gap. That caught his attention as he looked directly to where I threw the pebble.

As he walked over to investigate, I ran straight at him but still maintained as much silence as I could. I grabbed the man, clamping my hand over his mouth and spun sharply so we moved back out of sight, by the building on the otherside of the gap. The man struggled but I hit him hard with the hilt of my sword, knocking him out. I let him drop to the ground and signalled for Lina to join me.

Kurage

8.3
Excuses are lame. Especially those from someone you know is capable of explaining things better than that. Using excuses is a sign of weakness, and in someone so strong, seeing it makes me so angry I want to shriek. But knowing Gourry, he knew that, so instead of letting me, he just plowed on before I could.

Fine. I can take that. For now, I guess. For only so long. I have patience. For a limited time. Like one of those warranties you can get on something but in the end isn't worth the extra cash because you're never coming back to where you buy it from anyways. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT TO TRAVELLERS! They give us a sense of false security only to be laughing at us when we leave, the assholes.

Uh, yes.

So, anyways. The rest you basically know. I walked over to where Gourry was and knelt down, peering at the man. He, too, was also built and dressed like a hardcore mercenary, although it was hard to tell what exactly he looked like in the dark.

I frowned up at Gourry. “You didn't have to knock him out, you know. Now we have to wait a while for questioning.”

I was angrier than I should have been. It was no big deal that Gourry had done it. Still, I think I was more annoyed at what happened before than anything else, really. Gourry's evasiveness, sudden confidence, and then sudden defense, annoyed me and offended me. It also confused me. Since when did Gourry have mental and emotional walls? I didn't get it.

I sighed and stood up. “Lug him over to the shadows and I'll see if I can wake him up.”

Gourry frowned at me, but did so, roughly. It seemed like he didn't care too much if he ended up bruising the guy. I guess I didn't care either, as long as I got closer to whatever and whoever it was this was all about.

Once we were safely out of view and situated in the nearest building's shadows, I knelt down again and Gourry dropped the guy to the ground. I frowned up at him again, but he said nothing, so I just shrugged.

I started poking the guy on the eyes.

Now, I know you must be disappointed. I mean, it's me. I should be using some sort of magical method to wake this guy up, right? Some sort of new and neat spell that you eagerly record in that spell book of yours that I know you all keep! Sorry to disappoint you, but from my many years on the road, I have discovered that annoyance is the true path to revival.

I kept poking. Repeatedly. I think I heard Gourry sigh a little, but I ignored him. I mean, this was his fault, after all.

Gradually, the guy came to, and cursed when he saw me hovering over him. He jumped back, sort of. Sort of a skid jump on the ground. Sorta funny, actually. I really wanted to giggle when I saw that, but I held it in check.

“Hi, Mr Troublemaker,” I sang, grabbing onto the front of his shirt. “We're going to have a little chat.”

I'll save you all the details. Basically, what Milna had told us was right, and there were a few others in the town waiting for us. Those details are dull and boring, and already known. It was the last part that was important.

“So who sent you?” I demanded.

By then he was used to my tone and mannerisms, so he just answered. “The person wouldn't tell us his name or anything.”

I nodded. “Ah, but it's a he. That's more than what Milna knew. Did you ever see what this guy looked like?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “At the start I was doubtful of this whole stupid mission, and I swiped the note with the instructions from Milna. I read it over, and still didn't get it. I was pissed off, so I went to see if I could find the person who delivered the letter. Instead, I found out that the person who delivered it was actually the guy who hired us.”

“And?” I pressed. “What did he look like?”

He frowned, clearly trying to remember. “Short, for a guy. Dressed like some kind of magician. He always carried a stick, and he had weird-coloured hair.”

I hesitated this time, feeling a sinking in the pit of my stomach. That description was too familiar. WAY too familiar.

“What colour…?” I asked uneasily.

“Purple. I know that for a fact.”

I looked up at Gourry, and he looked back at me. I wasn't sure if he was following, or if he was, whether or not he got it. But in case he didn't, I said the one word that I knew would make it clear for him.

“Xellos.”

Dramata

8.4
The guy was heavy ok! Also I had no idea that Lina wanted to question the guy aswell. I would have just subdued him. No, I thought we were just gonna head straight into the town and the guy was stopping us doing that. I don't know. I could just see Lina being really angry with me and I couldn't really blame her. I wasn't really being completly honest with her and I knew how she felt about things like that. I think what was worse is that for all the people to be keeping things from her like that, it was me. The one person she thought that she could trust. I just didn't like the thought of telling her that I was having visions of end of the world because I wasn't a good enough protector for her.

I carried the guy over as best as I could into the shadows. By the time Lina told me where he wanted him, I was pretty much worn out. So of course the thing you do when you're worn out and carrying something is that you let it go pretty much straight away. And I did... Ok maybe I could have been a little gentler, and maybe he did smack his head a little bit as I dropped him. But considering he and his gang wanted to kill Lina and myself, I think a smack to the head was pretty much alright.

I looked at Lina as she began poking away at the guy. I still couldn't believe they didn't have some sort of magic spell for that sort of thing. You know, I thought magic was supposed to be helpful, and it's not really that helpful if it can't wake a guy who had just been recently knocked out. I just sighed a little in frustration at those thoughts and the fact that Lina was just poking away at this guy.

Finally after some time though the guy started to wake up, and Lina pulled on her charm and began interrogating the guy. I just stood over him incase he tried anything funny. I don't really know why I bother doing that because every single person who gets interrogated by Lina is scared witless to try anything stupid. But you know, just incase anything were to happen, I wasn't going to risk the one time with Lina's life.

I listened in as Lina worked out the same information from the guy as she did with Milna and all that pretty much bored me. I felt like telling the guy didn't he think we knew all that considering we were here and all. But instead I kept quiet and listened in as Lina continued to interrogate. Finally she got to the important point and asked the guy who sent them. After a few questions and poking back and forth, the guy finally let loose with a description. I have to admit it rang a few bells in my mind but I didn't see a picture of the guy.

However I could see from Lina that it was pretty important, and then when she said his name, it sunk in pretty quickly. "Hang on! Xellos? The guy that Zel just loves to hate. The one who always goes, "That is a secret!"." I did the pose as well just to make the point that I at least thought I knew who the guy was. "Why is he suddenly out for us? I thought we got along with the guy pretty well considering he was a mazoku. Ok maybe not you so much, but I had no problems with the guy, infact he even gave my sword back once."

"He said something about a sword." The guy said sitting on the ground, still looking kinda nervous, afraid that he was going to lose his life for not giving any sort of information, so now he was pretty much flowing. "He said that he needed it, that it was really important."

I blinked a little towards Lina, and then down to the Blast Sword at my side. "I don't care if I had no problems with the guy in the past, he ain't getting this sword."

I felt a little worried inside though now. I realised how strong this guy really was, and if he wanted the sword, he could probably get it if he really wanted to. It made me more nervous and frustrated. We were practically allied with the guy a few years before and now we had to go against him. I looked back to Lina to see how she was dealing it. I could tell she was shocked too, I could see it in her eyes, and she had paled slightly. I guess we should have realised that it might happen. He was a mazoku after all and they do desire the destruction of the world, and Lina and myself weren't just going to sit by and let that happen.

I realised we had got all the information we were gonna get out of the guy so I knocked him out again with the the handle of my sword, and hid the guy out of the way so he wouldn't be found. I then turned back to Lina, the look on my face showing my worry. "So what are we gonna do?"

Kurage

8.5
I wanted to laugh at the sight of the guy knocked out again, after all of that, but I couldn't. I was thinking too much and too fast.

I should have known. After all, the master of duplicity was Xellos, wasn't it? Hadn't he shown that, numerous times, over and over? Hadn't he made that clear, in an obvious manner? And still I was shocked?

What do we do now indeed….

I sighed, getting to my feet slowly. “We get rid of this idiot, then take out the others. We need to wipe out the source of annoyance right away, and maybe then we could get his attention and maybe call him out.”

I paced a little, then stopped. “But then, calling him out would be suicide. If he really is after the Blast Sword and he wants it, he'll intend to fight. If all of his pawns are expired, then he'll do it himself, which would mean we'd be dead, no question.”

I paced again, placing my hand on my chin. “It doesn't sound like his way, though, doing that, just coming in, yoinking the sword, and killing us. I don't think he expected us to know it was him by now, and I seriously doubt he would have thought that measly mercenaries would do the trick…”

I stopped in front of Gourry. “Unless the last ones aren't human…” I smacked my forehead with my palm, my own idiocy making me furious at myself. I had walked us into a Mazoku-laden trap. Way to go, Lina, way to go.

I looked up at Gourry. “Okay, so this is what we have to deal with. Xellos, maybe one or less human, and then Mazoku.” I tugged at my hair, stressed out. “Ah! This is too much! I just thought we were going in to get a new sword for you, and now we're dealing with Mazoku!”

I yanked at my hair, shrieked out a little, and then stopped. Freak-out over. I need to vent, I vented. I reached up and yanked Gourry closer to me by the ear. “Okay, listen carefully,” I commanded, “We're going to go in, pretend to be unsuspecting. We're going to face those Mazoku and see what happens. If they're too strong for us, we'll retreat and think of something else. If not, well, let's hope we draw out Xellos. I need to have a little CHAT with him.” I let go of Gourry's ear and slammed one fist into my palm.

“Got it?” I asked, looking up at him.

Dramata

8.6
I looked at Lina with a completly blank look on my face as she asked me if I got what she said whilst I rubbed my ear. I shook my head slowly to say I didn't understand and I could see the anger boiling up inside her within seconds. I sweatdropped and laughed, putting my hands out infront of me. "I'm joking! I'm joking! I'm not a complete idiot you know Lina. I thought you'd realise that by now." I sighed a little as I saw Lina calming down a little, although she looked a bit pissed that I fooled her. A smash of her fist on the top of my head seemed to lighten her up a little.

I turned to look towards the town and tried to remember where the rest of the guards were stationed but considering we just came across a guard Milna never mentioned, it could have all been changed now. I figured it best to just use my instincts like I had before when Veryna told me to. It worked before then and she told me to do so for a reason so I might aswell use it.

We then headed towards the centre of the town, pretending as though we had just got to the village to have a break from our travels. As we walked through I caught a glimpse in the corner of my eye of more of the guards. I was pretty certain that they were looking at us closely and suddenly I became uncomfortable. "Lina...Do we really have to walk in like this? Couldn't we have just sneaked our way in, take em out one by one?" A pinch in the arm meant that I should just keep quiet and carry on walking.

We reached the inn and entered, passing by another one of the guards who was eyeing us very closely. We got to the main desk and asked the innkeeper for one room. Now stop right there! I know what you guys are thinking, and it ain't that! I don't know about you but if you're in a town with people wanting to kill you, and you have to protect someone, you ain't going to stay in different rooms. Lina would fireball you all for even thinking about that!

We then went to the restaurant part of the inn and order a good healthy amount of food which meant ordering pretty much most of the menu. We had to be unsuspecting right? Well there is nothing more unsuspecting for us than having a nice meal. We waited for our order to come out when suddenly I felt it deep inside, something was wrong. My eyes darted about quickly but it didn't feel like it was that.

Finally the food came out and they placed it on the table. I watched Lina take a chicken leg immediately, and then suddenly it hit. I stood up and lashed out, smacking the leg from her hand just before she bit into it. I could see Lina about to protest but I stopped her. "There's something wrong! This isn't right Lina!" I looked over to the leg on the floor which had broken open. My eyes widened. "What the hell is that?" As I noticed some sort of black fluid pouring out from it and melting the floor.

At that point about four men came smashing through from the kitchen and three more from outside of the inn came charging in through the door. "Hey Lina, do you think we won?" I said sarcastically as I withdrew my sword and charged straight for the men from the kitchen.

Quickly they had surrounded me but that was the plan as I blocked the sword attack from infront me. At that moment the two men either side of me raised their swords to slash at me simultaneously whilst I was sword-locked with the guy infront of me. However they weren't prepared for the fact that I was bearing my weight down on the guy infront. The man infront wasn't prepared either, and couldn't take the weight, falling down backwards. That allowed me to dive forward and slash him whilst he was down. Meanwhile the other two couldn't pull out of the swing and slashed each other.

I jumped up to my feet and turned to see the one guy left on his own, he looked worried for a moment but then smirked slightly. It was then that I noticed that two more guys had turned up from the kitchen behind me. I sighed a little in frustration. "You guys just keep coming and coming, is there some sort of mass-production going on?" I grumbled. Glancing to Lina to check if she was handling herself.

Kurage

8.7
I said the only thing that came into mind when that leg broke open.

“GROSS!” I shrieked. I mean, it's one thing to stalk me and attack me in my bed, but to mess with my food? That's TOO FAR.

I got serious when I noticed the melting floor from the black goo. I felt a little green. That would have been my insides, if Gourry hadn't of knocked it away. Double gross.

But now that they had finally shown themselves, I was impressed. I mean, Milna and her friend had only reported a “few” people left in the scheme. Which meant that Xellos was either not telling his underlings everything, or he had spies. And if I knew the level of duplicity that Xellos was capable of, I knew that it was the former and not the latter.

So yeah. Now we were surrounded by morons who had large swords and who could be paid peanuts to work. Nice job, Xellos. You have real winners, here.

Now, one would think that because I'm not very big, that they would go easy on me. Of course, when you think this will happen, it never does. Once again, Xellos knows me better than that. It would take more than a few men to stop me.

So naturally, they swarmed me.

Asses.

You can imagine how they looked. The usual, stereotypical dirty-drunkard-sword-toting-idiotic-grinned morons. Except one. One was standing in the background, and when I looked closer, it appeared to be a sorcerer and not a mercenary.

Ah. Our first Mazoku. Naturally I would have to take that one out first and deal with the idiots later.

As the mercenaries swarmed me, I started chanting a Burst Rondo, the quickest and most effective spell for multiple targets. One guy had the gall to swipe at me while I was chanting, but since I was prepared for something like that, I jumped back just in time before I got sliced. I fired the Burst Rondo towards the idiots, and before I could watch and see what would happen to them, I jumped past them and had my dagger out and ready. The sorcerer-dude must have seen this, because already he hand his hands out and was chanting up a spell.

Crap. I wasn't going to get there in time.

I swung the dagger forward, trying to reach over and slice at a hand, but I wasn't close enough yet. When I jumped forward to close the gap between us, his damn spell was ready already.

You see, it's this reason alone that I hate writing about this. I hate seeing the obvious mistakes I make, and I hate seeing how easily I could have avoided a lot of trouble. If only I had had access to this insight THEN, MAYBE things would have been different. I mean, how stupidly careless could I have been, anyways!

Anyway, I couldn't figure out what that spell was when it was being cast, but I sure as hell figured it out when it hit me. In the leg. And it went THROUGH my leg, and even managed to hit the floor before it was expired. So it was pretty obvious what it was then. Elmekia Lance. I knew that the moment I was hit, because my mind was already getting foggy from it.

Dammit.

The force of the hit knocked me down, but by then the force of the Elmekia Lance was so much that I was too foggy to even notice I had hit the ground. I yelped a little when it hit. I remember that much. And I remember reaching down and touching my leg, and finding my glove covered with blood. I remember that much, too. But the thing with that spell is that it's meant to daze you, so that once you're down, you won't be getting up.

Luckily I've learned this at an early age. And luckily I was able to shrug the fog off faster than most. However, I still couldn't get up, or sit up, or even do much of anything except lie there like a smushed fly and try and defend myself from whatever onslaught the sorcerer might have next on me.

The span of these thoughts and occurrences were seconds, actually. It didn't take me long to snap out of the fog, but man, when you feel as if your leg is on fire and you can't move, it feels like a much longer time than it is.

I lay there for a few minutes, my eyes squeezed shut, holding my hands over the wound on my leg. There was no telling how bad it was, but I could guess from the amount of blood that stained my gloves and soaked through onto my hands.

I opened my eyes when I heard footsteps coming towards me. In my blurry vision, I could see that sorcerer-Mazoku coming towards me, his hand raised for another attack, clearly deciding that he had had enough and it was time to finish it.

With one hand still on my leg, I used my other hand to prop myself up, so I could sit up. I admit it with a red face; it was hard work. But I managed it, with gritted teeth and sweaty bangs, I managed to sit up and at least not have to look up too far to look at the Mazoku-sorcerer coming my way.

I thought of trying a healing spell, but there was no chance. Sink or swim. I chose to swim. I held up my other hand, the one that had been nursing the wound, and managed to grunt out the words to a Fireball. The spell erupted from my hand, as if it had been waiting for that moment to come forward, and crashed into the Mazoku. I knew better than to think that it had defeated him, but it gave me some time.

I leaned over my leg, examining the wound. I winced a little, the movement sending not-so-fun little stabs of pain shooting up my leg. The wound was deep, and accurate. I wouldn't be walking for a while, at least not properly, if I didn't remedy this soon. I grabbed my cape, ripped it quickly, and managed a lame little bandage for it.

Too bad my efforts were crap, because just then, the mercenaries were recovering. As was my little Mazoku friend. With his damn spell in tow.

I clutched my dagger in warning, holding it out, but they knew I was no more threatening than a kitten.

Crap.

Dramata

8.8
I turned my head sharply in Lina's direction and already my gut instinct was screaming at me that something was wrong. There she was on the floor, her leg covered in blood, she was bleeding badly. She'd also just fended off that weird looking guy, crap, a mazoku. She was in trouble but I had more mercenaries closing in on me. It was like they were trying to keep me occupied and out the way whilst they dealt with Lina. I had to do something and I had to make it quick.

I glared back, feeling the heat of anger rise but not take over, as I looked to the oncoming mercenaries. I sheathed my sword and quickly unsheathed the Blast Sword. It was only a few seconds later before I was heading towards Lina, meanwhile the mercenaries who were just about to surround me were dropping to the floor dead, their swords offering no defence as broken blades rattled to the floor. I barely heard them though as my mind was busy on getting to Lina.

Some of the mercenaries who were trying to surround Lina had their back to me. They didn't see me as with one long sharp slash they slumped to the floor. That gave me the opening to Lina but then I wondered quickly what had to be done. I knew I could just pick Lina up and we could be running our way out of here, however I'm pretty sure they would be in close pursuit giving no time for Lina to heal up. I don't even think Lina was capable of healing a wound that big.

That left me with the other option, standing our ground and protecting Lina with everything I had even if that meant fighting off a mazoku, but the Blast Sword gave me an advantage now. Without it I would have no choice but option 1. I knelt down beside Lina and placed my hand beside the wound on her leg and I could see how bad it was. I looked to Lina with worried eyes, I wanted to feel sorry for not protecting her better but I could just see Lina now smacking me over the head for thinking like that.

I got up and wiped my hand dry of blood on my trouser leg, then starting assessing the situation quickly, I had to finish this quick. I could have gone for the mazoku first but that would leave Lina wide open for attack by the other mercenaries. Attacking the mazoku would be much easier in terms of protecting Lina at the same time once all the mercenaries were gone. So I had to get rid of the mercenaries who were closing in quick, quick enough not to let the mazoku get involved and take potshots at us.

I held my ground next to Lina, I knew I couldn't just run off because the other side would be open to come in. I'd considered picking Lina up and fighting with her on my shoulder, but with that injury, I didn't want to move her. I figured maybe scaring them a little might help. I watched the mercenaries close in with sword held infront of them. I slashed out hard and cut immediately through two swords. That panicked a few of them as they ran fleeing, not wanting to what happened to the swords to happen to them.

That narrowed the field down a bit and allowed me a little more room to move and still let me protect Lina. The mercnaries shuffled themselves out to keep a circle which slowly closed in on us to make up for the others who fleed. I quickly darted out and took a thrust out at someone, stabbing one through the chest. That meant the few behind me had room to charge in, so I quickly stepped back and let out a wide swinging whilst roaring out a little anger, cutting cleanly through their swords and bodies.

I looked around and even more fled, I guess they realised that they weren't being paid enough to lose their lives. However at that point I felt something strong. I turned to the mazoku to see him charging something up. Dammit. I knelt down grabbing Lina with one arm, I had to move her now, no choice. I ran and leapt as I could feel the attack coming. There was a loud explosion and a rain of debris from behind just as I hit the ground, holding onto Lina protectivly. I held her so tight to me, not wanting anything to happen to her.

When the noise died down and the debris stopped falling around us, I slowly got up, feeling a pain in my left arm. I looked down to see a piece of splintered wood, stuck into my arm. I sheathed the sword quickly and grabbed onto the the piece of wood. I looked around quickly whilst I pulled the wood out, doing so making me let out a grunt of pain. I noticed that the mercenaries were pretty much gone, I guess the mazoku didn't care about destroying them all. The inn was mostly destroyed too, so now we were in the open air. I was starting to wonder what kind of attack this mazoku had just attempted.

I looked back to Lina and it was then that I noticed the area just surrounding her was completly undamaged. That means there must have been some sort of shield around us when the attack went off. Well not quickly enough considering the piece of wood that was just in my arm. I didn't have time to think about it and I think Lina would probably have a bet idea. I turned back to see the mazoku.

"You are strong willed for a human, that won't protect you though." I heard the mazoku speak.

I didn't respond though, I just knew this had to get done with soon if Lina was going to get help. I didn't know how long she would last because of all the blood she was loosing. I unsheathed the Blast Sword and glared at the mazoku. Suddenly I started charging forward and I knew straight away I made my mistake. He started charging up another attack and I couldn't jump out the way. If I did, the attack was going to hit Lina, and I couldn't just hope for another shield to save her.

I kept running straight on as he completed the preparation. Suddenly a large red sphere sped towards me. I closed my eyes and held the sword up infront of me. I felt it hit and waited for the pain...but there wasn't any. Instead I felt more power. I opened my eyes to see the blade finishing absorbing the spell into the blade and it glowed momentarily. Is that what it meant by sharpening the blade with magic. I continued running and the mazoku seemed suprised that I was still running towards him.

I yelled loudly as I leapt into the air and rose my sword up. I then swung down hard towards the mazoku but it disappeared just as I swung through. However instead of feeling it slice through air, I felt it hit something, even though I was swinging through air. I heard an almighty roar of pain and suddenly before me the mazoku reappeared but was split completly in half.

"This...must be...the power...of the legendary...Blast Sword." I watched as it laboured, roaring once more in pain. "That's...That's why he...want..." Then the mazoku phased out, seemingly out of life. I sheathed my sword and ran to Lina straight away, picking her up slowly. I could see her skin was pale and her bangs were sticking to her forehead with sweat. "It's ok Lina, you're going to be fine now...let's just get you to a healer."

Kurage

8.9
When Gourry came over, I felt relief mixed with regret. Here he was, saving my sorry butt again. Because I had been completely careless with my moves. That's great, isn't it? And the fact that I felt relieved made it much worse.

When he touched my leg, I hissed a little, the touch alone sending a rift of pain into my leg, but when I looked up at him, I didn't say anything. The look alone was enough to intensify my guilty feelings. Already I could tell he blamed himself.

While Gourry fought, I struggled to heal the damn wound. The problem was, that by then, I had lost enough blood to make me woozy, and my spellcasting wasn't at its best. Add that to the pain, and Gourry fighting, and my concentration wasn't at its best either. Still, I had to try.

Before I had a chance to do anything, however, Gourry had grabbed onto me, tight, and was moving me out of the way. I winced and swallowed a murmur of pain, but I encircled my arms around his neck and held on tight. Last thing I needed was to fall off and get MORE hurt.

When Gourry set me down on the ground, I curled up, placing both my hands over my leg. It was getting to the point where I could hardly keep my eyes open, and it was really annoying. I tried to cast a healing spell again, but all I got was a faint flicker before it died out. I cursed, but even then I didn't have much energy to do much else.

“Ii-ya, what a mess this has become,” a voice called.

I jerked up suddenly, then cursed when the movement sent a spasm of pain into my leg. I looked up and saw the Bane of My Existence, Xellos, standing there, holding his staff and looking clap-happy. He was grinning at the scene unfolding before us, of Gourry and the Mazoku fighting.

“I don't think my friend will be able to withstand the Blast Sword much longer, despite what he may think,” he concluded, looking down to me. He scratched the back of his head and smiled bashfully. “And look at you, Lina-san.”

I growled and reached forward, wrapping my arms around his legs and putting all of my weight onto him. He toppled over, and I had his head in a headlock before he could say anything else.

“What's the big idea, Xellos!” I shrieked, squeezing his head a little to emphasize how pissed off I was. “We haven't even heard from you or about you in over two years, and then when you make your appearance, WE END UP BEING ATTACKED!”

Xellos squirmed a little. “I assure you, it's nothing personal, Lina-san!” he replied, still grinning. “You know, Juuo-sama's orders.”

“NOT PERSONAL!” I shrieked, right in his ear. To my glee, he winced from it. “You have these idiot mercenaries coming into my BEDROOM at night to attack me, and then you send MAZOKU after me, and it's not PERSONAL!”

Xellos was visibly ruffled. “Sure,” he agreed, trying to placate me.

I let go of him roughly, and he rubbed his head and neck. “What's going on, Xellos?” I demanded, my gaze on him. I was pissed off, hurt, and most of all, annoyed.

“Simply this; Juuo-sama has decided she wants the Blast Sword. She knew that this would be the time it would be found, so she sent me, someone who knows you best, to stake out until you got it. Once you did, well…” He waved his hand around at the scene.

I gritted my teeth, clutching a hand to my leg. “Okay. So why do you want the Blast Sword, why do you want to kill me, and how did you know it would be us who found it?”

Xellos smiled blandly, and I knew what was coming even before he said it. “That is a secret,” he said predictably.

“Like hell it is,” I snapped. I was about to say more, but a blast of red light distracted me, and I looked up to see that it was coming from the Blast Sword itself. I stared, mesmerized, knowing all at once why the sword was meant for Gourry. Only someone like him could use such a sword and not have it destroy him as well.

However, when I turned back to lecture Xellos, he was gone. I cursed, but my heart wasn't in it. I leaned over on my side and muttered in anger, feeling dizzy and useless. I must have blanked out, because when I came to, Gourry was hovering over me. I looked up at him, and he scooped me up into his arms. He said something, but at that moment, I didn't care about anything. I leaned in close to him, finding comfort in his warmth, so much in fact, that I slipped into a quiet, exhausted sleep.

Dramata