Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Dramata Kurage! ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

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.

18.0
I sighed a little as I looked down at the ground. She basically rejected my idea of learning magic and I was a little disheartened. I just really wanted to help a little more and I wanted to be more useful. I didn't want to have to rely on Lina all the time to help with my sword. The sword only became more powerful with magic and without Lina it wasn't as strong as it could be. I felt if I could learn a bit of magic, I could sharpen the sword myself. If I needed Lina to do it all the time, then I would be distracting her from the battle, and I would put her in danger.

I didn't want to put Lina in danger even though that's what was happening when we went into battle. I couldn't stop it though and I don't think I could dare because that was what Lina lived for. But I could give her added danger by distracting her from what was happening in the fight.

“You're right Lina; I have this new shiny sword. But it gets stronger with magic. That means you would have to power it up and what good is that when in the middle of the battle you have to stop to power up my sword only to have you run through because you're distracted.”

I bit my lip as I turned my eyes away from her. I felt like I didn't want to talk about it anymore and I just wanted to carry on with our travels. I felt like Lina just didn't want to have to put up with the bother of teaching me. She knew it was going to be a bit of an effort to teach me and I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, but I had proved already how much I was willing to work at it. Didn't she realise what I was like by now?

I just stood up and pretended like the conversation never happened about magic and it was time to get moving. I figured it would be for the best if we pretended like it never happened, at least it would cheer her up a little, and now she wouldn't have any of the bother of having to put up with teaching me. I suppose I would be more of an annoyance that way, more so then all of the other problems she was dealing with. Still one of those problems she hadn't told me about and I still wasn't happy she spoke to me about it. But what was I supposed to do about? From the way she reacted I guess I was meant to do nothing.

I gathered our things together and we headed off onto the road, walking side by side with Lina as I was happy with doing and things went back to normal between us. Talking occasionally about a few silly things, and I would wind her up as usual, pretending to forget something when really I hadn't. I think I give the impression that I'm really stupid or forgetful a lot of the time. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not too bright and I can forget certain pieces of information.

I just don't think they realise that I actually had to remember something to get any good with my sword, and I managed to learn how to read maps. When you become a mercenary, you don't get far if you have no idea where you're going. I just tend to forget a lot of information that I don't really feel is important to remember.

Another thing I feel I'm pretty decent at is being able to sense when I'm in danger. I suddenly clung onto Lina from behind, my arms wrapped around her waist and she froze instinctively in my arms. It was more because I was so close to her in broad daylight. I leaned down and whispered into her ear.

“Do you trust me?” I spoke softly to her, but before she could get a response out to me, I had pulled her hard into me as I leapt backwards and fell into the ground just as the blur of arrows flew past just where we had stood. I held onto her tightly until I knew the danger was over and then jumped up to my feet and unsheathed my sword.

I turned to the sources of the arrows expecting to see archers but instead I noticed a strange looking mechanism, which must have fired the arrows instead of men. I blinked a little in confusion but then a few feet down the road from where we had been a small group of men stepped out from the bushes.

“You have a good sense, swordsman! Shame you have no sense of the danger you're in.” I didn't respond though and I looked to Lina beside me who crossed her arms and gave her usual smirk.

“I think you should heed your own warnings.” Lina replied. I sensed rustling to the side of me and I could tell Lina sensed it too on her side. We glanced to each other and nodded as we suddenly split from each other as two fireballs struck the ground we were just standing on. Then whatever caused the rustling decided to show itself and I stood still in confusion. They were sorcerers but they looked exactly like the ones we had dealt with before in the city we had just left. One of the sorcerers that caught Lina with a lightning attack was there.

I glanced over to Lina, suddenly worried about things and I couldn't read her at first, and I wasn't able to because the group of four men had quickly charged me down. I held my ground and waited for the last moment before rolling to the side, and holding my sword out. I caught the leg of one of the men, cutting a particularly deep wound and taking him out of action.

I stood back up and manage to slash out at one of the men who hadn't turned around in time after the initial charge leaving me with two guys left. I wanted to take these out as quickly as possible and not leave Lina with the two sorcerers alone. After what happened last time I knew I should be with her for it but these guys were keeping me away from her. I wonder if they were doing this on purpose but I couldn't let them get away with it. I just knew there was something wrong with those sorcerers, I wondered if they were clones or worse, mazoku.

I gritted my teeth and clutched my sword tightly, glaring and squaring off at the two men before me, one of them being the one to make the comment before. I could tell already that they were more skilled than the two I just dealt with which meant I had to be careful. I took the initiative as I charged them down, really using my speed to my advantage. I struck out two quick hard blows towards the two men but was only met with the clang of my blade on theirs.

As I stopped past them, I paused for a moment as I knew something was wrong. I looked down noticing two small cuts, one in my arm and the other in my thigh. My eyes widened momentarily and then narrowed more as my determination grew. I glanced over to Lina to check on her but I didn't really take in what was happening with my mind too busy on what I had to deal with.

I turned towards the advancing men, both wearing rather evil smirks and glares. They were filled with bloodlust and I knew they wouldn't be satisfied until they had finished me off. I slightly changed my hand position on the sword allowing me a little more control of the blade and took a deep breath before two men advanced towards me with speed, gritting my teeth trying to determine what I should do next.

I used my instinct and side stepped to the side like before but they were expecting it. That was my plan though as I struck with less effort, but controlling the blade more easily. I was able to deflect their blocks in the way I needed. I left one man open whilst the other went by, slightly off balance with the way I deflected him away. I could see in the guy's eyes that he was open and couldn't do anything. I turned the blade upwards and drove it through his stomach. I then kicked out with my foot, removing his body from my blade and I turned quickly to the last man who was already attacking.

I dropped to my knee to give me more time but it put me at a disadvantage as he struck down upon my sword. My arms bent to absorb the blow but that meant both his sword and mine was closer to my head. I gritted my teeth and did all I could to push up against him but he had the advantage and was able to press his weight down on me. I wasn't going to beat him fighting fire with fire. I had to use his weight against him; I had to use his anger and bloodlust to fight back.

I leaned back suddenly and with all his intent on driving my own sword down against me he didn't have time to pull back and so fell forward. I drove both my feet up hard into his chest and kicked out hard. I used his moment and the power from my legs to drive him away into a nearby tree and I watched as he cracked into it head first. He slumped to the ground limply and I kind of knew he wasn't going to get back up again.

I lay there for a few moments as I breathed heavily, just taking the moment to be glad to get out of it. Then I was quickly reminded of Lina. I sat up with a start and looked for the brunette sorceress frantically, hoping she was ok.

Kurage

18.1
Ya know, I don't get men.

I have discovered this over the years, and have come to terms with it. I have never assumed I am a great understander of men. At least, most men. With Gourry, I had at least thought I had gotten some sort of measure on how he was and how he could be.

WRONG.

Apparently I am STILL learning, because apparently telling him that he was a good swordsman isn't enough for him! So what was I supposed to do now, huh? I thought what I said was what he wanted to hear! I didn't think he actually WANTED to learn magic!

Why am I always wrong!

Didn't he get that I had faith in his abilities and that I thought he didn't NEED extra firepower? And that by himself he was already pretty deadly? And oh, by the way, what was wrong with me completely the magic side of the deal when it came to using the Blast Sword? Didn't he get any of that!

He thinks that I'm dense when it comes to his personality, but I'm not! I know when he's putting on airs to pretend that things are smooth and fine, and that was one of those times! Partnerships were a combination of different skills, weren't they? And if one person had both skills, wouldn't that make the partnership obsolete?

Nah, of course not. Still, it made me wonder if this intimacy between us, this new relationship we were beginning together, was actually making a mess of things instead. And instead of making us closer, the emotional factors of it all, the stepping over eachother's toes for the sake of feelings, was just turning it into something stupid and no longer intimate, but a chore.

And I didn't want that. And I vowed, the moment we were alone again, I would TRY to make it right.

But first, the idiots.

I was fine. I was great. I struck and I fought and I moved like a hawk. I pretty much held my own with my barrage of spells and had a blast doing it. EXCEPT...when HE showed up.

Honestly? I was confused. I had thought for sure that Gourry had killed that asshole. But apparently I was wrong. After all, I hadn't exactly been awake for the show, now, had I?

So, you can imagine that I wasn't sure if this would be too much fun or not. Last time I had been sloppy and stupid and I had gotten myself hurt because of it. This time I was ready for him. This time I was pissed off and ready. I had my dagger out before he even laid his stupid little beady eyes on me.

"Hey, pal," I called, waving a hand over to him. He jumped and looked over, his eyes narrowing when they landed on me, "remember me!"

He grinned and started his way over to me. "Ah, yes. Of course. Come back for more, have you?"

I tossed my hair over my shoulder, keeping my other hand firmly on the hilt of my dagger. "I guess you could say that," I answered, grinning back.

"You know," he began, "one would think that after a moment of time at least your chest would be bigger."

I stumbled a little. I had forgotten about those comments.

"But I guess every person is allowed one mistake." His eyes glinted from his own wit.

"Your first mistake was coming back here," I answered, looking at Gourry's progress from the corner of my eye. He seemed to be doing okay, from what I could tell, but I had to stop looking when I heard that sorcerer laughing again. The laugh alone sent shivers of fury down my spine. This guy had gotten away with humiliating me once, and it wasn't going to happen again. Not this time.

"Them's fightin' words," the sorcerer quipped, grinning wider.

"Well, maybe," I quipped back. He opened his mouth to retort again, but I didn't give him time. I flung my dagger forward with a shout. The blade glimmered a bright green and slammed into the ground behind him, missing him by a few inches. He started laughing, but his voice cut short, as he must have guessed by then that he couldn't move.

"Shadow Snap," he hissed, his body shaking with the attempts to free himself.

"You're not such an idiot after all!" I answered, holding out my hands in front of me. "But I'm tired of the banter and tired of being attacked!" I jumped back and held forward my hands. "Time for the big one! DRAGON SLAVE!"

The crimson light exploded outward out of my hands and crashed not onto into the sorcerer, but the many bandits surrounding him, as well as a mile of two of land...oops.

When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, I wiped the sweat from my brow. I felt so much better. Casting the Dragon Slave does that to me.

Only then did it occur to me that maybe I should have warned Gourry before I fired the spell. I hopped over the charred remains of armour and bandit alike, and soon found Gourry, lying dazed on his back. I swallowed the urge to laugh. He was fine; he always was. He's alot stronger than most, especially bandits. I knelt down and healed him, and he sat up, looking around in confusion.

When his eyes fell on me, he exploded. "Lina!" he shouted at me, "why are you always blowing things up without even WARNING ME FIRST!"

I feigned innocence. "I thought it would be a good thing. After all, I did sort of save the day, didn't I?"

I knew this always worked on Gourry, and sure enough, now was not an exception. He sighed and brushed off his sooty clothes. "Fine, I guess you have a point," he answered, grumbling. He started to get up, but I forced him back down, and he protested.

"Shut up!" I snapped, and he did. "Gourry, do you actually WANT to learn magic? Because if you do, I'll teach you. I don't want you to think I was humouring you before, trying to avoid getting out of it. I seriously was just saying what I thought, but if you want to learn, I'll teach you! You just have to be sure about it is all!"

He blinked slowly at me, and I stared back at him, hoping that he was at least thinking it over. Just in case, I repeated my question quickly, just in case the bandits had backup, or worse, someone actually owned the property around here.

"Do you want to learn magic, Gourry?" I asked gently, making sure that I had sincerity in my voice. Because for once, I actually was being sincere. I actually thought that it might be an amusing pastime. But just because things amuse me doesn't mean that everyone else can be amused by those same things. Which is why I asked, and I hoped, whatever his answer was, that he was saying it from the heart.

Dramata

18.2
The second I sat up I wish I had stayed down on the ground. At least I would have been a bit safer from the intense inferno of the Dragon Slave. I lay there dazed on my back and was just glad I hadn't taken the brunt of the spell and only got caught with edge of it. I think the Blast Sword helped even though it was sheathed and safely away, I could feel a bit of the power stored within it.

Still I felt a bit hurt from the spell and was relieved to feel the soothing healing feeling. I glanced up to see Lina above me healing away and I just closed my eyes again feeling relaxed. I wasn't going to let her get away with it though, and I was going to snap at her the second I felt better, but I decided after the stunt she pulled I deserved a little bit of a rest.

She finished and I sat up and took a view of the area of devastation and it surprised me really how much destruction there was and the fact that I was wrong and not been on the edge but nearer the centre. It kind of scared me at how reckless Lina had been and how lucky I was to have that sword protect me. I lashed out at her in process, demanding why she didn't warn me.

Of course Lina being Lina played the innocent card and she always plays it so well that I can never stay angry at her. I have to admit that she had dealt with the trouble, but I thought I had dealt with that already a few days ago. Something wasn't right about it all but I didn't have time to think about it because Lina then took it upon herself to lay back into me. I was about to get up but she wouldn't let me and I was about to complain, I felt fine to carry on but I was on the wrong subject.

She surprised me as she went on at me about wanting to learn magic. It threw me off because I kind of thought the subject was over when she dismissed me learning magic. She told me that I was better off using my sword and not to worry about magic. I wasn't happy about it though but I figured I had to accept it. Now though she was bringing it up, and she wanted to know.

I blinked. I blinked in confusion because I didn't really know what to say and she said it to me once more, but softly this time. I wasn't sure what to say though, it threw me off and I was confused with her asking me this after accepting that it wouldn't happen. The way she dismissed me so easily made me wonder if she was serious about this, if she really meant it.

I was serious about learning magic because I felt it would help us. I knew I wasn't going to learn anything like Lina was capable of. Forget Lina, I wouldn't be as good as most of the sorcerers and sorceresses she labelled third-rate. But still I would learn a little and it would help us, and especially with this Blast Sword which had now slowly calmed down from the energy of the Dragon Slave, I would be able to use magic with it and make it stronger.

I wanted to shake my head and say no because I wasn't sure if she was serious. However I didn't, because I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was serious. She was making the point strongly that she was serious and so instead I nodded slowly because it was only fair of me to reply seriously.

“Look Lina, I'm not expecting to be able to do great things, I don't expect to be able to do much of anything. I just want to be able to learn a little because I have this sword. This sword becomes stronger with magic and it was given to me for a reason. Doesn't that make you think I need to learn about magic if this sword was trusted with me?”

I looked back down at the ground, wiping away at some more of the soot that was still left on my pants.

“I'll promise to do my best and listen to everything you say. You know me Lina, if I'm serious about doing something, then I will. At least I hope you realise that about me now.”

I looked back to her and smiled softly.

“I'm also serious about teaching you some sword skills too as repayment, or if that's not good enough that you can come up with something else for me to do to repay you with.”

Kurage

18.3
Alright. It would be no easy task, but I figured it would be one I didn't mind taking on as a challenge. I reached over and patted Gourry's arm. “Sure, sure, if that is what would make you feel better, giving me an offer like that,” I teased, “although I'm quite capable in the swordsman department.”

Gourry rolled his eyes a little. “I didn't mean it that way,” he sighed.

I winked one eye. “I know,” I laughed, and he rolled his eyes again, but smiled this time. I helped him to his feet, and we were on our way.

Except, of course, the fact that on the way to the nearest town, we were attacked.

Again.

Three more times.

“I'VE HAD IT!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, tugging at my hair, as the smoke cleared off the remnants of the third group. “I have HAD IT with these STUPID bandits!” I yanked at my cape, grabbed a notebook, and started writing. Gourry hopped over and leaned over my shoulder, reading what I wrote, but I ignored him.

When I was done, I looked around to see if anyone was conscious. When I spotted someone, a constant whiner who was only merely singed, I kicked at him and held out the piece of paper with the note on it.

“Give this to your IDIOT leader,” I snapped. He took it, whining still, but I rolled my eyes. “And make sure he follows the directions, or I get nasty!” I turned on my heel and started on my way again.

Gourry caught up with me in no time. “What did the note say?” he asked.

I sighed. “Basically, I told him to stop attacking us and we'll make a deal at the next inn. To be blunt, I want to pay him off,” I mumbled.

Gourry looked surprised. “But why would you want to do that? I thought you liked action.”

“Sure I do,” I answered, “but I can't keep up with this forever, you know. The timing is bad, and besides, it would be worth it to hear it all out, whatever it is he wants to tell me.”

“Oh,” Gourry said, blinking slowly. “But what if he wants something you can't give him?”

I sighed deeply, sagging a little. “We'll burn that bandit when we get to it,” I replied.

We walked for a while in silence, but it wasn't a bad silence. It was a compatible silence, one that comes along with someone you don't have to distract with words all the time. The whole time, I was thinking about what I could possibly give to the stupid leader to get him to piss off in time. I hoped he didn't make us fight. Or, if he wanted to fight, he would set a future date.

Eventually, we saw a small little hamlet in the horizon, and judging from the silence of our surroundings, Mr Bandit Leader was true to the word. I hoped Gourry would let me to the talking. I really needed to get this over with, so we could finally get down to business and focus on the Blast Sword instead of bandits.

“Hey Lina,” Gourry spoke up as we approached the outskirts of the town.

“Yep?” I answered, keeping my eyes sharp for any sudden movement.

“When are you going to start teaching me?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Once everything dies down with the bandits, and, er, I get everything settled, we'll start.” I cleared my throat deeply.

He tilted his head, but other than that, there wasn't much of a reaction. I was half-expecting him to be disappointed again, but it didn't seem that way. He merely looked bemused more than anything else.

“Anyways,” I said as we approached a restaurant that looked pretty good. “I said to give us one night to recover, and in the morning to meet us at the inn. Purely public, and open. And there we'll discuss negotiation.”

“Hmm...” Gourry said thoughtfully, taking a seat across from me at one of the round empty tables that littered the restaurant. “Do you really trust a bandit to keep his word?”

“Nope,” I answered, looking over the menu casually. Gourry stumbled, but I held up a hand. “Listen, he may or may not keep his word, but either way, you know we have the upper hand. If he tries to screw us over, which you know he will if he sees himself drowning in negotiations, we'll just blast him and be on our way. Got it?”

Gourry frowned, looking doubtful, but he picked up his menu and didn't say a word. We ordered, and ate, during which we had some discussion, coherent and otherwise. I'll skip the incoherence (cursing and swearing) and go straight to the good stuff.

“Did you ever figure out why your magic was wonky?” Gourry asked, his voice muffled with roast beef. MY roast beef.

I leaned forward and snatched three of his sausages before he could say a word. “Yeah,” I answered roughly, parrying his fork that was headed for more of my beef. “It was a reaction to the Mazoku thing.” I reddened. I still had problems talking about it. “I'm fine now...er...” I faltered, trailing off. Now, my face was on fire, but I covered it by stealing more sausages.

A little while after that, close to the end, Gourry spoke up again. “You said it was all bad timing, these attacks,” he said, gnawing on a chicken bone. Yep, once again, mine. “Why?”

I stole some of his fries and ate them before he saw. “Merph,” I answered, ignoring his question. However, he wasn't going to let it go. He jabbed at me with a breadstick, constantly, until I broke it in half and ate it. That started another round of barrages and food fighting.

Once it was all over, he asked me again, and this time, I sighed deeply and buried my face into my arms, embarrassed. I have, over the years, been able to hide it quite well from my comrades, when the time arrives. But now Gourry wasn't going to hear the end of it until I said it, and it was even more embarrassing, because now, it would of course, affect this relationship we had now.

I mumbled it into my arms. Gourry leaned forward. “Eh?” He said, looking confused. I seriously doubt he was trying to make it worse, but it sure felt like it. I growled, sat up, and grabbed his ear. Pulling him towards me, I whispered it into his ear:

“I am going to be starting my period soon,” I hissed, my cheeks burning. “So shut up about it already! That's why I can't deal with this right now, because my powers are starting to crap out! Okay! Now drop it!”

I let go of his ear and he rubbed it. He opened his mouth, but I shot a death glare at him, so he shut it right away. There wasn't another word spoken about it, much to my surprise.

However, that night when we were getting ready for bed, we didn't do anything. We kissed a little, and touched a little, but nothing too intimate. I think Gourry was trying to be a gentleman, and he was trying to respect me and my discomfort, and for once, instead of finding it all annoying, his gestures made me feel grateful. I was glad he wasn't making a big deal out of it, and that, if he was uncomfortable, he didn't show it. He still insisted on sleeping with me, however, and though that made me a little shy, I, in the end, allowed it.

That night, I had that dream again. It happened all the same way. The sky changing, the grass changing. And then the rushing and the eyes, and again I woke up gasping for air and clutching at my chest, sitting up quickly.

Only this time I wasn't alone. Gourry woke up beside me, just as quickly, and sat up seconds after I did. He didn't say a word while I was catching my breath; instead, he did the one thing I needed at that precise moment: he put an arm around me, rubbed my shoulder, and used this other hand to stroke my hair away from my sweaty face. I don't think I have ever had anyone know what I ever needed at a time like that, but he knew. It was uncanny.

Once I was calm, I sighed deeply and looked over at him. “Sorry,” I said softly. “It was a bad dream.”

He didn't say a word. Even in the dark, I could see his blue eyes searching my face, making sure I wasn't lying. When he was satisfied that I wasn't, he nodded slowly and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Then, he pulled me into his arms and together we lay back down. He started snoring after a few minutes, but it took me longer to get to sleep.

Once I did, however, I had no dreams at all.

Dramata

18.4
I have to admit I was surprised with Lina when she told me that note was about paying the guy off to leave us alone. I didn't understand at first why she wouldn't want to fight against those bandits. She loved fighting against bandits, it was like her biggest stress reliever and now she was frustrated with the third group we had to deal with that day. When she then mentioned that it was bad timing I had a sudden inkling of what it might have been but I didn't dwell on it and asked her what we would do if we didn't have what they wanted. She sighed and sagged, seemingly irritated by all my constant questions

“We'll burn that bandit when we get to it.” She replied and I thought for a moment. I always thought it was `burn that bridge when we get to it', or was it `cross that bridge'. I shook my head a little and figured it was Lina turning it into something more personal.

We headed off and soon came across the small hamlet with no more interruptions with the bandit group. I guess they took notice of Lina's note, or they were just luring us into a trap. I wasn't sure which though because my mind was on about learning magic. I spoke to her about it and she just said she would teach me when things calmed down. I tilted my head in response, thinking about it, but I decided to just accept it and just let things happen.

We entered the restaurant where we got well fed, I for one really enjoyed the meal but I was annoyed when she stole some of my fries. I really liked fries and we never really came across them often, since it took so much time to cut up all the potatoes. Hell I would cut those potatoes all day long just as long as I could get as many fries I could eat. I think she knew that too which was why she stole a few, just to annoy me for the fun of it, even though I'm sure she thought I missed it, I know when someone steals some of my fries…

I finally asked her about her magic and she explained it was something to do with her being a mazoku. I was worried something might have happened to her concerning that, but admittedly, things could have turned out a whole lot worse from that situation. I was just glad to have got her back even if it met her magic was a little weird for awhile. She said it was fine now but she seemed a bit funny about saying it.

I then remembered how weird it was for her to say the attacks were bad timing so I started to ask her about that. She ignored me, or tried her best to pretend I never asked her, but I was insistent. We were together now after all and I felt I had a right to know so I was persistent, constantly nagging her until she gave in. When she did she grabbed my ear which I have to say hurt like hell and she explained it was her period.

I rubbed my ear to get the feeling back and was about to say something when she glared at me. I of course responded to that by doing absolutely nothing at all. I just blushed slightly realising what that meant for her magic and why she wasn't going to be able to deal with the bandits. I knew how that made her feel and so I didn't push the subject anymore and instead quietly carried on eating the remains of my food along with some of Lina's.

I went to bed with Lina and I held back because of what Lina had said about her period. I still didn't really understand it all but what I had learnt, made me realise that Lina became more sensitive and it wasn't really the most comfortable time for her. I didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable and so just kept to kissing and light touching which I admit I enjoyed just as much as some of the more intimate things we had tried together. I then wrapped my arms around her as I fell asleep with her close to me.

I woke up though the second I felt Lina move from my arms and I could hear her gasping for air. I sat up immediately and I had an arm around her, rubbing her shoulders and looking at her closely with concern. I wiped the hair away from her face which was stuck with sweat, and I kept looking into her ruby red eyes. She told me she had a bad dream and I wanted to make sure it really was just a bad dream and not something else. I couldn't see her hiding anything from me so I nodded slowly. Pulling her back into my arms, I lay back down with her and quickly drifted back to sleep.

The next time I woke up it was morning and I still felt Lina in my arms which satisfied me a little. I nuzzled into her slightly, leaving soft gently kisses on the back of her neck and shoulder. I heard a little groan which I knew meant I had woken her up. I smiled softly, holding her closer to me and nuzzled her once more.

“Morning Lina.” I said softly but with a little bounce in my voice, trying to sound cheery.

“Mnngghghhh…” was the response I got from her, nothing less from Lina who hated mornings. I grinned and gave her a cheeky pinch on her backside before jumping out of bed, leaving her no time to react to me. She squeaked from the pinch and I could see her scowling at me when I turned round to her. She then just grabbed the covers and threw it over her head.

“Hey, c'mon, we've got to meet this guy right?” I told her, and I heard a dissatisfied groan as she threw the covers off herself and got out of the bed, giving me a slight glare as if this was my fault. I just smiled it off a little and got myself ready just as she was. Then we headed back into the restaurant to enjoy some breakfast.

“So what time I we supposed to meet his guy?” I mumbled through a mouthful of bacon and toast, managing to beat away her fork which was headed for my plate of sausages and fried eggs.

“In about fifteen minutes, that's if he decides to turn up and not leave us with an army of his guys! Now let me have some of those sausages, you stole loads of mine!” she growled in response.

“That's only because you stole my fries last night, I noticed that you know!” I shot back, which surprised her, allowing me to steal a few pieces of bacon and successfully defend another attack for the sausages.

After the battle over the food it was time to meet up with the head bandit guy, if he decided to turn up as Lina said. We stopped outside of the inn where Lina had planned the meeting and we waited…and waited. I glanced to Lina and she was looking impatient and generally annoyed at having to be made to wait. I looked away from her for the moment, looking down the street when I noticed a few suspicious looking characters.

I turned to look the other way and saw a few more and immediately I didn't like the situation we were in. I looked up to the buildings across the street, and I could see a couple of people in the windows, then quickly glancing behind me, a few of the people sat at tables were glancing towards us.

“Lina…we're surrounded…” I spoke gently, knowing only she would hear me.

Then glancing once more up the street I noticed a group of four people with another person in the middle of them. The guy I knew I had seen before somewhere. But where I had seen him before, I was unsure of. I looked down at the ground and began thinking really hard, I knew it was important to realise where I had noticed this man before.

I then flashed back in my mind to the battle which I walked away from wounded, collapsing infront of Lina. There was a man there that I had recognised before. Glancing back to the man walking down the street I realised they were the same, but there was something else. Something I still hadn't remembered that made me realise I recognised him on the battlefield. Thinking more I soon realised where I remembered him. The night we were attacked there was a guy looking scared. He was so scared that I managed to get information out of him really easily. He was gone though when we returned, I figured they had been taken away.

I looked back to the man once more as he walked down the street towards us, then seeing us he gave an evil grin. My eyes widened as I began to realise that this man had been playing us all along, pretending to be some no-named bandit scared out of his wits. Infact this was the leader of the whole group and it worried me greatly. If he was able to play us like that before, then who knows what lies he was going to come up with.

I looked back to Lina and she turned back to me, and I could tell she knew how I was feeling. I really didn't like this situation and I was worried about how it was going to turn out.

Kurage

18.5
Ah, the ambush. If done correctly, it can be one of the most well-executed methods of battle. However, if you do it half-assed, it can make you look like a dumb amateur with mush for brains.

Honestly? I wasn't that impressed. Like I had said earlier, I wasn't really expecting a neat and tidy negotiation from the idiot. If anything, that would be too easy, and the world knows that bandits, in any province, are hardly into doing things the easy way.

Now I felt that all-familiar feeling of wanting to bash my head into the wall. Not only were we surrounded by a smartass jerk who had managed to fool us both, but I was a complete wuss when it came to the magic department. This wasn't going to be easy, and I knew that if I wanted to come out of this alive, I had to improvise.

Sounds a little dramatic, doesn't it? Think I'm overdoing it? Well, I'm definitely not. I could have handled a band of bandits this large on my own on any normal day. But this wasn't one of those days. Not only were my powers suspended, but I was achy and uncomfortable and a little shaky. I never showed it, but I was, and to be honest, I had hoped this would be all over in a flash.

Clearly, I was wrong.

The leader, who was as generic-looking as anyone could possibly be, was right in the middle of the scores of bandits. They made a space for him, so it was obvious who he was, despite his looks. However, when I looked closer at him, I realized that not only was he the obvious (at least now it was obvious) leader, but he also had a magical aura.

Great, just what I needed. Someone who had magic when I couldn't even access my own very well.

“So you're the leader of the pack,” I said nonchalantly, putting my hands on my hips. Now, don't let my actions fool you; I was nervous. This many bandits wouldn't have been a problem, like I said, normally. But now...? I wasn't so sure.

The leader smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. Despite the smile, he didn't look like he was in the mood for laughing. “You could say that, yes,” he answered.

“Could say that? Why is that?” I wondered, letting a smile come to my lips. This was getting interesting. Clearly his buddies wanted to fight, but it sounded like he wanted to say something to me first.

“Well,” he admitted, “I'm not exactly the leader of this little operation, per se. Ya see, when I heard what you had done to my boys, I was pretty pissed off. We're the type that gets our revenge, ya know?”

Yeah, I know. That was pretty obvious. I nodded slowly.

“However, when making our plans, we got a little visit, from some guy who said he could help us out.”

“And let me guess,” I interrupted, holding out a hand. “This guy also offered you stronger sorcerers than yourself, as long as, in return, you killed us, right?”

The leader smirked. “Heh, you got it. Some guy you pissed off?”

I grinned, the gesture not very nice. Indeed, I was thinking of the many ways to remove Xellos's head from his body. “Oh, you could say that,” I replied.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed that Gourry was trying very hard to follow what we were saying, but I'm pretty sure it was going over his head. Either way, I knew that deep down he knew that something was afoot, and he kept his focus on the bandits surrounding us, checking for any signs that they would start an attack.

The leader, however, shrugged his annoying shoulders. “It doesn't really concern me,” he answered. “I'm just here to do my job and to bring honour back. If we happen to earn our pension when killing you it's fine with me.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but apparently what he said were cue words, for the bandits surrounding us finally started swarming us. Gourry jumped right into the fray, slicing and dicing his way through several of the bandits before they could even blink. I hesitated, my hand over my dagger. My dagger wasn't going to cut it in this.

However, before I could think of a backup plan, I was surrounded. Well, crap. So I did the only magic I could possibly do: A Lighting Spell. Several of the bandits staggered off clutching their eyes, but more were coming.

Aw, to hell with this.

I lunged forward and brought my fist up, smashing one guy right on the nose. When he backed up, another one took his place, and I jumped up and nailed him in the stomach with my foot. He went down, but more were coming, and I knew I couldn't keep this up forever.

Still, it was fun to let off some steam, the only way physical violence could. I kicked, I punched, I dropkicked and roundhoused and threw a few people. I'm pretty sure I broke about ten noses that day.

During all of this, the leader was no where to be seen. I wasn't sure what the hell he was up to, but as long as he kept out of my way, I didn't care. I was doing just fine kicking the asses of many aggressors.

However, I was beginning to tire after a while. Bandit after bandit after bandit kept coming for me, and there is only so much I can do. My endurance isn't that great, and I was starting to feel it.

I backed up, darting between several of the random idiots before they could even figure it all out. When I managed to get free of them all, I looked around from my spot, checking to see if Gourry was okay or not.

However, before I could even lay eyes on him, there was a sound behind me. I turned, but way too late. The bandit leader grabbed me and placed his stupid grubby sword at my throat.

“Oh, that's lame,” I snapped, a little nervous but not really worried, oddly enough. “That's really lame. Trying to sneak up on a girl like that.”

“Look, lady,” he answered, his sword really cold on my neck. “We have a code to keep up here. Plus the nice sum we were promised if we killed you. Surely someone like you can understand that.”

“Nope,” I answered. I slammed the heel of my foot down on his toes. He cursed and jumped back, a move that would have severed my head from my body, had I not already ducked out of the way. I turned and brought the heel of my hand up against his nose, and from the crack I heard, I had broken my eleventh nose.

I turned and started running, searching for Gourry or wherever Gourry may be in the melee of stupidity. I not only wanted to help him, but I wanted his spare sword. That sword was much longer than my dagger, and if I were to stand any chance against the mob, I was going to need a better weapon.

Dramata

18.6
Instinct kicked in the second the bandits headed towards us, I charged through using the Blast Sword straight away because I knew I needed it now. With the situation Lina was in, I had to try and deal with these as quickly as possibly. I charged forward, using my speed and the advantage of a blade that will cut through pretty much anything and I was offing bandits left right and centre within a few seconds.

I decided on concentrating on using my speed, knowing that I didn't really need the power. The good thing about using my speed was that the bandits had literally no time to react to me and so I dealt with those pretty quickly. The problem came when I came across those which were rather more skilled and although they struggled to keep up with my speed, they were able to keep out of the way of my sword.

I gritted my teeth a little in frustration as I kept swinging at air but I concentrated on speed still and not power. I knew if I started working on power, it would slow me down and open me up to their attacks. You see it was also my speed that was stopping me from getting slashed and skewered by these more skilled bandits, four of whom were around me. I don't think they were the normal bandits, as they were definitely clothed differently. They didn't look like bandits, and looked more like ninjas, but instead of wearing black, they were wearing four different colours. I figured they must have been a group who worked together then.

I was ok swinging at air for the moment as long as I stayed alive, but I knew I was going to grow tired. I also knew with Lina unable to use magic, I didn't want to leave her alone for long. Considering these guys must have been getting outside help, there could be other more dangerous opponents in this group and I didn't want Lina facing them on their own.

So it was a nice surprise when I felt myself needing to move to the side. I spun sharply and heard the familiar whistling of an arrow. The arrow just about caught my arm causing a momentary sharp pain in my arm, but I had no time to worry about it. I had two of the ninja guys charging towards me ready to strike. I could have blocked blade to blade but when my sword would break theirs, they were still going to hit me. I raised the sword sharply and managed to flip it on to the side and I pushed my palm up against the flat of the blade to defend my self. Their swords clashed with the flat of my blade and defended me well but left me open as they both raised a foot and kicked out hard into my chest.

I flew back into the wall of a building and although it stopped me from falling back, the impact was pretty hard and shook me up a bit. I blinked for a moment to get my eyes back into focus, just in time to see the other two ninjas coming towards me just like the other two before. They were attacking me in the same way but I had more time to work out how to fight back. I smirked slightly at the stupidity of them and in the same way I put my sword in the air with the flat of the blade. However this time I had it at a slightly different angle and instead of blocking their attacks, I deflected them and threw them off balance. I saw the surprise in their eyes as I turned the blade and cut through the two of them.

I glanced upwards remembering the men in the window from earlier and realised that they were infact archers. I realised they hadn't really attacked much before because there was a high chance of hitting their own men but now Lina and myself had taken care of a few of them, there was more room for them to attack us. That was certainly going to make things tougher but at least I had only two of these ninja guys left.

They stopped attack and slowly I moved around on the spot as I watched the two ninjas circling me slowly. Occasionally I would have to dodge from an arrow as it hit the ground around him after barely missing him. The ninjas would then take that as an opportunity to feint and attack but I was always ready. I then quickly glanced to Lina to check on her, and she seemed to be handling herself, but I could tell she was growing tired. She wasn't even using her dagger and I frowned slightly to realise she hadn't much else to defend herself with.

I couldn't think to long about that though because after dodging another archer attack the ninjas deciding to stop pretending and actually began attacking. I gritted my teeth as I dodged to the side, using the flat of the blade to block an attack. I then rolled over and shot back to my feet and charged in quickly. I slashed out and just cut the leg of a ninja, causing him to fall to his knees. I was about to knock him out with the flat of my blade only to be put off by the other ninja coming in for an attack.

I leapt backwards quickly and struck out with my sword to parry the blade away, then struck him as he was open. I then returned to the guy who was getting back off the floor but I hit him with the flat of the blade across the temple knocking him out. I breathed a sigh of relief for a moment but it was too soon as I sensed something beside me. I turned sharply and was about to strike out with my blade until I saw it was Lina.

I stopped the attack and turned it into a defensive swing as an arrow was headed straight for her stomach. Before I even looked at Lina I knew what to do as I unsheathed my other sword and handed it to her. Just doing so I realised we were surrounded by more enemies. Some were normal bandits; others appeared to be something more dangerous. They were holding swords but something about them was strange that I couldn't put my finger on.

I was stood back to back with Lina as we slowly moved in a circle like I had done before with the ninjas. The bandits then came into attack as the other strange men stayed back, three of them stood apart about the same distance from each other in a triangle. I stayed against Lina's back and began attacking the bandits as they came towards us. I could hear Lina handling herself behind me and that comforted me a little to know that she was ok. The others guys were still freaking me out with the way they were just stood there.

After dealing with the bandits and successfully dodging the increasing attacks from the archers, we were left with the three strange men to deal with. Somehow I knew it was me who had to deal with them, and with the archers still attacking, they were just making the whole thing more difficult. I think Lina knew this because she headed off immediately into the buildings which contained the archers leaving me alone with the men.

Without warning I knew I had to hit the ground but I wasn't quick enough and was slightly propelled forward when I was hit in the back. It burnt at first but I realised it wasn't due to heat, but intense cold and I knew it was some sort of ice attack. So that's what it was, they knew magic, but it appeared they were good with swords as the other two decided to attack me at the same time.

I pushed myself against the ground and rolled backwards, only to roll over my back and send a searing pain through my body. I don't think I was badly hurt, but the cold just made it feel worse than it really was. The two men hit the ground where I once was and caused the ground to shake a little. That made me realise they really did have some skill and that I had to really concentrate.

Of course rolling backwards had positioned me closer to the guy who attacked with the ice spell. I turned sharply and raised my sword up to block his attack which I knew was coming. However instead of slicing through his blade, our swords clashed and the power in it drove my down to my knees. My eyes widened momentarily and I realised they must have enchanted their swords, strengthening them somewhat.

It still surprised me until I realised when I looked closer at my own sword and I knew something was wrong. The blade seemed duller somewhat, and I felt as though some of the power had gone. I then heard mumbling behind me and realised that the other two were chanting something. They must have been chanting something which was affecting my blade. Well I knew how to stop that, as I broke the sword lock and headed towards one of the other men who were chanting. He stopped chanting and figured my plan had worked, only to find I was wrong when my sword clashed with his. I turned to see the guy I was previously sword locked with had now begun chanting.

No matter what I did, two of the men were chanting some strange spell which was dulling the power of the Blast Sword. Unless of course the three of them were free, and then they could attack me when they liked or cast spells. I then realised I really needed Lina's help but she was busy dealing with the archer's. I wasn't going to be able to defeat these people on my own, but I had to hold on for as long as it took Lina to deal with the archers who had suddenly stopped attacking, I just hoped she didn't take too long cause I wasn't sure I could take on these three men for too long.

Kurage

18.7
No matter what, as lame as it is, I always feel safer with Gourry. Be it at the gates of hell, or in the middle of a mob, I feel safer, knowing he's there.

I hadn't had my hands on a long sword in a long time, but once I did, I remembered what it took to handle one, and that was speed. And that was something I never got short of. Gourry's sword may have been a little heavy, and not exactly the best choice for someone of my size and weight, but it was better than nothing. And into the fray I went, hacking and slicing and getting the feel of it all back, remembering why I liked swords so much to begin with.

When it was all over, I headed towards the stupid coward archers in their rat holes...er, I mean buildings. The buildings were dilapidated and looked as if they were on their last legs, but at that point, I was so high on the thrill of the battle that I could care less.

I ran right into the building, held out Gourry's sword, and looked around, catching my breath as I did so. An arrow decided that now would be the best time to whiz by me. I jumped back and almost got impaled by it. I turned, and saw the one of the archers. When they saw that I had seen them, he jumped and started running, but too late. I was too fast and I had the upper hand.

By that time, the other archers had noticed I was there, and they decided that instead of running, the group of them could kick my ass in one go. It's funny how stupid people can be.

Now, I'm not being arrogant: I'm stating fact. Archers are well and good when it comes to distance shooting, but we were now in a closed-in area and close together. There was no way they would stand a chance against me. That's not arrogance. That's common sense.

There were three more of them, and they surrounded me, holding their arrows in their hands instead of held ready in their bows. I held out my sword, watching each of them carefully, and before any of them could do a thing, I jumped out and started swinging the blade of Gourry's sword. When done, I stood there, waiting, the sword lowered, grinning.

When all of the heads of the arrows fell to the ground, the archers paled visibly, then took a mad dash for it, dropping the rest of their arrows with them. I thought after chasing after them, but decided that Gourry needed me more. I ran out of the building and back out to where I had left him.

I stopped, glancing at the scene. Gourry kept running between a group of men and then one man, and each time the Blast Sword glimmered dully. I frowned, tilting my head, trying to access it, but in the end, I decided to just jump in and figure it out later. A little out of character for me, but at that point, I didn't care.

When I was getting close, the single man, who I noticed was the asshole leader, turned to me and held out a hand. Before I could say or do anything, he had a Flare Arrow out and fired. I jumped to the side, tripped on my own footing, and landed hard on my knees, but luckily I was fine.

I glanced over at Gourry and saw now that he was dealing with the three sorcerers, due to my efficient distracting of Mr Leader. I jumped up to my feet and held out the sword, glaring at the leader. He stared at me, looking a little bemused.

“When my men gave me reports,” he began, “and when I had been with them a few times, you were much more threatening than this. You used Shaman magic and Black magic. But now, you're hardly using any—“

I had come forward with his words, cutting him off. I swung the sword forward sharply, aiming for his neck, but he parried my hit easily, and the force of the parry hurt my arms a little. I pushed against his blade as hard as I could, but he wasn't budging.

“So,” I growled, half-listening to the sounds of Gourry's fighting. “You're working for Mazoku?”

The leader shrugged. “I wasn't too sure at first,” he admitted, “but it seems that way. In fact,” his eyes ticked over to the three magicians with Gourry, “those guys are special help from the guy.”

I almost choked to death on my spit. I pulled out of the sword lock and pushed the leader away from me, trying to get over to Gourry. If he was facing three Mazoku alone, he had to use the Blast Sword's unleashed power. The thing is, I don't think he knew quite yet who he was facing.

Sadly, the leader wasn't quite done yapping at me yet. He cut me off and swung his sword at me, aiming to miss. I jumped back and veered to the left, trying to get back, but he did it again. He was driving me away from Gourry, so that I wouldn't be able to warn him in time.

I was seriously starting to get pissed off now. “Honestly, if Xellos thinks this sort of thing would finish us, he's a bigger idiot than I thought!” I muttered. I had had enough. No more showmanship. Time for serious, down-to-earth swordplay.

I gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, concentrating. I watched the leader closely, my eyes trained on his every move. We stood, a few feet apart, watching eachother, trying to calculate eachother's moves before we actually made them.

I was tired, achy, miserable, and cranky. Patience was far from my grasp, and I didn't want to leave Gourry fighting three Mazoku any longer than necessary. I decided the stalemate game was boring.

I lunged forward with a shout and swung my sword, aiming the tip of the blade for his neck. He parried it and pushed me back, then swung his own sword. I jumped to the right, barely missing a cut on the shoulder, and retorted, thrusting my blade downwards instead of sideways. That was harder for him to parry, and he struggled with it. I put all of my weight onto it, and he soon balked under it, dropping the blade of his sword.

Unfortunately, the blade was still in inertia, and it crashed downwards and landed into the ground. And did I mention it got stuck in the ground. I cursed and tugged as hard as I could, but honestly, I don't know my own damn strength.

And at that moment, I also knew that I wouldn't reach Gourry at any time in the near future. So I started shouting. “Gourry!” I shouted as loud as I could. “Gourry, I can't help you on this one! Those magicians! They're Mazoku!”

The leader heard me and started coming towards me, but I was having none of that. I decided to abandon the sword and yank out my dagger. At least I had a backup. He came forward, and I managed to block his swing with the dagger, barely.

“Gourry, you need to channel your power into the Blast Sword!” I shrieked, my voice strained from the weight the leader was putting on his sword against my dagger. “You need to focus your power like you did with the Fireball but into the sword!”

I wasn't sure if he heard me, but I hoped he did. Either way, I knew I would have the opportunity to shout at him again, because my little friend was sick of my voice. He pulled back and swung down, kicking my legs out from under me. I collapsed in an embarrassing display. Yikes.

However, my recovery time was fast, and I was sitting up before he knew it. But this guy wasn't as stupid as I had hoped/thought/assumed. He already had his sword at my neck. I froze, my hands tightening their hold on the hilt of my dagger in fear. He had me utterly at his mercy, and one swing could lop my head off my shoulders, but he didn't move.

I stared at him, confused. What the hell was he waiting for? But when I looked up, I noticed he wasn't looking at me, but at Gourry. And I turned to look (carefully, of course), and when I did, I could see why.

Dramata

18.8
I can't tell you how relieved I felt when I saw Lina come out from the building, first of all safe and sound, secondly, that she would now be able to help me with these three sorcerer/swordsman who were making things really difficult for me, what with making the Blast Sword as effective as any other sword and constantly hurling spells at me. At least I didn't have to worry about the archer's anymore. The only thing I didn't anticipate was the boss was still about who I hadn't even noticed was still around. He was dealing with Lina which ruined the whole plan I had of Lina being able to put one of the guys off so I could fight with a powered up Blast Sword.

I gritted my teeth as I was pushed away from a sword block only to be assaulted with a triple fireball from all three men simultaneously. Luckily the Blast Sword wasn't reduced to like any other sword completely because I was able to use it to cut through all three spells, and managed to absorb a little of the power. I used that with some speed and got through the defence of one of the men and took a good slash through the side which would have ended him.

Problem was he didn't go down and only grinned at me. I blinked in surprise and stepped back a little in shock to see this guy take a good hit from the Blast Sword boosted up with a couple of fireballs and think nothing of it. I glanced at where I cut him and something was strange about it, it wasn't bleeding, but oozing some sort of black gas. I looked up to the eyes of the man once again and I noticed it straight away. I cursed myself a little for not noticing it before.

Mazokus…

Now I was really in trouble. I had to deal with three mazoku without the help of Lina's magic, so I had to rely on the Blast Sword which kept getting dulled to a simple sword anytime I tried to attack. At this rate, it was going to be impossible to defeat these guys, and I started to think about getting the hell out of there with Lina.

Then I heard Lina shout and immediately I glanced towards her, and widened my eyes to see she was struggling with the sword so effectively defenceless. She then told me what I had to do, concentrate my will into the sword like I had when I thought about the fireball. What the hell did she mean by that? I was about to shout back only to be interrupted with a sword strike. I raised my sword to block the attack but the amount of power in the attack pushed me backwards. I guess they were starting to raise their game now, as if what I had to deal with before wasn't tough enough.

I looked back to Lina and shouted.

“I can't do this! Lina we have to get out of he…LIINNAAA!” Mid sentence I realised that Lina was in a predicament with a sword held to her throat. I felt the sudden worry in my gut and it almost put me off the fight at hand, but luckily I just about kept my wits about as I rolled to my side to avoid some sort of energy burst which scolded the ground I stood.

I gave myself a bit of space and concentrated on what Lina said. I needed time to work this out and I tried to remember the things Amelia and Zelgadis told me about trying to tap into my magic power. I concentrated hard, pretending I was going through a spell but I couldn't make it work. As I blocked another sword strike, it looked just as dull as ever.

I leapt away from the sword block once more and cursed slightly under my breath. Why wasn't it working? I tried again but once more I was interrupted with either another sword strike or a magic spell. I had to keep avoiding the attacks over and over, and I was struggling to concentrate on what I was doing. I wished Lina had started teaching me this earlier because it was effecting my concentration. It affected me so much that I was starting to get caught out, a couple of the energy bursts catching my leg and a sword strike just nicked my neck and cut a few of the stray strands of hair from my braid.

I jumped back into space and breathed heavily as I glanced towards Lina, seeing the sword held at her neck and I was beginning to get desperate. I couldn't get out of this, I had to think of a way round this situation and suddenly something clicked. I gritted my teeth and my mind just filled with thoughts of getting Lina out of the situation, I had to protect her and I had to do it anyway I could.

I yelled with pure anger and determination and I willed everything I felt inside and charged forward straight towards the nearest mazoku. His first reaction was to let of another energy blast which I barely dodged, some of my clothing singing from it as I tilted my body to avoid it but keep running directly towards him. It surprised him and I watched as they all began chanting again in an attempt to dull the blade. I just gritted my teeth harder, raising the sword in the air and striking down with everything I had, yelling loudly as if releasing something inside.

I heard a gasp and the breaking of a sword. A grunt of pain quickly followed and when I took in the situation, I realised that my blade had cut cleanly through the mazoku, from the shoulder down to the hip. I turned sharply not even watching to see what happened to him as I was heading for the next nearest who looked a little shocked at what just happened. He turned to his companion as if asking for help and then they both turned to me, unleashing a dual blast of energy.

I raised the sword sharply, cutting through both blasts as if they were nothing but puffs of smoke in the air, and ran through the remnants of the spell, some of it catching my injured limbs. I noted the pain but it was like I didn't care, I was in some other place where everything seemed clear. My movements felt quick and everyone else's seemed so slow. I could also feel as though the energy I was using inside me was being fed into the sword, and I could see it sharpening more and more as I channelled more energy.

I was upon the second mazoku in an instant and he seemed even more surprised at my speed. He raised the sword infront of him but rather than a proper blocking position, it was more of a surrendering action, like he was putting up anything he had to keep me away. I wasn't having any of it though as I cut through the sword cleanly, slicing in a horizontal motion from right to left. Then I reversed the motion, letting out another yell, as I slashed through the torso of the mazoku.

I span on the spot, letting the momentum take me round and stopped to face the final mazoku. This one instead of looking scared gave off a confident look, and a slight smirk on his face. I didn't care what he was thinking or what he thought he could do because I was taking him down no matter what. I charged in again and his smirk turned into a big grin and I was wondering what he was so happy about.

I realised what he was so happy about when I suddenly saw the flash of a dagger. I just smirked in response when I thought what a simple thing he was trying to do. I simply turned my body slightly to avoid the dagger and kept on running. Well I would have kept on running if my feet would have moved but I had stopped. I looked down and realised that the dagger and hit it's target all along. The dagger was buried into my shadow or at least the shadow of my legs.

The rest of my shadow was hidden by the building behind me so I was able to move the rest of my body, but not my feet.

“Use Lighting! Urrkk….” I heard Lina shout and glanced towards her, then realised the boss had held the sword tighter to her throat to stop her shouting. I gritted my teeth, not wanting to see Lina come to harm, but that distracted me from what I had to concentrate on. That was the last mazoku who had launched a large energy blast. My eyes widened and I barely had any time to react, so I just used instinct and tried to move my body. I was hindered by my feet though and I felt searing heat and pain across the whole of my left side.

I yelled in pain and collapsed to my feet, looking up and giving a glare towards the smug looking mazoku. He'd set off another blast towards me, but I was ready despite it being even larger than before. I gripped the dagger, pulling it out of the ground and rolled over to the right, lashing out the dagger towards the mazoku. It hit him right in the chest but he didn't even flinch in pain and laughed as he gripped the dagger and dropped it to the ground.

His eyes widened though because I had driven the Blast Sword through his chest where the dagger and been, before it even dropped to the ground. I was using the dagger as a small distraction, just as he had used it on me. I tore the blade out from his side and he dropped his sword to the ground, finishing my battle with the three mazoku.

I looked towards the boss who was holding onto Lina, sword held close to her neck, which had a small trickle of blood down the side. I clenched the sword tighter and gritted my teeth in anger, taking a step forward but was forced to stop as the bosses grip on Lina and the sword tightened. I saw her wince slightly and it only made me angrier that she was harming her.

“Now now blondie. You don't need to do anything you might regret. Although really I could just kill her now and that will give me revenge for what she stole. Of course if I do that, then you'll come and kill me straight away, and what would be the fun in that.”

“What the hell do you want then?” I growled, I glanced to Lina, looking into her eyes and I could tell what was about to happen.

“I want you to drop that neat little sword there, and then I'll let her go, leaving me to get away freely. That way I can come back and finish you both off.” He looked at me closely and I grumbled a little, nodding slightly and dropped it to the floor. The guy then grinned widely.

“I really can't believe it. You would believe what I would say? You really are an id…” Lina had struck an elbow out towards the crotch of the leader, which released his grip on her. I ran forward, taking the sword which Lina had used and was stuck in the ground, and whacked him hard across the head with the flat of the sword. He sprawled to the ground unconscious, with the sword he was holding clanging as it hit the ground.

I glanced to Lina before falling to my knees feeling absolutely exhausted. I heard her boots clacking on the pavement as she ran to me and put an arm around me.

“You should have warned me that using magic was so tiring.” I barely managed to speak as I breathed heavily and suddenly reminded of the small nicks and wounds I gathered from the fight along with the big burn on my side.

Kurage

18.9
If I ever get moments when I doubt Gourry's abilities, just remind me of that moment. Seriously.

I tugged Gourry closer to me and forced him to sit up again, so I could get a clear look at his injuries before I healed them, or at least tried to. To be honest, there was no way, in my condition, I could possibly heal that many wounds. I sighed deeply. “You know Gourry, you picked a rotten time to play the target,” I muttered.

He gave me a positively nasty look, one that suggested that I was saying something utterly out of line, but I wasn't. I was just venting my frustrations. Then again, so was he. He probably wasn't really glaring at me personally. He was probably just as frustrated as I was.

I sighed and flung his arm over my shoulder as gently as I could. He winced, but grabbed onto my shoulder. “We'll get to a healer, and fix you all up,” I said, gently this time.

“I'm with you on that, but what about him?” Gourry asked through gritted teeth, pointing to our buddy lying on the ground.

Good question. I was stumped. I sighed, then grabbed onto Gourry's chest plate with my other hand. Slowly, I stood up with him, getting him to his feet. He winced again and leaned on me heavily, grabbing my arm with his other hand. I gave him time, teetering a little under his weight, but it wasn't too much for me to handle.

“You alright?” I asked softly, unable to mask the worry I was feeling in my voice. I couldn't help but feel worried about him. I wish I had the means to heal him, but I didn't, and I knew he didn't have the strength to heal himself. This was a crappy situation we had gotten ourselves into.

He nodded slowly, but I could tell he was faking it. Still, I appreciated the effort. “How do you feel about going to see the town's healer?” I asked carefully, worried about the answer.

Gourry frowned, his eyes narrowing, but in the end, he mumbled an assent. He knew as well as I do that neither of us had a choice. “But him,” he went on, “what are we going to do about him?”

“Honestly, I don't care what happens to him,” I said, maybe a little too harshly than I had anticipated. “Once we get back on our feet and we're ready again, I'm ready to get down to the bottom of this all. I'm so sick and tired of this. EVERYONE seems to have SOMETHING to do with the Mazoku.”

“Yeah, it seems to be a sick trend,” Gourry replied.

Slowly, we started walking, leaving the scene of the chaos behind us. We did this in silence. Neither of us had anything else to say. Both of us were too tired and too achy to care about keeping conversation flowing, and to be honest, I had nothing to say. I had said what I wanted, I had vented my anger, and now I wanted my big lug of a blond jellyfish to be healed. Once that was over with, I would have something to say.

I could tell, as we walked, that Gourry was trying to be polite and keep his weight off me. I kept pulling him closer, shoving his weight down on my shoulders, but he kept pulling back. Eventually, I won, because he was just too tired to argue.

I decided that instead of actually going to a healer, we would have the healer come to us. That way, I would know if anything fishy was going on, and I would be able to root it out and deal with it the second it happened. I led Gourry back up to the room and laid him down, covered him up with blankets, and promised that I would be back. I think he was too tired to even notice that I was being overprotective of him. I really hope so.

Maybe I was overreacting with him. Maybe I was treating him more softly than I should have. But I was worried about him, and I didn't like the fact that I had to trust some healer I didn't know to heal him when I should have been able to.

Anyways, I trudged back out there, walking up and down the streets, looking for either someone wearing healer robes or some little hovel with the healer logo on it. I felt tired, achy, and lightheaded, and to be quite embarrassingly honest, very dizzy. I wondered why that was until I remembered and put a hand to my neck. Ah. That would also explain the stares from the early risers around me. My neck was sticky with blood from that asshole's sword.

I kept my hand over the cut as I walked, still looking. Jeez, for a town this size, one would think that they would have a stupid healer around.

Looking back, I deduct that what happened next was a combination of things. Firstly, I was on my period, and if you know ANYTHING about that, it's painful, gross, and weakening. It makes you tired and irritable. Not to mention how damn unpleasant it is. And secondly, I had an untreated neck wound I had forgotten about until a few minutes ago, and until then it was bleeding pretty nicely.

Either way, I stumbled, shut my eyes, and bumped into someone. I didn't even realize it until I realized I could stand up without tripping, and noticed that I was being held up. I opened my eyes slowly, mumbling the words, “Need to see a healer at my inn room.”

“I can see why, Lina-san, with such an awful neck wound.”

I started, but I sensed nothing foreboding about this person. In fact, the voice sounded pretty damn familiar. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed it was...

I looked up, and realized assumption wouldn't be necessary. It really was Sylphiel.

It had been what, almost three years since the last time I had seen her? And she didn't look too different, except maybe she was a little taller and her hair was longer. Other than that, she looked exactly the same.

“Sylphiel,” I stammered intelligently. “What are you doing all the way out here!”

She shook her head, ever the serious nun. “Nevermind about that right now, Lina-san,” she answered calmly. “What matters is that you're injured. Where's Gourry-sama?”

I paled, and she noticed. “Up at the inn, resting. I came out here to find a healer. He got injured pretty badly.”

She nodded this time. One thing I could always count on with Sylphiel was her ability to access the seriousness of a situation. And she knew this was one of those times when she had to be at her most serious.

I totally hope I didn't just confuse you.

Bottom line, I had not only found a healer, but one that I knew I could trust with Gourry. She and I headed to the inn and went right up to Gourry, who, by then, was dozing. She went right to work, chanting and holding her hands over him, summoning up the cleansing white light that would heal him.

I hung back, keeping a hand to my neck. I admit it, even though I had lucked out with Sylphiel, I was worried about Gourry. I trusted her abilities and knew she could handle it, but can you honestly blame me for feeling worried?

Nah, didn't think so.

Dramata