Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ The Mazoku Ring (Tolkien crossover/parody) ❯ Chapter 8

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 8: In the world in-between

"You used it again, didn't you Lina?" Zelgadiss stated, a
concerned look on his face.
"Well..."
It wasn't easy for Lina as she saw their eyes fixed on her in the
dimlit room in the inn, and she wished for anything, not the dangerous
silence and the chill she had down her spine.
"Used what?" Gourry asked, now non-knowing with another reason
than usual. With a sigh Zelgadiss started from the beginning,
filling the others in on what he had told
Amelia and Lina, Gourry blinking and trying to follow while
Martina watched with wide eyes. After telling about the
discovery about the ring, Lina's disappearance and the nature
of the ring, silence filled the room, and everybody except
Xelloss looked uncertain.
"So you're saying that it is a ring which holds Mazoku
powers?" Martina finally cut in.
"Weeeeell, Juu-ou-sama made it, it does have a few of her
powers in it... if one knows how to use it," he added with
a smirk in the end as he opened his eyes, looking even more sly
than usual. Zelgadiss snorted and hunched forwards in his chair.
"That's not our main concern, we need to get it destroyed on
Wolfpack Island where it was forged. And on the way there we
have to avoid the armies of Gaav and Phibrizzo."
"Easier said than done," added Amelia, and Martina nodded her consent.
"Exactly!"
Lina sighed and looked at the ring for a moment. Still shiny
and round, and it was hers... she shook herself out of her
thoughts and spoke in a low voice.
"We should get some sleep..."

The early hours had just begun, and everything was silent as
sleep still ruled across the lands. The village was as calm as
could be, expect for some hooded figures that hurried down the
pathto the Rabiat bunny, hiding in the shadows.
Though somebody was watching them…
After sitting on the same chair all night Xelloss still wasn't tired,
instead his slit eyes was regarding the street with an awkward
calmness, even in this situation.
"I'm happy we switched those rooms," he mumbled softly to
himself, watching where the Mazoku were heading.
They weren't any of the new Mazoku Phibrizzo-sama had created, yet
they weren't among the low-level Mazoku either…
Still, if they let their presence known, the other
Mazoku Lords would soon know where they were headed.
Without warning Xelloss was shook out of his thoughts as
he heard Lina stir in her bed.
"Mmmrgh, what's the fuss…?" the sorceress mumbled, sitting
up in her bed and trying to rub the sleep out of her little tired eyes.
"They're looking for you and your precious…" he answered solemnly,
not taking his eyes from the ruckus in the other end of the inn.
"WHAT?!"
Immediately getting up and out of bed, Lina wasn't slow to run over
and look for herself. She drew in breath over her lip as she saw the
figures fleeing down the path a second before teleporting out.
"Those, those were our rooms over there!"
Just as she turned to look at Xelloss, a loud explosion was heard,
and the dark morning hours
turned brighter as the far away part of the inn burst out in flames.
Shocked, frightened and much more, Lina looked back, her jaw almost
reaching the floor and her eyes wide.
"L-sama…"
"We must continue at once, wake the others," said Xelloss calmly and
got up from his chair before heading for the door, leaving Lina to gawk
at the inferno she was witnessing.

After a hurried packing and a way too quick breakfast
(at least in Lina and Gourry's opinion), the group was now heading
down the road leading out of Ysibri.
"But Xelloss-san, you're among the strongest Mazoku there is,
why are you so afraid of these ones…?" inquired Amelia as Xelloss led
them all down the road, leaving the town behind them.
"Because," began Xelloss, his face sincere, "if they notice us, we will
be easily outnumbered… and Gaav-sama and Phibrizzo-sama might stumble along too."
"Who's that?"
Everybody except the blonde swordsman, and Lina groaned and got to her feet.
"Big bad guy with a nasty sword to tried to kill all of us, and a little
brat who turned out to be the most powerful Mazoku in this world, JELLYFISH!" she responded,
bonking her guardian over the head to punctuate her final word.
"ITAI!"
Xelloss chuckled and looked over his shoulder.
"Leave that game for later, now we leave the road and travel in the forest to avoid pesky eyes."

"I HATE THIS!" Martina whined as she yanked at her cape to get it out of some
bushes. The route Xelloss had chosen for them wasn't easy, and even Gourry and
Zelgadiss had problems catching up. The Mazoku had instructed them all to refrain
from casting spells, and even he went by foot and not by teleportation as one would expect.
"But why, Xelloss?" Lina finally asked as she hauled herself up a steep hill
with the help of Amelia.
"It makes it easier for them to attract them to us. It's easy enough for them
with the ring you're bearing, Lina," was his simple reply.
"That's all well and good, but…. WE'RE HUNGRY AND TIRED AND THIS WANDERING IN
THE WILD ISN'T FUN, XELLOSS!" the redhead bellowed at the annoying fruitcake,
his hair blowing by the force of her voice.
"Shhh, Lina!"
Luckily for them all Zelgadiss interrupted her before she could continue her rant.
"If you continue like that you'll surely draw their attention towards us!"
"But still, it is getting late and we are hungry…" Gourry defended, crossing
his arms and looking at Xelloss, who now had brushed his hair back into place
and wiped his face.
"I know… we could possibly camp over there."
At that he pointed up towards a ruin on top of some hills, and everybody gazed
up where his finger motioned. Being wellread in geography, Zelgadiss
immediately recognized the hill.
"… weathertop."

Among some of the ruins the gang set up camp, huddling up in their capes and
looking around as the sunset slowly turned to night. This wasn't their
preferred spot to spend the night, but they didn't have any other choice,
it seemed. And with the cold air, howling wind and threatening shadows
certainly didn't light up their mood. Huddled up in a corner sat
Zelgadiss as usual,
in his pensive mood. Not liking this at all, and wondering about how many
Mazoku were on their trail just now. Another important question crossed
his mind: how powerful were they?
Gods, he was so tired now he smelt coffee... coffee…? That was no hallucination!
Quicker than usual, Zelgadiss Greywords got to his feet and raced back to the others.
"Gourry, that roast chicken is mine!"
"But Liiiiina!"
There, among all the rocks gathered around a small campfire, sat Lina, Gourry,
Martina and Amelia… eating.
"Zelgadiss-san! We made you some coffee, it get so chilly now that…"
The Seyruun princess didn't' get to finish her sentence as the chimera stormed forth,
kicking out the fire and cursed under his breath.
"HEY, ZEL! We're still eating, and you kicked sand all over my chicken!" Lina fumed,
but he looked up with narrowed eyes.
"Thanks to that campfire of yours the Mazoku must have spotted us for sure! We're on
top of a hill, and it's night!"
Silence reigned as the four looked at him, then at each other before returning their
gaze at him.
"Oooops."
Before they had the opportunity to say more, a screech filled the air, and Zelgadiss
turned to see a caped figure leap at him.
"FLARE ARROW!"
The flare arrow pierced the creature's chest, and it fell to the ground with a thud.
"Seems they've found us all right," Gourry stated and rose, unsheathing his sword and
eyed the darkness carefully. Nodding her consent, Amelia leapt up.
"What are we going to do?!" Martina exclaimed, looking around nervously.
"I doubt we can flee…," said Lina while she looked around.
"Martina, hide…" ordered Lina, knowing well how unskilled the Xoana princess was in combat.
She nodded without protest, then sought refuge underneath some rocks.

"Where's Xelloss?" she inquired, her hand grabbing the ring that
still hung on the chain around her neck.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him during my watch," was Zelgadiss'
quiet reply as he stood on guard, sword ready in hand.
A few tense moments passed, then Amelia gasped.
"THERE THEY COME!"

Over some ruin walls a small group of five cape-clad figures emerged,
and the four could almost taste the foul air that followed them.
Not wasting her time, Amelia quickly conjured up energy.
"RAH TILT!"
Not a second passed until the nearest menacing figure was engulfed in
the familiar blue light, screaming out in pain as it fell over.
"WHAT?!" Lina exclaimed, "it barely got injured!"
At this realization, Zel frowned.
"Shimatta… where's that darn fruitcake when we need him?!"
"Seems we gotta do this on our own, come on guys!"
They charged, each facing the still standing Mazoku. With his hikari no ken,
Gourry leapt at his opponent. Quickly calling upon its power, the Mazoku
released a beam of black energy in return before the blonde swordsman
reached him, and Gourry was sent flying back and crashed into an opposite wall.
Amelia wasn't having her day other, as one of the Mazoku decided to destroy her in one stroke.
Luckily Amelia foresaw the massive attack.
"BALUS WALL!"
Yet she yelped and staggered back as the force hit her shield,
driving her back towards the wall.
"AMELIA!" Zel cried, knocking away his opponent with his sword before chanting
a Dynast Brass at Amelia's attacker. Upon the impact the Mazoku screeched
and almost fell back, then leapt towards the chimera.
In the meantime, Lina was having trouble on her own. After various flare arrows,
fireballs and Gaav flares, the caped figure she was facing still stood unscratched.
This was a tight pinch indeed. They were fast, so would she have time to chant
a Dragu Slave, or the Ragna blade if that was necessary?
That pondering was suddenly cut off as Lina's eyes suddenly went wide,
and a wave of fear swept over her. Why… what was happening? Everything else seemed
to fade away as she heard a deep voice call inside her head.
… the ring…. the ring…. the ring….
A sudden urge flowed over her. She had to put it on! She had to be safe,
they couldn't see her! She had to get away. Her nimble fingers fumbled for the ring,
and she unhooked it from the chain.
As if on cue, all the Mazoku turned away from Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadiss,
their faces turned towards the shivering sorceress who stepped backwards towards the wall,
eyes wide in something unimaginable. Fear? Hopelessness….? Lina gasped for breath,
and closed her eyes as she slipped the ring on her finger.

When she opened her eyes, she held her breath. Shimmering beings had now taken
the places of the Mazoku. Mild, tender eyes in long and regal faces. With the
wind howling around her and tearing at her clothes, hair and entire being,
Lina stared awed at the figures as they began to make their way over to her.
She was vaguely aware of Gourry screaming, Zelgadiss and Amelia's voices far away,
but she barely registered. All she could see now was the figures who stood
merely a few feet from her. They looked… like angels… shimmering and bright,
she thought.
The tallest one leant down in front of her, and its hand reached for her,
as if to stroke her cheek gently. Almost holding her breath, Lina watched the
hand intently as it reached for her, feeling calmness spreading throughout her.
But breaking the almost divine silence, Gourry's voice called out again from afar.
"LINA!"
She quickly jerked back, holding her hand with the finger on away from the figure,
whose face now frowned in anger. Now coming to her senses, Lina pulled off her ring,
and she gasped as she once again saw the world as she was used to, and the
caped Mazoku now loomed above her. The one closest to her growled, and Lina was
about to conjure up an Elmekia lance as metal suddenly glinted underneath the dark
cape of the figure in front of her. Before she could register anything more,
a horrifying pain suddenly settled in her shoulder, and she screamed as she fall back
towards the ground.
"LINA-SAN!" Amelia gasped and ran forward, followed by Zel and Gourry.
"Now Amelia!"
The princess and the chimera united their strength, sending their most powerful attack
towards the Mazoku.
"RAH TILT!"
The one who had plunged a knife into Lina's shoulder screamed and recoiled, but the
others leapt for the redheaded sorceress, black capes flowing and their
dreaded voices filling the air with growls.
Just as they were about to reach Lina, a black wave of dark energy intercepted them
and threw them back. Seeing his chance, Gourry ran forward to Lina.
"Lina, are you all right?!" he asked, cradling her to him. She winced at the pain,
then hissed under her breath.
"It… burns…"
"Let her down Gourry, she was struck with a shadow knife."
Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadiss turned to where the familiar voice had come from.
"Xelloss!"
Fazing into reality again just mere feet from them, he eyed the Mazoku who was
now trying to get up again.
"You three stay with her, and I'll take care of them," he said, dead seriously,
then fazed in and out towards his targets.
Amelia and Zelgadiss stood ready just in case, while Gourry looked worried at Lina.

"Now that THAT has been taken care off," Xelloss said after a not too long battle,
"we need to take a look at Lina."
He quickly stepped over and bent down next to Gourry, who was cradling Lina protectively
against his chest.
"She, she's getting weaker…" Gourry said quietly, fear visible on his face.
"What did you say got her?" Zelgadiss interrupted, not liking the bluish tint
Lina's face was gaining at all. Amelia looked like she was going to burst into
tears any moment, and she held her hands in front of her mouth.
"A shadow knife… a knife made of negative energy by the high level Mazoku…
it's perfect to handle people who are strongly magic attuned, as it is nearly impossible
to destroy with even the highest magic known to man…
we have to get her away from here as soon as possible."
Now with his eyes open, the Trickster looked up.
"If not, she will die."