"My, my, my, honey! You DO have a lot to learn, don't you? Well, here's your next lesson. If you do something I don't like, this dagger fulfills its purpose." A sudden clanging of steel diverted Zangulus's attention, and he ran to the kitchen. The sorcerer had risen, and was moving out the door towards a battle between the red-clad swordsman and Zangulus's father. He moved as if he were floating, and the wind blew his cloak against him, revealing the spidery body hidden in its folds. Zangulus started to run with the next clash of blades, not knowing what to do or how to save his father. The sorcerer stopped in front of the battle between the two men.
"Bomb Di Wind!!" he said, raising his hand, and a gust of wind deflected off the sand. It enveloped Zangulus's father in a dust storm which knock him to the ground. The red swordsman backed away, sheilding his eyes and spitting sand out of his mouth.
"Seanro! You idiot! I almost had him! Tiber's death is to be mine!" the red-clad swordsman snarled. He wiped his eyes and advanced towards Zangulus's father. Seanro the sorcerer pulled out a dagger and threw it into the red swordsman's shadow, stopping him in mid-step. "What's the meaning of this?" he yelled, unable to move. "Release me!"
The sorcerer ignored his plea and took out the sword that was sheathed at his side. Speaking as if acid were dripping from his tongue, he said, "What you have been unable to do, Yspan. To fulfill your master's wishes."
Zangulus's father had fully recovered from the magical attack, his fierce eyes fixed on the sorcerer, ready for anything. Unfortunately, he wasn't ready for what was to come.
"LIGHT COME FORTH!!" The steel blade fell away and was replaced by a beam of white light. The flash of which cancelled the shadow snap, freeing Yspan.
"How did....Where the.....Light?!?" stammered Yspan.
"It was changing hands, and, well, I got in the way. There is no way you can win, Tiber," he said, addressing Zangulus's father. "Why don't you surrender and I promise to kill you quickly." continued Seanro as he advanced towards Tiber, who crouched ready to do what must be done.
"I will never surrender to the power of that cesspool of a throne!" yelled Tiber.
"Now, Tiber, that is no way to talk about your great-uncle," chided Seanro as the Sword of Light hummed. Seanro levitated into the air and came down onto Zangulus's father. The sorcerer thrashed at Tiber, who blocked all of his blows. Watching, young Zangulus realized something: the sorcerer had no idea what he was doing! He just kept slapping at his father with the Sword of Light like it was a magic wand, and was hoping his opponent would just disappear.
"STOP!!" cried a female voice, and everyone's attention turned to Zangulus's mother, who had the green-clad swordsman with the dagger still at his throat. "I have your prince!" she threatened. "Let Tiber go!"
Seanro faced her and said, "Well, look at this. I can't have a farm girl with a mere dagger executing my final task for me. That would give me a bad reputation." At these words, the fearful look on the green swordsman's face turned to terror.
"Seanro! What are you talking about?!?" cried the prince. "I thought..."
"That you could have your father assassinated and not get any blood on your own hands?" sneered the sorcerer, keeping Tiber covered. "You are stupid, Prince Wahdriff, always have been. Why do you think your father agreed to let you come out to the Desert of Destruction with me? He knew about your plan weeks ago. And out here," he motioned to the wasteland around them, "I can make up any story I like about your death. Your mother trusts me completely, and won't be surprised after all the foul-ups you've concocted in your life. She was worried about the kingdom wasting away in your hands anyway. And your father pays better than you do."
The words of Seanro made Zangulus's mother slowly lift the dagger away from Wahdriff's throat, realizing she was holding a doomed pawn. But she was too slow.
"Blast Ash!" A ball of darkness left the hand of the sorcerer and enveloped Wahdriff and Zangulus's mother with an evil roar. Then it shrank to nothing, and left two piles of ash between which tumbled a dagger.
"NO!!!!!!" cried the boy as he rushed towards the sorcerer. Seanro levitated in the air just as Zangulus's sword came down, striking only sand. Zangulus froze, blade buried in the dust.
"Make yourself useful, Yspan, get rid of the boy!" Seanro barked, and he came down to attack Tiber again. Zangulus, still frozen, was breathing hard and seething with anger like a cauldron of dragon's blood. Thinking of his mother and hating the red-haired sorcerer.
"Come on, boy," said Yspan. "Wouldn't be fair to kill you like this. I'll give you the first shot." Zangulus closed his eyes and thought of his mother, burning into oblivion. Then, his father's words came into his head.
"Remember......Survive...."
He composed his thoughts and turned around with frightened child's-eyes, faced his opponent, and moved into an uneven stance. With eyes closed and a weak cry, he rushed towards Yspan and thrashed in his general direction, which was blocked. Yspan retaliated with a furious shower of blade strikes, but Zangulus blocked all of them with his head turned and eyes closed as if he didn't want to see what was going on. Then it hit him: he was having NO trouble blocking the barrage of attacks! Yspan was grunting with every strike, wrinkling his forehead. This was the best Yspan could do! Yspan was nothing compared to Tibor, Zangulus's father, the anvil that Zangulus's abilities were forged on.
Zangulus let Yspan thrash a few more times, then caught his hilt. The crossed swords were locked in place and their eyes met over the shining blades. Zangulus's frightened little boy's eyes stared into the berserk glare of the frustrated Yspan. Then, the expression in Zangulus's eyes shifted, from the scared child to the eyes of the warrior he was about to become. And at that moment was born what all his opponents would see before they lost: the cocky smile of Zangulus the Swordsman that would be the last sight an opponent would see in his life.
Zangulus shifted his weight and pushed Yspan back. Yspan regained his balance and watched as the young man saluted and assumed the proper stance for a swordfighter. With blinding speed, Zangulus thrashed at Yspan with blows that were meant to wear him down. The retaliation was less than reciprocal. Zangulus struck two quick low blows, and when Yspan expected a third, whipped his sword high and drew blood from Yspan's cheek, and a gasp of shock from Yspan's mouth. Yspan gasped in exasperated breaths as the young man prepared to end the duel. Zangulus tossed three fast blows, then lunged to a knee, snaking the tip of his blade into Yspan's chest. He pulled out his blade along with Yspan's death wail.
Zangulus stepped back as his opponent fell face forward into the sand. He had fought his first battle, and he had won.
Seanro's silver eyes met the scene with fear in them. This was not part of his plan.
Zangulus stood there, frozen, savoring the moment in time. He had fought his first battle, and he had won. He looked at his blade, drenched in his opponent's blood, and turned to face the sorcerer with a soul full of vengeance.
Seanro assessed his situation as Tiber recovered from the last series of blows. The sorcerer re-sheathed the Sword of Light, knowing that either of the swordsmen had the ability to take it out of his hands. Tiber charged him with the force of a lightening bolt, but the sorcerer levitated like a shot into the air to prepare his next attack. Tiber and Zangulus both ran in the direction the sorcerer fled. Relief and surprise were in each other's eyes that they were both still breathing.
Seanro landed and immediately closed his eyes, rebuilding his concentration. Father and son stood in his path, ready to take on whatever he cast at them. Zangulus looked at his father, whose gaze was confident but wary beneath the brim of his hat. He nodded to his son in acknowledgement. Those eyes flashing approval beneath the brown brim would stay with Zangulus for the rest of his life.
Seanro raised one of his hands with his eyes closed. "Bomb Di Wind!" he cried. A burst of air left his hand and shot right at Tiber's feet. His block was too high, and the gust lifted him up in the air, making his cloak fly up and throwing his hat off his head. Tiber's expression turned to anguish as he realized he wasn't coming back down. Seanro held him helpless up in the air. Tiber's feet and legs were searching for steady ground that wasn't there, his long hair blowing all over, unconstained by his missing hat. He tried to gain control of his balance but could not. Zangulus stared in frustration, unable to help his father. Thinking quickly, he ran to the side as fast as he could. When he was out of Seanro's peripheral vision, he turned in towards him and charged towards the sorcerer. If he could just get to him before the sorcerer could cast another......
Seanro lifted his other hand and opened his eyes which glowed silver like stars.
"Hell Blast!" A dark bolt left his hand. Seanro recoiled with a cry of shock, then looked down to his leg as Zangulus drew his sword out of the sorcerer's knee. The monstrous roar of the spell drew Zangulus's eyes upwards to the sight of his father, just being struck by the blast, writhing in pain as the black bolt sucked his body dry of life. His body fell lifeless onto the sand. Seanro also collapsed in pain as his pale blue robe turned a dark maroon from his precious blood being spilled. Zangulus towered over him with a reaper's grimace, lifting his sword to strike. The sorcerer sat there in a stupor, not believing his plans could be fouled by the dark-skinned, dirty, mis-bred desert cretin who was about to take his life. Zangulus brought down the sword, but the sorcerer levitated into the air again, the blow of the sword only connecting with his already wounded leg. In the air, Seanro pulled out the Sword of Light.
"Light Come Forth!" The blade reappeared. Seanro flew to the house and landed on a grey steed that brought him into the Desert of Destruction. Zangulus ran after him using all the strength that was left in his young body. Seanro grabbed the reins and guided the horse over where it's companions were tied and slew one of the other horses. The other horse whinnied and bucked at the smell of blood, and Seanro silenced it by drawing the Sword of Light across the animal's throat. Then he took off across the Desert towards Elmekia.
Zangulus could only watch as he stumbled from his run then staggered to a walk. He dropped to his knees in despair. He lifted his sword and struck the ground out of frustration as tears exploded from his eyes. He kneeled there, greiving for his mother and father as a gust of wind brew pelting sand onto his back. Tears flowed, cutting channels into the dust on his cheeks. The enemy had escaped. The only people he had ever loved were gone. He was alone in the Desert of Destruction.
Another gust brew up, and it carried a sound that made him look up.
"Survive......"
As he looked up, his father's travelling hat hit the ground a few yards in front of him. He got up and walked towards it, but every time he almost grabbed it, the wind blew it away again. It happened a few more times before he realized that the hat was moving along the trail of hoof prints. He finally lunged after it and seized it. He looked at it a moment, then followed the trail of tracks with his eyes towards Elmikia.
He thought about his parents, closed his eyes, and clutched the hat to his chest.
"I will," he said softly to the spirits of his mother and father. "I will survive." He placed the hat on his head to protect him from the non day sun, and headed back to the house. With great sadness he laid his father to rest with his sword in the sand, and covered his body with his mother's ashes, laying them to rest together for eternity. He filled a water sack and fixed it to his belt, wiped his sword and sheathed it. He took down his brown travelling cloak, the one that once protected his father the day Tiber first entered the Desert of Destruction so many years ago, and draped it around his young shoulders. He started out on the trail with headed to the sunset, then looked back on the house and the pile of stones which marked the resting place of his parents. He closed his eyes and said his final farewell, removing the hat in a gesture of respect. Then he turned around on the path, fixing the hat firmly onto his head, and started after his nemisis.
Zangulus marched as a lone warrior towards civilization. The sun cast a long shadow behind him which ended in the crook of the hat.
I have to assume that Zelkurtis intended to write an epic tale of Zangulus, since he does seem to have an odd affection for the obsessive swordsman. After all-- did Zangulus manage to catch and kill Seanro? How did Seanro steal the Hikari no Ken in the first place, and how does it get back to the Gabriev family? Why does Zangulus follow Gourry around, challenging him? I guess Zelkurtis has an idea about all that, but he hasn't written it down yet!! I have the feeling that this is only the beginning.........