| Of Dragons and Demons Chapter 1 ~~~ Disclaimers: I do not own Slayers and I�m not making any money off of this. It is for entertainment purposes only. ~~~ Lina turned, taking one last look in the direction of the castle. Zelgadiss was quickly disappearing toward the forested horizon leaving a small dust cloud in his wake. She sighed and turned her attention back to the road in front of her. She didn�t know why, but she got the distinct feeling that she hadn�t seen the last of him quite yet� She had walked a ways, thoughts repeatedly straying to her eventful morning, when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. The bushes at the roadside ahead of her had just rustled. She readied another fireball, ready to blast whatever it was out into the open when suddenly the bushes on the opposite side of the road began rustling, too. Then the bushes behind her. �Oh, shit�,� she though as a single word came to mind. Ambush. ~~~ Zelgadiss�s mind was racing as he neared the forest surrounding the castle. �Am I really ready to face him? Am I strong enough yet?� he kept thinking, doubts flooding his mind as he subconsciously slowed his horse till he was almost at a dead stop. He looked up at the castle walls, towering in the distance. �No. I�m not ready yet. I�m still not strong enough�� �But now what am I supposed to do? I have no where to go but�� His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a large explosion in the direction from which he had just came. ~~~ �Flare Arrow!!!!!� �Haha, I�ll smoke �em out��teach then to try and sneak up on Lina Inverse, I�� �What the---?! GOBLINS?!?!?!� Lina yelled as three small, ugly, and extremely vicious creatures came flying at her from the bushes. She dove out of the way, just barely escaping her would-be demise, and as she stood, she began chanting� �Darkness beyond twilight�� The goblins turned toward her, their sharp yellow fangs bared threatening, oozing with drool� �Crimson beyond blood that flows�� �and slowly they moved in for the kill, cackling giddily� �Buried in the sands of time�� �they wouldn�t know what hit them. ~~~ As Zelgadiss urged his horse to go faster, he let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the convenient distraction. His horse, whose name happened to be Shadow, was pitch black, save a single diamond-shaped patch of snow-white fur on his forehead. He had belonged to Zelgadiss almost his whole life and loved him dearly� �but his right leg was starting to cramp. This was simply asking too much. Shadow stopped abruptly, his hooves digging deep into the ground as he went from 60 to 0 in less than 3 seconds. Zelgadiss, on the other hand, had nothing to slow him down as the momentum sent him flying a good 10 feet before landing with a painful thud. Shadow cringed. That is, if horses could cringe, he would have. Zelgadiss stood slowly, desperately trying to muster whatever remnants of dignity one could have after being hurled through the air by his own trusted steed. �What�d you do that for?!?!� Shadow snorted haughtily, turning away. Just then, Zelgadiss dove for his reigns, grabbing them and attempting to drag his stubborn horse the rest of the way. He soon realized, though, as Shadow dug his hooves into the dirt and sat, that he wouldn't be getting anywhere anytime soon. But Zelgadiss was never one to give up easily. "Come on!!! ...We have to...go save...Lina!!" he managed between breaths, trying desperately to at least get Shadow to stand up. Eventually, Zelgadiss's grip on the reigns loosened and he stumbled backwards. "You want to stay? Fine! I'll walk!!" And with that Zelgadiss trudged off towards the horizon, hoping against hope he wasn't too late. ~~~Meanwhile~~~ "...Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed..." Lina muttered, trying not to loose her concentration as yet another cackling hell spawn launched itself at the spot where she had been only seconds before. "...By the power you and I possess!" The goblins stopped cackling, staring in awe at the gigantic ball of energy Lina held above her. Then they turned to run. "DRAGU SLAVEEEEEE!!!!" Lina dusted her hands off as little pieces of what used to be goblin flesh slowly floated to the ground. 'It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it,' she smirked. Suddenly, Lina heard someone coming. Silently she hid behind a nearby boulder and waited. ~~~ "Hey! Hey, miss! Are you ok?! Where are you?" Zel called, slowly making his way down the side of the strange crater, searching through the rubble. He found the charred remains of what seemed to be a goblin gang. "...But goblins couldn't cause an explosion like that..." "It's called a Dragu Slave. Ever heard of it?" answered a voice from behind him. He spun around, his hand moving instinctively to his sword. "So we meet again, Zelgadiss." Lina smiled cheerfully. Zel stared in awe at the completely unsinged Lina, realization quickly giving way to disbelief. "You caused that explosion?" "Of course!" Lina flashed a victory sign. "Haven't you heard of the famous sorceress Lina Inverse?" ...Actually, Zel hadn't, but it isn't wise to say things to anger an egotistical teenager who can cast a Dragu Slave. "...Yeah, I've heard of you." Lina beamed. 'Hmm...,' Zelgadiss thought. 'This Lina person, though somewhat immature, she's obviously quite strong...I definitely need to train more so why not travel with her? Maybe I could learn a few things.' "So, Lina, where are you headed?" he asked casually. "Oh, I though I'd go to the Shadowlands." ~~~End of chapter 1~~~ |