Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Search for the Darkstar ❯ Dragon's Blood Spreads and the Power Awakens ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: "Slayers" isn't mine, but belongs to Kanzaka Hajime, Araizumi Rui and those who represent them. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while and will return them intact. Except for Gourry. He might be squished just a little. This story is set after the manga arc "Knight of Aqualord" and is an alternate take on the TRY season of the anime.

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Search for the Darkstar

- Chapter 22: Dragon's Blood Spreads and the Power Awakens

Filia wasn't getting through.

She was down to the final layer of the barrier, the thickest one. Every technique on barrier breaking that she'd ever learned flittered through her mind as Filia moved her hands in intricate patterns. The stubborn side of her refused to accept the fact that she couldn't get past the final seal. She had been one of the most-skilled priestess in her temple when it came to barrier removal. There was something familiar to the last barrier, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The main problem with barrier-breaking was that it took a good deal of energy from the person trying to break it. That's why barrier that originated at a point high in the sky were impossible for even talented barrier breakers to remove without having some sort of support. It was why she hadn't attempted to remove the barrier surrounding the gateway. There'd been nothing for her to stand upon and it'd been too far away for her to even try. Another tricky thing about barriers was that while they could be cast and taken down in their dragon forms, the strongest barriers were always erected in human form.

She distantly heard the screeching and froze, recognizing the battle cry. Reality returned with a cold slap as she noticed people flanking into position around her. Gourry, Amelia, Shizuri and Lyos. All of them were staring up at the sky and with a feeling of dread, she slowly looked up. Her heart turned to ice when she recognized the hundreds of dragons carrying emblems of the Flarelord temple. She slowly got to her feet and saw Zelgadiss and Lina hovering just below the opening in the ceiling.

“Did you get it?”

Filia shook her head at Shizuri. “No. Give me a minute and I'll try it again.”

“We may not have a minute if these guys try to attack,” Lyos commented.

Filia started to reply, but was distracted when the barrier started to flare up. She whirled around in time to a man step through it. Her jaw fell when she found herself staring at the stern and furious face of her Supreme Elder. “Sai…Saichoro-sama,” she stammered.

He scanned the group. “So, you've made it this far, Filia.”

“You,” Shizuri hissed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He didn't bother to stare a glance in her direction. “Are you the only people here?”

“Wh…What?” Filia stuttered.

The Elder slammed his staff into the ground and she flinched. “I asked if you were the only people here, Filia! You, Xelloss and the Overworlder!”

“What?” Filia, Shizuri, Amelia, Gourry and Lyos screamed and they whirled around to see Xelloss and Almayce fade into view behind them. In the air, Lina and Zelgadiss both gawked at the appearance of the Mazoku and the Overworlder.

“What do we do from here?” Zelgadiss whispered to Lina.

“Maintain the Raywing for now,” she instructed. “If they start to attack, I can extend my spell around you and you can throw up a shield like we did when Copy Rezo obilivated Sairaag. Amelia can handle a magical shield on the ground and Gourry and Lyos both have weapons that can deal with a Mazoku lord.”

Xelloss gave the Elder a chilling smile. “Supreme Elder! It's been quite awhile since our last meeting. It seems that we have the same question that you have of us. What brings you to this Ancient Dragon temple?”

“Our goal is to preserve the peace in this world,” the Elder intoned, using the words that Filia had heard her entire life. She thought back to what the Ancient Dragons said and shuddered.

“It means that whatever is behind the barrier will upset that delicate balance,” Almayce said. “In that case, you must allow us to see it.” He held up his remaining arm and ice shot out from it, coating and turning it into a deadly spear. The Elder held up his staff and braced himself.

Things were going from bad to worse very quickly, Lina decided as the fight brewed between Almayce and the Elder. Gourry shot a look up at her and she quickly shook her head, knowing he would understand. No attacking either of them unless one of them made a move for their group. Too many questions filled her head to even begin to try to take a guess at them. The key thing now was to make sure that Almayce, the Elder and Xelloss didn't all gang up upon them at once. If Almayce and the Elder were distracted with each other, they could distract Xelloss enough to grab the weapon.

The Elder raised his staff and released a ray of light from it. It shot past Lina and Zelgadiss and through the temple opening. A few seconds passed before the dragons' battle cries faded, then was replaced by the familiar whine of spells being cast. As a collective unit, the dragon army shot rays of golden light toward the temple building, but not through the opening itself. As the spells hit the temple, the building shook violently. Lina quickly grabbed Zelgadiss's arm and extended her Raywing around him as he cast a shield over them. “They're trying to cave in the temple,” he gasped as he focused his spell around them.

On the ground, the humans left behind clustered close together as stones started to fall around them. Amelia closed her eyes and began to chant, praying she could make a shield that could protect them all. A barrier flared to life surrounding herself, Shizuri and Gourry, but it wasn't enough for Lyos or Filia.

“Princess?” Shizuri stared down at her in concern as sweat trickled down her face.

“Lina-san and Zelgadiss-san need to be down here to help me with the shield,” Amelia said, her words slow as she concentrated on the shield. “My magical capacity isn't big enough on my own.”

“I'll help, Amelia-san.” Filia closed her eyes and started chanting her own shield spell. She had nearly completed the incantation when she felt herself be jerked back. She screamed and Lyos whirled around, grabbing for her. He froze when he saw Xelloss with one arm wrapped around Filia's waist, his staff held to her neck. “One move and you're dead, Filia-san,” he hissed. “If any of you try to rescue her, you'll be killed as well.” His gaze flicker to Lina's face, an eyebrow arching in appreciation when she swore fluently in response.

Satisfied that Lina and her group wouldn't do anything for the moment, Xelloss nodded toward the Supreme Elder. “If you would please remove the barrier for us, I would appreciate it. I'm sure that the Flarelord Temple would suffer greatly from the loss of such a talented priestess.”

“I don't care if you kill her,” the Elder replied in words that stabbed Filia's heart. “I won't comply even if you held the life of the Knight of Ceiphied at stake. We will do nothing to endanger the peace of this world!”

Well, Sis would love to know that this jerk would offer her up as a sacrifice. Lina concentrated more power into her Raywing spell as the temple shook around them. Stupid jerk. Doesn't he realize he's doing exactly that! Damn it, if going after him wouldn't put Gourry and the others in danger, I'd kick his ass to the next continent and back.

“I see.” Almayce closed his eye, then angled his arm toward the sky. Lina and Zelgadiss flew out of the way, barely eluding the energy beams he shot through the opening. The attack streamed into the sky and through the dragon army. He calmly turned in a circle, angling the attack so that it neatly sliced through the dragons that surrounded the temple outside like a knife through butter. He angled it in such a way that he avoided hitting the temple ceiling itself.

With a growing horror, Lina and Zelgadiss saw golden dragon corpses rain from the sky, striking the building with the same amount of force as their earlier attacks. On the ground, Filia clasped her hands over her ears as the corpses hit, tears streaming down her face as denial screamed in her head.

One of the dragons crashed close to the edge of the opening, his bloodied head drooping through the hole. Blood coated its throat and rained onto the group below. His eyes cracked open and he stared at Lina and Zelgadiss. “We have pledged our lives to do our duty,” he gasped, “to serve the Flarelord temple faithfully and protect the peace of this world.” His strength gave out and his eyes clouded over with death. The body fell into the temple, landing on the other side of the dome.

If the Supreme Elder had wanted to make his point, he couldn't had chosen a better moment to take advantage of it. “No matter what happens, I will not hand over the final weapon to you,” he intoned, then his gaze shifted to Filia. “Or to you.”

The realization suddenly hit Lina. The bastard! He knew that the final weapon was here all along! Xelloss glanced upward briefly and gave her a brief nod. It appeared he had suspected the same thing as well. The other four weapons were beyond the Elder's reach thanks to the Mazoku barrier, but he knew where the fifth one had been all the time.

“If you don't wish to break the barrier, I'll force you to do so,” Xelloss said pleasantly.

“Useless. We servants of the Gods cannot break this final barrier. This barrier was cast by the Ancient Dragons themselves. They sealed it and turned against our most Holy temple, away from those who serve the gods. We destroyed them in a gesture of protection before they could take away what peace we had found after the Kouma Sensou. We left this weapon here and cast many more barriers to ensure that it would not be detected, even after the original four were discovered in the lands contained within the Mazoku barrier. We did this to protect the peace of the world.”

“You're lying!” Filia shrieked and felt Xelloss's hold on her relax slightly. “You're lying, I can see it in your eyes! Milgazia-san hinted that something was wrong and we know the truth! They were killed because they refused to fight for you! They didn't want to give you the weapon so you killed them!”

“Silence, Filia!”

“I will not be silent!” She trembled as power welled up inside of her. “You have no control over me! You lost that power the moment you turned your back on me after we fought Almayce at the temple. The Ancient Dragons hid the weapon here because they didn't want you to get it!”

Shizuri cracked a smile. Go, Filia! You might be finding your answer sooner than I realized.

“You're very perceptive, Filia-san,” Xelloss said. “I believe that the Ancient Dragons realized what your Elder would do should he had gotten his hands on the weapon.” He released Filia and pushed her toward Amelia's barrier. She stumbled and Lyos caught her arm and steadied her.

“Since apparently only someone with Ancient Dragon blood running through them can break the barrier, we must figure a way around it.” He stepped toward the Elder, extending his staff as he did so. “I find it highly unlikely that you'll just sit here quietly. The chances of that are up there with the chances that Lina-san won't use a Dragon Slave in a major battle. Since all know her vast love of that spell, it's safe to say that you are a threat.”

Lina grunted at that remark.

“I think that I need to eliminate my obstacles quickly,” Xelloss said smoothly and allowed his gaze to sweep over the room before resting on the Elder once more, his staff starting to glow. “Then I will have adequate time to solve this little puzzle. Oh, and I wouldn't call what remains of your little army. You and I are both aware of my track record during the Kouma Sensou. In fact, I'm feeling a bit rusty in that department lately. I've been benevolent toward golden dragons for too many years.”

Xelloss released his attack and the Elder dodged it. He flew with ease to the opposite side of the barrier and transformed into his full dragon form. The beast easily took up a good portion of the room and was at least twice the size of Filia when she was transformed. He lifted his head, barely missing Lina and Zelgadiss who had moved closer to the opening. Then he launched a spell at Xelloss - and the humans who were close to him.

“Gourry!” Lina screamed, knowing they wouldn't have time to get out of the way.

“Amelia!” Zelgadiss yelled and knew that no matter how powerful she was, she couldn't cast a shield spell that strong.

As soon as the Elder had taken a breath, Amelia knew what was going to happen and that she wouldn't be able to hold a shield at her current magical capacity. A quick memory flashed, that of Zelgadiss taking Gourry's hand and linking magical capacities.

“You have quite the sizable magical capacity there, Gourry."

She didn't bother to second guess herself. Quick as a flash, Amelia whirled around, grabbed his arm and extended a magical link toward him. His eyes met hers as something broke past a wall inside of him and it felt like the time Zelgadiss wanted to test his magical capacity. Amelia shuddered as she felt her magical capacity link with Gourry's, then extended her free hand outward, using the combined magical capacities to strengthen the shield.

The Elder's transformation had shaken Filia from her stupor. When the Elder reared back his head, Filia leaped in front of the small group of humans and quickly cast a secondary shield just as the attack missed Xelloss and slammed into the barrier. It wasn't a strong one by dragon standards, but just enough to deflect the spell from hitting Amelia's barrier and the humans. The spell shattered the barrier and Filia flew backwards. Lyos caught her before she hit the ground.

“Amelia's using Gourry's magical capacity to help her with her shield,” Lina quickly deduced. “We've got to get them out of there.”

“Even if we go down now, we risk only saving two of them and hope that Filia's shield can protect the rest,” Zelgadiss replied, knowing without question the two they would save first.

They didn't have long to figure out what to do next. Xelloss and the Elder quickly took to the air and Xelloss shot them a look that clearly said for them to get down while they still could. Amelia and Filia released their shields as Lina and Zelgadiss hit the ground and rejoined them.

Amelia crumpled to the ground, exhausted. She pressed a hand to her chest, gasping air before she felt the cool wash of the Recovery spell sweep over her. She looked up and into Zelgadiss's concerned eyes. “Thank you, Zelgadiss-san,” she said with a shaky smile. “I've never tried linking to another person's capacity before. I learned how when I was studying to be a shrine maiden, but didn't think of it until Lina-san asked you to test Gourry-san's capacity. I knew from your comments that it had to be pretty big, so it was the only thing I could think to do.”

“You did well, Amelia,” Zelgadiss praised her and she flushed slightly from the complement. “If I'd been in the same situation, I would had done the same thing.”

“In any case, we need to decide what to do next and fast.” Lina scanned over her group. Other than Amelia's exhaustion and Gourry looking slightly pale-faced from having his capacity tapped into, they were all unharmed. “We've got to break the barrier.”

“Useless,” Almayce spoke up and they stared at him. He gestured at the barrier. “The Supreme Elder got it wrong. What covers the weapon isn't an Ancient Dragon barrier.”

Filia's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. “No wonder it felt familiar,” she said and turned to Lina. “The magic I sensed from the barrier. I thought it was familiar, but thought that it was magic from the Ancient Dragons. It's not! The magical signature is like the Sword of Light's!”

Almayce nodded to her. “You are correct, dragon priestess. The Ancient Dragons have taken the power of Galvayra and inverted it to create a barrier.”

“Then they layered their own barriers on top of it, the ones that you got through,” Lina deduced. “That's why you couldn't detect that weapon even after the Mazoku barrier fell.”

Almayce closed his eye and a look of pain flashed over his face. “At this rate, the only thing that will break it is Darkstar weapons currently holding the gateway closed. The magic of your world will not affect it.”

“What?” Lina cried.

“You mean that thing's still opened?” Lyos asked.

“It explains the barrier we found when we went back to the gateway,” Zelgadiss said.

“It is sealed, but it won't hold for long since the gateway was already opened once.” Almayce gave Lina a serious look. “I want to make a deal with you, Lina Inverse. You have turned me down once before, but hear me out now. There have been too many sacrifices already.”

“You say that, but you didn't bat an eye when you took down hundreds of golden dragons just a few minutes ago,” Lina seethed, her heart aching when she heard Filia's gasp behind her. “Sorry, but we're past the deal-making part of the program.” She surveyed her group and knew that they were completely on their own. “Filia and Lyos, you two go for Almayce. Gourry, you and the others keep Xelloss and the Elder occupied. Buy me some time!”

Filia angled her hands over her chest amulet, quickly chanting the words for Chaotic Disintegrate and launched the attack at Almayce. It hit whatever barrier he had erected around him. Lyos whirled Banisher in the air and sprang toward the Overworlder, aiming for the arm that Lina had cleaved off. Almayce swung his arm up to deflect the sword while Filia quickly teleported behind him to cast the spell once more. Almayce blocked Lyos in a swift move before barely erecting a barrier in time to ward off Filia's second spell.

A few feet away, Shizuri began transfiguring debris into illusions of giants that aimed toward the Elder. The beasts raised giant hammers and brought them down toward the dragon. She smirked when he flinched and was actually hit by the raining debris when the illusions faded. He's never seen illusionary magic, which means he'll fall for whatever attacks I send his way. It'll be enough of a distraction to keep him out for a little while at least.

Xelloss landed a few feet from Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadiss. Amelia charged toward him, going into full justice mode. She struck her infamous pose and stared down the Mazoku. “We've been comrades in the past, but this time you've gone too far! Xelloss-san, I'm going to take advantage of your weakness!”

“Oh?” Xelloss lifted an eyebrow.

Amelia pressed a hand to her chest, took a deep breath and started chanting in a lilting voice. “Life in wonderful! Living is marvelous! The world's overflowing with light and joy!”

Gourry and Zelgadiss stared at Amelia for a moment, dumbfounded as she proceeded to launch into a rousing song of the beauty and joy in the world as Xelloss dropped to his knees and clasped his hands to his ears. Then they stared at each other. “So,” Gourry suggested, thumbing at Shizuri and the Elder, “why don't we help out Shizuri?”

“Good idea,” Zelgadiss agreed and they fled.

Lina stood before the barrier and ran through her options. Life seemed to be nothing but one big barrier to her lately. She placed her hands on her hips and tuned out the battle going on around her. Her friends could handle them without her help. They were all extremely strong in their own way. It would all be for nothing if she couldn't figure out how to break through the barrier.

It required a power stronger than the Darkstar weapons if what Almayce said was true and the final barrier was being formed by the actual weapon. She knew the Blast Sword wouldn't work, nor would drawing upon Shabranigdu's or Airlord's power. An amplified Dragon Slave channeled through the Sword of Light would possibly work, but that weapon was currently an ocean away. Luna's words came back to her and she quickly put them out of her mind. It's not time yet.

A memory came back to her, of the one thing that had broken through a powerful barrier during a desperate time when she had to save Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadiss and Prince Phil. Lina nearly smacked her forehead when it came to her. Why didn't I think of this when we were trying to access the gateway? Oh, that's right, Gourry was pitching a fit because we nearly lost the Blast Sword. Gah, what a jellyfish!

Pushing aside her annoyance for the moment, Lina extended her hands. “You, who is part of the Lord of Nightmares. You, who is released from universe, a freezing black blade of darkness. Be my power, be my arm. Together we walk on the path of destruction, crashing down the soul of Gods!” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, then lifted them. “Ragna Blade!” she yelled as the massive sword formed in her hands.

All of the battles ceased as Lina's spell took shape. “That spell,” Almayce gasped and winced at the phantom pain as he remembered what it felt like to be cut with that sword.

“It makes sense,” Zelgadiss said as he remembered how Lina had used the spell to cut through the Astral plane. “That spell calls upon a power higher than the gods or the dark lords. We should had used it to break down the other barrier. It can slice through Darkstar's power.”

“How did we forget about that?” Lyos asked Filia. “Lina did the same thing at your temple when she relieved Almayce of his arm.”

“I don't think it occurred to any of us until now,” she replied.

Lina felt the power start to escape her control and for a brief moment considered tapping into the powers she was granted by Airlord to fuel it. With a mental scream of denial, she slammed the blade into the barrier and felt it give. She braced herself, felt her power start to give out. She channeled all of her will into keeping the sword formed and just as it started to break apart, the barrier fell.

She hit the ground gasping and choking up blood. Her vision clouded and in front of her she could barely see a bow-shaped weapon made of light upon a platform. She started to rise, then stumbled. A pair of strong arms grasped her and she tried to push them away. “The weapon,” she gasped when a white and gray figure she recognized as Zelgadiss stepped in front of her. “Get the weapon.”

Zelgadiss sprinted toward the platform as Amelia knelt next to Lina and started a Recovery spell. Lina looked behind her expecting to see Gourry, but was surprised to find that Lyos had been the one to catch her. The young man shifted aside when Gourry knelt down next to her and she relaxed into his hold.

Zelgadiss held up the weapon and Almayce's eyes went wide. “The final weapon, Galvayra,” he breathed.

“If that thing's suppose to be a bow, where's the arrows?” Shizuri wondered.

Lyos quickly looked over his shoulder and saw Almayce's ice-covered arm suddenly extend toward Zelgadiss. “Look out!” he yelled and shoved Amelia to the ground. Gourry quickly angled his body over Lina's, pushing her beneath him as Almayce's extended arm shot over their heads. It streamed past Zelgadiss and plunged into the heart of the transformed Elder. The dragon screamed in pain before crumpling to the ground. Almayce gave a twist of his arm and yanked it from the Elder, dragon's blood spraying over all of them.

Filia's glassy eyes took in the sight of her temple's elder as the life ebbed from him. Dragon's blood shall spread and following the power between light and darkness, a single star shall be awakened. She approached him and stared down as his mouth, watched his breath wheeze out.

“Tell me why I shouldn't let you die,” she whispered. “You were willing to sacrifice me and the entire temple for your so-called peace.”

The Elder lifted his head slightly. “You will attend to me,” he ordered in a breezy voice.

Tears pricked at the corner of Filia's eyes. He walked away from me. He was going to kill me. But… She placed her hands above his wounds and started chanting a healing spell.

On the other side of the room, Almayce sprang over them all and landed a few feet away from Zelgadiss. “For the good of both worlds, I can't let you have that!”

Zelgadiss raised the weapon confidently. “Light, come forth!” he yelled and a bow string formed between the two ends of the weapon, an arrow notched in it. He drew the bow string back and sighted down Almayce. He knew next to nothing about archery, but figured that as long as he hit, the damage would be enough. He released the attack. It skimmed Almayce's good arm, shot out the opening in the temple ceiling and into the sky. A hole formed in the dark clouds, revealing blue sky behind them.

“That thing makes the Sword of Light look like a butter knife,” Xelloss gasped, then rolled his eyes when Gourry shot him a sour look. “It does!”

Almayce seethed with anger and stepped toward Zelgadiss. “Give Galvayra to me!”

Lina pushed Gourry aside and shakily got to her feet. There wasn't enough in her to try another Ragna Blade and she knew a Dragon Slave wouldn't work against Almayce. She yanked off her glove and started concentrating on Airlord's power.

“What the hell are you doing, Lina!” Shizuri yelled. “You just used the Lord of Nightma…”

“Shut up!” Lina screamed as the gods power condensed in her hand. “Zel! Shoot now!” She released the attack and it slammed into Almayce. He hit the wall, bones shattering beneath the impact the massive power that Lina channeled toward him.

Zelgadiss raised the weapon and released an arrow. The light attack blazed across the room and into Almayce's body. With a terrible shriek, he hit the floor and lay motionless.

Lina released the spell. She nearly fell and grabbed onto Gourry for support. “The magic of our world can't affect him,” she managed, “but wind can push a physical object no matter what its components. The wind attack destroyed his physical body he generated for this world and the attack from Galvayra handled the astral side. He's dead.”

“Excellent work as always, Lina-san,” Xelloss praised as he approached Zelgadiss's back. He reached forward and lightly tapped the chimera between his shoulder blades with his staff. Zelgadiss stumbled and fell to the ground unconscious. Xelloss reached over and scooped up the weapon.

“Zelgadiss-san!” Amelia screamed.

“I do apologize for this,” Xelloss said and held the weapon up. “You see, we all had one thing in common with the exception of the Elder and that was the acquisition of this weapon. I intended to assist Almayce in acquiring it, but as you see, the one meant to get it in the end was me. Considering that Lina-san's hair is starting to turn white and our previous user of the weapon has decided to take a nap, I highly doubt that any of you will be able to follow me at the moment. Now, if you'll excuse me…” And with that, he teleported away.

“Zelgadiss-san!” Amelia rushed to his side as he began to stir.

Lina weakly looked around the room. Filia was near the Elder as he gasped for breath. Almayce's body lay crumpled on the other side of the room. She glanced down at her hair and saw that several inches has gone white. She closed her eyes and felt the burden of what happened start to crash down on her. What do we do now?

——-

Several hours later

Lina lay on her bedroll and listened to Amelia cast the spells that caused the dead golden dragons to be encased in stone. They had laid Almayce alongside them, agreeing that in the end he was trying his best to save his world. The complexities of the situation even made her head spin.

Almayce wanted the weapons to summon Darkstar into our world to save his. The Elder wanted the weapons to prevent Darkstar from being summoned and to also prevent what he feels are the enemy from disturbing his definition of peace. Today it's Almayce that's the enemy. What if it's humans sometime in the future? Then there's Xelloss. Bastard. I can't get a read on him. Knowing our Mazoku, they'll want to use Darkstar's power in an attempt to resurrect one of the pieces of Shabranigdu.

She heard the tent flap rustle and looked over to see Gourry crawl in. He placed a bowl of stew beside her, then reached for another he left outside. “Hungry?”

“Famished.” She pushed herself into a sitting position and quickly polished off the stew, then helped herself to Gourry's. When he didn't protest, she looked over the rim of the bowl and saw the worried look on his face. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He looked out the flap, then reached for the tie holding it open and released it. The flap fell down and plunged the tent into semi-darkness, but it was better than looking upon the corpses. “I just feel bad for them. They were only following orders, what they believed in. They didn't know what was going on.”

“I know.” Lina wrestled with the sympathy she had for them and scooted closer to Gourry. He put an arm around her and they sat silently, dealing with the grief that had come with the battle.

“I don't regret killing Almayce,” she admitted after a few minutes. “He would had killed Zel and if he'd gotten the final weapon, he would had summoned Darkstar. Although I'm starting to suspect that we won't have any choice but to summon him ourselves. Almayce said the gateway was unstable and now Xelloss has the final weapon. I presume he can get past the barrier.”

“Could you try the Ragna Blade against it?”

“It should break the barrier,” Lina admitted, “but, the hard part is casting it while in mid air. I'm doing good to maintain it on solid ground. The only perch I've got is Filia's back and even subtle movements could throw me to the point where the spell won't work.”

Gourry didn't say anything for awhile. He thought back to the way the gateway had looked, each detail etched into his mind. After all, it was a battleground and he was good at remembering those. He held up an index finger as he remembered a detail. “Say, wasn't there an opening at the top of the gateway?”

“Yeah, where the light came in. What about it?”

“Why don't we go through it?”

Lina stared at Gourry, dumbfounded. It was the simplest, most logical solution in the book - and the one none of them had thought of. With a laugh, she grabbed him, gave him a hard kiss, then pumped her fist in the air. “That's what we'll do! Go in from on top! Not bad, Gourry!”

He grinned and ran a hand through his bangs, pleased and a bit embarrassed. Feeling better about that aspect of their problems, Lina stretched out on her bedroll and casted a Lighting spell. The soft ball of mage light hovered near the top of the tent. She lifted a section of her hair and was pleased to see that most of the color had returned. They had to race across a good chunk of the world to get back to the gateway. She would finish getting her powers back during that time.

“You pushed yourself again,” Gourry scolded as he lay down beside her, also looking at her hair.

“It was either that or be turned into a shish-kabob by Almayce.” Lina quickly dismissed her close call, not wanting to dwell on it too much. She'd already gotten a combined lecture from Shizuri and Amelia about overusing Airlord's power again. Lina had insisted that it was because she had used the Ragna Blade before it, and had purposefully pumped extra energy into her final attack.

“You seem to have a habit of doing that.” And each time stood out painfully clear in his mind.

She dropped her hair and gave him a sour look. “You spoiling for a fight? If so, I've got enough of my magic to make your life miserable for the foreseeable future.”

Gourry looked pained and Lina realized she was strong enough to sound menacing to him, which cheered her immensely. “In any case, we're going to be pushing Filia pretty hard tomorrow. You might not want to eat much tonight.”

Now he looked miserable and she grinned. She was feeling pretty good and being closed into the tent, it seemed easier to forget about what happened that day. She knew what she would see when she fell asleep - the piles of corpses stretching into the horizon, the stunned expression on Almayce's broken body as it lay sprawled on the ground, the hundreds of skulls lining the temple walls and all of the horrors she had witnessed and Luna's words playing through her mind over and over again. She didn't want to see them. Not quite yet.

So she rolled on top of Gourry, pressed her lips to his and did her best to push back the demons for a little while longer.

——-

Filia had insisted on burying the Elder herself. He hadn't said a word as she cast the healing spell on him, an act that both knew would be useless. He had died moments after Xelloss had stolen the final weapon. Amelia had quietly taught her the spell needed to turn flesh into stone

She stared at the body, wanting to feel an aching grief that was suppose to be there from the loss of a mentor. Instead, all she felt was an overwhelming guilt and the burden of knowing that despite what she had learned, she had done his bidding to the very end. “I'm what the Ancient Dragons say. Even though I knew the truth, I stood by the Elder when he died,” she whispered.

Shizuri stood next to her, also eying the stone corpse. “That's a bunch of bull and you and I both know it. You fought back pretty hard. You stood up to him, and that's more than I can say for the other members of your temple. Hell, if anything, you've got something that your Elder doesn't have.”

Stunned, Filia blinked at Shizuri. “What's that?”

Shizuri smiled at her. “Mercy. Despite everything he did, despite knowing that he would gladly have you killed to serve his own purposes, you did your best to save the Elder at the very end. It's not bowing to his wishes, Filia. We both know you were strong enough to walk away and probably thought about it. Yet, you stayed. That's not caving into him. That's showing him an act of mercy. Tell me something, if you could had saved Valgaav, would you?”

“Yes,” Filia replied without a second thought. “I would had tried.”

“Then there you go. You're a good dragon, Filia. You have empathy for others and you're no longer your Elder's little yes-woman. Don't go beating yourself up over his death or over events that took place long before you were born.”

Filia drew in a shaky breath, then nodded. “I suppose you're right, Shizuri.”

“Of course I'm right! Come on. Let's go get dinner.” Shizuri swung a friendly arm around Filia's shoulder. She gave her friend a hesitant smile and the two women who served the gods walked toward camp together.

-----

Author's Note: I came to the realization last night that this story is almost over. There's roughly two chapters and an epilogue left. It caught me off guard, but there's also a deep sense of accomplishment with it. I'm hoping to have this story completely finished by my birthday at the end of the month. It's a good goal to have.

Again, some of the elements from this chapter are taken from the original anime. Others are completely different. Almayce didn't survive this battle in the anime, but his two henchmen - Sirius and Erulogos - did. The Elder also survived the battle in the original. Almayce almost got a reprieve, but in the end he didn't.

One of the key things mentioned in the anime was that Almayce and Darkstar's bodies do not exist on Ceiphied/Darkstar's Astral plane. Hence, ordinary spells won't work against them. It's one of those no-brainer things - they would need at least a spell that was equal to the gods power to even begin to take on Almayce. So why did the Ragna Blade work on him at the begin of the story? Because that spell calls upon the Lord of Nightmares and it's also proven in Try that it does affect the astral plane of Darkstar's world (hence why Lina could use it to break the barrier.)

Amelia's using Gourry's magical capacity to boost her own power actually has a basis in the manga. In the fifth volume of the Super Explosive Demon Story (or Chou-Baku Mahou Den manga), Lina uses Zelgadiss's magical capacity to boost an offensive spell that she cast during the fight against Copy Rezo. I figured that the same principles could work with defense.