Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers Inheritance Side Stories ❯ Just Between Us Dragons ( Chapter 2 )

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

JUST BETWEEN US DRAGONS
A Slayers Inheritance Side Story
by Michael Hopcroft

I don't own the Slayers. I couldn't afford their inn keeping bills.

/Hello again! It's me, Anya Inverse! You know, Lina’s and Gourry's
daughter, recent reluctant savior of the world, all that sort of thing.
Anyway, now I'm on my way home to the Mace and Teapot, an inn on the
border between the Inner and Outer Worlds, where my mother is waiting to
give birth to twins. I don't think she'swaiting for me. I'm accompanied
by Valgaav, a really gorgeous Ancient Dragon whose foster-mother runs
the inn. Did I mention that Valgaav seems to have a thing for me? Well
anyway, we were minding our own business walking down the road when.../

"Halt!" A group of five armored men armed with spears intercepted Anya
and Valgaav in the middle of the road.

"State your business!" ordered their leader.

Anya shrugged her shoulders. "What's the deal? We're just passing
through from Seyruun to the Borderlands. I have a safe-conduct order
signed by the Queen of Seyruun if you want to see it."

"I most certainly do!" The man, who had stripes painted on the sleeves
of his armor, examined the document. "So you're Anya Inverse? And Valgaav?"

"Yes. And we're in a bit of a hurry, so if you'll just let us pass
unhindered through your kingdom..."

The sergeant tore up the safe-conduct pass.

"Hey!" cried Anya. "That's property of the Court of Seyruun! You at war
with that kingdom or something?"

Valgaav shook his head. "Amelia or Felianis would have told us if
Seyruun was at war. Something else is going on here."

"We don't allow unlicensed adventurers in Havetica. You'll have to come
with us to the palace."

Anya fumed. "We're not here to adventure! We're on our way home! This is
so totally unfair!"

"We'd better do as they say," Valgaav advised. "We can probably take
this group, but can we take their entire army? Besides, if all we need
is a license"

"You're being awfully naive," Anya replied. "They probably don’t issue
licenses to foreigners or dragons."

"Dragon? What dragon?" the sergeant asked. "I'll have you taken to the
king straight away."

Havetica was a small kingdom with only one city. In its center stood a
palace that was astounding in its magnificence.

"Too astounding," Anya said when she laid eyes on it. "It's ostentatious
for a kingdom so small it isn't even on the map to have such a huge
royal palace. How did you finance this? Are you in the habit of fining
mages who fly through your kingdom too fast?"

"Show some respect for our king," the sergeant said. He led them through
the huge palace, down the,extremely long corridors, straight to the
throne room. A thin, pale young man with a short red goatee sat on the
throne and looked them over.

"More adventurers, I see," he stated.

"Really special ones this time, Sire. We've nabbed Anya Inverse."

"Lina Inverse's daughter?" The man stroked his goatee. "How interesting.
But shouldn't she be kneeling before the throne?"

Wishing to get through this unpleasant interview and kingdom as fast as
she could, Anya swallowed her anger with difficulty and knelt, as did
Valgaav. "I'm not used to this," Anya replied. "I usually get much
better treatment when I visit a royal court."

"You are an adventuring sorceress, capable of wreaking great havoc. The
peace of this kingdom depends on controlling the actions of people of
power. If you serve me well, you will be rewarded moderately well. If
you do not, we have a mage-proof dungeon that will keep you in check. In
fact, this whole palace is magic-proof, protected by the finest and most
expensive enchantments ever woven."

Anya smirked. "Threats don't impress me. All I want is to leave your
kingdom in peace. Don't force me to leave it in pieces."

The king laughed bitterly. "Threats don't impress me either, Anya
Inverse. As long as I'm in the palace, I'm perfectly safe. However, I do
have a problem for which I need adventurers. Solve it for me and I'll
let you leave Havetica."

Valgaav reached over and, taking Anya's hand, squeezed it gently. "Calm
down, Anya," he said. "I'm sure we'll get out of this all right as long
as everyone keeps their cool."

"Val-chan," Anya replied, "I know. The Inverse temper is getting the
better of me. What is your problem, Your Majesty? And it ought to pay or
I won't help."

"There's a dragon threatening the kingdom, a truly vicious beast. I'm
completely safe in this palace, but my people are threatened. I need the
dragon slain."#

Now it was Valgaav's turn to be upset. "How can you ask us that? I'm a
dragon myself, you know!"

"Are you?" questioned the king. "Funny. You look like a man to me."

"Val," Anya reminded him soothingly, "There are three kinds of dragons
in this world: beings of grace and intelligence, strong stupid brutes
and /you/. I suspect the dragon he's talking about is variety #2."

"The palace wouldn't protect you from him," Valgaav warned. "You may be
protected against magic, but if the dragon physically attacked the
palace..."

"Dear me, this is worse than I thought, if that is the case. You'll set
out in the morning. Rest here tonight. I'll prepare a room for you. I
expect you back from its lair by nightfall tomorrow with its head."

"Here is your room," the sergeant said, opening a door for Anya.

"And what about my room?" asked Valgaav.

"This room should be adequate for both of you. Have a pleasant night,
and enjoy yourselves." The sergeant literally pushed them into the room
and closed the door behind them.

"ENJOY OURSELVES?" Anya cried. "What the hell did he mean by that?"

Valgaav allowed himself to smirk ever so slightly. "They must think
we're a functioning couple. Your calling me 'Val-chan' must have done it."

Anya blushed. "Look, Val-chan, you're a very nice guy and I like you a
lot, but..."

"You're not ready for physical intimacy. I know. Neither am I, actually.
Do you sense anything about the room?"

"I can't. It's like my magic senses have been shut off. I'm sure there's
something in the palace that's blocking our magic."

"Then what's that mirror?" Valgaav pointed to a dresser where an
exceptionally large mirror faced their bed.

"Don't tell me the King's a voyeur!" Anya exclaimed. "That's the last
straw. I am NOT going to strip for his amusement!"

"I think he wants us to do more than strip, but I share your disgust at
the idea. Tell you what. If you're comfortable with the idea of sleeping
in your clothes tonight, you can have the bed. I'll take the floor. Just
toss me a pillow and a blanket."

"My parents were in a situation like this once, before they were
married. My mother would not take the bed while someone else was
sleeping on the floor. I think I feel the same way. We'll each take a
pillow. Valgaav, you can have the blanket, because you need the warmth.
We'll sleep on opposite sides of the bed, and the king can just get by
without his show."

"Sounds fair enough, Good night, Anya. Oh, and if you ever do become
ready, let me know."

Anya hit him with the pillow.

The next morning they were led out of the palace. If the king was
disappointed, he didn't say anything.

"The vicious beast lives atop that mountain," the sergeant, who was
escorting them, pointed out. "We expect results."

Anya glared at him. "What happens if we don't bring back its head?"

"Then don't bother coming down alive." The sergeant and his men turned
away and left, leaving Anya and Valgaav to face the mountain.

"They expect us to climb this thing," Anya complained, "but it's too
steep to climb."

"Which makes it a perfect lair for a dragon," Valgaav observed. "It
provides a good view of the surrounding countryside, and it's hard for
people to access in case the dragon wants to be left alone. It's really
good dragon territory."

"I bet there isn’t even a dragon up there at all."

Valgaav smirked. "We should be so lucky. There's only one way up. I'll
transform, and then you can fly up while on my back."

Anya was beginning to pout. "Do I really have to go up at all? You can
handle this, can't you?"

"I don't carry a sword. Hard to behead a dragon without one. You'll just
have to ride up."

"But it's two thousand feet straight up! I'll fall off!"

"Not if I remain in a horizontal position throughout the climb. It'll be
slower, but it works. I've done it dozens of times; admittedly not with
girls on my back, but it's something I practiced extensively."

Anya harrumphed and then looked up. It did look like a long way up. "OK,
go ahead. But you'll have to find some way to signal me if something's
wrong."

"Don't worry. You'll know!" With that, a wind gathered around Valgaav as
he changed, and a few moments later a forty-foot-long white dragon with
a long neck stood where Valgaav had been standing. Anya climbed onto
hisback and settled herself comfortably.

"Ok, take us up, Val."

Valgaav, the dragon, flapped his wings and began to rise. Surprisingly,
Anya felt strangely comfortable riding him as he flew up. She had found
that his skin was soft enough that she could maintain a firm hold with
her hand on it without seeming to cause him any discomfort as he rose.

Higher and higher they climbed. Anya watched for any sign of an opening
in the mountain. Of course, she knew Valgaav was taking an even better
look, and in this form had much better eyesight than she did. Anya
mentally went through the ritual for Levitation, though, in case
something went wrong. At last she saw the opening she was looking for,
but it was only about ten feet wide. In addition, the ledge in front of
the cave was only a few feet forward. Valgaav couldn't land there! But
as she looked up, she could see there was no other opening.

"That lying king! This dragon has to be an intelligent shape shifter!
What's that monarch up to?"

Valgaav turned his head to face her, nodded, and hovered about forty
feet over the entrance, trying to keep himself stable enough that Anya
could stand. Anya immediately cast Ray Wing and flew through the
opening. She turned around once she got there and saw Valgaav still
hovering above the entrance. The winds came up again, and a human
Valgaav touched down on the landing.

"That was a piece of cake," he said. "Let's check on this dragon!"

After walking for a short distance, Anya saw that some gold coins were
scattered on the floor of the cavern.

"Lucky! There's treasure in this case if nothing else!"

"I wouldn’t touch it," Valgaav warned. "This isn't a bandit lair, Anya.
We can't take any of this gold, at least not until we figure out how the
dragon got it"

Anya started to pout but then brightened up. "You know, this is starting
to make sense. If the king wants this money, he'll have to slay the
dragon. And he would need to find adventurers who wouldn't keep it for
themselves to extort.

"There may be even more to it than that," Valgaav mused. "Think for a
moment. Remember how expensive that palace was? I can't imagine a
kingdom this small building a palace that big without going heavily into
debt."

"Which is why he needs this money."

A voice boomed from down the corridor. "You've almost got it right, but
not quite."

Anya drew her sword. "Who's there?"

"Isn't it obvious?" A man with white hair and dressed in fine robes
suddenly appeared in front of them. "May I ask what you are doing in my
home?"

Anya stared at him. "You're the dragon?"

"Vermithrax Callorian at your service. So the king was finally able to
trick some adventurers into coming up here? I feel sorry for you."

Anya sheathed her sword. "Vermithrax, eh? My name's Anya Inverse, and
this is Valgaav. I don't intend to fight you."

Valgaav spoke a few words in a tongue that Anya didn't recognize.
Vermithrax responded with some words of his own, then turned to Anya.
"Valgaav was asking me if I knew the folk at Dragon Peak. I told him I
hadn't been there in several hundred years."

"Well, would you mind speaking Common around me?" Anya complained. "I
don't speak Gold Dragon yet."

"Sorry, It was just something between us dragons. I take it the king is
trying to weasel out of his bargain by killing me?"

Valgaav looked slightly puzzled. "Bargain?"

As sudden inspiration hit her, Anya struck her hand with her fist. "Of
course! I was blind not to see it! The only way this makes any sense at
all! You're his creditor!"

"Creditor?" Valgaav, uncharacteristically for him, looked really
confused. "You mean you lent the king money?"

"His grandfather, actually," Vermithrax amended. "I had built up this
huge hoard in my earlier days by attacking bandits and taking their
money. Finally I got tired of it and decided there was more profit in
merchant banking. The king's grandfather wanted to build this fancy
palace of theirs, so I lent him a small portion of my hoard to cover the
expenses. It was on a two-hundred-year term. The kings would leave
annual payments at the bottom of the mountain, and I'd pick them up.
Eventually I would have made back my money with a tidy profit from the
interest."

"Until the payments stopped coming," Anya snorted. "That's really
stupid. And now the king thinks that, if we kill you, he won't have to
pay you back. I have no intention of playing along with him, Vermithrax."

Valgaav nodded. "It's obvious the king is at fault in this case. A
bargain is bargain. But what can we do? The only incentive we were
offered is that if we didn’t come back with your head, we shouldn't come
back at all. He expected you to kill us."

Vermithrax grinned. "My head, eh? I think we should give him what he wants."

A few hours later, the king was sitting down to a huge meal, when the
sergeant of the guard rushed into the banquet hall in panic. "Sire!" he
shouted quickly. "Anya Inverse is back!"

"Wonderful! She brought back the dragon's' head?"

"That's the problem, Sire! She brought back the head, and the /rest/ of
the dragon is /still attached to it/!"

"WHAT?" The king rushed to the window and saw two huge dragons, one
white and one golden, hovering over his palace. Everyone in the vicinity
was frozen in panic. "No! What does she think she's doing?"

Anya shouted from Valgaav's back. "I've discovered your little scheme,
Your Majesty!" she roared, her voice amplified by magic. "Your
grandfather built this palace with money borrowed from a dragon hoard,
and now you've stopped paying it back. That's not right at all!"

The king turned to the sergeant. "What are you waiting for? Kill them!"

"Is she right?" the sergeant asked.

"I'm the King! I can do whatever I want! Just because my grandfather did
something stupid doesn't mean I have to keep doing it!"

"I was afraid you'd say that, Sire. Have you ever heard the term
'military coup'?"

The king stared at him. "What?" But before he could say anything else,
he was surrounded by soldiers. "This is treason!" he finally managed to
sputter.

"It's either that or watch those dragons wreck the kingdom. I'm afraid
you're the ex-king now." The sergeant then leaned out the window. "Oi,
Anya Inverse! We're locking up the former king right now! Please leave
us in peace!"

Anya, still riding Valgaav's back, shouted with her magically amplified
voice "There's a man coming with whom you'll have a lot to discuss.
Goodbye!"

Valgaav turned and flew out of the kingdom at top speed.

That night Anya and Valgaav, who was now back in human form, checked
into an inn in the next kingdom. They were about eighty miles and a
three day's walk closer to the Mace and Teapot.

"I wonder what's going to happen in that kingdom now?" Anya asked. "Not
that it's my business."

"The new regime is probably going to have to make a lot of back
payments,"# Valgaav replied. "Vermithrax told me he would try to work
out a deal with the new government to give them longer to pay.#"

"When did he tell you that?"

"That's just between us dragons."