Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: tom the mighty 
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 292 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 292 | Status: Work In Progress
Slayers: Knightfall
Book One:
Assassins and Shadows
Chapter Three
Zephyr City was unusually quiet. Even at dusk as it was now, there should’ve been hundreds of people packed into the market square, getting in on the end of the day’s deals. We’ve only seen a dozen or so pedestrians since entering the city. Maybe the city was going through some hard times? Wouldn’t be the first time; I remember when I was very small, a plague wiped out most of the sheep in the area. It was years before the economy truly recovered.
I took in the view of the city. The dim light smearing dull, jagged shadows across the city scape. I could see the three spired Cachauhod Castle, were King Robert, or Bob as we liked to call him, resided and ruled. The Sorcerer’s Guild tower sticking up like an upraised middle finger just a few blocks east of the castle and the Temple of Ciephied a block east of that.
The whole place seemed run down. The streets were littered, the once cozy looking stone and wood houses now looked close to becoming condemned. Everywhere we saw a person a suspicious glance was thrown our way. As if the obscured presence still following us wasn’t enough, even the hobos were giving us the stink eye!
I grabbed a middle aged man by the collar who was hurriedly trying to get out of our way. He stank of urine and alcohol and I almost let him go as soon as I put my hands on him.
“Hey you! What’s the deal here? What happened to all the people?” I tried not to shake him too much, but he still managed to chip a tooth.
Klutz.
“They’ve all gone and left!” the man spat while yanking away from me, “And if you know what’s good for ya, you’ll leave too!” with that he stormed off, muttering something about this entire country going to hell.
“What was that about?” Gourry asked, watching the man disappear around a corner.
“Its like the slums in Seyruun, only city wide,” Amelia put in, while scanning the decrepit scenery in mild disgust.
Doesn’t exactly do much for the old hometown pride, does it?
“Come on,” I said, probably a little too bitterly and lead us up an incline path to a guard rail that separated people from a very long drop as a few drunks have been known to do every now and then.
“This is the residential district, I used to live here,” I unenthusiastically gestured to the panoramic view of all buildings that made up the district. From the large, ornate mansions to the lowliest of hovels, even from this distance you could tell that almost everything was in disrepair.
We could see the sorcerer’s guild tower. . .uh, towering above the city in all its pompous glory even closer now. To get to the tower we still had to go through the residential district. We walked a short ways to the stair walk that would lead us down from the market area and into the neighborhood. I stopped and turned to face everyone.
“Well, this has been somewhat of a disappointment, to say the least,” I began.
“It’s not your fault Ms. Lina,” Amelia said.
“The architecture is actually rather quaint,” As close to a compliment Zel can managed I would guess.
“Ah, what’s there to worry about, Lina? A little paint here and there and the town will be as good as new,” said Gourry while draping his arm around my shoulders.
“Well, I haven’t heard anything from my parents suggesting that they had moved. And knowing them, they are probably just stubbornly sticking this apparent recession out. Its not like they don’t have money to fall back on or anything.” I pulled away from Gourry, as I am still not the biggest advocate of PDA and led the group on.
We walked down the narrow streets towards my old home, I played tour guide, pointing out places that I found memorable or where something cool or historical happened. But none of the buildings were in good enough shape to even hit at what those memories were like. It was like someone painted the whole town ugly, neutral colors with a steel wool brush and then managed to blot out the sun with compost heap colored clouds.
Finally, we made it to my block and I broke into a jog towards my home with everyone close behind. I was still a good quarter of a mile away but I could see that dad got a fire going from the maybe just a little oddly reddish, glow coming from the front window. In fact it was one of the only houses we’ve seen so far with any signs of habitation. I took this to be a good sign and ran even harder.
“Lina! Wait up!” Gourry called out, sounding a little bit worried for some reason or another. But I couldn’t stop running! Something beyond the usual excitement of seeing your family after so long drove me on. Finally I stopped infront of the yard.
“Mom! Dad! Sis! I’m home!” I heard some faint shuffling from inside the house but no voice called out to greet me. Gourry and the others came to a stop beside me.
“Something’s not right,” Amelia muttered softly.
“What do you mean? Its getting late, I’m sure everyone is just in bed,” I spoke maybe a little too quickly. They would be in bed if they changed their work schedule in the last few years. For some reason my knees started to go weak and Gourry had to grab my shoulders to keep me steady.
Zelgadis slowly strode up to the house and snuck a peak through the window. His eyes widened with surprise and then his shoulders drooped.
“Gourry, get Lina away from here now!” Zel said while drawing his broadsword and I felt Gourry’s hold tighten, “Amelia, get ready.”
“What? What did you see, Zel?” I said, struggling to break free from Gourry’s grasp but I only managed to strain my shoulder, “Dammit Zelgadis, what is it!?” I was crying now through my shouting but that only seemed to bolster Gourry’s resolve to not let me see what was wrong..
“I really don’t think you need to see this yet, Lina.” Zel moved to stand about ten feet from the door and started to chant a spell.
“Dam Bras!?” I half screamed, half croaked, “What the hell are you-Dammit Gourry let ME go!”
Zel’s spell went off and the oak door to my home splintered into a million pieces. Zel rushed in through the dust and smoke and Amelia followed.
What was going on!? What did he see!? Is mom okay? Dad? Big Sis?
My constant struggling was wearing me down, I needed to have some energy left face whatever was in there.
“Gourry, let me go, damn you!”
“Sorry Lina, but Zel is right, something is definently not right, I could feel it as soon as we got here.” He grip didn’t ease one bit, I could hear the sounds of a fight breaking out from within the house.
“The only thing that isn’t right is you keeping me from seeing if my family is okay!” His hold weakened a little but not nearly enough.
“You can go in when Zel and Amelia say its safe,” the stubborn ass said while silhouettes danced about in the upstairs windows as flashes of magical light illuminated the surrounding houses.
“Gourry, if you love me- no! If you call yourself my friend you WILL LET ME GO!” He didn’t let go but his grasp weakened enough for me to wrench free and sprint through the door.
My heart sank and I felt like my insides were shrinking and I crumbled to the floor. Gourry crashed though the entrance, look around in shock and dropped to his knees beside me.
I weakly grabbed onto his arm and he took me up and cradled me.
“W-what happened?” I choked out.
The entire place was destroyed. Furniture lay toppled and broken. Picture frames and vases were shattered. And the walls. . . the walls were smeared with a dark red substance that the fire in the hearth was reflecting out into the street.
I couldn’t stop shaking and Gourry tried rocking me a little like one would a baby. This was a dream, right? A nightmare brought on by too much booze and food! I was sleeping, probably fitfully, in some inn somewhere worried about home, that’s all!
Something wet dripped onto my forehead, shattering my desperate rationalizations. Gourry touch the place were it landed and looked at his fingers. They were stained crimson.
Something snapped from within. I snarled viscously and jolted out of Gourry’s lap and bolted upstairs where I could hear Zel and Amelia still fighting something.
They had better stay out of my way.
My vision started to haze a light golden hue and sharpen with intensity I’ve never seen with before. But that didn’t matter, as long as it helped me in my mad hunt for who ever did this.
I slammed open the door to the room that sounded like it had the most commotion. My parents room. Zel and Amelia were backed into the corner next to the bed and they were facing a familiar man shaped shadow.
“What the hell do you want!?” I screamed as I charged the thing. It looked up as if finally noticing me a moment before I barreled into it. At least I would’ve barreled into it if I didn’t pass right through it. I instead rammed shoulder first into the dresser, the hard oak dresser, and dislocated my already sore shoulder.
“Dammit. . .,” I groaned. I quickly got back up on my feet, preparing for a counter attack. Pain is a tool, I kept telling myself. Use it! I heard some clamoring from downstairs, but I didn’t care, my enemy was right in front of me.
“Lina!” Zel called out, “That thing is impervious to physical attacks! Get out of the way so I can cast an astral spell!”
“No!” I growled and a golden glow seemed to envelope the room. Zel involuntarily took a step back into the wall and Amelia jumped a little and crouched close behind Zel. “This one is mine.”
The creature began its jerking, loose jointed walk to a dark shadow in a corner. I focused my gaze and saw that it was a person, covered in drying gore.
I used the pain and utter despair I was feeling as a fuel and began to chant a spell.
Amelia and Zell took cover, while they have never seen me use this spell before, they could guess what it could do by the general meaning of the chaos words.
“Ruby Eye Blade!” At the sound of the word of power, a crimson blade of light appeared in my hands. It wasn’t quite as vivid or powerful as it was a few weeks ago, just before I defeated the third piece of Shabranigdo, but it still should be more than enough.
The shadow man stood starring at the ground at it feet, not even paying attention to the woman who’s family it had slaughtered.
I swung the blade horizontally, aiming just below its chest. . . and the blade just passed right though, just as before with my failed charge.
It really is a shadow!
I let the blade dissipate into the ether and I sank to my knees.
Nothing I can do short of Nightmare magic will do anything to the creature. You can’t kill a shadow, much less interact with it. Sure, you can obscure and alter it with light but you can’t really destroy it. And the same goes for shadows themselves, they can’t hurt anything but they can obscure and alter things, making them seem more sinister.
The shadow couldn’t have killed my family.
I remembered the noise from downstairs.
Gourry!
I began to bolt to the stairs when I saw the body in the corner twitch.
I skidded to a halt and dropped to the figure’s side, and brushed away some of the blood matted hair covering her face. It was Luna.
“Zel, Amelia, go to Gourry,” I said choking back tears. I felt for a pulse, it took nearly a minute but I did find a very weak, thready pulse.
I began casting healing spells on my sister and Amelia joined me, casting Resurrection. She stayed behind to keep an eye on me, I guess. After about the third casting of Amelia’s powerful spell to no obvious result I got a little impatient.
“Dammit, Amelia! Can’t you do something else!?”
“Resurrection is the most powerful healing spell there is,” she looked at me sadly, “If three castings of it weren’t enough then I am afraid that there is nothing else we can do. . .” I wanted to punch her face in and was about to do so when a clammy hand grabbed my wrist.
“Y-you haven’t c-changed at all, little sister,” Luna croaked out, now conscious to my elation.
“Big Sis! Don’t worry, we’ll get you heale-“
”Save it sister. The only reason I am alive right now is by Ciepieds will,” Luna seemed to become a little stronger at the mention of her master’s name.
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean that I am only going to live long enough to tell you about your destiny. . .,”
“Oh no you don’t!” I gently took her shoulders, “No big sister of mine is going to die in such a cliched manner!”
“Oh, be quiet and listen.”
“Yes, Sis.”
“Know that what I am about to tell you is true, I wouldn’t lie to you like this, it’s much too important. For your destiny, for the worlds, ” she look me straight in the eyes and the golden glow still pervading my sight vanished, “You know all too well that I am the Knight of Ciephied and that each god of our world has a knight to call upon in times of need or for some other purpose.
“My purpose was to train and protect you not only as a sister, but as a fellow Knight.”
“What?”
A fellow Knight? Which god am I subject too? Or more accurately, which god is crazy enough to have me?
“You see, Lina, the gods are not the only ones that have Knights. Demons employ them as well.”
“Are you saying that I am a Knight of some demon!? After all the freaks I’ve kil-,”
“Not just any Demon, Lina.” her voice took an ominous tone I often associated with a prelude to a scolding, “You are a Knightmare, the avatar of The Golden Demon Lord of Nightmares.”
“You’re joking,” please say you were joking!?
“Don’t make me hit you, of course I am not joking. I would like to use my last breaths for something a little more meaningful than a poor joke. You are a Knightmare, Lina. Capable of either great good or greater evil. I’ve strived, along with mom and dad, though they were in the dark about your status, to lead you along the path of good. For the most part, we succeeded I think.
No wonder, I thought I got disciplined more than the other kids. . .
“But remember this, though you or your companions may have already come to this conclusion,” she weakly nodded at Amelia, “For every good thing you do, no matter how small or great, evil will somehow be equally a part of what you have done. It is the nature of chaos, it is what you are. . .chaos incarnate.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t even try to do anything good?”
“No! No, of course not. If you do nothing the world will die, Ciephied has shown that much to me, though I don’t know what the future holds for you. But I do know this, there are other Knights out there, they are being called by their patrons. You are the catalyst for the call. At least one will relentlessly hunt you, another help you and another has yet to decide whether or not to kill or protect you.”
“I-is the one who is hunting me, did he. . .do this?” my voice went into a dangerous growl that frightened even me.
“Like that sound?” Luna said, referring to my voice, “You are changing, Lina. More and more into a Knightmare. You will soon be able to see them, if you aren’t already,”
“Them?” I asked though I already knew the answer. I stole a gaze to the creature shuffling around the closet.
“The Shades, those who once worshiped the Lord of Nightmares and dreamt to become closer to her. They got their wish. Soon you will learn to be able to control them.”
To do what? Scare the piss out of somebody?
“And no, the one who did this,” she weakly gestured to the carnage, “was the handy work of an assassin by the name of Lohi, hired by our dear king.”
I heard Amelia gasp at the assassin’s name. What was with her and assassins?
“The king? What does he want with us!? And how did a lowly assassin kill the likes of you? You are the strongest person I know!”
“But you are stronger still,” her breathing became more and more shallow, my heart sank into my ankles when I realized Luna was nearing the end of her life, “Lina, no one could’ve done the things you’ve done unless they were more than human. Listen, there is a place called the Veil of Shadows some one hundred miles northeast of the city, there is a map in my dresser underneath the false board in the third drawer, use it to find the Shard of Lucidia. It will help you to control your powers. . .”
Uh oh, “Luna! Big Sis!”
“I love you little sister. . .I’ll always watch over you from the right hand of Ciephied’s throne. . .” My sister sighed and slumped onto the floor as if going to sleep. I almost convinced myself that that was just what she did but then a greater desire engulfed me and the golden haze enveloped my vision once again.
When I saw the Claire Bible for what it was in the Katahto Moutains and saw the awful splendor of the Lord of Nightmares laid bare, I also saw the makings for dozens if not hundreds of nightmare spells. I realized at once that they were much too dangerous to even think about tinkering with them. But now. . .
But now I think I will let King Bob have the honor of trying them out.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes!
Wow, that was pretty emotional, eh? Anyways, sorry about the late update, I’ve been busy doing research for my first real novel. I won’t get into what it is about but it does deal with the Lebor Gabala. I’ll just leave it at that.
To Firestorm - I haven’t a clue if Tokyo Pop is going to continue the series. It would be a shame if they ended it there though. . .It might have something to do with Viz or Funimation getting the manga and anime rights to the series from CPM though I don’t know if that extends to the novels.
Okay, now we’ve finally gotten to the point I’ve been hoping to get to in my last few tries at this story and now things are finally taking real shape plot wise.
How will this new development interfere with Zel and Amelia’s quest? What was happening downstairs the Inverse homestead? How many ways will Lina emasculate King Bob before she’s through with him? And what is the mysterious presence following the gang?
Stay tuned next time for Slayers: Knightfall!
Book One:
Assassins and Shadows
Chapter Three
Zephyr City was unusually quiet. Even at dusk as it was now, there should’ve been hundreds of people packed into the market square, getting in on the end of the day’s deals. We’ve only seen a dozen or so pedestrians since entering the city. Maybe the city was going through some hard times? Wouldn’t be the first time; I remember when I was very small, a plague wiped out most of the sheep in the area. It was years before the economy truly recovered.
I took in the view of the city. The dim light smearing dull, jagged shadows across the city scape. I could see the three spired Cachauhod Castle, were King Robert, or Bob as we liked to call him, resided and ruled. The Sorcerer’s Guild tower sticking up like an upraised middle finger just a few blocks east of the castle and the Temple of Ciephied a block east of that.
The whole place seemed run down. The streets were littered, the once cozy looking stone and wood houses now looked close to becoming condemned. Everywhere we saw a person a suspicious glance was thrown our way. As if the obscured presence still following us wasn’t enough, even the hobos were giving us the stink eye!
I grabbed a middle aged man by the collar who was hurriedly trying to get out of our way. He stank of urine and alcohol and I almost let him go as soon as I put my hands on him.
“Hey you! What’s the deal here? What happened to all the people?” I tried not to shake him too much, but he still managed to chip a tooth.
Klutz.
“They’ve all gone and left!” the man spat while yanking away from me, “And if you know what’s good for ya, you’ll leave too!” with that he stormed off, muttering something about this entire country going to hell.
“What was that about?” Gourry asked, watching the man disappear around a corner.
“Its like the slums in Seyruun, only city wide,” Amelia put in, while scanning the decrepit scenery in mild disgust.
Doesn’t exactly do much for the old hometown pride, does it?
“Come on,” I said, probably a little too bitterly and lead us up an incline path to a guard rail that separated people from a very long drop as a few drunks have been known to do every now and then.
“This is the residential district, I used to live here,” I unenthusiastically gestured to the panoramic view of all buildings that made up the district. From the large, ornate mansions to the lowliest of hovels, even from this distance you could tell that almost everything was in disrepair.
We could see the sorcerer’s guild tower. . .uh, towering above the city in all its pompous glory even closer now. To get to the tower we still had to go through the residential district. We walked a short ways to the stair walk that would lead us down from the market area and into the neighborhood. I stopped and turned to face everyone.
“Well, this has been somewhat of a disappointment, to say the least,” I began.
“It’s not your fault Ms. Lina,” Amelia said.
“The architecture is actually rather quaint,” As close to a compliment Zel can managed I would guess.
“Ah, what’s there to worry about, Lina? A little paint here and there and the town will be as good as new,” said Gourry while draping his arm around my shoulders.
“Well, I haven’t heard anything from my parents suggesting that they had moved. And knowing them, they are probably just stubbornly sticking this apparent recession out. Its not like they don’t have money to fall back on or anything.” I pulled away from Gourry, as I am still not the biggest advocate of PDA and led the group on.
We walked down the narrow streets towards my old home, I played tour guide, pointing out places that I found memorable or where something cool or historical happened. But none of the buildings were in good enough shape to even hit at what those memories were like. It was like someone painted the whole town ugly, neutral colors with a steel wool brush and then managed to blot out the sun with compost heap colored clouds.
Finally, we made it to my block and I broke into a jog towards my home with everyone close behind. I was still a good quarter of a mile away but I could see that dad got a fire going from the maybe just a little oddly reddish, glow coming from the front window. In fact it was one of the only houses we’ve seen so far with any signs of habitation. I took this to be a good sign and ran even harder.
“Lina! Wait up!” Gourry called out, sounding a little bit worried for some reason or another. But I couldn’t stop running! Something beyond the usual excitement of seeing your family after so long drove me on. Finally I stopped infront of the yard.
“Mom! Dad! Sis! I’m home!” I heard some faint shuffling from inside the house but no voice called out to greet me. Gourry and the others came to a stop beside me.
“Something’s not right,” Amelia muttered softly.
“What do you mean? Its getting late, I’m sure everyone is just in bed,” I spoke maybe a little too quickly. They would be in bed if they changed their work schedule in the last few years. For some reason my knees started to go weak and Gourry had to grab my shoulders to keep me steady.
Zelgadis slowly strode up to the house and snuck a peak through the window. His eyes widened with surprise and then his shoulders drooped.
“Gourry, get Lina away from here now!” Zel said while drawing his broadsword and I felt Gourry’s hold tighten, “Amelia, get ready.”
“What? What did you see, Zel?” I said, struggling to break free from Gourry’s grasp but I only managed to strain my shoulder, “Dammit Zelgadis, what is it!?” I was crying now through my shouting but that only seemed to bolster Gourry’s resolve to not let me see what was wrong..
“I really don’t think you need to see this yet, Lina.” Zel moved to stand about ten feet from the door and started to chant a spell.
“Dam Bras!?” I half screamed, half croaked, “What the hell are you-Dammit Gourry let ME go!”
Zel’s spell went off and the oak door to my home splintered into a million pieces. Zel rushed in through the dust and smoke and Amelia followed.
What was going on!? What did he see!? Is mom okay? Dad? Big Sis?
My constant struggling was wearing me down, I needed to have some energy left face whatever was in there.
“Gourry, let me go, damn you!”
“Sorry Lina, but Zel is right, something is definently not right, I could feel it as soon as we got here.” He grip didn’t ease one bit, I could hear the sounds of a fight breaking out from within the house.
“The only thing that isn’t right is you keeping me from seeing if my family is okay!” His hold weakened a little but not nearly enough.
“You can go in when Zel and Amelia say its safe,” the stubborn ass said while silhouettes danced about in the upstairs windows as flashes of magical light illuminated the surrounding houses.
“Gourry, if you love me- no! If you call yourself my friend you WILL LET ME GO!” He didn’t let go but his grasp weakened enough for me to wrench free and sprint through the door.
My heart sank and I felt like my insides were shrinking and I crumbled to the floor. Gourry crashed though the entrance, look around in shock and dropped to his knees beside me.
I weakly grabbed onto his arm and he took me up and cradled me.
“W-what happened?” I choked out.
The entire place was destroyed. Furniture lay toppled and broken. Picture frames and vases were shattered. And the walls. . . the walls were smeared with a dark red substance that the fire in the hearth was reflecting out into the street.
I couldn’t stop shaking and Gourry tried rocking me a little like one would a baby. This was a dream, right? A nightmare brought on by too much booze and food! I was sleeping, probably fitfully, in some inn somewhere worried about home, that’s all!
Something wet dripped onto my forehead, shattering my desperate rationalizations. Gourry touch the place were it landed and looked at his fingers. They were stained crimson.
Something snapped from within. I snarled viscously and jolted out of Gourry’s lap and bolted upstairs where I could hear Zel and Amelia still fighting something.
They had better stay out of my way.
My vision started to haze a light golden hue and sharpen with intensity I’ve never seen with before. But that didn’t matter, as long as it helped me in my mad hunt for who ever did this.
I slammed open the door to the room that sounded like it had the most commotion. My parents room. Zel and Amelia were backed into the corner next to the bed and they were facing a familiar man shaped shadow.
“What the hell do you want!?” I screamed as I charged the thing. It looked up as if finally noticing me a moment before I barreled into it. At least I would’ve barreled into it if I didn’t pass right through it. I instead rammed shoulder first into the dresser, the hard oak dresser, and dislocated my already sore shoulder.
“Dammit. . .,” I groaned. I quickly got back up on my feet, preparing for a counter attack. Pain is a tool, I kept telling myself. Use it! I heard some clamoring from downstairs, but I didn’t care, my enemy was right in front of me.
“Lina!” Zel called out, “That thing is impervious to physical attacks! Get out of the way so I can cast an astral spell!”
“No!” I growled and a golden glow seemed to envelope the room. Zel involuntarily took a step back into the wall and Amelia jumped a little and crouched close behind Zel. “This one is mine.”
The creature began its jerking, loose jointed walk to a dark shadow in a corner. I focused my gaze and saw that it was a person, covered in drying gore.
I used the pain and utter despair I was feeling as a fuel and began to chant a spell.
Amelia and Zell took cover, while they have never seen me use this spell before, they could guess what it could do by the general meaning of the chaos words.
“Ruby Eye Blade!” At the sound of the word of power, a crimson blade of light appeared in my hands. It wasn’t quite as vivid or powerful as it was a few weeks ago, just before I defeated the third piece of Shabranigdo, but it still should be more than enough.
The shadow man stood starring at the ground at it feet, not even paying attention to the woman who’s family it had slaughtered.
I swung the blade horizontally, aiming just below its chest. . . and the blade just passed right though, just as before with my failed charge.
It really is a shadow!
I let the blade dissipate into the ether and I sank to my knees.
Nothing I can do short of Nightmare magic will do anything to the creature. You can’t kill a shadow, much less interact with it. Sure, you can obscure and alter it with light but you can’t really destroy it. And the same goes for shadows themselves, they can’t hurt anything but they can obscure and alter things, making them seem more sinister.
The shadow couldn’t have killed my family.
I remembered the noise from downstairs.
Gourry!
I began to bolt to the stairs when I saw the body in the corner twitch.
I skidded to a halt and dropped to the figure’s side, and brushed away some of the blood matted hair covering her face. It was Luna.
“Zel, Amelia, go to Gourry,” I said choking back tears. I felt for a pulse, it took nearly a minute but I did find a very weak, thready pulse.
I began casting healing spells on my sister and Amelia joined me, casting Resurrection. She stayed behind to keep an eye on me, I guess. After about the third casting of Amelia’s powerful spell to no obvious result I got a little impatient.
“Dammit, Amelia! Can’t you do something else!?”
“Resurrection is the most powerful healing spell there is,” she looked at me sadly, “If three castings of it weren’t enough then I am afraid that there is nothing else we can do. . .” I wanted to punch her face in and was about to do so when a clammy hand grabbed my wrist.
“Y-you haven’t c-changed at all, little sister,” Luna croaked out, now conscious to my elation.
“Big Sis! Don’t worry, we’ll get you heale-“
”Save it sister. The only reason I am alive right now is by Ciepieds will,” Luna seemed to become a little stronger at the mention of her master’s name.
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean that I am only going to live long enough to tell you about your destiny. . .,”
“Oh no you don’t!” I gently took her shoulders, “No big sister of mine is going to die in such a cliched manner!”
“Oh, be quiet and listen.”
“Yes, Sis.”
“Know that what I am about to tell you is true, I wouldn’t lie to you like this, it’s much too important. For your destiny, for the worlds, ” she look me straight in the eyes and the golden glow still pervading my sight vanished, “You know all too well that I am the Knight of Ciephied and that each god of our world has a knight to call upon in times of need or for some other purpose.
“My purpose was to train and protect you not only as a sister, but as a fellow Knight.”
“What?”
A fellow Knight? Which god am I subject too? Or more accurately, which god is crazy enough to have me?
“You see, Lina, the gods are not the only ones that have Knights. Demons employ them as well.”
“Are you saying that I am a Knight of some demon!? After all the freaks I’ve kil-,”
“Not just any Demon, Lina.” her voice took an ominous tone I often associated with a prelude to a scolding, “You are a Knightmare, the avatar of The Golden Demon Lord of Nightmares.”
“You’re joking,” please say you were joking!?
“Don’t make me hit you, of course I am not joking. I would like to use my last breaths for something a little more meaningful than a poor joke. You are a Knightmare, Lina. Capable of either great good or greater evil. I’ve strived, along with mom and dad, though they were in the dark about your status, to lead you along the path of good. For the most part, we succeeded I think.
No wonder, I thought I got disciplined more than the other kids. . .
“But remember this, though you or your companions may have already come to this conclusion,” she weakly nodded at Amelia, “For every good thing you do, no matter how small or great, evil will somehow be equally a part of what you have done. It is the nature of chaos, it is what you are. . .chaos incarnate.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t even try to do anything good?”
“No! No, of course not. If you do nothing the world will die, Ciephied has shown that much to me, though I don’t know what the future holds for you. But I do know this, there are other Knights out there, they are being called by their patrons. You are the catalyst for the call. At least one will relentlessly hunt you, another help you and another has yet to decide whether or not to kill or protect you.”
“I-is the one who is hunting me, did he. . .do this?” my voice went into a dangerous growl that frightened even me.
“Like that sound?” Luna said, referring to my voice, “You are changing, Lina. More and more into a Knightmare. You will soon be able to see them, if you aren’t already,”
“Them?” I asked though I already knew the answer. I stole a gaze to the creature shuffling around the closet.
“The Shades, those who once worshiped the Lord of Nightmares and dreamt to become closer to her. They got their wish. Soon you will learn to be able to control them.”
To do what? Scare the piss out of somebody?
“And no, the one who did this,” she weakly gestured to the carnage, “was the handy work of an assassin by the name of Lohi, hired by our dear king.”
I heard Amelia gasp at the assassin’s name. What was with her and assassins?
“The king? What does he want with us!? And how did a lowly assassin kill the likes of you? You are the strongest person I know!”
“But you are stronger still,” her breathing became more and more shallow, my heart sank into my ankles when I realized Luna was nearing the end of her life, “Lina, no one could’ve done the things you’ve done unless they were more than human. Listen, there is a place called the Veil of Shadows some one hundred miles northeast of the city, there is a map in my dresser underneath the false board in the third drawer, use it to find the Shard of Lucidia. It will help you to control your powers. . .”
Uh oh, “Luna! Big Sis!”
“I love you little sister. . .I’ll always watch over you from the right hand of Ciephied’s throne. . .” My sister sighed and slumped onto the floor as if going to sleep. I almost convinced myself that that was just what she did but then a greater desire engulfed me and the golden haze enveloped my vision once again.
When I saw the Claire Bible for what it was in the Katahto Moutains and saw the awful splendor of the Lord of Nightmares laid bare, I also saw the makings for dozens if not hundreds of nightmare spells. I realized at once that they were much too dangerous to even think about tinkering with them. But now. . .
But now I think I will let King Bob have the honor of trying them out.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes!
Wow, that was pretty emotional, eh? Anyways, sorry about the late update, I’ve been busy doing research for my first real novel. I won’t get into what it is about but it does deal with the Lebor Gabala. I’ll just leave it at that.
To Firestorm - I haven’t a clue if Tokyo Pop is going to continue the series. It would be a shame if they ended it there though. . .It might have something to do with Viz or Funimation getting the manga and anime rights to the series from CPM though I don’t know if that extends to the novels.
Okay, now we’ve finally gotten to the point I’ve been hoping to get to in my last few tries at this story and now things are finally taking real shape plot wise.
How will this new development interfere with Zel and Amelia’s quest? What was happening downstairs the Inverse homestead? How many ways will Lina emasculate King Bob before she’s through with him? And what is the mysterious presence following the gang?
Stay tuned next time for Slayers: Knightfall!