Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 16 )
[ 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: 4 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 254 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 254 | Status: Work In Progress
Slayers: KnightfalChapter Fifteen
"Mmph. . . .No more celery cake, please. . ." I mumbled, my mind half in the land of singing pillows, dancing pork cutlets and other strange niceties. I was vaguely aware that I was alive, and that pleased me enough to want to fall right back into my once complete slumber.
"Celery cake?" Somebody familiar-sounding parroted I could faintly smell herbs and the faint coppery tang of blood in the air.
"We should check for brain damage when she wakes up," someone else said.
"Brain damage!?" I sputtered, shooting up and out of my bedding, now fully awake and glaring fire and death at those who would insult me so while I was trying to sleep.
"Oooohohohoho!" cackled a fiend of some kind.
Then I realized that except for the few layers of bandages around my belly, I was completely naked.
I didn’t know why I was naked, nor did I recall the circumstances that led to my being in such a condition. Frankly, I didn’t really need to know right then. Tales of life-scarring trauma are best told when one is decent and well fed.
I was neither.
I jumped back underneath my covers but in doing so I managed to flip the top mattress over … and I tumbled onto the floor for all the room to see.
"God dammit! Avert your eyes, or the last thing you’ll see is a fireball being crammed up your ass!" I threatened as I scrambled for a measure of modesty with my blankets. Even with the thick quilt, I was sure they could still see me: I had to be glowing red right through it.
"I am reminded of a washboard, oddly enough."
I shot a stare toward the sarcastic voice and for the first time I noticed who was actually in the room.
"Zelgadis! Amelia!" I wanted to run over the whole two-foot distance and hug them to death but that would mean I would become an expression in the color pink once again.
I hate pink.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Zel said, his eyes graciously turned away as a nursemaid came to help me into a loose shift. I wouldn’t have to kill him just yet.
"How are you feeling, Ms. Lina?" asked Amelia. Her white dress was a pretty example of regal formality but it looked strong enough to handle the job of caring for me, which she must’ve been doing as she’d been by my side when I woke up. I was about to thank her when. . .
... I noticed Naga.
Lord knows I should ‘ve noticed her as soon as my eyes opened. I mean, she isn’t exactly the most visually mundane thing in the world, if you take my meaning. What threw me was her choice in dress. Instead of her shameless, itty-bitty black bikini, she actually was wearing clothes! Real clothes! I no longer had to be assaulted with horrendous images of swaying mammary flesh! Instead she was wearing a nice-looking black dress, with a wide white sash, and instead of her sentient skull, a golden amulet in the shape of Seyruun’s family crest hung around her swan-like neck. For the first time I could remember, her eyes looked sharp instead of glazed over and she wasn’t wearing that annoying “better than you are” smirk. She instead had a small, contented smile that just seemed completely out of place on her. She vaguely reminded me of a maid, but I kept my mouth shut as I didn’t need her to be going back to her old habits.
Or. . . perhaps this was Gracia, Amelia’s long-lost sister?
"I’m fine," I said, answering Amelia’s question. Then, "Naga?" I asked tentatively, uncertain of her personality. Gracia looked confused for a moment, as if trying to remember something (which made her look normal if you ask me), and shrugged.
"I am Gracia. Naga is my middle name." She took my hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you."
I promptly fell over but managed to get up quick enough that everyone thought nothing had happened.
I hope.
"Wha-whe-who-how!?" I sputtered, trying to make sense of this most unexpected turnout. How in the world did she forget who I was, of all people!?
"Is she OK?" Naga asked, looking genuinely concerned … another first. "I think she may need some more rest."
"Maybe," Amelia agreed. "But I think it’s just too much of a shock for her."
"What is?" Gracia asked, oblivious to my utter confusion.
"I’ll explain later, but for right now, could you please be a dear and check up on Mr. Gourry?" Amelia asked.
“Sure." With that uncertain comply, Naga left the room.
"Zel, could you help her?"
Zel snapped out of whatever daydream he was having and left as well.
"I’m sure that a million and a half questions are running through that brain of yours, Ms. Lina." Amelia said, taking a chair next to my bed.
"Yes, and then some, but I think I’ll start with the simpler, easier to digest questions, like how did we get here?" We were obviously in Seyruun, whose unique architecture, plus the fact that Amelia, Zel and Naga were all here, mostly confirmed it. That, and I had graced the medical ward of the palace with my presence about, I dunno, a million times now.
"Yes, you were found by a traveling merchant by the name of Bob. He looked kind of odd but he didn’t ask for any payment. He said it was the least he could do."
"Bob!?" I exclaimed. "That son of a bitch actually rescued us!?"
"You know him then? Try to calm down. You’ve just spent a week in bed fighting that infection."
A whole week, huh? I believe her, I’m friggin’ starving!
As if some one had read my mind, two maids rolled in with overstocked food trays, enough to feed around twelve people. It would do as an appetizer.
"Yeah, I know the bastard! He ran out on us when we fought that stupid Cu Sith!"
"You fought a Cu Sith!?" Amelia jumped up from her seat. "That must’ve been a heck of a fight!" She was itching for a story; her eager eyes and broad grin said as much. I, on the other hand, would prefer to stuff my face for the next few days until I blew up, rather than relive that horrible encounter.
"Fought and killed … eventually. Too bad we didn’t get its pelt, though. I know Zelgadis would’ve been thrilled to get his hands on one." It almost would have made all the pain and suffering Gourry and I had gone through worth it.
"You mean this?" Amelia asked, and I was suddenly assaulted by the hideous visage of the very same demon dog we’d killed. I could tell because of the slash wounds on its eyes.
"Ahh! Get that thing out of my face!" I nearly shrieked. I am not in the mood for looking at that thing anytime soon. Or in this lifetime, for that matter. "Where the hell did you get that!?"
"Bob sold it too us after he dropped you two off, but I didn’t know where he got it from until now," Amelia briefly explained.
"SOLD IT TO YOU!?" I really did shriek this time. "GOURRY AND I ARE THE ONES WHO KILLED THE DAMNED THING!!"
Through with venting, as my energy had just given out, I lay back on my bed and started munching on a drum stick. Between mouthfuls, "How much did he let it go for?" I wearily asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"About 20,000 gold." She mumbled, probably afraid of my inevitable outburst.
"How much? He let it go for only that much? Damn, maybe he isn’t the tightwad I made him out to be." The pelt was easily worth a hundred times that price. Demon dogs sired by the one and only Ruby Eye weren’t exactly commonplace.
"He said he’d discount it because he felt a little responsible for what happened to you two. When I asked what happened, he dodged the question by giving us a bunch of free travel gear. I got a little suspicious so I turned around to get the guards to hold him. But when I turned back to face him he was gone, wagon and all." A bewildered expression covered her usually smiling face. "All that was left were the supplies he gave us and the pelt. But yes, Zelgadis was ecstatic!" She smiled broadly at that little memory.
Ah. . .young love. . .
Speaking of love, I wonder where they stuck Gourry?
"How’s Gourry doing?" I managed to sit up on some of the big pillows on my bed and began eating in earnest, content to let Amelia do the talking for a while.
Portabella steaks!? Hell yeah!
Amelia’s normally chipper demeanor gave way to a slightly grimmer one … which made me stop eating.
"What?"
"Not so good, I’m afraid." She must’ve noticed my mounting panic because she quickly added, "Oh, no! It’s nothing life-threatening! It’s just that he won’t be leaving bed anytime soon.
"As soon as you’re done eating, why don’t I show you to his roo-"
"You will take me to Gourry now," I suggested, my nose exactly one millimeter from touching hers.
"I will take you to Gourry now," she sensibly agreed, seeing that there would be no stopping me. So, wobbling and pushing a double-loaded food tray, I followed her, trying very hard to keep up and not lose any of my precious cargo along the way. We passed a large number of harried nurses and grim-faced priests and other healers. We even passed by Sylphiel’s Uncle Gray, but he was too busy to notice us.
We finally reached Gourry’s room. Amelia opened the door for me and I went in, took one good look at Gourry, and said, "Well if it isn’t Zolf Jr.! When the hell did you get into town?" Gourry was covered in bandages, not to the extent the late Zolf had been after I fireballed him, but still, it was enough make me remember that miserable (and handsome) bastard.
"Not long after you, I think," Gourry replied. "Did you remember to put the dog to bed?"
"Actually, it was all you, ya big lug," I wrapped him in as comfortably tight a hug as I could. "The damned thing got a case of fatal indigestion … if you know what I mean." I saw Gourry’s Blast Blade resting in its scabbard on the dresser; that made one more thing I should be grateful for to Bob. I heard a slight sigh, but not from Gourry.
"Amelia! Do you mind!?"
"Oh! Sorry! I’ll just leave you two alone now!" She ducked out the door but stuck her little raven head back in a split second later. "Just ring the bell if you need anything. And don’t try anything too strenuous! You both are still in the middle of recovering!" With that final, obnoxious statement, she finally left.
"Maybe later, I’ll walk in on those two just for the fun of it," I muttered to no one in particular.
"It’s not like we could do anything anyway, not with me playing Mr. Mummy, unless you’re into that kinda thing," Gourry commented, shooting an exaggerated wink my way.
"Oh, grow up." I smiled as I scolded him, glad to see he was still in good spirits. "What’s the prognosis?" I asked, eyeing his multitude of bandages with more than a little concern. He really had taken a beating, and it’s no wonder with all the throwing around that hellhound had subjected him to. The only thing I’d really had happen to me was that venom, but that’s over with.
"Huh?"
“How bad is it?"
"Not so bad," Gourry said, obviously putting on a brave face for my benefit, which I appreciated, but I really needed the truth about how long we’d be stuck here. It’d only be a matter of time before somebody we really didn’t need to visit showed up on our front doorstep.
"A few cracked ribs, a broken leg and a few sprains. Not so bad considering what it could’ve been."
Yeah, we could’ve been kibble.
"Didn’t any of the priests or Amelia cast recovery on you or anything?"
"Yes, but they said it’ll still be at least a week before I can walk safely."
"What?" he asked, in response to my frown.
I summed it up: "So best-case scenario is that we have to stay here for five days."
"Yeah, but that’s not so bad, is it? I mean, demons can’t easily come into Seyruun now that Phil has powered up his magic circle thingy."
It was true. A year or so ago, Phil had been the target of an assassination plot in which a demon infiltrated his inner circle and used the plot as camouflage to kill me. Ever since that disastrous incident, Phil had had all of his priests and priestesses purify and strengthen the magic circle that not only surrounds the city but is actually incorporated into its design. And since the circle has a hexagram in the center, it promotes positive flow of energy, preventing demons and the like from effectively using their powers as they are negative entities.
"It’s not just the demons I’m worried about," I then explained to Gourry about what had happened after he lost consciousness during the fight against Aiden.
He took a few moments (and a few pieces of sausage) to digest this news.
"I dunno, Lina. It kinda sounds like they may have been just worried about you," he replied, stupidly.
"Gourry! That bastard Stridus openly threatened me!" He said that he would send me to meet my family if I didn’t join them, right? That didn’t quite sound right but I figured it was close enough.
"Maybe." Gourry didn’t sound convinced, but then again, he wasn’t awake during all that craziness so he didn’t get the vibes I’d felt then. "I just can’t see Milgasia turning against us like that, much less Mephy!"
"I know! It would’ve been hard for me to swallow, too, if I hadn’t been there taking the brunt of it!" I wearily climbed into the large bed, next to Gourry, who didn’t even need to scoot over. I sighed.
"You know," I began, staring at the ceiling, "sometimes I wonder if we’ll ever get a month, just a month of peace together."
"Yeah, things have been pretty hectic lately," Gourry replied.
"A little hectic!? We’ve barely had even a week of boredom in between our little adventures ever since we’ve met." Just one thing after the next for the past two years, as far as I could tell. Heck! Even before I met Gourry it was one adventure after the other with Naga!
"Maybe we should just ask all the bad guys to leave us alone for a month," Gourry said jokingly.
"Well, we might get our wish with you on the mend, but I still wouldn’t put it past any of them to crash our refuge here."
Suddenly the door came crashing open and a horrible monster came bursting through, bellowing in its deep voice.
Actually it was just King Phil, who was all worried and everything. I appreciated that, but it wasn’t exactly something I was ready for.
It took me a full five minutes before I was able to let go of the chandelier and drop.
"Ms. Lina! Mr. Gourry! It’s a pleasure to see you two again!" The big noisy guy who somehow claimed ownership to the throne of Seyruun greeted us with a bone-crushing bear hug, probably compounding our injuries.
Phil was a short, stocky, hairy, troll of a man with bad teeth to boot. He had been first in line to the throne of Seyruun until he took his recently deceased father’s crown. He is the father of both Naga and Amelia and the older brother of the deceased Randy and the still living Christopher, both of whom must’ve somehow stolen all of the handsome genes in their family DNA. But while his looks could turn you to stone, Phil does have his share of good qualities. He is a fair and just ruler and general pacifist at heart, and never quick to judge.
It’s just a shame he’s obnoxious as hell.
"Hi, Phil," Gourry and I droned in monotone after he released us from his stranglehold.
"What’s wrong? Are you still tired?" Phil misunderstood the reason for our indifferent greetings, but I wasn’t about to set him straight.
"Well, I won’t be long then," Phil continued. "I just came to let you know how the war was going and to thank you for helping Mr. Zelgadis. He and my dear Amelia are overjoyed by the Cu Sith pelt I hear you worked so hard to get!"
"Yeah, well, it sure was no picnic, but we’re glad they’re happy." There was something about what Phil said that was really bugging me. … Oh yeah, it was --
"There’s a WAR going on!?" I politely asked, carefully not spitting my half-chewed food all over Gourry.
"Well, I guess you couldn’t have heard this past week, but Mr. Gourry has been eating up all the latest details as they come in."
"Gourry!?" I stared blankly at the man who wasn’t wiping away the half-chewed food I did not spit all over him in surprise.
"Well, yeah, I guess the Mazoku have launched an all-out invasion. I’ve just been trying to figure out how that’ll fit into our travel plans."
"Travel plans?" I asked, not quite getting it.
"We’ve still got to go to that Dark Crystal place, right?"
"Oh, yeah, the Vale of Shadows! I hadn’t forgotten about that." I turned my head to face Phil. "But how bad is the fighting?"
"Bad enough," Phil said, his voice filled with the gravity of a weary ruler. "All of the major kingdoms are facing hordes of Mazoku and monsters. We’ve heard reports of many elven villages being outright destroyed and the survivors fleeing to every major city they can." Phil took a steadying breath. "Many have been turned away, including by those kingdoms who claim to be my allies! But I cannot believe they could be so callous, so I, in their stead, have opened Seyruun’s doors to any who flee this atrocity."
It was understandable from a logical point of view; the demons, apparently just after the elves, wouldn’t attack those who don’t harbor them. That was what most of those kingdoms and cities were probably thinking. Sensible or not, it still made me sick to the core.
"But the demons have not stopped their slaughter with the elves," Phil continued. "The Dragon Lords have also been feeling the bite of demonic weapons lately."
"Mil. . ." Try as I might, I couldn’t get myself too worked up over the dragons’ plight.
"And, we happen to be under attack as well!" Phil concluded, his right fist smacking his left palm for emphasis.
Suddenly the castle -- or at least the portion we were in -- rocked at that happy revelation and a loud CRAKOOM sounded, battering my eardrums.
“ WHY THE HELL WASN’T I AWARE OF THIS!?" I demanded. Honestly, there are some things people need to know as soon as they get out of bed! You don’t expect to go traveling in crappy weather, much less so when an APOCALYPTIC HORDE OF DEMONS is waging war on your very doorstep!
"Because they’ve only just begun to lay siege to my city. We’ve fought back some incursions at the border, but nothing like the black sea that threatens to drown this land entirely!" With that needlessly dramatic statement, Phil threw back the curtains of the room’s veranda and revealed the horror beyond.
I could dimly hear the rumble of a thousand thousand voices screaming the bloodthirsty chant of war, punctuated every few seconds by a crack or explosion from some sort of siege engine or demonic spell.
I rushed to the window and looked out into the gloomy night, but it looked as if it were nearly day. The thousands of torches and fires just outside the city gates made it seem, eerily, as if the sun were rising from the south. The light was bright enough to see the black mass of what looked like hundreds of thousands of monsters, trolls, goblins, orcs, berserkers -- whatever you could think of that made up the shadow that was overtaking this kingdom. There was absolutely no way, even with all of Seyruun’s allies, that they could hope to defend this city!
I sank to my knees, and not just because of the weariness that had plagued me for the past few weeks.
It’s finally happened. . . just like a thousand years ago. . .
"Yes," Phil, somehow sensing my thoughts, confirmed. "The New War of the Demonic Resurrection has begun.”
Maybe I should’ve stayed in bed . . .
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes.
Duh duh DUUUH!
Hmmm. . .turned into Tolkien at the end there, didn’t I?
Well, things have turned from bad to worse for the fair world of our Demon Slayers. Now that Phil has confirmed the unspeakable. . .wait a minute. . .Demonic Resurrection? That means there’s a dead demon that needs to be brought back to life! But who could that be? If you haven’t figured it out by now then you’ve no right to be reading anything related to Slayers (unless you’re new to it, I guess). For those who still can’t figure it out, wait til next chapter when more plot tidbits are revealed.
So, what’s up with Naga? When will Lina finally get to the Vale? Can she, along with the other slayers, even get out of the kingdom? What of Aiden, Stridus, Milgasia and Memphis? Oh yeah, and Bob? What role will they play in the future of this tale?
Stay tuned to find out!
"Mmph. . . .No more celery cake, please. . ." I mumbled, my mind half in the land of singing pillows, dancing pork cutlets and other strange niceties. I was vaguely aware that I was alive, and that pleased me enough to want to fall right back into my once complete slumber.
"Celery cake?" Somebody familiar-sounding parroted I could faintly smell herbs and the faint coppery tang of blood in the air.
"We should check for brain damage when she wakes up," someone else said.
"Brain damage!?" I sputtered, shooting up and out of my bedding, now fully awake and glaring fire and death at those who would insult me so while I was trying to sleep.
"Oooohohohoho!" cackled a fiend of some kind.
Then I realized that except for the few layers of bandages around my belly, I was completely naked.
I didn’t know why I was naked, nor did I recall the circumstances that led to my being in such a condition. Frankly, I didn’t really need to know right then. Tales of life-scarring trauma are best told when one is decent and well fed.
I was neither.
I jumped back underneath my covers but in doing so I managed to flip the top mattress over … and I tumbled onto the floor for all the room to see.
"God dammit! Avert your eyes, or the last thing you’ll see is a fireball being crammed up your ass!" I threatened as I scrambled for a measure of modesty with my blankets. Even with the thick quilt, I was sure they could still see me: I had to be glowing red right through it.
"I am reminded of a washboard, oddly enough."
I shot a stare toward the sarcastic voice and for the first time I noticed who was actually in the room.
"Zelgadis! Amelia!" I wanted to run over the whole two-foot distance and hug them to death but that would mean I would become an expression in the color pink once again.
I hate pink.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Zel said, his eyes graciously turned away as a nursemaid came to help me into a loose shift. I wouldn’t have to kill him just yet.
"How are you feeling, Ms. Lina?" asked Amelia. Her white dress was a pretty example of regal formality but it looked strong enough to handle the job of caring for me, which she must’ve been doing as she’d been by my side when I woke up. I was about to thank her when. . .
... I noticed Naga.
Lord knows I should ‘ve noticed her as soon as my eyes opened. I mean, she isn’t exactly the most visually mundane thing in the world, if you take my meaning. What threw me was her choice in dress. Instead of her shameless, itty-bitty black bikini, she actually was wearing clothes! Real clothes! I no longer had to be assaulted with horrendous images of swaying mammary flesh! Instead she was wearing a nice-looking black dress, with a wide white sash, and instead of her sentient skull, a golden amulet in the shape of Seyruun’s family crest hung around her swan-like neck. For the first time I could remember, her eyes looked sharp instead of glazed over and she wasn’t wearing that annoying “better than you are” smirk. She instead had a small, contented smile that just seemed completely out of place on her. She vaguely reminded me of a maid, but I kept my mouth shut as I didn’t need her to be going back to her old habits.
Or. . . perhaps this was Gracia, Amelia’s long-lost sister?
"I’m fine," I said, answering Amelia’s question. Then, "Naga?" I asked tentatively, uncertain of her personality. Gracia looked confused for a moment, as if trying to remember something (which made her look normal if you ask me), and shrugged.
"I am Gracia. Naga is my middle name." She took my hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you."
I promptly fell over but managed to get up quick enough that everyone thought nothing had happened.
I hope.
"Wha-whe-who-how!?" I sputtered, trying to make sense of this most unexpected turnout. How in the world did she forget who I was, of all people!?
"Is she OK?" Naga asked, looking genuinely concerned … another first. "I think she may need some more rest."
"Maybe," Amelia agreed. "But I think it’s just too much of a shock for her."
"What is?" Gracia asked, oblivious to my utter confusion.
"I’ll explain later, but for right now, could you please be a dear and check up on Mr. Gourry?" Amelia asked.
“Sure." With that uncertain comply, Naga left the room.
"Zel, could you help her?"
Zel snapped out of whatever daydream he was having and left as well.
"I’m sure that a million and a half questions are running through that brain of yours, Ms. Lina." Amelia said, taking a chair next to my bed.
"Yes, and then some, but I think I’ll start with the simpler, easier to digest questions, like how did we get here?" We were obviously in Seyruun, whose unique architecture, plus the fact that Amelia, Zel and Naga were all here, mostly confirmed it. That, and I had graced the medical ward of the palace with my presence about, I dunno, a million times now.
"Yes, you were found by a traveling merchant by the name of Bob. He looked kind of odd but he didn’t ask for any payment. He said it was the least he could do."
"Bob!?" I exclaimed. "That son of a bitch actually rescued us!?"
"You know him then? Try to calm down. You’ve just spent a week in bed fighting that infection."
A whole week, huh? I believe her, I’m friggin’ starving!
As if some one had read my mind, two maids rolled in with overstocked food trays, enough to feed around twelve people. It would do as an appetizer.
"Yeah, I know the bastard! He ran out on us when we fought that stupid Cu Sith!"
"You fought a Cu Sith!?" Amelia jumped up from her seat. "That must’ve been a heck of a fight!" She was itching for a story; her eager eyes and broad grin said as much. I, on the other hand, would prefer to stuff my face for the next few days until I blew up, rather than relive that horrible encounter.
"Fought and killed … eventually. Too bad we didn’t get its pelt, though. I know Zelgadis would’ve been thrilled to get his hands on one." It almost would have made all the pain and suffering Gourry and I had gone through worth it.
"You mean this?" Amelia asked, and I was suddenly assaulted by the hideous visage of the very same demon dog we’d killed. I could tell because of the slash wounds on its eyes.
"Ahh! Get that thing out of my face!" I nearly shrieked. I am not in the mood for looking at that thing anytime soon. Or in this lifetime, for that matter. "Where the hell did you get that!?"
"Bob sold it too us after he dropped you two off, but I didn’t know where he got it from until now," Amelia briefly explained.
"SOLD IT TO YOU!?" I really did shriek this time. "GOURRY AND I ARE THE ONES WHO KILLED THE DAMNED THING!!"
Through with venting, as my energy had just given out, I lay back on my bed and started munching on a drum stick. Between mouthfuls, "How much did he let it go for?" I wearily asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"About 20,000 gold." She mumbled, probably afraid of my inevitable outburst.
"How much? He let it go for only that much? Damn, maybe he isn’t the tightwad I made him out to be." The pelt was easily worth a hundred times that price. Demon dogs sired by the one and only Ruby Eye weren’t exactly commonplace.
"He said he’d discount it because he felt a little responsible for what happened to you two. When I asked what happened, he dodged the question by giving us a bunch of free travel gear. I got a little suspicious so I turned around to get the guards to hold him. But when I turned back to face him he was gone, wagon and all." A bewildered expression covered her usually smiling face. "All that was left were the supplies he gave us and the pelt. But yes, Zelgadis was ecstatic!" She smiled broadly at that little memory.
Ah. . .young love. . .
Speaking of love, I wonder where they stuck Gourry?
"How’s Gourry doing?" I managed to sit up on some of the big pillows on my bed and began eating in earnest, content to let Amelia do the talking for a while.
Portabella steaks!? Hell yeah!
Amelia’s normally chipper demeanor gave way to a slightly grimmer one … which made me stop eating.
"What?"
"Not so good, I’m afraid." She must’ve noticed my mounting panic because she quickly added, "Oh, no! It’s nothing life-threatening! It’s just that he won’t be leaving bed anytime soon.
"As soon as you’re done eating, why don’t I show you to his roo-"
"You will take me to Gourry now," I suggested, my nose exactly one millimeter from touching hers.
"I will take you to Gourry now," she sensibly agreed, seeing that there would be no stopping me. So, wobbling and pushing a double-loaded food tray, I followed her, trying very hard to keep up and not lose any of my precious cargo along the way. We passed a large number of harried nurses and grim-faced priests and other healers. We even passed by Sylphiel’s Uncle Gray, but he was too busy to notice us.
We finally reached Gourry’s room. Amelia opened the door for me and I went in, took one good look at Gourry, and said, "Well if it isn’t Zolf Jr.! When the hell did you get into town?" Gourry was covered in bandages, not to the extent the late Zolf had been after I fireballed him, but still, it was enough make me remember that miserable (and handsome) bastard.
"Not long after you, I think," Gourry replied. "Did you remember to put the dog to bed?"
"Actually, it was all you, ya big lug," I wrapped him in as comfortably tight a hug as I could. "The damned thing got a case of fatal indigestion … if you know what I mean." I saw Gourry’s Blast Blade resting in its scabbard on the dresser; that made one more thing I should be grateful for to Bob. I heard a slight sigh, but not from Gourry.
"Amelia! Do you mind!?"
"Oh! Sorry! I’ll just leave you two alone now!" She ducked out the door but stuck her little raven head back in a split second later. "Just ring the bell if you need anything. And don’t try anything too strenuous! You both are still in the middle of recovering!" With that final, obnoxious statement, she finally left.
"Maybe later, I’ll walk in on those two just for the fun of it," I muttered to no one in particular.
"It’s not like we could do anything anyway, not with me playing Mr. Mummy, unless you’re into that kinda thing," Gourry commented, shooting an exaggerated wink my way.
"Oh, grow up." I smiled as I scolded him, glad to see he was still in good spirits. "What’s the prognosis?" I asked, eyeing his multitude of bandages with more than a little concern. He really had taken a beating, and it’s no wonder with all the throwing around that hellhound had subjected him to. The only thing I’d really had happen to me was that venom, but that’s over with.
"Huh?"
“How bad is it?"
"Not so bad," Gourry said, obviously putting on a brave face for my benefit, which I appreciated, but I really needed the truth about how long we’d be stuck here. It’d only be a matter of time before somebody we really didn’t need to visit showed up on our front doorstep.
"A few cracked ribs, a broken leg and a few sprains. Not so bad considering what it could’ve been."
Yeah, we could’ve been kibble.
"Didn’t any of the priests or Amelia cast recovery on you or anything?"
"Yes, but they said it’ll still be at least a week before I can walk safely."
"What?" he asked, in response to my frown.
I summed it up: "So best-case scenario is that we have to stay here for five days."
"Yeah, but that’s not so bad, is it? I mean, demons can’t easily come into Seyruun now that Phil has powered up his magic circle thingy."
It was true. A year or so ago, Phil had been the target of an assassination plot in which a demon infiltrated his inner circle and used the plot as camouflage to kill me. Ever since that disastrous incident, Phil had had all of his priests and priestesses purify and strengthen the magic circle that not only surrounds the city but is actually incorporated into its design. And since the circle has a hexagram in the center, it promotes positive flow of energy, preventing demons and the like from effectively using their powers as they are negative entities.
"It’s not just the demons I’m worried about," I then explained to Gourry about what had happened after he lost consciousness during the fight against Aiden.
He took a few moments (and a few pieces of sausage) to digest this news.
"I dunno, Lina. It kinda sounds like they may have been just worried about you," he replied, stupidly.
"Gourry! That bastard Stridus openly threatened me!" He said that he would send me to meet my family if I didn’t join them, right? That didn’t quite sound right but I figured it was close enough.
"Maybe." Gourry didn’t sound convinced, but then again, he wasn’t awake during all that craziness so he didn’t get the vibes I’d felt then. "I just can’t see Milgasia turning against us like that, much less Mephy!"
"I know! It would’ve been hard for me to swallow, too, if I hadn’t been there taking the brunt of it!" I wearily climbed into the large bed, next to Gourry, who didn’t even need to scoot over. I sighed.
"You know," I began, staring at the ceiling, "sometimes I wonder if we’ll ever get a month, just a month of peace together."
"Yeah, things have been pretty hectic lately," Gourry replied.
"A little hectic!? We’ve barely had even a week of boredom in between our little adventures ever since we’ve met." Just one thing after the next for the past two years, as far as I could tell. Heck! Even before I met Gourry it was one adventure after the other with Naga!
"Maybe we should just ask all the bad guys to leave us alone for a month," Gourry said jokingly.
"Well, we might get our wish with you on the mend, but I still wouldn’t put it past any of them to crash our refuge here."
Suddenly the door came crashing open and a horrible monster came bursting through, bellowing in its deep voice.
Actually it was just King Phil, who was all worried and everything. I appreciated that, but it wasn’t exactly something I was ready for.
It took me a full five minutes before I was able to let go of the chandelier and drop.
"Ms. Lina! Mr. Gourry! It’s a pleasure to see you two again!" The big noisy guy who somehow claimed ownership to the throne of Seyruun greeted us with a bone-crushing bear hug, probably compounding our injuries.
Phil was a short, stocky, hairy, troll of a man with bad teeth to boot. He had been first in line to the throne of Seyruun until he took his recently deceased father’s crown. He is the father of both Naga and Amelia and the older brother of the deceased Randy and the still living Christopher, both of whom must’ve somehow stolen all of the handsome genes in their family DNA. But while his looks could turn you to stone, Phil does have his share of good qualities. He is a fair and just ruler and general pacifist at heart, and never quick to judge.
It’s just a shame he’s obnoxious as hell.
"Hi, Phil," Gourry and I droned in monotone after he released us from his stranglehold.
"What’s wrong? Are you still tired?" Phil misunderstood the reason for our indifferent greetings, but I wasn’t about to set him straight.
"Well, I won’t be long then," Phil continued. "I just came to let you know how the war was going and to thank you for helping Mr. Zelgadis. He and my dear Amelia are overjoyed by the Cu Sith pelt I hear you worked so hard to get!"
"Yeah, well, it sure was no picnic, but we’re glad they’re happy." There was something about what Phil said that was really bugging me. … Oh yeah, it was --
"There’s a WAR going on!?" I politely asked, carefully not spitting my half-chewed food all over Gourry.
"Well, I guess you couldn’t have heard this past week, but Mr. Gourry has been eating up all the latest details as they come in."
"Gourry!?" I stared blankly at the man who wasn’t wiping away the half-chewed food I did not spit all over him in surprise.
"Well, yeah, I guess the Mazoku have launched an all-out invasion. I’ve just been trying to figure out how that’ll fit into our travel plans."
"Travel plans?" I asked, not quite getting it.
"We’ve still got to go to that Dark Crystal place, right?"
"Oh, yeah, the Vale of Shadows! I hadn’t forgotten about that." I turned my head to face Phil. "But how bad is the fighting?"
"Bad enough," Phil said, his voice filled with the gravity of a weary ruler. "All of the major kingdoms are facing hordes of Mazoku and monsters. We’ve heard reports of many elven villages being outright destroyed and the survivors fleeing to every major city they can." Phil took a steadying breath. "Many have been turned away, including by those kingdoms who claim to be my allies! But I cannot believe they could be so callous, so I, in their stead, have opened Seyruun’s doors to any who flee this atrocity."
It was understandable from a logical point of view; the demons, apparently just after the elves, wouldn’t attack those who don’t harbor them. That was what most of those kingdoms and cities were probably thinking. Sensible or not, it still made me sick to the core.
"But the demons have not stopped their slaughter with the elves," Phil continued. "The Dragon Lords have also been feeling the bite of demonic weapons lately."
"Mil. . ." Try as I might, I couldn’t get myself too worked up over the dragons’ plight.
"And, we happen to be under attack as well!" Phil concluded, his right fist smacking his left palm for emphasis.
Suddenly the castle -- or at least the portion we were in -- rocked at that happy revelation and a loud CRAKOOM sounded, battering my eardrums.
“ WHY THE HELL WASN’T I AWARE OF THIS!?" I demanded. Honestly, there are some things people need to know as soon as they get out of bed! You don’t expect to go traveling in crappy weather, much less so when an APOCALYPTIC HORDE OF DEMONS is waging war on your very doorstep!
"Because they’ve only just begun to lay siege to my city. We’ve fought back some incursions at the border, but nothing like the black sea that threatens to drown this land entirely!" With that needlessly dramatic statement, Phil threw back the curtains of the room’s veranda and revealed the horror beyond.
I could dimly hear the rumble of a thousand thousand voices screaming the bloodthirsty chant of war, punctuated every few seconds by a crack or explosion from some sort of siege engine or demonic spell.
I rushed to the window and looked out into the gloomy night, but it looked as if it were nearly day. The thousands of torches and fires just outside the city gates made it seem, eerily, as if the sun were rising from the south. The light was bright enough to see the black mass of what looked like hundreds of thousands of monsters, trolls, goblins, orcs, berserkers -- whatever you could think of that made up the shadow that was overtaking this kingdom. There was absolutely no way, even with all of Seyruun’s allies, that they could hope to defend this city!
I sank to my knees, and not just because of the weariness that had plagued me for the past few weeks.
It’s finally happened. . . just like a thousand years ago. . .
"Yes," Phil, somehow sensing my thoughts, confirmed. "The New War of the Demonic Resurrection has begun.”
Maybe I should’ve stayed in bed . . .
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes.
Duh duh DUUUH!
Hmmm. . .turned into Tolkien at the end there, didn’t I?
Well, things have turned from bad to worse for the fair world of our Demon Slayers. Now that Phil has confirmed the unspeakable. . .wait a minute. . .Demonic Resurrection? That means there’s a dead demon that needs to be brought back to life! But who could that be? If you haven’t figured it out by now then you’ve no right to be reading anything related to Slayers (unless you’re new to it, I guess). For those who still can’t figure it out, wait til next chapter when more plot tidbits are revealed.
So, what’s up with Naga? When will Lina finally get to the Vale? Can she, along with the other slayers, even get out of the kingdom? What of Aiden, Stridus, Milgasia and Memphis? Oh yeah, and Bob? What role will they play in the future of this tale?
Stay tuned to find out!