Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ chapter 25 ( Chapter 26 )

Slayers: Knightfall

Chapter Twenty-Five


“Run, run, RUN!” I screamed as we, that is Gourry, Regald, Lantz, a whole crap load of Golden Dragons and myself, hot footed quite literally from a fast flowing river of lava that just might’ve been my fault. The cave that we were more or less currently trapped inside was quickly becoming deathly hot.

“Oh, we are running!” Regald yelled. “Its just that the lava is distressingly FASTER!”

“Next time you decide to solve our bad guy problems by punching a hole in the ground make sure we are NOT inside a volcano!” Lantz berated, and as much as I hate to admit, was right to do so.

“I’m not sure this beats fighting a hundred Zanaffar freaks . . ..” I winced when I heard Gourry’s softly muttered complaint.

I knew we led dangerous lives, but I never thought it would be me who got us all killed.

You see, during our operation to rescue some Golden Dragons whose help Val wishes to procure (or see slaughtered), we ran into a bit of a problem. A problem involving about one hundred lesser and brass demons whose master decided it was a great idea to encase them in Zanaffar Armor. So I get the greater idea to cook the problem in some fresh magma by casting Bephis Bring onto the floor. Why the magma? Why because the demons who captured the dragons thought that having a secret base inside a volcano would be a brilliantly clichéd thing to do.

And thus, things didn’t go as planned.

. . .As usual . . .

Oh, the baddies got cooked as planned, even Zanaffar Armor can’t protect against a thousand degrees of pure liquid rock and iron, or at least the bodies inside the armor can’t. What I didn’t count on was causing a full-blown eruption that was causing the current drop in morale in my party.

The heat was growing ever more intense at our backs, we had to find a way out of here. I was too afraid that if I started blasting random holes in the walls I would unleash yet more red burny stuff and really ruin our day.

Smoke and steam clouded our vision and noxious fumes made our lungs burn and ache with every breath, but we had to keep going! Run til your legs burn off or risk having your entire body burned up.

The Golden Dragons we were following seemed to know where they were going so we put our trust in them, hoping they wouldn’t lead us to a dead end. I almost thought they would just to please Mil but I know dragons aren’t as fatalistic as that, even to get revenge on one who betrayed them.

“We are about to get a very good tan on our backsides back here!” I yelled up ahead. “Isn’t there a way out yet!?”

“Be patient, young Inverse,” A dragon answered without looking back. I could detect neither malice nor much of anything in his voice. “I can smell fresh air not too much farther ahead.”

Thank Sylpheed . . .

“Oh, shi-it!” Cried Lantz, and I was about to tell him that what the nice dragon told us was a good thing when I turned my head to see what he was complaining about.

“Oh, monkey shit!” I agreed completely with Lantz’s earlier assessment and complemented it with my own.

The lava was barely a few yards behind us now. Rocks and old volcanic glass glowed orange and split and hissed from the heat. I watched Gourry quickly pull off his breastplate, the very enchanted one that Bob sold to us not so long ago, and pitch it into the molten flow.

“Dammit!” he cursed. “I don’t tan well!” Which was true, he merely freckled.

Gourry blew on his hands repeatedly; his armor was probably close to becoming red hot. Lantz wore leather armor, but was still half stripped off to keep him marginally cooler than the rest of us. Regald wore his usual plate mail but it was apparently enchanted, as he didn’t look like he was sweating nearly as much as the rest of us.

I thought about casting something like Demonic Crystal or some other ice magic in the hopes of slowing down the lava but I was afraid it would backfire and cause a mess worse than even this one.

“Ahh!” Lantz ran right into an exploding rock full on. Parts of his flesh turned bright red and much of his hair and beard had melted. Luckily, the superheated rock cauterized his many small wounds so he wouldn’t be bleeding much. If you could call that “lucky” . . .yeesh.

Regald hoisted Lantz up onto his shoulders in an impressive display of strength and ran on, still keeping up with us easily. Regald grimaced a lot but did not complain about his extra burden. Lantz must’ve gone into shock because he wasn’t talking and a stream of urine ran down the side of Regald’s armor.

Reg took one look and muttered, “Damned ginger kids . . ..”

If we all survive this I’m going to make sure that Lantz NEVER lives this down.

Much to our relief, the air was becoming less acrid, and cooler as well as we ran on. I could see the early morning sun peeking from a not so distant cave opening from between the dragons stampeding legs!

We can make this!

“Almost there guys!” I encouraged.

“You’re just as exciting as your father was, that’s for sure!” I wasn’t sure that it was meant as a compliment, but I took Regald’s statement as one anyways.

“Oh, so close!” A mocking and familiar voice suddenly rang out.

“Riksfalto,” I muttered the name as a curse.

“Who?” Lantz groggily asked, he was starting to come to, proving that he had a stronger constitution then I’d always thought he had.

“Deep Sea Dolphin’s general,” I answered, feeling sick to my stomach. “This is going to get interesting in all the wrong ways.”

“Oh,” Beard Boy muttered. “That sounds . . .prestigious.”

Much more prestigious than wetting yourself.

“She’s going to try to block us from escaping,” Regald said.

“No matter what, just keep running,” Gourry ordered. “Lina, if worse comes to worse use your Nightmare magic, I carry you if you get too tired.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said and quickly amended once I saw Gourry’s face fall. “I meant I hope it doesn’t come to me having to use Nightmare magic, goof.”

Gods, I hope our relationship hasn’t become that fragile.

“You Dragons keep running too! Barrel your way out!”

“You don’t have to tell us twice!” One replied.

We pushed ourselves beyond our limits, legs and lungs screaming for rest. I felt a heat in my feet that went beyond anaerobic burn that I tried very hard not to think about.

Regald was slowing down; the baggage called Lantz was finally starting to take a toll on him. Lava licked at the soldier’s heels, which made me wonder how much his armor’s enchantment could take before we’d have another injury on our hands.

“Gourry!” shouted Regald, as he shifted an in and out Lantz into his arms. “Catch!” The warrior threw Lantz with astonishing ease and Gourry actually managed to catch the man also with little difficulty.

We ran a few more yards when I heard a sticky sounding pop and I turned to find that a lava bubble had burst, showering Regald with lava.

“Reg!” I shouted, wondering how I could get him out of there without getting myself killed.

“I’m fine! The armor’s magic is holding!” with a growl Reg started running again, and actually started to outpace the lava.

Amazingly, we all made it out before the lava could burn our legs off. The dragons stood on one side of the cave exit and myself and the boys on the other. We were separated by the now gushing river of liquid fire. Neither Riksfalto, nor anything else impeded our progress. I looked down at the heels of my boots and found that they had indeed been on fire, for a short time at least.

Why bother announcing your presence if you aren’t going to do anything, Riksfalto?

“Arrgh!” Riksfalto’s scream echoes over the rumbling volcano, giving us at least something to go on as to the demon’s whereabouts.

Xellos?

I could sense that a battle was going on in the astral plane and that it wasn’t going well for Deep Sea’s general. But whoever was stalling the general had my thanks and my curses because now I had time to try to get the dragons to come along with me to Valgaav. Or . . .kill them if they won’t join me . . .

I really didn’t want to do that. I may not like Golden Dragons, Milgasia especially, but I wasn’t about to condone the wholesale slaughtering of them. They had to at least come with me to hear Val out for themselves. . Or I had to come up with a way to explain to Val why I didn’t kill them in such a way that would spare my life.

As everything as of late, that is considerably easier said than done.

I still believe that joining up with Valgaav was the right thing to do. If I can’t trust my own visions then I’ve come to the point where I don’t trust myself, and then I wouldn’t even be me anymore.

But, Zel’s parting words to me kept echoing vividly in my head.

“You are climbing a slippery slope, Lina. If you mire yourself in the mud of evil we will wash our hands of you.”

I felt I was perilously close to sinking into that metaphorical mud unless I came up with something fast.

One of the Dragons stirred; though the air was filled with red and orange embers I could still see the suspicion in the creature’s eyes. “Lina Inverse, now that our escape is out of the way, we would ask you something. Why have you rescued us?”

Here it comes . . .

“From what we’ve learned from Master Milgasia, you’ve abandoned the gods and their servants completely. Why would you go out of your way and risk yours and your friends lives to save ours?” Another, older looking Dragon subjected.

Wait a minute . . .a volcano is exploding all around us and these guys want to have a philosophical discussion? Okay, just for once please shut up and listen to me!

“Well, I uh . . .” I stuttered, straining for something, anything that wouldn’t get me killed one way or the other . . . but a now mostly awake Lantz decided to make things more difficult for us all.

“Hey, now!” Lantz barked, now off of Gourry’s shoulders and looking more than a bit haggard. “We just saved you! Granted, Valgaav was the one who told us where you would be, and Lina made things harder by blowing up the volcano but we did rescue you! A little gratitude would be nice!”

Lantz, you IMBECILE!

“Valgaav,” A younger Dragon murmured. “One wonders what uses that particular demon would have for the likes of us Golden Dragons. The same Golden Dragons he claims slaughtered his race, the Ancient Dragons. Something does not seem entirely right here if you ask me.”

And who asked you!?

“Val has a lot of different people working for him now,” Regald said. “If you’d swallow your pride and talked to him maybe he’d let you join you in his quest to destroy Ruby Eye.”

“I mean, the guy even has fish men, for crying out loud,” said Lantz. “He could use the extra firepower.”

“We haven’t received any invitation from him.” huffed the older Dragon. “And even if we did, how could we even think of trusting him.” He turned to stare directly at me. “How could you even think of trusting him?”
Gourry and I exchanged a nervous glance.

Oh, here it goes . . .

“I don’t trust Valgaav much more than any of you do. I know he’d gladly kill me given the opportunity but he is willing to put aside his grudges for the greater good. While his reasoning is selfish, he does wish to see the world be rid of Shabranigdo.”

I took a massive gulp and continued.

“Valgaav has offered an invitation for a dialogue with the Golden Dragons. And that invitation is through me.”

“Ah, so that’s the entire picture,” said Regald. “I knew that Val wasn’t sending us out to save you guys out of the goodness of his heart.”

“This little trip was kinda fun, now that I look back on it.” Gourry quipped, completely missing the point of our talk.

“So, the demon thinks that by having you save us it would make us more receptive to his words.” The younger Dragon reasoned. “Believe us, Lina, we are grateful to be saved from whatever Riksfalto had planned for us, but how can we, the followers of Sylpheed, possibly accept even talking with such a fiend?”

This wasn’t going well. Dragons are deep thinkers; they tend to analyze everything that gets thrown their way. Being so long lived means that they can take their time to debate every little decision and find every flaw with any argument.

And mine was just chock full of them.

Dammit! How can I go through with this!? If the Dragons were to actually attack me then I could fight like I meant it. I can’t just kill these guys in cold blood, I mean, they aren’t like bandits or anyone who actually deserved it. But could I somehow make it look like I killed them to whoever Val likely had spying on us without actually doing it?

I looked over to Gourry who was mindlessly picking his ear in his honestly stupid way when an idea popped into my mind.

One of the Dragons apparently picked up on my mounting distress.

“What if we refuse, Lina Inverse? What did Valgaav say for you to do if we refused his offer?”

Ah, hell, its do or die . . .or die anyways, despite what I am about to do!

“He-,” I took a steadying breath. “He told me to kill you if you said no.”

Lantz and Regald were startled at that admission. And so did Gourry! That loon! He was there when he told us that!

The Dragons were silent for a very long moment. I couldn’t bear their stunned gazes and I looked to the ground, afraid to even fidget.

“That . . .was a brave thing to say.” The older Dragon said.

“Or a very stupid thing,” said another.

“That’s quite a thing to leave out, Lina.” Regald said, completely stunned.

“No kidding, I signed on for saving the Dragons, not killing them!” Jilas the Second whined or Lantz if you must call him by that name.

“Now we can’t possibly accept Valgaav’s offer, but neither can we allow ourselves to be killed by you. We know you are capable of it.”

Capable because of the power I possess or because I lack a morale compass according to you? Whatever, time to drop another bombshell.

“Then don’t join Valgaav! Join me!” This brought another stunned silence to our little gathering.

“Lina,” Gourry whispered into my ear. “I don’t think we can afford to feed these guys for very long.”

“Just shut up and let me work here!” I harshly whispered back.

“Join you?” Scoffed the younger Dragon. “That would be little different from joining Valgaav himself!”

“No! I wouldn’t dream of killing you for no good reason like Val would. Listen, I’m not going to be with Valgaav forever, and I would never have agreed to his horrible stipulation if he hadn’t had threatened my life. I’m trying to work this so that we can all get out of this alive, why can’t you work with me here!?”

“Listen,” Gourry put it. “Lina is not a monster . . .Although a lot of people seem to mistake her for one. Anyways, Lina doesn’t want to kill you. And when Val finds out that she isn’t then he’ll kill her and kill you guys later all the same. What’s the harm in playing along, at least for a little while?”

“The Inverse name has been renowned throughout Zephillia for generations,” Regald said. “And now, thanks to young Lina, it is renowned through out the world, you of all people should know what kind of person she is.”

“Lina is a crazy, scary person,” it Lantz’s turn to present his testimony in the Case of Lina Inverse vs. the Stubborn Dragons. “But despite the fact that every time I gang up with her I almost end up dead she’s always gotten us through! Trust her!”

“I won’t let you down,” I stressed the won’t. “Val will have to do with you guys pledging yourselves to me. I know you don’t like it, but it’s the only way we can all survive this!”

The Golden Dragons just looked at each other for a moment. The tension was ridiculously thick, like it could only be cut with the Blast Sword and roasted over a fire to a delicious golden brown and eaten with gusto.

Gods I’m hungry . . .

I thought I felt my tummy rumbling but then I noticed the ground beginning to shake. Hmmm, Volcano + Lava flows + Ground Shaking = Bad Things for Lina and Company.

“Come with us,” the older dragon said as he lowered himself so that we could hop on his back.

Once everyone was, uh, onboard we took off to the sky, leaving the volcanic region of the Katart Mountains behind us. I looked down and aft to watch the volcano erupt in full. It was like the sun itself bursting from the mountain. Ash, fire and smoke were soon quickly blotting out the sky, obscuring the morning light.

Suddenly the dragon we rode on started to weave and bob, forcing me to pay attention to keeping a grip. Flaming rock and ash was now raining down upon us. I erected a wind barrier around us all, and instantly we didn’t even worry about the rushing wind much less the volcanic debris.

“Did we do it, Gourry?” I asked as we took stock of our wounds and cast healing spells, I really didn’t want to touch Lantz after his accident but he did put in a good word for me so I guess I’d heal him this time.

“I don’t know,” Gourry replied, a frown on his normally cheery face. “But they haven’t dropped us into that volcano yet.”

“So, uh, Regald?” Lantz ventured as I cast a recovery spell on him. “About what happened earlier . . .you see-.”

“Don’t worry about it. None of it got underneath my armor and the heat evaporated it.” Regald stopped Lantz from humiliating himself any further.

“It’s not like I was aware I was doing it . . .” Lantz said with all the patheticalness of a blind runt puppy. Sylpheed I thought this guy was a warrior?

“Well, you did get the worse of that little escapade.” I said, deciding not to rib him for pissing his pants. “And you owe Reg a big fat thank you at the very least. Gourry too.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. Nearly losing your life can be a sobering experience. “I’ll even throw in a few beers too.”

“The darker the better, and as long as you aren’t on my shoulders,” Reg said and then he turned to me. “And Lina, you could’ve told us that Val would have the Dragons killed if they didn’t join him. We could’ve planned around this.”

“I know, I should’ve said something but . . . I didn’t want to. I thought you guys would think less of me if I told you Val’s orders in their entirety and that I was going along with it.”

“Lina, I’ve only been traveling with you a short time. But in that short time I’ve noticed some things about you. For one you need to learn that your teammates are more than just extra firepower. They can be a valuable source of advice, comfort, and information. I can already tell that you’ve taken your father’s personality in that even though you’ll take on party members, you don’t really ask for any of their help.”

“I know, but . . .,” and I stopped short. There were no buts. It was all true. Gourry and I work brilliantly as a team, as a single entity even. But throw in more people, heck even Amelia and Zelgadis; things start to break down more than just a bit. Ever since I started my journey away from home all those years ago I’ve generally only worked with a single partner, whether its Connie, Naga and now Gourry. It’s what I’m used to and I know it works; adding more people generally makes things more difficult.

“Lina, when we get to the enclave I’ll help you learn how to better work as a group. How to trust your partners enough where you don’t constantly think about them. I see how you are constantly wracking your brain, trying to save every one, to solve every problem when the answer could lie with someone other than you.”

But that’s just it. When I start relying on other people that’s when people start to die. I ‘m the only one with my kind of abilities. No one is smarter, more powerful or has the most luck than me. I can’t trust anyone else with the responsibilities I’ve been given because nobody else can bear them as I had proven I could over these last few months.

I didn’t verbally agree or disagree with what Regald said. I instead just thanked him for his support and took the time to relax by cuddling up with the already snoring Gourry. I kept half an eye open just to make sure that I recast the wind barrier.

I must’ve fallen completely asleep because I woke up with a start on a soft bed of grass instead of a scaly back of a dragon.

“Wha-? Where are we?” I asked, my mind instantly alert at this unexpected turn. When my eyes cleared I could see that we were in a meadow. Where this meadow was exactly was something I couldn’t even begin to guess. I saw that Lantz was napping a couple of yards next to me on the right. Regald was pacing back and forth to the right of me, a worried look on his face.

“The Dragons dropped us off here and left quite some time ago.” Reg said.

“What do you mean “left”?” I numbly asked, I swear my heart stopped for a few seconds.

“They’re gone, Lina.” Gourry said from behind me. He was resting against a large tree. “They said they were going to see Milgasia.”

“Did they say that they are going to come back?”

“Not a peep.”

I started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all though I felt that I was a hair’s breadth away from the laugh becoming a sob. After all that, they up and leave us to our fate. Go figure. The Golden Dragon’s, emissaries of the gods, only look out for themselves in the end.

“Did I miss a joke?” Gourry asked.

“My entire life is a big freaking joke if you’ve failed to notice!” I snarled, which I immediately regretted after seeing him raise his hands in a placating gesture.

“I’m sorry . . .I just don’t know what we are going to do . . .”

“What did Val say he was going to do if you failed to kill the Dragons?” Regald asked, guessing the cause of my misery.

“Hahaha, oh nothing much. He’s just going to kill me that’s all.”

“No, he isn’t.” Regald said, finality being the theme of his tone.

“Not if we have anything to say about it.” Gourry darkly promised, gripping his sword for emphasis.

“Heh, this isn’t your fight, Reg. I know you feel somewhat responsible for me because you knew my father but I wouldn’t be able to stand it if some one else dies because of me. Especially you, you’re the only link to the side of my dad I barely knew. I want to hear of what he was like on the road, what kind of adventure’s you had.” My dad’s told me plenty of yarns about his adventures, but now that I was grown up I realized that more than a few of them were augmented to keep two very energetic girls entertained.

“Nor I would be able to live with myself if something happened to you if I could’ve prevented it. The Inverse line can’t end with you, I’ll make sure of it. As for stories of your father and me? Well, how about we make a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“I become your guardian and I’ll tell you all you could possibly wish to hear of your dad and more.”

“I already have a guardian,” I said, wrapping my arms around Gourry’s right. “One I’m more than happy with. And how can you tell me anything if you end up dead?”

“Then at least allow me to travel with you,” the old warrior pressed. “I haven’t had this much fun since traveling with your father. And, just to set your mind at ease, I swear to you by my ancestor’s honor that I will not die until I’ve retold all your father’s adventures to you, and your children.”

“My children? Ha! You aren’t going to accept no for an answer, are you?”

“Stubbornness is a Zephillian hallmark, after all. Besides I’m feel as though I’m doing your father one last service in protecting his last surviving child.”

This guy knows all the right marks to hit . . .I’m going to regret this. I know it.

I sighed, but a smile was on my lips. “Fair enough, just be sure that I warned you. My friends tend to get themselves trashed traveling with me.”

“Indeed,” a growling voice sounded off from nowhere and everywhere at once. “You would’ve survived if you would have chosen a safer friend to try to protect.”

Valgaav appeared in the center of us all, his arms crossed and grimace ever . . .uh, grimacing. But something was different; his arms were longer and covered with black scales and black-feathered wings sprouted from his shoulders.

“So tell me, Lina Inverse . . ., where are the Golden Dragons?”



Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes.

This chapter was an absolute pain to write and it still needs a lot of work done to it until I’m satisfied! Oh well, it’ll get revised eventually. Anyways, we are one chapter away from the vale of shadows! Oh the anticipation!

See ya next time!