Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ chapter 30 ( Chapter 31 )

Slayers: Knightfall

Chapter Thirty

 

 

 

“Ollie, Ollie oxen free, Naga!” No, I don't know quite why I chose that line as my battle cry, as I jumped down from the temple's precipice, readying to do battle against a fiendish, crazy-inducing artifact. But, I did say it, like it or not, and I did not, but I had to live with it.

 

“Amelia!” Zel cried. “No matter what, make sure that Gracia does not get Uni's horn!”

 

“I'm not letting her get even a single one of her horse apples!” Amelia responded, keeping Naga at bay with some low powered flare arrows shot at her feet.

 

“I'm going to get you! AHMGONNAGETCHYUBOYAH!” Naga threatened in an accent that could only be described as hickish. She lunged at her sister, trying to get around her and to the unicorn filly. Which was incredibly cute, by the way with soft looking pinkish hair and big expressive eyes. It almost seemed more a toy than an animal as it nervously pawed at the ground.

 

“Uhm, did I miss something here?” Gourry asked while drawing his sword. “Why are we fighting the boob chick?”

 

“Because Gracia fell under the control of the Xenasphyr who turned her into an insane shell of her former self. It is trying to get that unicorn's horn, as they are known to enhance the magical properties of amulets and talismans. If it can do that then it'll be able to fully dominate Naga again.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Naga went crazy because she liked Goth jewelry too much and now she's trying to eat Amelia's horse thing!”

 

“Gotcha,” Gourry not so convincingly nodded. I hoped beyond hope for the sake of our child that he got my mind.

 

“Just make sure Naga doesn't get the unicorn, you dolt!”

 

By then we were at the bottom of the temple stairs, charging full speed ahead to prevent an over endowed idiot from being told what to do by a piece of ceramic. Not exactly the most heroic thing to do now that I've got the full use of my powers.

 

Speaking of which, I was now viewing the world as a sea of black and gold, studying the tenuous connection from the pendant to Naga. Figuring I may as well give it a go, I conjured a thin plane of nihility and sent it flying between the two sisters, and subsequently, severed the magical connection to Naga.

 

“Holy poop on pig's feet, that's an strange way to feel!” cried Gracia, or at least I hoped it was Gracia making that bizarre statement. She gripped her head as if she had the biggest migraine known to man and slumped to her knees.

 

“Gracia!” Amelia cried running to her pain-racked sister while Zel took Uni's reigns.

 

“Nggh!” Naga squirmed under Amelia's embrace; I didn't think she realized what was going on. Not that that was news.

 

Suddenly, a distortion appeared in my field of view, a distressingly familiar one though we had only tangled with this creep once before in Zephyr City. Coldness gripped my heart, dread crept up my spine, the same feelings I always had when one of the demon race shows up.

 

If it isn't one thing it's ALWAYS another . . .sigh . . .

 

“Good day, Miss Inverse,” the demon greeted, his face an eerily emotionless porcelain mask. If you can remember (or reread) waaaaay back when I first found out that I was the Knightmare, I was on the run from the Zephillian Royal Guard, but this particular Mazoku was lying in ready and nearly dropped an entire restaurant on our heads which some of my critics would have called “divine punishment” but I would've just called it ironic. It would've been the end of us if we hadn't had found an underground tunnel that led us to safety (and Naga, unfortunately). We haven't seen him or his buddies since, until now that is.

 

“Uhm, hi? Shouldn't you be going crazy right about now?” Val had said something about this place being forbidden to demons and gods, and Lucidia confirmed it.

 

“Or exploding!?” Amelia cried.

 

“That was one of Milgasia's horrible jokes, remember?” said Zel who was shaking his head in exasperation. Even Uni looked at Amelia a tad cockeyed.

 

“Lina, something's up with that dude's armor . . .” Gourry eyed the demon with more than a little bit of fear and confusion.

 

I took a closer look and indeed, to my own fear and disgust, the Zanaffar Armor was pulsating like a heart on the verge of failing. I knew that Zanaffar was alive, so to speak, but this was just freaky.

 

“Oh, that I would be, if weren't for you!” the freak snarled. “If only you'd been a good little Inverse and had died along with the rest of your family I wouldn't have been put in this predicament! Wouldn't have had to allow the Zanaffar to take over just to stay alive!”

 

He peered over his shoulder and two more demons appeared, their Zanaffar Armor in similar states of squirm. The two were the same who had partnered with the lead demon before. One was as thin as a rail with massive scythes capping each of his arms. The other was in the form of a very large man who had grossly bulging and pulsating veins and arteries protruding from nearly every inch of his translucent hide. Typical demon fare.

 

“Vengeance . . . we seek v-vengeance!” the large one croaked out, it seemed like it could barely maintain its hold on its mind. Veins and arteries throbbed almost as disgustingly as the armor he was wearing. “This is what we needed to do to survive in this cursed place!”

 

“We must complete our contract or else Lady Dolphin will never restore us!” the skinny one announced.

 

There's the confirmation I've been looking for; Dolphin has been behind everything! Not bad for a figment of all of our imaginations.

 

“You guys may be demons but now that I've gotten the Shard, all three of you are royally outclassed.” I gloated, sure the sight of the erratic pulsing of the Zanaffar was disturbing, but I knew I was more than capable of handling the poor little demons.

 

“Speak for yourself!” Zel groaned, “Keep in mind we are still recovering from a psychic attack courtesy of your friend Lucidia!”

 

“Sorry?”

 

“Don't mind him, Lina,” Amelia apologized, “He hasn't had his coffee yet.”

 

“Snarl!”

 

“Okay, that was just weird, Zel. Never do it again.” Yeesh, what was with caffeine addicts? Almost as bad as my old man when he couldn't find a cigarette.

 

“Hmmm,” hmmmed Gourry, dangerously tapping the edge of his Blast Sword against his shoulder guard. “Shouldn't we be fighting to the death right about now?”

 

“The human is correct!” Skinny said, who was looking around to see if anyone else witnessed his stupidity.

 

“I concur!” Fatty put in, looking as self-important as any fat cat.

 

“Well then, we have a consensus,” Mask solemnly intoned. “Instead of ordering cheeseburgers for all of our cats, we shall kill you in its stead!”

 

Excuse me?

 

“Lina?” Amelia asked as if I would know the answer to the demon's crazy talk.

 

“I don't know wants up with them either, but let's not let this opportunity pass up and ATTACK!”

 

Whether it was out of instinct or the fact that we were all pretty used to how we fight the gang did get to it as I yelled. Zel swung in with an Astral Vine spell empowering his broadsword, hacking away at the skinny demon while Amelia backed him up with well-placed Elemekia Lances to keep the freak honest.

 

The spokesperson for Weight Watchers of Hell was tougher than he looked though, and was managing to hold his own against the two of them. He even managed to throw a swing causing Amelia to duck for which she was rewarded with a kick to the face, bloodying her nose and splitting her upper lip. But like the trooper that she was, she ignored the pain and fired an Elemekia Lance right into the demon's gut, a literal sucker-punch.

 

As the demon was hunched over in pain, Zel powerfully swung his broadsword in an overhead chop aimed at the monster's unprotected neck. In a surprise move, the demon retracted his head and pencil neck into his body like a turtle, finding protection in the Zanaffar Armor, neatly causing Zel's sword to miss and then countering with a vicious swipe of his own which Zel barely managed to block, the power of the blow sent him flying more than a few yards to painfully land against the temple steps.

 

Amelia grimaced but met the world's most dangerous beanpole (Balgemon, you've been replaced!) head on with her fist empowered by her patented Visfurank Spell, weaving her fist and mixing up her punches, trying to find her way around the Zanaffar Armor and deadly scythes to the demon's relatively unprotected head.

 

Gourry went straight for Mask who managed to reign in enough control of his armor to create a blade of light, much like the one Duclis made when we first went up against Zanaffar a few years back. If Gourry still were in possession of the Sword of Light taking care of the addled demon and his armor would've been no problem as the SoL was Zanaffar's legendary weakness. But now, even with a weapon as powerful as the Blast Sword, he stood little chance of getting past the demon's parasitic defenses.

 

It didn't help matters that Mask was good with the blade as well.

 

Gourry's skill with the blade was both fast and measured, never using more than the absolute power and speed necessary to get the job done, yet he could go a little crazy to keep his opponents unbalanced. He is the most skilled and deadliest swordsman I had ever seen, as I've repeated numerous times in the course of my tales, yet it always is worth emphasizing, but the point being was, Mask was fighting him to a draw.

 

Now don't get me wrong, Gourry was going all out, using moves against Mask that I've only seen him use against Zuuma. Yet the demon was matching him move . . . for move . . ..

 

Oh, now I see.

 

The demon literally was matching Gourry move for move, he was flat copying the moves Gourry was making at the exact same time the swordsman was making them!

 

“Well this isn't fair!” Gourry bit out, figuring it out the same time I did. He still fought on though, for lack of anything better to do. The only thing that I could think of to help the situation was to cast a Dragon Slave into the blade, as big boom spells make that pointy thing go sharper. Problem was, this being the place we are in, Black Magic was impossible to perform, so go send that idea to the firing squad. I couldn't very well cast Nightmare Magic into the blade either as, well, I would be sending the Lord of Knightmares a nice birthday gift. Needless to say, Gourry was on his own for now.

 

For my part, I got big and roid-y who was drooling like a baby and staring into space as intently as a retarded kitty.

 

This is too easy . . . I thought to myself as I prepared a demon-destroying ball of deepest black. I lobbed it and watched in disbelief as a hole appeared in Roid-y's chest, allowing the ball to pass unhindered through his freakish body.

 

Roid-y grinned and I got a tad scared.

 

“Didn't like my gift, eh?” I yelled as I prepared several more black spheres. “Well, too bad! I got a whole friggin' sleigh of them for ya!”

 

I shot off all ten spheres, all at once, hoping that at least one would score a hit but once more I was thwarted. The demon, or more likely, the Zanaffar twisted and distorted its body, causing each and every one of my attacks effortlessly.

 

And here I thought things would be easy here on out.

 

“Foolish human,” said a voice that most definitely not Roid-y's. “I have absorbed the knowledge of this pathetic demon, and know of your . . . unique spells. But even the most powerful spell is useless if it cannot touch me!”

 

Just then a brilliant light washed over the entire area, momentarily blinding me and putting a stop to the entire festivities.

 

“N-no, it has taken Dredgued! Now who'll cream the hamster's corns?” screamed Mask, clearly fearful of what that meant. He nearly had his head taken for that distraction but he managed to parry Gourry's would've been deathblow.

 

That Zanaffar Armor had completely absorbed the demon Dredgued, and with him all of his otherworldly knowledge and wisdom! While Zanaffar couldn't not use magic due to his Astral shielding, but it now meant that he knew how to defend against knowledge that only demons and gods possess. And there were potentially three of them.

 

Such a wonderful day to come back form the grave.

 

Quickly, the mass of silvery light and mist coalesced into a vaguely wolf-like form, just like the one we had fought before. Piercing silver eyes eyed me hungrily; the thing actually licked its fangs, its laser spewing tentacles twitching eagerly. A beam of light shot out straight towards me and I barely recovered from my awestruckedness to manage to leap out of the way. I wasn't quite able to dodge the attack completely as a painful searing sensation made its home in my right calf.

 

“That's quite a sight to wake up to,” I overheard Zel who was finally coming back to his feet.

 

“Soon,” Zanaffar growled, “Your complete understanding of the Lord of Nightmares will be mine.”

 

“Like hell!” my mouth spat as my hands spat more voids, to which the Demon Beast simply evaded yet again. Standing wasn't too painful but I still wanted to finish this fight as soon as possible.

 

It was a frightening thought, though: Zanaffar knowing the complete truth of the Golden Lord. While I had no idea what the creature would do with such knowledge, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

 

Meanwhile, Amelia was still having her boxing match against Beanpole. The princess had a few more scratches, nothing too serious, but the demon was visibly slowing down. Zel was dragging himself behind the ailing Beanpole to set himself up for a killing blow when something annoying happened; Naga, forgotten once the demons showed up, decided to prove her propensity for making thing a full 19 times more difficult than they need to be by tackling her sister from behind.

 

“G-Gracia?!” the stunned priestess sputtered once she realized who had blindsided her. “What are you doing? Get off of me!”

 

Beanpole was about to take advantage of the situation but Zel had the situation well in hand . . . and by that I meant the hand that he used to hold the sword that was now slicing its way through the demon's upraised arm! Ooooh!

 

Anyways, the arm went splat and faded away to nothing and Beanpole switched his attention to the much more real threat of Zelgadis than the two sisters locked in a wrestling match.

 

Gourry was still synchronized ballet dancing with Mask; neither had made any headway against the other.

 

“This is stupid!” cried Gourry. “I can't beat you like this and neither can you defeat me! What's the point?”

 

“Point!?” Mask scoffed. “Time, my dear boy, time is the answer.”

 

Click!

 

“Gourry!” I yelled, sparing a second from my fight to fill him in on my thoughts about Mask. “The freak is stalling for time! He wants Zanaffar to absorb him completely!”

 

“What!?” squeaked Gourry. “How does that make sense? He just freaked out over his buddy!”

 

“Cause he will no longer cream the corns!” Mask snarled just before a silvery light enveloped him.

 

Well crap, this is just getting to be all kinds of interesting!

 

“Now's my chance!” yelled the blonde sword master as he made a charging leap into the luminescent maelstrom, Blast Sword held high, ready to strike. Gourry disappeared into the light and for the longest split second of my life nothing happened. But then a resounding CLANG! echoed from the silvery midst and a stifled “Aw, nuts.”

 

Well you still win Dad of the Year in my book for even trying that.

 

Yup, despite Gourry's best efforts, yet another Demon Beast was born before us. Speaking of whom, my protector was sprinting from the newest Zanaffar Beast and towards me, dodging lasers spat by the creature's tentacles and batting one's he couldn't away with his blade.

 

Batting away? More like the sword was absorbing the attacks . . .oh. Oh!

 

“Gourry! What are you doing?!” I shouted as I ducked behind a fallen marble pillar, avoiding yet another laser blast, “Attack! You sword is absorbing those laser blasts!”

 

“No way . . .” Gourry looked momentarily dumbfounded (an unfortunately oft had look for him) before a grin of confidence found its way on his lean features.

 

“Fool,” my own personal Zanaffar chuckled. “No sword but the Sword of Light can possibly harm me or my kin.”

 

“We'll just see about that, ya mutt!” I smirked and launched another ball of darkness, this time only as a distraction. You see, I got an idea, one that could save all our skins and keep me from spending that much more power. I was taking Lucidia's advice not to overuse my Knightmare abilities as I was now fighting for two, so I needed to end this fight fast.

 

Predictably the beast avoided the attack but he would be able to dodge this one!

 

I hope.

 

I leapt out of the way of yet another laser blast and quickly created a flat square of darkness instead of a sphere and sent it floating off to meet its brief but brilliant destiny.

 

“What's this?” Zanaffar asked with more than a hint of amusement. “Not this trick again?”

 

“Nope, it's naptime!” the patch of black rapidly enlarged it until it could cover the entirety of Zanaffar's twenty foot long frame and rushed to envelope it.

 

“No! By this little bit-!” The spell passed through the beast and had completely stripped away its hide, leaving a bloody mess of meat and blood vessels squirming and contracting.

 

I could hear its harsh and labored breathing, startling me into the realization that the thing was still alive. But not for long, as a quick Fireball spell ended the creature's misery as well as leaving the cloying scent of broiled doggy.

 

“Yeeeaah!” resounded Gourry's battle cry as he hacked off his Zanaffar's head even more easily than the Sword of Light ever could against the previous incarnation of the Beast. The still snapping maw landed right next to Gourry's feet and nearly took them off sending Gourry into a slashing and stabbing fit until the head could no longer move.

 

“Phew! That was nuts,” Gourry dropped to his knees in exhaustion, looking vaguely disgusted at the gore he was now covered in.

 

“Don't be thinking we can take a rest just yet, dear,” Zel was still fighting Beanpole and Amelia and Naga still each other. “Looks like we got one more mess to clean up.”

 

“Arrgh,” Gourry rolled his eyes but quickly found his feet.

 

“Hahaha!” squealed Naga as she held a small black object above her head and had her other arm pressing Amelia's head into the dirt. “I finally got you back!”

 

“Now I can- ooph!” Uni the Brave Little Horse Thing donkey kicked Naga right in the temple with a sharp sounding crack, dropping the overly busty princess like a sack of crap.

 

Most people would've been down for the count but Naga was only briefly stunned much to our dismay. Amelia tried to grab back the box but suddenly it was no longer in Naga's hand anymore.

 

A look of pure disbelieving horror quickly stole Naga's features leading me to guess that something else had taken the Xenasphyr from her.

 

“Are you guys done fooling around yet!?” the voice Valgaav resounded, surprisingly above the din of Zel and Beanpole's battling.

 

The draco-demon appeared in front of Zel and quickly put an end to Beanpole with a vicious swipe with the Ragud Mezzigedus. The demon's body quickly was reduced to not but ash and black miasma. In his left hand, Valgaav held the box where the Xenasphyr slept.

 

“Val-?” I started but the he cut me off.

“Hurry the hell up and grab on! I can't stay here for much longer!” Val looked like he was barely holding on. His teeth were gritted, muscles clenched and eyes bulging and darting.

 

“Right!”

 

Zel and Amelia looked hesitant but moved to carry out Val's instruction anyways. Amelia grabbed hold of Uni's makeshift reigns and Zel had a dazzled looking Naga in tow.

 

Once everyone was, ah, aboard, Val zipped us through the astral plane and to, what I assumed, was Zellas and Mil's headquarters.

 

“I hate doing that,” Zel said through clenched teeth, probably on the verge of throwing up.

 

Looking around, I could see that we were underneath a gigantic cliff or even a massive cave entrance, I couldn't tell for sure. People of all races and species milled about, doing this and that, ferrying weapons and supplies and what not. Lines of tents seemed to go on for miles already I could tell that this operation was much larger than the one Val had put together.

 

Speaking of, I stole a glance at the still recovering Valgaav and quickly stole the Xenasphyr's black box and destroyed it with a touch of nihilitic energy before the demon knew what was what. I could've sworn that I heard the slightest of screams echoing within my mind as I finally destroyed the artifact that caused so much grief to Amelia and Naga.

 

“Do that again, and I'll tear out your spine,” Val growled, eying me dangerously yet seemingly unable to do much more than make threats.

 

“Relax, I wouldn't dream of it. Just taking care of a little unfinished business, that's all.

 

“Oh! Nice to see you again, by the way!” I winked at Val who only rolled his eyes and went slinking off, probably to find Jilas and Gravos.

 

“I'll deal with you later, look forward to it.”

 

“Grump!”

 

“H-hey, Amelia? How's d-dad?” Naga gritted, finally coming to her senses. She then clumsily groped in her pack and pulled out a flask of brandy. She took a swig but her violent shaking prevented much of it from actually going down her throat.

 

“Just fine, Gracia,” Amelia sobbed, “He's just fine.” Uni looked a tad confused at the sudden turn of events, but she still eyed Naga like she deserved another kick to the head.

 

Despite the touching scene, I wondered if Phil really was safe. It's been months since we last saw him and Seyruun was, without doubt, still under siege. While I realize that the populace can hold out for a while from the emergency stores, Riksfalto knew about the secret way out of the city. There was no way that route would not be guarded, which left the Seyruun effectively trapped. I could only hope that whatever plan Zellas, Valgaav and Mil were cooking up would be good enough to loosen the grip the demon's had on that kingdom. But if not, I was sure I could cook up something better.

 

“I feel . . . weird,” Naga slurred, “Hey, Lina! Still boobless I see!”

 

“A fine hello to you too! Not that I saved your sanity or anything,” I grumbled while scanning the camp, wondering where the nearest mess hall was.

 

Naga took another swig from her flask, this time far less shakily. “So, you get you're crystal thingy yet? Is there anything left inside? Gold? Jewels? Ancient spells? You better not hold out on me, Lina. After all, I did help you get there.”

 

“I wonder if I can recreate the Xenasphyr?” I unintentionally wondered out loud.

 

“Don't even joke about that, Ms. Lina!” Amelia admonished. “After all these years, Gracia is finally back.”

 

“I've been here the entire time,” Naga quizzically protested.

 

“Sure you have,” I played along, “But now that you're back, I wonder if you'll prove to be as handy as Useful Items No. 1-4?” Not that she had ever proven all that useful in the past, except as bait of course.

 

“Are you still calling us that?” Zel whined.

 

“Which number am I, anyways?” Amelia wondered.

 

“I have a feeling who's number one!” Gourry grinned.

 

“You're such a sheep!” Amelia cried out of sheer frustration.

 

“But I've been here the entire time!” Naga cried.

 

“Sure you have,” I said, trying to calm Naga down once again. When was she going to just take my word for it? We'll all be much happier that way. “Amelia, can you take your sister and go bond or something? This wizard needs food badly and I kinda need to gather my head before my inevitable confrontation with everyone's favorite Golden Dragon. “

 

“Gladly,” Amelia huffed. “Hopefully you'll be in a better mood after you've eaten something.”

 

“Do I seem like I'm in a bad mood?” I asked Gourry as I watched Zel give me a annoyed look as the group sauntered off.

 

“I dunno about that. I think Amelia's just exhausted, she was fighting kinda sloppily, plus she just got her sister back,” said Gourry.

 

“Yeah, that and while she's keeping it bottled up pretty well, I still think she's mad at me for ditching her and Zel for Valgaav.” I sighed a little forlorn, nothing can be too easy, can it? “Well, whatever. Reconciliation can wait for a full stomach.”

 

After using my Knightmare Vision, I knew exactly which routes to take in order to avoid Zellas, Mil and Valgaav. I didn't want to deal with any of them just yet. After eating our fill at the nearest grub hut, Gourry and I decided to take a walk a mile or so from the camp.

 

We talked about how ridiculous it was for us of all people to be future parents, what to do after all this craziness the world found itself in resolved itself, and joked about the old days. We talked until the late after noon, the sun was shining a brilliant reddish orange, making the clouds seem afire. To the northwest I could fire the volcano that Regald, Lantz, Gourry, a ton of Golden Dragons and I had escaped from not tool long ago, still spewing ash and smoke.

 

I had the feeling that I was well on my way towards completing my destiny. A tingling in my bones, a clear sense of things clicking into place was the only way to describe it. We set up a small camp not soon after dark and spent the evening watching the stars as we had so many time before: but this time, we weren't staring at them because we were lost.

 

Always a plus.

 

The next morning I asked Gourry to set up a cooking fire and I wandered off in no particular direction. I needed to gather my thoughts, let all that's happened so far sick in.

 

Eventually I found myself standing at the edge of a clearing. A clearing covered in a fine evening mist that was reflecting the pink and purple fire of the early morning sun. I looked at my hands; they were still as perfect as they were when I was dead, not a single scar, scab, mole or wrinkle. Smiling a little smile, I breathed in the cool early winter air, invigorated and comforted by the chill in my nose and lungs.

 

I hoped Gourry was preparing a meal fit for an army, as my little death experience has taught me to appreciate food even more than I had in my previous go at life: If you can believe that's possible.

 

My senses were sharper than I had ever been blessed with before in my previous life. Every rustle of the dead leaves and the dry grass, the pitter patter of small animals and even the softest chirping of the farthest birds I could hear as a kind of music I had not truly appreciated until just then. Colors and details I must've overlooked before seemed so vivid then as well. I could make out even small clusters of lichen on the bark of an old oak from ten feet away and could see the faint outline of a red tailed hawk circling perhaps two miles overhead, searching for pray before the onslaught of winter. It felt so liberating, as if I was experiencing the world through the eyes of a creature of nature. Which I was, and still am, as all humans are, though we as a whole have lost so much of our perception from laziness, greed, avarice and lust for power.

 

I am truly alive . . . I have never felt it so keenly before.

 

In my new body I felt no aches or pains as if I had never strained or stretched for anything before, yet my bones and flesh felt as if my wiry strength of an adventurer had not left them. If anything, they felt even stronger. I could move easily, not a single joint creaked, not a single sinewy strain spasming in protest as I tested my full range of motion and beyond.

 

It was incredible: Not only was I granted a new lease on life but a new body to boot. The feeling was almost diminished when I remembered that this new body was the trade off for my ongoing quest to rid the world of Shabranigdo and set the world in balance once again. The way I felt then, though: feeling as if I could literally stare down that Ruby-Eyed bugger so hard that he'd flush himself down the Sea of Chaos just to get away from me.

 

I could deal with the responsibility now.

 

After amazing myself a few times by running about five miles complemented by random-ass back and forward flips (probably making my little embryonic kid throw up in the process) in under half an hour with hardly breaking a sweat I decided it was time to find my Gourry and the marvelous meal he must've prepared for me.

 

While trekking back to camp without the slightest hint of my feet aching I realized that I hadn't cursed out even a single squirrel, tree or acorn.

 

Incredible.

 

Maybe that's all I needed, I little bit of time to let everything settle in my brain. I resolved that I would talk to Milgasia and try to set the record straight with him. And after that, try to patch things up between me, Amelia and Zel. Hell even Naga, why the hell not? Even she deserves a second chance now that the Xenasphyr is out of the picture. Hell, maybe I'll even try to get Val to loosen up a little.

 

Well, let's not wish for the impossible.

 

Looking back on it, I was a little disgusted at how depressed I had gotten myself before I ran into Val. While it wasn't as if it wasn't justified, I just wish I handled myself a little differently. Less of a mope and more of a go-get-em like I usually am. The Shard that now was part of my body not only gave me the power to get my job done, it also gave me the confidence. No more getting emo from now on, Lina.

 

Finally I approached the camp, the smell of frying sausages, bacon and tomatoes greeting me.

 

“Mmmmm, bacon time,” I pretended to slobber.

 

“Hope you like bear bacon,” Gourry gestured to the already half butchered bear he must've gotten while I was gone. What was with him and bear meat? A few years ago, when Zel and I where on the run from his great-grandfather, Rezo the Red Priest, Zel accidentally trampled over a freshly butchered bear carcass, staining his pants with all kinds of yuck. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was Gourry's meal.

 

“Always up for some stupidly high-calorie redmeat,” I grabbed a helping of twelve strips of bear bacon and twice that many in steaks.

 

Oh gods, am I going to eat twice as much now that I've got a kid on the way? Restaurants all over the world are going to try to assassinate me . . .oh, well.

 

“So . . .,” I said, not quite sure if it was too soon to be bringing this up yet or not.

 

“Yeah?” Gourry replied.

 

“Wanna talk names?”

 

 

 

Tom the Mighty's Mighty Notes.

 

Yet another long chapter, sorry about the wait. I guess the longer chapters are my way of trying to finish this story in fewer chapters. Anyways, if you all are wondering how Lina and Co. beat two Zanaffar Beasts so easily, think of it this way: I imagine Slayers as a big ass D&D campaign, Lina has leveled up, so to speak, quite a bit since the Silver Beast Slayers plus she has that brand new body and the Shard now. So I would guess that Zanaffar wouldn't pose that big of a challenge to her anymore. Gourry too, for that matter. After all, his magic capacity is comparable to Lina's, its just that he uses it in a more subtle and subdued manner as he can't remember spells.

 

Woohoo! Xenasphyr is finally gone! Amelia and Zel still kinda ticked at Lina. Val's still pissed at the world. Lina still thinks Mil is a douche bag, Zellas may or may not have a secret plan. Naga's mind is more or less saved, we'll see how bad she is next chapter. Lina is taking the whole pregnancy thing rather well, don't you think? Maybe as time goes on she'll get a little crazy over protective or something, I dunno. Gonna try to focus on Zel and Amelia a little more, since if what I've been hearing about Slayers: Evolution R is true, then we won't be seeing much of those two anymore after spring. . . .

 

Anyways, next chapter: WAR GAMES! Maybe Nehel and some other Angels and Demons will show up, Luna did mention that Lina would've be working with them in the future.

 

Btw, working on a late new years reader gift art. Anyone who wants it send me an email with the subject heading “Gift Art”! I would recommend only those with a fast connection respond to this as the file size will probably be pretty big.

 

Man, this chapter needs work . . . (cries)