Lina grinned evilly as she saw the trolls. She'd been pent up ever since she'd arrived at the palace, and here was her chance to release some of that energy. Now, what to try first ...
Zelgadis interrupted her planning by saying, "Try and avoid hitting any of the nobles. They'll end up hating you rather than liking you if you hurt them in any way. Plus, they'll be very angry if you hit any of the decor."
"But ... it'll be so much more difficult that way ... I won't be able to use any of my larger spells ... " she frowned. He didn't comment, content to let her think about his words. Finally, she nodded, and said, "All right. No big spells. In that case, though, I want you to watch my back, Zel." Winking, she added, "I wouldn't want to mess up my dress, now would I?"
He smiled faintly. "Of course."
"Well, let's get on with it!" the sorceress grinned. "Flare Arrow!" she shouted. An arrow made of pure fire crackled into being as she drew her hands back like she would a bow, and if someone looked closely, they could see a bow made of heated energy shimmering in and out between her fingertips. She released the arrow, which sped toward an unsuspecting troll. It hit him squarely in the back, and he erupted into a pillar of flames.
"Who's next ... ?" she said, eyes sparkling. The trolls gulped at the look in her eyes, but still they attacked. After all, there was safety in numbers ... right ... ?
Three trolls charged forward, each one from a different direction. "Ly Breim!" chanted Lina, and a wave of cold air shout out from her extended hand, hitting one of the three charging trolls square in the chest, and watched at it became a prison of ice.
But there wasn't time to gloat about her victory. The two trolls still charging her were getting closer. "Fireball!" Carefully, she created a small fireball and shot it at the nearest of the two charging trolls. It consumed first his neck, and then spread, till he was a crispy troll.
The last troll saw this and sped up, and darted past her just as she was finishing the second spell. He reached in to grab her arms...
"Digger Bolt!" Zelgadis shouted, and a handful of painful lightening bolts sprang from his hand to the troll, electrocuting it.
Lina grinned and winked back at him, silently thanking him for watching her back. Shrugging, he pointed at the troll horde, which had decided that since three trolls had failed, perhaps a mass attack at once would work.
"Uh oh..." she groaned. If only she dared use her larger spells. As it was, she had to pick them off one at a time, for fear of hitting the nobles.
The mass jumped at her from above, charged her from below, and snuck around to stab her in the back. Zelgadis sensed the trouble she was in and quickly ran up to her. Just as the mass was about to get to them, he raised a shield around them both, and the trolls bounced off, dazed and confused.
He dropped the hasty shield, and Lina took advantage of the troll's momentary confusion, as well as their close proximity, to throw a larger spell at them. "Balus Rod!" A whip of light formed in her hands. She whipped at all the trolls she could, slashing at them till their natural healing powers couldn't work.
At the same time, Zelgadis took his sword out of it's scabbard and raised it up, saying, "Astral Vine!" His sword glowed red, and he cut through all the trolls he could get at.
The startled trolls backed away as fast as they could, but not before only about six were left. All decided it was time to retreat before the remaining were killed as well.
As the trolls ran off, Lina grinned. "Victory!" she said while flashing a V-sign with her hands. She turned to the nobility who were still standing closely packed to the wall, and had to stifle a gasp of laughter. They were quivering, quite literally, in terror, they eyes bulging, their knees quivering, and they were holding onto each other as if their life depended on it. None of them looked quite so high and mighty anymore. Plus, Lina realized none of them had even tried to fight off the horde; they'd simply been content to let their knees shake as the trolls prepared to kill them, praying for a savior to arrive at the last possible moment.
Her heart loosened as she looked at them, and her fear of the nobility cracked and splintered into a million pieces. It was impossible to be afraid of people who didn't put up the least resistance against an enemy, and instead wet their pants in fear. No, there was no way she'd ever seek their approval after this. It didn't matter anymore. She wondered if Zelgadis had known this would happen...
Meanwhile, Zelgadis shook his head and sheathed his sword after wiping off the blood on a spare piece of cloth he carried with him. Calmly, he sought out Amelia, who'd been protecting the guests with a magical barrier, and suggested, "Perhaps you'd better get the guards to remove the trolls." Amelia nodded, frowning slightly in worry.
After the bodies were taken away, the music started up, and gradually all the nobles started to talk again. But, Lina noticed a few still quivered in terror, and privately knew that the only reason they didn't leave was Phil wouldn't be happy with them if they retreated. A few of the more "delicate" ladies had fainted and required smelling salts to waken.
Lina raised an eyebrow at their foolish behavior, and felt the tension of the evening permanently lift from her shoulders. These nobles were just plain silly! They cared more about their clothes and possessions than they did about surviving. According to them, they might as well die if their clothes were ruined. She scoffed at this notion, knowing from experience how impractical and stupid such a view was. Living was important; possessions could be replaced.
Lina and Zelgadis walked onto the balcony to collect themselves and let their blood cool down. Lina stood against the railing, facing the ballroom as she watched the nobility try and collect themselves, so they could act as if nothing had happened.
"They're silly, aren't they?" Lina asked casually, a small, secret smile playing across her lips. "I never noticed it before, but they're very frivolous." Silently, Zelgadis watched her, offering no comment either way. "I saved them all, but what I heard them speak about were how lucky it was their pants weren't ripped, or how a blood drop could ruin their shirt. It's so petty and vain."
Nodding, Zelgadis added, "And now you realize that important truth. Are you still going to seek their approval?"
Lina shook her head. "No. I'd have to be just like them to get their approval, and I don't want to do that to myself."
He sighed in relief, and gave a slight smile. "I'm glad. I'd hoped a fight would knock some sense into you, and I had a feeling a fight was inevitable once we teamed up. Nothing is peaceful for long when we're together."
Lina straightened and looked over at Zelgadis, who was watching her with hooded eyes. "Well, now what?"
"I promised I would be here till the end of the ball. You can leave, if you want," he suggested, though he wished she'd stay.
Clucking her tongue admonishingly, she said, "No way, Zel! You're not getting rid of me that easily! Besides, who would you talk to if I wasn't around, ne? I know you. You'd sit against a wall the rest of the night, be very antisocial, and not talk to anyone." Holding out her hand, the petite sorceress smiled warmly and stated, "I'm staying with you till the very end."
Something about this hit Zelgadis very hard, though he couldn't figure out what, and he found his fingers trembling slightly as he grasped her hand, and let her lead him back into the light of the ballroom.
She grinned, and pulled him over to the refreshments table. The variety of the food made her eyes sparkle in anticipation, and she quickly filled one of the small, dainty plates to bursting. Then they moved over to a wall and leaned against it, content to let the rest of the nobles pass around them. None of them tried to thank her for what she'd done, or the care she'd taken to not harm them or their precious ballroom. Quite a few were actually giving her dirty looks and turning their noses up at her. Before, she would have felt like breaking down in tears, but now she could simply smirk back at them with her usual confidence, secure in the knowledge that their opinion of her didn't matter anymore.
In blatant disregard to their careful table manners, she stuffed one of the hors d'oeuvres into her mouth, and asked after swallowing it down a second later, "So, who's attacking us this time?" Now that her concern over the nobility was gone, she could get down to what really mattered: finding the person trying to kill Zelgadis and her.
"...I don't know..." the chimera admitted.
"Hmm... I guess we'll just have to wait till they decide to make an appearance," sighed Lina, disappointed. Something else occurred to her about then. "Zel?"
"Yeah?"
"...How long do balls last?"
Shrugging, he said calmly, "Till dawn."
"WHAT?! I have to be here till DAWN?!" the sorceress choked. Zelgadis not-so-gently patted her on the back to get the food up. She glared at him and said, "You could have mentioned this earlier, you know."
"You didn't ask," he replied, repressing a grin. More somberly, he added, "It'll give our enemy time to come up with something else to attack us with, though."
"True. Maybe the person will make an appearance the next time," mused Lina.
"Maybe."
How could they take care of that many trolls at once?! It wasn't humanly possible! Zelgadis should have been dead. He'd barely been able to handle three trolls, let alone three dozen, in the old days. The sorceress with him was good, but not good enough to hold that many off without damaging anything else in the process, yet somehow they'd managed to do just that. Grr...
Time to unleash a new plan, one that Zelgadis or his little companion can't hope to stand up against...