navy = flashback
Sleep slowly released Lina Inverse's consciousness, and so it seemed to her that she floated up into wakefulness. She didn't remember dreaming, but it was one of the best slumbers she could recall having for some time now. Plus, whoever she was curled up against was nice, warm, and made a wonderful pillow...
Waitasecond.
Ruby eyes snapped open, and caught only a glimpse of long blond hair curled against pale skin. She knew that the arm loosely wrapped around her belonged to a man, and instinct took over from there, promising instant pain for whosoever dared lay a hand on her.
Lina Inverse sat bolt upright, her fist drawn back behind her head, rage clouding her eyes. Her shrill screech of "PERVERT!" was the only warning her victim would have, and then she'd rip him to shreds and feed him to the fish.
Whap.
Lina blinked in surprise, seeing her fist enveloped by a pair of large, white-gloved hands...
White gloves...?
Battle-rage cleared from her eyes and she looked beyond her enclosed hand.
A pair of wide-open golden eyes peeked back at her from over the knot of fingers, dragon-slit pupils dilated as far as they could go with alarm, half-hidden under a mop of unruly sunshine bangs and thick, shaggy eyebrows.
Lina also became slowly aware of other things, like the fact that she was still warm despite the chill of the pre-dawn air. She caught the glimpse of a thick, warm cloak loosely hanging off her shoulder, and she remembered.
"Good morning, Lina..." The cultured voice was slightly slurred, thickly drowsy. Golden eyes blinked and fluttered half-shut sleepily and their owner slumped back into the thick grass, his blond hair fanning out on either side of his chiseled face. His hands slowly lowered to rest on his chest, still holding her fist trapped inside the cage of his fingers.
"Milgazia!" Lina gasped, realizing what she'd almost done.
"You slept very deeply and so peacefully..." Milgazia paused, yawning and covered his mouth with his fist politely "that I chose not to waken you." What looked like the beginnings of a smile quirked the Elder's lips and he blinked slowly at her, as though his eyes did not wish to open again.
He's sleepy, Lina realized. "You stayed awake to watch over my sleep?" she asked, paling even more.
Milgazia nodded slightly. "There might be wild animals that would consider humans food that roam the night, so..." he trailed off, yawning again. "Forgive me, but perhaps we should return to camp."
"Uh, yeah! We should! Uhm... Sorry I almost hit you. It was a knee-jerk sort of reaction...uh..." she flushed, embarrassed she'd almost trounced someone who'd done nothing but a kind favor to her. She put her hands on her lap, where she could keep an eye on them.
Milgazia sat up, shaking his head. "No need to apologize. I expected it, since...we did look rather compromising." A sudden breeze blew his hair across his face and he frowned as he shook his mane away. He reached out to Lina.
Lina's eyes widened, but he only pulled his cloak tighter around her, frowning. "It is getting colder." He said a bit more clearly. He stood and helped her up. "Let us get you back to your proper bed."
"That's my line... It's my fault I kept you from it." Lina replied, feeling more terrible by the second. She shuffled her feet in the grass and looked down to see where their bodies had crushed the grass, and her heart sank as she identified the little indentation she'd made. I used him for a pillow and I nearly hit him too!
"I chose to let you sleep, Lina. There is no need to apologize. Come now..." the Dragon Elder began to herd her back toward the campfire. She clutched his cloak around him, glad for the warmth. Milgazia was right, it had become much colder. Because of her shorter height and the way she held it though, it kept catching on bushes and low snags.
Lina paused, trying to free the cloak from a thorny bush, pulling gently to keep it from tearing. When she had freed it, she felt the cloak lifted from her shoulders. She looked up as Milgazia wordlessly folded the cloak in half, wrapped her in it and pinned it in place with the brooch he always wore.
"Thank you," she muttered, embarrassed that she hadn't thought of doing it before.
Milgazia inclined his head for her to continue walking with him, a slightly sleepy expression on his face. As they walked, Lina touched the brooch, wondering if it was a magical item, the way Filia had worn a large blue gem on her cloak to help her transform. Lina realized that Filia didn't change into her true form any more, and wondered if she still could. She itched to ask Milgazia, but decided against keeping him up any longer than she already had.
They reached camp without any further mishap. Milgazia turned to Lina and bade her good night and moved to return to his bedroll. He paused by the campfire and fed it a few more logs, pointed a finger and made the flames burn brighter and warmer.
Lina let him, fumbling with his cloak clasp. Finally finding the hidden catch, she unwrapped the cloak from her shoulders and carefully folded it, holding the talisman between her lips. She went to the Ryuzoku and held it out. "Thank you for lending it to me, Milgazia."
Gravely, he took it. "You're welcome, Lina."
"Now, get back to bed already! I know you're sleepy, and I'm sorry for keeping you up! But...thanks for watching over me." And making sure I didn't deck you...
"Always, Lina. Sleep well." He wrapped the cloak around himself and lay in his bedroll, pulling the thick blankets over his shoulders. Lina watched his eyes as they focused briefly on the dancing flames of the fire, then closed.
She watched him for a few moments until she was certain he was deeply asleep. "He must be really tired..." she muttered, feeling decidedly crummy for calling him a pervert. She turned and hauled Gourry out of his sleep rougher than was necessary for his turn at the watch. Lina fell asleep almost as quickly as Milgazia had, buried in her own blankets, the memory of his scent lingering in her dreams.
They'd made a very early start, and Sylphiel could not wake either Milgazia or Lina until breakfast was ready. Lina woke at the mention of breakfast, and the Elder seemed to force himself awake. He didn't protest when Lina put two more sausages on his dish and three more potatoes and remained unusually silent, even though the Dragon Lord spoke little during mornings. They broke camp quickly and neatly, and continued down the forested, leaf-carpeted road.
Milgazia lagged behind, already having problems keeping his eyes open. The meager hours of sleep he had managed to steal was far from the norm that he was used to, even though he had been on the road with Lina & Company for some months already. He stopped entirely and stood still, falling asleep on his feet for a few seconds. When he jerked himself out of slumber, the rest of the gang had already gone over the hill. "Agh... I had better wake myself up," he muttered.
So saying, the Dragon Elder stretched, jerking out his arms and letting out a yawn that would have been impressive had he been in his Dragon form.
A bandit sprang out at him from either side and slammed into Milgazia's outstretched fists. The impact was akin to smashing one's face full force into a rock wall, and the bandits fell back into the bushes.
Milgazia blinked in surprise. "Hm? What was that?" he looked around blearily. Seeing nothing, he started to walk, futilely trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He heard a thump behind him and turned to look. Again, there was nothing there. "Sweet Ceiphied, I need sleep... I'm hearing things already!"
Lina stopped. "Hey, where's Milgazia?" she asked, looking behind her. Everyone stopped, also realizing the tall Ryuzoku's silent disappearance.
Xelloss hoped that the Dragon Elder's disappearance would be permanent. He had figured out why he was significantly less than pleased at Lina's closeness to the Ryuzoku Lord, though it had not bothered him before. Last night's seeming intimacy had broken something inside the Mazoku Priest, and he had discovered some things that he had not realized before while examining his own emotions. The only things that kept him now from arranging a convenient accident -- preferably fatal, but that was hard considering Milgazia -- for the Elder was the fact that Xelloss could see that there was nothing between Lina and the old bat but friendship.
"I think he stopped back there for a moment." Gourry said, jerking his thumb toward the hill they'd just climbed.
"I hope he's okay... I heard that there were bandits hereabouts -- rumors, but they could be true." Lina started back and ran up the hill. Her friends chased after her, and feared the worst when she suddenly stopped and stood motionless on the top of the hill.
Zelgadiss was afraid they'd find a dead Elder when they got there. He had become quite fond of the older Dragon, having none of Filia's eccentricities and certainly, a great deal of control over his emotions, something that the stoic Chimera could relate to. If he had indeed been slain -- something that Zel couldn't imagine -- then he would certainly avenge his death. Looking down the hill, Zelgadiss steeled himself...right before his jaw dropped open in stupefaction.
Far from being dead, Milgazia was quite alive, though he was shuffling back up the path like a zombie. Around him lay three men, one of which the Dragon walked on as though the rough-looking ruffian weren't there. The moment he turned, a bandit lunged out of the bushes and missed Milgazia by mere inches. The bandit crashed into the loam and hit his head on a rock hidden under the leaves. The befuddled Dragon scratched his head in puzzlement and turned back toward the hill. A little unsteadily, he crunched through the leaves -- and on the bandits -- making his way toward Lina and her band. Concerned, Lina, Filia and Sylphiel rushed down the hill toward Milgazia.
"Milgazia-san are you alright?" Sylphiel asked worriedly.
Milgazia, standing on top of the fourth bandit, smiled dazedly at the women. "I'm quite all right. I thought I heard something, that's all." He turned to glance over his shoulder, and unwittingly dug his boot heel even deeper into a sensitive spot of the bandit's body. "Watch your step, ladies...the ground is very uneven here. Whoops, see?" he stepped off the unconscious bandit's body.
Sylphiel and Lina took Milgazia by the hands and led him away. Filia noted how unsteadily the Elder was walking as she followed them. Being the last, she heard the groans of pain from the highwaymen that Milgazia had unknowingly laid low.
"That's the last time we attack unarmed noblemen..."
Gourry, from the top of the little hill, winced. "That...hurt."
"You're telling me." Zelgadiss murmured, trying not to whimper in sympathy for the bandit. Amelia blinked up at him, not really understanding.
"Are you certain that you're quite all right, Milgazia-san?" Sylphiel repeated as they returned to the rest of the gang.
Milgazia smiled faintly, a little more awake now. "Forgive me, but I simply haven't been sleeping very well..."
Xelloss didn't bother to mention that Milgazia hadn't slept at all. He was too disappointed that Milgazia was back and was also irked at the display of concern that Lina was showing for the Dragon Lord.
Gourry blinked. "I didn't know that Dragons could have insomnia..."
Milgazia and Filia sweatdropped.
Lina suddenly held up a little purse. "Well, there's supposed to be a nice inn in the next town...How about we stop there for the night when we get there? Or maybe even lunch. I mean, we all haven't eaten decent meals of late. I don't mean to criticize your cooking, Sylphiel, but..."
Sylphiel smiled kindly. "It's okay, I know what you mean."
"So it's decided. Room's on me!" Lina said, jingling the purse she held.
"You're being awfully generous, Lina-san..." Amelia said.
"Hey, a girl's gotta treat her friends now and then, and besides, I found this lying around. I'm so lucky!" Lina jingled the pouch some more, the clink of coins inside more than satisfying.
Zelgadiss raised one stony eyebrow. "Found it lying with some comatose bandits, I suppose?"
Lina waved that away. "Details, details. Besides, it's Finders keepers, losers weepers. And if you're gonna complain about my generosity Zelgadiss Greywords, maybe you'd like to pay for your own room."
They moved back down the hill, making sure that the half-awake Milgazia was in good hands. "Who's complaining?" Zelgadiss asked. "Certainly not me!"
"Um..." Amelia had taken out a map and was looking at it. "But the town is 3 days away from where we are."
"So? I'll treat us when we get there. And we'll never get there if we don't get a move on!"
They made camp the next day, just as the sun started to sink lower in the horizon. Lina wanted firewood, saying that it promised to be chilly that night -- the weather was taking a turn for the worse. To her annoyance, the immediate area gave her no more than a small pile, and decided that it was better to search further afield. Their tents having been set up, Zelgadiss and Gourry volunteered to help her. Xelloss was nowhere to be found, but Lina was sure he had his reasons for vanishing -- Filia thinking that he did so simply to shirk chores. Milgazia had finished helping Filia set up her tent, and was helping Amelia out of the tangle of rope she had ended up in when her knots had slipped loose of the sapling she was planning to use as a tent pole. The little princess had tried to bend the young tree again and again with her ropes and the tree had exacted its revenge by hog-tying her instead.
"I thought since it might be cold tonight a small cubby-like den would be good to sleep in..." Amelia said mournfully as Milgazia worked at a particularly stubborn tangle of rope. "You know... so that my body-warmth would get collected inside and the smaller space would keep it in better..."
"Your idea is quite sound, Princess Amelia." The Dragon Elder told her, tugging the slip of rope he wanted out of the knot. That made the rest easier to undo and soon Amelia was sitting free. "The problem was you tried to bend the tree too close to the ground. You chose a good sapling though -- its roots are already deep into the earth, so it won't be easy to uproot it." The rope coiled over one arm the golden-haired dragon approached the tree in question. "I will help you with your tent." He reached out and grasped the slender trunk of the birch sapling in one large hand. "The wind is coming in from the east, so I think it would be much better if we bend your sapling towards the south." So saying, he gently and effortlessly pulled down the young tree in the right direction and the right height.
"Thank you, Milgazia-san!" Amelia scrambled up to start hammering the tent pegs down. With Milgazia's help, the low-to-the ground sleeping tent/burrow was quickly completed.
Sylphiel had started the fire and had laid out the ingredients for supper. Filia came out of her tent and went over to the shrine maiden. "What do you think, Sylphiel-san?"
"I think this won't be enough. I'll have to look for some of the more common herbs. Fortunately, I saw plenty on the way here. I'll just backtrack a little."
"I think I'll go with you, Sylphiel-san, just to refresh my knowledge on herbalism," Amelia's smile quirked sheepishly. "I couldn't remember the names of several I spotted today, though I know what they do."
Sylphiel smiled. "I'll quiz you, if you like..."
"I'd really appreciate that..."
Milgazia looked around for other things to do. "I think I shall fetch some more water from the stream before it becomes too dark."
"That's a good idea, Milgazia-san," Sylphiel agreed, looking at her ingredients critically.
"What about your tent, Milgazia-san?" Amelia asked. "Want me to help you with it?"
"I will finish doing other things first. There is no need for me to set it up right now." The Elder replied. "Give me your water flasks. I'll save us a trip and fill them."
Filia looked at Milgazia as he soon became draped with everyone's water flasks. "Do you need help, Elder Milgazia?" the younger Ryuzoku asked.
"No... I will be fine. Remain here, Filia and watch over the camp, since everyone else is gone." He advised.
Filia nodded, taking up the large kettle and filling it with the last of the water. "I'll just make us some tea..." she murmured as the Elder left.
"That's a good idea." Amelia said. She shivered. "It definitely is starting to get a bit chilly. Some hot tea will be really nice to come back to after all the chores are done." She and Sylphiel then walked out of the camp, the shrine maiden asking the princess to recite to her the names of the herbs she could remember.
Filia had set the kettle to boil and was measuring out enough tea into a cheesecloth pouch for steeping when Xelloss casually walked into camp, looking around with mild surprise. "They left you in camp, I see..." he said by way of greeting.
Filia tugged the pouch shut sharply and hmphed. "That's right, everyone else is doing their share of the chores and I'm keeping watch, which is more than what you've done, you lazy Mazoku." She sneered, while putting Val's egg close enough to the cookfire to keep it warm.
Xelloss twitched. "You mean they left you behind to guard the camp? Oya, oya, they must think there's no danger whatsoever, if they left someone as incompetent as you behind to keep watch. Oh don't worry, I am sure you can fend off an attack by an army of squirrels, if they decide to steal some nuts out of your skull... but that's if they find any to steal, since I've noticed that you tend to be quite a few shy of a full bag."
Filia snarled, then tossed her head arrogantly. "Ha! If they're looking for someone nuts then you've got more to worry about than I do! The squirrels will see who really is the biggest nut case here. But then, if they're willing to poison themselves with a namagomi like yourself, then they have no taste whatsoever!"
Xelloss turned his head away and sniffed in extreme distaste. "If they choose me then that means I'm better tasting a nut than you are, so, Filia-chan..." his lip curled into a mocking sneer "that says plenty about their taste and yours! Ahahahahahaha!" he threw back his head and laughed contemptuously.
Filia's blood temperature, which was already boiling to begin with, broke the thermometer. With a howl of inarticulate rage, she yanked her mace out from under her skirt. "XEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!"
Xelloss danced out of the way, letting Filia's mace smash a small crater into the ground. "Maybe the others should have had you dig the fire pit, Filia! You've always pack such a smashing holey -- er than thou attitude! Hahahahahaha!"
He skipped backward and pulled one of his lower eyelids down with his middle finger, making 'bee-daaah' sounds insolently at the furious Dragon Maiden.
Seeing nothing but Xelloss' taunting grin misted over by a red haze, Filia chased after him, roaring her anger.
Xelloss leaped from tree branch to tree branch, singing
"Turning trees to toothpicks
Smashing rocks to sand
O! What damage can be done
By Filia-chan's loving hand!
With her around it's so easy
To get her hopping mad
Just greet her 'hi, good morning!'
To turn her day from good to bad!
For Filia-chan can't hold her tongue
Trying to match taunts with the best
Her fury is my favorite dish
She won't learn so she'll get no rest!
I'm he whose smile she hates
I am the Trickster, the Prankster
Who loves to play jokes on the Dragon Maiden?
I am Xelloss the Mysterious Priest!"
Provoked beyond reason by Xelloss' cheeky little ditty, the young Dragon Maiden in question paused next to a large boulder long enough to lift it and throw it at Xelloss, who hopped from one foot to the other on a large oak tree. Nimbly, the Mazoku Priest dodged it, flipping head over heels and almost idly floated away, hanging upside down. Screaming for him to hold still, Filia jumped up into the branches and hurtled recklessly after him.
Her shrieks were returned with even more humiliating taunts from the Mazoku Priest, punctuated with periodic crashes and the sounds of trees falling, and soon, both their voices faded from hearing.
Inside his egg, Val turned over, glad for the peace and quiet of his dimly glowing world.
Milgazia pulled the last water flask out of the stream and screwed the cap firmly back on. He slung the strap over his shoulder and bent, his fingers closing around the handles of two medium-sized wooden buckets filled with the cool, tasty water of the forest brook. Carefully and quickly, he began to thread his way back to the encampment, keeping his stride smooth and even. No water sloshed over the pails' rim, and the Elder meant to keep it that way. The distance between the camp and the stream was considerable, and the going was made tedious by heavy undergrowth.
"Hey, Milgazia!"
The Elder turned to see Lina, two large bundles of sticks on her back, hopping over a dead log to make her way over to him. He smiled slightly in greeting. Lina's congratulating grin fixed on his burdens and she nodded in approval. "Good thinking, getting more water. We can soak the dishes overnight before having to clean them in the stream." She told him.
"I thought that Sylphiel would need some for stew." Milgazia replied, letting her go ahead of him.
Lina grinned from ear to ear at the mention of Sylphiel's stew. "I don't know how she does it, but she does! Her dishes are simply fantastic no matter what she cooks! Gourry's a lucky man." She winked at Milgazia over her shoulder. "I won't be surprised if he gains some weight once they settle down for good."
Milgazia nodded sagely. "I do not doubt your words, as I have witnessed his appreciation of her cooking..."
Lina's eyebrow arched critically. "You should eat more, at least in appreciation of her cooking, Milgazia. I seriously don't understand why -- "
"Help! Oh, somebody, help!"
Lina fell silent in alarm. "That was Sylphiel! C'mon!" the little sorceress dropped her bundles of firewood onto the ground and sprinted away. Milgazia had already set the pails of water down and let the water flasks fall, and soon ran abreast of her.
The two of them burst into the camp, following Sylphiel's cries of dismay. She stood in the center of the encampment, clutching a bundle of various wild herbs to her chest, her eyes filled with tears.
"Sylphiel, are you okay?!" Lina cried, sprinting up to her.
"I'm okay, I'm okay, but..." Sylphiel sniffled.
Milgazia stopped a few paces behind her and turned around slowly, his eyes wide. "What happened here?" he demanded.
Lina looked up to see what he meant, and her jaw dropped as her eyes took in the entire camp.
The tents had been ripped from their moorings and tossed aside. Whatever belongings they had sheltered were gone. Even the ingredients for the stew that Sylphiel had been preparing were gone, along with the cookpot. Amelia was poking around the bushes, and found where Milgazia had placed his things and tent, safely out of the way and out of sight under a bush and behind a tree.
The little Saillune Princess held them up for the Dragon Elder to inspect. "Only your stuff didn't get stolen, Milgazia-san..." she gave them to him and turned to where her tent had been. It had been slashed to pieces, the entrance having been too small for the burglars to get into, and too sturdy to simply take apart. "My tent...!" she mourned, then went back to poking around the underbrush to find clues.
Milgazia's interests weren't on his things, which he let drop beside him carelessly. "Where's Filia? We left her behind to watch over camp! More importantly...where's Val!"
"When we left, she'd put him close to the campfire to keep him warm..." Sylphiel said, kneeling next to the fire pit, which had been put out.
"I found something!" Amelia cried. A moment later, the princess ran into camp, waving an empty fur-lined bag over her head: Val's pouch.
Milgazia was at her side in a flash, taking the pouch and inspecting it. "Where did you find this?" he asked.
"That way -- " she pointed behind her. Milgazia lifted the pouch up to his face briefly, then ran off.
"Milgazia!" Lina cried as the Dragon Lord vanished into the trees. "Argh! Sylphiel, Amelia! We left behind more firewood and water over there -- go back and get it. We're going after who did this and took Val's egg." She tossed the last part over her shoulder and darted after the Ryuzoku Elder. "And be careful!"
Lina nearly tripped over Milgazia a few moments later. He was kneeling, staring intently at something on the ground. Holding her tongue as she realized what he was doing, she too looked down.
The leaves that normally covered the ground had been shuffled away, revealing several bootprints. "I count five different prints," Milgazia said softly.
"Just five?" Lina asked in disbelief.
"There might have been more." The Dragon Lord raised his head. "This way," he murmured, and set off again in a smoothly loping run, making very little sound.
Lina knew better than to protest. She understood what drove Milgazia intently just then -- the fact that Val's egg was missing. The Last Ancient Dragon in the whole world was in danger, and the Elder had sworn to protect him. Lina promised a most painful revenge on whoever raided their camp...and wondered how they could have gotten past Filia. She hoped that they were all right, following close behind Milgazia. She began to think of what could have laid the Dragon Maiden low, when Milgazia stopped once more, holding perfectly still, his head raised, his eyes alert.
"Milgazia, did you find something?" the little sorceress asked.
"I hear many voices. Voices of human males... from that way." He pointed toward the north-west.
"I don't hear anything." Lina said, after a few moments of straining her ears.
"The wind changed. Let's go a bit further. Perhaps we'll hear them more clearly then." Milgazia led her once more, picking his way through some dense bramble bushes. Lina followed, idly noting how nicely defensible the place was. If she were a bandit...
"That's it!"
The Dragon Lord turned to look at her. "What is 'it', Lina?" he blinked in confusion.
"Look around us." She waved at the surrounding area. "It's ideal for a bandit camp -- a big one!" she pointed up to higher ground. "That would be a great place for a sentry to hide in. We're out in the open this way. Come on, this way."
Milgazia nodded. "You are the expert on bandit hunting, Lina. I will concede to your expertise on this."
Lina drew her cloak around her, suddenly wishing that she weren't wearing such bright clothing and stamping down her knee-jerk 'was that an insult?' reaction. She mentally chuckled. If it weren't Milgazia talking, and they weren't in this situation, she might have thought him as being sarcastic. She cursed softly as twilight settled in. They were in unfamiliar territory and stumbling around in the dark wasn't a particularly good idea, especially since they were chasing bandits. All this sneaking around was unnatural, Lina decided, being far more used to simply walking up to the gates of a bandit encampment and just blasting everyone to kingdom come and taking their treasure. She'd never really been in a situation where there was a completely defenseless innocent at stake -- in this case, an unhatched dragon baby.
They threaded their way slowly toward the ridge that Lina had pointed at, Lina worrying at the quickly dimming light. Soon they wouldn't be able to see at all, and in hostile territory, not being able to see was one of the worst things that could happen to them.
There's no need to worry. They're just bandits, after all.
Milgazia suddenly pulled her down into a crouch, and put his finger to his lips to keep her silent. He pointed toward a largish tree and motioned for her to hide behind it. Lina stared at him for a moment, realizing that his white robes almost glowed in the gathering darkness, and that he would make a fine target now. She obeyed though, knowing that he had seen something again, and spoke only when they were both firmly pressed against the tree trunk, their cloaks gathered around them.
"What did you see?" she asked, noticing his eyes glowed in the dim light, catching what remained the way a cat's eyes did. She realized that must be why he kept his draconian eyes, when the rest of his human form was flawlessly shaped. Filia did not keep the Ryuzoku features of her eyes, and Lina wondered if she could see in the dark as well.
"I saw a slight movement up in the trees, in the grove you pointed at earlier." Milgazia peeked out, clutching his robes around him to keep them from flowing outside the tree's concealing bulk.
"Just as I thought... probably an archer." Lina whispered, peeking around the tree as well, crouching under his chin.
Milgazia nodded. "There will most likely be more than just one, am I correct?"
"Absolutely." She grinned up at him. "You're getting the hang of this. I'll make a bandit hunter out of you yet, Milgazia."
"I'm more interested right now in hunting down a particular egg, preferably before the egg's inhabitant gets eaten." Milgazia replied. "But as we are facing bandits, I suppose I must learn quickly. What plan do you have?"
Lina thought carefully, remaining silent as she did. "Normally, I just walk up there and blast everyone sky high and get what I want. Thing is, I've never been in this kind of situation before...where what I want out of a bandit camp is alive, not to mention helpless. One thing is for sure, we've got to make some kind of ruckus that will keep them from eating dinner and get them to empty that camp." She gestured for Milgazia to dart to a different tree. He shook his head and placed his hand on her shoulder instead. Lina blinked as the entire world seemed to flicker, and discovered that he had teleported them both several feet from where they'd been standing.
She stared up at the Dragon Lord, wanting to kick herself for forgetting that he could teleport, and him for not reminding her earlier. "Why don't we just 'port in there and get our stuff and Filia and Val back?" she asked, unable to keep her irritation out of her voice.
"Because I cannot teleport to an unfamiliar place. The chances that we end up embedded in something -- say, a tree or solid rock -- is very great. I must see the place first before I can get to it, if I am unfamiliar with the destination to begin with." Milgazia calmly explained. Lina frowned at that, knowing that it made absolute sense. In the meantime, Milgazia moved them both another fifty feet or so.
"Well, our plan doesn't change that much," Lina decided. "You just keep moving us closer until we get sight of that camp. I'll think of more when we see it."
"Logical." Milgazia said, moving them again. "One cannot plan strategy unless one can see the chess board."
Lina held out her hand. "Here, it will be faster if I just hang onto you, right?"
"Much," the Dragon Lord replied, moving them a hundred feet beyond where the archers were perched, his hand enveloping hers. Lina resisted the urge to giggle at the sight.
It was completely dark when they finally teleported into a place that revealed the campsite. Lina's heart sank. To call it a bandit camp would have been a misnomer -- the place was a fortress! Built into a gully, the sheer stone walls of a cliff protected the bandit lair from attack. The gates were well built and guarded, and the entire courtyard was brightly lit. Even from the distance they were standing, Lina could make out a small army of bandits moving around.
"They look very much like a small army encamped here," Milgazia commented as they both hid behind some bushes. "The only way in is through that road." He pointed toward the winding path that had been hewn out of the thick forest, forming a tunnel through the trees.
"I've got an idea... Can't you turn to your real form and land right in the middle of them? That should scare the living daylights out of them." Lina squinted at the little people moving around. Some of them looked like beast-men.
"Nightlights." Milgazia said suddenly.
"Huh? What nightlights?" Lina blinked, her line of thought totally derailed. It went skidding down the sides of her mind.
"It is night, not day any longer. I would scare the living nightlights out of them." Milgazia said very seriously.
Lina stared, then buried her face into her arms against a tree to muffle her laughter.
Milgazia looked at her, not understanding what she found so funny. "Besides, it wouldn't' work. There's no room for me to either fly down there, or land. If I flew over head roaring and simply making lots of noise, they might just retreat into their fortress and it is quite likely they made dwellings inside the stone."
Lina pulled her face away from the tree, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, grinning helplessly. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. You're the biggest Golden Dragon I've ever seen. You'll never fit in there."
"I'm not. My father was the largest." Milgazia corrected. "He was half again as big as I am now."
Lina conjured in her mind an image of a Ryuzoku that looked like Milgazia, only much bigger. Her mind shuddered back from that thought. "Anyway, I've come up with a plan." She pointed to the courtyard. "I'll fly down there and create a distraction and get everyone to chase me. When I'm gone, you 'port down there and start looking for Val, Filia and our stuff. They'll probably leave guards, so -- "
Snap.
"Look out!"
Lina's teeth nearly clacked shut on her tongue as she felt herself struck in the side and went sailing. She saw Milgazia, falling sideways and receding in the distance, one hand outstretched toward her, and she instantly guessed he had shoved her out of the way of something. Lina looked behind her, realizing she might just hit a tree. Her eyes widened.
"Oh shit."
Kerunch.
Milgazia fell on his side, an arrow hissing spitefully past his ear. He raised his other hand and --
It was dark in the forest that night too. He had been assigned to inform an elven battalion that Mazoku had been sighted in the area. The commander, Merryth Linesword, ordered a small group of elves to escort the young Dragon Lord to the edge of the forest where he could safely change shape and fly back to his father. Leading the group was Commander Merryth's own son, Merindwyn, and it was only by sheer luck that Milgazia had seen the deadly black bolt that had seared toward the young elven warrior. Milgazia only reacted. He had saved all their lives and destroyed their ambushers as well.
Kra-BOOM!
Milgazia blinked. Where did Merindwyn and the others go? He wondered, then realized where he was. Everything for several hundred feet in front of him was gone, replaced only by a large, deep, smoking crater. Something hit him on the head and fell on his lap.
A broken spear. Milgazia blinked again, and remembered it being the last thing he remembered seeing...as he pushed Lina out of the way...
Where is she?! Milgazia sat up, realizing she was nowhere to be found. Frantically, the Dragon Lord looked around for the diminutive sorceress, afraid he'd thrown her off the cliff. "Lina! Where are you?!"
"Over here..."
The voice was muffled, and Milgazia turned around, eyes carefully searching the ruined wood for any sign of her. To his vast relief he found her a moment later, deeply embedded into a large, wild hedge. She looked anything but happy as he pulled her out, mortified that he had forgotten his strength in a moment of alarm.
"Lina, forgive me for throwing you, but I -- "
Lina cut off his frantic apologies. "The element of surprise is gone, so we'd better focus." She cocked her head, listening as shouts of alarm were raised, and the bandits in the encampment came running out and around the courtyard. Some of them streamed out of the fortress itself. "Here they come," she muttered to herself.
"...Right. I'm really sorry, but..." Milgazia replied, brushing leaves off her shoulders and hair, in what seemed to Lina also a way of checking to see if he'd broken any of her bones in the process. Calling him upset was an understatement.
"Hey, you saved my life, it's perfectly fine if you throw me like that." Lina reassured him, his obvious distress unnerving her just a little.
Milgazia seemed to relax -- just a little. "What do we do now?"
"What do we do? We'll just rip them all apart." Lina cracked her knuckles. "I'll make them pay for sneaking up on Lina Inverse, the backstabbers." She looked at him. "Think you can control how powerful your spells are this time?"
"I most certainly will."
"Well, don't be too controlled on those bandits." She peeked around his arm and pointed "FIREBALL!" She turned back to him. "They certainly aren't going to go easy on you."
"I will remember that."
The spell detonated across from the crater Milgazia had made. "Right. Mil, you teleport us there and I'll take everyone on the left side and you take everyone on the right, okay? Then we storm the buildings and look for the kitchen -- it's probably where we'll find Val's egg. Filia's probably locked up in a room or cell by now..."
"INTRUDERS! Get them!" The two looked up to see a large gathering of both humans and beastmen rushing toward them, weapons raised.
"Your turn, Milgazia." Lina said, leaning against the hedge.
Milgazia nodded almost serenely and raised his hand. He swept it out in an arc to encompass the entire group of attackers. He spoke two words -- "Fire Lance," -- and several spears of fire struck at the bandits, each detonating as they struck and sending them flying away, charred and burning.
Lina grinned. "Nice spell. You must teach it to me sometime." She reached out and took his other hand.
Understanding his cue, Milgazia teleported them away.
Do people actually read this section? I guess some do.
Feedback is greatly appreciated, and used as inspiration to continue this story, so the more reviews, the more inclined I am to write faster and be more creative!
Thanks to my two-three faithful beta-readers. You know who you are and I love you dearly for all your help!
Most people don't think too well when they're sleepy. Some people don't hear or remember things that they normally would when they're awake. Milgazia was fun to play with this chapter, since I know what it's like to miss out on needed sleep.
Next up! How a Dragon Lord like Milgazia fights, and gets a few tips from the Bandit Killer herself! What happened to Filia anyway? More on the rest of the gang next chapter!