Zelgadiss grumbled.
The Chimera, needless to say, was anything but happy right at that moment. Not that anyone could really blame him. Who would be happy after discovering that their camp had been thoroughly burglarized, and the carefully set up tents uprooted and destroyed? Night had already fallen and it was even colder than they'd thought it would be. Fortunately, Zelgadiss and Gourry had brought back plenty of firewood, and retrieved the things Milgazia and Lina had both dropped. Gourry stayed behind with the girls to help repair the damage while Zelgadiss scouted the area, to make sure there wouldn't be any more surprises that night. He went out in a slowly widening spiral from the campsite, grateful to Rezo for once, that his chimeric body was also blessed with excellent night vision. No one would be able to hide from him even in the densely black night of the forest.
It took a lot of effort not to feel any emotion at the moment. While traveling, he had discovered that nocturnal animals were more empathic, and would probably sense his alarm. This usually resulted in all nightlife being quiet, as emotions of any kind usually heralded death. Contrary to the popular belief of those who were used to the bedlam of a city, a forest at night was filled with noise: the rustle of the leaves as a rabbit scampered through them; the shrill chirping of bats as they flew overhead; the screams of prey when they died in the jaws of a predator. Silence of any kind meant that the creatures of the night were hiding, and trying not to make their presence known.
Silence meant danger.
Silence meant fear.
Silence meant that something would die, and die soon.
Distress was something that never lasted long in nature.
Zelgadiss' senses prickled at any sound...or the lack of it. There was only a split second of warning and actual danger...and that could mean the difference between life and death. In moments his preternatural hearing caught the sound of someone or something crashing through the bushes, making no effort whatsoever to conceal itself from detection. The sound stopped briefly, then continued again. As if on cue, the entire forest fell silent, save for the noise of leaves and branches as they were crushed underfoot. Zelgadiss frowned; the racket was such that it seemed to come from everywhere at once...and he could not tell where it was coming from.
Zelgadiss closed his eyes in concentration, trying to sense instead where the source of the racket was. Was it some beast of the forest, a boar perhaps or a bear? Most woodland creatures knew to keep quiet...so whatever it was, it was not hunting. He sensed frustration, anger... perhaps the creature was wounded...certainly it raged with a fury...heading straight for -- !
Zelgadiss' eyes snapped open and he drew his sword, lunging aside and behind him. He heard a scream and the sound of his blade striking something hard, ringing against metal...
Blue eyes met his green ones. Battle rage cleared as Zelgadiss took in the features that surrounded the eyes. With recognition came realization...and then surprise.
"Filia! What are you doing out here?"
"I'd ask the same of you, Zelgadiss..." the young golden dragon replied. "But since you asked first, I'm looking for that namagomi Mazoku."
It all fell into place with a loud clank in Zelgadiss' head. Forcing himself to speak calmly, he asked the necessary question: "Would you mind telling me what happened? Exactly?"
Filia sniffed. "Xelloss came into camp after everyone had left to do chores and commented that I'd been left alone on guard duty. I told him it was much better than his being irresponsible and lazy, and he said that should be easy since all of you obviously thought that there was no danger and all and..."
"You're the irresponsible one, you idiot!" Zelgadiss burst out.
Filia looked surprised, then her eyes glinted with anger at the insult. "What are you -- "
"I can just guess that you two traded your usual insults and then you chased after him, didn't you?!"
"Of course I did! I couldn't just let those things he said slide! He even made up a song -- ooh, that song...!" Filia gripped her mace tighter, as though she were squeezing Xelloss' neck.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE IGNORED HIM!" Zelgadiss yelled into her face, shoving aside the mace. Filia recoiled in alarm: Zelgadiss was usually one of the more calm and collected people in the group. After a moment, she regained the use of her tongue.
"No, I couldn't! Not after all those insults he made up and that song he did!" Filia retorted. "A Dragon like me has to have some pride after all, and if I let some stinking Mazoku like Xelloss dance on it like that, I shouldn't even show my face! Besides, nothing happened!" She shoved her face back to where it had been a moment before. How rude!
"Oh, something happened all right." Zelgadiss gritted into her face. "Bandits came and destroyed the camp and took everything in it...including Val."
Filia froze. "Wh--what?! No way! There weren't any bandits in the area! I haven't run into any all this time! And why would they take Val's egg?!" she demanded shrilly.
"Apparently you're very, very wrong, Filia. The camp's tents were all destroyed, and all our valuables were taken...everything, even the makings of Sylphiel's stew. Val's missing, and Lina and Milgazia's gone after him."
Zelgadiss' next words dripped rage bordering on hate, searing the arrogant dragon maiden with their scorn and branding her with his contempt.
"This is all your fault."
Lina blinked as they reappeared some distance from the bandit base. "Hey, you didn't teleport us into the camp?"
"It won't be wise to reappear in the middle of the enemy as unprepared as we are," Milgazia pointed out. He began to walk toward the base. "We can talk about battle strategy before we get there."
Lina stared at his back then sprinted after him. "Battle strategy?! Milgazia, what're you talking about? These are bandits! We do it the old fashioned way, of course!"
"The old fashioned way?" The Dragon Lord asked curiously, as the men in the watchtowers began to announce their less that welcome approach.
"We just blast them all and then take what they've got!" Lina waved her hands around mimicking spell movements to emphasize her point. Three arrows took the initiative and buried themselves into the ground right in front of their feet. "Let's start with those guard towers, shall we? You go first, since you've never raided a bandit camp before."
"Oh. Thank you...Very well then..." Milgazia raised his hands again. "Lightning Bolt."
The crack of thunder jarred Lina off her feet, and she clung to the Ryuzoku's robe and cloak to keep herself from falling to the ground. She watched as electricity rippled out from Milgazia's fingertips to tear apart the two towers that guarded the gate. The explosion was spectacular, and the lightning also set part of the stone wall on fire.
Unfortunately, the spell's results also included the heavy portcullis slamming shut, as the chains that held them had been melted away.
Lina rattled her head, trying to get the hearing back into her ears. She looked up at the frowning Ryuzoku. "What's wrong?" she asked, a bit too loudly, grinning. "That's the idea, you know! You did fantastic! You've gotta promise to teach me that spell, Milgazia!"
"I perceive a flaw in your plan, Lina..."
"What flaw could there possibly be?" she asked more normally now, her eyebrows raised.
"It is a safe assumption to believe that our belongings would be inside a building or a room, am I not correct? It is also safe to assume that Filia will be locked up in a dungeon, and Val's egg is most likely in the kitchens. If we randomly destroy buildings or carelessly set them afire, we might lose what we came here to retrieve in the first place." He looked down at Lina, who scowled too.
"You're right... well, anyway, the thing's that is at greatest risk right now is Val's egg. It was pretty close to dinnertime, and they might just make an omelet out of him. We'll look for him first, then get our stuff and Filia out." She suggested. "And we won't use such powerful spells-- and we'll make sure to trash bandits, not buildings, okay?"
"Very well. Let's knock on the door, shall we?"
"Wha -- ? Knock on the door?!" Lina screeched in disbelief as Milgazia calmly walked up to the portcullis and raised his fist.
"Knock, knock," he said softly, tapping the wood and metal doors with his knuckles. The gate blew inward as though he'd blasted it with a spell. It crushed a fair number of the highwaymen who had massed behind it, smashing them into the ground fifty feet away.
He couldn't have done that with just dragon's strength, could he...?
Lina realized then that Milgazia had indeed cast a spell, and he'd spoken the Chaos Words which released the power. She sweatdropped as she realized that his names for the spells were rather simple...and in the case of his Knock--Knock spell, downright silly. They're incredible though...I've got to get him to teach me some!
She stepped around him and surveyed his handiwork. "Nice job. I don't want you to hog all the fun, so it's my turn now." She mock-scolded him.
"Oh, so sorry. You're welcome to start, if you like..." Milgazia bowed apologetically and stepped out of the way.
Lina laughed, finding his courtly manner and his actions extremely out of place. You'd think we were in the Eternal Queen's court, not a battlefield! He takes this into a new level of fun!
"Thank you, my Lord, I think I will start," she grinned at him. "I'll just use my favorite... FIREBALL!" she crowed, setting a bunch of beast men on fire.
Lina grinned widely, surveying the chaos she inspired. "The Bandit Killer's here boys... you've got no where to run."
"They're running toward us, however." Milgazia observed mildly, gazing almost boredly at the huge crowd of non humans and humans alike waving various implements of painful death over their heads. "Screaming for our blood."
"Nyahahaha... Bandits...such suckers for punishment. Diem Wind!"
The sorcerous gale blasted the courtyard free of foes. Satisfied with seeing piles of groaning bodies heaped against the wall, Lina swept into an extravagant bow. "The way is clear, Milord Milgazia...shall we enter the fortress?"
"We should." Milgazia agreed. "Ladies first."
"Okay! I'll race you," Lina said, taking off at a lope for the fortress itself.
Milgazia blinked, then hurried after her, just as she blasted the doors open and rushed inside.
"I wonder where they could have kept Filia!" Lina groused, as they ran down yet another corridor. "This place is like a labyrinth! It's bigger than I thought it would be!"
"That would explain why the surrounding lands are so bandit-infested...no one could completely eradicate them!" Milgazia said, running close behind the little sorceress. They'd found their belongings and had hurriedly gathered them up. Lina discovered that Milgazia knew another handy spell -- Belittle -- that shrunk their things to a sixth of their original size. It made it much easier to carry all their stuff. They'd stuffed the shrunken items into a backpack each and fought their way out, leaving behind many a crispified foe as they continued to search for Filia and Val's egg.
"Well, we can't stay in here forever, but we have to rescue Val make sure Filia's not in here!" Lina yelled over her shoulder. "She might be hurt -- aah!"
Milgazia caught her as she threw herself backward, away from the end of the corridor. Several arrows sprouted from the wall next to him, and he dragged her out of the way. "Are you all right," he began, then saw that an arrow had been driven through her right hand. He raised his hand to remove it, but she waved him away.
"Never mind me!" she ordered. "Clear the corridor! It's the only way out of this one!"
Understanding, Milgazia lowered her to the floor, stood and flattened himself against the wall, waiting until the archers quit firing. He stepped out, his hands raised.
"Fire -- " A single arrow managed to bury itself deeply into his shoulder even as he spoke; the archers had been ready for him " -- Storm!" he grated out, furious that he'd been struck, but far angrier at the thought of Lina with the arrow through her palm. An inferno boiled through the corridor, the flames as fierce as his wrath, and the bandits in the corridor screamed. Some screams echoed down the corridor, as their burning owners tried frantically to put out the fires that licked greedily at their flesh. Those that were lucky were turned to ashes on the spot.
The Dragon Lord looked with some satisfaction down the charred, smoking hall, now empty of enemies, then turned back to Lina, idly calling up a Breeze spell to blow away all the smoke. The little sorceress had broken the arrow into two and slid out the whole thing from her hand, which bled freely. Lina was grimacing in agony, her teeth clamped together to keep from screaming. She had her other hand wrapped tightly around her arm, and she trembled with effort, pulling a makeshift tourniquet tight around her wrist.
"Allow me, Lina..." Milgazia knelt and raised his hands over her wrist, the fingertips already beginning to glow with the spell's soothing white light. To his alarm, she pulled her whole arm away.
"No... you..."Lina looked up at him, then her eyes widened. "You're hurt!" she exclaimed.
Milgazia blinked, then looked down at the arrow still protruding from his shoulder. "Oh...I'd forgotten about that." He looked rather surprised.
Lina sat bolt upright. "How could you forget about something like an arrow sticking out of your body like that?!" she shouted, half in disbelief and half in sheer horror, forgetting her own injury.
Milgazia was frowning as he pulled out the arrow, a slight tightening around his eyes the only indication of discomfort. His pain was forgotten in the light of a more pressing discovery -- a sharp burning sensation akin to being bitten by a whole swarm of red ants. "The arrows...were poisoned." He murmured, enacting a healing spell on himself.
"You noticed." Lina hissed in pain as she sank back down against the floor. "That's why I can't let you heal me." She told him, shrinking away as he reached for her again, his wound healed.
"What?!" Milgazia stared at her as though she'd gone mad. She was already very pale, and her skin shone with sweat. "The poison...I have to..." he protested.
"Look...my sister used to feed me poisons to build up my immunity to them. Dicleary only makes it worse...I found that out the hard way. You can't heal me...I'll only get sicker." Lina grinned almost feverishly up at him. "I don't recognize this poison, so it's going to take my body some time to fight it off. I'll be able to do it though...just give me some time. You go and find Filia...I'll stay here." She gazed at the Dragon Lord, noticing that worry and anguish plainly showed upon his features. "Val is more important...and Filia...You've got to find them..."
Milgazia stared at her. "Forgive me, Lina..." he gathered up his packs as Lina watched, smiling. He shrank some others with more Belittle spells and stuck them inside the packs he wore, then turned gravely to her.
"Go on... I'll be all right." Lina grinned, winking at him cockily, trying to reassure him of that fact.
"I cannot do that, Lina." Swiftly, he knelt and scooped her up in his arms. Cradling her, he draped her uninjured arm around his neck and carefully placed her injured one on her belly. "Please hold tightly. I might need to let go of you with an arm now and then."
"Milgazia, put me down! You won't be able to cast spells without your hands! Yow!!" Lina protested, grabbing onto his hair as he rose swiftly to his feet.
"You forget my strength, and I could easily carry you in one arm...no offense meant." He settled her higher and more securely against his chest. "But it might not be as comfortable as if I carried you in both arms. Besides, I can do this..." he balanced her on his arms, his hands spread out next to her. "I can cast spells doing that. We must hurry as we have lost much time arguing." He peered around the corner once more, and whispered. "The path is clear."
He began to run, stopping at each corner to peek to see if the coast was clear. Lina tried to help by looking, but soon found herself too dizzy to even open her eyes. She leaned against him, hugging him tightly with her arm to keep herself from moving too much. Milgazia ran as smoothly and as silently as possible, but even so it was all Lina could do to keep from throwing up. Closing her eyes tightly, she buried her face in his neck, felt him stop, and whisper softly under his breath, feeling his hands release her to balance her on top of his powerful forearms. There was a strange hissing sound that seemed to ripple out from his hands, followed by varied screams of sheer and utter terror.
Curious, Lina opened her eyes to see, writhing on the floor, a veritable carpet of snakes, all of them a poisonous green color, venom dripping from needle-sharp fangs. What kind of spell is that?! the redheaded magic-user thought, her skin crawling up and down her spine.
Then to her horror, Milgazia stepped right on top of them. She screamed into his ear and tried to yank him backward by pulling sharply at his long hair, but the Dragon Lord was unconcerned as he waded through the hissing, biting mass of serpents. "WHAT THE NINE HELLS ARE YOU DOING?!" she shrilled up at Milgazia.
Softly, his voice dropping down to a whisper, he said "Illusion." He decided not to mention the fact she had just deafened him and that he could not hear if the bandits had gone.
Lina's face contorted in fury and her mouth moved, and he supposed she had just yelled for him to warn her the next time. He nodded complacently and she settled back into his arms, fuming. The little sorceress then peeked over her shoulder to look down at the floor to watch his feet sink through the illusory snakes. A faint buzzing sound told Milgazia that his hearing was slowly returning. Fortunately, he could see that the corridor went without corners for a while, so an ambush was unlikely. He decided to send he snakes further down the hall, and stopped, making little shooing motions. The tangle of snakes slithered down the corridor, and then disappeared around the end. Faintly, the Dragon Lord heard the screams of terror as bandits and beast--men alike fled from dripping fangs and icy cold scales.
"Where do you think their kitchens would be, Lina?" he asked.
"Kitchens?" Lina looked up at him in surprise. "Well, I am feeling very thirsty, but..."
"Considering that they might cook Val... wouldn't the kitchens be a logical place to look for him?" Milgazia reasoned, interrupting. "Or do bandits do their own separate cooking?"
"Bandits can't cook worth beans. You have a point though. Let me think." Milgazia continued walking while Lina visualized the layout of the fortress they'd already explored. "We'll have to find our way back near where we started. I think they'd have the kitchens near the outside...garbage and stuff, you know."
"That does make sense..." He hefted her a little higher and made sure she was comfortable before sprinting down the now empty corridor once more.
Sheer bad luck and a wrong turn had brought Milgazia and Lina face to snout with a pack of werewolves, and it was only a reflexive (hence very powerful) Fireball from Lina that saved them both from a swift and sudden demise. The werewolves were also blessed with swift reflexes however, and Milgazia had fled back down the corridor with two arrows in his left shoulder and a gash in his cheek.
"Milgazia, stop for a moment! You've got to heal yourself!" Lina yelled, more than alarmed to see the arrows sticking out of the Ryuzoku's shoulder, certain that he was worsening the wounds by ignoring them. Milgazia ignored her and concentrated on running, and Lina saved him from a crossbow bolt by throwing up a quick shielding spell. She glimpsed a sheep-man and two human bandits as they ducked back into their hiding places.
Hiding places?! That means that -- "Milgazia, look out!"
Milgazia stopped running and backpedaled, narrowly avoiding a huge mace made out of a metal-bound stalactite. Two pairs of eyes, one set gold, the other ruby, darted up to look at the wielder of the weapon, a giant were-tiger whose ears touched the ceiling and effectively blocked the corridor. Behind him, Lina saw several lizard men and rogues in an assortment of mismatched armor and weapons.
"Where did you come from?!" Lina demanded.
The were-tiger laughed, sharp fangs gleaming. "Did you think that you could escape the Doom Brigade's fortress, you filthy little thieves?"
"Hey! Who're you calling a thief!? You're the ones who raided our camp! And what kind of name is that?! 'Doom Brigade' -- you sound like a bunch of stuntmen for a circus!" Lina retorted from Milgazia's arms.
"We'll soon be the ones who'll be known for killing Lina Inverse, the Bandit Slayer!" the were-tiger laughed at the surprise on Lina's face. "Of course we recognized your tactics -- blasting in the front gate and the guard towers...why do you think we let you enter our fortress? This place is a maze and only we know the way out."
"So...this was a trap." Milgazia murmured softly, his eyes flashing with something akin to rage.
"You bet your robes it is, Blondie." The were--tiger grinned. "Now, you and the Bandit Slayer will die here at the hands of the Doom Brigade!" Before he had even finished speaking, several arrows shot from around him, fired by the other bandits backing him up. Milgazia shielded Lina with his body, and winced as one more arrow struck him and three more buried themselves in the packs he carried.
"I have you now!!!!" the beastman screamed, raising his giant mace to smash the smaller Dragon Lord and the petite sorceress that he held in his arms into the ground. With a roar of blood--thirsty triumph, he brought the huge stone mace down on the unarmed Ryuzoku's head.
Milgazia ducked, smoothly side-stepping the brawny tiger-man and raising his hands in front of him as though to surrender. They glowed and whatever Chaos Words he said were lost in the spell's instantaneous effects: the sound of water roaring as it tore down the hallway with the force of a waterfall, and the drowning screams of those unfortunate enough to be caught in the sudden deluge.
When the path was cleared once again, Milgazia continued his loping run, carefully avoiding puddles and slicks of water.
"Mil, you have to rest a few moments, your shoulder's -- "
"We're surrounded and they know where we are, I cannot stop now!" Milgazia hissed in reply, just as two more secret passages opened up in the corridor and the bandits inside stepped out to fire arrows at the retreating pair.
Furious that they'd tried to attack even further, Lina began the chant for the Fireball spell once again.
"No, Lina, you must not -- !" Milgazia suddenly gasped.
"Fireball!" Lina snarled, sending death rolling down the hall.
Milgazia suddenly skidded to a stop, tucked Lina under his chin, holding her tightly in his arms and threw himself sideways, smashing into and through set of twin doors. He fell into a roll, and crashed into something solid. This drove the arrows in his shoulder even deeper, and with a cry the tormented Ryuzoku let go of Lina, sending her sprawling on the floor. Before Lina could reorient herself, an ear-splitting boom rocked the corridor outside the room, followed by an ominous rumble. Realizing what the fireball had done, Lina pushed herself up on both hands, and nearly fainted from the agony that speared up her right arm. The next thing she knew, Milgazia was sprawled on top of her, hugging her close, and eyes clamped shut. Something cut into her, slashing her upper arm and she screamed.
Then the corridor outside collapsed, filling the room with dust and debris.
The watcher twitched nervously, knowing that all the ones hunting the intruders within could get lucky and get them. Its worst fears were confirmed when the entire fortress seemed to shake, and part of it collapsed within itself. With a murmur of distress, the shadow detached itself from its fellow darkness and flitted closer, avoiding the fires and the screams of death and pain.
Something warm dripped onto her face, sticky and hot as it slid down her cheek. Wondering what it was, Lina opened her eyes. It took a little time before her eyes adjusted to the dim light and focused on the closest thing in view.
The first thing that came to her mind was tarnished gold. Blinking dust from her eyelashes, she realized she was looking at Milgazia's bangs. Something dark dripped from underneath and spattered upon her chin this time. She smelled the rust and knew at once that it was blood. Milgazia's blood.
"Milgazia...?" she whispered.
The Ryuzoku did not answer. She was pinned under him, but his arms supported him over her, forming a small space in which Lina was cocooned. Something scraped her arm and she instinctively shrank away from its sharpness. Curious, she worked her good hand across her chest and touched the offending protrusions. Her fingers encountered the sticky tips of two arrowheads, and slid up the slippery hafts to touch against the thick cotton of Milgazia's tunic and the woven wool of his cloak. The rest of the arrows vanished inside.
Lina's stomach twisted as she realized that the arrows were thrust completely through Milgazia's body. It must have happened when he fell down earlier... she thought. Swallowing, she reached up with her uninjured hand, seeing even in the dark how her fingers were stained with his blood. Gently, remembering that someplace on his face an arrow had slashed the Dragon Lord, she felt for his cheek. Finding it, she patted it gently, hissing his name twice before she received a shudder in reply.
Milgazia slowly lifted his head, his metallic eyes catching what little light there was and reflecting them in the darkness like a cat's eyes would. He blinked slowly and Lina watched with fascination as his pupils contracted into their customary narrow slits, then widened again, until only half the golden iris remained.
"Are you all right?" he rasped, then his head lowered past her face as he coughed. When his eyes returned to Lina's line of sight, he apologized. "The dust..." Slowly he pushed himself off her, and Lina immediately felt the pins and needles attack her numbed legs. Milgazia was heavy!
Hissing in annoyance, Lina forced herself up to sit as Milgazia lowered himself onto his side, eyes half closed. When he lay out on the floor, he reached up with his right hand and touched the arrows protruding from his chest. Lina saw yet another arrow sticking out of his side, just above his belt. His once white robes were soaked in blood, all his. Lina cradled her wounded hand, watching him as they both recovered. After several long moments, she growled "I'm the one who's supposed to ask those questions. Will you finally take a breather and let's get those arrows out of you?" Horror fueled her anger. "I didn't think you to be the macho type, Milgazia. You can't protect me if you can't protect yourself!"
Milgazia smiled up at her, his golden eyes glinting. "I can certainly try, can I not?" he sat up, touching the arrow in his waist gingerly. "But yes, I think we should get these out of me... this one is hindering my breathing."
Lina moved to kneel next to him. "I'm surprised you were able to run with this in you like..." she shook her head.
"Adrenaline, I suppose... I did not even know I had been shot again. The ones in my shoulder were not bothering me so much, so I ignored them..." At her glare, he said simply, "I have a high tolerance for pain."
"From the way you talk you sound as though you're very used to torture." Lina grated, dropping her gaze to the arrow in his side. She did not see the expressionless mask crumble, nor did she witness the swift flash of terror that dimmed Milgazia's golden eyes briefly. "Could you open your tunic or something? I need to see that wound..."
Wordlessly, his large hand went up and under his cloak, and unclasped the hidden hooks that held his robes closed over his chest. Lina helped pull them open, and unpinned his cloak. Shaking her head and forgetting her own pain in the face of someone else's need, Lina called up a light spell to help her see better, wondering why she hadn't done it before.
Lina winced in sympathy. The wounds in Milgazia's shoulder were anything but clean. The arrows had torn through muscle and sinew to rip open his skin from inside. He bled freely, but through some unknown miracle the arrowheads had missed the major arteries located in his arm. Any other man would have been screaming in agony, but Milgazia remained silent. Ruby eyes flicked up to the Ryuzoku's face to see if he showed any discomfort, but Milgazia gazed at his ravaged shoulder with a clinical detachment that Lina found unnerving.
"I can heal my wounds as soon as the arrows are removed," Milgazia assured her. "It is simply a matter of removing them. I cannot move my arm, I fear...nor can I reach the arrows themselves."
Lina got up and looked at his back. The rest of the arrows still stuck out from his shoulder, and the fletching was already soaked in dragon's blood. "I think I can push the arrow back out enough so I can break them..." Lina broke off as Milgazia did exactly that, forcing the hafts back into his flesh. She swallowed, quite aware of how much agony it should cause and was probably causing him. She marveled at his discipline that barely a tightening around his eyes revealed his pain, and another part of her railed that he was hiding it from her. He doesn't have to pretend it doesn't hurt at all! It's okay to show you're hurting amongst friends!
"Is that enough?" Milgazia asked softly.
Lina looked at the bloody shafts. There was more than enough space for her to snap them in half, and even one-handed she was strong enough to do so. "Yes... this is going to hurt...so brace yourself."
"I am ready," was the serene reply.
Lina gripped the first arrow shaft, slowly pressing down with her thumb. I guess he put himself into some kind of trance or something. It's probably why I had to wake him up earlier... doesn't mean though that I shouldn't be careful. With a snap the arrow broke in half and just as swiftly, Milgazia yanked it back out, and held it up, the arrow's head pinched between his forefinger and thumb. He flung the arrow away. Lina repeated the procedure and Milgazia did the same.
Lina sat back, oddly feeling tense. "Heal your shoulder. Then we'll work on your side."
Milgazia obeyed, the white glow of his magic lighting up the room even more. "This will take a bit of time, I'm afraid..." he said after a few moments. "The flesh within my shoulder is badly shredded, and it will take time for me to heal."
"Take all the time you didn't want to before." Lina replied, getting up. "I'll have a look around...see if there's some way for us to escape this room." She looked at the rubble. The entire doorway was sealed by stone and the hidden wood latticework, now broken and useless. The corridor had sealed them into the room. Sighing, Lina began to explore the rest of the chamber.
"You really should not have used Fireball..." Milgazia chided.
"I was angry that they were trying to shoot you when you were already hurting, all right?" Lina groused. "Besides...how did you know that the ceiling would collapse like that?"
"Fortresses like these are meant to withstand attack from the outside... but if an explosion went up from within..."
The little redheaded sorceress groaned. "The place would fold like a house of cards. Why didn't you warn me?"
"I thought it would have occurred to you," Milgazia replied, looking up in surprise. "You are, after all, the expert in bandit hunting, not I..."
Touché, Lina thought, wincing. "You're right. It should have occurred to me. And these bandits are different from the kind I usually encounter... they're more plentiful, for one thing...and a lot trickier." She made her way around a large table curiously. "I wonder where they kept Filia...We've searched most of this place," she said, changing the subject. "We still haven't found hide or hair of her."
"Perhaps she has already escaped in the confusion." Milgazia suggested. "She is a Ryuzoku after all, and perhaps..."
"Hey!" Lina exclaimed. "I smell something."
"Do you?" Milgazia strengthened his spellcasting. "What is it you smell?"
Lina disappeared into the darkness, choosing not to reply. Milgazia looked up and wondered if he should follow, but decided after a moment that he would better avoid a scolding by completing the mending of his wounds first.
Lina came almost bouncing back. Milgazia was certain that she would have skipped if she was able. Her expression more than made up for her inability to physically show her glee. "I'm so lucky!" she crowed.
"Oh?"
"We're in the kitchen! I found a large pitcher of water, some bread baking in the oven -- here, eat some -- and guess what I found in there too!" she slid down to sit next to him and held out her prize in her arms after shoving the bread into his mouth.
Val's egg.
Milgazia gazed at it in surprise, then frowned. He reached out to gently place his bloody hand on the egg's smooth surface, and gently caressed the egg. It was warm to the touch, but no more than it would have been if the egg had been buried in hatching sands. He gulped down the bread and frowned.
Lina had traveled long enough with the stoic Dragon Elder to know better than to expect cheers of joy from him at their unexpected luck, but even this was less than what she'd expected. Was there something wrong with the egg? Was the oven too hot? "Hey... say something, will you? Did they crack the egg? Is Val okay?"
"Val is fine. We, however, have been wasting our time." Milgazia said, almost tensely.
Lina blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Filia isn't here." Milgazia's scowl deepened. "If she was then she would have broken out already, as we have been providing more than enough distraction for her to transform and escape."
Lina's mouth dropped open. She hadn't considered that. They'd gone on the assumption that Filia had been taken along with their belongings. Filia would never have left Val behind. She wasn't at camp, and there's nothing to show that she wasn't taken by surprise, the little sorceress thought, her mind working fast. Wait a sec! Didn't Gourry complain once that Filia was really heavy? Gourry's no weakling, and if they knocked Filia out and dragged her off, they're sure to get tired long before they got here -- after all, our camp is far away from theirs. They had all our stuff to carry too, and none of Milgazia's magics to make it easy for them. "Maybe they dumped her somewhere!" she turned back to Milgazia so quickly that she felt the world spin. The poison was really starting to sap her strength, and the rest they'd taken had also removed the adrenaline rush that had kept its effects at bay.
"Your reasoning is as mine is...likely she is incapacitated, else she would have already taken to the skies to search for Val." Milgazia's dusted head bobbed twice in agreement.
"Y-yeah...we'd have heard her screaming already. Filia's not really quiet when she's panicked. I'm gonna make these bandits pay for what they've done..." Lina clenched her left fist in rage, taking good care to remember her right one was injured. Not as if it's letting me forget! Ooowwww...it hurts!
"We have a greater priority than simple vengeance, Lina." Milgazia's sharp tone brought her out of her agonized reverie. "We must get you and Val to safety: You are gravely injured and we have found most of what we came here to find. Once we have secured our own encampment will we search for Filia."
Lina grimaced, not wanting to leave without punishing her enemies, and not wanting to rest while Filia lay out there somewhere, most likely very badly hurt. Dragons are much tougher than humans after all...I'm a little afraid of what we'll find. I mean...Milgazia's been taking arrows, explosions and a ceiling falling down on us and he's still moving. What would it take to take out Filia?! She shook that thought away. But he's right. I'm useless like this, and I don't want him to get hurt any more than he already has. He's a wreck. And then there's the matter of Val's egg...it might get cracked or worse if we stayed to fight...
"I guess we have no choice." Lina watched Milgazia roll smoothly, if a little stiffly, back to his feet and retrieve the backpack he had been carrying. He bent and pulled out five arrows that had buried themselves into the pack before shouldering it under his cloak. He strode over to her and eased her pack out of her hands.
"I will take that..." he told her before she could protest. "You're far from steady on your feet, Lina." Just then, her light spell faded, plunging them into near-blackness once more.
Lina growled, unhappy that he was right again. "Aaaaarrrrgggghhh.... I hate being so weak!!!" She was grateful, however, when he pressed the pitcher of water into her hands and drank it all.
"It will remain a secret, I promise you." Milgazia reassured her mildly as he picked her up in his arms again.
"It had better," she muttered darkly. "Putting that aside...we've gotta get out of here. Those bandits are gonna come after us for what we've done here today. They're not gonna just let this slide."
"True." Milgazia replied, distracted. "This faint light... I must have taken a rock to my head for not noticing it before...but where is it coming from?"
Lina looked around too. "You're right...it's sorta yellow...that means fire-light. Maybe it's the torches from outside. With all the dust in the air, it's really hard to tell where it's coming from."
"I think..." Milgazia slowly threaded his way through the debris and clutter of the kitchen. He took so many turns that Lina wasn't sure they hadn't left the room they'd been previously trapped in. Deciding that at least her eyes could be of some use, she opened them wide and peered into the gloom for anything at all.
A quick flash caught her attention. "Hey, stop!" she hissed, and Milgazia immediately quit walking. "I saw something about a three steps back." Obediently, the Dragon Lord took three steps backward. As he did, Lina saw it again. "There! Isn't that light?" she reached up and turned his face in the right direction, finding he was facing away from the light.
"...you're right Lina! That is a light!" more swiftly, but just as carefully as before, Milgazia made his way to the welcome bright glimmer.
"Let's have a little more...Lighting!" Lina chanted, and a moment later, held a ball of light in her hands. Then she cursed, squinching her eyes tightly shut. "Ow! Too bright... Sorry, Mil. I should have warned you about that."
"It's all right...it's simply because we have been in the dark too long." Lina felt him move forward again, wishing that he would babble some kind of running commentary so that she knew what he was up to, even though green and pink splatters of light kept her from seeing what he was doing. They made her feel even more nauseous than before. Why do these things always have to be such gross colors anyway...?
Milgazia reached out with one hand and pushed something large and heavy aside. Lina heard it crash onto the debris-littered floor and coughed at the resulting dust cloud. Daring to crack her eyes open, she saw two more large doors in front of them. A large round window was set at eye level in each door.
She heard Milgazia's sigh of relief. "A way out at last..." he moved to shoulder the door open, when she tugged on his hair to make him stop. "What is it?" he asked.
"Peek into the window first...there might be bandits in there. Who knows how many?"
Milgazia peered in, carefully making sure he could not be seen himself. Lina pushed herself up on his arms and managed to see past the dust and the scratches. There were fairly neat rows of tables and benches inside, with a fairly wide aisle dividing the room into two sections. Three large windows showed only the darkness of the night beyond, and the faint flicker of firelight ghosted the trees in the distance. It seemed empty until a pair of bandits -- one a human, the other a sheep-man -- crawled out from under one of the tables. They had some scratches from where their faces had scraped on the wooden floor, but were otherwise unhurt. They were well trained, however, as each of them still held a crossbow in their hands.
"They're probably pretty shaken from the roof caving in." Lina whispered. "We could take them out fast."
"Very well...Wait here..." Milgazia made as if to put her down when she yanked on his hair again. Having learned by now that it was his signal to stop whatever he was doing, he paused and looked at her inquiringly.
"I want to take them out." Lina said.
She received a raised eyebrow in return. "Oh, I could probably zap them with a Flare Arrow. I owe them for this." She held up her injured hand. "I just can't let them get away with this sort of thing after all..."
"As you wish. Would you like me to help?"
"I guess you could just rush the door for me...I'll blast them as soon as we get in. Besides, it's best if we caught them by surprise." Lina grinned suddenly.
"Yes, it would be best. A suggestion, if I may?" Milgazia asked deferentially.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Try not to make the spell too strong...we don't want to have the room cave in on us again."
It was over in a matter of moments. The doors burst open, startling the two bandits into raising their weapons at the noise, pulling the triggers reflexively. The bolts sailed through the debris and bounced off an invisible shield to stab into the floorboards. They had just pulled their blades from their scabbards when they heard a voice yell "Oh no you don't! Flare Arrow!"
Shards of pure, almost liquid fire seared toward the bandits, catching them before they could duck. Their clothes immediately burst into flame, but that was nothing compared to the explosion caused by the impact of the magical darts on their bodies.
Lina wanted to gloat over her little bit of revenge, but Milgazia would have none of it. He made a quick dash for the window and scanned the ground below. Bandits of all shapes and sizes ran to and fro, shouting for water and yelling alarms of "Fire!" at the top of their lungs. Some had organized a living chain to pass buckets of water forward, and he could hear a voice yelling "Aqua Create!" hoarsely, as though the screaming mage had been casting the spell for quite a while with little success. Looking up at the cliff itself, he saw that no guards were posted at it's edge and nodded to himself grimly.
Then he and Lina vanished.
Reappearing some distance away from the cliff edge, he looked around to ensure that they were alone and began to run from the fortress with every intention of putting as much distance between them and the bandit horde. He screeched to a halt when Lina pulled on his hair so hard that he winced in pain. Before he could ask what it was she wanted, she threw herself from his grasp and sprawled on the ground, retching violently. Alarmed, he knelt next to her, but did not touch her until she was finished.
Having had nothing but water, Milgazia did not expect to see anything but a puddle on the ground as he tipped Lina's face up to check on her temperature. Blood stained her lips however, bright and obscene against her ashen face. Milgazia's eyes widened as his fingers touched skin so cold it might have belonged to a corpse hours dead. Lina slumped against him, eyes shut, her mouth slack. He checked her breathing and heartbeat with barely controlled urgency, and found both too shallow and too fast. What had gone wrong...?
Milgazia grimaced. This was his fault. She must have been weaker than she had shown, if the teleport, brief as it was, had worsened her condition. He had to get her back to the camp, and quickly.
Do not die, Lina...I will not let you die! You're far stronger than this...you cannot let a mere poison defeat you! Milgazia urged her silently, clasping her uninjured hand in his. After a few moments, she seemed to relax a little. Milgazia sighed in relief and wrapped her cloak tightly around her. He checked Val's egg, tucked securely into a flour sack he'd found and tied to his belt. After a moment of thought, he wrapped the egg into Lina's cloak too.
Gently, lifting her into his arms as carefully as he would a newborn, he broke into an even, ground-eating trot, trying to keep her as still as he could. As he darted through the forest night, he thought of Filia, lying poisoned perhaps somewhere in the gloom.
Fury briefly reddened his gaze. In all his years he had tried to keep those under his protection safe from harm. That one of the younger dragons in his care be hurt in this day and age angered him. If Filia had come to grief, he would make them pay.
Ceiphieed, I owe them for Lina!
He stumbled then, jostling Lina so roughly she cried out in pain. When he regained his footing, he gazed down at her in worry. She was trembling now, shivering as though she were covered in ice.
Cold discipline took over the Dragon Lord. Filia and revenge could wait. He had a life in his hands.
Getting his bearings, Milgazia took off again, a white ghost in the black of he wood.