Shadows Under Starlight
                              
                          Chapter 6
                              
                     "The First Shadow"

By Adam Christopher Leigh
Distributed by Tempest Creations

A Crossover of Epic Proportions

***

     On a cloudless night you see almost perfectly in the
starlight on the Fordim Plane.  The millions of visible
stars, acting like tiny flashlights in space, lit up the
plane as bright as any hour during the daytime.

     Along the dirt road that traveled through the plane,
four shadows moved at a moderate pace.  They were of various
heights, the tallest one in the lead, and quite obviously of
different build.  The second to last shadow stretched out
it's arms and folded them before the person making the
shadow slowed down and caused, by the laws of physics that
are still followed in this world, the shadow to slow
directly.

     "What's up, Tenchi?" asked Shayla who had been behind
Tenchi and indirectly forced to slow down.

     "Oh, nothing," Tenchi said quickening his step to catch
up with Kazuki.  "I'm just getting a little tired, that's
all."

     "It shouldn't be long to Prun," Kazuki said over his
shoulder.  "Just a hour or so more."

     "I'm fine," Tenchi assured getting a skeptical glance
from Shayla.  "Really."

     "All right," said Shayla.  "If you say so."

     Tenchi sighed and looked up at the stars and slightly
forced to squint.  "It's amazing they even call this night,
it's so bright out."

     "Yeah," Leon agreed.  "This Valney guy must have a hell
of time with so many stars to chart.  There are hundreds of
possible constellations out there."

     "It is quite difficult actually," Kazuki explained.
"Diviner Valney is considered the best because he can keep
track of it all at one time.  There are other astrologers,
but they only watch for the twelve most important signs,
without knowledge of them all though, they are often wrong."

     "You seem to know a lot about it," Shayla commented
rather skeptically.

     "I've known a few astrologers, usually they come
through Ionia on the way to the Ceremony of Lights each
year.  Gomo always tells me to try to learn from them, and
sometimes I can get them to tell me a few things but like I
said before, usually only the lesser magicians ever talk for
free.  I've learned the most white magic though, since the
Convention of White Magi is held in Ionia and they're
practically broadcasting their techniques."

     "So you have a innate talent for magic?" Tenchi asked.

     "Yeah," Kazuki said almost sorrowfully.  "I was born
with a natural ability that lets me learn magic faster and
stronger than others.  I really wish I hadn't though, I
never asked for it and it's only made my life harder.  If I
could cast a spell on myself to make me unable to use magic,
I would in a heartbeat."  He looked back to Tenchi, then to
Shayla.  "Then I wouldn't have been able to bring you guys
here."

     Tenchi breathed out and walked up to Kazuki to put a
hand on his shoulder.  "It's okay, I know what it's like to
have been forced into something like this.  Not even my
parents knew my grandfather was as powerful as he is, and
ever since I found out, it's only attracted ... visitors."

     "So we're kinda the same, aren't we?" Kazuki asked.

     "Yup," nodded Tenchi.  "Although I can't say only bad
things have happened because I found out about my heritage.
There are few things that have happened that are good, and
even if my guests are sometimes violent, I kind of enjoy
their company."

     "Hold on," Leon said suddenly, sounding agitated.  He
put his arm out to hold back the gang behind him.  Tenchi,
Shayla and Kazuki looked up at Leon first, saw him pull off
his glasses and peer straight ahead down the road, then
followed his gaze.

     A large wagon had been tipped onto it's side across the
dirt road, apparently once filled with hay now scattered
around the cart.  If it had once been tethered to some sort
of livestock, they had long since left, leaving the tattered
reigns behind.  And standing atop the wagon, one foot on a
spoke of the wheel, one foot on the side of the cart, and
leaning on one of her knees, was Kyri.

     She was dressed in a black leather tunic, pulled tight
against her skin, with tight, dark blue, pants coming down
to her knee high boots.  On her shoulders were a pair of
large, gray, sleekly pointed guards with a black cape
falling gracefully down from them.  In the shadow of her
cape, the twinkle of the hilt of a sword could be seen, as
well as a buckle for some large strap.

     "You!" Shayla sneered, reaching into her pouch and
attaching her power enhancer.

     Leon slowly reached into his blazer pocket for his
sidearm as he spoke, calmly and smoothly.  "So, you've
returned just like you said you would."

     "That's right," Kyri said, straightening herself and
causing her long cape to encircle her completely.  "I always
keep my word."

     "Leave now and I won't kill you," Shayla said, charged
and ready for combat.

     "The first time we met," Kyri said.  "I was unprepared
for you, this time, however, I'm ready.  Of course, I'll
give you the fair option and allow you to hand over Kazuki
right now, and we can avoid anyone getting hurt."

     "No way," Shayla shook her head.  "He's not going
anywhere because the only one who's going to get hurt is
you."

     The woman in black smiled broadly. "I was hoping you'd
say that," she said.  "I'm ready if you are."

     "Bring it on."

     "Heh," the woman chuckled then leaped down from on top
of the wagon to land behind it.  Shayla slowly moved to
stand beside Leon who now had his gun held out before him,
cocked, with his hand on the trigger.

     "I guess she wants us to come for her," Leon commented,
still looking down the barrel of his gun.

     "She's castin-" Kazuki began to say but was cut off
when the wagon suddenly burst into flame and exploded.
Shayla took a step back as Leon shielded his eyes with his
gun arm.  The loud sounds of grunting and thumping caused
them all to look up as, coming from the fiery wreckage of
the wagon, over a dozen, large, muscular, and multicolored
creatures ran towards them.

     Kazuki blinked.  "Trolls!" he yelled as Tenchi grabbed
him and started running perpendicular to the road.  Leon
looked to Shayla at the same moment she looked back.

     "Split up!" Leon said and ran off after Tenchi.  Shayla
watched for a moment as many of the trolls spilt off from
the group to go for Tenchi and Leon.  She was alerted to her
own danger as she was swung at by a large, green colored
troll a few feet from her.  She jumped back to dodge it's
punch as a couple of it's friends came up behind it.

     "I see you've all come to play with Shayla-Shayla," she
said with a smile, her gems glowing more than usual.  "Lets
see how you fare."  She cracked her knuckles as the trolls
all charged at once at her.

                             ***

     Tenchi panted as he slowed and breathed for a second
with Kazuki.  Leon ran up to them shortly after and turned
around.  "How are we doing?" Tenchi asked between breathes.

     Kazuki stood behind Leon and looked past his shoulders
at the approaching mob of trolls.  "We'll never outrun
them," Leon announced, holding up his gun.  "We'll have to
make a stand here."

     "A stand?" Tenchi asked.  "Look at them!"

     "How good are you with that sword?" Leon asked.

     "I'm pretty good," said Tenchi, pulling out his sword
and holding it in his hand.  "I've been training in the
Juraian art for some time now."

     "Jura--never mind, you'll just have to explain it to me
later," said Leon.  "Just get ready to fight.  You too
Kazuki."

     The two teens nodded and parted from Leon, getting a
short distance between all of them and turned to face the
oncoming mob.

     "Lets hope we don't get dead," Leon said, pulling the
trigger of his gun.

                             ***

     The smoldering husk of the blue troll landed with a dry
thud as Shayla back flipped away from another brown one.
Concentrating on her hands she creating a large spinning
ball of flame and tossed it at the oncoming monster, turning
into a heap of ash.  She looked to the remaining pair of
trolls who simply gazed back, a sort of slack-jawed look,
then turned and ran away, obviously fearing Shayla more than
their master.  She chuckled in response.

     "Well, that wasn't much of a challenge," she scoffed.
"I wonder where that woman went."

     "Right here."

     Shayla spun around to see Kyri no more than ten feet
away from her, looking evenly at her past the seeming troll
carcasses.  She reached into her large cape and pulled out
her sword, a two handed, double bladed, glowing weapon of
destruction.  It almost seemed to sing a high pitched tune
as she pulled it from her leather scabbard.

     "I was wrong to challenge you in an art you are
obviously superior in," she said flatly.  "The same mistake
won't be made twice."

     "I'm ready," Shayla said before lunching forward, not
waiting for Kyri's attack this time.  As she flew towards
the woman her fiery energy encircled her and her fist as she
swung it towards Kyri.

     When it seemed like Shayla was inches from her face,
she swung her sword straight up, impacting the fiery field
of energy, forcing her purple glowing blade into her jaw,
sending her flying.  She swung through to that the sword was
held straight with her arm behind her as Shayla hit the
ground a few feet away.

     Shayla shook her head as she tried to shake the ringing
out from Kyri's hit.  The ground smoldered beneath her
burning aura as she looked up to her opponant's face which
was wrapped in sheer joy.  "Nice shot," Shayla said.  "Now
try mine."

     Slapping her hands together, Shayla called a stream of
fire from around her and sent the bolt careening towards
Kyri.  The woman raised her sword as the bolt smacked into
it, pushing her back a step but she held against the full
force until it dissipated.  She smiled.

     Before Shayla could summon another spell, Kyri was
running towards her, her sword ready at her side.  She swung
low to high and Shayla fell back to avoid getting her head
sliced in two.  As she hit the ground she rolled to avoid
the ensuing chop down at her.  Launching herself off the
ground, Shayla landed on her feet and felt the fine trickle
of blood roll down her cheek, where she'd been cut, to her
chin.

                             ***

     Leon blinked as the trolls continued to run towards
him.  He thought he'd pulled the trigger on his gun, but
nothing had come of it, only a dull click.  He cocked his
gun again and pulled only to get the same result.  He swung
down the front of his gun and up-ended it as three used
shells fell to the ground.

     The incident at the Tokyo Atomic Plant flashed in his
mind.  How many shots did he use on that boomer?  He thought
it was two, but now he was beginning to think it otherwise.

     He reached into his blazer and pulled a long black
clip.  The defective bullets he was going to show the chief
before he got that call about the Tokyo Power Plant.  They'd
have to do since there wasn't a great chance he was going to
get any more of his bullets soon.  Unloading three bullets
from the clip he inserted them into his gun and closed it
again, shoving the clip back into his pocket.

     He cocked his gun and raised it just in time to hit the
barrel against the lead troll who was now inches from him.
Leon, who's always considered his height to be an asset,
looked up at the troll towering above him.  "Oh, shit," he
said and jumped to the side in time to miss the beast's
swing.

     Landing on his shoulder, he rolled to a kneeling
position and raised his gun to bring it to bear on the
troll.  Sighting down the barrel, he fired off two shots
into the troll's torso.  The monster cringed for a second as
a bit of oddly colored blood trickled from the wounds before
they closed up, expelling the bullet to the ground.

     "Hmph, they even take bullets like boomers," Leon
commented as the troll starting running at him again
followed by two of his friends.

                             ***

     The troll's swing went high enough for Tenchi to duck,
but another one was right beside the first and about to take
a swing at him as well.  Biting his lip, Tenchi activated
the glowing blade of the Tenchiken and swung up at the
second troll.  The beam cut through the troll like it was
butter and vaporized shortly after.

     "Geeze," Tenchi said, looking at the blade of the
Tenchiken.  "It never did that before."  Another troll
stepped into view behind the blade and Tenchi stepped back
into defensive posture.

     The troll growled, allowing a small drop of drool to
roll down it's chin.  It started to move then stopped and
stared at Tenchi again when a second, louder footstep
crashed behind Tenchi.

     "Huh--?" Tenchi started as he turned to see the closer
troll stomping right next to him.  It raised a large
deformed hand and swung to crush Tenchi if he hadn't raised
his sword in time to sever the monster's arm from it's body.
As the beast clutched it's stub, the first troll began
running towards Tenchi.  Turning on his foot, Tenchi pulled
the blade across the torso of the approaching troll, causing
the two halves to separate and fall to the ground.

     As he turned back to the first troll it ducked and
started running away.  Tenchi sighed and looked around to
see Leon running from a bunch of very angry trolls.
Shutting down his sword for the moment, he ran to go help
him.

                             ***

     The four trolls circled around Kazuki, each taking a
turn growling the loudest but none of them making any
advancing movements.  Nervously, Kazuki looked around,
focusing on each one at a time, trying to figure out which
one was going to move first.

     "Okay, stay back," he warned, holding up his fists in
front of him.  "If you stay away I won't have to do anything
so .. umm.. stay away."

     Whether the trolls understood him or not, they decided
it was the proper invitation for movement and started
closing in on the boy.  He shook but managed to clasp his
hands together and began chanting something he didn't know
that he knew, in a language he didn't understand.  With each
step the trolls took closer to him, the glow of his hands
grew brighter until, when the trolls were just a few feet
away, the spell exploded.

     The trolls were engulfed in the light, torn away from
inside, and disintegrated into dust as the light died down.
Kazuki looked down at the piles of sand then down at his
hands.  Again, his power had activated itself without
warning and he'd done another spell that he'd never learned.
It was starting to happen at closer intervals and getting
stronger with each spell.

     These surges of power were leading to something, he
only wished he knew what.

                             ***

     Leon smashed the butt of his gun hard into the skull of
the troll that was holding him at least a foot in the air
and trying to squeeze the life out of him.  The green
skinned beast flinched but continued squeezing much to Leon
discontent.  Desperately trying to force air into his lungs,
he didn't even hear the characteristic snap-hiss of an
energy blade igniting or even the loud scream of the troll
that was holding him before collapsing to the ground.

     Filling his lungs with life giving air, Leon looked up
to see Tenchi standing over him, blue energy blade in hand,
reaching out his empty hand to him.  "You okay?" he asked.

     "What," Leon started, then gasped again for air, "took
you so long?"

     "I was busy with another bunch of trolls," Tenchi
shrugged and pointed behind him. "It kept me."

     "Oh, I see," replied Leon.  "How's the other kid
doing?"

     "I'm fine, Leon," Kazuki said, stepping up behind
Tenchi.  "You seemed to have the worst time of us all."

     Leon finally grabbed Tenchi's outstretched hand and
pulled himself up, Tenchi ducking under his armpit to
support him.  "I'll be fine," Leon said confidently,
reaching into his blazer to put his gun back in it's
holster.  "Just caught me off guard and unloaded... huh?"
Leon's closed hand came back out of his blazer with a bit of
blood on it.

     Kazuki blinked.  "You're bleeding," he said suddenly
and stepped closer.  "Let me see, I can help."

     "What?" Leon asked looking down at his hand.  "It's
just a cut, I don't care about it.  This, on the other
hand," he opened his fist to show the broken remains of his
sunglasses.  "I *do* care about.  These were my favorite
glasses."

     The loud explosion in the distance caught the attention
of all three of the men as they counted their ranks in their
head and came up one short.

     "Shayla."

                             ***

     "You're really beginning to piss me off," Shalya said,
holding her arm, trying to cut off the steady stream of
blood that was running down it.  She studied her opponent
carefully.  While Shalya had been cut several times by
Kyri's damned sword, the demon bitch in black merely
suffered a few bruises and a mild burn.  Clearly, Shalya
admitted to herself as she felt another attack of dizziness
and blinked a few times to clear it, she was on the losing
side.

     "Really?" Kyri said, a bit of exhaustion creeping into
her voice but not nearly as much as Shayla's.  "You're only
mildly annoying me.  But I expect things will get better
soon."

     Without another word Kyri dashed towards Shayla with
blurring speed, obviously using some magical spell to
increase her agility and strength, and extended her hand
towards Shayla's neck.  In response, Shayla tried to bring
up her defensive flame, but with a flick of her wrist, Kyri
dispelled the barrier and closed her hand around her neck.

     Shayla struggled through the nausea, through the pain,
through the whole list of weaknesses she was feeling now,
and tried to punch the woman before her in the face.  When
her fist struck the cold steel of Kyri's blade, and the wave
of pain washed through her, she screamed one final time,
engaging her final ability, an all or nothing attack she
only used when close to death.  When begun, nothing could
stop it and her own life would be forfeit, nothing would
keep the intended target of the attack from the effects.
Even as the dizzying pain was forcing her into
unconsciousness, her body was beginning to glow red with
fire.  Her clothes were the first to burn away as the
tendrils of fiery energy reached out and wrapped themselves
around Kyri, pulling her closer to the source of the fire.

     As if sinking deep into the ocean, the light around
Shayla began to fade as she used the last of her strength to
stay awake long enough to see Kyri be burned to a cinder.
But her dead weight was too heavy to keep afloat and soon
she was too far under to see anything but blackness.

                             ***

     While Leon limped and Tenchi tried to help him move as
quick as he could over to where Shayla and Kyri were
undoubtedly fighting, Kazuki was running full tilt towards
the danger zone.  He could feel the emanations of power from
the battle and knew that if he didn't help quickly, someone
in the conflict would die and he feared it would be Shayla.

     A cold thought echoed in his mind, he would be
responsible.  If he hadn't gotten her caught up in his
problems with Kyri, which he didn't even know what they
were, she would never had the chance to get in a life or
death battle with Kyri.  Or even before that, if he hadn't
opened the book to bring her here, or accepted the job to go
steal the book, or had even gotten involved with Gomo at
all, Shayla would be all right.  It was all his fault,
everything was his fault, and he'd be damned if he stood and
watched as he caused a wonderful woman's death.

     The edge of the battle was obvious, the way the grass
on the plane suddenly stopped and turned into charred
embers.  Kazuki slowed as he approached the obvious line and
hesitated before stepping beyond and heard the crunch of his
foot on the blackened ground.  Death surrounded him, a
battle was ahead that had tainted the whole area with death.
Swallowing deeply, he stepped forward again...

     And heard Shayla's scream.  He ran again, through the
blackened plane, past the burning wreckage of the wagon,
through the strange smoke that had gathered, and emerged to
see Kyri holding Shayla up by the neck, her sword cut into
Shayla's fist.  Even as Kazuki tried to comprehend the
situation, Shayla's scream reached a higher note and it was
as if her body exploded into light as her clothes shredded
by an incredible heat and dark red vines reached out and
wrapped themselves around Kyri.  The scream died down but
the energy increased as Shayla fell limp in Kyri's hand, now
being forced to hold onto her by the red vines.  All forms
of panic flew through Kyri's eyes and she desprately tried
to escape from the vines that were quickly wrapping all
around her, pulling her closer to Shayla as he body glowed
even brighter, flooding the area with energy.

     Kazuki began stepping back to avoid getting incinerated
by the massive energy field that was being emitted from
Shayla.  It was too late to do anything for either of them,
the power was simply too great for Kazuki to even try to
dispel.  He wondered if he would even be able to protect
against it as the energy field continued to grow and extend
past the circle of clouds towards him, Tenchi and Leon.

     Tenchi and Leon, his mind echoed.  They would never
survive if they got any closer.  He turned on his foot and
ran back towards where he left them, his body glowing white
as some of his magic infused itself with his muscles,
ordering them to move faster than they had ever before.  He
caught up to them in microseconds, appearing, to them, in a
flash of strange light.

     Before they could question Kazuki's transportation
trick, he reached forward to hold onto their arms and began
chanting a strong defensive spell that Valney had taught him
long ago when he first discovered his power.  It was years
before he ever met Gomo, probably one of his first memories
of his youth.

     As he chanted the spell, he felt a sudden infusion of
power and he looked up to see Tenchi with his hand on
Kazuki's shoulder.  Tenchi closed his eyes and seemed to
concentrate...

     And the spell took form, a semi-transparent field
surrounded the three, rippling as the edge of Shayla's spell
touched the bubble.  Kazuki forced more energy into the
spell, he knew the energy was there, the bursts of magic he
kept having were signs of it, a growing power within him.
He forced that power into the open, making it do what HE
wanted, using the power to save himself and the two who were
dependent on his ability.

     The crimson energy of the spell neared and Kazuki could
feel the field straining to stay up, it was beginning to
fall.  Kazuki tried harder, reaching further into his inner
self, looking for the strength, the ability to protect those
who needed it.  The power was at the tip of his finger, just
beyond his ability to grab.  He saw it, he could feel it, it
was *there*.  Just a bit further, he told himself, the power
must bend to my command, it is my power to use.

     I *will* save them.

                             ***

     "What's going on?" Leon asked, perplexed by the light
show but fully aware of the seriousness of what was
happening.  "Did that woman throw something big at us?"

     "Bigger than you can imagine," Tenchi said, still
holding onto Kazuki's shoulder.  "I don't know if Kazuki can
do it alone."

     "Can you do something to help?"

     "I might," Tenchi said, pulling Leon's arm over his
head and steadying him.  "Can you stand by yourself?"

     "I'll be fine, help the kid."

     "I'll try," Tenchi breathed and clasped his hands
together around the hilt of his sword.  He breathed slowing
in and out as Leon turned to look out of the bubble he was
in again.  The red tidal wave of light approached, it loomed
far above them, threatening to come crashing down on them at
any time.  Leon was not an expert on magic, hell, he knew
next to nothing about it, but he definitely had an open mind
and from what he was able to pick up from the three
fireworks he'd been traveling with told him that either what
was out there was an illusion, which Shayla'd talked about,
or it was one hell of a powerful spell.

     A flash of light inside the bubble brought Leon's
attention back to Tenchi.  The sword hilt was not floating
by itself before Tenchi's outstretched hands.  His eyes were
closed but he was murmuring something under his breath,
something that simply was *power*.  Even Leon, surprisingly,
could feel it.  It was like standing too close to a fire
except instead of heat, he felt a tingling sensation on the
surface of his skin that causes his hair to stand on end.

     Suddenly Leon felt very dwarfed.  Despite his age and
physical size larger than these kids, they were powerhouses.
Even Tenchi had hidden power beyond his flashlight sword of
his.  In MegaTokyo, Leon was strong, tall, overbearing,
perhaps intimidating.  Here, he was weak, and there was
nothing he could do about it.  Magic was not one of his
abilities, it was simply something he'd just been proven
existed, nothing that he could grasp and use.

     Leon was pulled from his lament as the hilt in front of
Tenchi flashed once and dropped to the ground with a
clatter.  At first Leon thought that whatever Tenchi was
trying didn't work, then he saw the green glowing mark on
his forehead and thought twice.  The green glow got brighter
and expanding all over his body, changing his clothes from
the brown workman's clothes in to a white, flowing battle
dress.  Tenchi's eyes shot open and for an instant, three
white blades formed before him before fading away into his
clothes and the large white sword that was now in his hand.

     "Wow," Leon commented.

     Tenchi didn't even acknowledge Leon's existence, he
merely stepped forward and reached out his hand to touch the
field around them.  Leon looked past Tenchi just in time to
see the red wave of light crash into the bubble and causing
it to ripple wildly, bits of the red light seeping through.
Kazuki yelled out, clutching his head and cringing under
some unseen onslaught.

     In a blink of an eye, Kazuki's bubble collapsed causing
the kid to scream one last time before falling at Leon's
feet.  At the same instant as the bubble broke, however,
Tenchi's other hand rose and three white beams of light
extended outwards, bending back to form a cone extending
beyond Tenchi, around Kazuki and Leon, and far back into the
plane. The red light was held at bay as Tenchi looked
through glossed over eyes almost unaware of it all.

     Leon was impressed.  Where as the kid, whom both Shayla
and Tenchi seemed amazed at, was struggling against the
power, Tenchi took it simply and without struggle.  The
hierarchy of power in this world confused him, and he wished
it would all just go away, but he knew, as much as he knew
that this wasn't just a crazy dream from eating too many
slices of anchovy pizza, that it would and could not go
away.  Ever.  It was too infused into the world around them,
a world governed by invisible forces greater than any
visible ones.

     Kazuki breathed deeply in his sleep and Leon felt his
forehead to find that he was burning up.  The power came at
a great cost indeed, far too great for those unworthy to
wield.  Unfortunately, he knew that to be untrue as well,
because someone out there had the power, and all they wanted
to do is use it against them.

     Perhaps for the first time during this trip, maybe even
in his entire life, Leon was scared.

                             ***

     Fordim Plane was devastated.  The grass, sparse trees,
and wild weeds were all burned away, the road caked and hard
from the hardened clay deposit that was formerly beneath it.
Nothing lived in the plane at all anymore.  Except for the
four people that were at the center of the blast that
devastated it.  And living was a debatable term to be used.

     Leon stood and looked around at the steaming earth, the
reddish sky, and the lack of vegetation everywhere.  Then
his eyes trailed down to Kazuki, the exhausted, sweating boy
who was now taking shallow breaths at his feet.  To Tenchi,
the young man, now back in his work clothes, lying
peacefully on the blackened earth next to Kazuki.  To the
distant form of Shayla, whom he knew was out there
somewhere, closer to the center of the blast, who he maybe
didn't want to see if she was the target of the horrible
magic that had been just used.

     His concern overtook him and he stepped away from
Kazuki and Tenchi and padded towards the crater that Tenchi
said was the center before he did his little three-beams-of-
light trick.  The ground was hard beneath his feet, his
heavy steps slightly aggravating the pain in his chest from
when the troll tried to squish him into a pulp.  When he
reached the edge of the crater he saw that it was completely
smooth, a perfect cut into the earth, in the center which
lied the form he was searching for.

     Shayla.

     Leon slid down the edge of the crater to her side.  She
was completely naked, laying sprawled out in an awkward
form, covered in blood and cuts and a bit charred along her
legs and arms.  She looked so bad he didn't want to even
risk moving her, but he knew that there was little else he
could do.  Everything near this place was gone, so there was
no where he could get help, and Kazuki was out cold so his
healing trick was useless.

     Sighing, Leon reached down and picked up Shayla in his
arms, flinching only once when he saw her arm dangle at an
angle that shouldn't be possible for someone with intact
bones, he took her up the side of the crater and brought her
over to Tenchi and Kazuki.

     Standing over them with Shayla's bloody body in his
arms, he saw little else he could do.  They were
unconscious, probably beyond his ability to simply wake up,
but they looked a lot better than Shayla did.  Swallowing
hard at the decision he just had to make, he turned to the
remnants of the road they had originally been following and
continued along side it.  Kazuki said that it wasn't much
farther to Prun, after all.  Maybe, if he was lucky, Leon
could get there in time to save Shayla.  If he could ignore
the pain in his legs, the tightness in his chest, the
dizziness in his head, and the fatigue of traveling through
the night.

     In a world filled with magic, all he wanted was a
little bit of luck.

                       -End Chapter 6-

Authors Notes:

     I believe this is known, in come circles, as the
Darkfic.  Yes, I have abused my characters and have abused
my right to use them.  But they need to go through a little
bit of pain before things get better.  Don't worry though,
things may be rough, but they are going to get better...
sooner or later. (Feh, and I bet you thought the battle was
going well for them, did you?)

     Oh, sorry for this being so late, I was on vacation from
friday to the second following sunday and it was strictly
internet-free.  But I'm back now, so lets get into the groove
of things again.

     Special thanks to Jed Hagan, with whom I have very
informative and influential dialogue.  Who knows, Alielle
may still turn up. :)

     `El-Hazard: The Magnificent World' was created by
Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoe Tsukimura and is copyright c1995 by
AIC and Pioneer Entertainment (USA/JP) L.P.  "Bubblegum
Crisis" was created by Suzuki Toshimichi and is c1987 by
A.I.C., Inc. & Youmex, Inc. Licensed to AnimEigo by Youmex,
Inc. for English Translation, Dubbing, and manufacturing.
"Tenchi Muyou! Ryo-ohki" was created by Masaki Kajishima and
is Copyright by AIC, Pioneer Entertainment LDC, INC., and
the Tenchi Muyou Committee.  Manufactured for, distributed,
and dubbed by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.  `Slayers'
was created by Hajime Kanazaka and Rui Araizumi and was
produced by TV TOKYO, SOFTX.  It was released in North
America by Software Sculptors Ltd. and is c1995. While this
story contains characters and situations from this anime and
used without permission, this work is c1999 Adam Leigh.  Not
for sale or trade.  All Rights Reserved.

Adam Christopher Leigh
Omicron@sprynet.com
http://dogbert.simplenet.com/shadows