Shadow Plays
"This is bad," Lina muttered from her vantage point
on the cliff. Below her men were setting up a base
camp. For the first time in months she actively missed
her magic. Pregnant or not she could have handled this
as a sorceress. Lina grimaced as she began to slink
back to her cave.
"I feel like a damn pig in a dress," the word dress
was the most emphasized, Xellos had brought for her as
her travelling clothes began to be ill-fitting. At
least the dress was loose enough that she didn't worry
about ripping it come nightfall. It more than a little
worse for the wear now, though. Blood from past meals,
tears from thorns from catching branches, it was in
pretty bad shape.
Their were further problems that she saw with this
group. Most people thought that every bandit looked
alike, if you saw one thug, you'd seen them all. That
was pretty much true, but it was still easy for
someone like Lina to tell the difference between the
various groups. This was a branch of the people that
had been at that trap Martina had set for her.
She hated feeling helpless like this, but it wasn't
like she had much of a choice. She didn't even have
the full moon to fall back on, both the more severe
transformations had ceased as she started to show.
Lina sat back in the soft chair, a recent addition of
Xellos's, as soon as she returned to her cave. Here
was Martina again, ruining her life. Never mind, of
course, that she had been looking for the sick twisted
little green-haired trollop.
"I'm not far enough away from them," she grumbled.
"And I have more important things to worry about."
Looking about the cave that was becoming something
more like a home she sighed. Lina gripped the amulet
and reached out toward Xellos. It didn't take him long
to show up.
"What's wrong?" the mazoku asked anxiously as soon
as he appeared in the cave. Lina was almost as
depressed as she had been when Xellos had first found
her in that inn. He'd been about to decide to pop over
anyway, so the call made him jump. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Xellos breathed a sigh of relief.
"There are some bandits forming a camp a few miles
away."
"There's more to it than that," Xellos guessed.
"They're the same group from Martina's trap," Lina
told him. "If I could still cast magic...." She
sniffed once and then wiped her eyes. "Do you
think Filia would freak out much if I stayed with you
two?"
"Do you think that's safe?" Xellos asked, feeling
moderately guilty that he was feeding off her
emotions. Not that he could stop himself, soaking it
in like a flower with sunlight.
"Its safer than here," Lina sighed, brushing red
hair, grown long again, out of her face. "There's not
enough hunting that I could avoid them noticing me."
She blinked and then looked up. "And maybe she won't
recognize me."
"What, do you plan on only being there at night?"
Lina had already closed her eyes and seemed to be
concentrating. Xellos blinked as he watched Lina
transform to her humanoid form despite the sun being
high outside. She examined the change, laughed and
then hugged Xellos. "How?"
"I've been studying the change," Lina told him,
tail swishing happily. "I thought that I almost had it
last time, guess I was right. Shall we go?" Xellos
wondered at the sudden good mood, but shrugged. Lina
was right, she couldn't stay here.
"The prince's daughter and her friends are here,"
Reginald informed his mistress.
"What?!" Martina, her green-hair dyed black. "What
are they doing here? It's too early!"
"Do not worry," her servant spoke monotonously.
"Lady R'lyeh will be called away on temple business,
you can lay low with the forces we have in the
forest."
"Hmm, very good," Martina thought about it. "But
how are you going to get them to leave, they've heard
about the marriage by now."
"I shall take care of that, mistress, now the
important thing is to stall for time." Reginald
reached to his side and opened a fold in space leading
to the spoken of camp.
"Yes, well, carry on," Martina yawned as she walked
through the portal. As the portal shut behind her the
staid, unimportant looking man smiled.
"Lady R'lyeh?" Zelgadis repeated. That name brought
uncomfortable thoughts, but he couldn't put his finger
on the details. The discomfort was all he needed to
decide that there was certainly nothing good here.
"Yes, her temple has been doing great things for
the poor of the kingdom," Phil told them all. "And she
is really a wonderful person, great sense of humor."
"But isn't marriage just a little rash?" Amelia asked.
"Come, come, as soon as you meet her, you'll change
your mind," Phil repeated as they walked down the
hall. Ahead of them the chambers of Lady R'lyeh closed
behind a particularly indistinctive man. "Aww, Master
Reginald, I've come to introduce my daughter to my
love."
"I am afraid that Lady R'lyeh has been called away
on temple business," the man said in a monotone. "She
had wanted to give her farewells, but the
circumstances really were quite unexpected."
"I'll bet they were," Zelgadis muttered.
"What temple does she serve?" Gourry asked.
"The Temple of She with a Thousand Young," the man
responded in his one voice.
"I've never heard of them before," Amelia noted,
suscipiciously.
"It is a relatively young group, you may not have
heard of it."
"They do excellent work with the poor," Phil told
them again. "They really make sure that justice is
given to those for whom it has long been denied. The
lady is such a sweet and charming woman." Reginald
dared a questioning glance at Phil. "But how will she
now meet my daughter and her friends?"
"She was away before news of their arrival reached
my ears," Reginald sighed apologetically. "But I will
have word sent, perhaps she will finish her business
with a little more speed in order to meet her future
family."
"That would be wonderful," Phil shouted. "And until
then we must celebrate the happy occaision!
Bwuahahahahahhahahahahhahhahahhahahah!!!!!"
"Hey, Zelgadis are you coming?" Gourry called back
as they followed the laughing prince, who happened to
be king, back down the hall. The chimera looked up at
the swordsman away from his appraisal of "Reginald."
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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