Dark Legacy
Chapter Four



        When Sylphiel woke up in the cave, she noticed right away that Lina and Zelgadis were missing. Afraid that Zelgadis had taken off in the night, and Lina had followed him, she rose and dressed quickly, completely missing the fact that Lina’s cape and sword were by the sorceress’ bedroll.
        She took off for the archway that led deeper into the caverns, calling out their names. “Miss Lina! Mister Zelgadis…!” The two people in concern looked over from a discussion, and Sylphiel came to a halt, blushing. “Oh no… I’m sorry… I…”
        Zelgadis put up a hand. “Hold on, Sylphiel. Lina, release the spell.”
        Lina, obviously holding a spell in her hands, looked over to the cleric, and then turned, opening her hands and allowing the energy to free itself from her grasp. “Grey Bomb!” A small section of the ground nearby exploded in a miniature earthquake.
        Lina grinned. “Got it!!”
        Zelgadis nodded, folding his arms. “What I don’t understand is how you learned the Dill Brand without learning the Grey Bomb.”
        Lina waved it off with her hand. “Eh… that’s a story for another time, Zel.” She looked over to Sylphiel, who was watching with wide eyes. “What’s wrong, Sylphiel?”
        Sylphiel looked from Lina, to the small hole in the ground, and then to Zelgadis. “I woke up… and you both were gone… I was afraid that something had happened…”
        Zelgadis hid his irritation. He didn’t always take off on his own. He hadn’t done that for a while now…
        Lina put her hands together, lacing her fingers and raising her arms up over her head as she stretched. “Nothing but a magic lesson… which I failed to get the first time through. Is everyone awake, Sylphiel?”
        Sylphiel nodded, and at Gourry’s call, the three turned to see the blonde swordsman and the diminutive princess looking towards them from the archway. With a cheerful holler, Lina took off towards them. “Yay! Breakfast!!!”
        Sylphiel laughed as she followed Lina. “You’re doing the cooking, Miss Lina!”
        Zelgadis’ shoulders slumped. This was the biggest disadvantage of traveling with people. One or another of them always wanted to eat. Cobalt eyes turned to the door hidden at the bottom of the steps. Time to go off on his own… he turned, moving down the steps towards the door.
        A slipper came flying out of nowhere and bounced off of his back. “Damnit, Zelgadis! Can’t I eat breakfast without you trying to run off on us?” Lina hollered from the archway where she had sent the slipper flying. Amelia stared at the redhead, still trying to comprehend where the slipper had come from. Lina’s hand had been empty…
        The chimera sighed again, turning back to see Lina standing up there with her hands on her hips. As he moved back up the stone steps, he tried to decide if having friends who cared was an advantage, or a disadvantage.

        “So you’re saying there could be some nasty things down here,” Lina looked at Zelgadis over her breakfast. “Well… what else is new? Come on, Zel… We’ve fought Shabranigdo, Zanaffar, Dark Star…” She paused, even though she knew that what they might encounter would be a product of Shabranigdo’s magic. “What could we possibly run into that we can’t overcome as a group?”
        Zelgadis looked at her. While she had a point, he didn’t really wish to concede so easily. “You shouldn’t get involved. This isn’t your fight.”
        Lina grinned at Zelgadis as she finished her breakfast. “Maybe not. But you’re our friend. That makes it, at least, my fight.”
        “Mine too!” Amelia piped up, but then, that didn’t surprise Lina or Zelgadis one bit. Amelia had a tendency to join in any cause that both Lina and Zelgadis were taking.
        “I will make it mine as well. If we are going to be fighting unknown enemies, then the services of a healer will most likely be needed. Besides,” Sylphiel continued as she pulled a rather large book from her cloak and put it in her lap with a thud. “I can enter them into my lexicon of creatures. I’m hoping that as soon as I have catalogued eight thousand individual species and all relative subspecies, I can publish my work and be able to fund a happy life for Gourry dear so that he doesn’t have to wander all over the world in order to make money!”
        Everyone except Gourry and Sylphiel fell over. Gourry blinked at Sylphiel. “Wow. That’s a really big book. What is it for?”
        Sylphiel facefaulted. “Mister Gourry! It’s for your happiness!”
        Gourry scratched his head. “But… I am happy…” He looked at Lina, who was sitting up and brushing the dust off. “Aren’t I, Lina?”
        Lina stood and fastened her cape. “Let’s go, guys. There’s a cure to be found, a cave to be mapped…” she looked at Sylphiel for a moment, watching the girl put the book away. “And a lexicon to be amended…”