Fourth Aspect
News spread fast, Lina Inverse was dead. The dra
matta was no more. Innkeepers and bandits across the
continent rejoiced. Lots of people were surprised, a
few were saddened, and one person was quite annoyed.
"How dare she die before I could gloat over her
predicament face to face," Martina whined. "Its not
fair, she'd do anything to take my revenge from me."
"Perhaps this is a good thing, miss Martina," the
staid little man next to her suggested. "Now there is
no chance of her interferring with you ever again.
Magic or no magic, she was still a threat."
"You're right of course, Reginald," Martina agreed.
"It still would have been very gratifying to see her
squirming without her spells."
"Indeed mistress," the little man bowed low as
Martina began to leave the room.
"Remind me to have a bounty placed on foxes after I
marry the prince."
"Indeed, Mistress. We should take no chances, but
before you make such plans..."
"In the name of the monster Zomalgustar," Martina
shouted. "The world shall be mine!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"
"...." Reginald glared at her for a moment. "As I
was saying, perhaps we should wait to make such plans
until after you have caught the prince's attention."
Martina, paused in her laughing.
"You have a point."
"This must be the place," Gourry yawned as he cast
his eyes about. They were in front of a moderate sized
cabin deep in the woods. It was a fairly comfortable
affair, a large chicken coop, well-kept work shed.
"This doesn't look like the kind of place a master
magician would reside," Amelia noted.
"Really, I've lived in one or two places like
this," Zelgadis countered.
"I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry, we're here to find a path not a cure.
Protoss?" Zelgadis called out. "I'm Zelgadis
Greywyrds, I sent word I'd be coming."
"In the back," called an old voice from behind the
cabin. The three remaining slayers looked at each
other for a moment beforing following the sound of the
voice around back. They found a man who looked about
fifty and was dressed in a loose robe. The odd thing
was that he had apparently locked himself into a large
cage with a very frightened deer.
"I had planned to be here earlier," Zelgadis said.
"But...something happened."
"I just got back home myself," the man laughed.
"Somebody snared me half a month ago and I almost
ended up this crazy green-haired girl's dinner."
"Crazy, green-haired girl?" Zelgadis and Amelia
repeated, and then looked at each other.
"That sounds like that...Mary, Marie,
Maria...uh..."
"Martina," Amelia and Zelgadis snapped.
"That's right."
"You know this person," Protoss asked curiously.
"Did she have a weird laugh," Amelia asked.
"Well, I was a fox at the moment so I was more
concerned with running than listening to her, but I
think so."
"That's what you were hiding," Zelgadis turned on
Amelia.
"What are you talking about?" Amelia stammered.
"What does he mean that he was a fox?"
"I don't believe that its coincidence that a
lunatic with a grudge against Lina was having captive
lycanthropes brought to her around the same time Lina
lost her magic."
"He's a...a...a werefox?" Amelia stammered. Protoss
laughed.
"Sixty years now," he saw Amelia and Gourry's
surprised expressions. "Regeneration does wonders for
the aging process."
"Yes, that's why I came here," Zelgadis told her.
"Lina was infected wasn't she."
"Yes," Amelia nodded sheepishly.
"You mean somebody used me to infect somebody else
with lycanthropy," he was no longer amused. He took in
Zelgadis chimera form, "No offense, but I could
probably help her more than I could you."
"She's dead," Zelgadis told him.
"Maybe not then," the man looked to the horizon.
"We'll have to continue this tomorrow. The moon is
rising, and I'm really not prepared to keep the fourth
aspect down tonight." The deer began to grow very
skittish now, backing away from the old man.
"Agreed," Zelgadis said. "We'll leave you to dinner
then." Amelia smiled at the old man nervously before
chasing after Gourry and Zelgadis.
"Zelgadis, he's a monster," Amelia whispered, as
they settled in the cabin.
"Who's a monster?" Gourry asked.
"That's why you weren't so anxious to find Lina,"
Zelgadis said. "You don't think I'm a monster, but
Lina becomes a were-fox and she's instantly a threat."
"But werecreatures on the full-moon..."
"Expect threats," Zelgadis told her. "If you show
fear, or hostility toward them they decide you're a
threat, but they are no more monsters than a person
is."
"I thought Lina was dead," Gourry said.
"She is, but if we hadn't been such assholes,"
Zelgadis yelled. "She wouldn't have decided to go off
on her own, and she'd be alive." The sound of Protoss
transforming outside ended the arguement and most
conversation.
"Xellos?" Lina called quietly. She sat curled into
a ball on the grass waiting for the sun to go down.
She didn't really want to go through this alone the
first time. The normal transformations were bad
enough, she didn't want to imagine what tonight was
going to feel. "Xellos can you hear me you fruitcake?"
"Why Lina, I didn't know you were into this kind of
thing," she couldn't turn around to see the trickster,
but she could smell him. She smiled quietly, the
silver in her hair was easy to spot now. The mazoku
sat behind the chained woman circling his arm around
her shoulders while stroking her long hair in an
attempt to comfort her. "Don't fight it."
"What?" Lina asked surprised.
"You know it doesn't hurt you when you're asleep,"
he told her. "Don't fight the change and it will be
easier." The sun was starting to sink he didn't have
much time before the transformation started.
"How do I not fight it," she asked, feeling the
itching start.
"Want it," Xellos whispered. "Don't fear it."
"Want it?" Lina repeated. "Wan...*" Xellos had to
strengthen his grip as she began changing. Lina hadn't
cried out yet, but he could feel the pain wafting off
of her.
"Calm down!" he felt ridiculuous shouting that,
especially as Lina's transformation progressed. Lina
held out screaming another couple of seconds, and by
then her voice was already more bestial than he had
yet heard it.
This transformation was different from the onset.
The fur was thicker, the tail was longer and the
changes to her body were much more severe. Her face
was already stretching into a thin triangular muzzle,
and she was growing, significantly. As it progressed
he smelled adrenalin and felt an increase in such
emotions as anger and suscpicion rose.
The mazoku heard the manacles stretch and creak,
and looked to her bound ankles and wrists. The
mazoku's eyes widened as he saw a thin trail of smoke
drifting from the too-small manacles. He reached
forward and broke the bonds tossing the silver
threaded chains away. This made his attempts to hold
Lina very difficult. The transformation ceased as
Lina's strength surpassed the mazoku's.
Lina stopped thrashing as the pain of silver and
change passed. She sniffed the air, instinctually
looking for the threat. Lina was confused, all she
smelled was her mate. There was nothing else but prey
and trees. She growled inquisitively.
"Lina?" The were-fox cocked her head, trying to
turn towards the voice. There was no threat, why was
she like this? Something about the moon?
"Grr?" Lina tried to shrug off the mazoku, and
found she couldn't just break his grip. She cocked her
head around again, and licked his face. Surprised the
mazoku let go of her. Then the were-fox was off into
the forest.
"Lina, wait!" Xellos followed. If someone saw Lina,
the word would spread and soon there would be one less
werefox in the world. As she was Lina would consider
anybody she didn't know a potential threat to be
destroyed, which meant she wouldn't try to avoid
sight. "Damn it."
He heard a scuffle and the sound of a predator
tearing into something, passing through the bushes he
was relieved to see Lina feasting on a fallen deer. Of
course, she was hungry, he sighed in relief. Sitting
down to keep an eye on her.
She cocked her head at him inquisitively. Why did
he feal so tense until a moment ago? She bent down to
her meal again, still confused. Maybe he was in
trouble, yes that was it. She'd stay around him until
she was sure otherwise.
Xellos sighed in relief as the were-fox padded over
to him and sat down. She was protecting him, he
thought it was mildly amusing considering that's what
he was trying to do. The mazoku looked over to the
devoured deer and turned back to Lina.
"Going on a diet Lina?" she whuffed a question.
=====
"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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