Trails
"So, what's next?" Gourry asked as they walked away
from the town hall.
"The blacksmith," Zelgadis suggested. "Then after
that..."
"The inn probably," Amelia yawned. "We won't find
either of them if we drop from exhaustion." Martina's
trail had completely vanished and the last thing they
heard about "Rannaur" was her fighting a monster
around this town. Zelgadis took a moment to remember
what the magistrate had said.
"I don't know how she did it," the man had said.
"But for three nights there was a war in the wilds,
then she comes walking back into town with what was
left of the creature."
"When was that?"
"Two full moon cycles ago," he answered. "That
woman must be a powerful warrior. It was well worth
the reward we gave her. Why are you looking for her?"
"We think she might be an old friend of ours,"
Gourry had said as they left.
"This is more like an armorer's shop than a
blacksmith," Amelia noted as they stopped into the
small building in front of the forge. Amelia turned to
look towards the wall and caught Zelgadis's attention.
"This is going to be a nice suit of armor," Gourry
appraised, whistling. The interlocking blue scales
that made up the tunic hung like cloth over the dummy.
It looked relatively lightweight for most armor, but
the warrior thought it would prove just as effective,
if not more so, as other types of scale mail.
"There's a touch of magic to it," Amelia noted,
squinting at it. Zelgadis nodded.
"Behir scales, hard to get," Zelgadis noted.
"Perhaps that's what's left of the monster that was
terrorizing the town."
"The armor is spoken for," the slayers turned to
face the blacksmith, a large bearded man like almost
any other village blacksmith. "I have plenty of
material left to make more. That is, if you have the
money for it."
"I have more effective means of protection,"
Zelgadis noted cooly. The blacksmith who couldn't see
under Zelgadis' hood and cloak hpmhed doubtfully at
that statement.
"Who's armor is it?" Amelia asked, burshing over
the hard scales and humming to herself.
"A bounty hunter," the shopkeeper said. "It was an
even trade, she brought the scales, I made the armor,
leaving me with more than enough for several more
suits."
"Sounds like a good deal for you," Zelgadis said.
"When are you going to be finished with the armor?" He
examined what was already done, the man was taking his
time and doing it right.
"I'm doing it right, two months at least, why do
you want to know?"
"Well you see..."
"Curiousity," Amelia cut off Gourry. "Its not often
you see armor like this."
"I see, well what did you need here?" Zelgadis
unsheathed his sword and handed it hilt-first to the
blacksmith.
"I need a sharpening stone," Zelgadis told him.
"And while I'm here I might as well have a
professional sharpen the blade." The blacksmith
nodded, and accepted the weapon reverently noting the
fine construction of the blade.
"I'll have it done in about an hour," he said.
"We'll be back then," Amelia said, turning to leave
and dragging Gourry along with her.
"I think we may have found her," Zelgadis said.
"Now the question is, do we hang around here until she
comes to pick up that armor, or do we go and look for
where Martina might be."
"Yeah, Sairuun's borders are only a couple of days
ride from here," Gourry said.
"We don't have to stay," Amelia said confidently.
"If you're going back to the idea that we
shouldn't..."
"No, no, I put a trace spell on the armor," Amelia
told him. "Should last for another year or so."
"Why didn't I think of that?"
Lina yawned and stretched. Her mouth snapped closed
with a click and she stared up at the night sky. The
hunting around here was good, more than enough for her
needs. The cave, she had complained before about this
being the only forest without an abandoned cabin, was
well supplied and perfectly comfortable, almost not
like a cave. She was more than two days ride from the
nearest settlement, so she was safe from eyes that
would likely respond to her with silver arrows.
The last created a very distinct problem that was
eating on her at the moment. There was virtually
nothing to keep her mind occupied out here. She could
run over the information she had collected on
Martina's movements only so many different ways.
Hunting normal animals only gave her so much
challenge, even when she got it into her head to go
looking for specific animals rather than just whatever
she could find. At least most of the morning sickness
seemed to be done with.
Xellos was around more often, now that Filia knew
why he was disappearing. In fact he was around several
times a week, probably pushing the bounds of what was
safe to be away from his post watching Valgarv. Still,
there was quite a bit of time when there was nobody
but her and nothing to do.
"Speaking of cravings," the owl she had been
watching prepared to swoop down on a mouse. The mouse
was perfectly aware of the situation, Lina could smell
the pheromones wafting off of it, but it was already
frozen. The owl dropped from its branch, flashed down
and through the tall grass and then was stopped by
Lina's hand. The owl protested for all of three
seconds before Lina started eating.
Lina was really beginning to like this body. She
didn't merely accept it now, she actually preferred
it. She rarely even noticed the pain of transformation
anymore, and when dawn came there was a moment of
regret as she took her completely human form again.
Lina yawned as she picked the remains of the owl
out of her teeth and tossing them to the side with the
rest of the night's refuse. She rubbed her rounded
belly before standing up and walking back to the cave
and the thick blankets and feather mattress inside.
The border guards of Sairuun immediately recognized
their princess.
"Princess Amelia!"
"Yes," Amelia said cautiously. "What is it?"
"Your father has sent seekers for you, there is
great news."
"Really, what news is that?" Amelia asked calmly.
"The Prince is getting married!"
"What?!?"
=====
"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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