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"Tell me again why we're running for our lives, Lina?"
Lina Inverse and Valteira Ul Copt charged away from their former destination, a very large and very rich bandit enclave. Unfortunately, this enclave had very many bandits, who were currently chasing the pair with their "pet", Rover the…something large with big claws and slimy fangs and multiple tails.
"WAAAHHHH!!!!! I didn't know there were so many of them!" The bandits swarmed over the hill. Val snarled and stopped.
"Val! What're you doing!? RUN!" The boy sprouted wings and grew scales. He was, after all, a dragon, and why should a dragon (not to mention a world-famous sorcery-genius) run from bandits, even if they had a monster? The Last of the Ancient Dragons was no coward!
"Lina! Get on!" He held out a claw for her to climb on while he breathed fire at the suddenly startled bandits. She clambered onto Val's back.
"What are all of you afraid of?" the bandit leader hollered. "Rover can take him!" Rover roared.
"But Boss, the kid just turned into that…Thing!" Boss blinked.
"I object to that!" Val growled. "I am not a THING! I…am a DRAGON!" He polished a claw on his chest. "And a damn fine one at that."
"Huh?" Boss shook his head. It must've jogged something loose, because he looked a little less clueless. "Rover! Get them! There's no way a flat-chested runt and an under-fed brat can beat us!" Or maybe not.
"'Flat-chested'…?" Uh-oh. We all know how Lina feels about comments like this…
"'Under-fed'…?" And Val is sensitive about his weight. He can't help it if he looks anorexic…
"'RUNT?'"
"'BRAT?'"
Val roared and spat flame at the bandit army. He obviously forgot his little thing about immediate retribution from Part 1. But I guess tactics don't apply to bandits.
"Darkness beyond twilight…" Lina started to chant. She seemed to have forgotten that she was riding dragon-back…
"Crimson beyond blood…" The bandits started scattering as she continued. Val's wings flapped as he took off. He had no idea what she was doing.
"I pledge myself…" Val flew a circle around the bandits, spewing fire. He was pleased to note Boss trying to extinguish his hair.
"Let all the fools…" Rover didn't look too happy either. Hehehe.
"Lina. Wha-" Val wondered why she was chanting a bit too late.
"Dragon Slave!"
"DRAGON SLAVE!" Val backpedaled in the air, flapping furiously to escape. The force of the spell helped a little…
The crimson explosion blasted the bandits. Seemingly unsatisfied with this, it spread. Val flew as fast as dragonly possible, but he could feel it catching up. His tail felt hot. Lina screamed and grabbed his scales in an attempt to hold on. The dragon wailed as he tried harder to flee.
All for nothing. The devastating spell overtook them. Val felt one of his wings singe, felt himself going down…
*******
"Val!"
Lina held on as the dragon's flight swung downwards. 'He's gonna crash! No!' Still, she couldn't levitate an entire dragon, even a young and therefore small one. Herself, however…
"Levitation!" She watched as Val crashed and slid, making a rather impressive groove in the earth. He reverted to his human form (making the groove seem that much more impressive). Lina floated to the ground, landing gently on her toes.
Val raised his head.
"'Dragon Slave'? From dragon-back?"
"Sorry, Val."
"You're insane."
"I forgot." He exhaled, a soft, exasperated sigh, and flopped back down.
"Good night." Lina shrugged. She chanted a Recovery spell, sat down next to the unconscious boy, and raided his pack for food.
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Note: Lina actually Dragon Slaved from Filia's back, but it's too late to change the plot here now. It's called "suspension of disbelief" people. Besides, it's kind of amusing.
