AN-What's this?! Two updates in one year?! Why yes, yes it is. Enjoy.

Chapter Seven: Destination Met.

“She… won’t wait.” Gourry murmured from his position on the ground. “Please… follow.”

Frowning, Zel nodded.

“You’re right.” He said, crouching in front of the swordsman. “Come on, let’s catch up with her before she does anything stupid.”

After a few minuets of struggle, Zelgadis stood with Gourry on his back and headed down the corridor after Lina.

Pushing her charge to walk faster and fighting the urge to Dragon Slave her and just end it, the sorceress glanced foreword. That was definitely torchlight ahead. It had already been twenty minutes, so Zel and Gourry would be catching up to her, if she waited.

Finally they reached the source of the light. Another doorway, a torch on either side. This door, however, was made of dark wood, offset with a golden handle. Pushing Alisia against the far wall and giving her a firm “Don’t move” command, Lina began to tug at the handle. She wasn’t surprised when it didn’t budge, but kicked it anyway, just so it understood her disapproval.

Glaring at it, she studied the design. It was similar to the design on the first door, a smaller circle connected to a bigger circle with lines, except it had no indentations where the jewels had gone in the previous one. Deciding to eliminate all the easy possibilities, she began to murmur an unlocking spell.

He heard her chanting before he saw the light of the torches and was glad he had taken Gourry’s advice. Quickening his pace, he emerged from the darkness to stand behind her.

“What are you doing?” Zelgadis demanded as he gently set Gourry down as far from Alisia as he could.

“Waiting for you?” she offered, turning to face him.

“Is that why were casting an unlocking spell?” he snapped.
“Lina…” Gourry whispered. “Don’ go by… self ‘gain.”

“Don’t try to talk anymore.” She told him as she knelt at his side and pushed the hair from his face. “I won’t go ahead again. Just rest.”

“I tried a few unlocking spells before you got here. None of them worked, obviously.” Lina told Zel as she stood back up.

“Any other idea’s?” the chimera asked as studied the door.

“Blood opened the last one, right? So…” she said as she pulled out her dagger and pressed the blade to her thumb. Blood began dripping down her hand instantly and she quickly pressed the bleeding appendage to the inner circle. Crimson light spread through the design and Lina tried the door handle. It didn’t budge.

“What the hell?!” she demanded.

“Last time, the jewels were representations of the elements, right? Maybe we need another representation for this door.” Zelgadis offered.

“Alright, but what do we use?”

Instead of replying, he leaned in close to the eastern point and blew softly on the wood. A soft yellow light illuminated the right line of the circle.

Snatching up one of the water canteens, Lina splashed a bit of water on the western point. Blue light illuminated the left line.

“Why didn’t I think of this before?!” she exclaimed, searching the pack for matches. When she found them, she handed them to Zelgadis, who quickly lit one and pressed it to the southern point. He watched wearily, worried the wood of the door would catch fire. The point smoked a bit before the match went out, and the bottom line began to glow an orange-red.

“What’ll we do for earth? Everything in here is stone.” Zel said, looking around the cavern.

“Well, stone is technically earth, right? Do you think you can, I don’t know, knock some off the wall with your brute strength?”

For just one moment, Zel simply stopped and looked at her like she was out of her mind. She smiled brightly. He scowled.

“Is that a yes?”

Still glaring at her, he punched the stone wall and three coin-sized chunks flew off in various directions. With Lina’s help, he gathered them up and crushed them as finely as he could between his palms. Holding his breath, he pressed the sand against top point of the circle. The line turned green and Lina gave a little cheer.

“I really didn’t think that would work.” The chimera commented as Lina stepped forward and tried the golden handle. It opened without resistance, the space beyond pitch black.

“Of course it had to be creepy.” She offered as she tossed a light spell into the darkness. The spell diffused as soon as it passed through the door.

“Of course it couldn’t be that easy.” Zelgadis sighed. Lina nodded in agreement.

“You guys wait here, I’ll-“

“Don’t even think about it. If you go, we all do.” The chimera interrupted, arms crossed over his chest. Lina muttered under her breath as she grabbed Alisia’s elbow and hauled her to her feet.

“Ready?” she asked impatiently as she turned around. She watched as Gourry swayed as he tried to climb onto Zel’s back, and her resolve strengthened. As soon as they were situated, Lina propelled herself and her captive through the door. She heard Zelgadis follow closely behind, then suddenly the door slammed shut, encasing them in darkness.

“Just great,” The sorceress growled. “That’s it. I know you’re here!” she shouted. “Show yourself!”

A few moments of silence passed before a woman’s husky laugh floated to their ears.

“Humans,” the voice said with amused tolerance. “so impatient.”

“That’s right!” Lina yelled back. “I’m impatient, so let’s get this started!”

The woman laughed again and the sound resounded throughout the cavern. With what sounded like a snapping of fingers, torches sprang to life all around them, casting eerie shadows everywhere. For a moment, even Lina was speechless as they studied their surroundings. The cavern was enormous and filled with trees. The sorceress had never seen such thick forestry.

Sconces lined the stone walls, each one spaced about ten feet apart. Lina tried to ignore the suddenly uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realized that she couldn’t see the ceiling or opposite wall of the cave.

“Are you just going to stand there all day?” the woman asked indifferently.

Suddenly angry, Lina glared out into the trees while searching for where the voice was coming from.

“I don’t see anything.” Zel murmured from behind her. More laughter poured out from the trees and Lina was finally able to locate the source. She could barely make out the figure of a woman laying on a low-hanging tree branch about twenty feet into the forest. The woman’s arms were folded beneath her head as one delicate leg swung back and forth in the air.

“Alright, we played your game. We’re on a time limit here.” The sorceress snapped, voice tight with defiance and anger. Suddenly, the woman rolled of the branch to land on her feet and charged. No one had time to react before she was standing directly in front of Lina. It was then the sorceress realized that the creature wasn’t exactly a woman. Female, most definitely, but not human.

Thick golden fur covered her body merging with her long riot of hair, leaves and twigs stuck amongst its waves. The creature’s eyes were a vibrant green lined with gold, the pupils slit like a cat’s.

“Which of you seek the Kurayami?” she asked voice serious now.

“All of us, which is why we’re all here.” Lina snapped. The woman-creature smiled.

“Only one Kurayami grows per millennia. Only one person is permitted to go through the challenges at a time.”

Lina took a deep breath and spared Zelgadis an apologetic glance before answering, “Then I’m the one who seeks the Kurayami.”

“Very well. We will begin.”

“Wait! I still have questions.” The sorceress replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“For a price, I have answers.”

Glaring, Lina reached into her cloak.

“Gold and gems have no value to me. The price of an answer must be something of meaning to you.”

Lina was silent as she thought over it for a moment. Slowly, she reached up to remove her left earring.

“My mother gave these to me when I entered the sorcerer’s guild.”

“Accepted.” The woman answered, holding her hand. “Ask.”

“What will happen to them while I’m dealing with this challenge?”

The golden woman delicately removed the earring from Lina’s outstretched hand. Once she was holding it, she waved her other hand towards the direction they’d come from. A door, a few feet from the one they’d entered through, slide open.

“They’ll follow that path. Once they get to the end they’ll find you waiting for them. No harm will come to them.”

Holding out the other earring, Lina asked, “Will time flow differently for us?”

Once she’d taken the second earring, the woman answered, “Each hour you take will pass as a minute to them.”

Nodding, the sorceress looked at Gourry. His breathing was shallow and he was struggling to stay conscious. The golden woman caressed the earrings for a moment before waving a hand over them. With the wave of her hand, they disappeared.

“Explain the challenges to me.”

“What do you have to offer me?

“I don’t have anything else. I don’t know what you want.” Lina replied, frustrated.

“Something you take pride in, something you value.”

“I’ve been growing my hair since I was a kid. It’s my favorite feature.”

Reaching out, the woman slid her fingers into the sorceress’s crimson tresses.

“It is beautiful. I accept.” She murmured before stepping away.

“Lina…” Gourry murmured from behind. As she pulled a throng of leather out of a pocket and tied her hair into a tail, she smiled at him.

“It’s just hair, it’ll grow back.” She told him cheerfully. Before he could say anything else, or worse, offer anything of his own, she grabbed the dagger from her belt and sliced of her pony-tail. She shook her head and ran a hand through the hair that remained. The rest of her hair fell to her chin.

“Don’t either of you even dare to tell me how it looks.” She said without looking at them as she handed served tail of hair to the woman.

“You will meet three guardians, and each of them will give a test to prove your worthiness. Your mind, your body, your soul will all be tested. You will suffer. It is up to each guardian to decide whether you pass or fail, and they can ask anything of you that they please. There is no time limit. Once you accept the first challenge, your life belongs to us. The price of failure is death.”

“So, when you said they’d find me waiting at the end of the path, you meant that they’d find me with the Kurayami, or they’d find my body.” Lina stated and turned away from the woman, not needing an answer. Motioning Zel to follow her, she grabbed Alisia’s arm and walked towards the door.

“Set him down.” She told Zelgadis.

“Lina… if you fail-“ he began.

“I heard her, Zel. I guess I better not fail.” She cut him off. Knowing there was nothing that would change her mind, he set Gourry down and grabbed Alisia. He pulled their captive a few feet away to give his friends some privacy.

“I don’t want you… to go.” Gourry told her softly. She smiled at him as she wiped his face with the edge of her cape. His fever had risen and sweat clung to his face.

“I know. But you know I’m going to anyway. I’m not going to fail, Gourry, I promise.”

“Be careful.” He whispered, trying hard to lift his hand. She took his hand in hers and raised it to her face. Smiling softly, he touched her face. “I love you, Lina.”

Tears clouded her vision.

“So you keep saying. We’ll talk about it once I’ve saved your life.” She told him. “Promise me you’ll hang on until I get back.”

“I’ll try.”

“No. Promise me.”

He studied her face for a moment, saw the desperate need and nodded.

“I promise, Lina.”

“You’ve never broken a promise to me, so don’t start now. I’ll see you soon.” She whispered and pulled away from him. Turning quickly, she marched over to Zelgadis.

“Take care of him, Zel.”

“I will. Good luck, Lina.”

She nodded and walked away from him. He wondered if this would be the last time he saw his friend alive. Shaking his head to banish the thought, he pulled Alisia back over to Gourry. He got the swordsman onto his back as quickly as possible, and gave Lina one last look. She nodded again and walked through the door. The stone slid shut as soon as they had passed, melding back into the wall as though it had never been there.

“Well,” Lina said, turning back to the woman. “Let’s get started.”

End of chapter seven.

Alright, so, from my last update 'til September, I have no excuse... forgive me? But, in September, I started planning my wedding! I'm getting married in less then a month, on December 20th. It's odd (and a little sad) that I started this story in highschool and am now getting married, and am still writing it. Sorry! Once again, thanks for sticking with me.

Leave me a review, you know how I love them!