Lina, half in a doze, watched the glow of the fire cast dancing shadows upon the white sands. She had been made to sit with the rest of the group and now had forced herself to remove her attentions from them best she could. The sorceress listened with slight interest to their foreign tongue. She was still wishing to understand exactly what it was they were saying and if it was about her. Yet, the heat from the campfire and the soft caress of the night wind brushing her limp bangs against her forehead relaxed her so, that she slumped over and began to drift off completely.

How many minutes, indeed hours, she'd been sleeping wasn't clear to her. All she knew was that the peace had been disturbed. She was forced into full awareness when the horses began to neigh shrilly into the night. She heard the three men converse back to each other, haltingly. They had now drawn their weapons, swords and rifles and crouched poised, ready to attack. Lina's eyes strained in the darkness, searching. The fire had long died down to a smoking pile of ash, and clouds enshrouded the stars. Lina struggled to her feet and stood, heart thumping loudly in her chest. Is it you? Zelgadiss? Have you come for me? Her eyes darted to and fro, seeking out a form in the dark.

She almost let out a scream when a pair of arms grabbed her from behind. Emir turned her to him and spoke to her. Lina only stared back helplessly. He swung her around behind him and drew his sword. Lina breathed lightly. This man was going to protect her? From what exactly? If Zelgadiss was out there, Emir would be the first he'd attack. She tried to break free, but the man held her close and spoke to her gruffly.

"You don't understand!" She whispered urgently. "Let me go! Please!"

Akil suddenly let out a cry of alarm. "Hayca! Hayca!" The man stood paralyzed in fear, hand outstretched before him. His rifle dropped with a thud out of his other trembling hand.

Emir spun around and Lina was thrown off balance and hit the sand hard, narrowly missing gashing her head against a rock. She gasped as she finally saw what was filling them with such fear. All at once, she was filled with relief, hope, and anxiety.

High above them, standing still as death on a sand dune overlooking the camp, was a silhouetted figure. The one in question remained immobile; his cape billowed out in the breeze, revealing a drawn sword which glinted temporarily in the exposed moonlight as a break in the clouds formed.

The three men remained speechless as they waited for the form to make a move. But there he stood, still as a carven image. Not a word did he utter, nor flinch a muscle.

Lina held her breath. Eyes wide and staring, she wondered what Zelgadiss was planning. Please don't hurt them! She thought desperately. They don't know what we are. They meant no harm, please don't She repeated this over and over, praying things wouldn't go ill.

It came highly unexpected. The quiet, unmoving, cloaked figure suddenly charged with a yell. Sword over head, he rushed at them. Yet, the three men did not charge. Mundhir and Emir fell back and dodged his swings. Akil, trembling like a newborn fawn, raised his rifle to the target and fired five times in a row. He took off shrieking into the night when he saw the bullets seemingly had no effect. Zelgadiss came to a halt when the shots rang out. It seemed as though he tensed for a moment, as if in pain.

Lina couldn't keep her silence any longer. "Zelgadiss!" Her voice rang out shrill and clear. Emir didn't move from his place and refrained from holding the captive back as she ran out to meet the roaming terror. Who was he to match this demon? He could have her back.

The shaman turned in a jerk and held out his arms to catch the small form as she toppled forward. Lina felt warm tears slide down her cheeks as she nestled up against him. "Zelgadiss-san!" She sobbed. "Zelgadiss..."

Zelgadiss' attentions to Lina were averted from the horses' whinnies sounding out as Emir and his men retreated into the mountains. The chimera finally dropped his guard. "Lina..." He pulled her away from him to take a good look at her. "Did they hurt you?"

Lina bit her trembling lip. "No, they treated me fair... but each day without you was a torment. I thought...I thought they'd... that you were..."

Zelgadiss shook his head. "Say no more, Lina-san." He took her hands in his and then noticed that they were bound. Without sparing a moment, he cut the ties.

Lina fell back for a moment and rubbed her wrists. "Arigatou!" She smiled. "I was loosing feeling you know." She forced a laugh, but then she found herself collapsing into a sobbing fit once more. The sorceress struggled to her feet and threw her arms tightly around him, soaking his shirt with tears. "I've never been so terribly afraid in my life, and we weren't even up against a deadly foe!" She murmured. "I thought we wouldn't ever see each other again."

"You shouldn't think that, ever. Nothing will separate us. I would track you into hell and back." He replied gruffly, half amazed at finding this young woman in tears. "You shouldn't forget that you have two guardians Lina. Gourry and me."

Lina's sobbing slowly subsided and she whispered a yes. She ran her hands down his back and squeezed him tighter, when he flinched and let out a groan. She backed away and looked up to him. "What's wrong Zel?"

"Nothing..." He replied shortly.

Lina's brow furrowed. "Oh?" She clasped her hands together and sighed. Her eyes widened suddenly as she found her right glove completely soaked in crimson. "Zelgadiss! You're bleeding!" She looked to him, concern in her eyes, but he'd turned away, and was feeling his side. Lina moved to face him again. "How did it happen? Wait a minute. The bullets? I thought your stone skin would deflect them. Zelgadiss?" She gritted her teeth. "Say something to me."

His eyes met hers in a pained stare. "I-I-don't-know..." True, he had a tough stone hide, and there was no possible way he could think of as to how they could have penetrated his skin. But the reality was, they had. He'd been hit twice in the area of the stomach. Only now had he begun to feel the terrible pain. His head started to swim, and against his will be began to loose consciousness. "Lina...I-"

"Zel!" Lina gasped as he fell forward. She tried to catch him best she could, but his weight was too much for her and she toppled backwards. She lay there, head burning in fear and panic trying to formulate a plan. Moments later she struggled out from under him and with all her strength turned the unconscious chimera onto his back.

"Oh damn. What do I do first? Crap! I can't try to heal him with magic and Amelia is better at it anyhow. Damn it! I don't have anything to sterilize the wounds with; wait a minute!" She was talking aloud a mile a minute, fighting the overwhelming panic attack. She searched him for a dagger. Luckily she didn't come up empty handed. "Okay, okay; now I just have to get a fire going. Yeah, Lina, that's the ticket!" She rose quickly and raced around the campsite picking up pieces of anything that would burn.

In minutes she had a steady flame going. Trembling, she returned to her friend. She felt for a pulse to make sure he was still living. "Oh gods, Zel! What am I going to do?" He shifted with a groan, a bloodied hand twitching in pain.

Lina grimaced as she pulled back his tunic to see the damage done. Oh, nasty! Too much blood; too much blood. Lina shut up! Get a hold of yourself! Crap! She was surprised at herself. After all the battles she'd been through; all the strife, pain, and danger, how come she was fighting to keep her head clear? She'd seen it all! But, she supposed it to be different. Zelgadiss was her friend, and she cared about him. To see him in this state weakened her to the point of grief. That is why she couldn't handle this. "Zelgadiss! Stay with me..." She whispered urgently as she tore his cloak into strips. "I'll be back. I need water."

Luckily she'd found a canteen left behind from the men who'd fled and she raced as fast as her legs would go to the stream she'd seen. It wasn't too far off, perhaps a tenth a mile, and soon she returned with a full canteen and soaked cloth. For the next few minutes, she gently dabbed at his injuries, clearing away the blood, until the unsightly bullet wounds showed up, dark against his stone skin. Lina shuddered, but knew she had to continue. Taking a long breath, she drew out the dagger and proceeded to remove the two bullets. Sweat rolled down her face as she worked feverishly to spare her friend as much pain as possible. The first she removed easily enough, but the second was lodged in deeper.

"Shoot!" She wiped her forehead and continued to curse silently, while trying to keep her nausea at bay.

Seconds later she continued. Her progress was halted yet again as Zelgadiss suddenly cried out. She fell back shaking, and the dagger hit the sand behind her. The chimera's arm whipped out and he clenched a handful of sand, body trembling. He snapped his head over in her direction, eyes wide, holding back terrible suffering. Lina's mouth trembled and she looked away. "I-"

"No, continue. I can't do it myself...Lina-" He replied in a strained voice. He rolled his head back and stared up deliberately skywards.

The sorceress nodded, and scooted back over to him. "I'll do my best, but I don't know if I can do this Zelgadiss." She breathed rapidly and the dagger slipped from her hands. "I don't want to hurt you."

Zelgadiss' eyes pleaded with her. "Lina! Damn it! I never thought you were this weak! If you don't do this, I won't make it. You got that?" His voice sounded out in a cruel snarl. Not what he'd quite intended. He looked away from her, breath coming out in a hiss.

Now any other time an insult was thrown her way, she'd have beat the crap out of that individual, but this however was a different circumstance. Zelgadiss was right. She had to hurt him to save him.

About a half an hour had passed before she finally removed the second bullet. She tossed it away in disgust and desperately tried to apply some pressure to the wound to stop the flow of blood. Zelgadiss laid his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. "Lina, you know what you have to do now, right? What are you stalling for? Cauterize the wound..."

Lina's eyes glazed over. "I-I know." She scooted away and turned to the fire, drawing the blade from the flame with a wad of cloth. Lina narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, you ready?" She asked, her voice forced. Because I know as sure as hell, I'm not!

Zelgadiss replied softly. "Get it over with." He wadded up a tear of cloth and bit down on it. He tensed his body and drove his feet up against a boulder. Arms rigid and hands clenched, he prepared himself for the worst.

Lina slouched over, tears and sweat running down her face from the whole traumatic nightmare. The dagger had been tossed somewhere far off into the sands some time ago. She laid a trembling hand over his soaking wet forehead. "I didn't know rocks could sweat Zel-" She muttered, a sad smile forming on her lips. The sorceress let out a wavering breath and took the remaining strips of cloth to wrap around his middle, but soon despaired. "Zelgadiss..." Lina huffed and attempted to drag the unconscious chimera over to a boulder where she could prop him up. "Damn it Zel!" She groaned. "Why do you have to be so heavy."

Eventually, with much fuss and grumbling, she managed to reach the boulder and propped Zelgadiss up just enough to get her arms under him. Then she sat next to him and began to tie the strands of cloth together and poured the contents of yet another canteen she'd found discarded, onto the fabric. Lina had discovered the beverage to have alcohol content. Well, that would be of some use. Shifting to her knees, she applied the makeshift bandage to his wounds. Up and over, under and over, crisscross, up and over, under...She repeated while she worked to secure it to him. Half way through, she lost her balance and fell over him. She cursed, knowing it would cause him pain. But the only response her friend made was a change in the rhythm of his breathing. Lina carefully lifted herself and moved closer to him. "Zelgadiss?"

The chimera's mouth flinched, but his eyes didn't open and he didn't respond otherwise.

Lina frowned and finished wrapping the cloth. Soon afterwards, she unclasped her cape and folded it into a comfy pillow, placed it under his head for support, then she lowered his shirt so she wouldn't be reminded of the horrid wounds. She slapped herself mentally when she saw the huge bloodstain on the light tan fabric. So much for trying to forget the past night's awful events She turned her gaze to the light peach sky, foretelling the sun's arrival. Morning was at hand, a new day; a new start. Come on Zelgadiss, you have to pull through! She silently willed him.

With a long sigh, realizing there was nothing more she could do, Lina found a place next to him where the sand dipped and tried to make herself a comfortable 'sand bed'. She gave up on that idea and shimmied up next to Zelgadiss, resting her head on his shoulder. Not at all that comfortable, but it was better then sand in her ears.

This way, she could listen to his heartbeat, and that comforted her. Relaxing as much as possible, she reached for her a small leather pack she kept attached to her belt and drew out Zelgadiss' crimson pendent. She turned it about in her bare hands and smiled as it reflected the morning rays of the newly risen sun. "I'm sorry about your cape Zel, but I'm keeping this safe for you." She whispered in his ear, knowing full well he couldn't hear her. Or so she thought.

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