"Keep the point up just a tad more, Caramon,' Gourry said, as he parried the blows.
The blond swordsman gave the three warriors pointers in how to handle their swords, as he sparred with them. A miserable looking Tas came up and sat on a boulder.
"Why is she so mean?" Tas said to himself.
Hearing that, Gourry stopped the sparring. He went over to Tas and kneeled to look the Kender in the eye.
"She's not. Not normally," Gourry said. "She's still hurting from the last time she trusted a pickpocket. That person betrayed her trust."
Tas looked up and saw the compassion in Gourry's face. "How can you say that? What happened?"
Gourry sighed and said, "Five days ago... Has it only been five days? At any rate, an eight year old kid had snatched Lina's coin purse and after explaining things to the kid, she was able to buy a map from the kid that led her to the Claire Bible."
"I don't understand," Tas said.
"I'll get to the point. The kid later showed up and told Lina that he was using her all along to do something. He then kidnapped me and put me in a suit of magical armor that controlled my actions."
Tas sat there and a slow look of understanding came to his face.
"I was then sent to fight Lina and the others. That kid was hoping that Lina would kill me and force her to do something in anger. It didn't quite work that way. However, he went on to Sairagg and turned it into a town filled with people trapped between life and death and sent those poor souls to fight Lina. I was then sealed up in a crystal coffin. I have no idea what happened between that and me waking up. Lina doesn't hate you. Your innocent look and small frame reminds her too much of Hellmaster Phibrizo and the pain he put her through."
"I think I understand."
Gourry clapped a hand on Tas's shoulder and said, "Just stay away from her for a while. She'll eventually come around and don't mess with those four talismans. They are very, very important to her."
Sturm asked, "Hellmaster Phibrizo? Isn't that the name of one of your Evil Gods."
"It was. He took the form of a small kid to fool everyone. He's dead now."
Strum asked in shock, "How do you kill a god?"
Gourry shifted uncomfortably. "You'll have to ask Lina about that. It's not my place to say. I'll talk to Lina and explain what she did hurt someone's feelings."
Gourry nodded to the three warriors and went over to Lina. Seeing the look in his eye, Lina sighed.
"Gilthanas, is there a cliff that overlooks rocky terrain nearby?" Lina asked.
Confused, the elf pointed east.
Lina motioned for people to follow her. Soon, they were overlooking a small cliff. A waterfall leading down to a river was part of the terrain. She removed one of the gems from her mantle and tossed it over the edge. Everyone looked at her in shock, as she turned around.
"I don't mind it if someone steals one of those gems. They're fake. I just didn't want to be caught in the anti-theft magic that is put upon them."
"Anti-theft magic?" Tanis asked.
Whatever more that was going to be said was cut off by an explosion. The group rushed to the cliff and looked down. They saw the ground blackened by whatever exploded. There were also several fish that had been blown out of the water by the explosion.
"The gems explode. A lot of my stuff has other spells on them that will seriously injure or kill a thief. What would you prefer, dead or scared?"
"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Tanis asked stunned.
"It keeps most people from stealing from me," Lina replied.
Lina walked over to Tas and said, "Gourry and I would have survived the explosion. We have been in bigger ones. Would you or your friends? Would this forest survive being set on fire?"
Tas looked down and his imagination filled in what would have happened if that gem had gone off while he was holding it. Flint walked beside Tas and looked down at the blast damage.
"You doorknob of a Kender, you almost got us all killed," Flint muttered. "I'm now glad that lass did scare you. I'm not ready to die yet."
Tas nodded thinking how close he came to killing his friends.
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(Posted Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:33)
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