Xellos surveyed his audience as he decided where to begin his tale. All hostility, as if they expected lies, though he’d never intentionally lied to any of them. Nor had he ever told any of them a whole truth, but what he’d told them had never been lies. Just because they made inaccurate inferences from his partial truths didn’t mean he had lied, only that they’d jumped to false conclusions, which wasn’t his fault. Like this unpleasant business with Ullan and Zellan, for instance. Maybe he should have told Zhara the truth sooner on that one, that he’d been under orders from a higher power than his own master? Hm. Probably wouldn’t have made a difference to the mother of the Sons of Chaos; she’d always been so proud of them. And Zeris wasn’t supposed to die and wouldn’t have if he hadn’t…well. Everything had gone wrong that day and would still be all wrong if not for his own foresight. Thank the Lord of Nightmares for prophetic visions and thank his parents for his creative mind and passion for the game of chess.
        The best place to begin was the beginning.

XELLOS’ TALE

        "Let me begin by asking you not to interrupt until I’ve finished, then I’ll be happy to answer any questions or refute any accusations. For now, all of you just be comfortable and listen. Interrupt, and I won’t finish my story and if I don’t finish my story you won’t have the information you need when the Sons of Chaos break out of their prison.
        "Very well. *ahem* For those of you who don’t know at least part of this tale, the battle in question took place approximately eight hundred years ago. Two hundred years after the War of the Monster’s Resurrection and the death of Lei Magnus, who was Ullan’s and Zellan’s father."
        Zelgadis bit back on his question. If Lei Magnus had sired Zhara’s sons, that would make Zhara one of Zel’s ancestors, since Lei Magnus was the patriarch of Zel’s family! Unless Zelgadis was descended from other children of Lei Magnus.
        Meanwhile, Xellos continued: "The Sons of Chaos served me—for a nice retainer—for most of their lives without disappointment. In fact, I was never disappointed with their service and would gladly have kept them on indefinitely if She hadn’t ordered me to kill them. "She" being the Lord of Nightmares. As always, she gave me no reason, only an order. She being who she is, and I being who I am, I had no choice but to obey. But I wanted to know why, even if asking her directly did me no good, so I did a little investigating on my own. That was when I discovered Zeris’ true nature and calling as a Knight of Cefeid. Of course, having a Knight of Cefeid running around made my orders even more puzzling, since it seemed to me that killing Ullan and Zellan would be Zeris’ responsibility if he chose to take it up.
        "Now, that should have been my first clue, but unfortunately I didn’t realize its significance until much later. Another clue that I should have pieced together with that one early on was how close Zeris was to his cousins. However, he’d always seemed to me to have that family trait of putting duty above personal considerations. If one is given an order from On High, one obeys it no matter who it involves. Silly me. That’s what I get for not getting to know my grandchildren better.
        "Another thing that got past me was that I was the only one with that family trait I mentioned. Zhara and Urlich had too much of their mother in them to put aside any feelings they might have for the players in our little drama." Zhara started to interrupt, but a raised finger from Xellos stopped her. "Afterwards, my dear. Just hold your questions.
        "And Sylph and her sister certainly couldn’t be expected to put anything above their emotions, being what they are—or in Jessica’s case, what she was.
        "At any rate, try as I did, I was unable to find a reason for the Lord of Nightmare’s death sentence on the Sons of Chaos. Frankly, I didn’t think they’d upset the balance of the world all that much but my opinion might be a tad skewed in that regard." He gave them all his trademark happy grin, which no one found amusing, then carried on with his story.
        "The first person I went to was Zeris Knight of Cefeid to tell him the Lord of Nightmares’ will. Being the Knight of Cefeid, and his cousins being Knights of Shabranigdo, he was the obvious choice of an ally to help me carry out the death sentence.
        "After thinking about it, he agreed that it was his duty as a Knight of Cefeid, even if he didn’t like having to kill his own cousins. That, too, should’ve set off warning bells in my mind, but it didn’t. Satisfied that he would back me against Ullan and Zellan, I went my merry way to ponder how best to discharge my orders. I decided they should die honorably in battle, rather than having me and Zeris assassinate them. You see, I do have a sense of honor, and contrary to popular opinion I was always fond of my grandchildren—all of them, even if Zeris was one of Cefeid’s servants.
        "I decided it would be best if Zeris were to issue a challenge to his cousins in Cefeid’s name. This would draw them to a certain field of honor, where the battle could take place. Zeris and I against Ullan and Zellan. My plan was to reveal my orders to them and tell them that, regretfully, I must kill them, so stand and fight. But you know what they say about all the best laid plans.
        "Zeris and I appeared at the designated location at the same time as the Sons of Chaos: What is now known as the Plain of Despair, which lies between Marrigan and the city of Kairn to the east. Then, it was a lush, green plain called the Plain of Kairn. Now, of course, it’s a wasteland where nothing will grow. That’s what happens to places upon which too much Mozuko blood is spilled, and we spilled far too much of it that day, even for my tastes. Anyway, I was just about to reveal my orders to Ullan and Zellan, when these others appeared." He gestured around the room, pointing to Zhara, Urlich, Sylph and Jaz in turn. "They were under the impression that I was out to kill Zeris and had summoned the Sons of Chaos to do the deed. Not such a far fetched idea, considering who our masters were, but inaccurate nonetheless. I attempted to correct them, but Sylph and Jessica, who was quite a powerful mage at the time, were already attacking me. Urlich fought me in his own way, with some of those sharp throwing things of his—shuriken, I believe they’re called. Then Zhara arrived with an army of her creatures to join the attack.
        "It should be noted here, that I didn’t retaliate, only evaded their attacks. I tried to explain the truth of the situation, but was denounced as a liar by all but Zhara, who has done quite a bit of work for L-Sama in the past. She seemed willing to believe me but wouldn’t allow her boys to be killed, even in a fair fight. What was I to do, but try to carry out my orders in spite of opposition?"
        Xellos shook his head and sighed. "I was a fool to rely on Zeris. Had I known my own grandchildren better, I would have realized his friendship with his cousins and loyalty to his family would override his duty and the obedience Cefeid requires of his servants. Cefeid could get stuffed for all Zeris cared. And anyway, the orders had come from L-Sama, not Cefeid directly, though that shouldn’t have made a difference since she is a higher power than the Old Worm. I know better than to operate on assumptions. To say things went all to hell at that point, would be an understatement." He grinned. "I didn’t tell you about my vision, did I?
        "On the eve of battle, I had a vision. I saw Ullan and Zellan being sealed between worlds, then the Lord of Nightmare’s voice said to me ‘this will not do, Xellos, you must make provision for this’. So I did. I crafted a chess set of crystal, gold and silver and gave it the power to whittle away at the seal, bit by bit, so as not to alert the one who created the seal and cause whoever had made it to rebuild it. I gave the set to Ullan, just before his family arrived, and told him to keep it hidden on his person and not to lose a piece of it, no matter what happened. I hoped it wouldn’t be needed, that I would be able to do my duty, distasteful as it was. The vision told me I would fail but not why. The battle made it all clear.
        "Without knowing my orders, all but Zeris thought I was the enemy and Zeris the victim they were to protect. Ullan and Zellan thought I was on their side and that they were just responding to Zeris’ honorable challenge. All three boys tried to get the others to stay out of it, but no one would listen to them. Finally, I saw my opening and attacked, but Zeris saw it as well and threw himself between the spell and his cousins. The spell hit him, disintegrating him in an instant. Sylph and Urlich rallied Zhara’s creatures to their side and launched an all-out attack on me.
        "If only Urlich had hidden his son from me, or at least hidden the boy’s true nature and his power, then I wouldn’t have involved him in this. But, I suppose he would have fought me with the rest of you, wouldn’t he? So. Doomed no matter what he did. Pity."
        He looked troubled for a moment, then his usual happy expression returned and he picked up his story: "Now, had I been paying attention to something other than my hide and the fact that the Lord of Nightmares was probably going to demand a big chunk of it for my failure, I would have noticed what Zhara and Jessica were doing. I should have noticed it, should have felt the power building and recognized the nature of the spell, since I’d felt it a few times before. But I was determined to get past my son and his allies and complete my mission, no matter how much it cost me. Nothing they could do to me could ever be worse than the price the Lord of Nightmares charges for failure. If it was torture, I could deal with that, but not a quick, painless death.
        "What were Zhara and Jessica doing, you might ask? Casting the spell that would seal the Sons of Chaos between worlds. Zhara thought she was saving their lives, I’m sure, that her seal would never be broken. But L-Sama said ‘dead’, not ‘sealed’, and she’s very specific with her orders, as Zhara knows. She didn’t believe me about those orders, however. No one but Zeris did, and Zeris was dead. Meanwhile, Zhara and Jessica cast their spell, while the fighting blazed around them and the blood soaked the plain.
        "When they were finished, Ullan and Zellan were sealed away, all of Zhara’s creatures were dead, and Jessica was almost dead. Though immortal, a kitsune can be killed and doesn’t have the resilience of creatures like my children, who are half Mozuko and half dragon. While Urlich and Sylph continued their attack on me, Zhara turned Jessica into the creature we know today. True, it saved her life but it robbed her of her magic and the memory of ever having it. I’m surprised she remembers Sylph is her sister, or even her own name. She’s certainly a different person from the woman who helped seal the Sons of Chaos.
        "So, for the past eight hundred years, Ullan and Zellan have been playing chess, but they may only play one game a day. As each brother wins, his part of the seal weakens ever so slightly. I’m sure they believe they’re hiding their little loophole from L-Sama, as well as you, Zhara, but it was the Lord of Nightmares who gave me the vision, after all. She wants them freed into the world again, so they can be killed. In eight hundred years, she hasn’t changed her mind, so when they reemerge, I’m afraid I’m simply going to have to kill them or be killed by them, whichever happens. If I fail, then someone else will have to do the job."
        He grinned wickedly at Lina, and she shrank into Gourry’s chest with dread. "I’m so glad you’re here, Lina Inverse the Dark Lord Slayer. This job might fall to you."
        "Are you finished?" Lina asked. He nodded. "Good. If the Sons of Chaos threaten to destroy the world or reduce it to a sea of chaos—you know, the usual Dark Lord rant—I’ll challenge them. But I don’t have any orders from the Lord of Nightmares. And just because they’re Mozuko doesn’t mean I’m obligated to kill them, or even have anything to do with them!"
        "What? You won’t protect Zhara from her vengeful sons?" Xellos mocked, thinking he knew the answer full well.
        Lina was just full of surprises. "Yes, I will. I’ll defend all of them. Zhara, Urlich and Jaz saved Princess Amelia’s life. Sylph tried to save Zelgadis, even though it nearly killed her. And even these guys," she pointed at the underworlders, "were willing to help us out, though it meant going against the will of the Lord of Nightmares and maybe having to face you and Beast Master in battle. True, they’re being paid to do it, but nobody’s making them take the job." She wriggled out of Gourry’s arms, got up and stalked over to point a finger in Xellos’ face. "And don’t think for a second that I don’t know what you were trying with Amelia before Zel showed up! You can’t have her, ok? I won’t let you, Gourry won’t let you and Zelgadis sure won’t! I think that’s one of the reasons L-Sama put him in Amelia’s body when we were aiming for Gourry’s: To keep you from getting a foothold in one of the world’s most powerful and influential cities! We won’t let you do it because she’s our friend, even if she is a nutcase most of the time—she’s our nutcase! And she’s nice and really does want peace and fairness for everybody. I won’t let you ruin her, Xellos, so just forget that part of your plans, got it?"
        Xellos made an uncharacteristically unpleasant face. He liked the idea of an evil Amelia, it was so tasty, so delectable to turn a champion of justice into his own, personal, sick, twisted champion of making people miserable. Before he could speak, the woman, herself was in his face, as well, though it was Zelgadis who glared at him through the Princess’ big, blue eyes. No innocence there, not anymore. Whether that was because it was the long-suffering Zelgadis in her head, or because of his own actions, the Trickster couldn’t tell. What he could tell was the person in his face just then was super-pissed.
        "Just try it with me inside her," Zelgadis snarled, not sounding nearly as vicious with Amelia’s little voice as he would have with his own.
        Xellos saw his opening and went for it. "Well, she always did want you inside her, Zelgadis, though I don’t think this is what she had in mind."
        Fist in the face, flesh not stone. Disappointing. Stone would have been so much more painful. Xellos savored again the spectacular beating Zelgadis had given him in the cavern. Never had he been so close to death. Never had he faced an opponent who hadn’t let him get in a single lick. The hatred in Zel’s aura had been the best rush he’d had in centuries and almost made up for having to boff the guy. Almost. Zel really needed to work on his in-bed technique.
        Zhara’s hollow voice ended his reverie and cut off the nasty thing Zelgadis wanted to say. She sat with her back against the platform below the copy machine, arms around her legs and her chin on her knees. "They’ll come for me first, won’t they?"
        Xellos nodded. "Yes."
        "I guess she won’t let me seal them again."
        "No."
        She closed her eyes and a pair of tears trickled down her cheeks. "How long have we got? I assume you wouldn’t be telling us these things if time wasn’t short."
        That was puzzling. Why wouldn’t Zhara be able to sense her own barrier and know it was close to disintegrating? Xellos asked her.
        She shrugged. "I haven’t tried for so long. I don’t want to remember. Now," she shrugged again, still not opening her eyes to look at him, "I can’t find it."
        Urlich left Sylph and Jaz to comfort his sister. He sat beside her and gently drew her horned head down onto his shoulder. After a moment’s hesitation, she let go of her legs and crawled into his lap as she had when they were children, abandoned by their father, with only giant dragons for company. In those days, the dragons didn’t dare take their weaker human form, in case Xellos decided to renege on his promise to the twins’ mother and slaughter the rest of them. Urlich would make a tent around himself and his sister with his wings, so no one would know Zhara was crying again, that she missed their father and was terrified of their mother who hated him. He let his wings materialize again now and, as he had when they were children, made a little tent to protect her. What the deaths of her sons would do to her, Urlich hated to contemplate. Sealing them had almost crushed her, how much worse would watching them die be? He didn’t even consider the possibility that Zhara would take part in their deaths; it was unthinkable. And if he were to have a hand in it, what then? Could she forgive him? No. Urlich wouldn’t kill Ullan and Zellan, and neither he thought would Sylph or Jaz. And since Zhara certainly wouldn’t pay Garroll, Nik or Lenzer to do it, they were out, too. That left Xellos and Lina the Dark Lord Slayer, if the Sons of Chaos gave her a reason to fight them. On the other hand, he wouldn’t let his nephews kill Zhara. If it came down to a choice between them and her, he’d pick her without hesitation. He just hoped Zhara would understand.
        "How long, Dad?" Urlich reiterated his sister’s question.
        Xellos thought about it. He touched the barrier with his mind, made an evaluation of its strength. "If Zellan wins tomorrow’s game, it’ll be tomorrow. If Ullan wins, we have at least another day, or until Zellan wins again." He grinned. "Zellan is a superior chess player, though."
        Urlich growled: "I wish I’d never taught them to play that damn game!"
        "Well," Xellos confessed, "if you hadn’t, I would have. You know how I love chess."
        Lina shook her head. "Playing chess to bust out of prison. What a concept."
        "I thought it was clever," Xellos smirked.
        To which Sylph muttered: "You would."
        A long silence followed her comment, then Garroll got up and went to check on the progress of Zel’s copy. Not that it would have made much in the past hour and a half, but it gave him something to do other than feel out of place and start to believe the world was about to end. Xellos might not have thought the Sons of Chaos had upset the balance of the world much, but that’s not what Garroll had heard. They weren’t called the Sons of Chaos for nothing. Cities smashed, entire populations annihilated… Didn’t upset the balance, no. Just spread death and destruction wherever they went. True, neither of them was a Shabranigdo, but together they certainly came close. If the legends were true. Legends were often exaggerated, weren’t they? Garroll hoped these legends were.
        After a while, Zelgadis asked: "So, the Sons of Chaos are Lei Magnus’ sons?" He looked uncomfortably between the Urlich-Zhara cocoon, Sylph and Jaz bundle of misery and Xellos. It was Xellos who nodded. "I’m descended from Lei Magnus, as well."
        "How fascinating!" Xellos quipped with great interest. "Just think, Zelgadis, you and I might be related! Isn’t that great?!"
        In response, Zelgadis punched him in the face again and told him to get stuffed.
        "You’re Zhara descendent, if that’s what you’re asking," Urlich said in a voice that dripped disgust. "I wondered, when Lina said you were related to the Red Priest. Welcome to our dysfunctional little family, Stone Boy. I’d shake your hand but I hate your guts."
        Zelgadis rolled his eyes. Sylph started to move on Urlich, but Zel stopped her. "Let it go, Sylph. He’s made up his mind, and I don’t bloody give a damn how he feels about me."
        "And we have more important things to worry about!" Lina reminded them. "We need a plan to deal with Zhara’s kids when they show up!" She turned to Xellos, who seemed to be the one with the big clue in the group. "Where do you think they’ll emerge?"
        Xellos pointed at the Zhara-Urlich cocoon. "Wherever she is. If we want to choose our battlefield, we have only to put Zhara right in the middle of wherever we want to fight them." He looked pointedly around the little cave. "This would not be a good choice. I would recommend above ground and outside the city. Someplace where we can maneuver. These are a couple of really big boys we’ll be fighting, dragon-sized boys to be exact, with a nice dose of Shabranigdo in them."
        Lina’s eyes bugged. "And the Lord of Nightmares sent you to kill them all by yourself?! Maybe you were the one she wanted killed!"
        He grinned. Let them believe what they will. Xellos wasn’t ready to reveal his true power to anyone yet, not to his master and certainly not to these mortals, however fond he was of Lina. "She really is very specific about her orders, my dear. If she command me to kill Ullan and Zellan, then it was Ullan and Zellan she wanted dead, not me."
        "Then why didn’t she do it herself?" Gourry asked. "I mean, she’s a god, right? Why send you to do it?"
        "Yeah!" Lina agreed and flushed with pride at her boyfriend’s rare flash of deductive reasoning. "Or did she plan to use you the same way she used me to kill Phibrizio?"
        Xellos thought about that but rejected the idea. He’d never heard of L-Sama using a Mozuko as a channel for her power. Then again, he’d never heard of her using an ordinary mortal, either, which brought to his mind the same question that had been bugging him ever since meeting Lina Inverse: What made Lina so special? "Whether she intended to or not is a moot point," he decided to say. "The fact of the matter is, she didn’t, nor has she used one of my kind in that way in the past. That doesn’t mean she never will, just that she hasn’t." Unless you’re really one of us, Lina, but if you are, why would you kill us?
        Lina and Gourry frowned, their theory shot down. After a moment, Lina shrugged and went to flop down next to Gourry again. "So they want to kill Zhara, right? What happens if they succeed? I mean, what’ll they do then? Go back to their regularly scheduled lives, only with you trying to kill them?"
        "Not exactly." Xellos opened his eyes and cocked his head in Sylph’s and Jaz’s direction. "Jessica, Sylph and Urlich are next on their hit list, in that order. I’m last, though if they’d believed a word I said about having orders from L-Sama to kill them, I’d be on top of their list. Either way, as soon as I attack them, I’ll be a target," he lay on his side and propped his head on his hand. "I don’t underestimate their power, I don’t want any of you to think I do. Their combined power is enough to face a lord of Shabranigdo’s caliber and actually have a prayer of winning. You needed the power of the Lord of Nightmares to defeat him, if I recall correctly, Lina."
        "Which begs the question once again," Urlich asked, "why does L-Sama believe you can take them on your own?" He looked over his shoulder at his father, matching him wicked stare for wicked stare. The man directly responsible for the near extinction of two entire races of dragons was no mere servant of a Dark Lord. The man who could convince a dragon Queen to bear his children to save what was left of her race was too cunning to be just an underling. Why he continued to be a servant, when Urlich suspected his father could be a true Dark Lord, was more than puzzling, it was alarming in its potential consequences for the world. Xellos was probably being a servant because he thought it was funny to play the underling to people who were really his peers in power and keep it a secret from them all along. No doubt it was keeping the secret that amused Xellos most. Such a dangerous freak was the Trickster Priest, a dangerously sane freak.
        Xellos giggled at him. "Maybe Lina is right: L-Sama’s real target is me."
        "Like hell," said Zhara’s muffled voice from inside her cocoon. "He won’t tell us, Urlich. Let it go."
        Urlich’s wings disappeared, revealing his now dry-eyed sister. Zhara stayed in his lap, though; it was safer there. "I’ll stay here tonight," she said in a voice that allowed no argument, "then leave for the Plain of Despair in the morning. Garroll, Nik, Lenzer, my money is now paying you to protect Zelgadis and his friends and see that his copy gets finished and his spirit is put into it safely." They nodded obedience. "Lina, if we fail, it’s up to you to kill my—to destroy the Sons of Chaos. Meanwhile, see this thing with Zelgadis through. We’ve gone through all this effort, after all." She gave Lina a lopsided grin, then lay her head against her brother’s shoulder and closed her eyes. "I’m going to rest for a while. We all should. We’ll need our strength."