"CHECKMATE!"
        "It’s party time!"

        Zelgadis regarded his almost finished body, not really seeing it since his mind was on several other things at once. Like Zhara running off in tears a few hours ago, Jaz maybe being some great shaman-Queen, kissing Amelia and that bizarre argument Lina and Gourry were having behind him. Ordinarily, he would have ignored any argument between those two, as it generally involved food, Gourry’s stupidity, Lina’s small breasts or something equally inane. This time, however, he was the focus of their debate. Or, more specifically, his new body was the focus.
        "I tell you, Lina, it looks different!"
        "You’re imagining things."
        "Am not!"
        "Are, too!"
        "His hair looks different!"
        "He’s floating in water, doof, of course it looks different!"
        "No, the color!"
        "Being in water would make that look different, too."
        Gourry was undeterred. "It looks sort of purple."
        "It was ‘sort of purple’ before," Lina argued, unconvinced.
        "No, darker purple. Like Xellos’."
        Zelgadis could’ve ignored that one, chalked it up to Gourry’s overactive imagination (when he had one), except the big blonde’s comment sent Xellos into a most disturbing fit of giggling. It wasn’t his usual giggle, either—the one he used for the sole purpose of being annoying. No, this one was downright evil. Then Zel remembered who had been in the cave with the copy machine before they’d arrived and he had a very unpleasant thought.
        "Xellos," he growled, not turning around, "what did you do?"
        The giggling stopped abruptly and was followed by silence, rather than a response. Zelgadis turned around, expecting the Trickster to have some irritating smirk on his face, and had a nasty comment ready. It died on his lips. Xellos was looking up at the ceiling, his face pale, eyes wide. He looked almost frightened.
        "It’s time," he said softly, then pierced Lina with a fiery look. "The Sons of Chaos have returned to the world. I hope you’re ready."
        Lina’s eyebrows shot up. "Me ready? What about you? You’re the one the Lord of Nightmares ordered to kill them!"
        "Or, more correctly," said Beast Master as she materialized between Lina and Xellos, "Xellos is the one L-Sama plans to use the Sons of Chaos to kill. I won’t let that happen."
        "Master!" Xellos dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Are you certain?"
        Before Zellas could reply, Lina snorted: "Hm! Just as I suspected!" For which she got a stern look from the Dark Lord.
        That brought the others in the cavern to life. Even Urlich seemed willing to tolerate Beast Master’s presence if she came to help them fight, and judging by that armor she was wearing that’s exactly why she was there. "So, Xellos was the target all along?" He glared at his father with undiluted hate. "My son didn’t have to die. You dragged Zeris into that fight when it was—"
        "I didn’t know I was the target!" Xellos shouted back at him, losing his usual cool. "Zeris was a Knight of Seified and the perfect candidate to help me fight a couple of Knights of Shabranigdo! And I wasn’t the one who made him get between one of my attack spells and its intended target! He did that all by himself."
        Silence as Xellos panted and shook with rage and fear. He could feel them approaching, their giant strides eating up the distance between their point of emergence and Marrigan. He had to get Zhara out of the city and someplace where they’d have room to fight! Where had that stupid girl run off to, anyway? Xellos sent out feelers and soon found his daughter’s life force in a tunnel near the exit to the surface. Well, at least she’d had brains enough to position herself where she could get into the open quickly.
        "So, she wants me dead?" Xellos sighed. "She could just snuff me. I don’t understand why she has to be so dramatic about it—unless she wants my family dead, too. Is that it?" He asked his master, who shrugged.
        "I don’t know anything about that part," she told him as she took stock of who was in the cavern with her: Same crew that had been at Zhara’s house when the impudent brat had kicked her and Xellos out. There was Urlich and Sylph, who looked much better than she had the previous night; Jaz, who seemed troubled about something; and the three natives, who looked very much like they wanted to be elsewhere. Suddenly her eyes fell on Zelgadis’ growing copy and she strode over to get a closer look. "Hmm…" she squinted at the body in the copy tank thoughtfully, watching it turn, showing her nothing of Zelgadis that she’d hadn’t already seen. "Something’s different," she muttered.
        "Ah ha!" Gourry exclaimed, drawing everybody’s attention to him. In an embarrassed voice, he added: "See? She thinks so, too!"
        The others gathered ‘round Beast Master and the copy machine and tried to see what she and Gourry saw as different. "So, what’s different?" Lina asked.
        "Hair’s darker," Gourry said and got bopped on the head. "What?!"
        "I wasn’t asking you!" Lina pointed at Zellas. "I was asking her."
        "He’s right," Beast Master declared, "the hair is darker. And the eyes have a slightly different shape." She grinned and started giggling. "Xellos-darling, what did you do?"
        The Trickster wasn’t in the mood to be cute about his little prank, so he didn’t even crack a smile. "I put some of my hair in the machine before they arrived."
        GASP!
        "Seemed funny at the time…"
        Zelgadis freaked out. He jumped on Xellos, tackling the minion in a surprising display of Princess Amelia’s heretofore unknown physical strength, and pummeled the hell out of him using nothing but his bare fists. Xellos, surprisingly, just lay there and took it without so much as a peep or hateful look or anything. Soon, Zelgadis tired of hitting an unresponsive victim and let Zellas Metallium pull him off her servant with a colorful curse.
        Beast Master held out her hand to help Xellos up, but he ignored it in favor of the ceiling. "They’re almost here…"
        Lina and Gourry exchanged knowing glances. Lina twirled her finger by the side of her head and muttered: "Xellos has gone bye-bye."
        "Shut up!" Beast Master snapped at her and hauled her minion to his feet. He continued to stare skyward, so she slapped him until he quit doing that. "Xellos! Snap out of it! You’re not going to die, I don’t care what L-Sama wants! We’re going to fight these boys and we’re going to win, do you hear me? Xellos!"
        "If L-Sama wants someone dead—" Xellos began in a hollow voice and got slapped again.
        "She gave him a second chance, didn’t she?" Zellas all but screamed and pointed at Zelgadis. "Maybe this is a test. If you defeat the Sons of Chaos, you live. Have you considered that?"
        Xellos brightened imperceptibly. "They would’ve killed me last time if Zhara and Jessica hadn’t sealed them between worlds." He bowed his head, walked back to his old corner and flopped down onto the floor again. Suddenly, he chuckled. "And I gave them the means to escape," he shook his head, "I’m such a fool."
        Urlich bit back on the urge to second that. "If they’re out and on their way here," he said instead, "then we need to find my sister. She’s hiding in the tunnels somewhere."
        "She’s just inside a tunnel below the east entrance," Xellos sighed. "Just use your senses to find her, son."
        This was not good. A beaten, despairing Xellos. A Xellos who called himself a fool and regretted playing a nasty trick on Zelgadis. And Zellas Metallium, dead serious and girded for battle. Lina looked worriedly from the Trickster to his master. Full regalia, huh? Zellas Metallium obviously meant business. That armor looked well-used, ancient but not decrepit, and it was well-suited to one of the oldest, most feral of the Dark Lords. Even the gauntlets had claws, just as her animal form did. Lina couldn’t see any other weapons on her. She was trying to raise her minion’s morale without much success. Lina sighed. Much as she hated to admit it, they needed Xellos if they expected to have a chance in this fight. Beast Master’s power would prove invaluable, but there was something inside Xellos that Lina sensed was critical and she had a feeling it was that "something" that had doomed him in the eyes of the Lord of Nightmares.
        Lina closed her eyes and did some math: Just about nine hours until L-Sama would interfere again, if she chose to do so, and Lina was willing to put money on her getting involved. Something wasn’t adding up about this entire adventure, especially the bit involving Zelgadis. So he almost became the mightiest Dark Lord ever known—since when had L-Sama interfered with the workings of the world just because some powerful destructive force was on the scene? She’d let Shabranigdo do his thing for thousands of years, counting on people like Seified to deal with him. And from all the ancient legends she’d read it had never seemed to Lina that L-Sama took sides; she’d just made the world, set up the opposing powers, then stepped back to watch the fun, only getting involved when specifically called upon to do so, and then only when she felt like it. So what was so special about Zelgadis, particularly now that he wasn’t in danger of becoming the next big bad guy? "And what about me?" Lina mused. "If my using the Giga Slave is so dangerous to me, why does she keep letting me use her power? Ok, aside from the fact that she probably couldn’t care less what happens to a mortal." Hm. That didn’t make sense, either. Why was Xellos drafted to protect her when they fought Phibrizio if she wasn’t important? Obviously it wasn’t Beast Master who cared, or she would’ve made some sign now that they were dealing with each other face to face, wouldn’t she? It had to be L-Sama! Especially since it was the Lord of Nightmares who had reached out to use Lina’s body when she killed Phribrizio—Lina hadn’t even called upon her! Very weird.
        "Zellas," she asked, not using an honorific when addressing the mighty Dark Lord, which earned her a pissed off growl. Lina decided to be more polite if she wanted information. "Sorry. My Lady, why would L-Sama want Xellos dead? And what are Zelgadis and me to her?"
        Beast Master cocked her head curiously and raised an eyebrow. "You and Zelgadis? What do you mean? You’re the one who chooses to cast the Giga Slave, not the Lord of Nightmares—"
        "—but one time she used me, I didn’t cast any kind of spell that would’ve called on her power!" Lina argued. "She just took possession of my body, killed Hellmaster, then left."
        "And Zelgadis?"
        Zel fielded that one. "Why would she let me make a new body for myself after she killed me? And since when does she care so much about the activities of Mozoku and their lords that she’d step in to kill people like Phibrizio, Garv, Zaniffar and Xellos? And, through Lina’s spell, Shabranigdo?"
        Zellas rolled her eyes. "How should I know what she’s thinking?"
        "You knew she wanted to kill Xellos," Sylph said pointedly, "maybe you also know why."
        "I don’t," Beast Master replied impatiently, "and I only inferred that she wanted Xellos dead! But I’m certain that’s her intent. Even with the power he gained from the dragons, he’s no match for Zellan and Ullan on his own. Even if you and your sister and his children had been completely on his side eight hundred years ago, I don’t think he would have succeeded. Survived, maybe, but he would have failed to kill them. Only the Lord of Nightmares’ power can kill them." She turned her animal eyes on Lina, who cringed. "That’s where you come in, my dear, you and your little Giga Slave. Don’t worry, we’ll watch your back while you cast it."
        Lina turned away from her to think about that. It had been a while since she’d cast the Giga Slave, chiefly because she felt herself die a little every time the Dark Lord’s power coursed through her veins. A mortal made a poor vessel for the power of the mightiest lord of all. "I don’t think I can survive the Giga Slave anymore," she told them quietly. "If I cast it this time…it’ll kill me."
        "And you’re more important than the fate of the world, are you?" Beast Master accused, but Xellos shut her down.
        "Master, Lina is important for some reason I haven’t been able to figure out," he explained in a dull voice. "She can’t die yet." He looked ceilingward once more and sighed. "Zhara’s leaving the catacombs. We should go, too."
        "Wait—" Zelgadis began, then bit his lip. But he could be useful to them in his real body, with his level of magic and combat skills! He took a deep breath and started again. "Somebody needs to cast Spirit Transfer when my body’s done," he said with his eyes on Urlich. "It has to be you or Sylph, Url. I can help in this fight, but I need my old body and power!"
        Urlich turned to Garroll, who, with Nik and Lenzer, was trying not to be seen by Beast Master. "How long till it’s finished?"
        Garroll shrank against the cave wall when Beast Master turned her attention on him, along with everybody else’s. He gulped and replied: "About two hours."
        "I’ll stay," Sylph volunteered before Urlich could say anything. "I’m low on the boys’ priority list—lower than you and Zhara, anyway—and I’m an even more experienced white sorcerer than you are, Url." Her eyes turned sad, then, as she added: "Go to your sister. If she’s all alone when they get here, she won’t have a prayer."
        Url closed his eyes and nodded. "Alright. Get him in his body, then get out to the Plain of Despair. Zhara and I’ll try to lead them there—"
        "Zhara, you and me," Xellos corrected. He stood up, straightened his clothes and gave his master a proud look. "Thank you for your help in this, master. With you here, we have a chance."
        She inclined her head, then turned on her heel to lead the way out. Xellos fell in behind her, then Urlich with one last embrace for Sylph, collected Jaz and followed. "Wait!" Sylph cried. "You can’t take Jaz with you! She has no power! Jaz, how will you fight them?"
        Her sister bowed her head and looked away. "Zhara has my power, isn’t that what you said?"
        "No," Urlich told her sadly, "she has your memories. Your power is gone. You used it all to seal her sons and to save her."
        Jaz frowned. "Then I’m going with you to make her give me back my memories." Before she dies was what Jaz didn’t add, though she wanted to. Resentment had been growing inside the vampire ever since Xellos had told them his story. She’d spent the past day and night trying to force her mind to remember that battle and what she’d been for thousands of years before then—and failed to remember a single thing. Once, she’d had the power to seal two of the most power creatures in the world, now she was suspicious of magic and had none of her own. If Zhara could take away her memories, then Zhara could return them.
        "No time for that," Zellas snapped. She strode over to Jaz, stripping one of her gauntlets off as she approached. "I can unlock your memories, Queen Jessica," she added with a grim twist of her lip, showing one of her sharp fangs. Her bare hand shot out and took hold of Jaz’s forehead before she could dodge it, or anyone could intervene. Zellas closed her eyes and probed the vampire’s mind, looking for the place where Zhara had hidden Jaz’s memories. That had been criminal, as far as Beast Master was concerned, not allowing one of the oldest powers in the world to die with dignity, but instead turning her into this—this thing, this lesser creature. No wonder Zhara had been unable to face her creation for seven hundred years. Ah! There! A little twist, a little force, and—
        Jaz screamed at the searing pain that filled her head like an explosion. She collapsed into Zellas’ Metallium’s arms in a dead faint. Beast Master picked her up and carried her over to the platform on which sat the copy machine and lay her down there. She pointed a finger in Zelgadis’ face and commanded: "Keep her here until you’re back in your body." She pointed at Nik, Garroll and Lenzer in turn: "You, you and you—stay with him. You and you," she ordered, pointed at Lina and Gourry, "come with us. We’ll need the Sword of Light and the Giga Slave."
        "But—" Lina started to protest, but the look Beast Master gave her killed the words in her throat.
        "Zelgadis will be in very little danger here, since the Sons of Chaos will be too busy trying to kill their mother," the Dark Lord explained in a tight voice. "These three can take care of whatever Sylph’s magic can’t eliminate." She turned and headed for the exit. "Let’s go."
        Lina and Gourry hesitated, but Zel saw the logic in Zellas’ words and urged them to go with her. "She’s right. You’ll be needed there more than here. We’ll join you in a couple of hours." He forced himself to smile. "Don’t worry. We’ll be there."
        That wasn’t what Zel or his friends were really worried about. Zel would most certainly make it to the field of battle, but would Lina and Gourry be alive when he got there? Nobody said that, though. Lina and Gourry waved and left, Urlich paused long enough to place a kiss on Jaz’s sleeping lips, then he left, as well. Zelgadis watched them leave, then heaved a worried sigh and plopped himself down next to Jaz to wait for his body to finish growing. And to see what the hell it would turn out like with some of Xellos in it. Damn him. Related to the Trickster Priest twice over, as if his life didn’t suck enough already.

        Zhara trotted to a halt in the middle of the Plain of Despair, in just about the same place where they’d fought her sons before if her calculations were correct. Hard to tell without the landmarks they’d blasted away in that ancient battle, but instinct said this was the place. She looked around and deemed the depressing landscape supremely appropriate.
        "It’s a good day to die," she declared to the blackened, cracked earth and eerily twisted trees. No animals, no birds, not even so much as a bug lived out here, just dead things. Perfect. Her bones would make a lovely addition to the overall scheme of the place. She sighed and waited.
        And waited.
        And waited some more. She swung her arms, clapping her hands on the upswing, whistled a little ditty, rocked on her heels, scanned the horizon, then the sky, strained her ears for the earthquake sounds of her boys’ approach. Nothing. Typical.
        "Where the hell are they?" She grumbled. "They’ve waited eight hundred years, you’d think the big idiots could hurry a little! Damn kids. Always were late for everything." Zhara folded her arms and tapped her foot, sending up tiny puffs of black dust, then she threw her arms in the air and shouted to the sky: "Hello! It’s me, your mother! I’m ready to die, here! Anytime you’re ready to squash me like a bug, kids, I’m ready for you!"
        Her voice died on the smelly wind that blew across this blighted plain. Zhara frowned and muttered. "Any day now…" Silence. She stomped her foot. "Well this is just great. Dad gets us all worked up over the boys’ coming back for revenge, and they’ve probably stopped off for fuckin’ fish ‘n’ chips and a lager! That would just be so typical."
        Come to think of it, a pint and fish ‘n’ chips sounded pretty good. Zhara rubbed her rumbling tummy and wished she’d eaten something before coming out here to meet her destiny. That was something the storytellers never told people about big adventures and meetings with destiny: It’s hungry work. Furthermore, she really had to pee. Zhara looked all the way around herself, decided the coast was clear and got down to business.
        Naturally, this was precisely the moment her father, brother and her dad’s boss appeared out of thin air, right where they’d get the best view. A few seconds later, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev soared to a landing in a raywing bubble. They stared. She screamed: "DO YOU PEOPLE MIND?! I’m gonna die today, the least you could do is let me pee in peace!"
        "Well," Beast Master snorted, "for a second there I thought you’d say something totally out of line about us letting you die with dignity." She smirked. "But I guess that’s just not your style."
        Zhara finished, pulled up her pants, buckled her belt and decked Zellas Metallium, who, taken complete by surprise, caught it right in the jaw. Zhara then turned her bloodshot eyes on her father and demanded to know where Jaz and Sylph were.
        "Sylph is going to put Zelgadis into his new and improved body," Urlich explained with a smug look Zhara didn’t like at all, then did one of his best Xellos impersonations Zhara had seen yet and added: "Now with Xellos material!" He went back to being himself and frowned at Beast Master. "Jaz is unconscious. Zellas restored her memories. Thought you should know."
        Yes, it was definitely a good day to die. "So…how did she take it? Did she say anything?" She asked in a trembling voice. So much for the tiny scrap of morale she’d been able to drum up in the tunnel. Jaz remembered. She remembered her power, her station, her—her love for a pathetic upstart, who turned her into an undead then spent seven centuries pretending she didn’t exist.
        "No," Beast Master told her icily. "The pain of restoration knocked her out. I ordered Sylph to look after her until she recovers." She looked around, as if expecting to see the Sons of Chaos make a dramatic entrance out of nowhere, tapped her foot impatiently. "So, where are they?"
        "Where are who?" Gourry asked, trying to see what Zellas was looking at in the sky.
        Lina whacked him. "The Sons of Chaos, you moron! Remember them? The super-monsters we’re supposed to be fighting today?"
        Gourry hmphed at her. "Well, we were talking about Sylph and Jaz a second ago! Geez, Lina, you really need to relax."
        In response, Lina beat the crap out of him. "See this? This is me relaxing!" Pummel, pummel, pummel. "Now pay attention! The Sons of Chaos could appear at any moment, and we have to be ready for them! Oops." She finally noticed the damage she’d done and sheepishly cast a quick healing spell on her boyfriend. "Sorry, Gourry. Guess I’m a little keyed up."
        Urlich gulped. "No shit…"
        While Gourry rubbed his head, and Lina sucked up a little, Xellos failed to be amused. Ordinarily such a display would have tickled him silly, but his sense of humor was flat out gone. The Lord of Nightmares had sentenced him to death at the hands of his own grandchildren. He meditated upon the clear blue early morning sky and wondered what L-Sama was thinking just then. Laughing at him, probably. "How did I offend you?" He wondered silently. He’d think arguing with her was pointless, but by some miracle it had worked for Zelgadis. What was the big deal with him, anyway? He was just this depressed chimera with the personality of a dead rat. So he’d almost turned into the most terrifying Dark Lord the world had ever known—that was over now! Why would L-Sama care if the boy lived or died? Hell, it certainly wasn’t his skills as a lover (or lack thereof), nor his looks, definitely not his personality. His heritage, perhaps? No, that would make Ullan and Zellan special, too. Ah, of course: She didn’t want them dead, did she? Since Zhara didn’t seem to matter, that would make the boys’ father Lei Magnus the key, but what did the Lord of Nightmares have to do with one of Shabranigdo’s hosts? Whatever the connection, it hadn’t helped Rezo any (not any of the versions of him). Hm. Maybe not a family thing, then.
        Xellos sighed and stopped staring at the heavens. "It’s a good day to die," he said to no one in particular, unwittingly expressing his daughter’s sentiments in her exact words. Neither Zhara nor Beast Master was amused.
        Zellas favored him with a scary, feral growl. "You’re not going to die today."
        "Ok, tomorrow is a good day to—"
        SMACK! "Stop it! Xellos, this isn’t funny!" Beast Master hissed, the growl still rumbling in her chest. She pointed a steel-taloned finger in his face. "You are not going to die today, or tomorrow, or—ok, not for a really long time! I don’t know what L-Sama is playing at, maybe she just doesn’t like people keeping secrets from her, but I think that would’ve put you on her shit list long before now, because you are all about secrets! Now are you going to take this seriously, or are you just going to go belly up and die?"
        Lina jumped on the bandwagon with a determined shout. "Lina Inverse doesn’t go belly up and die no matter who I face!" She slapped Xellos, then pointed a finger at him. "So, no giving up, Xellos—you’re the chief servant of Zellas Metallium, for crying out loud! You have a reputation to uphold!"
        "Right!" Beast Master agreed with a pert nod. "My reputation! No minion of mine will be assassinated! Not by the Lord of Nightmares or anyone else. So snap out of it!"
        Xellos raised an eyebrow at all this go-team spirit from his master, who was quite frankly starting to scare him. Then he realized with a jolt that the mighty Zellas Metallium, one of the oldest Dark Lords—nay, one of the oldest beings in the world—was frightened. She was scared, Lina was scared, Urlich was scared, Zhara was…Zhara had checked out hours ago. Even Gourry was trying too hard to keep up morale, but his fist was far too tight around the hilt of the Sword of Light. But they were all here, all determined to keep the Sons of Chaos from killing him and his children. Even Zelgadis would join the fight when his body was ready. Maybe this time L-Sama had messed with the wrong people. That thought put a little smirk on Xellos’ face. Sure, they were all going to die, but they’d go out with their middle fingers upraised in the oldest salute known to the world. Not that the Lord of Nightmares would care especially, but they’d feel pretty good about it, and Ullan and Zellan would certainly appreciate the gesture. They just had that kind of sense of humor.
        And speaking of Zhara’s lads…"Fine, I’m psyched to get snuffed. Where are they, anyway? I should think they’d be in a big hurry to avenge themselves."
        Urlich sighed. "Probably stopped off for a couple of pints."
        Zhara plopped down in the dirt and buried her face in her hands. "One whiff of a pub, and they’re there. I can’t believe this."
        Urlich collapsed next to her. "I can. Remember that time they were supposed to sack Crellas for that warlord—what was his name? Barrak. And they got blotto before the job, so the city had time to evacuate the women and children and get reinforcements in?"
        "Yeah," Zhara chuckled, "or when they were supposed to meet up with Shabranigdo to fight Seified that one time?"
        "Hee-hee! Seified, Dragon God, saved by a pub!"
        Lina and Gourry sweat and blinked at each other, then at the twins, then back at each other. "Wait a sec," Lina interrupted in disbelief, "you’re not talking about when Shabranigdo got sealed in the earth a thousand years ago, are you?"
        The twins nodded. "Yup," Urlich replied, "but they were pretty young then."
        "They never outgrew it!" Zhara exclaimed. "I can’t believe this is happening! The most important day of their lives, and they’re probably quaffing ale somewhere! Honestly, those boys never did have a sense of responsibility."
        Zellas Mettalium huffed: "And whose fault is that?"
        Urlich and Zhara pointed at their father and chirped together: "His!"
        "…blame me for everything…" Xellos muttered and sat himself down by a burnt out tree, away from his children. They were right about Ullan and Zellan having no sense of responsibility, but, hell, one would think they’d be angry enough to pass up a pub without going in after spending eight hundred years playing chess between worlds! There they were, probably sitting on barstools, chugging pints and munching on chicken wings, or something, while the people they were supposed to be killing for the maker of the world sat in the dirt without so much as a cup of water to drink! "Dammit, Zhara! Isn’t there some place in Marrigan that delivers?"
        Zhara sighed. "We can’t leave, Dad. What if they show up?"
        Xellos narrowed his eyes at her. "I meant, send our order with a spell—"
        "Oh, sure!" Zhara shot back in horror. "Let the delivery guy get killed, too! I don’t think so, Dad. You’ll just have to deal with it. You’re not the only one who’s hungry, you know."
        Lina and Gourry realized at that moment that they were among the ranks of the very hungry, and Gourry for one thought a pint of ale would really hit the spot just then. "Can’t the food get back to us using a spell like the ordering spell? I’m really hungry."
        "Me, too," Lina added. "I say we order take out. All in favor?"
        Gourry and Xellos raised their hands and said: "Aye!" After a moment, Urlich added his yes vote and even offered to go fetch using his power of teleportation. "Dad can help me carry it all."
        "Great idea, Son!" Xellos beamed and jumped to his feet to help Urlich take everybody’s order, including two incredibly huge ones from Lina and Gourry.
        "Just as well die well-fed and happy, right?" Lina declared with a grin.
        The mighty Beast Master, meanwhile, knocked her head against a tree trunk.

        In a pub about five miles out of Marrigan…
        "Great shot, Ullan! Have another lager, Brother!"
        "Why thank you, Brother, I do believe I will! Rack ‘em up again?"
        "You betcha! BWA-HA-HAAA!"
        In a corner booth, the Lord of Nightmares watched the boys drink pint after pint and rack up their sixth game of pool…and smoked in silent rage. She’d forgotten what slackers Zhara’s kids were. Hard to believe they had as much Shabranigdo in them as they did.
        "Hey, L-Sama!" Zellan, the older lazy bum called to her. "Have another ale! On us! BWA-HA-HA! Yer a great gal to work for, Your Ladyship! A regular goddess!"
        That reduced both of them to boisterous laughter. L-Sama lit another cigarette and tossed around alternate plans for eliminating Xellos without getting her own hands bloodied. Ullan and Zellan were not nice dragons and were total bums as humans. Ullan pinched the butt of the waitress who brought their drinks, and Zellan swatted her on her way back to the bar. Maybe that cover story she’d given Xellos eight hundred years ago was a better plan: Kill the Sons of Chaos and let Xellos live. Hmmm…tempting, very tempting. At least Xellos knew how to keep his hands to hims—"Oh, great. Now what?"
        Zellan staggered over to her table, proving that a big guy with lots of dragon blood in him could become intoxicated with a little effort and a lot of lager. He leaned his elbows on the table and grinned his sharp-toothed grin at her. With a waggle of his bushy eyebrows and lewd wink, he asked with the sort of death wish only alcohol could bestow: "Wanna dance, Ladyship?"
        L-Sama smoked at him. "No revenge is worth this."