Chapter Two

Khirah woke up the next morning, but the forest was deathly silent. Khirah rolled onto her back and looked around. She was surprised to find the sorceress from yesterday standing at the foot of her pallet.
"Rise and shine." The small red head said as she conjured a fireball between her hands.
"You again!" Khirah stood up and glowered at the women, but then she whipped around, and looked at the blond behind her. "Don't even think about trying it Blondie!" she snarled as she turned back to the woman. "Look, I'm tired, I just woke up and I am exceedingly hungry. I would like it if the two of you would leave."
"Not a chance. You attacked Gourry and me yesterday and no one attacks Lina Inverse!" Khirah's lavender eyes narrowed, and the gray strands weaving their way through her eyes began to sparkle.
"Excuse me? Who attack whom yesterday? Now you listen to me you little whelp! I attacked no one, but if the two of you insist on attacking me, I am going to lose my temper. And I assure you; none of us want that to happen. I have been awake for less then a day, and the last thing I want to do is deal with little girls trying to be sorceresses!" Khirah growled under her breath and glared at Lina. Lina turned and glared at Gourry.
"I thought she attacked you!" Lina shouted at her cowed companion.
"Well, I guess if you want to get technical, I attacked her first." Gourry admitted softly.
"Oh you are so dead!" Lina growled. "FIRE---" Lina formed the fireball in her hands, but Khirah placed her hand on Lina's shoulder.
"Please don't hurt him. I think all of this is a big misunderstanding." Lina stared into Khirah's wise yet infinitely sad eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Khirah Wyyvern. And no I am not a dragon." Khirah smiled warmly at Lina and Gourry.
"Yes but how did you end up in that stone?" Gourry asked. Khirah's eyes took on a distant look.
"It's a long story, are you sure you want to know?" Lina and Gourry nodded. Khirah sighed, "Where to begin? I was born in a small village named Sairaag.

Sairaag:

Khirah looked all about her; her entire family was dead or dying on the sod floor of their small hut.
"Mama Daddy?" Khirah asked.
"Run Khirah!" her father cried as he was killed by the rogue mazokou. Eleven-year-old Khirah stared in shock as her father's head was ripped from his body. Khirah shook off her shock and ran out of the house. Outside Khirah looked around and saw her house burst into flame.
"No!" Khirah screamed as she fell to the ground
. "Oh poor baby." Someone sneered. Khirah whirled around and stared at the tall man standing before here.
"Spirits of the Wind, guide my hand to strike down my enemy with your might." Khirah murmured and between her hands, a ball of blue energy formed. "Diem Wind!" Khirah sent her ball of gathered wind energy at the tall man. The energy slammed into him, and he smiled a cruel smile.
"For one so young, you powers are very impressive, but let me show you how it's really done." The man formed a ball similar to Khirah's but it was about twice the size of her spell. "Diem Wind!" Khirah was hit full force by the spell, and was throne into the burning remains of her house. Just as her jet-black hair caught on fire, the man strode into the house and picked Khirah's limp body up. He murmured a few words, and they both disappeared.

Four Years Later:

Khirah gathered the wing energy around her, and concentrated it into a dense ball of solid energy.
"Astral Wind." She whispered, and the energy flew at the rogue mazokou. The demon and it's pals where blown apart. Someone clapped mockingly.
"Very good Khirah." Rezo said smiling slightly. Khirah's eyes narrowed in anger, and despite his blindness, Rezo seemed to sense her anger. "You would make such a terrific sorceress. Why don't you practice Black magic instead of this Shamanism?"
"Because I'll not like you Rezo, I don't delight in pain and suffering." Rezo smiled his cruel mocking smile.
"Your mouth will someday get you in trouble. Now on with the lessons." And Rezo proceeded to beat the crap out of her.

Present:

"I stayed with Rezo until I was eighteen." Khirah said softly.
"How could you stand to live with Rezo for so long?" Gourry asked disgust. Khirah looked at him with blazing eyes.
"Do you think I wanted to stay there?" Khirah asked incredulously. "Do you think I wanted to be his prisoner for all those years. And then, just when I thought I had gotten away from him, he did this to me!" Khirah pulled the scarf off of her face, and gestured at the markings on her face. "He did this to me, he turned me into a chimera without a second thought! And then, just as I found a cure, he dashed all my hopes for a normal life." Khirah frowned, and pained filled her brilliant eyes. Lina heard the pain in Khirah's voice, and felt her heart constrict. What kind of life has she lived? Lina thought to herself. What could put such pain in the eyes of one so young?
"What happened then?" Lina asked
. "I searched for a cure, and I looked for nearly five years, and finally I came upon a sorceress by the name of Fian, she was the epitome of white magic. She took me on as her pupil, and I swiftly mastered white magic. It was then that Fian decided to end my curse. The thing she didn't tell em was that, it would kill her. I didn't know until she had died right in my arms. Everything was going fine, and suddenly she just stiffened, and fell to the floor dead. But I have always believed that her passing wasn't easy, for her face bared the marks of someone who had suffered great strife." Khirah broke of and stared into the middle distance. "After Fian died, I just decided to get my revenge. I studied my Shamanism with an almost fanatical drive. And then I was ready, and I faced off against Rezo. He was surprised to see me, but he didn't seem shocked. I fought hard, and both of us were so close to death that we could see the other side. But we came back, and Rezo and I struck an unholy bargain. He swear upon his staff that he wouldn't ever curse someone with chimeraism, and I allowed him to put me in that stone where I was supposed to sleep for all time. But I guess that didn't work. So that is my life's story in a nutshell." Standing on the edge of the forest, Zelgadis listened with avid interest as Khirah's tale unfolded. I will have to watch my step around this one. Zelgadis thought to himself grimly, but still the information was priceless.
"I wonder what else Khirah is hiding in that head of hers?"