Author’s notes for Shadow Magic – Zelgadis and Lina

I wanted to do something where I paired Lina with Dynast, but I was having the hardest time coming up with anything. That’s one half of the story. The other half is my complaint for pairing Lina and Gourry. I really don’t dislike Gourry, but it’s hard for me to see him as anything other than a gimmick to review the story. I saw the best opportunity to get Gourry away from Lina was before Slayers NEXT happened; doing this also had the advantage of having Phibrizzo alive and well. Before I knew it a plot idea had sprung to mind where I could use Dynast, Phibrizzo, Zelgadis and Xellos to make a wicked story. So, that’s the thinking behind the plot.

Oh, and this fic had to have chapter eight and nine rewritten at least three times before I was satisfied. Man alive – I was tired! But my story boards did not extend beyond chapter nine and it literally took months to convince myself that I needed to keep going with this story. Now I have the remaining story boards complete, the ones to finish off this story, and I am more convinced than ever that this story was totally worth writing.