Lina was bored. She sat holding her chin between her hands on a bench infront of a
stone statue of a winged lion, poised for flight. It cast a shadow over the bench where
Lina sat. She was grateful for the silence that the absence of Gourry granted, but she had
not thought about what she would do now.
     “Lina?”
     She looked up at the person before her. The girl in a dark cloak and white hair tied
neatly into two buns smiled warmly.
     “Kagemi!” Lina stood up abruptly.
     “Lina! How’s life?”
     Lina groaned and seated herself with a plunk onto the bench once again. Kagemi
sat beside her, “What’s wrong, now?”
     With a sigh, Lina explained how everyone went their own ways and her extreme
boredom, “And what about you?”
     Kagemi leaned back and looked up at the lion looming overhead, “Same old, next
to no jobs and skipping from one town to the next...” There was a silent pause, “So what
are you going to do now?”
     Lina shrugged, “I was kinda hoping to blow up some bandit gangs or something.”
     “That’s it?”
     “What ‘ya mean?”
     “Well, that just seems kind of boring for the likes of you, Lina,” Kagemi stood up
and cleared her throat, “Why don’t we travel together!?”
      Lina raised her eyebrows. It was an appealing offer. To travel with someone other
than the usual, but before Lina could respond, Kagemi grabbed Lina’s arm and hauled her
to her feet.
     “Hey!” Lina growled.
     Kagemi didn’t seem to notice, instead, their surroundings blinked out and was
replaced by a white light that encircled them. The light wore off and the town was
different.
     “Kagemi!? Where did you transport us to!?” Lina pryed her hand from her arm.
     “I believe this is the City of Prophets,” She glanced at all the figures in robes with
their faces concealed by various methods.
     “I wish you wouldn’t use those Kage powers like that... it might cause a problem-
I mean, if people found out that it really exist--”
     Kagemi grabbed Lina’s arm again and pulled her into town, “Never mind that!
Let’s take a look around!”
 

     Zelgadiss was beginning to disbelieve that this “Medina” place even existed. He
had been walking on the road east for three days now.
     Out of nowhere a thing shot out of the bushes and attached itself to his waist.
     “GAAH!” Zelgadiss leapt back with no success in detaching the thing.
     “Help me!” it whined.
     The boy stepped back and was visibly shaking in fear...of something. He nervously
looked behind him and then back at Zelgadiss, “There’s something after me!”
     Zelgadiss continued down the road, saying nothing, but the boy followed
immediately at his side. Zelgadiss stopped walking to see if the kid would keep going...but
it didn’t work. The boy stopped and looked expectantly up at Zelgadiss.
     “I don’t see anything, kid. Go home,” Zelgadiss looked away and began walking
again.
     The kid made a funny sound, “I... I can’t...please, help me! It’s chasing me!”
     Turning away again, Zelgadiss rolled his eyes and quickly pretended to look
around, “There’s nothing.”
     “Maybe...do you know where I can find um...Dragon Spooker...oh no,” the kid
shook his head, “I can’t remember the name!”
     “Sorry, can’t help you,” Zelgadiss was getting slightly annoyed.
     “But...” the boy paused walking, then ran to catch up, “Where are you going,
then?”
     “Medina. Ever heard of it?”
     The boy’s eyes brightened, “YES!” he dashed infront of Zelgadiss, “I can take you
there if you want!”
     Zelgadiss paused. He thought about it critically. It was becoming human again or
staying a chimera. It was a simple decision, “Okay. You take me there, and I’ll protect you
until then from whatever you’re running from.”
     The boy exhaled loudly, “Thank you, Lords! My name is Garabe by the way!”
     “I’m Zelgadiss.”
     “Hm, no offense, but I’ve never seen anyone with blue hair before,” Garabe
zoomed in on the tuft of bangs that protruded from under Zelgadiss’ hood.
     “That’s nice,” he replied flatly.
     “How come you have blue hair then,” Garabe was genuinely curious, “and blue
skin?”
     Zelgadiss wondered why the boy was so interested. It wasn’t something he could
come out and explain...especially to a ten year old, “I’d rather not say, “he said at last.
     “Why?”
     “It’s kind of personal, you know.”
     “Well, I’ll tell you why I think I’m being chased!”
     Bribery. It always worked with children, “You think you’re being chased?”
     “Well, it’s like this.”

     ~The sun was setting and Garabe was looking for a place to sleep for the night.
The cold was rapidly overtaking him and the forest was anything but inviting. In the
distance, he saw what looked like a building. Maybe whoever lived there would be kind
enough to let him stay for the night, but he really doubted it. No one let’s strangers into
their homes for the night anymore...but maybe...because he was a kid. He made his way
toward the stone structure.
     He found upon arrival that the castle was in ruins. It must have been abandoned for
a century to have fallen into such condition. In despair, he toured the shambles for any
definition of shelter.
     At the far end of the foundation, he found what looked like a staircase, leading into
a black basement. He shivered and realized there was no way he could survive the night
outside, and so he descended. Garabe felt his way along the wall in the dim, setting light
and found a convenient pile of leaves in a corner. The wind must have blown them into the
corner where they could no longer escape. He quickly inspected it, finding no critters and
leapt into the heap. It wasn’t long before his body heat lingered within the vegetative
blanket and he slept without worry.
     When Garabe awoke, he discovered that there was more than one entrance to the
basement he had stumbled across. Removing the brown leaves from his clothes, he stood
up and stretched. Beams of sunshine fell into the space through several cracks in the
ceiling as well as the other two “doors”. The cold of the morning hit him and he rubbed his
hands together for heat inducing friction.
     He slowly observed his surroundings, catching sight of a curious alter-like table
that stood as a stone monument before an unidentifiable pictograph that must have been
an elaborate tapestry in its day.
     Garabe wiped the surface with his sleeve, clearing away the debris. Several dust
particles, rocks, dirt, and other objects fell onto the ground, raising more dirt and dust.
 Covering his nose and mouth with his other sleeve, he saw some ancient text. He
grinned. He had studied several forms of the written language that was in use in the past
and happily accepted the new challenge. Unfortunately, it was a little more difficult than
he had originally anticipated. All he could make out was “Shadow” and further down the
vertical line, “Panther”.
     He leaned onto the platform and a chunk broke off. He landed on his side in pain.
     “It really hurt y’know!”
     “I believe it would,” Zelgadiss and Garabe continued walking as Garabe told his
story.
     “So...” Garabe went on.
     Something jabbed into his back and he reluctantly rolled over with more pain.
Garabe picked it up and held it above his head, still laying on his back on the dirt floor.
 It was stone and was about the length of his hand, maybe slightly longer. It was as
light as a feather and at one end, a white, hexagonal jewel was imbedded in the strange
stone. Garabe froze. He heard a low rumble as more loose dirt floated down form the
unstable ceiling. This was definitely not good. Something growled loudly, echoing in the
cavern. He leapt to his feet as something dashed behind him. Garabe didn’t know what to
do. His breathing became forced as he looked behind him. There was nothing.
     Upon another deep growl, Garabe ran out of fear and sprinted toward the closest
exit. He could hear another’s breath and the same growl right behind him, but he dared not
look back. He ran without stopping away form the ruins and into the forest. Never
stopping until he reached a main road and saw someone, someone who could help him.
Zelgadiss.~
     “It must have been a temple or- or a holy site or something...I didn’t know! How
was I supposed to know!? I would never have set foot there it-”
     Zelgadiss looked at him, “You probably just stumbled into a wild animal’s den. I
doubt it will follow you any further.”
     “Not if I’m with someone...I hope... I don’t know what I should do!” Garabe
teared and clenched his fists tightly.
     “No use in worrying about it,” Zelgadiss glared at the trees to either side of the
road. There was no one else traveling on the path and that was slightly questionable.
Zelgadiss dismissed it, thinking it was only because this “Medina” was more or less
unheard of in most people’s books.
     “I’ve gotta go,” Garabe intruded Zelgadiss’ thoughts.
     “I thought you were scared of whatever’s chasing you,” they stopped walking.
     “No, I mean I’ve gotta go!” Garabe raised his eyebrows, then pulled something out
of his robes, “Hold onto this and wait for me, would ‘ya!”
     Zelgadiss accepted the object as Garabe trotted into the trees. A pyramid-shaped,
feather weight that looked like stone with a white jewel on the thicker end. He went to the
side of the road and leaned against a tree and waited. Why should he be stuck baby-sitting
a kid? He wondered why he had accepted Garebe and remembered his cure, that’s
right...his cure.

To Be Continued...