Garabe opened his eyes but it was almost dark. He noticed his limbs were stiff, but he forced himself to get up. It took him a few minutes to come into focus. He recalled the animal attacking him and its awful eyes... Garabe stumbled forward. He had to get back to the road. Zelgadiss! What happened to Zelgadiss!? When he reached the road, he strained his eyes to see in the twighlight illumination. A short distance down the road, he saw the glow of a town and decided he had to get there. He couldn't understand why the vicious creature had spared him and he continued with that thought until he reached Medina.
    Garabe stealthily entered the town. The streets were more or less empty after the sun had set and darkness resumed. Some of the buildings that lined the street shone internal lights outside, providing Garabe with adequate light to navigate by.
    An outburst of female laughter caught his attention as two figures exited a restaurant.
    "Zelgadiss!" Garabe immediately recognized the beige cape, but who was that girl he was with? Oh well. It didn't matter. If only he could get back that item that he had left with Zelgadiss. It could bring in a few coins.
    "You go right ahead and do that," the red head chuckled as they continued away from Garabe's hiding place behind an empty stall.
    He kept to the shadows and followed them. Why did Zelgadiss leave him in the forest!? Garabe was angry now. He had agreed to protect him...but Zelgadiss did find Medina anyway. It was a pathetic attempt to gain a bodyguard, Garabe admitted to himself. He knew that Zelgadiss was headed in the right direction and couldn't possibly miss Medina.
    Zelgadiss and the girl entered the Inn. Garabe told himself that he would steal the item back from Zelgadiss without notice and look for help elsewhere. If only he could remember the name of that sorceress nick-named "Dragon Spooker". He could possibly get some cash by selling the item and pay the sorceress to help him.
    He stood by the Inn's entrance until he saw that they had rented their rooms and snuck inside. Carefully taking note of which room Zelgadiss had taken, he waited an approximate time it would take someone to fall asleep.
 

    Lina lay in bed, thinking about what had happened today. She had been getting more sleep in the last few days, thanks to Kagemi's attempts to cheer her up and get her mind off leaving her friends. It was some coincidence to run into Zelgadiss. Then she thought about his cure. She couldn't believe she had managed to convince him to stop his endless search. What had made him say it? Maybe he knew he would never find it but was only occupying his mind with it instead of concentrating on what the real goal in his life would be.
    Stupid Gourry. Zelgadiss was much nicer to talk to than that jelly fish brain. With Zelgadiss, there was always a good conversation. With Gourry it was always a wound inflicted upon him by Lina. Zelgadiss was much more pleasant to be with than Gourry, Lina concluded and rolled over to concentrate on sleeping.
    A crash from the room next door prompted her to sit up in the darkness, "Zel." Lina got up in her pajamas and went into the hallway. His door was open and a kid backed right into Lina. She detained him.
    Zelgadiss had his sword drawn. Wearing only his pants, his body and sword were outlined in the moonlight, the sword catching the light that came in through the window. There was broken glass from the window on the floor and a large, black figure growled at Zelgadiss. It pounced at him, knocking him to the floor. With its sharp canines bared, hissing, it clawed at Zelgadiss' exposed chest, inflicting no damage.
    Zelgadiss took a swipe at it with his sword, only succeeding in hitting it away from him. The creature growled and saw Lina and the kid standing in the doorway. It turned and leapt at the table against the wall, catching the stone item in its mouth.
    The kid buried his head into Lina's arm and tried to get into the hallway for safety, but she held him there. Zelgadiss swung at the animal, but his sword contacted air and phased right through it. Without pause, it jumped out the broken window.
    Zelgadiss lowered his sword and faced Lina and the boy, " Lina, he would be Garabe."
    Lina looked down at the youngster, "Oh..." she couldn't really see him in the dim light of the hallway and the darkness of Zelgadiss' room.
    Garabe pushed Lina into the door frame without warning, "I'm sorry," he cried and ran down the hallway.
    "Ow!" Lina rubbed her side. She'd have a bruise there tomorrow.
    Zelgadiss sheathed his sword and threw it onto the chair where his cape lay. Just then, the manager, a medium sized man with a short beard appeared at the door in his night cap and sleep wear, "What's happened here?" he didn't show much concern, perhaps he was too tired.
    Lina cleared a space for the manager and he entered, bringing in a lantern and examined the broken window, "I'll have you moved to another room. That's the fourth time this has happened this month. I must apologize."
    "What happened?" Zelgadiss was really confused. The creature only wanted the object, which it had now taken.
    "Well, there's a gang of teenagers that run around at night and sometimes vandalize. They seem to have taken a certain interest in my property. Please, come with me." The manager gestured to Zelgadiss, who had instantly covered himself with his cape before the manager had shed light on his form.
    "I'm sure Garabe will be around in the morning," Zelgadiss said to Lina as he exited behind the manager.
    "M," Lina nodded and returned to her room.
 

    The panther dropped the stone from its jaws onto the ground. The corroding alter glowed and some form of communication passed between it and the cat.
    It arranged the item beside three others exactly alike except for the different colored jewels. One red, one green, one blue, and the last, white. One by one, the panther inserted each key into a hole neat the base of the table. The black basement was momentarily illuminated in an erie green glow and then plummeted back into darkness. It had awoken.

To Be Continued...