An echoing, deep laughter arose from the ruins and as the last of the mist cleared. a masculine form stood, half way up a flight of stone stairs that no longer had a building. He wore dark blue arabian-style pants and something that would not classify as a shirt. Decorated with gold, the man descended the stairs and motioned for Garabe to join him with his right arm. As he neared, they realized that he was not a man. Atop his shoulders, a black panther's head rested.
    "Child," the panther man placed his hand on Garabe's shoulder, "You shouldn't let them get away with what they've done to you."
    "I won't."
    Zelgadiss sheathed his sword. It would useless in this battle, "Garabe, move! ...Ra Tilt!"
    "No!" Garabe jumped in front of Shadow Master and caught the full force of the attack.
    Zelgadiss hit himself in the head, "Stupid kid!"
    Garabe fell to the ground. This was stupid! Why was he protecting a monster!? He tried to just lie there, like he wanted to, but suddenly, he found himself standing, pain rippling through his body.
    An explosion erupted beneath Shadow Master's feet, "Direct hit!"
    Lina looked in the direction of the voice, "Kagemi?"
    The girl in her black and silver battle gear was perched on a rock at the edge of the clearing, a thick tube aimed at the monster.
    The cat man stood in a small crater, "What was that supposed to be?"
    "A warning shot!" She leapt to the ground, dropping the unusual tube beside Lina and assumed a battle ready stance.
    Lina dashed to another position in the clearing, back against a broken pillar. One...two..."Elmekia Lance!" she threw the spell, stepping out from behind the pillar, then returning.
    The beam shot past the man, splitting the stone behind him into several shards, "Damn!" Lina cursed, risking a peek.
    "I can't control my body," Garabe struggled to stop himself from walking toward Zelgadiss.
    "You'll thank me later, kid!" Kagemi delivered an aerial kick to his head and he crashed painfully, but thankfully unconscious.
    "Was that necessary?" Zelgadiss frowned at the white-haired girl.
    "Do you have any better ideas?"
    Zelgadiss walked forward, toward the non-moving man panther.
    "Are you attempting to defy Shadow Master, little man?" Shadow Master spoke without opening his feline mouth.
    Kagemi gasped and stepped back, "Shadow...?"
    Chanting under his breath, Zelgadiss was within feet of his target. Sharply opening his eyes, he placed his hand onto the soggy soil, "Dug Haut!!"
    Massive, pointed spikes penetrated the surface of the earth from below and rose into the air. Shadow Master, agile and quick, leapt up and rebounded off several of the newly created stone monuments.
    Landing on the flat ground again, Shadow Master grinned, showing his set of canines, "Rise!"
    The stone protrusions broke into pieces and rose into the sky above the tree line, paused, and when Shadow Master lowered his arm, the sharp, large chunks of rock fell to earth.
    Lina screamed and through several leaps, managed to tear her cape, but avoid being killed none the less. Kagemi fell backwards in the rock fall, "Shadow..." she said in fear, "Kage..."
    Zelgadiss remembered where Garabe lay and quickly gathered him in a leap, scarcely missing a falling boulder. He set the limp body at the clearing's edge as soon as all the fragments had cleared the air.
    "I admire your ability to survive that," Shadow Master chuckled, glad for a challenge.
    An invisible force hit Zelgadiss, making him stumble backwards a few feet. Another assault threw him from where he stood. He slid through the mud a few feet. The rain intensified again and the dark energy almost made day look like night. The same force that had attacked Zelgadiss hit Lina. She also flew, landing back in the open.
    "Kagemi..." Lina tried hard to talk, "aren't you here to help?"
    The girl clutched her head with both hands, "I can't fight against that which has Kage!"
    Lina smiled, an idea crossed her mind, "This 'Shadow Master' doesn't have Kage. He is only named after Shadow! I'm sure you can feel it tooth has no conception of Kage!" Lina dragged herself to her knees and got up, blood smeared on her face from the earlier wound which had not completely healed.
    Zelgadiss rung out his cape. It was much lighter now...aside from the mud build up, "Kage? That kind of magic is only a legend, it doesn't exist!"
    Shadow Master laughed, "That's right. I was named after that legendary power!" he chuckled, "And there was a reason for that!"
    Kagemi grinned evilly and looked up at the monster, "Do you really think that your power is at the same level as Kage?"
    "Heh..." the panther man grinned, equally as evil, "Long ago, people feared my power because it could rival that of Kage. Even then, Kage was only a myth!""
    "Is that so?" Kagemi placed her hands on her hips.
    "Darkness beyond twighlight, crimson beyond blood that flows!" Lina whispered and raised her arms while Kagemi and Shadow Master conversed, buying her time, "Buried in the flow of time. In thy great Name, I pledge myself to darkness... all the --" Lina coughed hard, unable to finish, "No! I don't have time to start again!" she covered her mouth and looked up. The two had silenced and a powerful energy formed an aura around the ruins, flooding the clearing.
    Zelgadiss no longer wanted to do anything. His energy was being drawn by Kagemi. Whether it was intentional or not, he didn't like it. Lina also felt tapped into, "She's going to use Kage..." Lina knew and saw both Kagemi and Shadow Master's energies condense, Shadow Master's into a convenient little ball before his hands and Kagemi's concentrating in her head piece.
    Two black lines streaked down both sides of Kagemi's face, the mark of Kage, "From before recorded time, Darkness that is inconceivable..." she chanted, "The eleven Forces that forge everything we see, Lost to those who do not fear it..."
    Shadow Master raised his arms, circling a golden orb of his spell, holding it above his head, gathering the last of the energy needed.
    "I summon the Darkness, the Chaos, the Power, Come to me and punish my enemy...Shadow Rising."
    A smile crept across her face, "...Swift Dream Illusion..."
    Shadow Master's vortex of energy shattered. The panther man fell forward into the mud, and lay there unmoving.
    "Dat wasn't visually impressive," Lina wheezed in complaint, her nose plugged.
    The monster's body turned into a fine crystal dust, changed to black, then lifted into the sky, scattering the fragments of the destroyed Shadow Master.
    Kagemi crossed her arms in annoyance and without returning any comments, she began to walk away.
    "Hey!" Lina called after her, "Where're you going!?"
    Pausing in her steps, Kagemi replied simply, "Soria, Di.1."
    Lina gave up. She was vaguely familiar with that term which Kagemi had once 'explained' to her. Zelgadiss looked up. The suddenly came to a stop and there was a break in the clouds. A boy's figure groaned in pain. Lina turned, letting Kagemi leave and kneeled in the mud beside Garabe and Zelgadiss.
    "I... I'm sorry," the boy said, then fell still.
    Lina put her hand the boy's chest, "Garabe?" she shook him lightly with no response, "Garabe!"
    Zelgadiss stood up and turned, preparing to leave. There was nothing left to do.
    "Was he an orphan?" Lina asked Zelgadiss, a gross feeling rising in her throat.
    "I don't know," he answered.
    "We should give him a proper burial none the less..." Lina looked down at the boy in pity.
    "I suppose so."
    Lina executed a Dill Brand on the site and Garabe was buried in the crater. A cross was made from two sticks tied together with a tough vine. Zelgadiss stood, staring at the cross for a long time before heading back to Medina. Lina felt completely disgusting. Her sorceress gear was crusted with mud and her hair was also caked with mud. How awful. It wasn't exactly what she was expecting by means of non-boredom and an innocent life was never meant to be lost. She couldn't wait to soak in a tub, or even a nice five-star hot spring. She was dreading being seen in town like this.
    After cleaning up, Lina and Zelgadiss sat once again in the restaurant, finishing up another meal.
    "You never said much about your friend," Zelgadiss brought up, after an unusually silent eating.
    Lina gulped down some water and eyed him, "What do you want to know?"
    "Where did she say she was going?"
    "Oh...Soria... that's where she says Kage originated," Lina chewed on her spoon which she had finished using for her dessert.
    "I thought so..." Zelgadiss muttered as the thought overtook him.
    Lina spat out the spoon, "You know where it is!?"
    The legendary power of Kage is real, so the origin must be as well...
 

End.