on more features with each beat of its wings. Large, toadlike eyes glared in the moon's light, and a small, rounded mouth opened wide, releasing a soul-wrenching shriek.
Veering sharply, the pale creature swooped.
'By Agellic!' Moknay exclaimed. 'Is that a Demon I see?'
Thromar nodded calmly. 'That it is,' he stated, freeing his sword. 'What's wrong? Afraid of a puny thing like that?'
'Demons are not a common sight in Sparrill, Thromar,' the Murderer answered, slipping two daggers from his chest strap, 'but we know for certain Logan does indeed have the Jewel. The Demon must have sensed its powers and wants it for itself.'
'Well, let it come!' bellowed Thromar. 'I'll take it to Gangrorz's Tomb with three blows! Hack! Slash! Tear! Then I'll dance on its corpse!'
Moknay turned away from the Demon, smirking. 'Would you care to wager on that remark? Say, five gold pieces?'
'Make it ten!'
'So be it! Ten it is!'
Thromar stood up in his crude saddle, his huge sword held before him. 'That's more like it,' he grunted, slashing downward as the Demon came into range.
The swooping Demon screeched, halting itself in mid-air. Thromar's weapon ripped across a leathery wing, bringing a yellowish white blood to the surface of the pale skin. The fighter, however, spilled out of his saddle, unbalanced by his mighty swing.
Emitting a triumphant scream, the Demon flashed downward.
Yellow blood spurted as the creature impaled itself upon Thromar's upraised sword. Releasing a victorious cry of his own, Thromar tore free his weapon and swept it in a massive arc. The heavy blade met little resistance as it passed through the thin neck and severed the Demon's spinal cord. In a spatter of blood, the decapitated Demon crumpled to the ground, its toadlike eyes still blinking on its separated head.
'Hah!' Thromar boomed happily. 'I win!'
'Oh, no, you don't,' Moknay grinned.
Thromar made a face, shuffled over to the cadaver, and pounced up and down a few times. 'I must look like an utter fool dancing like this!' he grumbled.
'Would you like to hear something just as amusing, Utter Fool?' Moknay snickered. 'I left all my money back in Eadarus.'
Thromar stared dumbly at the grinning Murderer, angrily wiping the blood off his boots. Logan, impressed by Thromar's display, suddenly screwed up his face, waving a hand in front of his nose.
'Whew!' he proclaimed. 'What a stench!'
Moknay nodded. 'Demons tend to stink more than most things once you cut them up. That bothersome odor will attract quite a number of beasties on the prowl for food. I suggest we put some distance between ourselves and the corpse before stopping for the night.'
'I agree heartily,' Thromar put in. 'Not only for safety, but also so I may forget how I was tricked into dancing upon a dead Demon!'
'Cheer up, Thromar,' Moknay jeered. 'Think of it as something you can tell your children-if that creature wasn't one of them.'
'You tread a thin line, Murderer,' Thromar playfully growled, mounting up.
Logan pulled back his sleeve and stared at his glowing watch; the red and silver light was still there. He guessed he had been on watch for about one hour, so it must have been somewhere around four in the morning, but, without his watch, he could not be positive. He tossed a look behind him at where his horse was tethered and the leather saddlebags were hanging beside its flanks. Muttering unhappily, Logan opened the pouch of food beside him and ate the remaining pieces of jerky. Chewing, he threw a few small twigs into the campfire before him. He stared as the sticks blazed with red, yellow, and orange light and let the image blur. It looked as if Logan was amazed by the fire hungrily consuming the twigs, but, in actuality, he was bored. Wishing he could suddenly reappear in his apartment, Logan continued gazing at the dancing tongues of flame. His eyes sprang open when the fire finished feasting upon the twigs and belched.
Logan brought up his head, his blue eyes wide in astonishment. Beyond the fire, peering out from the shrubbery, was the strangest-looking face Logan had ever seen. Enormous hands pushed aside the obstructing foliage so the face could stare at Logan expectantly. The face and hands seemed to be a light blue, but Logan could not be sure from where he sat. Unexpectedly, a gigantic leer spread across the squarish face, and the thing lumbered free of the brush.
Logan felt a jolt of fear race through his system. The creature coming toward him stood over seven feet tall! And its skin was blue! Its human body was made up of tremendous muscles, and its massive chest was as wide as a barrel. Tattered pants dangled about its tree-trunk-thick legs, and enormous bare feet pounded the ground as it advanced.
It smiled crookedly.
'Fooooooood!'
Mouth agape, Logan scuttled backwards, trying to pull his sword from its sheath. 'Hey,' he stuttered, 'I'm not food!'
'Not fooooood?' the creature asked, crestfallen.
It was semi-intelligent, Logan realized. Maybe he could convince it not to hurt him.
'No,' he told the thing, shaking his head slowly, 'I'm not food; but I do have some. You want to make a deal?'
The light blue ogre nodded eagerly. 'Make deeeeeeal!' it boomed, stepping closer to the fire.
The fear remained churning inside Logan, but it was slowly decreasing. The light blue beast was nothing more than a large human-an ogre. Its odd skin color and enormous size made it startling at first, but now Logan almost expected it to jump up and down and clap its massive hands in anticipation.
Logan continued: 'Yeah, I'll make you a deal. I'll give you food, and you don't hurt me.'
'Fooooooood!'
Logan flinched at the resounding bellow, glancing over at Thromar and Moknay, who-oddly enough-were still sleeping. They didn't need to know about the ogre, Logan concluded. They might wake up and hurt the poor guy.
'Shh!' Logan commanded. 'Be quiet! You want to wake up my friends?'
'Friennnnnnnnds?' the ogre queried, cocking its head to one side.
'Yeah, those guys,' Logan responded, pointing to one side.
The light blue ogre nodded its massive head and clamped a huge hand across its mouth. Unable to restrain a grin, Logan pulled out his food pouch and handed some over to the ogre. The large creature snatched at it greedily, wolfing it down in one swallow.
'Fooooooood!' it rumbled cheerfully.
'Jesus!' Logan exclaimed. 'Eat it fast, why don't you?'
The ogre grinned. 'Faaaast!'
Logan peered back into the pouch; the leather sack was empty. The fear increased as he looked back up. The ogre stood on the opposite side of the fire, a massive hand extended for more food. That hand could fit right around my skull! Logan noted, swallowing hard. And if it squeezed…
Fearing the worst, Logan said, 'Uh… I'm afraid there isn't any more.'
The ogre cocked its head to one side again. 'No moooooore?'
Cringing, Logan nodded. 'Yep, sorry.'
The light blue hand closed and slowly retracted as the ogre took a few thunderous steps back. 'Sor… ry,' it repeated, dejectedly vanishing into the surrounding foliage.
A large black hawk glared from atop a tree, its eyes flickering in the firelight below.
