faltered as he realized the monster before him could be his death coming to greet him warm-heartedly.
A pestering buzz filled Logan's airy skull, swarming through his cranium with its message of disorder. You do not belong here, it accused him. How dare you set foot in this land? You are out of place. Go back to where you belong.
A self-righteous anger rose up within Logan. I didn't ask to be sent here! he yelled back at the buzz. And I am going back home, but not because you're bothering me! I hate this place! I hate it! Do you hear me? I hate this place!
A gurgling snarl sounded in Logan's ears, and he looked down to see the reptilian creature facing him bolt forward, its enormous body swaying to and fro in its charge. Brewing with anger, Logan turned on the beast. It is of this world! he snarled. I hate it as well! Wildly, he lashed out with his dagger.
The blade skimmed off the creature's forearm, leaving a faint white streak across the grey scales. Gargling, the beast took three quick steps to one side, oval eyes flaring. Hardly two feet separated the combatants; but it was Logan who made the next move. Ablaze with his hatred, the young man swung about, plunging Moknay's gift directly into a nostril. Blood spumed into the air as the monster howled, rearing back its head in pain. With a silver flash, the dagger thrust out again, sinking in between the scales to penetrate the flesh of its throat. Crimson liquid splattered Logan's hand as he ripped the blade through the soft skin and tore it free.
Blood bubbled from the creature's nostrils and mouth as it careened to one side, crashing to the earth with a faint gurgle. A limb twitched spasmodically, and the life in the large eyes dwindled and went out.
Eyes narrowed with an unrelenting anger, Logan stared down at the corpse and then turned his sight inward. The buzz had also left him, as if he had slain it along with the monster, but Logan knew it would be back. As long as he was stuck here, that persistent feeling of wrongness would continue to plague him. But, for now, at least, it was gone, and Logan felt completely justified by what he had just done.
Cleaning off Moknay's dagger and his hand, Logan turned around to see his green-and-yellow mount standing behind the large boulder where he had left it. Surprisingly, it hadn't bolted when the monster had charged, but it was reluctant to approach the grey-scaled corpse. Slowly, Logan replaced his weapon and mounted. He guessed it was about one in the afternoon, and instinctively glanced at his watch. He was surprised to see the digital display was gone; no numbers played across the surface. They had been replaced by a strange red-and-silver glow that faintly radiated from the watch's face. Frowning, Logan tugged his sleeve back over his watch and started his horse ahead at a slow trot.
The young jogger looked about him as his mount made its way through the greenery. Trees, grass, and bushes flanked him, each almost identical with its neighbor. As anxiety began to gnaw its way through Logan's stomach, he realized he was badly-and irrevocably-lost. He had followed the path out of Eadarus, but God knows how far he went when he veered off the road. Now he could hardly tell north from south and east from west… and there was foliage all about him.
Aimlessly, Logan let his horse lead until the sky turned a bloody shade of red. as the sun began to disappear behind him. Hoping he had not unwittingly passed Eadarus, Logan dismounted and tethered his horse to a nearby tree. As the red sky turned dark blue, the young man noticed the leather saddlebags hanging from the horse's sides. In his desperate flight from Eadarus he had not noticed them, nor had he seen them after his battle with that creature. Curiously, he opened them and withdrew four smaller pouches.
Rifling through the first sack, Logan came across a few pieces of black bread, cheese, some fruit, and an odd- looking roll of what Logan guessed was beef jerky. The supplies did not look all that appetizing, but Logan's stomach growled eagerly, so he broke off a piece of bread. Then, while eating, he opened the second bag. He was going to whistle in awe, but the bread in his mouth forbade it. Instead, the young man held up the sole contents of the second bag: an enormous golden jewel. Even though the sun had vanished, the jewel glimmered with a resplendent sparkle all its own. Its faceted face reflected Logan's image a thousand times over; it seemed to have no definite center.
Replacing the jewel, Logan turned to the third bag. It was a flask much like the one Thromar had had, and Logan was pleased to smell wine within rather than that hop-infested ale. He set the flask beside the pouch of food and untied the fourth bag. Rummaging around inside, Logan withdrew a smaller pouch and unknotted the leather string. He emptied the contents of the bag into his palm, and his eyes went wide as ten gold pieces spilled out into his hand.
'Gold!' he breathed to his horse. 'Do you believe it? Honest to God gold!'
Shifting the gold back into its pouch, Logan closed and knotted the sack, placing it in the same bag with the jewel. Also within the fourth bag was a small metal box. Wonderingly, Logan unclasped the lid then tilted it back. The tin was full of a dark blue powder which Logan thought could have been snuff or tobacco or something like that-then it glimmered with a light blue aura, and Logan clamped the lid shut.
Stars began to twinkle above Logan's head as he stripped off his sweat jacket and folded it into a makeshift pillow. Like a mother hen guarding her chicks, Logan pulled the bags under his arm and lay beside them protectively. He had Moknay's dagger at his belt and Thromar's Reakthi sword at his hip; he would be ready if anyone tried to steal his stolen valuables.
Before he knew it, Logan had drifted off to sleep.
A cricket that had been chirping close by suddenly stopped, and the night was still. Awakened by the stopping of a noise rather than the noise itself, Logan awoke with a start. His hand leapt to the dagger in his belt and freed it, wincing as its blade chafed along the belt and made a noise that seemed to echo across the blackness of night. His contact-covered eyes pierced through the darkness easily, and Logan spotted a shadowy form slinking serpentlike from a protective tree trunk to hide behind a bush. The figure was unmistakably human, and that fact frightened Logan all the more.
Moving as quietly as he could, Logan shifted his legs, staying low to the ground in the hopes that he could meld in with the blackness. The stalker in the forest surfaced from behind its shielding of shrubbery and began moving toward Logan at a swift, loping gait. Triggered by fear, Logan jerked rigid, throwing his right arm forward and releasing the dagger. His water-cleansed eyes saw the stalker dodge to the left, a night-cloaked arm lashing upward and snatching the dagger out of mid-air. A stream of perspiration dribbled down the side of Logan's face as he went to withdraw his sword.
'Does this mean you don't want to keep it?' the night asked.
Logan peered through the blackness. 'Moknay?'
The almost-invisible Murderer crept closer to Logan, grinning insanely. He held Logan's dagger by the blade, pinched between his thumb and forefinger. 'I thought it might be you,' he said, ' but I wanted to get closer to be sure. Where did you learn to throw a dagger like that?'
'I didn't,' Logan responded. 'I just chucked the damn thing. Where's Thromar?'
'I thought you might know,' the Murderer replied. 'I had to leave town in a hurry, and, from the looks of things, so did you. Are you an outlaw in Santa Monica?'
'No way!' Logan cried. 'I just might be mistaken for one here!'
''Mistaken'?' Moknay repeated. 'Sparrill's finest are all outlaws, and proud of it! Bloody King Mediyan hasn't done a blasted thing about the Reakthi-lets them wander all over Denzil and Sparrill. The only thing that has kept the chestplated bastards out is the people themselves! That's why we keep the Guards out of Eadarus as well. Thromar himself is an outlaw. Branded a vigilante because he cared about Sparrill and had to bend a few of Mediyan's rules when he killed a Reakthi Imperator! And what does our fat ruler do? Thank him? No, he calls him an outlaw who has dared to take matters into his own hands!' Moknay snorted contemptuously. 'What does Mediyan know about taking matters into his own hands? He just sits on that fat ass of his back in Magdelon where the Reakthi menace hasn't spread… yet.'
Logan was silent as the anger drained out of the Murderer. Gradually, Moknay's grey eyes dimmed and he turned to face Logan, his expression one of extreme hatred. 'Are things as bad where you come from?' he queried.
Logan shrugged. 'Pretty much so. People fight one another in supposed times of peace, no one can afford anything with the way inflation keeps going up, lots of people need to steal just to eat, and a number of loonies go around butchering people because they have nothing better to do.' The young man caught himself, clamping a hand over his mouth while his eyes bugged out of his head. Stupid! He kicked himself mentally. You're talking to one of these loonies!
