This comes right after Dibbka 9.

The chase lasted long into the night. The shades were untiring pursuers, and it was all Slate, Dibbka, and Kirsta could do to stay mounted and moving forward. Dibbka managed to cast an occasional light spell, but the sunbolt he had thrown earlier had drained him so that he could only keep the creatures at bay. Slate's sword was largely ineffective, serving only to temporarily scatter the monsters. Somehow, however, they managed to flee from the things, always staying a few steps ahead of them.

The rising of the morning sun was their salvation. The shades were blasted into nothingness as the first rays of morning light hit them. The three travelers fell from their magical steeds, exhausted from the night's harrying chase. As soon as they left the backs of their mounts, the horses once again shrunk to tiny size, nothing more than figurines once more. They almost fell asleep right there in the sand, which certainly would have been disasterous, but Kirsta found the strength the get their small shelter put up, and they all crawled inside.

None of them woke for hours. Halfway through the day, Slate lurched into a sitting position, sweat dripping from his body, the pendant glowing like blue fire on his chest. His sidden motion awoke the other two.

"What's wrong?" Kirsta asked, concern in her voice. "What is it?"

Slate wiped some of the sweat from his face with a shaking hand. "Apparently, this pendant doesn't protect my dreams from that thing. It was so real, I can still see it."

Dibbka tried to comfort his friend. "It was just a dream. It wasn't real."

"No," Slate said, shaking his head. "It seemed almost like a prophecy. Like it held the future in it..." Slate's voice trailed off.

Kirsta put her arms around Slate's bare chest. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Slate shook his head again. "No. No, I'll be alright."

Kirsta and Dibbka exchanged a worried look, but said nothing. All three then lay down and went back to sleep, trying to get what rest they could before they had to travel again.

As Slate was drifting back into slumber, his last thought was that the dream would be back.

***

Slate stood on a jagged spire of black rock, smoke and fumes rising up from below. The heat was stifling, and the air felt like it was made from sulfur and ash. He coughed, trying to clear his lungs, but to no avail. Tears streamed down his face as his eyes tried desparately to clean the dirt out of them. Then he heard the laugh.

Looking up, forcing his eyes open against the pain, he saw a great black shaped perched on another dark spire, looming above him. It threw back it's head and laughed again, a sound like a million voices screaming in unison. Huge dark wings unfolded from around the thing's body, and it's arms became visible. In one claw, it held a struggling blue buffalo. In the other was a young woman. The creature then locked it's eyes on Slate.

"You can't have them both." The monster's voice was worse than it's laugh, the sound of pain. "One of them is mine. Choose, slave."

"Who are you?"

"You're body is mine. After that, your soul." The demon screamed it's laughter once again.

"NO!" Slate screamed. "I WILL BE FREE OF YOU!"

With that, Slate flung himself at the creature, his sword appearing in his hands. The creature laughed one last time, then Slate drove his blade deep into its chest. The demon made a noise like steam escaping from a teapot, then it slumped to the black rock. As the noise faded away, Slate could hear two softer but ultimately more horrifying screams. Rushing to the precipice, Slate saw Dibbka and Kirsta falling into the eternal blackness. The last thing Slate heard before letting out his own deathly wail was Kirsta's final words as she plummetted into infinity.

"I love you..."

***

Slate woke to someone shaking him. He opened his eyes to see Dibbka kneeling over him.

"It's time to go. We should get started while it's still light."

Nodding, Slate rose to his feet and packed his things. Soon the three of them were trudging off into the distance. They decided to save the power of the magical steeds, in case a repeat of the previous night occurred. They walked steadily north as the sun set slowly over the horizon. As darkness overtook the desert, the hair on Slate's neck began to rise. Dibbka also noticed the strange presence.

The blue buffalo turned to the other two. "I think they're back."

No sooner had he uttered these words, then a shade seemed to rise out of the sand in front of them. It seemed to grin at them for a moment, then launched itself at Kirsta. Slate drew his sword and leapt in front of her, swinging at the creature. The blade passed through it, and the shade raked Slate's arm as it passed. His entire arm went numb, and his sword fell to the sand. Dibbka began to chant, and a barrier of white light surrounded them in a hemisphere.

"A spell from Caleb's book. It won't last long. Get the mounts ready." Dibbka's words were short and to the point.

The magical steeds were full size and waiting again in a few moments. The three mounted just as the barrier dimmed and went out. They took off, the shade just behind them. It let out a strange sort of keening wail, and then there were five more, all racing after the small party.

Once again, the night was harrowing and difficult, but they somehow survived until the morning. They were exhausted again, even more so than the previous day. They all slept through the day. This time, when Slate woke from the dream, Kirsta and Dibbka didn't even stir.

***

The nightly terror continued for almost a week. Every night the shades would come, and every night they would just barely avoid being caught. They became more and more exhausted, until they were barely able to stay mounted for the whole night. Slate got less and less sleep every night because of the dreams. Black circles formed under his eyes. Kirsta got more and more worried about him. Also, the moon was waning, and the black aura around Slate was growing. The amulet did indeed wane with the moon, and they all feared the coming new moon.

One evening as the sun slowly set, Dibbka brought up an interesting point.

"Those things could have killed us by now. We are so weakened that it would be easy for them to overwhelm us. Maybe they aren't being sent to kill us, but to destroy out spirit."

Slate just nodded grimly. He hadn't slept at all that day, and it showed in his weary face. Kirsta walked next to him, trying to help support him with an arm around his shoulders. He still hadn't told them the details of the dream, and hoped he would never have to.

Dibbka continued to think out loud. "Remember those zombie from so long ago? At the time, they reminded me of my brother, but I dismissed the worry, as I didn't think it possible for him to be here. But this continued attack on our morale, it just reeks of his evil."

Kirsta turned to look at Dibbka. "Who is your brother?"

"His name is Aah' Zaergo. He is an evil creature, a vampire, who constantly attacked my people in my homeland."

Kirsta looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, if you and Slate came here, isn't it possible that he did as well?"

Dibbka just nodded. "I fear you may be right. If you are, we could be in much more danger than we think."

***

After about a week of the torture, the wasteland began to give way to rocky ground. That night, they found the coast. Waves crashed up against the shore, which was made up of jagged rocks. The three all looked at one another.

Dibbka whistled softly. "Well, looks like we'll find out if those shades want us dead or not for sure now."

Slate squinted off into the distance over the water. He seemed barely able to keep his eyes open. He hadn't slept for two days straight now.

"We haven't lost yet. Let's go."

Slate began to urge his mount down toward the surf, but dibbka blocked his way. "What are you doing?"

"The mounts, they're magical, right? So maybe they can swim. It's our only chance."

Dibbka bakced off slightly. "Alright, I agree, there's no other choice, but be careful, okay?"

Nodding, Slate continued to the water. Kirsta started to follow, but Dibbka stopped her. "Let him be," Dibbka said softly. "He might just want some time alone."

A low wailing rose in the air, and then the shades were around them, circling slowly through the air. Dibbka began to chant a spell, readying himself for the attack. Kirsta closed her eyes and prayed.

"Down to the water, now!" Slate's shout startled the two of them, but they quickly followed.

Slate was ten yards out by now, swimming away from the land. "The mounts can swim. Let's go!"

For much of the night, they rode the swimming horses through the ocean water. The shades stayed away for the most part, seemingly unwilling to get near the water. They weren't sure why this was, but were grateful for the small respite.

Hours later, exhaustion and cold wearing away at their nerves, worry rose in all of their minds. What happened when the horses' time was up? None of them wanted to think about it.

Just as the sun was touching the horizon, signaling dawn, the horses shrank back to their miniature size. Knowing it was futile, but unwilling to give up, they began to swim as best they could. As Kirsta was sure her arms would give out and she would sink to her death, she saw it. There, on the horizon, coming toward them, was a ship.