"What I don't get is how that person's name sounds almost exactly like yours!" Rudy spoke. Cecilia shrugged.

Jack interjected, "No. Here's the confusing part: who the hell is Choraan?!"

Boomerang shrugged and replied, "I don't know, but, whoever he is, those two are terrified of him." He, Zed, Jane, and Noble Knight had returned to the throne room of the castle where Rudy, Cecilia, and Jack were waiting after questioning the boys. Alicia, Lucied, and Seph were also in the room, but they were staying out of the conversation.

"I think we should keep an eye on those two. They might be up to no good," Jane said. That seemed to be the only suggestion that everyone had agreed on. They then looked at Zed who had barely said two words since he arrived at Adlehyde.

Zed was leaning against a wall of the throne room balancing on one foot and looking down at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, for he toned out every word that the Dream Chasers said to him.

Cecilia asked, "What's wrong?"

Zed looked up at her, shook his head, and answered, "Nothing..."

Jack probed, "C'mon, Zed! Something is wrong. You're waaaaay less talkative today than usual."

Zed glared at him and practically yelled, "I said nothing's wrong!" With that he stormed out of the room.

Alicia spoke after he left, "He's been quiet all day. I can't figure it out. But, I could have sworn I heard him scream this morning..."

Boomerang walked toward the hallway that Zed had disappeared into and said, "I'll find him. I don't have anything else better to do, anyway!"

Noble Knight shrugged and announced heading out an opposite door, "I'm gonna find Steph and raid the kitchen."

Jane stated, "You just ate fifteen minutes ago!"

Noble Knight grinned and retorted, "Tell my stomach that."

The book appeared once more, this time, the pages turning forward. He found himself inside a castle not much different than Adlehyde castle. He saw Rudy, Jack, and Jane run by him. However, something was different about each of them. Jack's hair was shorter; Jane was holding a whip instead of her Hand Cannon or Uzi ARMs; and Rudy's hair was...purple?!?!

Zed shook his head to try and clear it. These could not be his friends! They were too different. "What the hell is going on?!" he growled.

The book materialized in front of him. The pages turned to the exact middle of the book.

Suddenly, there was a deafening roar and Zed saw himself again. This time, the image of himself was also with Boomerang, Noble Knight, and Alicia. The roar sounded again and there was a bright flash of golden light.

When Zed could see again, the images of himself and his friends had been replaced with images of people that looked almost exactly like them.

Alicia now wore light-weight armor and carried a javelin instead of her staff. Noble Knight's hair was blue as were her once jade green eyes. She also now carried a morning star instead of her gold-colored sword. Boomerang's armor was now blue, silver, and black with a black cape. Zed's image was exactly the same except that his eyes were now golden and he wielded two light-weight axes.

Pain suddenly flared in Zed's mind. His hands flew to his head and his knees buckled underneath him. The book appeared, yet again, the pages turning backwards again. Suddenly, as the book disappeared, Zed felt something go into him. His eyes growing wide with pain, he looked down at himself to see the blade of a sword protruding from his chest. He looked over his shoulder to see the other half of the sword sticking into his back all the way to the hilt. Unable to do anything else from the pain in his chest, his back, and also his head, Zed screamed, wishing out loud that the nightmare would end...

Zed snapped awake, screaming. He fell to his knees, his breathing labored and tears streaming down his face. Boomerang, having been the one who had awakened the swordsman, was instantly beside him. Zed looked up, slowly remembering what had happened.

After leaving the throne room, Zed had gone outside onto the balcony to try and gather his thoughts. He had been leaning against the balcony and had accidently fallen asleep, for he had not gotten very much sleep the night before.

"Are you okay?" Boomerang asked, helping Zed to his feet.

Zed replied, wiping the tears from his face, "I'm fine..."

Boomerang growled, "Damn it, Zed! I'm the one who never lets anyone know if I'm hurt or how I feel, so don't give me that crap! Now, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

Zed leaned against the balcony again and sighed, "Oh, alright...I've been having these really horrible nightmares lately..." He then proceeded to tell Boomerang about both of the dreams, not leaving out one detail.

Boomerang groaned after his 'brother' had finished, "Ouch..." He then grinned and teased, "I think you've been around Alicia too long." Boomerang just barely had time to dodge Zed's fist as he swung at the visored demon. "I'm kidding! I'M KIDDING!!"

Zed groaned and rubbed his eyes. He had had the first nightmare around four o'clock that morning and had been unable to get back to sleep. Now, it was around noon, and the green-haired demon was exhausted. However, every time he tried to get some sleep, another nightmare attacked him, each one more horrible than the last.

He let out a half-hearted laugh and said, "Well...maybe you are right..."

"About what?"

"Maybe Alicia's rubbing off on me..."

"Y'know...I had the most bizarre dream last night," Stephanie spoke. She and Noble Knight were in the cafe of Adlehyde, sitting at one of the dozens of tables. After its destruction two years ago, the cafe had been rebuilt twice its original size.

Noble Knight asked, "What was it about?"

Stephanie explained, "Well...I was eating a gigantic marshmallow...but...this morning when I woke up...my pillow was gone!" Noble Knight almost fell on the floor laughing. "I'm serious, NK! My pillow was gone!!" Noble Knight looked at her, still grinning.

The silver-haired warrior then teased, "Steph, you're never serious!!" Stephanie suddenly wrapped her fingers around Noble Knight's neck and began to squeeze. "AAAAACK!!!!"

"Hey! Don't kill each other, you two!" came a deep voice underneath the table at which the two girls sat.

Stephanie grinned sinisterly and retorted, trapping Noble Knight in a headlock, "Aw...NK knows I'd never hurt her, Seph! Don't 'ya, Silverbell?"

Noble Knight choked, "Steph! *hack* I can't *cough* breathe!!"

Stephanie retorted, "You're strong. You'll live." Noble Knight continued to choke and hack. Just then, Stephanie's vision went dark as someone covered her eyes.

She grinned as a boy's voice said from behind her, "Guess who."

Stephanie giggled, leaping up from her chair, "Matty!!" She spun around and hugged her boyfriend, Matt, releasing her hold on Noble Knight and giving the silver-haired warrior a chance to breathe.

As Noble Knight hacked and coughed, she felt a hand on her shoulder just as a familiar, deep voice asked her, "Are you okay?"

Before she could answer, another voice added, "Or does Boomer need to give 'ya CPR?"

"SHUT UP!!" Boomerang snapped. Zed burst out laughing, running away from his brother to avoid his retaliation. Noble Knight grinned. The offer that Zed had said for Boomerang was tempting, but she definitely was not going to say that out loud. Boomerang continued as he paused from chasing Zed, "I don't even know CPR!"

Zed retorted, "Sure, you do! Zeik taught you that time, remeeeeember?" With that, he bolted out of the building, laughing like a maniac.

Just then, a blue and silver, wolf-sized fox loped out from under the table that Noble Knight was still sitting at. Seph yawned and stretched, raking his retractable claws on the floor of the cafe. As he was stretching, another blue and silver wolf walked out from under the table.

Lucied barked and pounced on Boomerang. "AAAAUGH!" the demon yelled as he fell to the floor with Lucied on top of him, "Get off me!!" Unfortunately, he was not wearing his helmet which made it easier for Lucied to lick him to death.

After finally succeeding in getting Lucied off of him, Boomerang quickly climbed to his feet, wiped his face off with a napkin from the table, and said to Noble Knight, "We just got word that the Curan Abbey was attacked last night."

"Attacked?" Noble Knight repeated, standing up. Boomerang nodded. "Why would anyone want to attack a magic school?!"

Boomerang shrugged and continued, "My guess is that it might be for the same reason that those two boys were raiding the castle library. The De La Metalica. The attack was done by two people. When they escaped, one headed southwest near Milama and the other headed due south."

Stephanie, who had been listening to the whole conversation from across the room, asked, "Did the girls at the abbey give a description of the guys that attacked them?"

Boomerang shook his head and replied, "Only that they could only see their shadows. They couldn't make out any details, except one of the girls said that the one that headed southwest had something with him."

Seph yawned, "The De La Metalica."

"That's my guess...'course my guessing usually never proves right..." Boomerang responded. He looked at Noble Knight. "Cecilia wants you, Jack, Rudy, Stephanie, and Matt to check out Milama. She's sending Zed and me south."

Matt had to ask, "Exactly where south are you going?"

Boomerang answered, "Jane was at the Ship Graveyard last night when it happened and she didn't see anything suspicious. The only other thing due south is Baskar--"

Zed's voice cut him off. Zed yelled from outside the cafe, "C'mon! Enough briefing! The Sweet Candy's ready to go, now get yer ass out here!"

Boomerang growled, "I swear...I am going to kill him one of these days...C'mon, Lucied."

"I hate that guy..." Zed groaned as he and Boomerang walked back out of the chief's hut in the primitive village of Baskar, "His sayings always go way over my head..."

"Me too..." Boomerang agreed, "But...let's try what he said..."

Zed thought for a moment and then asked, "What did he say? I fell asleep."

Boomerang racked his brain to try and remember before finally answering, "'A shadowy figure came here the other night. Last night, it returned and headed northwest.' Let's try Mount Zenom--"

He was cut off when the bright pink bird in front of the hut began squawking, "Boomerang and Zed! *squawk* Twelve hours and twenty-two minutes! *squawk* Baskar!"

Zed looked at Boomerang and asked, "You want to, or should I?"

"Go ahead. I'm saving my strength for when, and if, we find that guy." Zed grinned, cracked his knuckles, and punched the Memory Bird, causing it to fly across the village, slamming into a hut, beak first.

"That felt TOO good!!"

"It's cold up here!!" Zed whispered, his teeth chattering and the blade of the Doom Bringer beginning to ice over.

Boomerang whispered, listening for any abnormal noises as the two demons and Lucied approached the summit of Mount Zenom, "Of course, it is! It's the tallest mountain on Filgaia, and it's the start of winter! What did you expect?"

Zed asked, ignoring Boomerang's retort, "What do we do if we find this guy?"

"Fight him. Besides, Noble Knight said that after she got through at Milama, she would head down here with Jane, Rudy, and Cecilia in the Gull Wing. She probably set off over two hours ago, seeing as how it took us six hours to get to Baskar by boat..." His voice trailed off as the trio came out of the last cavern and walked onto the snow-covered summit.

When Zed looked around, images of his first nightmare flashed in front of him. Images of the shadowy figure bounding away. Images of Lucied freeing herself from fallen rocks. Images of his brother falling to his death.

He shook his head to try and clear it. What if Alicia is rubbing off on me? his mind asked himself, What if this dream comes true?

Zed's thoughts were broken when Boomerang suddenly yelled, "SHIT!! LOOK OUT!!" Zed had just enough warning to leap to his left. When he looked back where he had previously been standing, he saw a long spear stuck in the ground. What really scared him, and even Boomerang, however, was the fact that the spear looked remarkably like Zeikfried's weapon, the Glumzamber.

There was a purplish-black streak between the two demons and the next thing that they knew, the spear was gone and there were two rays of dark energy skyrocketing toward them. Zed managed to dodge, but Boomerang was hit full in the face, causing him to reel backwards and stumble back into the cavern.

Lucied growled and leapt forward with her attack, Black Fang. Her fangs latched onto their attacker's shoulder, but he just swatted her aside, causing her to fly backwards and into a boulder. Zed took his turn to attack, assaulting the figure with every attack he knew from Garyu Ichimongiri to Higi Kajin- Eisatsu. However, none of his attacks seemed to do any lasting damage.

The shadowy figure that had attacked him and Boomerang was hard to see, for the sun was setting to the west and the sky was getting dark fast. Nevertheless, Zed could make out his silhouette, and he did not like what he saw.

Unless he was mistaken, the person that he was fighting was none other than the demon that he thought he had killed two years ago. Zeikfried.

Suddenly, Boomerang bolted forward, throwing the Sabre Fang at the figure. He first attacked with Boomerang Dynamic, then with Crescent Fang. Lucied cast Purple Electric Revised on the figure. However, the figure retaliated by casting its dark ray spell again, this time hitting a group of rocks over Lucied. The Guardian yelped as the boulders buried her.

Zed's heart skipped a beat. His nightmare was coming true! He and Boomerang were fighting a shadowy figure. Lucied was trapped under some rubble.

"N-No...this...this can't be happening..." he whispered, his eyes wide. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not see the beam of dark energy flying toward him until it hit him square in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, falling to his knees. "Damn...I've got to...remember...not to let my...guard down..." he groaned, climbing back to his feet, "AAAACK!!!!" Suddenly, Boomerang flew into him, sending both of them flying backwards into the mountainside to the left of the cavern entrance, just a little to the left of the remains of the statue of the Summit Guardian, Denogenos. The demons were left dangerously close to the cliff.

When Boomerang hit the mountainside, however, there was a loud, snapping sound. He screamed in pain and clapped a hand over his right arm. He quickly got back to his feet, his right arm hanging limp by his side. When he had slammed into the rock, the bone had been broken.

Zed shrieked and dove forward just as yet another beam of dark energy rocketed toward the demons. Boomerang, however, was hit full in the chest. He staggered backwards off of the cliff, but, by either fast reflexes or extremely good luck, he was able to grab hold of a protruding rock on the cliff with his left hand.

Zed gasped and ran toward his brother, forgetting about their attacker. The shadowy figure threw his spear at the green- haired swordsman, the spearhead slicing Zed's left arm and causing him to trip and fall face first into the snow. The figure laughed sinisterly, retrieved his spear, and bounded away just as Lucied finally freed herself from the rocks that had buried her.

Zed quickly got to his feet and dove forward to grab Boomerang's hand, but he was too late. Boomerang's grip on the cliff slipped and he plummeted to the ground far below. Unable to do anything else, Zed screamed in a mixture of pain, sorrow, and despair as he watched his brother fall, "BOOMER!!!!"

As Noble Knight, Rudy, Jane, Cecilia, and Seph made their way through the caverns of Mount Zenom, they all jumped when they heard a familiar voice scream, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Jane gasped, "Oh, my god! That was Zed!"

Seph spoke, "It came from the summit. We aren't far from him." Knowing that, the Dream Chasers bolted through the rest of the caverns.

When they finally reached the summit, they were fairly surprised to see Zed and Lucied sitting beside the drop off of the cliff. Boomerang, however, was no where to be seen. Zed had his back against a boulder, his arms wrapped around his knees, his head also resting on his knees. He was sobbing uncontrollably, and he kept repeating one word over and over again, "No...no..." Blood was pouring out of a deep wound in his left arm, but he paid it no heed.

Noble Knight knelt beside him and asked, "Zed? Are you alright?"

Zed did not look up. Her question merely bounced off of him and he continued sobbing. The other three Dream Chasers walked over to him and knelt beside him. Jane asked, "Where's Boomerang?"

This time, Zed answered, and none of the Dream Chasers liked the answer. He spoke, his voice barely audible, "He's...dead..."