Edge awoke with a start.
        The storm, whick had been ravaging the city of Thamasa for several 
days now, continued to rage.  Torrents of rain spilled into the muddy 
streets, gales of wind threw debris and wreckage about, and the thunder 
boomed across the countryside.
        The shutters to Edge's Inn room had been blown open, clapping 
loudly as they struck the wall.  Grumbling, Edge rolled out of bed and 
stalked across the chamber.  Reaching the fluttering shutters, Edge closed 
them and barred them anew.  "Bloody weather," he commented to the 
shutters.
        As he returned to his bed, he stumbled and fell to the floor.  Edge 
turned to grope for the offending object, and found it to be a small stool.  
Standing, Edge lifted the stool and, with a curse, threw it in no 
particular direction.  However, the offendind shutters stood in the stool's 
path, and the stool ripped through the closed window.  A flash of lightning 
brightened the room as rain and cold, bitter wind filled Edge's room.
        "Damn!"  Edge stalked over to his bed, ignoring the broken window.  
He leapt into bed, only to have it collapse from under him.  "Damn it to 
hell!"  Edge thrashed about in his sheets, shredding them in his 
frustration.
        It was then that a knock came from outside Edge's door.
        Carefully, Edge rolled out from under the sheets and over to his 
equipment.  Taking his pair of Catclaw, Edge silently slipped them on.  He 
then glided over to the door and asked, nonchalantly, "Who is it?"
        "An old friend," a quiet, humble voice came from outside, "May I 
come in?"
        Edge pondered the voice a few seconds and, not recognizing it, 
slowly opened the door and invited the figure inside.
        "Just a moment... sir?" Edge said to the figure, "I'll get us a 
light... then we can talk."  Edge reached for the oil lamp that sat on a 
nightstand.
        "No need," said the voice.  A pale, blue-white light radiated from 
the tip of the figure's index finger.  He lifted the light to his face.
        Edge blinked.  "You!"
        "Yes."  The figure stood almost as tall as Edge.  He had a weathered 
face, with streaks of long, white hair flowing from under his hat.  The man 
wore a baladrana, a long, thick cloak used for travelling.  Through his 
belt, the man had a beautiful sword almost five feet long with a shimmering 
golden blade.  His entire ensemble was the color of crimson.  "I've come 
back for you, Edge."
        Edge only stared at the man whom he hoped he would never have seen 
again... Cardia Lemieux, practicioner of forbidden Red Sorcery.
        "More specifically, Edge, I have come for the fragment of Orb that 
you promised me so long ago, in return for the restoration of your parents."
        Edge pondered this.  Cardia continued.
        "I have been travelling long, Edge.  It took me a long time to find 
you.  I hope that y efforts were not all for naught."
        Edge shrugged.  "I'm sorry, Cardia... I seem to have misplaced your 
Orb.  Perhaps if you return at a later date..."
        Cardia broke in, "Do NOT mock me, Ninja.  I can come and go as I 
please, at will.  I have travelled the currents of time and I know that you 
will not give the Orb to me.  You have reneged on our contract."
        "I don't recall making any contracts with you, Red Wizard.  It was 
merely a suggestion."  Edge grinned.  "I apologize for any inconvenience I 
may have caused you."  Edge bowed slightly to Cardia.
        Cardia growled, "It is no matter now.  There is little I can do 
about the Orb.  There is, however, something I can do about you.  I do not 
enjoy being betrayed..."
        Edge glanced about the room, looking for cover.  Not knowing what to 
expect from a Red Wizard left little opportunitites, especially in a 
practically empty Inn room.
        Edge stalled.  "Cardia, I have no wish to fight you... I haven't 
managed to get a good night's rest ever since this storm began.  AND, you 
have travelled a long way to find me.  We both need our rest."  Edge slid 
slowly across the room, edging his way to his equipment.
        "Agreed.  It would be pointless to dispute over something that 
neither of us has any power over."  Cardia tipped his hat over his eyes, and 
looked out at Edge from under its brim.
        "I am glad that we agree, Cardia."  Edge grinned under his mask.  
Reaching back into his backpack mounted on the wall, he withdrew a small 
Shuriken.  "I'll tell you what... I'll pay for your Inn room this evening, 
and we'll discuss the Orb in the morning over some coffee and eggs."
        "That is a reasonable offer."  Cardia reached into the folds of his 
cloak, and withdrew a handful of silver powder.
        "I'm glad we see eye to eye..." Edge's eyes narrowed and, with a 
flick of his wrist, sent the Shuriken hurtling toward Cardia at eye level.  
The Shuriken flashed in the darkness, becoming many.
        Cardia flung the silver powder into the air in front of him.  As the 
Shuriken passed through the cloud, they became rusted and flaked away into 
uselessness.
        Edge blinked.
        Cardia smiled.
        "Ah, my dear Edge," Cardia beamed, "I anticipated such tactics from 
you.  Time travel has many benefits.  For example..."  From under his cloak, 
Cardia withdrew a slim, metal wand about a foot long.  Grinning, Cardia 
uttered a strange word, and the wand glowed dimly.  "This device can render 
a man paralyzed for almost an hour.  The beauty of this item is the fact 
that it is non-magical, purely man-made... and completely functional in 
magic-dead worlds."
        Cardia pointed the wand at Edge and twisted the tip of it with his 
free hand.  A bright, blue mote of energy flared from the tip of the wand 
and hurtled toward Edge.
        Edge cartwheeled across the Inn room, and tumbled toward the 
window.  The star of energy dissipated as it hit the wall.
        Edge flipped to his feet, and glared at Cardia.  "State your 
business here, Cardia.  I have little patience for your toys."
        "Very well, Edge.  I have come strictly for retribution for 
your failure in retrieving the Orb that I seek."
        Edge raised his Catclaw in defiance.  "You shall not have it, 
Cardia."  As he spoke, Edge reached out with his mind, stretched to 
the people whose rooms were closest to his... Celes... and Rydia.
        <Run>, he dreamspoke, <Cardia has returned>
        Cardia stood to his full height, and stared the Ninja in the 
eyes.  "Oh, I WILL have it, Edge... and you are powerless to stop me."
        Edge leapt at Cardia, his foot extended.  Edge's foot 
connected with Cardia's chin.  Cardia fell back a step, and lifted a 
hand to his injury. Cardia's eyes seemed to fill with an unearthly 
light.  He glared at Edge, and laughed.
        Edge, taken aback by Cardia's reaction, leapt in for a flurry 
of punches and kicks.  He kicked Cadia in the stomach, then again 
across the face.  He followed through with a left-handed punch and a 
right-handed chop to the side of the neck.  He elbowed Cardia in the 
nose, and spun around for a spinning back fist.  Edge then flipped out 
of harm's way.
        Cardia merely stood there, unfazed.
        Edge gaped.
        "As you can see, Ninja, I have learned how to channel physical 
damage so that I am unaffected by it.  I believe that I have grown 
bored of our confrontation..."  With that, Cardia raised a hand and 
began to sing.
        Edge felt the notes of the strange song surround him, drag him 
down, as though a huge weight hung from his tunic.  He fell immobile.
        Cardia grinned.  He weaved his fingers and chanted, "Fire-X!"
        Two large serpents of flame sprung from Cardia's outstretched 
fingers, and spiraled toward the paralyzed body of Edge.  They coiled 
about him, burning flesh and clothing.  When the two serpents met, 
they exploded in a flash of light that seemed to fill the whole Inn.  
Edge was thrown through the wall of the Inn, and tumbled three stories 
to the ground.  Unable to cushion his fall, Edge landed with a sound 
thump in the mud and rocks.
        Cardia looked down at Edge from above, and through the storm 
he could see the panic in Edge's eyes.
        "No, Edge," Cardia called to him, "I will not kill you 
outright.  I will simply remove you from my life."  Cardia's fingers 
wove again.
        Edge reached out again with his thoughts.  He sensed no one 
about.  He was alone... and his only help was still in the Inn.
        Cardia raised both hands in triumph, and called to the 
heavens, "I call upon the greatest power to deliver this mortal to 
your realm... I call... XXXX!"
        A bright beam of pure golden-white light streaked to Earth 
from the heavens, engulfing Edge.
        Edge uttered a silent scream.
        When the light retreated to the skies, Edge was gone.
        A skinless carcass was all that remained.