The nights were growing cold, and this
brief respite was welcome.
Suddenly a man standing by the door turned toward him, growled
in mixed language at him. Strangely, Demo understood.
"Is he with you? What is he, and why does he loiter in the
shadows?"
They crowded through the open doorway, gazing southward to the
ravine he had so recently traversed. They stared fearfully
toward the shadows at the mountain's base.
A creature, perhaps a man, stood huge in the shadows. It
neither approached nor yet retreated. Even so, from it a
threatening aura seemed to radiate.
The watchers moved nervously, whispered low one to another.
"No, not with me," he responded
"Begone! We want not you, nor his kind. Return him his
treasures. "
The inn keeper reluctantly parted with the baubles he had
received. Two were missing. Demo started to argue, realized it
would be to no avail. Reluctantly he left the shelter.
"I know that creature! He has visited our village before. He
brings pestilence, death. Begone, the two of you, quickly!"
They gathered outside the structure. One reached down to pick
up a stone, then several others. Demo loosed his bow and they
quickly shuffled inside, cursing and threatening.
Demo continued north. He didn't look back. He knew well that he
was not alone.
His queries about Medusa led him now to one domain, now to
another. Time after time, each lead ended without location of
the fabled damsel.
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