Castaways on the Seas of Fate
a Gargoyles/Elric crossover by Black Blade (a.k.a. Eddie of Clan Winslow)

***NOTE: This fanfic takes place after "Future Tense" but before "The Gathering 
Part  1".  Therefore, my previous fanfic, "...Love and War" has not taken place.  It 
would help if you would got to the nearest bookstore and pick up "Sailor on the 
Seas of Fate" by Michael Moorcock.  This takes place before the Four who are 
One take on Agak and Gagak and after the ship picks up Elric.  As for legal 
jargon, Gargoyles is copyrighted by Disney and Buena Vista, Elric, Hawkmoon, 
Erekose, Corum, and all those other dudes on the ship are copyrighted by Michael 
Moorcock, and the Unloved is mine.  The man Shadow is also mine, in a 
way...um, Mercedes, how would that go?  My thanks goes out to all those dudes 
who emailed me during "...Love and War," and to Whitbourne, whom Mauser 
extends an honorary membership into the Outklaws to.  Thanks for the comments, 
Dylan!  Also, Mercedes and Sombrero I give mucho thanks to for their on-going 
support, and their father Steve for introducing me to Elric, and my buddy Kevin, 
who sold me the First Publication comics of Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon.  As  
for the content, let's see, Elric, Stormbringer, yep, there's some VIOLENCE in 
this fanfic.  Not much swearing, for once in my stories.  Oh, well. And a story 
without Brooklyn?  What's wrong with me?  Also, this answers the question, 
"How did they return to New York and why didn't we see the skiff?"   Heh heh 
heh.***

BROOKLYN: Previously, on Gargoyles...

TOM: I thought you understood, Elisa.  Avalon doesn't send you where you want 
to go, Avalon takes you where you need to be! (Show Elisa, Goliath, Bronx, and 
Angela poling away from the island in "Avalon: Part Three".)

ELISA: You threw everything in except King Arthur and the Holy Grail!
GOLIATH: Er...we haven't encountered the Grail yet.  (Show Elisa and Goliath 
arguing from "The Sentinel")

***

     Elisa yawned, stretched, and sat up at the stern of the skiff.  Goliath stood, a 
living statue at the bow, the only movement from him being the slight pull on the 
pole and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
     "Evening," she greeted the three gargoyles.  Bronx stepped cat-footed over to 
the human and nestled his head in her lap.  As she scratched him behind his ears, 
she glanced around.
     "'Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink,'" Goliath quoted solemnly, 
gazing down at her.
     "We haven't found sight of land since we woke up," Angela stared down into 
the depths of the water, her hand dragging, creating ripples that joined with the 
ones from the skiff.
     "That's odd," Elisa commented.  "You don't think Avalon sent us to the middle 
of an ocean without a reason?"
     Suddenly, the boat lurched, the bow beginning to sink.  Goliath's eyes widened 
in surprise as he struggled to regain his balance, only to trip and fall into the 
misty waters with a deafening splash. 
     "The skiff's sinking!" Angela cried in horror, standing.  Bronx mewed, slipping 
away from Elisa.  It didn't help that he tried to regain footing, for he clawed 
feverishly at the wooden bottom, creating long gouges.
     "Dammit!" Elisa reached and grabbed Goliath's arm as he threw himself over 
to the stern. "Angela, Bronx, over here!"
     "Put all the weight you can here!" Goliath explained, seeing Elisa's logic.
     "It's not working!" Angela retorted once she managed to pull the beast up.  The 
stern continued to rise, as if something tremendous was pulling down on the skiff. 
Ultimately, the skiff sank below the depths of the ocean, and its occupants 
struggled to remain afloat.
     They weren't in peril for long, however, when the figurehead of a large ancient 
frigate became visible.  A voice bounced off the waters.
     "Ahoy, castaways!" It called out in heavily accented English that sounded a 
little strange. "Require assistance, do you?"  The denizens of the ship didn't wait 
long for an answer, for a rope, then another, was thrown down to the three 
gargoyles and the human. Goliath grabbed hold of a frantic Bronx and tied one of 
the ropes around the dogoyle's waist and around his chest in a make-shift harness, 
then he and the two women scaled up the worn barnacle-encrusted side of the 
ship on the other.  The men above heaved up the rope tied to Bronx at an 
alarming rate.
     Once they were over, the drenched castaways stared at their saviors.  Men they 
were, most of warrior stock, a few actually sailors.  However, no man was alike 
here; Armor ranged so drastically like the size and shape of each warrior, and all 
seemed alien.
     And very few truly seemed afraid of the three gargoyles.
     "We thank you for rescuing us," Goliath broke the eerie silence.  "Our skiff 
sprung a leak--"
     "Your vessel was not earthly, gargoyle." A powerful yet soft voice interrupted 
him.  A large human, blind milk white eyes staring directly through the four, 
approached them, bearing blankets to dry themselves.  "Therefore I must ask you 
to explain your purpose."
     "We were sent by Avalon to places where we were needed.  Then, just before 
you rescued us, our skiff sank."  Goliath accepted the blankets with a nod and 
passed them to Elisa and Angela.  Bronx shook all access water off his great body 
and began sniffing around the deck.  "I cannot believe Avalon would drop us here 
in the middle of nowhere."
     "'The middle of nowhere' isn't the exact term I would use."  The blind man 
pulled out a vellum scroll from his fur robe and, passing it to the man on his right, 
a lank man almost as tall as Goliath with an eyepatch and a silver hand, too tight 
to be a gauntlet, he muttered something intangible to his companion, then 
returned his attention to the lavender male.  "The Seas of Fate, which you would 
refer to as the Mists of Avalon', are, in fact, the middle of everywhere."
     "Then how are you able to travel through here?" Elisa asked, curious.
     The bind man only smiled, as if he knew something they didn't, but said no 
more.
     "The captain is an enigmatic man," A voice from the left of Elisa smirked after 
the blind man returned to the helm.  Goliath, Elisa, and Angela turned to face a 
handsome, fairly muscled tall man in bright armor.  His blond hair tied back, they 
did not fail to notice the strange oblong scar upon his brow.  "He has taken all of 
us from different realms of the Multiverse for some reason or another."
     "And you are...?" Elisa asked.
     "Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of K”ln, milady," he bowed deeply.  "And you...?"
     "Elisa Maza, Detective, second class, 23rd precinct, NYPD," She grinned, 
holding out her hand as to shake his.  Hawkmoon surprised her as he took her 
hand gently and kissed the knuckles.
     "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Elisa," he smiled.  "And your friends...?"
     "I am Goliath," The large gargoyle stated bluntly.  "This is my daughter, 
Angela."
     "I've never encountered such unique creatures such as you before," he retorted.
"Not even in my travels to Amerak or Grandbretan."
     "We are gargoyles," Angela answered.
     The Duke of K”ln said nothing, only nodded.
     "Well, there is probably a man on this ship who knows of your kind 
somewhere." He finally broke his silence after a couple of minutes.  "I myself 
have only known the gargoyles to be the stone statues on the ancient buildings 
that were lucky to survive the Tragic Millennium. But you are flesh and blood!"  
The blond man scratched at he scar and called over the man with the silver hand.  
"Corum, have you ever heard of gargoyles?"
     The tall man glanced up from the scroll and studied Hawkmoon's face with a 
single eye, solid purple with a yellow iris.
     "Gargoyles?  Yes, of course.  Creatures of Chaos, so I've heard." The one-eyed 
man shrugged.  "Personally, I've never met one.  Although..." Corum strode up to 
Goliath and stole a gaze into his brown eyes, "You do not seem to be of the 
Chaos."
     Bronx, who was receiving loads of attention from Hawkmoon, suddenly 
bristled, growling at a figure who approached them.  Hawkmoon glanced over his 
shoulder and nodded toward the dark form.
     "Lo, Elric," he greeted.  "Seems our friend here doesn't like your blade either."
     "So it seems, friend Hawkmoon," The albino face of the newcomer scanned 
the three gargoyles and the human female, then directed to Goliath,  "The captain, 
it appears, has an interest in rescuing unfortunate 'heroes' for a price.  He has 
asked the three of you to his quarters in about an hour."
     "You seem to be the least curious about us, friend," Angela pointed out.
     "Aye, I know," The albino nodded.  "I've seen members of your race before, a 
dying race on my world, somewhat like my own. And you wouldn't call me 
'friend', if you know what is good for you."
     "Where are you from?" Elisa asked softly.
     "Melnibon‚." He answered bluntly.  "I am Elric, Emperor of the Ruby Throne 
and the Dragon Isle."
     "You are fae," Goliath stated as he noticed the albino's pointed ears.
     "I am mortal, though I have heard others of the New Kingdoms mistake me for 
fae." he smirked a humorless smile.
     Goliath left that at that.
     "What did he mean by rescuing us for a price?" Angela whispered to 
Hawkmoon, holding onto Bronx's neck so the beast would not bolt. Something 
was disturbing him; she just didn't know what.
     "Just that;" Hawkmoon muttered.  "He wishes our help, and, in return, he will 
return you to where you need to be."
     "Do you know what he wants for help?"
     He shook his head.
     "I know of our mission against the sibling wizards, Agak and Gagak; however, 
the captain did mention another evil."
     "Another evil?" Angela leaned forward, interested.  Hawkmoon sensed her 
eagerness for adventure and smirked.
     "Angela, my friend," he shook his head.  "You do not want to face much of the 
evil I encountered in my life, and this time may not be an exception."
     "I helped defeat the Archimage," she exclaimed, although she knew that the 
evil man was in fact the only true evil she had faced, and even then her father was 
the one to actually defeat him.
     "An Archimage, eh?  Please, tell me more of this man, and I will tell you of 
the evil I faced, King Huon of Grandbretan and Baron Meliadus of the Wolf to 
name a few."
     Angela recalled the battle on Avalon with the Archimage, using all the gory 
details. Bronx, calmed somewhat, settled between her and Hawkmoon, 
demanding attention.  Then Hawkmoon told her of his beautiful wife Yisselda, 
and his two children, whom, because of a strange quirk created by Lord 
Taragorm, a man he thought dead, he had inadvertently "killed" his family in 
return for his old friend and father-in-law, Count Brass, Lord  Guardian of 
Kamarg. Now he spent the rest of his days searching for the mystical city of 
Tanelorn, where he believed he would be reunited with his family.
     "Angela!" She heard her father shout over the din of the other sailors.
     Had an hour already pass s quickly, she wondered to herself as she asked her 
new friend to keep an eye over Bronx.  He agreed; more so, Bronx seemed to be 
content to stay with Hawkmoon anyway.
     As Goliath, Elisa, and Angela headed toward the bow to the captain's quarters, 
they failed to notice two humans sharing a wine flask.  Both were about the same 
height, the brown-haired one was thicker built and heavily bearded, the other was 
a little more lithe, clean shaven and white hair tied back in a braid.   One minute, 
the two were laughing, having a good time before the war, but suddenly, the 
white haired man, ageless in the face, stared intently at the three newcomers.
     "Erekos‰," he whispered, handing the skin back to his companion, "Have you 
seen those three strange ones before?"
     Erekos‰ squinted to the two gargoyles, for now Elisa was hidden behind Hown 
Serpent-tamer's sea-green-clad form, and shook his head.
     "Can't say that I had, er..." he snapped his fingers, realising he had forgotten 
the white-haired man's name.
     "Shadow." The smaller man reminded, trailing behind the three.
     Somehow, they seemed familiar with him.
     But, then again, it might be his psionic prowess acting up again.

***

     The blind captain seemed to be studying each of their faces, or rather through 
them and into their souls, as he gestured to the chairs in front of the table littered 
with various maps--one Elisa could swear was one of modern New York City, 
only the paper was ancient and yellowed.
     "Obviously, your Avalon sends you to where you need to be," he stroked his 
thick beard. "And, as much as I hoped my quest would not involve women 
fighting, the island must thought you were needed on my quest.  I had used this 
time to study the co-ordinates, and I found something you would like to hear."  He 
pulled out a rolled up map and unfurled it.  "This is a realm map.  I used what 
resources I had to plot our course to the sibling wizards Agak and Gagak.  In a 
few days, we are to sail through the Seas of Fate leading to your, ah, New York 
City, in the Common Era year 1996, around the middle of the summer."
     "You mean you'll take us home?" Elisa interjected.
     "Yes, Detective Maza," the captain bowed his head.  "But you and your friends 
must help with my quest first."
     "That is what that Elric fellow meant by how your rescues carry a price," 
Angela pointed out.
     "Like all captains, I require payment for passage.  Sometimes it is menial 
labor, others, like myself, require aide in vanquishing enemies of the Balance.  I 
know of your abilities, my friends, although I mean no insult, Detective, you are a 
formidable fighter, you should stay aboard, for you lack a weapon.  The 
gargoyles, however, are a different story.  Noble creatures, your sheer strength is 
almost equal to that of the Champion Eternal."
     "What is this quest you speak of?" Goliath demanded, tired of his flattery.
     "There are many parts to this quest of Balance.  This upcoming one which I 
ask you to participate in is not as dangerous as the four aspects of the Champion 
Eternal are to face in the near future, but it is still perilous."
     "I don't understand," Elisa shook her head.  "If you are sending this 'Eternal 
Champion' to battle a greater evil, then why do you have a need for us?  If you 
have confidence for this Champion...."
     "Yes, Detective, I do have confidence in the Eternal Champion, but, you see, 
you are on my ship and you did require assistance.  In return, I ask you--or rather, 
the gargoyles--to go on this mission with the Four...you've already met Three: 
Hawkmoon, Corum, and Elric, and there is a Fourth, Erekos‰.  They are to go to 
the realm of Middlemarch and retrieve an item that I require for a future purpose.  
Goliath and Angela, along with a lad who goes only by the name of Shadow, will 
join the Four.  Detective, you are free to roam the ship while your friends are on 
the quest."
     "What if we refuse?" Angela asked innocently.
     "What can I do, but lock you in the brig and release you in some unknown 
realm with no possible way to return to your...ah...Manhattan."
     Goliath rubbed his chin.
     "It seems we do not have much of a choice," he concluded. "Although I protest 
on leaving Elisa here...."
     "Ah, you don't trust these men?" The captain gave a wiry smile.  "I don't blame 
you. Some of this crew came with questionable backgrounds.  But, although I 
have weapons in storage, none are firearms."
     "It's called improvision." Elisa grinned, although there was little humor in it.  
"I'll take what I can get."
     "You are a strange woman, Detective," the captain stood and walked around 
his table. "But I will honor your request."  He came to a pantry, felt for the 
handle, and opened it.  Various weapons from various time periods, some not 
even of this realm, tumbled out onto the floor. "You have your choice."
     Elisa knelt beside the haphazard pile and cautiously picked through it.  Goliath 
stood over her, pondering if she should really go with the troop.  He had seen her 
fight hand to hand and with her nine millimeter, but never with any other weapon. 
The image of Elisa wielding any type of sword seemed a little too outlandish to 
actually conceive.
     "The irony of ironies," she muttered, holding up a loaded clip of nine-mm 
slugs.  "No firearms, but he has clips of ammo.  And me without my piece."  She 
snorted a quick laugh, and returned rummaging.  Finally, she settled on a wooden 
nightstick.
     "Does this bring back memories," she mumbled, practicing a few basic sweeps 
and blocks with the greatest of ease.  "And not a bit rusty."
     Goliath smiled at her stubbornness.
     The captain dismissed them a few minutes later, saying he had a few things to 
do before the ship docked.  The three returned to where Hawkmoon wrestled 
around with the large dogoyle playfully.
     "He's no different than the hounds I used to play with when I was a boy!" The 
blond man laughed as Bronx trotted back over to Goliath faithfully.
     Bronx woofed, jumping to lick Goliath's face.  The large gargoyle smiled 
broadly, knowing that soon, they would return home.
     "Hey there."
     The five turned to face a sixth, the man with the white hair and a long, thin 
blade strapped to his back.  His armor was ageless; he could have been from any 
point in Earth's history between the sixteenth century and infinitely into the 
future, for he wore a simple white tunic and black pants underneath a metal 
breastplate, arm and leg guards, and a leather shoulder guard on his left arm.  A 
black and orange bandanna held his hair from falling into his face.
     "They call me Shadow," he continued, directing it mostly to Goliath.  "You 
looked familiar to me; however, I cannot place your face.  Maybe you have seen 
me before...I've been to so many places and times, I have trouble remembering 
every detail."
     "You're voice does seem familiar, but I do not recall seeing you anywhere," 
Goliath pointed out truthfully.  "I'm--"
     "--Goliath," Shadow nodded.  "So I'm told."
     "By who?" Elisa questioned.  "Did you speak to the captain?"
     "I really have no need to 'speak' to anyone," Shadow tapped his forehead.  
"My... abilities...are too complex for even myself to fathom.  I 'find' things out, 
not intentionally, but..." the human shrugged.  "Enough about me."
     "You were one that the captain said was joining us to Middlemarch," Angela 
stated.  Shadow nodded, and smiled.
     "I know you," he softly whispered.  "Or maybe someone just like you.  It's hard 
to say." He leaned on the railing, looking out to the misty sea.  "I see a difficult 
journey ahead...we'll face an evil known as the Unloved.  Or is it evil...?" Shadow 
held his head.  "My mind flips out when we're between  worlds...it's sometimes 
very hard to make out what I see."
     "You are a seer, friend?" Hawkmoon asked.
     Shadow nodded slightly and stared out once again.
     "It'll take the form of friends, family, lovers, anything to gain control of souls," 
he white-haired man continued.  "And It'll protect the Grail at all costs."
     "The Grail?" Elisa gasped.  "You mean the Holy Grail?"
     "Yes," Shadow whispered.  "The captain has an upcoming quest dealing with 
King Arthur and the gargoyle Griff, and we need to retrieve the Grail to the 
captain, for what, I don't know..." He shook his head.  "There are stuff even I can't 
see."
     Goliath, Angela, and Elisa stared, curious.
     "How powerful are you?" Angela murmured.
     "Powerful enough to confuse memories for visions, and vise versa," Shadow 
sighed.  "I've not known my own memories for aeons."
     Angela was about to mention something, until a young voice up in the crow's 
nest shouted out, "Land Ho!"
     Almost all ran up to the bow to sight the hazy horizon, save for the man 
Shadow, and Bronx.
     Absently, Shadow patted the gargoyle's head and muttered, "I remember you, 
boy."
     Bronx wagged his tail and woofed in agreement. 

     Five loaded into the longboat and paddled to the shore about a thousand feet 
away.
     Angela with Bronx and Goliath with Elisa in his arms, took a more airborne 
approach as they glided above them, landing in the soft sand of the beach.
     "This is Middlemarch?" Elisa muttered, noting the grey bleakness to the sky.
     "Apparently so," Elric answered, hopping out of the longboat and wading the 
remaining ten feet.  "Legend has it this is where the Grey Lords reign."
     "Purgatory, if you may," Erekos‰ shrugged.
     Hawkmoon and Corum followed suit of their fellow Champion Eternal, 
although Shadow lagged behind somewhat.
     "The Unloved knows we're here," he whispered, pulling the longboat above the 
tideline.  "It's all around here."
     "If evil this 'Unloved' be," Hawkmoon mumbled, drawing his broadsword, 
"then evil It dies."
     "But I'm unsure of its intentions concerning us," Shadow protested, drawing 
his own sword nevertheless.  
     "Shadow's right," Goliath agreed.  "If we are unsure of its intentions, perhaps 
it's best to not provoke it unless it attacks."
     "It wouldn't harm being prepared, nonetheless, Goliath," Elric retorted, 
unsheathing an evil-looking wrought iron long sword with cryptic red runes 
carved into it.
     "Agreed," Corum drew his own blade.
     Erekos‰ , without a word, did the same.
     "Shadow, it seems that you have the most knowledge about what we are 
getting into," Corum remarked as he cautiously stepped toward the grassline.
     "That I probably do," Shadow mumbled unenthusiastically, taking the lead.  
"That's why the captain had me come with you: as knowledgeable as he is, he 
cannot guide you through here."
     "Makes perfect sense," Elisa commented.
     Shadow only nodded, knelt down, and took a piece a driftwood at his feet. 
Wrapping it with a piece of cloth from his pouch, he then doused it with kerosene 
from a flask hanging from his belt, then pulled out a Zippo lighter and sparked 
the torch alight.
     "Daybreak's will be in ten hours," Shadow then stated.
     "What happens at daybreak?" Erekos‰ demanded.
     "Gargoyles become stone in the sun's light," Elric explained.  "At least, that's 
how it is in my realm."
     "It is the same law for ours as well," Angela remarked as the eight--nine, 
including Bronx--waded through the grass, which soon blended into a thick but 
bleak conifer forest.
     "Goliath, listen," Elisa whispered.  They all silenced to hear what she was 
indicating.
     "I hear nothing," Hawkmoon muttered.
     "Exactly," Elisa nodded.  "No birds, no animals, no insects.  It's like noting but 
the plants are living."
     "The work of the Unloved," Shadow mumbled.
     "Are you sure?" Hawkmoon questioned.
     Shadow nodded sorrowfully and picked up the pace.  Bronx, sniffing at every 
tree but finding no scent anywhere that interested him, gave up his hobby and 
heeled unspoken to at the white-haired man's side.
     Suddenly, he stopped.  Pointing his long, thin blade to a clearing about two 
hundred feet ahead of them, he whispered one simple, solitary word:
     "There."
     "The captain's prize?" Erekos‰ demanded.
     Shadow stood rigid, his arm unmoving.
     And everyone saw her.
     To Elisa and Angela, she was just an ethereally beautiful woman in a black 
cloak staring at them with brooding green eyes.
     And, to each of the Champion Eternal, she had a name.
     "Ermizad," Erekos‰ spoke, barely a whisper.
     "Rhalina," Corum dropped his blade.
     "Yisselda," Hawkmoon smiled sadly, removing his helm.
     "Cymoril," Elric stared wide-eyed.
     Elisa was indifferent when each man muttered a name, but then realised what 
was going on when she witnessed Goliath ball up his fists and, eyes blazing 
white-hot, bellowed, "DEMONA!!!"
     "Goliath, no!" She held onto his arm.  "It's not Demona!  It's some sort 
of...illusion!"
     "She's the Unloved," Shadow whispered, relaxing his grip as he sheathed his 
sword.
     "What are you doing, boy?" Elric demanded, though unsure of Elisa's 
observation.  To him, the woman in the clearing was no doubt his dearest cousin 
and empress-to-be.  His blade Stormbringer, however, shared Shadow's comment 
as it moaned a song of warning.
     "Who are you, interlopers?" Demona demanded, at least to Goliath.
     The eight glanced at each other, silently trying to elect someone as their 
spokesperson.
     They chose Elric.
     "We are on a mission to aid the captain of the ship which sails the Seas of 
Fate," he answered.
     Cymoril nodded slightly, though the cold stare proved to be truly unloving as 
she shifted her gaze to Corum.
     "What is this mission?" Rhalina questioned the Vadhagh prince.  The 
single-eyed man absently scratched his eye-patch with his silver hand.
     "We seek a prize for the captain to aid in Balance," he answered.
     "And what is this prize?" Yisselda turned her head to Hawkmoon's direction.
     "A Grail of some sorts," the golden-armored man answered.
     "Would you take away my only means of comfort?" Ermizad asked Erekos‰ .
     "It is our mission, milady," Erekos‰ answered.
     "And what of me?" Demona demanded to Goliath.  "I should allow you to take 
it, and leave me with nothing to ease my pain?"
     Goliath could not answer.
     The Unloved beckoned them to come forward.  The four Eternal Champion 
and Goliath moved like zombies toward the clearing, with Angela, Elisa, and 
Shadow trailing with still wills of their own.
     "Why aren't you affected?" Angela whispered to the white-haired man.
     He gazed, downcast.
     "It was because of me she became the Unloved."His voice, low and sad, was 
heard only by the female gargoyle.  "She was once a Child of Light; her name was 
Arian.  We were lovers once, but I chose adventure over her, and left her in 
Middlemarch.  She had power, though, and cursed me with omniscience, causing 
me to lose hold of what was truly my memory."  He sighed.  "She the scorned 
love, and became the Unloved.  The love she ignored caused her pain, and only 
the Holy Grail could ease it."
     "Sad," Angela shook her head.
     "It is," he whispered.  "When she forgot how to love, she forgot about me."  
Shadow closed his eyes and held back tears.
     The Unloved, once the five other males entered the clearing, smiled coldly as 
she regarded each one.
     "None of you have what I need," the woman scoffed.  "I need something in 
return for the Grail, and none of you have anything of worth to me.  Not even the 
Melnibon‚an gold you carry, Elric, could sate me of my pain."  With those words, 
she raised her hand above her head and casted a rune in still air, the traced strokes 
glowed with unearthly power.  "You have come to take away what is mine 
without any means of payment.  I am insulted by your actions."
     "Arian, no!" Shadow's voice broke the uneasy silence.  "I will not allow you to 
destroy any longer because of me!"
     The Unloved glanced up at the white-haired man and laughed coldly.
     "Who are you, interloper?" She snarled.
     "I am Shadow, the man you once loved but because of my taste of adventure 
caused you to become this creature of darkness."  He advanced into the clearing.
     "What is your mission?" The Unloved continued, although her voice changed 
its tone.
     "I seek the Holy Grail for the King of Britain."
     "What do you bring in exchange for my only means of comfort?"
     Shadow slipped past the Four and Goliath.
     "I bring you in exchange myself."
     The Unloved laughed cruelly.
     "And why should I except you, mortal?" she demanded.
     "Because I love you," he answered simply.
     The Unloved stared at Shadow, her mouth open as if to say something, her 
hand in mid-stroke of finishing the rune.
     "No one loves the Unloved," she whispered.
     "And yet I do."
     The cold green eyes searched his dark orbs.
     And, as if spring would melt away the remains of winter, they warmed.
     She rushed into his awaiting arms, her cloak of darkness casted off to reveal 
her perfectly naked body of pure light.
     And as Erekos‰ watched, Ermizad vanished.
     And as Corum watched, Rhalina vanished.
     And as Elric watched, Cymoril vanished.
     And as Hawkmoon watched, Yisselda vanished.
     And as Goliath watched, Demona vanished.
     "What happened?" Erekos‰ demanded, holding his head in dull pain.
     "Sorcery," Goliath mumbled, his eyes once again returning to their normal 
dark brown.
     Arian who was no longer Unloved gazed momentarily at the other seven and 
waved her hand toward them.  Suspended in front of the party was a plain goblet, 
ageless in fashion.
     "In return for my love," she smiled, for the first time, warmly, "I grant you 
your captain's prize.  You are free to leave my glen."
     Elric, being the closest, took hold of the Grail after sheathing Stormbringer.  
As they turned away to head back to the ship, he asked the white-haired man, 
"Are you returning with us?"
     "I've found what I've been looking for, friend Elric," Shadow retorted, his eyes 
never leaving Arian's gaze.  "This was my purpose in this quest.  My part of the 
captain's bargain is finished, as he fulfilled his.  Goodbye."
     "Farewell, Shadow," Elric nodded, and headed with the others back to the 
shore.

***
Epilogue

     Vinnie turned the page of his recently-acquired Spawn comic, savoring the 
brightly-colored panels with almost boyish ecstasy.
     This new job as dock watchman was a cinch.  
     He yawned, stretched, then leaned back into his chair and turned the page 
again.
     A fog rolled in from the bay, thick and sudden.
     And then he saw it.
     It was like a ghost ship, an old-fashion frigate with full rigging.
     And it was docking.
     "Holy Mother of God," Vinnie whispered, dropping Spawn on the floor of his 
booth.
     He witnessed a gangplank lower onto the dock, an three humanoid figures 
descend down it, followed by a large beast of some sort.
     And, with that, Vinnie fainted.

     "Home!" Elisa cried as the ship that sails the Seas of Fate embarked back into 
the mists.  "New York, I love you!  I swear, I'll never leave you again!"
     Goliath chuckled, picking her up gently as he scaled the side of the storage 
house.  Angela stared in wonder at the skyline, her gaze finding the tallest 
building there, one with a castle perched high amongst the clouds, then she and 
Bronx followed her father's example.
     "Angela," Goliath smiled warmly, placing a hand on Elisa's shoulder and the 
other on his daughter's. "Welcome to our city."

***
THE END UNLESS YOU IMMEDIATELY GO TO YOUR COLLECTION OF 
GARG EPS  AND PUT IN "THE GATHERING: PART ONE" THIS INSTANT!  
Hope you enjoy this one.  I've got another idea fishing around with Elric, but it's 
still in the grey matter phase.  I know, I've been jumping around on my fanfic, but 
the way it looks like, I'm going to have to put "Gliding on the Winds of Time" on 
the back burner, for my next work looks like a little Clan Winslow action with a 
run-in with Nightstone Unlimited and everyone's favorite antichrist--I mean, 
geneticist.  Now, all we need is Thailog in gold Speedos singing "The Sword of 
Damocles"...ARGH!  And, along with a certain Jon Canmore, Eddie and Mauser 
are going to learn to play nicely with each other, or else they might end up on the 
Hunter's score card!  Stay tuned!

--Black Blade "My cosmic song goes on for eternity"