The Watcher
				===========


     The grey-cloaked figure stood at the edge of a ghostly inn.  Grey mist
floated all around and insubstantial figures moved about in the inn.  He had 
been watching and listening for some time now, but here, floating in the 
ether, time meant little.  Occasionally he would emerge into the world he 
now watched, and enter as a regular bar patron, but most of the time he 
would watch, unseen.

     Only twice had he come close to being discovered.  The first 
time, when the shadow-walker had arrived, he had been fortunate enough to be
physically in the inn.  If not, the shadow-walker would have surely noticed 
him. 
The second time had been more harrowing.  Carefully he had watched the 
creature who called himself Dahvyn Gray.  Here was another who had seen other 
worlds.  Here also was a being far more powerful than the ethereal watcher.  
Carefully, he watched, searching for that elusive bit of knowledge he sought.
Still, Dahvyn's mental search caught him off guard.  Had he been in the prime 
material, he never would have seen it coming.  With speed only possible in 
the ether, he willed himself away from the prime material, hiding in the 
clouds of the deep ether as he waited for the search to pass, emerging only 
when he was sure the search was finished.  Such power!  If only he could do 
that, he would not have to waste the months of waiting.  Still, all the 
sources he had found had told him, if it's elusive knowledge you seek, go to 
the Dragon's Inn.  And so he had, silently observing everything, from 
whispered conversations in the corners of the bar, to the dramatic name 
change the bar underwent.  Still, no sign of what he was seeking...

***************************************************************************
Next Time:
The Watcher's patience is rewarded...
***************************************************************************