Cerebus has journeyed to Serrea, where he poses as a cloth merchant, knowing that the Borealans are forcibly recruiting mercenaries. With his money almost gone, he sprawls in an alley, drinking apricot brandy. A gem bounces into the alley (the previous owner died very suddenly). Intending to use the gem as his stake in a game of Diamondback, Cerebus goes in search of a tavern. He doesn't know (and never learns) that Death wants his Chaos Gem to fill out a collection. Death sends a demonic creature known as the Crawler, but Cerebus manages to defeat it. Seeing that he needs "a more malleable personality," Death plots an encounter between Cerebus and such an individual.
The next morning, Cerebus goes to the market, still in his merchant disguise. Suddenly, Elrod the Albino appears, literally bumping into Cerebus. The Earth-Pig takes an instant dislike to the pompous blowhard, little suspecting that Death has selected Elrod as his pawn. Cerebus tries to walk away, upon which Elrod challenges him to a duel. With one stroke, however, Elrod shatters his black (rusted, that is, as Cerebus thinks) blade Seersucker to bits against Cerebus' sword. Unabashed, Elrod proposes a partnership. A guard appears and orders them to cease loitering. Elrod declares them both to be "the mightiest swords in the Southlands," which leads to a fight. Elrod picks one guard and leaves the rest to Cerebus. Both are quickly overwhelmed and sent to Southgate Prison.
Chained to a wall next to Elrod, the aardvark quickly loses all patience. He puts everything he has into breaking his chains from the wall and then breaking the lock on the door. Elrod, at first skeptical, assumes that Cerebus will free him as well, then that he'll escape and bring help. Cerebus, of course, has no such plans; he crawls through the ventilation tunnels to the surface. Blaming his recent misfortunes on the gem, he drops it into a well, thus thwarting Death.
Dave Sim is a Canadian writer, artist and publisher, best known as the creator of Cerebus, a 6,000 page graphic novel first published in December 1977 and completed in March 2004. A Harvey and Eisner award-winning artist and writer, Sim is one of the most critically acclaimed creators in the history of the medium and a pioneer and advocate of self-publishing.
