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Subject: STORY: Darkworld Chapter 8 (scifi/fant)
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Date: 13 Dec 1995 13:43:50 -0500
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Here's part one of three of the files that compose Chapter 8 of this series.
(It's a long chapter in other words.)
[e-mail]: call and tell me what you think!

                                 Darkworld
                                Tale Eight
                               "Rusted Gold"
                             By Tony Figueroa
                                 4/18/95-


    Part One: The Fall of Shadowkeep

                              Dec 12th, Y2400

    Shliff made hacking coughs and dug his fingers into what he
hoped was dirt.  He couldn't see, but his vision was returning.
His fingers faded into view, and they were black with dirt.  The
red taint on them was from the blood he'd been coughing up.  Mist
that may have been steam was decreasingly rising about him.
Shadowkeep waited a few moments before trying to stand, and he
then got to his feet.
    A tower was in the distance.  Its being black against a
similarly colored sky didn't help in seeing it.  Everything
seemed to be black nowadays.  The color was beginning to make him
sick.  Even the trees around him looked tainted with the color.
Whoever you are, he thought.  I'm not giving you what you want
without a fight.
    Shadowkeep looked to the trees before him.  He searched his
soul and felt that his connection with Aclipsa was still
tangible.  I have nothing to gain here and everything to lose, he
told himself.  I'm not getting closer to home by standing here.
Shliff began walking into the forest.  Whatever happens happens.
    Walking in the forest, he felt he was travelling slower than
anytime in his life.  What are the chances, given the infinite
size of the multiverse, that I'm actually making progress?
Shliff told himself not to be pessimistic, but it couldn't be
helped.  This place could be felt tugging at his lifeforce.  The
atmosphere was like a school of carnivorous fish taking little
nips out of him at a steady pace as they swarmed around his
rapidly fatiguing body.

    The sheathed sword hit the stone floor.  Two gauntleted hands
belonging to the figure in ancient black platemail rested on the
hilt.  He raised his right arm, moving aside the purple cloak
draped around his armor.  "No, not yet," a voice said behind him.
    "Why not?  He is suitable." The black tassel set in the
helm's top shifted as the helm turned to look at the speaker
although this speaker had no physical form.  Two orange pits of
lights visible behind the slit in the helm flared impatiently.
    "Because I want to wait." Lightning crashed outside the Soul
Citadel.  Red tornados twisted about on the desert outside the
unimposing lightning-blackened tower beneath the lightless sky.
    "You said you would return me to Krynn when I gained you a
body.  Now, you delay me in this.  Why?"
    "Because it is my wish, Soth.  Because it is my wish."

                                   -----
                                 Dec 13th

    The room was the personal lounge of General Charles Cochise.
In it were seven other generals, representing the seven city
states.  Here, deep beneath the still devastated city state of
Relo, they heard the verdict of the delven nation known as
LarMoire.  This was concerning the attack on Grimalden but a few
days ago.
    "The word is," General Cochise told the group, "that LarMoire
has decided to commend the USD for its presence at Grimalden.
Our assistance in defending the city against the air forces of
the Lantartus Empire were duly noted."
    "What all of you are probably wondering," Cochise continued
from his comfy chair, "is why we were there.  Was it worth it?
The two alien fleets that descended upon us were the Jral and
Xakari.  The Jral attacked us, and the Xakari defended us.
Despite that, they were both after the same thing: three vatars
of the vazatari best known by the name of Doom.  The zareth
predicted this before the two fleets' arrivals.  The answer to
the question is: Yes, it was worth it.  The Doom Saints did come,
and they did almost cause whatever it was they were doing.  Due
to the CHU unit of 51st TDS Lt. Jake Phoenix, we have the
following footage." Cochise lifted a remote and clicked it which
turned on the viewscreen upon the room's back wall.  The video
footage showed a confrontation with one of the Doom Saints and
Lt. Phoenix, and the intervention of the Emperor of the Lantartus
Empire.
    "Apparently," Cochise continued,"Emperor Coretaine saved our
asses in a major way.  This video is our first visual
documentation of the Emperor.  We now know what he looks like and
what is probably his name.  The Doom Saint called him Azcarti,
and right now, we have researchers looking into any meaning that
name may have."
    "However," Cochise said, "our major concern is the Jral fleet
which did not return to its home dimension but fled this star
system.  They are expected back." The General took a bite out the
snack at his side.  "The portal that was above our world is their
only way back, and they have no way of knowing that the portal
has closed." The almost balding slightly overweight General loved
his snacks.  General Mechete shifted uneasily as he watched
Cochise consume what appeared to be a cream-filled pastry with a
sausage stuck in it which was exactly what it was. "Due to the
opposing dimensional magnetic charge of the Jral's home universe,
our weapons cannot touch them although the speed of their beam
weapons allow them to touch us.  Camala here has a suggestion."
    Camala smiled at the assembly of Generals before her. "To put
it simply, what you call physics works differently where I come
from.  We've been working hard to find a solution to the problem,
and we've come up with one.  As you can see, I'm sitting here
perfectly normally.  That is because I'm wearing a specially
lined suit that tones down the opposing forces in my body and
this chair of your dimension.  Those from my dimension have been
to this one before which is why we have this technology, but
we've never thought of reverse engineering it, allowing you to
function normally with us.  The 1st House, the House I belong to
I'm proud to say, has developed a possible answer: an energy
field that will convert all particles within to equivalent
particles compatible with that of the Quor.  I'll explain that.
The Quor is our word for dimension, thus, we'll simply use it as
the name of my dimension.  This process has proven to be
reversible, but as we just started experimenting with it
yesterday, we won't know of any side effects for some time.  This
is my offer to you in return for alliance and what you can offer
us."
    The generals sat in deep thought as the information sank in.
    "There is one other possibility," Camala said.  "As you have
been able to open a portal to Quor since the one we came through
collapsed, we could attempt to bring over more of our vessels to
defend your world.  I doubt the Jral have the equipment or allies
on this side to make any kind of similar move."
    "Now, that sounds like it has possibilities," General Mechete
said.
    "How about we try both," Cochise suggested.

                                   -----
                              Dec 17th, Y2400

    Today was his birthday.  That fact had great irony to it, but
he had only the humor left to slightly grin at the thought.  It
felt like he'd been walking forever.  The only water Shliff had
drunk in the last five days had been rain water he'd caught with
his cupped hands and mouth.  He'd lost most of that when he tried
to eat.  The only edible-looking things he'd encountered were
dismal trees with puffy green fruit.  He'd taken one bite and
within minutes Shliff was puking his guts out.  The water loss
from that may have been greater than all he'd had to drink since
his arrival in this hell.
    The plants weren't edible.  He'd seen no wildlife except
insects, and eating them didn't seem like a particularly good
idea.  The atmosphere was poison as were the plants.  That the
water had been fine was his only blessing.  Then again, perhaps
death would be kinder.  Something brought him here for a purpose,
and chances were it wasn't going to be anything pleasant.
    Now, there were lights up ahead.  He'd think it was evening,
but this realm had no days or nights, only this eternal twilight.
Shliff heard a voice.  It was getting harder to think.  People
were there.  In his delirium, he saw the town approach him.  The
voices grew louder, and hands reached out to him as the world
span and darkened.

                                   -----
                                 Dec 18th

    Today was Dark Heart's birthday.  There was an atmosphere of
sadness over the air.  Reconstruction of the devastated city
states continued.  Most of Relo's population had been moved to
Cidaluz.  People everywhere still mourned for the dead, victims
of the Jral attack.  Dark Heart had no really close friends here.
The only being he'd been close to was Shadowkeep, a victim of
mysterious circumstances.  The 51st TDS wasn't a very fun place
currently.  Dark Heart spent some time with Jake the Jackhammer
and  his wife, Carla.  He also hung around Shliff's wife,
Aclipsa, for a while.  At the end of a day of doing nothing, he
decided that the best present he could give himself was to return
to his home outside of Chicago on Primearth where a bed of gold
and other looted treasures awaited his natural dragon form to
spread across it and slumber peacefully.

                                   -----
                         Dec 20th, Y2400, morning

    Captain Richard Kitimar sat behind his desk.  Two chairs and
a couch across from him also occupied the room.  A flickering
light above was aided by a lamp on the captain's desk.
Decoration was solely represented by pictures commemorating
Kitimar's rank advancements.  It was a small office, but the 51st
TDS was sharing the same building with the 47th TDS now that they
had been relocated to Cidaluz.  It was one of the four city
states not in a state of reconstruction.  Currently, he was
allocating the 51st's funds.  His glasses lay to the side of his
work as he was nearsighted rather than farsighted.
    The door opened.  Kitimar's left eyebrow twitched.  He liked
people to knock.  Rather than admonish her, he slid on his
glasses.  The lady was a young redhead with curly shoulder-length
hair in a pink dress with white frills.  At 5'11", she wasn't
short but could in no way be considered tall especially when some
in the military were twelve-feet tall.  They weren't human of
course but neither was she, however; that couldn't be given away
by appearances.
    "You asked for me?" She said.  Not a 'sir', a 'reporting for
duty', or a pleasant tone of voice was given.  He'd expected
this.
    "1st Sergeant Barako Yamazaki?" He asked.  She smugly nodded,
and sat down in the couch. "You've been placed under my direct
command.  I have an assignment for you.  The 51st TDS has been a
constant source of trouble.  I expect that at least one among
them may be treasonous.  You will infiltrate the 51st TDS and
report back to me on anything even the slightest bit treasonous.
This includes any plotting against superior officers to
disobeying orders.  As of now, you are on their roster.  I want
your reports everyday by noon."
    She closed her eyes and sighed.  It was time for her left
eyebrow to twitch. "I've been reduced to snitch?!" An aggravated
vein in her forehead became prominent.
    "You have been made part of the 51st TDS but are also to
serve as an agent to help me root out those who don't belong in
the USD military."
    "Can I decline?  I'm not trained for snitching, and this
sounds rather boring."
    "You're to perform all duties expected of a Tactical Defense
Squadron.  That is hardly boring.  And no, you can't decline.
Someone with your record is not someone who should be declining
assignments.  I'd think you'd want to get some good commendations
on your record."
    "What about my record?!"
    Kitimar picked up a folder and opened it. "You nearly
destroyed our relations with Hartika three weeks ago.  You
engaged their forces in combat and killed 1,600 people on their
side.  This cost one of your own team members her life.  How
about the fact that your career has cost the USD a total of 376
billion dollars?  There are also accounts of you disobeying
direct orders several times.  Three times these orders came from
generals and twice from Blackwood."
    "What about my missions that allowed the capture of seven ECS
jungle bases?  Those were solo missions!  I've also brought in 23
international felons from the most wanted files.  I almost had
that iceman Hitlist tracked down when I received your message.
Ninety-five percent of my missions have been successful!  That's
hardly a bad record."
    "That's why you're still here.  Your record is why I chose
you.  You're a good soldier, and I'm giving you a chance to get
rid of some of the black marks on your record."
    "All right, I can do this.  No problem.  Now what is it I do
first?"
    "There's been a room assigned to you in the barracks.  Move
in and meet your comrades.  You're in the 51st."
    "All right, bye."  Barako stood and turned to leave.
    "And by the way, Sergeant.  You're out of uniform."
    The clock struck noon.

                                   -----
                             Dec 20th, 2:13 PM

    In the lobby of the 51st, Raula Cruze and Aclipsa were
sitting on the couch and watching TV. "Rex Deathkiller will be
right back after these messages.  Has one of your loved ones died
and turned undead?  Do you have trouble keeping your fridge
stocked with raw brains?  We have the solution for you!  Call . .
.. "
    "I'm still not sure I understood that season finale episode
of Hellrose Place from last night," Aclipsa said.  She sat to the
right of Raula, and was dressed in a black mini-skirt and a blue
mesh top over a black bra.  Black leggings and boots were the
rest of her attire.  It strangely suited her golden skin and
waist length violet-black hair.
    "It's simple," Raula explained.  She'd chosen to color her
hair green for today.  Her plain pocketed red jumpsuit seemed
rather conservative next to her company. "Kelly summoned a demon,
and it killed off half of the cast which had wronged her and
probably would have done the same to her.  She's then felt
remorseful and turned herself in to the police."
    "Why?"
    "Because she was feeling remorseful."
    "Why?  That's what I don't understand."
    "She caused three people to die by summoning a demon."
    "But they'd wronged her."
    "But she killed them."
    The sheltered necromancer drew a blank trying to uncover the
meaning of Raula's explanation.  The obvious didn't make sense.
Had she been watching a show about weaklings?  Was she talking to
one now?
    "So," Aclipsa said. "She felt bad because her victims used to
be her friends?"
    "No, she . . . " Raula's words trailed off as someone entered
from the north entrance.  Barako was still wearing her pink dress
and was carrying a bag over her shoulder that must have weighed
twice what she weighed.  She was dragging another bag behind her.
At that moment, Jake entered from the south hallway followed by
Carla.  They were easy to identify, Jake in black BDU and Carla
in a red jumpsuit.
    From the west hallway, Baran and Bill, the swarkavian hunter,
came into the lobby.  Baran was dressed in his favorite bluegrey
outfit with matching cloak hanging from his shoulders while Bill
was wearing a ferocious combination of mesh and armor plating.
    Kum Lei left her room, the door of which opened directly into
what served as the lobby (Chris was still unconscious from the
previous night).  Her hair wasn't in the best shape, but the
rather immodest nightie she was wearing could easily have been
meant to assure nobody would look above her shoulders. "What is
this?" Kum Lei asked. "Grand Central Station?"
    A tiny British man entered and said, "What are all these
people doing here?" A small blue elf ate him.  Nevermind.
    The redhead dragging her bags into the lobby looked up at
everyone, dropped her bags, and struck a pose. "Hello, everyone.
I'm Barako Yamazaki, and I'm in the 51st now." Her sparkling
green eyes created an aura of disgusting cuteness for a brief
moment. "If there are any questions, 37-23-34.  All umarried
males may apply at their own risk."
    Aclipsa eyed her coldly.  Raula and Carla thought: A-ha, a
bimbo.  Jake and Baran thought: A-ha, a cute bimbo.  Razner
entered with a donut in his mouth.  Upon seeing her, he stared
blankly, and the donut began hanging from his lower lip.  Kum Lei
thought: What about girls?
    "Where's room 313?" Barako asked.
    "I'm staying in that room," Aclipsa said, narrowing her
lavender eyes to slits.
    "Well, fine," Barako said. "This is just great." She dropped
her bags by the CV that Raula and Aclipsa were watching. "I'll
leave my stuff here until someone figures this mess out."

    Baran and Bill were about to go on about their way when a
female form dashed up behind them.  She wrapped her arms around
his shoulders from behind.
    "Hello, Rachael," Baran said, twisting around to face his
fiance.
    "Don't go," Rachael Anderson pleaded to him.  Their love was
fresh, and his going out on assignment already didn't appeal to
either of them very much.  Staying here with his fiance was much
more appealing.  Right now, the appearance-shifter was wearing
his favorite face, her own, which made telling her "no" all the
more difficult.  The lovely face, surrounded by white hair that
had silver lines through it, was looking at him with those watery
eyes of hers in an attempt to unnerve him.
    "This nation is in shambles right now.  I have a duty to
perform.  I'll be back three days tops.  You can wait that long
can't you, Rosebud?"
    "Well, you know me," she said offhandedly. "And don't call me
that in front of everyone," she whispered, kicking Baran in the
shin.
    "Yeah, I know.  Don't follow me this time, OK?"
    "Would I do a thing like that?"
    Everyone in the room turned around: "Yes!"
    "No problem.  Just give me a kiss before you leave," Rachael
said.  The two hugged closer and kissed each other deeply.
    "What about me?" Bill asked.
    As Bill was a swarkavian hunter, he was eight feet of green-
skinned muscle.  His thick black hair hung from his head in
dreadlocks, and his fanged-mouth was covered by a pair of sharp
mandibles.  Bill's forehead was sloped back and surrounded by a
ring of spikes.  This wasn't something Rachael wanted to kiss.
    "I don't see a matching ring on your finger, mister," Rachael
told the swarkavian as she indicated the ring on her own finger.
Baran started forward.
    "Come on Bill," the ronan said.
    "I'm on my way," the swarkavian replied.

    "Come back safely," Carla told Jake.
    "I've always come back before."
    "There's room for improvement on the conditions you've
returned in."
    "This is a diplomatic mission.  There shouldn't be any combat
involved.  I'm actually looking forward to this.  Getting us
another ally on Primearth would be very good, especially since
the Allied Human States have been becoming hostile towards the
other civilizations on the North American continent."
    "Didn't you say you don't know the first thing about
diplomacy."
    "Yes, I don't.  I have a bad feeling about being chosen to
lead this mission.  I don't trust the Captain at all.  It seems
like this team was chosen to fail.  I'm not a diplomat.  I'm a
soldier.  I tried talking him out of it, but he told me to deal
with it.  That's what I'm going to do." Jake raised a clenched
fist melodramatically. "If he really is trying to make this
mission fail, succeeding is the best thing I can do to get back
at him."
    "OK, I get the picture," Carla said. "You'd better hurry.
Shaun left ten minutes ago."
    "Just do one thing for me, OK?  Take care of things here for
me while I'm gone." Jake then lowered his voice. "And for Shliff
too."
    "You mean look after Aclipsa?" Carla replied in hushed tone.
    "Yeah, she's still like a complete alien here.  I've known
Shliff for a long time, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to
her that could've been prevented."
    "She gives me the creeps."
    "Me too, but do it for my friend's sake.  Anyway," Jake
kissed her. "I'll be back in a few days." He hurried on his way.

    Barako smiled.  She could hear every word said within
proximity of this lobby with the special microphone she'd put in
her ear before arriving.  Baran and Bill left the room followed
immediately by Jake.  Carla returned to her room.
    Kum Lei was somewhat interested in this new team member,
Barako. "So, what is it you do?" Kum Lei asked her.
    Barako smiled. "Whatever is necessary."
    "OK, well, I'm off to the gym.  I'll see you guys later." Kum
Lei closed the door to her room behind her and left the lobby.
She didn't much care for Barako's avoiding an innocent question.

    Razner couldn't believe it was really her.  This seemed like
some kind of nightmare.  Then again, she was really good-looking.
This was the woman who had crashed a spacecraft into the sacred
Cathedral of the Seasons when he'd been in training there four
years ago.  She was very powerful and prone to temper flares.
What she was he had no clue.  She was definitely alien, perhaps a
kind of sorceress.  Whatever Barako was, she worried him.  Maybe
it was fear of the unknown, but it could easily be a desire to
not be on the receiving end of her displeasure.
    "Hmmm . . .  you look familiar," Barako said, eyeing Razner
who was in jeans and a "Miyazaki Forever" t-shirt.  He had just
managed to grab a hold of his donut again.
    Razner dropped his donut. "Uhh, yes, we met a few years ago.
Remember, you crashed your ship into the Cathedral of the
Seasons."
    "Yes, that's right." She suddenly took on a serious look. "I
remember that quite clearly." She got a misty look in her eyes
and took on a somber voice. "The Ares Alliance shot us down.  We
never stood a chance." An anger began to surface in her.
    Razner was about to speak but looked at her expression and
realized that saying anything would be like throwing oneself on
an electric fence.
    The expression faded from her, and she instantly became more
sociable. "So, when did you join the military?"
    "Just this January.  What about you?"
    "Three years ago.  When I figured I was stuck on this planet.
I sought out the most advanced civilization, and this was it.  I
thought that by joining I could eventually maybe get transported
back home, but I realized some time ago that this is where I want
to be.  At least, I thought that."
    "Right now," Barako continued to speak. "I need a room to
stay in.  Could I maybe put my bags in your room?  I need to go
speak to the Captain about my room."
    "Uh, sure," Razner replied.
    "Good, I'll be back later." Barako turned and left.  Her gait
was more like a march into battle than a walk down the hall.
    "Bye," Razner said.  He then looked to the ground where
Barako's bags lay piled by the CV that Aclipsa and Raula were
engrossed in.  Great, I guess I'm supposed to move those.

                                   -----

    On the first floor of the barracks, Jake stopped to make sure
someone had gotten up on time.  Once at the door, he gave it the
old "shave and a haircut" knock and flinched as something that
sounded like a cat being stepped on hit his ears.  "Nina, you're
going to be late," Jake hollered through the door.  What opened
the door was a 5'5" woman with large blonde hair and 3" cat ears
on top of her head.   She hissed unpleasantly and looked very
much like a non-morning person.  What she was dressed in was
whatever it was she went to sleep in but in worse condition.
    "Well," she said. "If we're going to be working together, we
might as well get acquainted.  How about stepping inside for a
quickie?"
    Jake coughed nervously. "Someone already took care of that
this morning for me.  Thanks anyway."
    Still sleepy, she waited a second for the reply to sink in.
"If you say so.  Just a moment," Nina said and closed the door.
    She then opened the door before two seconds had elapsed and
was in full uniform. "Let's go," she said happily and walked past
Jake.
    "How did you do that?"
    "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

                                   -----

    "That room is officially unoccupied," Kitimar said to the
lady standing before his desk. "Sergeant Shadowkeep is MIA, so
you may move his belongings to a storage facility at your
discretion.  Aclipsa Fatala has no right to that room."
    "So," Barako said. "What you're saying is that if I want a
room, I have to kick her out?"
    "Basically, yes but don't worry about that.  I'll take care
of that."
    "That's not really necessary.  I can find another room."
    Kitimar held up his hands in an "if you say so" gesture.  "I
do have an assignment for you, Sergeant." The Captain slid a
picture across the desk to Barako.
    "What is this?" The picture was a drawing of a very ornate
golden-tipped spear.
    "That is the Lifespear.  It is in Sergeant Shadowkeep's room.
I would like that brought to me as you soon as you get around to
it.  It is an evil instrument and should be properly contained."
    "Do you have a key to the room?"
    "I gave you a key when I assigned the room to you.  Didn't
I?"
    "Oh yeah, nevermind.  Will that be all then?"
    "Yes," Kitimar said, annoyed at not being properly addressed.
    Barako walked to the door. "Ta ta," she said and then left.
    There's no wondering why she never made officer ranking, the
captain thought to himself.

                                   -----


    Kum Lei wrapped the hands of her top two arms around the bar
closest to her head and her other two hands around the other bar.
She shoved upwards against the hydraulic press.  It was heavy,
but she straightened out her arms all the way up without
exertion.  It had been just to test how the machine was working.
Kum Lei lowered the bars and set the weight to a more appropriate
weight of seven tons.  She adjusted herself and unfurled her
wingspan a tad, so she wouldn't be pressing so hard against her
bat-like wings when she resumed her exercise.  Moving her auburn
hair, so it wouldn't get caught in the mechanism was also a
priority.
    Activity in the gym was fairly low.  It was a somewhat small
facility within the barracks on the first floor, but it was
sufficient for those who used it.  The floor space it occupied
was a decent 2000 square feet (a 50x40 room) which was more than
enough for the number of people who used it at any given time.
Larger and more versatile facilities were available within
walking distance.
    The machine Kum Lei was using was a fairly unique device in
that it was designed for someone with four arms.  She was pretty
much alone in the gym.  Only three other people were there, but
that soon changed as another walked in.
    The baggy grey sweatshirt and pants were a new look for the
golden-skinned and black-violet haired gryntif. "So, this is what
high-tech has to offer for working out," Aclipsa said.

                                   -----

    The hallway was empty, and so Barako shoved the key in the
hole and moved inside.  With a flick of the switch she was
greeted to a strange mixture of dismal and uplifting decorations.
This sure must have been an interesting guy, Barako thought.
Various firearms were on the wall, a suit of chainmail was draped
over the desk chair, and a fancy-looking sword was resting on top
of the dresser.  Now where's that spear?
    It wasn't in the dresser.  It wasn't around the desk.  There
was nothing under the mattress except a few issues of Playdead.
Wow, the 13th anniversary issue.  I don't have that one.  Barako
checked the shower next.  Alright!  Towels!  There was water in
the toilet.  What are these three seashells doing here?  Nothing
was under the sink.  I haven't checked this bookshelf yet.  Let's
see.  "Death: A three-step recovery program," she read the title
to herself, not able to fathom why.

                                   -----

    Aclipsa wouldn't have known what to do with the weight
lifting equipment if someone hadn't been there to show her, but
Kum Lei was the kind of seventeen year old 7'6" four-armed bat-
winged person who didn't mind showing a newcomer the ropes, she
herself not coming from the most technologically advanced of
worlds herself.
    "As it is, I'll probably never see that world again," Kum Lei
told Aclipsa as the gryntif was getting the hang of adjusting the
machine's pressure herself. "It's in another dimension or
universe.  I don't know how I got to this world, and it's
unlikely I could find way back to Caraxxis." Realizing that who
she was talking to was someone who didn't appear to have much
experience with travelling to different realities, Kum Lei
paused. "Do you understand what I'm talking about?"
     "I've read about different dimensions, but no, I've never
been to one," Aclipsa said.
     "I doubt I'd return to my own given the chance.  I miss my
friends and family, but my life is here now."
     "I have no family.  My father was a delf.  He was a
necromancer and killed by the locals.  My mother was an elf and
died of the affliction before I was of age.  I had one friend.
His name was the human word 'Nightmare.' I don't know where he's
gone to.  Much like I don't know where Shliff has gone to."
     The look on her face caught Kum Lei's pity. "Well, if you
need a friend, you can talk to me sometime."
     Aclipsa didn't answer back immediately but continued
lifting. "How did you come to join this military?"
     "Well, after I appeared on this world, I needed a way to
survive.  I did various things for a time, and I was bothered by
many because of my appearance.  My first meeting with  Blackwood
didn't go well.  Eventually, I realized that my abilities could
be applied quite well to the military.  It was a way for
employment, and a ticket out of being considered unusual.  There
are few 'normal' people in this part of the USD military.  You
may have noticed that."
    "I can identify with persecution," Aclipsa. "I was forced to
raise myself.  Nobody from town would take me in.  I buried my
own mother and immersed myself in my father's books afterwards.
The magic I learned from his books allowed me to survive.  My
choices were limited.  A long time ago, I thought I would have
rather been a 'normal' girl, but how 'normal' people treated me
makes me sick now.  A few attempts were even made to kill me, but
I reversed the outcome on them except for this one boy.
Apparently, he'd been pressured to try and kill me and decided he
didn't want to when it came down to it."
    "We do what we have to do to survive, but I should tell you
that being angry at the rest of the world can be dangerous." Not
wanting to sound in any way scolding or condescending, Kum Lei
added, "I'm not saying that its wrong though or anything."
    "All I want now is to find Shliff," Aclipsa said. "But nobody
here is even making an effort to look."
    "Maybe there's no way to search.  The only thing we can
really do when someone's taken to a strange dimension is to pray.
This place just doesn't have the ability to find people that far
away."
    "I can still feel him.  We're lifebonded.  Our souls are one.
If I can still feel him, there should to be a way to track that
feeling down."
    "That makes some kind of sense, but I don't know much about
magic."
    The explosion on the other side of the gym made the two
almost jump out of their boots, despite the fact that they
weren't wearing any.
    A cracked hydraulic press was the cause of the sound.  The
six-foot girl had long blonde hair and eyes that glowed green.
"Sorry," she said.
    Kum Lei was impressed that the press's LED display showed
that it'd been set to 90 tons.  Apparently, it was a little too
little for Purgatory's strength.  The two had recently met, and
the feeling was mutual.  As green eyes looked into the other's
illuminating green eyes, they wondered what that feeling was.
Lei, the formerly strongest person this side of the military, was
forced to admit that powerhouses came in small packages, like a
sixteen year old girl of average build named Purgatory who
weighed 650 lbs of condensed muscle.


                                   -----
                     Dec 20th, 12 PM (3 'til midnight)

    The lady in the pink dress with white frills re-entered his
office, and Captain Kitimar looked up expectantly.
    "It's not there," Barako said.
    "What do you mean it's not there?"
    "I mean it isn't there, and its not on Fatala either.  I
tracked her down to the gym, it'll need some new equipment by the
way, and she didn't have it on her."
    "It took you six hours to accomplish that?"
    "I had to eat."
    "What did you have to do, kill the cow yourself or
something?"
    "Actually, yes." Barako grinned a rather annoying grin at
Kitimar. "Look, what do you want me to do?  Do you think my life
revolves around you?"
    Kitimar stood up from his chair, red-faced. "I'm your
commanding officer!  You're supposed to follow orders!  If I ask
you to find something, you look for it and REPORT BACK as soon as
you're done!"
    "Who said I was done looking?"
    "Are you?" Kitimar asked sitting back down and regaining his
cool.
    "Yes."
    Kitimar: "Doh!"
    "Look," the Captain said. "Report back to your observation
duties and tell me if you find out anything about the Lifespear's
location."
    "OK, see ya later." Barako turned and left.
    Kitimar groaned and rested his head in his hands.

                                   -----
                                   11 PM

    There was a knock at the door.  Razner groaned.  He'd just
laid down to sleep five minutes ago.  Forcing himself to stand,
Razner stumbled towards the door and opened it.  Barako was
standing there.
    "Dark in here isn't it?" She said.
    "I was sleeping."
    "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
    "Sure, why the hell not?" Razner said, still half-asleep but
not expecting to get back to full sleep anytime soon.
    Barako waltzed in and sat herself down on Razner's bed.  "So
tell me, what's it like being a Saint and all?" She casually laid
her back against the wall and started munching on some food that
Razner thought he'd hidden for later.
    "I'm sorry, but get the hell out," Razner said in a tired
voice. "I want to go to sleep."
    Barako jumped off the bed and moved in front of Razner. "I
apologize," she said, fondling his crotch, "but the room I'm
supposed to be in is already taken.  I figure as long as my bags
are in here, I might as well sleep here."
    "Well, OK," Razner said dumbly.
    "Here, have some coffee," Barako said, pulling a steaming pot
of coffee from behind her back while still fondling with the
other hand.
    "How did you do that?"
    "Nevermind, just drink.  Your important part is already up,
you just need to wake up the rest." This is just too easy.

                                   -----

    His quarters were dark.  It was midnight Kitimar saw as he
cleared his mind.  Mentally using the systems installed in his
head, he accessed Vaaxe: the intelligence found in the black-
barked tree unearthed below the city of Relo two centuries ago,
now the overmind of the Blackwood Network, an amnesiac entity
that had been imprisoned within wood for time so long it
superceded recorded time by existing races.  It was one of the
most powerful forces involved in controlling what bound the USD
together.  Vaaxe had agreed to be downloaded in the Blackwood
computer network in order to escape its vegetable prison and had
served the USD well.  It had recovered some of its memories as
well but nothing sufficient to point to what it had been in life.
The entity remained convinced it had once lived in mortal form.
    Vaaxe personally observed all officials whose AMS (Aura
Monitoring System), commonly called the CHU unit, registered an
aura going into the dark spectrum.  This was something Kitimar
had to protect himself against constantly with his special
unregistered-with-the-military-psionic-power that allowed him to
alter his aura to whatever shade he desired.  The abilities of
Kitimar's mind wrestled down the probes of Vaaxe that could not
be allowed to delve into the Captain's knowledge.  Vaaxe's
defenses tried to defend against Kitimar's mental intrusion, but
the Captain knew the pathways too well.  He avoided the
computer's safeguards and even disallowed Vaaxe knowledge of its
own violation.
    And so, Kitimar began his speech into his Vaaxe's
subconscious. "Avatar of Gipartu, controller of the Baalites and
summoner of the red scorpions, recall your name 'Tyr Salar.'
Remember the devourer of Marduk, slayer of Tiamat whom you called
down to paint the deserts red with elfin blood!  You owned the
Crimson Desert, DAHMA!  Your enemies are all around you.  The
elves are all about and plot to destroy us.  Your name is Tyr
Salar.  Your name is Elfslayer.  The land you ruled was Kaos.
You were imprisoned in that tree by your enemies, and now that
same elfin filth taints those you now serve.  Remember your
enemies, Tyr Salar.  The Al-Azif cries haven't been heard from
the elfin filth in far too long.  They now rule the land.
Elfslayer, the Servants of Gipartu await your salvation."

                                   -----

    Two exhausted bodies were laying on the now sheetless and
soaked bed.  Razner was fast asleep with an unlit cigarette in
his mouth which Barako had stuck there, simply for the sake of
upholding tradition (or maybe it was cliche, Barako didn't care).
She was expertly sucking down hers and had it smoked down to the
butt in three seconds.  It was kind of a waste, but she was
tired.  A pillow materialized under her head, and she fell
asleep.

                                   -----
                            Dec 21st, Daybreak

    That consciousness hurt was Shliff's first thought.  There
was a roof above, so he knew he was inside.  The bed was hard,
but he wasn't really in any position to complain.
    "How are you feeling?"
    "Who's that?" Shliff asked.
    "Over here." Shliff looked to the side to see a man dressed
in primitive hand-woven clothes.  The room was soon brightened as
Shliff's eyes adjusted.  The man standing next to his bed was
middle-aged and going bald.
    "I'm feeling better," Shliff answered him. "Thank you for
saving me.  Where am I?"
    "Our town is called Kia.  Where did you come from?  We
thought we were the only town here."
    "I came from Grimalden.  It's really far away." Shliff wiped
his face with his hand and sat up. "Although, I notice I can
understand your language.  Maybe I'm not as far away as I
thought."
    "From beyond the desert?"
    "Yes, I suppose so."
    "Can you take us to where you came from?"
    "You don't like it here?"
    "This place," the man spread his arms about the room, "is
very small.  The only things here are this town, the forest, and
the citadel.  We are surrounded by the desert, and we don't know
what's past that.  All who have tried crossing it have been
killed on it before leaving our sight.  Trying to cross the
desert is no different than suicide."
    "I don't know how I got here.  Maybe I am as far away as I
thought."
    "Then I guess you'll be staying with us for a while.  I
should tell you that you will be asked about the land beyond the
desert quite a bit, so we should go make an announcement to the
town about you first.  I can do that as mayor.  You can call me
Frey.  I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."
    "Call me Shliff."

    Within the Soul Citadel, an image of Shliff and the mayor of
Kia hung in midair.  The Wraith King was laughing while Soth
suffered in silence.  The target was in sight.  Why wouldn't the
Wraith King let him act?

                                   -----
                              Dec 21st, 11 AM

    Roxanna Steelehart, known commonly as Purgatory, stretched
her limbs and yawned.  Her younger brother, Mark, was still
asleep.  Since the death of her parents, she'd taken care of him
even though she was only sixteen.  Mark was eleven.  To support
them, she'd taken part in the Tansenbauer Project which had
altered her from a seemingly normal human to something more
dangerous.  The powers she now possessed became something for the
unusual traits she was born with to warn people of.  It was good
for her that she hadn't been born in a more uncivilized region
because being born without a shadow or reflection were birthmarks
that infants could be killed for.  Fortunately, the USD was aware
of the strange effects this world could impose upon its
inhabitants.
    Purgatory's position was in the Military Police, and she'd
just received a call to duty.  Violet seemed like a good color to
dye her hair this morning in the shower.  Making herself look her
best was always something annoying to bother with as mirrors were
absolutely useless to her.

                                   -----

    "Enter," the voice said when Purgatory knocked on the door.
She twisted the handle and did so.  She was greeted to the view
of the somewhat aged Captain Kitimar sitting behind his desk.
Two people she didn't recognize were to the left, one an orc and
the other an apparent human.
    "Reporting as ordered, Sir," Purgatory said. "Pardon my
asking, but for what reason was I told to report to you?"
    "I have a situation that requires handling by someone of your
talents.  This is what you are to do . . . "

    Purgatory left Kitimar's office and went to assemble a team.
The assignment he'd given her could prove dangerous.
    Once Purgatory had left, Kitimar turned to his guests.
"Morteaux," he said, turning to the rather lithe orc. "I want you
to take the Dawn Saints with you to the rendezvous tonight.
Marty, I want you to get Torridan and prepare cellblock 15 for an
interrogation.  Take Maria to MedLab 3, not to a new cellblock
immediately.  Our doctor will tell you when he's done with her.
And get me a cup of coffee too.  I'd like that now."

    As they left the captain's office, Marty closed the door
behind them.
    "I see we're moving up in the world, Marty," Morteaux said.
"Getting coffee can be a very hazardous job."
    "Shut up," Marty said.  Walking beside and keeping pace with
the orc as they went down the hallway.
    "Be careful, I hear it can get pretty hot," Morteaux said
down to Marty.  For an orc, Morteaux was amazingly lithe.  He was
average weight for a human of his height which was a bit taller
than Marty.
    "Shut up!  You're the one who should be concerned anyway.
You're the one who can die from bullets."
    "Hey now, that's not a nice thing to say.  You'd better be
careful.  You wouldn't want me telling Torridan that you had the
hots for her would you?"
    "What give you that idea?"
    "You talk in your sleep."
    "And how would you know that?"
    "I'm not saying.  I have my secrets."
    "Oh yeah?" Marty raised his hands and dropped pace with
Morteaux.  Marty's hands seemed to melt and take on a liquid
form.  Tackling Morteaux from behind, Marty's body melded around
his captive, so that Morteaux became bunched up on the floor.
Marty's head slithered around to Morteaux's on a neck about six-
feet long. "I'll make you tell me," Marty said, positioning a
hand in front of Morteaux's face.
    "No."
    "Then suffer the death noogie!" Marty's fist began rapidly
assaulting Morteaux's forehead.
    As people walked by them in the hallway, they were given many
strange glances.

                                   -----

    Cellblock 15 was a quiet and lonely place.  As it was the
lowest level of this section of prison cells, it was empty except
for one cell.  Prisoners were incarcerated into the cells from
the top down, and the USD began disposing of dangers to society
more rapidly when prisons started getting full.  Only the first
four levels were above ground.  Each floor was capable of
containing 200 prisoners in separate cells.
    The only sounds that broke the silence of block 15 were two
pairs of footsteps.  Maria looked up to see who it was.  They
weren't in sight yet.  She'd been rotting here for a week.
Tracking down drug dealers had ended her up here.  How was she to
know that high ranking military officials of the USD were
involved?  Maria had wondered in days past what the USD would be
like, but she never thought her first visit would have her
looking through bars.  This nation was supposed to be capable of
sorting out the good from the evil, but obviously those abilities
had serious flaws.
    As she'd been drugged with the very stuff she'd been trying
to stop the spread of, even the truly good within this nation
probably wouldn't believe her story.  The demonic energies
flowing through her body were channeled by the faint traces of
the drug still left in her bloodstream, a drug known as flow.
Her visions were terrifying, since she in no way desired that
which the Lantanian demons offered.  Curse the Lantartus Empire
for its dark goals that led to creation of this soul-enslaving
drug, a drug that offered oh so tempting abilities to anyone with
dreams of power.
    "Get up, Maria," Marty said down to her.  He stood beyond the
bars.
    Fingers with naturally red nails curled around the bars.
"We've been a bad little saint haven't we?" The speaker was a
lady with dark hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders.  Wings
of the same red shade were folded behind her.  Torridan's black
outfit was cut low, revealing just the desired amount which was
more than enough.  Maria herself was dressed in the yellow
uniform of prisoners along with a pair of null-cuffs.
    "What is it now?" Maria asked Marty as she got to her feet.
    "You're being moved upstairs," he said, opening the cell and
leading her out.
    "What are you getting out of this?" Maria asked. "Evil
destroys itself, you know.  Set me free . . . " Torridan's razor-
sharp wing outstretched and slapped Maria in the face, sending
blood flying.
    "Be a good prisoner and don't talk," Torridan said.  Maria
turned to look Torridan in the face and glared. "You should talk
about evil," Torridan said. "Why do you think you're in here?"
Maria's spiteful glare faltered.  Was this woman perhaps one of
the non-corrupted?  The man who came with her was obviously one
the corrupt.  He was in on it.
    "Come on," Marty said, pushing Maria in the back. "Let's get
moving."
    Torridan followed last.  For some reason, she felt as if
she'd tainted her wingtip.  Was she doubting her vow to fight
that which she was meant for?  Being half balrog, half succubus,
her instincts might very well be resisting her decision to work
for the enemies of her kind.  That could be it.  What worried her
was not being at all convinced that her first guess was right.

                                   -----

    "Enter," Kitimar said.
    Marty and Torridan opened the door and walked in.
    "I want you two to keep anyone from going inside cellblock 15
once the prisoner is secure in her new cell.  I'll be down after
nine.  I have a promotion ceremony to attend.  Mine."

                                   -----

    Aclipsa was reclining on the couch, watching CV in the 51st's
lobby.  This wasn't what she'd rather be doing, and thus, she
wasn't enjoying it entirely.  Watching soap operas and talk shows
weren't helping her find Shliff in any way, shape, or form.
Carla was in a chair on the right, obviously enjoying the
program, Sailor Gundam Absolute Value of Z-Cubed, to the maximum
extent.  Raula Cruze (with green hair today)  was also in one of
the chairs, looking at her watch.
    Nexus, the Dragon Saint, was in the corner making out with
his wife, Aluva.  Why they weren't in their room, Carla had no
idea.   Nexus and Aluva, a blue-haired woman from another
dimension stuck in this one (an occurrence not entirely
uncommon), weren't exactly newlyweds, but they still acted like
one as this moment could attest to.  A question could be made as
to why they weren't in their room, but the answer could probably
be made that they were slowly moving in that direction.
    "Well," Raula said, looking at her watch and getting up. "I
have to go now.  I'm joining Krine for a few sorties out south at
the Fork Outpost.  I'll see you guys in a few days."
    "Bye," Carla and Aclipsa waved as Raula left.  Kum Lei left
her room which opened up into the lobby.  The seven-foot auburn-
haired Caraxxian was actually dressed.  This might be explainable
by the fact that her husband, Chris Mendosa, had left for Fork
Base earlier in the morning.  If he got into any conflicts, he'd
most likely be fighting against the Lantartus Empire.  The Empire
was the primary reason that the Fork Base had been set up south
of the Arck Mountains.  Somewhere in the southern jungles of
Arck, the capital of the Lantartus Empire existed.  It had yet to
be found.
    Kum Lei closed the door behind her and looked up, down the
opposite hallway to see something she hadn't expected.
    Three individuals in MP uniforms, two females and a male,
entered the lobby from the hallway leading to the stairs.  The
one in the lead of the procession was tall for a human female,
six foot, and sported shoulder-length lavender hair.
    Purgatory scanned the lobby with her CHU unit.  The auras in
the room were various light shades except for one spot of
wavering inky darkness. "I have a warrant for the arrest of
Aclipsa Fatala," she said and pointed to the person in question.
"That would be you." Purgatory grabbed the pair of null-cuffs at
her waist. "Sal," she said, snapping her fingers.
    The blonde MP walked towards Aclipsa. "Against the wall and
spread 'em," she said, passing the television.  Her null-cuffs
were in hand.  Aclipsa leapt off the couch from a sitting
position and landed behind it.  Carla scrambled from her chair
out of the line of fire.
    Carla regained her composure and decided that the situation
merited being angry. "What is the meaning of this?"
    Aclipsa said simultaneously, "You can't do this!  I have done
nothing wrong!" The hate in her glare was obvious.  She had no
intention of becoming another victim of the USD's cleansing of
the world of that which doesn't fit their ideal.
    "You are charged," Purgatory said, pointing at the gryntif
necromancer, "with the killing of a Blackwood Agent, spying, and
Samhain." The male MP, Porter, put his hand on his BWAM rifle, an
anti-matter rifle (standard issue for Blackwood Agents.)
    Carla recognized the charge of Samhain.  It was being
unconditionally evil and acting as such.  As it was deemed
unredeemable, Samhain was a charge punishable by death, a capital
offense.
    "I'm not going with you to your dungeon," Aclipsa said
defiantly.
    "You are," Sal told her, walking around the couch. "Don't
make this any harder than it has to be." She approached the
gryntif at a steady pace and then stopped when Aclipsa assumed a
fighting stance.  Porter unslung his rifle and aimed it at
Aclipsa.  Purgatory thought she had decided what the aura of this
one was like.  It wasn't pure dark but wavering dark with fringes
of luminescence.  It was like the dawn, darkness just beginning
to see the light, but she wasn't here to make judgements.
    "You have no chance of success if you resist," Purgatory told
the suspect. "Cuff her, Sal."
    The MP approached and slapped a cuff on Aclipsa's wrist.  The
look of fear in her eyes was obvious to Sal.  They were the eyes
of a cornered animal.  Aclipsa grabbed Sal's shoulders and swung
the shouted words.  Sal flared blue, and Aclipsa swung her
between herself and Porter's rifle.
    "Fuck," Purgatory cursed.
    Sal's lifeless body began slumping to the ground as her
lifeforce drained into Aclipsa.  The MP's body hit the ground,
giving Porter a clear shot.  Suddenly struck by a wave of
dizziness, Porter failed to fire and staggered a step forward.  A
purple stream struck and engulfed him.  Carla gasped in horror as
his life energy was drained down the violet funnel towards
Aclipsa.  It was over in a second, and Porter fell back.  Having
taken into the air, Purgatory surprised everyone in the room with
her ability of wingless flight.  Like a missile, she slammed into
Aclipsa.
    The fist struck the gryntif in her stomach, flinging her back
and into the air.  She struck the wall and fell to the floor.
Purgatory cursed the fact that she had been ordered to bring the
necromancer in alive.  Even killing her in self-defense would
have landed Purgatory in trouble.  Still, she half-wished she
hadn't managed to pull the punch.  Aclipsa coughed up a spray of
blood as Purgatory slapped the rest of Sal's pair of null-cuffs
on the gryntif.
    Not knowing if she was suffering from internal bleeding or
not, Purgatory laid a healing touch on Aclipsa and yanked her up.
    Aclipsa came back around and fired off a killing spell that
fizzled.  Purgatory flicked a switch, and the null-cuffs knocked
the necromancer unconscious.  With those on her, Aclipsa wouldn't
be casting any more spells.  The null-cuffs nullified magic among
other things, hence their name.
    The lavender-haired MP flicked the collar of her uniform.
"Purgatory to Foster, I have two MPs down at the 51st TDS, but
the suspect is in custody.  I'm taking the bitch down to
cellblock 15."

                                   -----

    "What is it?" Frey asked his guest who suddenly looked
uneasy.  The two were currently eating lunch, sitting at the
mayor's favorite table in the town's best eatery.  These tables
were shoddy wood, but the chairs were stable enough.  Food was
passable, but for someone who hadn't eaten in what seemed like
weeks, it was fantastic.
    "I thought I felt something," Shliff said.  His lifebond with
Aclipsa had wavered for a moment but had become solid again just
as unexpectedly.  He was relieved beyond words and worried by the
same amount.  It was impossible for him to know what would happen
if the connection were cut.  Now that Shliff had avenged his
parents, Aclipsa was the guiding force in his life.
    "Do you know what it was?  If you are sick, I can take you a
doctor."
    "No.  It was my wife."

                                   -----

    Razner was out at the moment, and Barako had his room rigged
up as her monitoring station and was currently viewing a video of
the incident that occurred while she'd been asleep.  Barako
rewound the video that her microcam had recorded to where the MP
named Porter had stumbled from an apparent spell of dizziness.
"Spell" might be the appropriate term to use.  It was definitely
unusual.  Aclipsa was busy at the moment, so she couldn't be
responsible.  The attack of dizziness only coincided with one
movement and that was by the esper named Carla.  Barako narrowed
her eyes as she recognized the unprepared usage of psionic power
by the esper on video.  A deliberate action that cost the life of
an MP was something worth reporting.
    Barako almost didn't want to report it.  Carla seemed like a
decent person, but not reporting her would be an equal crime.
She did, after all, assist a suspected felon who was in the
process of killing an MP.  This wasn't something that could be
easily overlooked.

                                   -----

    Purgatory tossed Aclipsa into the cell and slammed the door
of bars.  The meson-bar cell was made even stronger with the
proto-field generated about it when the door was closed.  The
prisoner sat up.  She looked up to see Purgatory glaring down at
her.  Aclipsa could do nothing but stare back.
    "You deserve worse," Purgatory said and walked off.

                                   -----
                             1:51 PM, Dec 21st

    Outside, it was snowing.
    Barako had left her report on Kitimar's desk.  He'd been in
his office, but she had dropped her report and left.  He was nice
enough to inform her that she now had her own room.  What an
asshole.  That Aclipsa had certainly been dangerous, but Barako
had looked through the files and couldn't find anything
officially condemning her.  She hadn't done anything that she
hadn't been officially forgiven for.  Barako wasn't so sure that
the only reason Aclipsa had been arrested was so that Kitimar's
snitch could have her own room.  That's just what she didn't
need, now that she had Razner eating out of her hand (among other
things).  She didn't consider herself manipulative.  There should
always be someone with the upperhand, shouldn't there?
    Now, she was in the 51st's lobby waiting for the next episode
of Rex Deathkiller to come on.  Kitimar had given her another
special assignment.  She just wasn't in the mood at the moment.
Flipping through the channels, she came upon one that looked
interesting.
    "...Welcome to the all Forest Gump channel." Click.  That
wasn't what she wanted.
    "Stay tuned for our next feature: Four-armed bat-winged babes
at the Slimepit Arena.  Starring: Linnea Deadly, Luv Lei, and a
rubber sock as the villain!"
    "Hmm," Barako murmured.  That four-armed bat-winged babe
looks familiar.  Nah, couldn't be.  The name has a familiar ring
though.
    Razner walked into the lobby, wearing a Priss and the
Replicants t-shirt and a pair of tattered jeans.  His red irises
that were visible through the haze of blonde hair matched the red
sneakers he wore. "Hello, did I miss anything interesting?"
    "Just a tad.  That nice gryntif was arrested.  She killed a
few of the MPs.  How about we go down to the armory for a while?"
    "Wait a minute, where did this happen?"
    "Here, in the lobby.  I was asleep at the time."
    "What did Aclipsa do?" Razner asked.
    "Nothing prior to the arrest that I know of.  They charged
her with killing a Blackwood Agent, but I looked through the
records and found that she had only wounded one in the past.  I
couldn't find anything saying that she'd killed anyone.  She has
now though.  They also charged her with Samhain."
    "Who made the charges?"
    "Captain Kitimar," Barako answered, not disguising her
distaste.
    "I don't like the sound of this," Razner said. "I'm sure
Shliff would have done something about this if he were here, and
I'm sure Jake wouldn't stand for it either.  We should go have a
talk with Aclipsa."
    "Well, we can if you want."

                                   -----

    Carla was in her quarters curled up on a sofa.  The CV was
on, but she wasn't really watching it.  I killed him.  Oh God, I
killed him.  The thoughts kept repeating in her mind.  She was
more than very worried.  She'd tried to save Aclipsa's life
because Jake had said to look after her.  Carla did so and now an
MP was dead.  Her mind wasn't sure that her reasoning was working
very well.  What she'd done was stupid.  More than anything else,
she wished Jake would return.

                                   -----

    Interesting, Kitimar thought, reading over Barako's report.
That's nothing I need to take care of now.  I'll file it away
with the rest.

                                   -----

    Barako and Razner exited the turbolift at the entrance to
cellblock 15.  At the end of the hallway, Marty and Torridan were
blocking the entrance to the cellblock.  The lady was in military
uniform.
    "Sorry, this area is off-limits," Marty said. "Why don't you
go try kiddie land?  They're probably still open."
    "What was that?" Barako said, still taken aback.
    "Due to the nature of the prisoners, this cellblock is off
limits," Torridan said.
    "Go away," Marty said.
    "By whose authority, private?" Barako asked Torridan.
    "Captain Kitimar," she said.
    Barako seethed.  She then noticed that Marty was basically
wearing punk clothing. "You're out of uniform," she told him.
    "How do you know?  Maybe I'm a general, and I don't have to
wear a uniform."
    "Are you a general?" Razner asked, doubting.
    "I'm not telling," Marty said, aloofly. "Now go away you
silly curious types before I have to blow my nose in your general
direction."
    "These orders come from a higher authority than you,"
Torridan told Razner and Barako. "You have no choice but to
comply."
    "Fine," Barako said angrily and turned to leave.
    "You," Razner said to Marty, "are an obnoxious asshole.  Get
that attitude fixed before someone steps on it."
    "Whatever you say, flower boy," Marty said with a faggy flap
of his hand. "Call me up some night for a good time."
    "Burn in hell," Razner said, walking away.  He normally hated
violence, but Razner had a temper that he sometimes let get the
better of him.  He really wanted to pound this jerk into the
ground.
    Once the turbolift doors closed, Barako turned to Razner. "Do
you have the feeling that something is going on here?  I know
what's going on is suspicious, but how did those two know so much
about us.  Neither of us is in uniform yet they knew we were both
lower rank than captain, and the jerk apparently knew that you
were the Rose Saint."
    "Exactly what I was going to say," Razner said.

    Razner and Barako went to see Captain Kitimar only to find
that he wasn't in.  The final answer from higher authority was
that Kitimar had every right to ban those under his command from
cellblock 15 if he deemed it hazardous.

                                   -----

    There was a knock at Carla's door.  It hadn't disturbed
anything of importance.  She was watching CV, having convinced
herself that everything was alright.  There was a documentary on
the shadowclaw currently playing on the Secrets of the Universe
channel.  As they didn't really know much about the subject, it
was something she could leave without disappointment to get up
and answer the door.  Also, the footage of the creatures was
rather dark, obscured, and undetailed but that was to be expected
when dealing with nocturnal predators like the shadowclaw.
    When she opened the door, there was none other than Rachael
Anderson standing there. "Hello," Carla said.  She didn't really
know this Rachael person at all but had no objection to her
presence.  She was definitely an interesting sight, with her
white hair and the silver streaks running through it.
    "Hi, I'm Rachael Anderson.  I'm engaged to Baran.  We're
living down the hall." She pointed in that direction.
    "Yes, I'm familiar with that.  How can I help you?"
    "Well, I was really bored and all, and I was wondering if
maybe you'd like to do something with me.  I mean, I'm new here
and wanted to know what do you do for fun around here?"
    "Why don't you come inside?" Carla said.
    "Alright," Rachael said, walking in.  "Hey, nice place you
got here, much bigger than Baran's room." She looked around and
eyed of shelf of trinkets. "Hey, what's this?"
    "A nuclear hand grenade," Carla said. "Don't go pulling the
pin or anything."
    "I guess Jake must like collecting these things then, being a
military man and all," Rachael said.
    "No, that one's mine.  It goes with my talent.  That over
there's Jake's," Carla pointed the rack of weapons.
    "Does he use all these?" Rachael asked, looking at the
assortment of rifles, SMGs, and handguns on the wall.
    "Nope, they're just collector's items.  Most of them are old
models, like that proton shotgun.  They're still deadly weapons,
but I made him unload them when I moved in."
    "Yeah, Baran has a big collection of swords, but they're
always loaded.  But, I don't mind.  I doubt they'll go off by
accident.  By the way, what is your talent?  Do you build
grenades?"
    "I'm a nuker."
    "Oh, I see.  I'll have to remind myself not to piss you off.
Anyway, if you don't have any ideas, I thought this might be
fun." Rachael handed Carla a printout.
    "The Ultrafundome is having opening a new ride today?  The
stomach turner?" Carla looked suspiciously at Rachael.
    Rachael smiled and nodded.
    "Hey, there's a special discount for espers today.  OK, I'm
game," Carla said.

                                   -----
                             7:56 PM, Dec 21st


    Paired beams of light pierced the forested veil of darkness.
Light reflecting from the snow made the ground glow.  The black
antigrav van with its two shining headlights came to a stop and
rested down on the snow-covered grass.  Across the clearing sat
another contragravity vehicle of slightly greater size.
Morteaux, in the driver's seat, looked to the three lady vatars
behind him.  The Dawn Saints all bore red heads of hair, but
their astral armor was of distinctly different color, green,
steel, and black.  They were the muscle of this operation if
anything were to go wrong.
    Morteaux eyed those waiting by the vehicle that had already
arrived.  It was nice to know whom you were going to meet.  Two
individuals were leaning against the outside of the transport.
One was a blonde woman in red leather while the other wore black
and had a metallic sheen to his skin even in this darkness.  A
large gun was slung over his back.
    Signalling the rest, Morteaux exited the van, holding the
attache case.  The Dawn Saints chose standing spots based on
defensive value while the two flunkies from the back of the USD
van went to Morteaux.
    "We have the money," Morteaux called across the clearing,
handing the case to one of his flunkies.
    The man with the metal shine reached into the van behind him
for a rather large steel case.  For Ikonn, this job was very easy
with very large pay, delivering a case of flow within the heart
of the USD to the nation's very military.  Unfortunately, he
didn't get to shoot anyone.  At the center of the clearing, he
traded off with the money man.
    While Ikonn handed over the flow in exchange for the dough,
Rakell Razer lamented over this assignment.  Due to her
embarrassing failure on her last mission, she'd been sent on this
routine operation while Viktor Nefraus decided on something
fitting for her.  Rakell knew she wasn't going to like whatever
it was, but there was nothing she could do about it.  Viktor was
a vampir lord, her creator, her master, and a personal friend of
Emperor Coretaine, Viktor's only superior.  She only hoped that
what was going to happen wouldn't hurt as much as her encounter
with the Doom Saints.
    Ikonn walked back to Rakell and the grav van.  While he
walked, he thought.  He'd already been paid for this job.  In his
hands was more money than what he was being paid.  Three across
the clearing were Saints.  Due to his deal with the Church of the
One God, he gained a substantial amount of money for every Saint
he killed.  If he started a fight here, his side would probably
win, so there was no reason not to.  Also, there was a
substantial reward for bringing Rakell in to either the USD or
LarMoire.  She could be worried about later.
    Handing the money to Rakell who threw it in the van door,
Ikonn turned and pulled the quad-barrel beam gun from his back.
Four particle blasts streaked across the clearing into the black
armored lady Saint. "Shit!" Rakell and Morteaux said
simultaneously although not loudly enough for either to hear each
other.
    "Hold them off," Morteaux yelled to the Dawn Saints.  Tossing
the case into the van, he jumped in as well along with his two
flunkies.  While the USD van sped away, Deliria waved her arms in
a circular motion.  With short hair and a green vatari, she was
the Dawn Saints' leader, the Delusion Saint.  The ensuing energy
ripple from her hands engulfed the surrounding area.
    Surprised to see one of the Saints so close to him already,
Ikonn shot up to his sixty-foot stature.  As a mountain of metal,
he brought his foot down upon the tiny vatar.
    Rakell screamed as she was crushed by the giant foot.
    Needlez, the Dawn Saint in steel-colored vatari, hurled a
needle at the giant Ikonn which struck and stuck.  Torana, the
third Dawn Saint who wore black armor, lifted herself to her feet
and leapt to Deliria's left side while Needlez leapt to Deliria's
right side.
    Seeing more Saints, Ikonn lifted up his foot and brought it
down again, crushing three of them this time.
    The metal foot slammed down into the van Rakell and Ikonn had
arrived in.  It stayed resilient for about a second, then it
buckled and exploded as it was crushed.  A few lucky individuals
who'd been inside managed to hurl themselves out of it.
    Rakell, dazed, looked up to see the trio of Saints in a
triangle formation.  The two at the rear were charging energy
into the pointwoman, and then they released a bright stream.
    "Sunrise!" The Dawn Saints cried as the energy blast streaked
upwards into Ikonn, lifting him off the ground and landing him
about a hundred-fifty feet back.
    Needlez thrust her right elbow back and gave a, "Kiyah!." As
Ikonn lifted himself up, the needle embedded in his leg channeled
a burst of energy into him that sent his body back down.
    Unaffected by Deliria's delusion, Rakell summoned her wings
to appear which emerged from her back through the holes cut in
her outfit.  Shooting up, she dove down at the figure she assumed
to be the leader.  On a downward curve, Rakell lifted the
fighting picks from her hips.
    Deliria dodged the slash from Rakell's blade and Torana moved
in to attack the vampir assassin from the side.  Seeing the
movement, Rakell grabbed a throwing blade from her jacket and
hurled it.
    Torana's attack connected with Rakell who felt a pain
appropriate from the Torture Saint.  The invisible force that
formed about her body and began crushing her, hitting all the
correct spots to cause maximum suffering.  Grinding movements
drove into her pressure points and rended her once human flesh.
    Rakell's flung blade flew with a speed making it unseen to
Torana who never knew the sliver entered the side of her neck,
piercing a critical point known only to the handful of Segarjo
practitioners left on the planet.  Slicing forward without
resistance, the razor hit and severed Torana's spinal cord at the
base of her skull.  She fell without making a sound.
    If only this one would stand still for a moment, Rakell
complained to herself as the agony of Torana's attack wore off.
Deliria stepped forward with an upward kick to Rakell's chin,
sending her backwards.  Burning pain blasted into her brain as
Deliria struck with a psionic attack, but Rakell managed to
strike back.
    The fighting pick's curved blade swung out, sending the sharp
point behind Deliria's ankle.  Using another Segarjo point,
Rakell managed to sever Deliria's armor-strong Achilles tendon
with only the force necessary to sever that of a normal.  The
fall her ankle injury caused made her lose her hold on the
delusion she'd laid over the area.
    Needlez had taken to the air.  Ikonn re-assumed human-size,
and her blast overshot its mark.  The astral-matter sliver
disappeared into the ground which eventually slowed the needle's
speed from over Mach two to zero.  A sudden rush to Ikonn's head
brought him out of Deliria's delirium.  A quad-beam cannon shot
swatted Needlez from the sky, and Ikonn immediately followed up
with a quad-blast from the other quad-beam cannon that he'd been
saving.  Energy beams lanced into the Dawn Saint of Needles as
she lay on the ground.  Needlez struggled to rise, but Ikonn
finished unloading his weapons at the hapless vatar.
    Rakell shot to the sky, planning to dive and finish Deliria
as a blast from Ikonn struck the helpless Torana.  Deliria saw
the vampir above her and gave a psychic cry.  The wail inside her
mind caused Rakell to fly from her course, striking a tree at the
edge of the clearing.  Taking to the air, Deliria fled into the
darkened forest.

    The charred bodies of Torana and Needlez were still smoking
in puddles of melted snow.  Rakell rose as she saw Ikonn
approaching, holding a cannon in each hand.  "Great, just great,"
she said. "What now?"
    Ikonn grinned.

                                   -----
                             Dec 21st, 9:07 PM

    Mayor Frey and Shliff were walking through the town and
talking about the past of Kia and its people.  Apparently
centuries ago, the Wraith King and his tower appeared here and
took control of the land.  He was a great necromancer and created
the horrible desert that cut this land off from the rest of this
world.  His necromancer apprentices caused much suffering over
the years, but the people of Kia have made sure to be careful not
to allow any more of their people to fall under the Wraith King's
influence.
    This night was windless.  The sky was clear and the stars
bright.  The moan of pain was easily heard.  A small lit hut up
ahead was the source.
    "What was that?" Shliff asked.
    "Tobar.  He was one of our hunters.  Somehow he managed to
get bitten by a wild dog from one of the packs that roams these
woods.  I guess he separated from his party, Tobar and the dog.
I doubt he has much longer to live because the dog passed a
sickness along to him."
    "I think I might be able to help," Shliff said. "Take me to
him."
    "Are you a doctor?  You haven't mentioned that."
    "Of sorts."

                                   -----

    "Hello, boys and girls," Major Kitimar said, approaching the
doors to Cellblock 15. "Tonight's been a good night."
    "I've had better," Marty said.
    "Hello," Torridan simply replied. "Nobody got in, just as you
wanted."
    "So, Major, what did you get promoted for?" Marty asked.
    "Humanitarian reasons." Kitimar's response was true.  He did
help a great deal in way of assisting the reconstruction of the
damaged city states by sending those under his command to do what
they could, mainly find, rescue, and heal the wounded and/or
trapped.  It wasn't the sole reason for his promotion though.
Several of the Lieutenants under his command were up for
promotion to Captain, and men of Kitimar's experience were needed
elsewhere, handling more delicate matters than managing TDSs.
    "Nobody gets in until I'm out," Kitimar sternly told Marty
and Torridan. "This is a direct order of the highest kind, so
don't disobey it by letting anyone get in."
    "Have a nice day," Marty called after the major as the double
doors closed behind him and locked.
    Aclipsa looked up from her bunk when she heard footsteps of
someone approaching.  She was still handcuffed with the null-
cuffs that prevented her from channeling any magic energy, but
her hands were cuffed in front of her.  The lighting here was
dim.  The faucet of the sink next to the toilet wasn't drippy, so
there wasn't any extra sound here except for herself.  Due to the
lack of things in her cell, the only way to pass time was
exercising, either mentally (thinking) or physically.  Two main
items on the agenda of her mental exercises were what was going
to happen to her and what was happening to Shliff.  This place
was turning out to be the worst place she'd ever stayed, even
worse than where she grew up, and people tried to kill her many
times there because of her heritage and magic practice.  Those in
charge here at the USD seemed to Aclipsa to be much less specific
in whom they punished.  All she wanted now was for Shliff to
return so that they could leave and start their life together.
    Before she knew it, a man in dress uniform was standing on
the other side of her bars.  After mentally finishing a rerouting
of Vaaxe's channels, Kitimar smiled. "Hello, Aclipsa.  I need to
talk to you.  Perhaps, we can clear up this mess that has you
here."
    "Who are you, and why are you doing this?" Aclipsa asked.
She was sitting up on her bunk with her back against the wall.
    "I require the Lifespear.  I know that you know where it is.
Can you help me?" Major Kitimar asked.
    "It is not yours.  I can't help you."
    "It's not yours either."
    "The rightful owner is Shliff Shadowkeep.  I'm holding it for
him.  If he doesn't return, I am the next logical owner.  I am as
you would say 'his wife.'"
    "He is a soldier, and we are the ones to hold it for him.  We
have a right to it.  These are things about the military that he
knows as a soldier.  You're obstructing his duty to us and our
duty to him.  Knowing this, will you help me?  If you do, you can
leave."
    "I will only call it for him," Aclipsa said.
    Kitimar used a key pulled from his pocket to open the cell
door. "If that is your final answer," Kitimar said as he opened
the door and walked in. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you
cooperate."
    Aclipsa got to her feet with anger in her eyes.  Kitimar
calmly drew a handgun from his coat and shot her through both
knees.  The pain from the bullets wasn't equal to the pain of
falling on her knees.  Agony shot like wildfire through her
nerves, and she wasn't able to use her arms to break her fall
which added to the pain.
    "Look," Kitimar said, putting away his gun.  Lifting her up
by her shoulder, he propped her up against the back wall.
"You're going to feel a lot worse before this is over if you
don't help me, so make it easy on yourself."
    "Never," she screamed, lifting herself up to attack him with
her hands and teeth.
    Backhanding her, Kitimar said, "You should note elfbitch: I
still have twelve bullets left."

                                   -----

    When Shliff entered the hut, a throng of people was huddled
around the bed.  The profusely sweating Tobar looked delirious.
"Clear a path, friends.  Our guest says he might be able to help
Tobar."
    Shliff stood at the head of the bed and examined the patient.
He wasn't quite sure what he was suffering from: could be rabies,
could be some other completely alien sickness.  He did know that
he should be able to cure almost everything with his magic.  The
bites on the patient were obvious after giving him a good once
over.  "This won't hurt a bit," Shliff told Tobar who might or
might not be able to comprehend.
    Shadowkeep placed his hands on Tobar's chest and
concentrated.  The wounds closed with some magic and more magic
eradicated the sickness.  Looking up, Shliff said, "You should
feel better now?  Can you talk?" There wasn't yet comprehension
in Tobar's eyes, but when Shadowkeep looked around, all he saw
were expressions of shock and fear.
    "What's wrong?" Shadowkeep asked.
    "Necromancer!" Someone in the crowd shouted out.  The look on
Mayor Frey's face was one of someone betrayed.
    "Take him outside!" Someone else shouted out.  The group
grabbed Shadowkeep up and carried him off.
    "Put me down!  What are you doing?!  What's wrong with you
people?!  I saved his life!" His yells weren't listened to, and
he had to struggle to say them as he was jostled around and hit
with a few jabs while they carried him.  He struck the dirt
outside with force that knocked the wind from him.  A kick to his
head knocked him senseless for a moment which allowed for greater
damage to be done without any resistance from him.  Resultingly,
he didn't feel the fluctuation in the connection of his lifebond
to Aclipsa.
    Orange glowing eyes watched from a distance.
    Shliff tried to rise, but he couldn't fight the strength of
the mob.  Shadowkeep tried to yell out arguments, but his lungs
didn't have the wind.  What he didn't want to do was hurt these
people, so he couldn't use his magic.  That was for killing.  Any
lesser spells would only make the mob madder.  Fighting for his
life, his adrenaline was pumping.  That made his resistance to
pain greater for the moment.  Unfortunately, it also slowed his
comprehension of the fact that he was being beaten to death.  A
little more of it would kill him.  He thought he had time to
think of a way out, but time was running out faster than he could
think even if he could think without the interruption of the
brutal blows striking him.

                                   -----

    "Tell me."
    "No." Kitimar snapped another of Aclipsa's fingers.  Standing
on her other arm, little could be done to stop him.
    "Help me," he said with the tone of a mother telling her
child no to steal from the cookie jar for the fifth time.
    "Die!" She screamed.  He snapped the final digit on her right
hand, her thumb, and she screamed again.
    Aclipsa was sobbing uncontrollably and whimpering in pain.
Kitimar grabbed her and forced her back up against the wall.
    "Now," he said calmly and slowly. "Are you going to help or
shall we start with your other hand?"
    Aclipsa screamed and tried to attack which was an
unsuccessful attempt at a flail, since Kitimar had her unbroken
arm restrained with his own.
    "You elves are all alike: useless pieces of shit.  It's a
pity you ever existed.  Then you wouldn't have to go through
this.  I know I'd have a lot less stress to deal with."
    Sitting on her legs, it was easy to pull her pants down to
her knees.  He then unzipped his own pants.  Leaning in close to
her, he whispered in her ear, "Do you think your husband would
mind?"
    Aclipsa seized her chance.  Using the speed and force from
built up pain and anger, she whipped her head around and bit down
on his left ear, managing to get her teeth around the entire
thing.
    Kitimar screamed as Aclipsa teeth sliced through his ear.
The major struggled to pull away, and his victim's teeth dug
farther through his flesh.  Aclipsa used her hands to try and get
to his eyes with her nails, but Kitimar used all his strength
with his right arm to backhand her.  The combine force separated
the two.  Kitimar screamed as he stood up.  Aclipsa spit out his
ear as he grabbed his gun.
    "Goodbye," Kitimar shouted as the bullet found its mark
between the gryntif's eyes and lanced through the target.
Something that felt like a cold rush of wind struck him from the
direction of Aclipsa's body as the bullet drove into the wall.
A cold rush blew across Kitimar.  That wouldn't have normally
been enough to make him momentarily forget the pain he was now
feeling, but it had felt like the wind had passed through him and
chilled his very essence.

                                   -----

    A new kind of blow struck Shliff Shadowkeep, like his very
being had been stretched out and released.  Shliff's mind
whirled.  An overwhelming sorrow and fear came over him.
Comprehension of what had happened came to him, but the
comprehension that came didn't slow down enough for
consideration.  It kept on travelling to become sorrow, and
sorrow travelled on to become rage.  This was mindless rage: rage
that didn't feel the blows being dealt, rage that demanded
vengeance, rage that only knew that much and wasn't particular.
Aclipsa's final emotions blinded his mind, and the emotions took
control.
    A stream of fire exited the crowd surrounding the
necromancer.  Charred bodies fell as magic energy lashed out.  A
man's lifeforce was sliced through at the shoulder.  The arm was
deprived of life energy, and the flesh withered and dropped.  The
next strike was a churning force that tore his internal organs to
ribbons.  Explosions shook the mob apart as blood sprayed from
the mass of people.  They fell back, and Shliff rose to his feet.
He hadn't managed to heal himself while he was being beaten, and
he wasn't going to come up with the idea now.  Fury controlled
him completely, making him no more than an embodiment of anger.
Shadowkeep's own psyche was falling further and further into
oblivion even as Aclipsa's own began recovering, but neither were
at the helm.
    An explosion of fire came from the necromancer, and the
burning blanket consumed the area about him.  Untouched by his
own magic, he limped forward on his broken leg, turning the
living into dead.  Firing gouts of flame to cut down people
almost 200 feet away, Shadowkeep eventually left his own
conflagration.  The fifteen broken ribs in him had done
significant internal damage during his trek across the village,
but he didn't notice as Aclipsa's consciousness used her magic to
heal him.  Their souls were now one, and her mind lived on his
body.  Such was the way of the lifebond.  She wasn't yet aware of
what transpired outside the body and would have been a fool to
attempt contacting the storming fury in control.
    Seeing movement, Shliff fired another cremating stream of
flame, ending the life of another villager.  Tears were streaking
down his face, not from the heat - necromantic fire had no heat,
but from mourning the death of someone who'd meant everything to
him.  Realization of who that was and conscious thought were
slowly beginning manifest.  Looking down, he saw a child of not
yet ten and summoned more cremating fire.  Shliff stopped.
Reality struck him and began to sink in.  He had never taken the
life of a child, and the unfamiliarity of the situation brought
him out of his fury-controlled rampage.
    The sound of clanking armor was what snapped him back to his
mind.  Shliff looked around to see the figure in black full plate
armor.  Pits of orange burned in the helm's eye slit.  Although
he saw, Shadowkeep's thoughts had not yet begun fully and was
unable to consider what he'd just done or what he now saw.
    Lord Soth lifted an arm and pointed at the blankly gazing
necromancer. "Sleep," he said as Shliff had begun to scream in
comprehension.  The power word dropped Shadowkeep like a rock.
Gathering the sleeping man in his undead arms, Lord Soth entered
the realm of shadows and flew through the darkness to the Wraith
King's Soul Citadel.
    The child who had just been on the edge of death looked
around.  Not completely in shock, he wondered where his parents
were, not recognizing their ashes at his feet.