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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jodo Kast" data-source="post: 727048" data-attributes="member: 4810">A long time ago before the ice and the snow There were giants that walked this land And with each step they took, the mighty mountains shook And the trees took a knee and the seas rolled in Then one day they say the sky gave way And death rained down, it made a terrible sound There was fire everywhere and nothin' was spared That walked on the land or flew through the air And when it all was over The slate wiped clean with a touch There God stood and he saw it was good And He said "ashes to ashes and dust to dust"    - Steve Earle, Ashes to Ashes"Gabe, there's someone else in here...."The crime scene investigator named Gabriel Ansgar lay senseless on the floor of an abandoned warehouse.  An angry blue welt was rising beneath his left eye.  A rust-colored track of dried blood ran across his temple.  His clothes were torn and crumpled.  From this unlikely host emerged something like an angel.Her form rose up from the detective, a translucent, shimmering apparition.  The girl was slight of build, with fine features, porcelain skin, pale hair, and eyes like blue watercolor.  With each passing second her form became more substantial, until finally she appeared as solid and real as the slumbering investigator.  This was Mary Johansson.The girl held her hand up before her face, watching it materialize, substantiate, before her very eyes.  She looked down at the detective and turned, taking in her dingy surroundings.  They were still in the warehouse.  Gabe was on the floor.  And she was not in his head.  The girl leapt in the air and pumped her fists."WOO-HOO!"She landed on one foot and high-kicked the other leg, her long black coat whipping about her.  Now that she was back in the material world, she felt the sting of cold wind in the drafty warehouse and was thankful Poe had loaned the coat to her.  Poe!  And the Sister ... just wait until they hear about this!The wind blew harder, howling through the open entryway.  The girl stopped in mid-spin and her smile melted.  She heard footfalls, distant, yet impossibly loud, and remembered.  We're not alone.Hesitantly she walked to the gaping door.  Pressing her body flat against the interior wall, she cautiously peered outside with one eye.  It was early morning, and though the sun had climbed above the edge of the world she could not see it through the gray haze that cloaked the warehouse district.  The buildings seemed to melt into one another, the streetlamps rose listlessly from the roadside and almost seemed to waver in the hard wind.  Not a person nor car was too be seen.  Had the neighborhood seemed so barren when she and Gabe traversed it just moments before?  It was as if Mary had regained her material form, only to find the world insubstantial.In the distance, a sable form cut through the endless sea of gray.  It appeared to be a man, though it was too distant to be certain.  But it was moving fast, with purpose, straight toward Mary.  Each footfall echoed through the empty streets.  Though it could not have seen her, not yet, Mary was certain she saw its head tilt slightly in her direction.  Then she heard the voice, a low, malevolent growl that began in the pit of her stomach and spread like liquid fire to her brain."What's the matter, girl?  Not so brave now that you're in my world, are you?"Mary whipped her head inside the doorframe, her form sliding weakly down the wall until she sat trembling on the floor.  For what seemed like an eternity she sat there, her knees tucked up against her and her arms wrapped tightly about them.  The demon was here.  But where was here, anyway?"You can't hide forever, Mary.  You should run.  I like it when they run."Mary's eyes fixed on Gabe's slumbering form.  He was in no condition to help her, but if she could rouse him at least she would not be alone.  She dashed across the floor and shook him violently, but to no avail.  He was dead to the world.  Mary clenched her teeth together resolutely.Okay, demon.  Just you and me.  If that's the way it's gonna be, I'm not gonna make this easy for you.The dark figure stalked down the deserted road, casting a shadow far too long and broad, a shadow that wavered and crackled on the pavement like black fire.  Its head turned from side to side as it passed, sniffing at the buildings about it, hunting patiently for its quarry."Hey tall, dark and ugly.  Over here."The figure stopped in its tracks and looked up.  There, in the street before it, stood the girl, her snowy hair and dark coat whipping in the wind.  The demon's face regarded her, and from the shadow she caught a glimpse of shining teeth and glowing amber eyes.  Its shadow lengthened, an organic darkness that writhed over the pavement to engulf her own small shadow.The girl resolutely stood her ground.  She extended her arms and clasped her hands together, her thumbs and forefingers extended in the shape of a pistol.  "Tharae curoon taranis!"Energy crackled and coalesced about the girl's form, tracing its way down her arms and exploding from her outstretched fingers in a jagged bolt of blue-white lightning that struck the demon square in the chest.  Staggered back, the demon emitted an inhuman howl.  But even as wisps of energy danced and crackled about her enemy, Mary saw something that chilled her to the core.  The light of the electricity traced the outline of the demon's face, the square jaw, the receding brown hair ... it was the face of Gabriel Ansgar.  The demon smiled."My turn."The demon's long shadow writhed on the ground, and Mary's eyes went wide as the shadow sprouted corporeal tendrils that rose up to entangle her, pulling at her clothes, binding her wrists.  The Gabe-demon snapped its fingers and a tiny spark leapt from its fingertips in a high, slow arc.  The spark floated gently to the ground some five feet away, landing in the demon's squirming shadow.  Where the spark landed, the shadow ignited in a sheet of flame which raced towards Mary, climbing the grasping tendrils and engulfing the girl in a living wall of shadow and fire.  The demon threw back its head in a horrifying bay, part bark, part laughter.But as the flames blazed, the laughter died and the Gabe-demon's face changed from insane glee, to shock, to grudging respect.  Before it stood the girl, her arms braced together in front of her.  The flames licked at the perimeter of an unseen protective sphere.  The girl began chanting again."Thoran mihal thaeun."Mary rose into the air above the flames and hovered there, glaring down at the demon.  Her body felt alive with power, her spells more potent than ever before.  She was beginning to think she might actually survive this....The Gabe-demon gnashed its teeth and snarled at the levitating girl, opening its jaw impossibly wide.  A ball of fire erupted from its maw and hurtled toward Mary.  The projectile struck her defensive sphere, shattering it into a million fragments of mystic energy.  The flaming orb itself flared out around the girl, reforming into the shape of a giant jaw lined with a million fiery teeth.  Mary let out a tiny gasp.  The jaw slammed shut around her, encapsulating her in a burning ball of anguish.  It seemed she hung there for an eternity, burning.  Then she was falling.  Her shadow grew to greet her as she plummeted to the asphalt, landing in a smoldering heap.  The last thing she saw was the demon, its arms outstretched in triumph."Looks like I've got the place all to myself now."  The Gabe-demon surveyed the barren street.  A yellow strip of crime scene tape fluttered past him in the wind, the only color visible against the gray landscape.  "I just hope this husk serves me better than the last." © 2003 Austin Hale</blockquote>

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