New Empire

Anubis laughed and nodded his head as he left her to take a nap. When the children got home they looked at him and then over at their mother. They looked releived and relaxed, more so then they had before. "We heard what went on in the Principles office." they grinned. "Did she really put mother in her place?" there was amazement in their eyes. "That is what your mother told me. One tough lady that one."

Evi couldn't help but laugh quietly, "One brave human." She said, "Or really stupid, but I like her so I'll say she's the first one.".....

"Well things will be different at the school now. Everyone will be treated the same and for those of you that are smarter then others, well I think you will be put in accelerated classes. You soak up the information given you." he tussled their hair and then went over and gently shook Raven.

Raven responded by slapping his hand away, "Five mroe minutes." She groaned.....

"The children are here." he told her

Raven opened her eyes and then smiled. She moved carefully and sat up. They came over and sat on each knee before she kissed them both. "Right." She said to them, "There's a human coming from the school board to talk to the nest offspring about the former principal and Mrs Gavrik. Be sure to tell him the truth about everything and answer all his questions politely. Understand?" Both children nodded and smiled. "And when he gets here, I'll be heading out with the priest." Evi looked sad, "I wish we could go with you." She said, "I want to see Nanna too." Raven smiled and cupped her daughter's chin tenderly. "I know." She said, "Next time, I promise." They jumped off her knees and went back to their father......

McDugal entered a half hour later with a backpack that contained one of her journels, and his own journel and notbook. Normally he would have taken his laptop computer, but that would not work where they were going. He smiled at Raven and shook Anubis' hand.

Raven smiled back and looked at his satchel, "Is that all you're taking?" she asked.....

"Well all that I am carrying right now." he grinned. I have another backpack with clothes in it. This has what I need to write down what I learn."

Raven nodded, "This other bag of clothes." She said, "Are they going to be warm enough?"....

"Well besides normal clothes, I do have artic gear that was brought to me." he told her. "Once we get there I will see what else I will need."

Raven nodded. Shortly after that, a guard came in. He bowed to Anubis, "Sorry to intrude Sir." He said, "There's a human downstairs. He said he was from the school board and he's aparantly been invited?".....

"Ah yes, bring him in and take him to the conference room. Then have the children gathered and take them there as well." Anubis told the guard. He turned to Evie and Seth. "You to go with him and let the others know what they need to do." he kissed both of them on the cheek before they went with the guard.

Raven quickly put her hand up and waved at Anubis, "Wait a minute." She said, "No, don't take him there. I told him he could have limited access to the nest so he could speak to them all in the playroom. I thought they'd be more comfortable there.".....

Anubis nodded and said, "The playroom then." he smiled as he told the guard. The guard smiled and nodded. Evie and Seth took off running and laughing as they went to find their friends and gather them all up.

Raven stood up and smoothed out her shirt before she moved towards the bedroom. "I should pack a few things for myself." She said....

"That might be adviseable." Anubis told her.

Raven smiled and moved into the wardrobe. It was filled with many kinds of clothing, b ut what she needed wasn't hung up with her bespoke dresses or her cartier jewelery. It was packed away in a chest in the corner. The contents hadn't seen light of day for over a decade. She pulled it out and pulled open the lid before she knelt down and smiled. She ran her hands over the smooth skin of her old satchel. It was reindeer skin and most of the contents inside were made of the same. She opened the buckle and carefully pulled out a pair of pants and a short coat. After that was a thick wollen cloak with a fur lined hood. Anubis would probably remember this item. She wore it the night they met.

Anubis watched her as she rummaged through her old stuff and began pulling out things she had not worn for a long time. "Well now, this looks quite familiar." he picked up the cloak.

Raven let it go and smiled, "It should do." She told him, "I was wearing that the night we met.".....

He grinned. "I remember." That had been some meeting. Now look at them. One would not have figured they would be together and a mother and father from that first meeting. Strange the way Fate seemed to work. "So are you ready to go now?" he asked.

Raven nodded, "Just a few more things." She said, putting the clothes back in the satchel. She took the cloak back and rolled it up to tuck into the strap. "I'll need the keys for the armory.".....

He frowned at that. If she was taking a weapon, she was expecting trouble. But he reached in his pocket and pulled out keys. "Think you will be needing it?" he asked.

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared." She said, taking the keys, "Besides, we'll need food while we're there and a gun won't work. The magnetics fuck with the firing pin or something.".....

He shugged his shoulders. "Well I would feel better if you had a complement of troops with you." he held up his hands, "But I know you want to be alone." he chuckled.

Raven smiled and nodded as she stood up. She sorted quickly through the keys and moved to the very back of the wardrobe. she put the key into a small hole in the wall and turned. The wall popped open and Raven stepped inside their private armory. "The only reason I'm taking the human is because he won't let me be until I tell him everything. And he's been studying me long enough to respect what he will find there." She moved to the back of the small room and pulled a dusty tarp from the wall. Mounted on splints were her old weapons. Her ivory bow with a full quiver, her bastard sword and her short spear. Also, there was an accompaniment of razor sharp blade tips that hooked onto her wings. She took everything....

He raised a brow as she took all of her old weapons. He then decided that even though she would be up there in the dead zone alone with McDugal, he would have a complement of his most experienced soldiers close enough to go in and give assistance if need be. Especially if he got word the humans were trying something or there was movement towards the area by them.

Raven packed her things carefully into her satchel and then came back out of the room. She pulled the wall back until it clicked an then gave him back the keys....

He took the keys and picked up her stuff and carried it out to the living area. Putting them down he took her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

Raven kissed him back and smiled lovingly....

"Have fun and be safe." he told her, as he called in a couple people to take her stuff down to the car below. He figured she would fly to the Airport but McDugal would have to go by car. He looked over at McDugal and nodded. He went with the men and the baggage. "He'll meet you at the private hanger."

Raven nodded, "Always." She said and left the penthouse. She stopped by the playroom and nodded to the inspector there before kissing her children goodbye. "I'll be back in a few days." She promised, kissed them again and then went down to the car. A guard handed her the satchel and she slipped it under her wings. The car left and Raven jumped into the air to fly to the hanger. She landed a few minutes later and handed her satchel to the steward waiting for her. "The car should be arriving in a minute or so." She said. The stweard nodded and smiled, "I will show him aboard Ma'am." Raven boarded the jet and took her seat. "I hate planes." She said quietly....

At least some of the seats were modified to accomadate her wings. Other seats were for those without wings. It was a comfortable plane, not crowded or small. At least one could stnd up in it and not be cramped. A bit later McDugal arrived and boarded the plane. The gear, and clothing was placed in the hold and soon they were taxing out to the runway.

Raven did up her seatbelt and then checked it twice just to make sure she wasn't going anywhere. She gave McDugal a faint smile, but it was clear she didn't like being on aircraft. When the engines geared up fully, Raven gripped the arms of her chair and closed her eyes. She always felt like she was being shot from a sling when this happened. The plane roared down the runway and then took off, all the while, raven kept her eyes tight shut.....

McDugal watched Raven as she bucled up and smiled. She looked nervous and he wondered why. Flying in a plane was just like flying without one, only she wouldn't have to get tired. He buckled up and leaned back against his seat and relaxed as the plane took off and climbed into the air. Once they were flying level and at altitude. "You can open your eyes now." he told her.

Raven opened her eyes and then laughed nervously. she looked out of the window and then unbuckled her seatbelt. "I prefer to fly under my own steam as a norm." She told him, "Much less to go wrong and a lot more space to deal with it.".....

He grinned and nodded. "I would imagine being able to fly would be quite exciting and exilerating. But I have to fly like this."

Raven smiled, "How heavy are you?" She asked him....

"Probably about one hundred sixty pounds." he told her.

"Hmmm." She said, "Maybe not fly entirely, but I could make you glide for a while."....

He smiled. "I have done some gliding with ultralight things. They are fun." he told her.

Raven laughed gently, "I'm nothing like an ultralight." She said, "I've seen them around the city. They're more like paragliders, but with a lawnmower engine up their asses. Must be hellish noisy."....

He laughed. "OH not those. These were more like big kites and you hang below them and manuver them by shifting your weight. No engines."

"That's what I meant." She said with a laugh, "A paraglider with an engine and a seat." She shook her head, "It often amazes me how they don't get sucked through the guard mesh to be honest. Dangerous things.".....

"Well the ones without the engines are alot of fun." he told her. "Just you up there floating around. But you can climb and decend and go for alot longer distances."

Raven nodded, "I know." she said, "Seth wants one for his birthday. He's eager to join his sister by any means he can.".....

"You going to get him one?" he asked.

Raven shook her head, "I don't know." She replied, "I would, but I know he'd try to take it out alone and he's not ready. But I know if I don't Anubis will and I'll be the bad guy again. I'm already in the dog house because I won't change him yet."....

"If I understand the process of being changed, he would stop aging at the point he is changed. That would not be a good thing at this time." he put in.

Raven shook her head, "He wouldn't stop ageing." she said, "He would slow down greatly and it would take him much longer to mature than the rest of us. And the pain of it would be too much for him. It was almost too much for Anubis when it happened."....

"He will just have to wait then. I think he understands, but so desperately wants to be like the other children. Perhaps giving him the paraglider will be enough for now and it will probably help him get use to being up in the air on his own. You can always have someone watching him and there are devices that can be put on it to alert you that he is reading it for use. Therefore have time to have someone in the air to keep an eye on him.

Raven nodded, "Actually, that's a good idea." She told him, then nodded to his satchel of books. "Anything you want to ask me about now?"....

He pulled out the book. "Lets see I believe this part of your journel deals with the Roman Empire." he looked at the pages. "How did you do what you did and it not be recorded in history?"

Raven thought for a moment, "The romans." She said, "Now you'll have to be specific about them." she then smiled, "But I was recorded though. They called me a messenger of the Gods, but they were disappointed when they learned I was female."....

"Disapointed that you were female?" they worshiped female gods.

Raven nodded with a laugh, "They believed Hermes was male, you see. So when they actually caught me and found out I was female, they had to go back to the drawing board and find me a new name." She said....

He laughed. "I can just see their faces. So what did they call you then."

Raven furrowed her brow as she tried to remember what they called her. "A lot of the time, they called me a Fate as they believed the Fates had wings so they could visit the underworld, but the exact name escapes me at the minute.2....

During the early part of the Roman Empire when it was basicly contained to what became Italy, they believed in the goods quite a bit. From what he had read of the archives at Rome, the Romans after awhile only paid lip service to the gods, especially after christianity took hold. He would have loved to have been back there to see it all. It would have been fun to have seen they way they lived, especially knowing what he did now.

"So much history here and in your other journels that is not written down any where else. Have you ever thought of going through them and making a more complete account. What was going on at the time, what the people really were like?"

Raven smiled, then laughed lightly, "You think what you saw in my library was all I had written?" She asked, then leaned forward in her chair, "That is only a small fraction of what I have documented of human life. I walked the earth for nearly ten thousand years."....

He looked at her and smiled, "Well now I will certainly have to look at those." he told her.

"Enough reading to take up the rest of your life." She told him, "Most of it is mundane stuff really. How your ancestors hunted, what they learned from me and what I learned from them etc. Mostly, I only remember the things about you that stuck on me at the time."....

"Now that would be what the men of learning would love to know. We can only assume that they lived a certain way, by what we find in ruins, burrial sites and the like. For a good chunk of history there was nothing written down. Many would love to know the actual truth." he told her.

"I can tell you a lot about the old burials and holy grounds." She said, "I made it a point to follow that to see how you evolved in the matter."....

"Well not just about them, but how the people lived back then, what they thought, talked about, that kind of things." he said.

"Well, I can't tell you how they thought exactly." She said, "But it was generally along the lines of survival and how to deal with harsh weather and scarce food." She sat back in the chair again and looked out of the window. "I spent a few years with some tribal folk in what you call England around 7,000 years ago. I was teaching them how to cultivate crops more efficiently and how to trade with other people around the area. They allowed me to join in with some of their discussions and I learned quite a lot about them from it."....

"Ahhhhh now that is what every one would like to know." he grinned. "You should really put this all down in more detail so that people can know of it."

Raven laughed again, "I did." She told him, then pointed to the journal he had, "In that one I think, or..." She held out her hand for it...

He handed it over to her and said. "Yes, but it is only general notes. But even these the professors at any major university would love to read and would probably love to go over them with you." He was finding reading them quite illuminating.

Raven flicked through the pages, then nodded, "Yes, they are just generalised notes, but I found so much of the same across the world, I didn't want to make too much of it. It seemed a common thread at the time. It's only really been the last 4 or 5 thousand years that things started to change."....

"I will look forward to reading those journels." he said.

Raven smiled, "I can tell you pretty much what's in them. I rmember a lot of things from that time."....

"Well you can tell me about those times on the way then. It is a long flight and there is nothing else to do." he leaned back to listen.

Raven also made herself more comfortable. The steward came through with coffee and snacks and then left again while Raven took her mind back. "I was in the Far East to begin with." She began, "Learning about oriental people. They had not long discovered the secret of gunpowder and what they could make from it. The celebrated an Emperor's birthday by making rockets that exploded in colour across the sky. You call them fireworks, I believe." She smiled, "I was given an honoured place in his palace and was able to watch the event from his balcony. It was all rather exciting at the time. After that, I made my way into the Middle East, crossing the border through new trade routes between the chinese and the desert people of Perisa.".....

He listened with intrest. He wanted more details. What were the people like? What made them do the things they did. The time frame she was begining in was about the time, if he had understood what he heard right, Anubis had begun his own empire in Egypt. "Wasn't this about the time Anubis had started his empire?"

Raven shook her head, "It was more towards the human rebellion." She said, "So I decided to turn around and go back to China. Word was spreading about people killing their Gods or anything that wasn't like them, so I took to the hills, you might say. I decided to spend some time with the common people in Northern China and then across into Japan. The people there weren't like in the desert. They welcomed me. It was there that I was given some of my weapons." She smiled warmly...

"I wonder what would have happen if you and Anubis had met back then?" he murmered.

Raven lifted an eyebrow, "We would probably have tried to kill each other." She said, "He was about to lose Akasha and their unborn."....

Now that was something that he didn't know. "Akasha?" he asked. He had not heard of her.

Raven nodded, "She was Anubis' wife at the time. The humans murdered her before she birthed their child. From what I know of Anubis, he went completely off the reservation then and started a bloodbath in the entire region until he went into a long sleep."....

He raised a brow at that. Anubis had been married long ago and would have had a child if she had not been killed. "Wow. I can only imagine what he did." It had been a turbulent time in history and not much had been written down about it. Only a few things survived to tell of a terrible time with wars and such to consolidate land and power.

Raven shook her head, "No, you can't." she told him, "And I doubt he would tell you either. It's a part of his past that he would rather leave there now." She flicked through a few more pages of her old journal and then put it down. "I went there eventually, after everything had calmed down. Things had changed beyond reckoning by then. Anubis had been reinstated as a God, but in statue only by then. His bloodshed made him a God of Death and War, the Underworld. The people there had some strange beliefs then and the most oddly conceived idea of life after death. I hadn't seen burial rituals like it before and I was curious.".....

"Probably had something to do with Anubis and Cain." Oh how it would be something else to be able to acutally live thorugh all of that history. "Go on."

"It was the first time I had seen the ritual of embalming." She said, "I found it incredibly strange at the time what they did and why. I even made a point of asking once and it confused a lot of people. Landed me in hot water too for a while. I asked them why they cast aside the brains, but kept the heart and liver and such in jars for the afterlife because they would need to think and understand what the afterlife was about. It took them 500 years to give me an answer.".....

"That long eh. And what was the answer?"

Raven laughed then, "They came to the conclusion that you didn't need your mind to enjoy the afterlife because such emotion could only come from the heart and you didn't need a mind to eat and be merry as they believed happened." She shook her head, "I used to forget sometimes that these were still very primative people emotionally. Though I have to admit, their skills in architecture have yet to be matched, along with their understanding of the stars.".....

"That has always been a mystery to every scholor in the world. How did they get such knowledge? Was it Anubis?" he asked.

Raven nodded, "For the most part, I think so, yes." She said, "They even built him a great monument. In was in the year of the Lion. It's since been changed, which is a shame. It was so beautiful and amazingly, directly in line with the Leo star cluster at the time.".....

He smiled. "The Spinxs." he chuckled.

Raven nodded, "Shortly after that, they began building their famous tombs and also, directly in line with the major star clusters. Orion is probably the most famous of them. Though by then, they had refined their religion greatly and others were beginning to pop up around them. The Greeks were an odd bunch and incredibly curious about the world around them. It made a refreshing change from the death obsessed Egyptians."....

"The young Greek city states." They were a completely different type of civilization then the Egyptians. What were they like back then."

"They were brutal people to say the least." She said, "Always in search of war and glory and they placed a lot of importance on breeding the perfect offspring. They were incredibly selective with their females, but many were also homosexuals as well." She smiled and shook her head, "Very strange people."....

He laughed. "That was always suspected." he said.

Raven nodded, "But they lived with such a passion. It was frightening, but at the same time, incredibly satisfying. To date, they remain my favourite people. And they amassed a wealth of knowledge also. I was honoured to witness the creation of Alexandria and the great library there."....

"It is a shame that it was destroyed. So much knowledge lost." McDugal had been a man in search of knowledge. He studied what he could at the vatican archives. But even he was not allowed to see everything. The knowledge lost at the Library of Alexandria was a very tragic loss.

Raven nodded, "It was indeed." She said, "Another human disaster. Your kind has been fraught with it."....

"That is true." he sighed. Much had been lost over the centuries in wars and natural disasters. "And I am afraid alot has been the fault of mankind." he shook his head.

"Only a lot of it?" She asked.....

He looked at her, "Not all of mankind is responsible. Only those damned fools that ruled over the masses and wanted to be treated as gods."

"The masses as you call it carry their own part of the blame." She told him, "After all, they allowed those fools to do what they did. All mankind is to blame in one way or another, for what has been done to this planet."......

He couldn't argue there, but he still blamed those kings, and such for enraging and inciting the masses. "Well back then the masses were ignorant in so many ways and so easily lead around like sheep. Yes they allowed it, knowing no better." he shook his head sadly. "Ah to be able to go back in time and try to bring some sort of sence to the world."

"For a while, she managed to do that for herself." Raven said, "But as with any kind of cancer, it always dominates eventually.".....

"But what is done is done. There is no way to save what has already been lost. That is why your journels are so important. They fill in the blanks on so many things." he told her.

"Maybe." She told him, "But they are only my personal account and not necessarily what actually happened." She poured herself some coffee and plucked a few grapes. "any more questions?".....

Oh there were many questions about the past. "With all that you went through, and at times were treated so badly, why did you continue on with your time among us?"

"Because I had been given a job to do." She said, popping a grape into her mouth. "And I was curious. At least until there was a human excursion into our home territory."....

"Oh? What happened there." he asked.

"Our nest wasn't among the others in the stronghold and the humans attacked it. Killed my parents and burned the cabin to ash." She looked down sadly....

"Why wasn't your parrents at the stronghold?" What would make them live away from the safety of the dead zone.

"They didn't always agree with the politics of the Elders." She said, "So to remove tension and the arguments, they left. They were still part of the flock, but with some freedoms the rest didn't have."....

He shook his head. "Why did the humans attack them?"

Raven shook her head, "I never learned their motive, but I believe they thought we shouldn't be alive any longer."....

"Who were they? Where did they come from?" he asked.

"They came across the Tundrah." She said, "In the winter, thinking we couldn't see them. My father fought them hard and strong, so did Mother, but there were just too many of them."...

"What did you do then?" he would probably read more about that later on in another journel.

Raven chewed on another grape for a good while before answering them. "I hunted them down." she said, "And treated them the way they treated my family." she closed her eyes for a moment and then looked out of the window. "And then I went after those that sent them.".....

"Who were they?" he leaned forward.

"Clan leaders from the South." She finished her coffee....

"Clan leaders?" It was hard to think of where they would have been from. So many of the lands back then were inhabited by clans.

Raven nodded, "Germanic."....

He nodded. They were barbaric back then. He was surprised it had not been the wild clans of England or those from the Nordic countries.

She put her coffee cup back down and looked at him again, "Any more?".....

He leaned back in his seat and picked up the journel. "Not for the moment." he said. He closed his eyes as he felt the weight of the day upon him.

Raven nodded and sat back in her own seat. She stared out of the window at the endless sky and the passing clouds below. She wanted to be among them and feel the water on her skin...

McDugal dozed off, the day finally had gotten to him. As he slept and Raven looked out the window at the clouds and sky. A large group of men and women had gathered in Northern Canada. They were heavily armed with not only guns but with powerful crossbows, the arrows tipped in heroin, swords smeared with Heroin in concentrated form. They wore improved body armor, tough and could stop bullets as well as arrows. They wore the blood red cross of the Order of Blood. Another group of hunters but not of the church. They were an independet order that felt all abnormals needed to be killed and the purity of the human race secured.

"Sir." a woman stepped into the command tent. "The plane bearing the Bitch Raven has taken off. Satilite pictures have confirmed it. She is flying north to what has been discovered as the dead zone. "

"Good." the elderly man said as he stood up and moved the fingers of one hand through his greying hair. "Ten years ago a group of Church Hunters had tracked and almost disposed of one that lycans had gone to that area to retrieve. A survivor of that group told of a very old one that the lycans protected with such a fierceness that she was deemed some sort of important one among the creatures. That one has died some time ago as has been reported by the news medial of Anubis' empire. She came from that area and we need to find out what is there. Perhaps something better then heroin coated weapons to destroy them all. Inform the others to pack up and begin moving north. We will follow her in at a distance, utilizing satilites to watch her movements from the time she leaves the landing strip she lands at."

Raven watched the sky move past her for a while longer and then felt herself drifting into sleep. So many things were happening, she had become tired without realizing it. The hours passed then in silence and neither were disturbed by the crew. Messages were relayed on their behalf to the landing site and all was going to plan so far. There was some bad weather moving in from the East that would make the landing a little rough, but the plane would be able to leave before the storm got well under way. It would leave Raven and McDugal to battle it alone, but she had grown up there and survived far worse than this.

At the base camp in Canada, another stepped into the tent. He was wrapped in the latest Arctic gear with all said gadgets. Once the hood was pulled back, it revealed someone familiar. A week ago, he'd been in the Vatican and a few days after that, had been speaking in Cape Town. The Suited Man. The woman looked up and touched the Commander's shoulder. "Sir, he's here." She said quietly. The Suited Man removed his hood and goggles and then his gloves. He looked around briefly, liking what he saw. These people had put the money to good use and everywhere he looked, he could see everything that would put an end to the invasion and corruption by the Angelus.

Moving forward, he bowed his head to the Commander. "You've done well to get set up so quickly." He said. "When the word came through she was leaving her sanctuary, I didn't think we would have enough time to perfect the numbers for the attack; especially so soon after the conference. But I must say..." He looked around again, ".....I'm impressed. The other contingents are set up and ready to go. I have secured a satelite link so the blitz will be precise." He smiled coldly. "The Demangliosaurus will be extinct as of today.".......

"We have been preparing for months. Just awaiting the opportunity." The Commander of the group got up and looked the man in the eye. "So you have cooridinate the attack on the so called nests of Cain and Anubis? How will the groups be able to penitrate their inner defenses. Their security is tight, any one that is armed besides the guards at the palaces are taken out."

In the hours that were passing while Raven and McDugal were in the air, the investigator for the School District talked to each and every Angelus child that went to the school. Each told him the same story and some even had assignments that they kept that had bad grades but plainly could be seen to be all correct and complete. The man completed his questioning and stopped after he was done to see Anubis. "I have everything I need sir. Action will be taken against both teacher and former principle. Other actions will be implemented to prevent such an occurance from happening again."

Cain and Afrika had decided to take the children to the ruins of the empire that Cain had begun long ago. Some of the adults went also. They told no one but just went, taking weapons enough for the adults to use incase they needed to. It was an outing to show the children where he had tried to get the elder's attention.

The Suited Man gave a cold smile, "Their security means little against what my superiors have planned." He said, then nodded, "The strike will be simultaneous on both nests. With the female Demangliosaur here, Anubis will be weaker and more distracted. He won't even know she's dead until he's burning alive with his abominable offspring." The man moved around the table, looking at the area maps before returning his gaze to the Commander. "My superiors have been planning this for more than ten years, Commander and thanks to them, you have the weapons you need to help us do what we must."

Afrika was curious at first to what Cain was up to. Every trip they took had to be meticulously planned. Still, it was exciting not knowing what he was doing. Some of the nest was with them, so it wasn't too bad and they all knew how to handle a weapon now and the boys were big enough and strong enough to defend themselves.....

Ten years in the making. Why so long the Commander wondered. He was a fair judge of men, and he could tell that there was more to it for the man with no name. He was to adament about the destruction of the Angelus and other abnormals. Instead of one at a time, he was out to eliminate them all at once. "What makes you think Anubis will be weaker with out Raven there. From what I have heard of him he was doing quite well before her arrival."

The Suited Man narrowed his gaze, "Because she is his soulmate. We have been testing them since she first arrived and we discovered that with her around, Anubis is all but invulnerable. She sees what he does not and vice versa. With them seperated like this, we have a better chance of actually pulling this off." He moved a few markers around the map before putting them back. "My superiors have taken everything into account, including the human losses that will be inevitable.".....

"They are supporters of the abnormals, that is not a problem for us." the commander said. "You seem to be so intent on this and not just because your superiors are. You have something more at stake here then just eliminating abnormals. I have seen such obsession before. Especially with some sort of personal loss or degrading situation."

The Suited Man didn't answer him at first, deciding to choose his words very carefully, "My superiors have been hunting abnormals since the beginning and those that harbour them. This weapon, this drug has been the first major breakthrough since the bullet and we cannot let this opportunity get away from us. Mankind's survival depends on our ability to destroy our predators."....

The Commander grinned. Oh the man was hidding something. He grinned but that grin turned into a very solomn face. "I ask only because when someone has such a hate and desire for vengence plans something this big, they usually screw it up because they let it get in their way. I have no problem killing other humans to kill the abnormals, but I do have a problem when it comes to my people being wiped out because of someone at the top screwing up."

The Suited Man looked up again and carefully put one of the markers on its side, "Hate and vengeance I am willing to admit to." He said, "These .... things have hunted us and killed us for thousands of years and their minions have killed as many again. I have lost friends and family to them and many of my fellow workmates have also lost their lives to these creatures. Human beings are the dominant species, Commander. We are the apex predator and to be perfectly honest with you, I don't much like the idea of being replaced by a bunch of outdated and rather hideous dinosaurs. Do you?".....

"And how deep is that hate of yours? Is it enough to blind you to the point of makeing a wrong decision at a critial time, just because you wish to see them all dead?" Before he went out on a mission to kill Raven and any that might be hidden in the dead zone, he wanted to make sure there were not going to be any hickups as he called them.

"Of course I wish to see them all dead." He said, "They are the biggest threat to my race since their discovery." He moved around the table and stood at the Commander's shoulder. His voice was quiet now. "And I would appreciate very much that you stop questioning my ability to do my job and my motives for doing it. One may take to thinking I am a lesser man than I claim to be." He looked at the other man very carefully, "I have killed men for a lot less insult than this, so just remember whom is running this show. Understand?".....

The commander stood up towering over the Suited Man. "When it comes to my people and myself, I will question anything and anyone that might threaten them. If I have any hint that you or any other are about to endanger the mission and my people, I will not hesitate to eliminate you. You are not the only one that have killed men for less. So do not try to threaten me."

The Suited Man laughed quietly and nodded, "We are all expendable here, Commander." He said, "It's just a matter of when and how. Keep that in mind, would you?" He then moved outside the tent and put his hood up. He pulled out his satlink and dialed in to his second team. "Are we all set to go?" He asked. He nodded to the answer. "We have no margain for error here, we must be flawless. Have the secondary units on standby and keep track of the Angelus female." Another confirmation and he put his satlink away again. On the plane, Raven woke gently and took in a deep breath before looking out of the window. She nodded and then clicked her fingers gently to wake McDugal. "We're nearly there." She said.....

McDugal awoke with a bit of a start. Then her remembered where he was. He streached his arms and legs while he was sitting and looked out the window. "How long before we land." he asked.
At the camp the Commander called in one of his men. "I want you to keep an eye on our guest. One wrong move and I mean if he does one thing that jepordizes the mission, take him out. I think his superiors will not mind. They want this going as smooth as possible."

Raven looked out of the window and spotted the coming storm, "About ten minutes or so." She said, "But I'd hold onto something. We're landing in a storm." She smiled....

Close to the secluded landing strip was the contengent of soldiers, Anubis had made sure was in place. The commander of the group had put tracking devices on the equipment that Raven and McDugal would be using to go into the Dead Zone. Sleds and dogs were ready. Faster then walking, and would be needed in the storm that was coming in. They would follow.
"The plane is landing." At the Order OfBlood camp the radio operator announced. "The storm is wreaking havoc on our insturments." The Commander nodded, "We move out now. We will take the route we have planned. Should be a parralle course she will take." He adjusted his artic clothing and left the tent. Sleds, dogs, and his men were ready to go and moved out when he exited the tent.

The plane started bumping and jarring around and Raven gripped the arms of her seat. She wanted nothing more than to kick open the door and ride the storm out on her own terms. Sadly, that would not be possible. The pilot came over the comm to apoligize and reassure them they would be landing safely and soon. Raven shut her eyes and gripped her seat......

McDugal just rode it out in his seat. He was use to rough rides. Those plane rides in other countries were not always comfortable ones like the plane they were on. He thought back to the last one that took him to Cain. He wondered how she was doing. The plane finally landed and taxied up to a hanger and was pulled the rest of the way in by a tow vehicle. When it stopped the attendent came and opened the door.

Raven quickly got out of her seat and went to the door. There was a blast of chilled air and she breathed it in deeply. "I'm home." She cooed to herself. At the bottom of the ramp, one of the crew was waiting with her gear and her cloak. she felt a slight shiver down her spine, but after ten years of an almost tropical climate, she expected that. It wouldn't take her long to get used to it though. Outside the storm had started to kick off and Raven quickly got herself sorted. "Tell your pilot to go as soon as possible." She told the crewman, "Storms like this come hard and fast and you'll be stuck here until it dies down again. By the size of the cloud, it could be days." The crewman nodded and quickly unloaded the rest of the gear....

McDugal took his time getting out of his seat and then exited the plane with his satchle and pulled on his artic coat with hood. When the other things were brought around, he put on a warm sock hood and goggles, put on artic pants and boots and gloves. He looked outside at the dog sleds and dogs. They were packed with tents, food, water, small stoves, fuel for the stoves, rope bedrolls and other things. He put his things on one of the sleds and made sure they were secured. He looked at Raven who he could tell was releived to be out of the plane. "Well ready when you are." he said.

Raven nodded as she pulled on her reindeer pants and then tied the jecket behind her neck. Perfect to cover her, but leave her wings free. She then pulled her cloak on and lifted the hood. The dogs seemed nervous around her, sensing another predator, but after a quick whistle and a soft pet of the lead dog, they were happy to be near her. "You follow me with the sled." She told him, "The dogs should be able to keep up, but if you lose sight of me, whistle, ok?"....

He nodded and took his place on the back of the sled, taking the handle gripps and placing his feet in the right place. He let Raven set the pace, his dog team following the other sled.
"They have moved out sir." one of the lycans told the Commander. He nodded and turned on his tracking device monitor. A lit gridwork appeared with the two dots indicating the two sleds. They followed, but at a distance that would not reveal them to Raven. The storm would help mask them as well.

Raven nodded to McDugal and then whistled at the dogs. She then took off at a fast pace. The storm was coming up on their rear and would hit them soon, so she used the growing winds to keep her pace fast enough so it wouldn't hit so hard later. The dogs didn't have a problem keeping up thus far, but the rough ground would make it hard on McDugal.....

McDugal had no real experience with dog sleds but he knew he had to stand for a long period of time and control the direction of the sled by moving his body and the sled. He followed Raven, now and then looking over his shoulder at the oncoming storm. They would have to make camp before the storm hit in full force, unless they got to where they were going before it did. But he doubted that.

As Raven ran through the snow and ice, she began to feel warmer. The friction from her gear was akin to basquing for almost an hour and soon enough, she began to shed the layers. After a hop, skip and a small jump, she pulled off the pants and rolled them up. She then stuffed them under her chin while she untied the knot behind her neck. The jacket came away easily and she rolled that up too. She then slowed her pace long enough to dump the gear onto the side of the sled. "Are you alright?" She shouted over the wind....

McDugal laughed. "Doing good. Looks like you are doing better though."

Raven laughed, showing a glint in her eye. "I'm home!" She called to him, "What could be better than that?" She laughed again as she resumed the lead. The storm was gaining fast and after a quick check around, she knew they would have to stop and very soon. She could survive the storm, the dogs probably could, but McDugal had no chance, not unless she took the sled and he wrapped himself up inside it. The weight of him as well as the pull of the dogs would slow them down too much and they would get stuck. Raven began looking for somewhere to hunker down so they could rest for a while. The storm made it difficult to see, but her keen eyes managed to pick out the outer edge of a glacier. With a loud whistle, she signalled to McDugal to head right and then made the turn herself. They were getting close to the edge of the dead zone, but she wanted to be closer.....

The two teams of soldiers moved on their courses ignoring the storm. They were experienced soldiers of artic and winter type enviornments. The lycans that lead the contengent of Anubis' soldiers lived in the far reaches of Canada where it was always snowy and cold. The humans that were with them had also been raised in those areas. They knew their way around and could survive. The The Order of Blood troops had training in the artic and antartica. They had no problem with the weather, and kept on course.
McDugal continued to follow Raven wondering where she was heading.

Raven steered them towards the glacier and then shot into a crevice. It was big enough for McDugal and the dogs at a push, but it would surfice for now....

Following her in, he stopped the sled when she stopped. It was good shelter from the storm. The wind would be cut down and most of of the snow would fall about them. He went along the line of dogs talking to them and telling them how good they had done as he gave them all a bit of attention and affection. "Rest now, you have earned it."

Raven took a deep breath and pushed back her hood. She smiled as McDugal showered the dogs with affection, but squeezed herself past him. "We're not done yet." She said, "We need to tie down the sled before it blows away." She grabbed at the holding straps and pulled the sled onto it's side before she pulled it into the crevice hole. "Help me.".....

He helped her drag the sleds to a more protected area and then began unpacking the tents to set them up. They were light weight but sturdy and could stand the blasts of the wind. He set them up and put in the small stoves and bed rolls in them. The two teams noticed that they had gone to ground and set up their own camps.

Raven wondered what McDugal was doing. The crevice was barely big enough for them to be comfortable and he was pulling out tents and bedrolls. "What are you doing?" She asked him and then looked around. "Too much heat in here and you'll flood us out and we don't have space for all that stuff. If you're cold you'll have to crawl into the sled."....

He looked at her and shugged his shoulders and repacked the stuff. He made room in his sled and had his bed roll ready. It consisted of a an artic sleeping bag and wool blanket. "Well we still can use the stoves to cook up some food."

Raven went to her satchel and pulled out a small roll of cloth. Inside was some sweet bread. "This will do for now." She said, then pointed to the ceiling of the crevice. "Up there is a hundred thousand tonnes of ice and water. You light a fire in here, you'll unbalance the ice and the water. You'll flood us or drowned us." She tore off some bread and passed it to him. "I will find a safe place when we've rested."....

McDugal didn't think that the amount of heat from the stove would cause that much problems, but he was not going to argue with her. This was familiar ground to her and she was the expert. "How far is it to where we are going?" he asked her. The storm came in over them, the wind blowing above at a speed that would have blown them around above, had they continued on.

The Two groups of following them had quickly dug out areas and pitched tents and staked them down good. Once in they got into their artic sleeping bags and prepared to wait until Raven again began moving. Snow fell heavily over the land.

In Virginia at an installation deep in the woods and hills a bald headed man paced back and forth. "What is the latest report on the three assualt teams?"

"The Artic team is camped for now waiting for the creature Raven to begin moving again. A storm has hit and it a bad one, but is suppose to clear out by morning and just have some snow falling for the next couple of days. The other two teams are in place, awaiting the go ahead. "

The bald headed man lit up a large cigar and puffed on it. "Good. Now get me General Avery. Once the attacks start I am sure Anubis will try to launch his Nukes. I want those anti Missile batteries ready to fire the second launch is detected." Blow the missiles before they could get out of the silos. Even if they detonated the nukes, the damage would be in the area of the traitors to the United States and the millions killed would be there. But if all went as planned the missiles would be destroyed and burried.

Raven checked periodically to see how strong the storm was. After a time, she deemed it safe enough to leave the glacier. The storm still raged, but she figured if she could pull the dogs along a little, McDugal could take shelter in the sled for a while. When he asked how much further they had to go, she turned to him and smiled, "About another 500 miles or so. About another 200 across the Bearings to the border. After that, we should reach the Tundra.".....

That was a long way to go with dog sleds. He shook his head and got some rest while he could. "When you deem it is good for travel let me know. He was up to what ever he had to do, even if it killed him.

Raven looked out over the sled once more. "We will leave shortly." She said. "I want to reach the Bearings by sundown. You can rest in the sled and I will lead the dogs.".....

"I can keep going." he told her. They had waited for the storm to ease up which had been a few hours and he had rested and had eaten some. He didn't want to show any weakness.

Raven looked at him and narrowed her eyes a little, "Then I will ask you to tie yourself to the sled." She told him flatly, "Because this storm will carry you off."....

"If I must." he grinned and prepared to once again move out.

Raven nodded. Soon after, the sled was upright again and the dogs were leashed in. Raven made sure to double check everything. The storm was horrendous and one gust nearly lifted the entire sled up and off the snow. This worried Raven, so she moved to McDugal. "Get in!" She said to him, "Weigh it down before we all get vlown away!".....

He looked at her. She had deemed safe to go out into the storm. "It will be alright." he told her.


"I may be human but I am not a weakling." he told her. "If you like you can ride." he grinned.

Raven cocked her head to one side. She then grabbed a rope leashed to the sled and shoved it to him. "Then tie yourself off quickly." She said, "And the second this things lifts off, you jump in, understood? I can keep hold of the dogs." She fluttered her wings a little, shaking off some of the snow and moved to the front of the line. After taking up the lead rope, she whistled loudly and started pulling the dogs forward....

He lashed himself to the sled and then held on. As the sled moved he rode on the back. The snow fell and blew around, but it was not as bad as it had been.

As they pushed on, the wind began to change. It lessened slightly and the snow seemed to take on a more vertical decent rather than lateral. And it started to change direction slightly also. Raven picked up the pace, pulling the dogs almost to their limit. They couldn't keep it up for long and neither could the sled handle the rough terrain for long. "We're entering the eye!" She called back to him, "The wind will drop. Wrap yourself up quickly!".....

He was in his artic gear, but wrapped another heavy blanket about him. He looked up and saw the clearing sky ahead. But all around them was the storm raged. "The eye of the storm." he muttered. Where it was calm but colder.

Raven slowed down a little and then a bit more to bring the dogs down again gently. eventually, they were merely ambling along. At this point, Raven dropped back to the sled and grabbed her gear. She all but walked into the pants and then tied the jacket on quickly. The temperature was dropping fast. After wrapping ehr cloak tight over her wings, she grabbed another blanket from the sled and pulled it over her head. "We can ease up a little." She said, "Catch your breath before the backend hits us.".....

He waited and watched the storm, shaking the snow from him. The storm would hit them again and hopefully they would be able to continue on and get to where they were to go

Raven watched everything carefully as the storm raged around them. She knew better than to think of this small patch of calmness as safety. And true to form, within minutes, another creature emerged from the blizzard. Raven stopped entirely and put her hand down to the dogs. "Shanay." She cooed at them, "Shanay." It meant calm, quiet. She also put her hand up to McDugal. She then put her finger to her lips and motioned to get down. Even she got in the snow. About 100 yards away, a very large and very hungry looking polar bear stopped and regarded them.....

He looked at the Polar Bear and smiled. He was a grand specimen of their breed. He was also probably pretty hungry. Before he could get down, he had to undo the ropes he had to use to keep him bound to the sled. When he had finally got them off he eased him self down, trying not to make any sudden moves. But he kept his eyes on the bear.

Raven tilted her head slightly as she met the bear's gaze. It grunted and growled at her, but she made no sudden movement and pulled herself in tight to make herself look smaller. One of the dogs began to whine and the bear instantly dropped his head down. "Shanay." She cooed quietly, "Shanay." The dog calmed again, but the bear had locked on so to speak. Quickly, but carefully, she untied the dog and then watched as it ran off. The bear took one last look at them and then took off after the dog. "Damn." she hissed as she got back to her feet, "Fucking..... stupid.....fucking.....mut.".....

McDugal slowly rose to one knee, a hand on the ground. For some reason he outstreached his other arm towards the bear and his eyes glowed a strange white light. The bear stopped running after the dog and slowed it's pace. It then turned away and went in another direction. When the bear was gone McDugal shook his head as if clearing it and stood up.

Raven was about to pick up the lead leash and started moving again when she felt something move through her. It made her catch her breath and she quickly turned around to the source of that feeling. McDugal. One hand on the ground, the other faced palm out to the bear. With her mouth hanging open, she watched the human stand again. If it weren't for the storm about to hit them again, she would have forced him to tell her exactly how and where he had learned such a thing, but time was not on her side. She shed the blanket and her gear quickly and threw it onto the sled. "We need to move." She said quickly and then heaved the dogs back into action.....

"What?" he asked. It was as if he was in a daze. "What happened?" he asked. He grabbed hold of the sled's handles and then placed his feet on the runners and held on as the dogs began to move. The dog that had run off seeing that the bear no longer pursued it, came running back to the the sled.

Raven looked at him with narrowed eyes as the stray came back. Raven hung back from the leader and quickly looped the leash back over the dog's head before she resumed her position. She chose not to answer his questions right now, it would lead to far more and they just didn't have the time to discuss the matter. "Move!" She shouted and seconds later, the storm started whipping up the snow and ice around them. It hit like a thousand knives and Raven had to dig her talons into the snow just to stay grounded. The sled began to lift and tilt and she could feel the dogs being lifted with it. The sound was horrendous and she just prayed that the human would do as she had told him......

Again something seemed to take control of McDugal. His eyes glowed white, the ground shook a bit and rose on either side of them forming a tunnel of sorts, out of ice and snow. A warm feeling washed over them all. As they moved forward the tunnel slowly collapsed behind them."They are moving." one of the hunters yelled and everyone jumped to tearing the camp down and getting underway. The Commander cursed as the wind and snow slammed them. In the other camp the lycans changed to their large wolfen forms to help pull the sleds along as the humans took to the sleds to keep them on the ground and to keep themselves safe. The Lycans were more suited that way to the weather.

Raven could feel what was happening long before she actually saw it. However the hell McDugal had tapped into the old magiks, she didn't know. What she did know however, it was helping them. The tunnel kept them sheltered and helped them move faster and it covered their tracks again as it collapsed behind them. Raven picked up the pace and began whispering to help the magik along. "Du eh di yah." The dogs seemed to revive themselves immensly and they ran faster than ever. The smooth ground beneath them now made the sled glide easily. She looked back to find McDugal in a trance and nodded. It had that effect on most creatures who didn't know how to use it properly. The distance was covered in only a few hours and before they knew it, they were half way across the Bearings and she could feel the pull of the magnetics on her.....

The further they went the less powerful the storm became and finally it stopped all together. Once they had gotten out of the path of the storm McDugal simply fell to the ground, the glow in his eyes faded and they became normal again.
"How the hell are they moving so fast in this shit?" the Hunter Commander demanded. "Not sure sir," one of the hunters had to yell. The lycans were making good progress and still had them on the tracker.

The Suited Man removed his mask and looked at the satelite feed. "They're not moving over the snow." He told them, "They're moving under it." He showed them the slight difference in height and the broken ice and snow behind the track. "How could that be?" One of the hunters asked, "Not even a lycan can dig through ice that fast!" The Suited Man half turned to him, "She's using magik." He said flatly, "Something far more dangerous than just fangs and claws." He put his mask back on and motioned for them to push forward. After McDugal had collapsed, Raven literally packed him into the sled and carried on. The dogs didn't seem to mind as she pulled and coaxed them over the ice. Not long after that, she felt them move through the magnetic barrier and she turned them directly North. By the time McDugal woke again, they had reached a staging post that the Inuit and Syberian used to trade at in the Spring. It was long abandoned now because of the dead zone, but it was safe to rest and they could leave the sled and dogs there....

McDugal came around as they arrived and looked around, his eyes looking questioning at Raven. "What, what happened? Where are we?"

"We're safe." She told him as she took a kettle off a small wood stove. "And thanks to your little trick back there, we made it out of the storm too." She poured him some hot tea and then tore open some protein bars...

"Wha..... what?" he asked, "What trick?" he put a hand to his head. "Oh my head feels like someone is pounding drums in it." He looked at Raven, "What are you talking about."

Raven nodded, "Yes I know it is." She told him, "And it will do for a while. Drink your tea, Shamus, it will help." She pulled a small piece off the protein bar and chewed on it. It tasted foul and she spat it back out again before she moved back to the fire. "What you did back there was called Urah. It's a very old form of magik that my people used. My mother taught it to me. There aren't many of you mammals that can do it and those that can usually end up like you did. Waking up with a thick head.".....

"What? Now way. I have no idea of what you are talking about. Magik? No, I have no knowledge of that." what she was talking about was way out of his league.

Raven lifted an eyebrow, "Then how did we end up past the Tundrah and less than 100 miles from the Stronghold?" She cocked her head to one side, "Fair enough, I helped you along a little, but that tunnel you made under the ice made thigns move a lot smoother.".....

"I did what?" He was surprised. "No I couldn't have. I don't remember a thing after the bear and we began moving again."

Raven shook her head, "No suprise there." She told him, "However someone taps into it, Urah has an effect on people. To my kind, it leaves us a little worn out, tired and the like. Lycans or Vampyres, it can stop them changing and leave them vulnerable for a while. Humans, it can knock you out completely. Even kill you if you're not careful about it." She poured some more tea. "And most of you won't remember for a while at least anyways. Give it a few days and you'll know what I'm talking about. Now drink your tea.".....

He lifted the cup up to his lips and sipped it. He had no idea how he could have even done anything like that. He had no knowledge of it, what she had called it, Urah. So how could he have used something he had no knowledge of it. He picked up a power bar and began eating it. "So how does one use this Urah, when they have no idea of how to use it?"

Raven poured herself some tea and began sipping at it gently, "Most of it is instinct." She told him, "The bear for example. You felt in your heart that we were in danger and your body reacted accordingly. For me, it was letting the dog loose to distract it. For you, it was creating something in the distance to distract it." She then shook her head, "The tunnel, I can't explain yet. Maybe when you can remember what, you'll know why."......

He still didn't know how he could have done anything. He didn't know anything about it. Instinct? Was she trying to say that all humans had this ability and it just took instiinct? That didn't make sence. Or was she saying that some could have the ability to use it an just needed a reason to. "Remember? I'm not sure I can."

"You will eventually." She told him.....

He drank some more of the tea. "So we have come a long way in a short time. Closer to our destination then the first estimate?"

Raven nodded, "Thanks to you, we've covered twice the distance in half the time." She said....

"Wow." So they were not to far away. "First stop the Sanctuary and then Pandora?"

Raven nodded, "And we haven't been spotted by the patrols yet either, so this could be an easy trip." She sipped more of her tea, "But Anubis will feel my wrath when we get home.".....

McDugal raised a brow. "Why is that?" he asked. "What has he done."

"His contingent of guards that have been following us." She told him, "The wind changed as we were coming across the Tundrah and I could smell them."...

McDugal smiled. "Well go easy on him. He loves you deeply and wants to make sure you are protected.

Raven lifted an eyebrow, "Fair enough, but he should have told me." She said.....

McDugal laughed, "I think you already knew he would do something like this, and he probably did to."

"What I think is he underestimates my ability to cope in this world." She said, "So he feels he must protect me, even if it means lying to me. His guards are better placed elsewhere, preferably with our children, but that's personal opinion.".....

"Well at least they are not here. They are at a distance and probably will stay there. More of an over watch then anything. He is giving you your space and not crowding you." he stood up a little wobbaly.

Raven gave half a nod, "As long as that's where they stay." She said, "And they won't be able to track us well enough to get close now anyways. The further into the dead zone we get, the harder it will be to spot us, even via satelite.".....

Well that would be true. Once in the dead zone nothing would be able to track them unless they had a good visual on them. "Are they humans are lycans?" he asked. Lycans only needed the scent and they would be able to keep on their trail.

"Both." She said, "Two teams of them to be precise, though moving seperately. I would imagine so they can gain different angles to keep me in their sights."....

"Two? One lycan and one human?" he asked.

"Lycan and human in one of the teams and all human in the other. I would imagine the team with the lycans are leading the team without."....

He shook his head and took out a pair of binoculars and headed for the tallest building at the site. The steple of what might have been a church. He put them to his eyes and began scanning the ground that they had come across. It was alot of ground to cover but he tried to get every inch of it. "Shit." he said as he first spotted the group of lycans and humans. They were in artic gear but not pure white to camoflouge themselves. And that was what the second group had done. That told him they were not wanting to be spotted. He didn't like that.

Raven watched McDugal with the binoculars briefly and then went back to the hut. After a short time, everything was packed up and the dogs were kennelled for when they got back. She put out the fire and the lamps and then waited for him to get back so they could leave. She wanted the remaining daylight to get them as far as possible.....

He came down and grabbed his gear. "Second Group I don't think is with the other. They are trying to hide themselves to well. Can't see them from the ground, even if they are up close." he looked back the way they had come a distastful look on his face.

Raven's face cleared of all emotion. "They're not?" She got to her feet and went to one of the many cupoards in the hut and pulled out a load of white sheets and blankets. "The Inuits used these for trapping and for hiding from the authorities if they came here." She said, "So we will do the same." Once opened up, the underside was covered in strong foil. It would hide them thermally as well as visually. "It's rough terrain out there so watch your step. I'll tether you to me and put on some snow shoes to hide our tracks.".....

He put on the snow shows and then took one of the sheets and tied it about his neck, and arms At least it would help keep them hidden to some degree.

Raven wrapped herself also in the sheets and made sure to cover her head. When she was ready, she tied some of the sled rope around her middle and then gave McDugal the other end. "Are you ready?" She asked.....

"Ready." he said and took one last look back the way they came, before tieing off the rope and moving.

Raven nodded and pulled the sheet right over her head. "I'll take us over the glacial top." She said, "It takes longer and it's more dangerous, but they won't be able to track us up there and the cloud bank will hide us from any visuals.".....

He nodded and followed. "They have stopped at some way station or something." one of the hunters told their commander. "Keep moving. We have to make up the distance we lost. Satilites will be of no use when we get to the dead zone and I want to be able to track them, visually." Both groups tried to make up the distance, the lycans doing the better job because of their lycan forms.

Raven took a quick look around to get her bearings and then started at a reasonable pace across the ice towards the glacier. "Yell if you can't keep up!" She shouted back to him, "Or if you get tired.".....

"Will do." he told her and kept up with her pace. He looked at the direction that they were going and in the distance saw the low cloud bank. He smiled. That would keep them thinking, and on the move trying to keep up. He didn't like the idea of the second group though. "Might have been a good thing Anubis sent his men, don't you think?"

Though he couldn't see it under the sheet hood, Raven nodded, "Yes, I agree." She said back, "My assumption was wrong. If this second group aren't with the lycans, then they're tracking us for another reason. Probably hunters. They must have tracked us from LA and been waiting for me to leave the nest.".....

"Well they will have a nasty surprise then if they try anything." he told her. If they had not been seen by the hunters then they would not know what hit them. But he wanted to just get to where they were going with out any trouble.

"I have no doubt." She told him, "And a bigger one if the lycans catch up as well." After that, she fell silent and concentrated on her pace. She was careful not to go too quickly in case McDugal lost his footing, and then more so as they reached the edge of the glacier. At this point, Raven slowed right down and took much more care with her footing. Every step was carefully thought out and she took time to test the ground. If it didn't feel right, she picked another spot. "Move in my footsteps." She said quietly, "And don't make too much noise, it echoes through the ground."....

He moved slowly and did what he was told. "They are heading for the glacier. Tracking is going to be hard on the ice. If they make it to the cloud bank, even satilites are going to be ineffective." Like Raven they had left the dogs back at the waystation. But the Lycans kept going using their wolfen forms to pull the sleds. As McDugal walked along, he tried to think back on what had happened to them. The Bear and then the tunnel. His mind seemed to see flickers of what had happened. Through out it he began to remember feeling a warm sensation through out his body. But there was something else. It felt as if there was someone or something else there, with him.

The Suited Man smiled lightly under his scarf and mask as he watched Raven disappear from the satelite. "We're going about this the wrong way." He said, "She knows we're following her and so she will lead us to where she wants us." He took out his compass, checked it and put it back; it was usless. "This is her territory, remember." Raven kept moving carefully and soon enough, they were shrouded in fog. And then she felt a tug on the rope around her waist and she stopped. "Are you alright?".....

"Yes." he said. "Just remembering a bit of what was going on up here." he pointed to his head. "Seems as if I am not alone up here."

Raven gave a slight nod as she felt around for the next step. The ice was getting very thin and she could feel the vibration of air underneath them from the cracks and crevices. "That's a good thing." She told him, "Stay close, the ice is getting thinner."....

"A good thing to have someone else in my head?" he asked. He could hear the slight snapping and crackeling sounds. This was where he wished he could control magik.

Raven put a finger to her lips and half turned, "It's not someone." She whispered. She felt around carefully with her feet and then a bit more. Nothing looked good, not for two people. She backed up a step. "Climb on my back.".....

He sighed and eased himself onto her back. They couldn't see to far out and going was slow. He didn't like it. "This will tire you out." he told her. "The extra weight also is not good to be in one spot."

Raven balanced the weight carefully and then dropped down to her quarters, "Yes it will and yes, you're right." She said, feeling around in the snow lightly, "But the struts between crevices are getting two small for two people to move quickly enough without falling through the top layers. You need to hang on tight because once I start, I won't stop until I reach a safe point, understood?".....

He nodded and held on. He wondered why she didn't just fly and with the rope about him make him a bit lighter on the ice as he moved across it.

Raven felt around a little more and then tensed up her limbs. "Here we go." She said and then sprinted forward. She moved quickly and shot from side to side as the ice began to cave in behind her. Thankfully, her talons made good use of what ice there was and she managed to stay well ahead of what fell. What she had said was right through, they never would have made it seperated. As more and more ice began to fall, Raven had to step up her speed and the distance she jumped between the crevices. By the time she was tiring, she was jumping twenty feet or more in one leap and the ice was falling faster than ever. "At least those hunters can't follow us now." She said...

That was true they could not follow, but the Commander was no fool. He had been taking in landmarks and on a map he had where the glacier was. It pinpointed solid ground and on it was marked the deadzone. He could calculate where she would come out. He shifted his people's course to where he figured she would come out. "She will have to go slow now, test every step. We will move and catch upeven more." he told them and ordered them to continue moving.

Raven made one last leap and then had to scramble as the ice gave way around her feet. She dug her fingers right in and clawed at the ice wall before she pulled herself up and they were on solid ground once more. "Too close!" She breathed, then literally shrug McDugal off her back....

He laid on the solid ground and breathed a sigh of releif. "Lets not do that again." he said.

"Agreed." She said, taking a deep breath. She stood up then and took another look around. They were a good few miles from where they needed to be, but if McDugal could run fast enough, they could make it in an hour. "This way." She said, pointing to a small rise about five miles away...

He got up and began running behind her once again. The goggles and mask helped keep the cold out of his lungs and eyes. That was the only way he could keep up with her. When they reached their destination he stopped to catch his breath.

Raven stopped and turned as McDugal stopped to catch his breath, "Come on." She said, "We're almost there. Another mile and we're done, I promise."....

Taking deep breaths he nodded, not wanting to waste his breath talking. He took off running again. Another mile would not be to bad. He wondered what was there.

Raven nodded back and started running again. It didn't take her long to cover the ground and once she made it to the rise, she stopped and looked around quickly. Then, just like that, she hit the deck....

He was right behind her and found it strange that once she got to the rise she hit the deck. He slowed and stopped just below her and eased himself to the ground and crawled up to look over.

Just over the ridge were the hunters. Raven quickly grabbed McDugal by the arm and pulled him back. "I dno't know how they made it so fast." She whispered, "These are no ordinary hunters. Who the hell are they?!" Down the ridge, the Suited Man pulled his mask and goggles off and looked around with a smile. There were no tracks to say she had passed through here yet and when he looked up at the ridge, he smiled again. "Any minute now." He said to the team, "She's gonna come right over that ridge. Shooting fish in a barrell, wouldn't you say?".....

"Orders are to wait till she makes it to her old home. We need to find the way in and eliminate all that is there. NOT BEFORE!" The commander told the man. McDugal saw the hunters and looked down at one of them. Just by the way he stood he could tell it was the man that had been at the Vatican. "Sir we have detected a group of humans ahead." The lycan sniffed the air. "They must have been following Raven and somehow gotten ahead of her and us." The Lycan Commander snarled and motioned for the humans in the group to move off in one direction as he lead the lycans on a more direct course towards the Hunters.

Raven peered over the ridge again, making sure her hood covered her dark hair against the white snow. She watched them carefully, studying each human with great care. "How did they get this far?" She asked, then scuttled back again and looked at McDugal, "They're definitely Vatican. Have you ever seen them before?".....

"Not Vatican Hunters, but another group, dedicated to eliminating all abnormals. The Order of Blood. Not ones you want to tangle with alone. They are trained to use all sorts of weapons, martial arts and are physically perfect." They were strong and agile.

Raven thought for a moment, "So the rumours were true." She whispered, "Soldiers bred for hunting people like me. I always thought they were just stories." She moved back until she was far enough to stand up without being seen. "I don't know how we can get past them." She began to pace gently, "There are other ways into the dead zone, no problem, but we;d have to backtrack for at least a day before we could reach the stronghold and we can't go back the way we came, the glacier's all but fractured."....

"Well we could sure use some of that Magik you talked about. He closed his eyes but couldn't feel anything. "Great when I want to use it, it won't work."

Raven looked back at him and then smiled, "Actually, that's a fine idea." She told him, then stifled a small laugh, "It takes years to learn Urah." She said, "And a lifetime to master it, but you'll get there." She began looking around to see what she could draw her energy from. There was nothing but ice, though there was plenty of loose snow she could ship up and move. "Ok." She said, coming back to him, "Here's the plan. I'm gonna make us a little blizzard to get us past the soldiers. If we move along the ridge line and then down in front of them, we could make it past the boundry. As long as we stay low and keep covered, they won't see us.".....

"Go for it." he said.

Raven nodded and started digging a little in the snow to loosen some for her hand. "Se nei de na." She said quietly, "Etcu de na." A stiff wind started blowing off the ridge, making the soldiers turn. It picked up loose snow and ice and began throwing it around as a blizzard would. "Se nei de na. Etcu de na!" And she threw the snow forward. It crashed down, pushing her off her feet and the blizzard roared over the ridge, hitting the soldiers like a wall. They scattered to grab their equipment and tie everything down before it blew away. As for Raven, she picked herself up to her quarters and crawled to McDugal. "That should keep them occupied for a few hours!" She called over the noise of the blizzard.....

He grinned and started making his way along the ridge in the direction she had indicated. It would indeed cover their movements and also cover their tracks as they made them in the snow. The sudden storm caught the hunters off guard and the Commander cursed. The Lycan Commander stopped and growled a deep growl of laughter. He knew Raven was causing the blizard. He had heard about her and whatshe could do from his grand parents. They inturn had heard it from father to son all the way back for as long as thier line exsisted. They had once been somewhat at odds with the Angelus but now they were allies. They would be able to approach the hunters with out them knowing they were there. He would have to thank her for it later.

Raven made sure her hair and wings were tightly covered as she battled against the winds she created and slid her way down the ridge. At one point, she caught a brief view of them, but it was for less than a second before she disappeared behind a fast growing drift that left something of a gulley between the edge of the ridge and the soldiers. This made Raven smile and she ran down the gulley quickly, making sure McDugal was tight in behind her....

McDugal followed her and it seemed that the storm though somewhat localized was doing its job. "How much further to the Sanctuary?"

"About fifty miles." She told him, "And by the time this mini blizzard has died down, my lovely lycan companions will have caught up with the hunters and we should be able to disappear." She made it past the ridge entirely and she was on open ground. Now was the time to run. There was a mile of flat, open ice and she wanted to be out of sight before her storm faded. "Now run!" She ordered. "If you can't keep up, tell me now and I'll drag you along."....

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Here we go again." he said as he started running after here. It seemed she loved to run alot when she was not flying. After this he was going to be glad to just sit and relax. Once they were well ahead of the hunters they would still have a nice distance to cover on foot.

Raven kept a very fast pace and after a time, she could see McDugal beginning to fall behind a little. She slowed, but only enough for him to just about catch up. "Are you alright?" She asked him, "We've still got a lot of ground to cover."

"Humans are not made to run like this, especially in this type of climate. The bulky clothing made it hard as the body heat built up in it and made it more difficult. He was breathing hard now and needed to rest. He had expected a kind of leasurily treck across the snow and ice, not a race for his life. He was surprised at how much he had actually been able to do. He dropped to one knee and then a warm feeling, not his body heat but something else seemed to fill him. There was a slight tremor in the ground. He found that he had new strength and energy. He stood up and took a deep breath. He then looked down at the ground. Each time something like that had happened he had been in contact with the ground with a hand or knee. It was as if the earth itself was helping him. "Ok,
now that was strange. Lets keep going, I feel like I have been reenergized."

Raven nodded and smiled, "Very good." She told him and started running again. She looked back every once in a while to check on him, but after his little recharge, he seemed to be doing fine. Better than fine actually, he was managing to keep pace with her. This was very good, she thought. Checking behind quickly, she noticed that the blizzard was beginning to die away. Another half an hour or so and they would be able to move again and Raven would have to take things to ground level. "We need to pick up the pace." She told McDugal, "Or we'll be crawling the rest of the way." In her mind, she all but shouted at the lycans to catch up and thin the hunters a little.....

The lycans closed in on the hunters. They were use to such weather and it made their hunting even better. They were at the edge of the hunters make shift camp as they tried to weather the storm. The Lycan Commander could easily pick up the Hunter's Commander cursing Raven and her damn magik. There were four of them and each picked a target and rushed in. Before they knew it the four were pounced on, but one managed to squeeze the trigger of his gun and fire off a few rounds The Four were dead in seconds, their throats ripped out, blood soaking the ground. But the others were alerted and immediately formed a tight circle, their backs together. "Damn her!" the unter Commander cried out. "She had Body Guards!" The hunters began firing blindly into the storm. One lycan was not lucky and was hit by a burst of bullets and went down. Another took one to the arm. Their formation prevented the remaining lycans from picking them off one at a time and therefore moved away and went to meet up with their human companions. They would put themselves inbetween the hunters and Raven.

Raven heard the shots and almost stopped, but she knew if she did, she would waste time. After a while, the firing stopped and she looked over her shoulder to see three lycans runnning off. She scowled and shook her head and then carried on running. "Move it Human!" She yelled. Up ahead, there was a small area, a drift that had solidified, where they could hide and catch their breath for a few moments. In the destroyed camp, the Suited Man emerged from his damaged tent and looked around. He heard the second commander shout about body guards and growled under his breath. He hadn't thought of that, but then, in all his years of study, he had never known her have such a contingent. This was Anubis' doing, he thought, then pulled out his satlink. He pressed the buttons, but nothing happened. The phone wouldn't even switch on. "Damn it!" He cursed, "Motherfucking bitch!" he threw the phone away and looked around. The others were still busy checking for the lycans that had already gone, so he pulled his mask on and started out in the general direction Raven had gone. He knew she had to head North, so he did the same.....

The Hunter commander didn't see anything moving and sent a couple out to check the perimeter. They found the dead lycan turned back into human form. They reported back and the Commander looked around and saw that their bossy companion had disapeared. "Pack it up we move out now. We can not lose her now." they packed their gear and trudged on through the blizzard until it suddenly stopped. McDugal sighed and kept going.

Raven's fast pace held until they reached the drift and then she suddenly turned, skidding on the ice and reached out to grab McDugal. She then threw herself behind the drift and skid to a stop on her knees. She then peered around the drift to see if anything was happening. Her keen eyes picked out a lone figure heading in her general direction, but it would end up a good few miles off course by the time she reached the stronghold. After that, she leaned back against the back edge of the drift. Then and only then did she allow herself to breathe again properly. After a few moments, she looked over at McDugal. "You ok?" She asked.....

He grinned. "Fine. Still got energy." he chuckled.

Raven nodded and smiled, "Good." She said, then pointed to what looked like another ridge in the distance. "That's where we need to be." She said, "Under that ridge. There's only one way in and one way out and if I'm right, it should be well guarded." She looked around the drift once more to find the single human veering off course as expected and she couldn't help but laugh quietly, "Happens every time." She said.....

McDugal took a look. "Now why is he moving off course like that. It is as if he knows where he is going but he is turning off from his original course."

Raven nodded and smiled, "It's the magnetic effect." She told him, "It's slowly repelling him away from the stronghold. It affects the inner ear and slowly starts moving them away. He'll miss the stronghold by about fifteen miles and if he keeps walking, he'll come out somewhere over Northern Russia in about a week. If he lives that long."....

McDugal took out the binoculors and scanned the area. He spotted the three lycans and then the humans they were traveling with. Moving back to the diminishing storm he could pick out the shadows within moving. "They are on the move, so we had best be moving. Lead on." he said as he put the binoculors away.

Raven nodded and slowly got to her feet. She checked and then rechecked to make sure they stayed in the shadow of the small drift. "With a little luck, they'll start following the same line." She said as she pulled the white sheet around her tightly. A flash of darkness now would give them away. She carefully scented the air and nodded, "And we're still downwind of them. Luck is on our side now so long as we keep the drift between us and them." She started running again, but at a much easier pace than before and she kept checking behind. As expected, the hunters began veering off and Raven adjusted her course...

The lycans had a very differnt set of ears then the humans. As they wanted to keep going off in the direction that they were first on, they had to keep them with them, pulling them along. They parralled Raven on another drift of snow keeping down so the hunters would not see them. The Lycan Commander chuckled as he saw the human hunters vering off. McDugal was keeping up with Raven easily, each step seemed to keep him energized.

After nearly an hour at the new pace, Raven began to slow down again and she spent much more time looking around. After so much open space, things seemed to close in. In perhaps fifty yards or less, the terrain had changed completely and they were now surrounded by rocky outcrops and deep gullies. Raven removed the sheets and rolled them up. After stuffing them into her satchel, she opened her cloak wide to reveal her wings. The colouring of them now made perfect sense. "Watch your fotting, McDugal." She offered, "Some of these rocks are sharper than they look. And watch the overhead for movement." A few minutes after that, she removed her cloak entirely and rolled it away in her satchel. Her eyes seemed to look everywhere at once and she was very carefuly where and how she
moved....

He looked around at the sudden change. Some sort of illusion masked the entrance. Now that they were there he looked around to see if there were any other's of her race about. He removed the white sheet and felt the warmth. He began taking off his artic gear to get more comfortable. "You looking for others of your people?"

Raven nodded as she moved forward, "These cliffs and outcrops here used to be filled with guardians." She said quietly, "Most of them left when the Dowenger did, but there were a few that stayed behind to protect the Elders." She moved a little further and then came to a snow covered platform. All around were empty watchtowers. She looked around again before calling out in the old Angelus tongue. "Ho!" She called, "Friend, not foe! Anyone here?" Initially, there was silence, but after a few seconds, Raven took a step back as a very large male emerged from the base of the nearest watchtower.....

"So you have returned." the male said, "They have been waiting for you." he said. He looked at McDugal, narrowing his eyes. "Why have you brought this human with you?"

Raven stepped forward and lifted her wings in the customary fashion, "I have not returned, Gabriel." She told him flatly, "I am here only to visit the archive and give grace within Genorra." She then looked over at McDugal, "This human is harmless." She said, "He holds the touch of Urah and he has been a loyal friend to our people. He is here to see the archive and to give grace also."....

He frowned but nodded. "They still wish to see you. They do not have much time left in this world. It would be best if you see them." he turned and lead the way back to the Sanctuary.

Raven narrowed her eyes, but she did want to see them, if only to rub salt in their wounds as she had said to Anubis. She motioned for McDugal to follow as she followed Gabriel into the stronghold. There was still ice and snow on the ground, but all around, everything changed. Huge cliffs rose on both sides of them and it was clear, they were walking the line of a very deep, very old canyon. Along the walls either side were many outcrops and holes that led into various nests. All of them abandoned now. She followed Gabriel at ground level for a while and then stopped and looked at McDugal. "How are your climbing skills?" She asked, then pointed up the cliff to about sixty feet. "The Temple and Pandora are up there.".....

He dropped his artic gear and looked up. "We'll see." he said as he began climbing. "You go ahead and fly up. I'll get there as soon as I can." Gabriel shook his head and grabbed hold of McDugal. "It will take you to long." he said and leaped up into the air flapping his wings until he reached the perch above. He then sat McDugal down on his feet and waited for Raven.

Raven laughed and also started climbing up. "I can't fly down here." She told him, "I can jump, but that's it. The air here is far too dense and the current drags down. Why do you think I've ran all this way?" She climbed up easily, pouncing from outcrop to outcrop until she reached the entrance to the Temple and the Elders. She looked up and scowled at Gabriel waiting by the opening in the cliff, "One thing the males of my race never had a problem with." She said sharply, "A bonus to having more powerful wings than a female, among other things." She moved past them both and dropped her satchel. She then entered the Temple with her head down in respect and came to a stop before a huge stone alter....

The elders sat on their stone thrones looking down. "She is here." one said. Another pressed down on a stone and the large stone moved aside to reveal Raven.

Raven watched the stone move aside and she stepped forward, lifting her head again as she did. She looekd around and saw five of the eight that were there when she left. They looked even older than she could imagine and disgustingly hideous. "I am here." She announced in the old tongue, daring to look at each of the five in turn. "I'm told you have been expecting me.".....

"So you have mated with this Anubis and have pursaded the others including the Dowenger to leave this Santuary." his voice was full of venom and disgust. Another, "Oh shut your mouth you fool." The second one looked down at Raven. It had been he that had killed the lying Angelus. "So our people once again breed?" he asked.

Raven regarded the first with sa much venom in her eyes as in his tongue. The second, not so much. "We do." She said proudly, "Cain was the vyable human and Anubis carried to gene of his predecessor. My mating cycle woke that gene and he is now a hybrid of our race." She pulled her hair to one side to show her mate's mark to the Elders. "I produced a hybrid female, healthy and able winged." She looked around, "And others have had the same success." She could hear whispers coming from the Elders and held her head up boldly.....

The second elder nodded his head. He looked around at the others, "Then we have truely been fools. It was my hatred, my desire to see Cain killed after what had happened. It blinded me to convince the others to ignore him." he shook his head. "You have done well child."

Raven lifted an eyebrow. It was rare they admitted a mistake and rarer still to do it openly. "Cain lives." She said, "In the modern desert of Iraq with his own nest. Sanura, offspring of Aleina. The female you banished, along with her nest and companions to the wastes of the Southern Continent. She now leads as Dowenger of his flock and he has taken her own female, Afrika as his mate. Their numbers now match our own.".....

He nodded as he leaned back in his throne. "Then our people will live on." he looked down at Raven. "We have but days left to live. When you return ask Cain and Anubis to forgive the old fools that we are. They have done what we could not. The other three nodded in agreement but the first one only sat there with a snarl on his face. Even back in the day he had been against trying to use humans to help save their race. He didn't like them to much.

"It has already been done." She told them, "Our Dowenger was the one granted their forgiveness before she passed on. This Temple is but an unwanted memory, cast aside for the new life and land we have gained despite you.".....

"Then when you leave here, go in peace and live well. I sence that our people will now no longer live in the shadows but as leaders among the humans. Again something we should have done along time ago." The old Angelus smiled a bit. He looked down and saw McDugal. "This one is special child." he looked long and hard at McDugal. "He has been touched by......but I think you know this already.

"We already do." She said, "Cain in his city and Anubis in ours and the Dowenger's guardian Mathaius with his mate has began his own campaign in Southern America." She then looked over at McDugal. "Yes, I know." She told them, "He has been touched by Urah. A recent development that I intend to nurture. He is also a student of our race. He has been studying my journeys across this world for many years and has proven to be both loyal and devoted to our kind. I have brought him to give grace within Genorra and to savour a glimpse of our archive.".....

"When we are gone, you must return and retrieve the archives. Do not let them be forgotten. Your young should read them and learn from them. Learn to not make the same mistakes we did. Promise us that you will do this." he looked at her with hopeful eyes.

Raven looked around at the Elders and furrowed her brow, "Surely that is not possible?" She said to them, "To remove them from the presence of Genorra would surely destroy them. They would be dust before they reached the Tundrah. Surely is it not safer for them here where time cannot touch them?"...

"Genorra will provide the way." he told her. "Has she not already chosen the care taker?" he looked down at McDugal.

Raven looked at McDugal, "The ability to use Urah does not denote guardianship of ther archive, Elder." She said, "That is decided by Genorra alone, but he will make his bid no doubt. He is after all a very strange human." She looked around once more before eyeing the foe in the first Elder. "We will offer our grace to Genorra at dusk, should Pandora grant us entrance." She then looked back briefly to Gabriel. "And you should know." She continued, though she hated saying so, "We have been tracked by Blood hunters. Genorra has thus far led them away, but it would be wise to observe the borderlands for a while should they find their way back.".....

The elder shook his head and waited for Raven to finish talking with Gabriel. "Yes Gabriel you and Rafael go and make sure they do not find us." then he turned back to Raven, "Can you not see it and feel it child. This human radiates Urah but not only that." then he looked at McDugal. "Tell me human have you not felt the power of Genorra running through you?" he chuckled a bit. "Once beforethere was one that drew upon the power of Genorra. Remember him Raven. He was called Merlin. For some reason Genorra graced him and not this one with her power."

Raven nodded, "I remember him very well." She said with a smile, "A very odd little man, not unlike this one. Made a veritable legend of himself. Many humans still remember his name and his deed to this day." She looked at McDugal briefly and then back to the Elders, "I intend to nurture this so he may use it to inspire his fellow mammal to a more balanced life rather than conquered.".....

"It is a great blessing, and with it he will be able to take all the archives and set up a place to house them and keep them from decaying." McDugal looked confused. "What are you talking about."

Raven turned to him and smiled, "Your awakening skills seem perfect to be a guardian of our archive." She told him, "The Elders have chosen you based on your link with Genorra. There has only ever been one other human chosen for this. His name was Merlin." She smiled, "Just nod your head at them, smile and say Nari. It means thank you."

McDugal did as she bade him. "Nari." he said and bowed his head respectfully to them. Then he whispered to her, "My link to Genorra?" The piece of the other planet that had hit the earth and had deposited two pieces of itself on it. He had read about Merlin, tales of him being a wizard of some kind, a druid that helped King Arthur. But that was a myth, a story, but it was said that there probably was one called Merlin or a name simalar to it in the old language of England before it became England.

"Are you telling me that some how I have become linked to Genorra and that is why I have been able to do what I have?" He thought back to the desert piece, him putting the shard back in place and feeling the warmth flood over and through him. Had he been given something for his actions? Now to be made the guardian of the Angelus' archives. This was truely overwhelming.

After bowing to the Elders and backing away from the Alter of the Temple, Raven moved McDugal towards an old communal area of the main nest. It was on a lower level than the Temple, but there was a line of ragged steps worn into the cliff face from millenia of movement and weather. The area itself was large, but still somewhat comfortable. It seemed that Gabriel spent most of his time there as the communal fire was burning and skins covered various slabs of rock and carved stone. To McDugal, it would have looked like some kind of historical rendering of an ancient peoples' home. Despite it being inside the cliff, it was still bright with many torches and lanterns keeping the shadows away and the smoke was cleverly drawn out through vents carved through the rock to the outside to keep the air circulating.

The walls of the communal area were adorned with various pieces of artwork and memorials from the flock's past. Paintings of individual families were painted directly onto the stone in some places and on skins and basic canvas in other areas. There were many references to Genorra. Mostly though, the walls were covered in notes and pictures dedicated to family life. Around the fire, there were pots and pans and various corckery made of various things, wood and clay and some made of wood mache - an idea borrowed from the far east - and it all looked well lived in and comfortable.

Raven dumped her gear in a nearside corner and then sat down on a small bench near the fire. She could already smell hot goat's milk and a selection of raw bear and seal meats. She took out a few finer cuts of it, wrapped them in hide and threw them on the fire to cook for McDugal. "Take a seat." She offered him, "And I'll explain a few things to you." She poured some of the hot milk for them both and then poked the wrapped meat in the fire before she got comfortable.

"The Merlin you learned about is a slightly twisted version of what I remembered him to be." She began, "The only thing that is solid fact is his name. He belonged to a small tribe of people in Northern England. The Romans called them Wolds or Picts depending on their language. They were quite a brutal people and they fought the Romans with a rare passion." She smiled distantly. "Anyway, I was travelling through the area, learning about the people and their culture when I heard stories of a boy who could manipulate the elements around him. I went to the village and I was welcomed. I had collected a piece from another island local to England: Ireland, I think you call it, and when they saw what I had, they took me right to him."

Raven sipped her hot milk and turned the meat in the fire again. After a time, she continued, "He was a weedy little male, burning with fever because he'd been out in the rain and snow looking for more of Genorra. I offered some medicines to help him and they let me stay for a while. I couldn't go back East anyway, not after what I'd seen. When he got well again, he showed me the piece he'd found and he told me about a warm and safe feeling he got when he touched it. He explained how thigns started moving around when he asked them to. Make ice out of water just by thinking of it, making the fire burn without kindling. Basic stuff, like what you did." She looked at him and smiled, then poked the meat some more.....

McDugal followed her out of the temple an to another chamber that looked quite rustic and comfortable. He could tell that it had been lived in for many centuries by the way the stone floor had been worn and the various things that filled it. The pictures painted on the wall drew him and he examined some of them. Most were of groups of Angelus, which he took to be family groups. From the size of the room and from the number of openings he had seen in the walls of the canyon, at one time there had been a large multitude of Angelus living there.

He sat down and made himself comfortable, then listened to what Raven told him about Merlin. "I take it that not everyone that found these peices were favored with such a gift." If they had, there would have been more tales simalar to Merlin's. He must have done something very special to earn Genorra's favor. Replacing the shard in Iraq had been an act of kindness and respect for Genorra. Not wanting to take it and keep it showed he was differnt then many others.

"So I can wield this power." his voice shook a bit, for he feared it. It was something that could be used in the wrong way, or in anger that would be bad. "I don't even know how to realy control it. Like I said before it seems that there is someone else up here." he touched his head, "helping perhaps."

The Hunters were not stupid and as they looked back at their foot prints in the snow, they knew that something was making them go the wrong way. "Alright people." he said as he stopped and dug down into his pack. He brought out a skull hat made silvery looking material. "This is non magnetic metal. Our Leader thought that there might be magnetic field up here storng enough t interfer with our minds. Put these on and we should be able to find where she has gone to ground." The eight remaining members of th group donned the strange skull caps and they retraced their foot prints back to where they verred off course and made for the Santuary.

The lycans had made their way to the entrance of the Santuary with their human counter parts. He looked around at the watch towers built into the rocky escarpment. "We go no farther then this, unless they get past us." They set up a small camp and posted sentries at the edge of the snow and rock. They could see anyone coming for a good distance.

Raven gave a slight nod to begin with, "Not everyone, no." She told him, "But there were plenty of humans that were gifted over the years. Merlin was one of the last. By then, pretty much all the pieces that could be taken were already here." She poked the meat again and then pulled it from the fire to see if it was cooked enough. It was, so she handed it over to him. "You can weild it in as much that you can borrow the energy it gives you. You have to pay it back in one sense or another."....

"Pay back in one since or another?" he asked as he took the meat.

Raven nodded, "Yes. You can't take something without offering something in return. It's a basic rule of Nature. For what you took when you created the ice tunnel or when you sent off that bear, it took what you owed. The dizzy feeling, sleeping it off."....

Sleeping, feeling dizzy, well that was not a bad price to pay he was thinking. He tore off some of the meat and began eating it. "So where is the archives?" he asked with a grin. "If I am to be the caretaker of it, I would love to see it."

"Deep underground." She replied as she pulled apart some of the raw meat and started eating it. "This whole range of mountains belong to a chain of extinct volcanoes and Genorra landed in one of the craters.".....

There was a slight rummbling in the ground and McDugal held his head for a moment. "Like in the Desert, only larger. She glows brightly with what looks to be lava but isn't. Veins of it radiate from her and goes deep in the ground." He stood up "How far is it to Genorra?"

Raven nodded, "To an extent, yes." She told him, "The piece in Iraq couldn't be moved because of the volcano it fell into and over the millenia, it's grown links to the main body here and the others parts around the world."....

He put the meat down and stood up looking at the entrance to the room. "I must go there." he shook his head, "Being pulled there." it seemed as if his feet began moving on their own.

Raven got to her feet also, "Soon." She told him, "The feeling is strong, I know, but you can't let it pull you all the time. Sit down and finish your meal."....

He tried to turn but his legs kept moving. "Can't help myself. He turned his head a bit to look at Raven, a slight light shown in his eyes. "Don't think I have a choice."

Raven shook her head, "So much to learn." she said, following him....

"How far is it?" he asked again.

"Not far." She said, "A few miles, not much more."....

"Why can't I control my legs?" he asked her. "It feels as if someone is taking control of my body. Is that normal?"

Raven shook her head, "No, it's not normal at all." She said, "Usually, it's just a feeling that must be accepted willingly. That's what Genorra is. She's a feeling in your heart and mind that helps guide you. This is something utterly different and to be honest, rather disturbing."....

"So this is not normal." He shook his head. "Great, just my luck." They walked and walked and finally arrived. The decent was not that bad, a well worn path had been made from centruies of feet walking it. Mean while the Hunters had spotted the mountains and through binoculars saw the lycans prowling about. "First Team will take on the defenders. Second team make for what ever is beyond. Kill anyone or anything you find."

Raven shook her head. "If this were normal, I wouldn't have said it was disturbing." She told him....

This one was huge, many times larger then the one in Iraq. The veins of what ever it was, was huge and looked to run deep within the earth. He felt the pulse and felt the power. Once there his legs became his own again. "Wow now that was wierd." he walked close to the glowing mass and ran his hand over it. He took a deep breath. "So warm and comfortable."

Now Raven was truly disturbed by all this. Not only had she never seen it happen before, but he had literally walked through Pandora without so much as blinking! This was not how she had planned on introducing him....

He put his head on the glowing mass. "It is like the one in Iraq." he turned slightly and looked at Raven. The look on her face told him something was not right. "What is it Raven? What is wrong?"

"This was not the way it was supposed to happen." She said flatly, then pointed to the massive stone gateway they had just walked through. "You should have stopped there to ask permission first and foremost. You walked right through without so much as a thank you!"....

He had not noticed the the stone gateway. "I, I....... I was invited." he moved a hand over the mass. He stepped back a step. "I think she has been showing me how to use this magik as you call it. The one in Iraq I think gave it to me. Is that possible?"

Raven moved forward and traced a clawed finger over the surface of Genorra. Instantly, she felt welcomed and energised. "You restored the stone there." She said, "Had you simply walked away, the volcano would have errupted and destroyed it." She looked around the massive chamber and then at McDugal. "I will leave you to commune for a while. There are some things I need to do."....

He nodded and walked around the chamber. "So much to understand, so much to learn, where do we start?" he asked out loud. There was a slight rummbling in the ground. It felt like laughter to him. The ground beside him rose up and formed a chair like form. He sat down in it and looked at the glowing mass. Team one moved forward weapons ready to take on the lycans and humans protecting Raven. Team Two moved a bit away, trying to keep themselves camofluged with the snow. When the first team engaged the lycans they moved on past the fighting, and made a run for the entrance to the sanctuary.

Raven nodded and moved off to a different part of the chamber. She then sat down and began to sing quietly to the one she wanted to speak with. Eventually, a small light came to her and she smiled, "Greetings, old Mother." She said warmly, "I have much to tell you." Outside, Gabriel had spotted what was going on and quickly set up his defensive perimeter. "Lousy humans!" He boomed as the first line of traps went off. They caught out many of the attackers, ripping them apart as all manner of sharp objects were launched at them...

The Second team was cut down to half by the traps, and the leader of it hissed and caught sight of Gabriel. He let fly a handfull of shirikens coated with the concentrated drug at him. They lycans and humans had engaged the first team and were fighting hard to kill them. Both sides were taking heavy loses.

Gabriel saw the weapons coming at him and quickly got out of the way. He then faced the attackers with venom in his eyes. He set off the second line of defenses and roared at them. Huge boulders began to fall around the second team, crushing and trapping them. He then roared at the Lycans, recognising one of them from a previous visit. "To me!" He yelled, "Lycan, to me!"......

The Lycan growled as he tore one of the hunters apart and then heard Gabriel He quickly looked around and then ran to him. Two of the second team made it past the traps and made for the entrance. They put special masks on and then smashed several round ball like objects on the ground. A cloud of the drug flew up into the air between them and Gabriel. They then continued running.

Gabriel roared again, but the smoke they made weakened him greatly. He'd never felt anything like it! He covered his face with his cloak and held his breath as he ran through the cloud and after the attackers. He was much slower and he could feel his stomach turning loops, but he forced the feeling right back and did his duty. He made it through the cloud and caught sight of the men running down the gulley. Clean air once again filled Gabriel's lungs and he was able to force the feeling back further. "You die!" He boomed. His voice echoed violently off the cliff into a deafening sound...

One turned and brought his cross bow up and fired, the second threw more of the shirikens at him. "No time for you to die, you abomination." a females voice came from behind one of the masks.

Gabriel saw what was coming and quickly dodged it. When the gas exploded again, he sucked in his breath and held it this time. Lifting up his spear, he launched it at the female voice and then quickly drew a long blade from his belt. This one, he threw at the second attacker and then took a quick look behind him to see if teh Lycan was following....

The woman was quick and limber she dodged the spear, reaching out and grabbing it and spinning it about threw it at Gabrial. The lycan was following and saw what happened and leaped infront of Gabrial, taking the spear in his body, to protect Gabrial. The man managed to dodge the blade and began his accent towards what looked to be the entrance to something important. The woman took out twin katanna's from their sheaths on her back and stood there to defend the one climbing. All she had to do was give him time.

Gabriel stared at the Lycan as his own spear struck him. He pulled it out quickly again, the Lycan would heal again quickly and looked at the woman with hatred. The man was already climbing towards the Temple and he couldn't deal with both of them at the same time. He sucked in all his breath and suddenly screeched as loud as he could. The sound was deafening on its own, but when the echo came back, it was even louder. "Primus!" Deep inside Genorra, Raven was happily singing her songs to the glowing light when the sound hit her ears. The light vanished and Raven instantly got to her feet. "Gabriel!" She breathed. Without a thought, she ran from Genorra, through Pandora and up towards the communal cavern. All her gear was there. She reached it in barely a minute and literally tore open her satchel. She gathered her weapons and tied them on. Once she was done, she gave her own screech to let Gabriel know she was ready to fight and launched herself from the entrance and down the cliff.....

McDugal also heard the screaching sound and then heard Raven's as well. He stood up and began his way back the way he had come. A warm calming feeling filled him as he felt like a voice or perhaps something else say "Go, help." He ran after Raven. He was not a fighting person. He had not been trained to fight but he would use what he had to help the best he could. The woman moved her katanas in a whirlwind of movement as she stood there to protect the only way up to her partner. "Your dog is down, and now it is just you and me monster."

Gabriel drew his main blade. "You underestimate my people then." He replied coldly. Just in that second, Raven arrived. The man climbing the cliff didn't know what hit him. Well, nothing did actually hit him. Raven's wing blade flashed for just a second as she dropped past him. She then hit the ground and narrowed her eyes. A few seconds after that, the male human fell, landing in two perfect slices. Gabriel smiled and lowered his blade, "Let me introduce you to my Primus." He said, "She's far more deadly than me."....

McDugal ran and it seemed his legs carried him faster then they should have. All was a blur about him. He arrived to see what Raven did to the Hunter. Below a lone hunter stood facing Gabrial. The hunter was now out numbered and out matched. Or so he thought. Evidently the hunters had been better then the lycans and humans. Three members of the first team, The commander and two others appeared and from behind Gabrial. One fired a crossbow bolt at him as the woman moved forward to attack him to keep him occupied, and keep him from noticeing the others.

Gabriel lifted his blade, but the bolt hit him and he roared. At this point, Raven launched herself into the fray. Gabriel managed to ignore the bolt somewhat as he flew at the woman. Raven ran right past them both and spread her wings for maximum damage. Her blade was drawn and she also had a smaller one tucked up her elbow. "Now you die!" She roared, then sucked in her breath for she could already smell the drugged gs they'd let off....

As Ravem ram towards them the three seperated and moved into a large semicircle around her, far enough away from her wings so she could not use them against the outer two. "No Bitch." The commander yelled, "It is you that will die this day along with all the rest of your filthy kind. The Commander charged holding his cross bow up as if to fire and then he dropped to his knees and slid on the tough knee pads he wore, bending backwards to get under her wings the best he could, and fired his cross bow as the other two fired theirs.

The woman laughed as Gabrial flew towards her. She was a nimble one, that ran towards him and jumped up on top of a boulder and then into the air at him, using one katanna to deflect his spear if he used it and the other to slash at him.

Back south the man with the big cigar was not to happy. There had been no communications with the Hunters that were after Raven. They were to wait for the signal, a simple solid propellant rocket that would work in the Dead Zone due to it just needing flame to ignite it. The Rocket would make a bright red trail. But the signal never came. Should he order the attacks or not. If there was more up north........... Where was his agent that had gone with the team?

(Never said how they were to signal that they were attacking so that the others could attack the two nests. Figured something like that would be kind of simple to do in the dead zone.)

All three hunters fired at the same time and Raven had to choose which one to fight off first. The Commander made that choice for her as he was the closest. As he slid under her, Raven jumped up. The downdraft from her wings knocked the other two back and their bolts went underneath her. The Commanders was another matter. The thick air around them slowed her down, but not his bolt and it ripped up her back and through the base of her left wing. The bolt left a deep gouge in her flesh and she dropped again like a stone, her wing now hanging limp over her shoulder. She roared in pain. Behind her, the Commander smiled darkly as the other two reloaded their cross bows. He dropped his and pulled out a long silver dagger.

The female hunter was proving a challenge for Gabriel too. Having already blocked his spear, she had gained a strike across the back of his neck. Any stronger and she could have taken his head, but instead, she had only damaged a few scales and shortened the feathers on his head. This angered him greatly as it would any of his race. He still used his for display! He roared in fury as the dark feathers fell to the ground and pulled out a small dagger. As fast as lightening, he threw it and struck the hunter through her throat. Pride restored, but the feeling didn't last long as he saw the Commander moving in on Raven with a blade.

Gabriel roared again at the Commander and the two with him. His wings puffed right out and what remained of his crest feathers stood on end. The change made him look huge by comparison, but they turned to look which gave Raven just enough time. She got to her feet and puffed herself out in the same way. She swung herself around, slicing open one hunter at the collarbone with her good wing while the second got battered by the limp one, snapping his neck. Then, while Gabriel feigned a charge at the Commander, she drew whatever strength she had left and lunged forward. The Commander met both attacks at he same time, Gabriel's hand about his throat and Raven's sword through his chest. It stopped just shy of scraping the scales on Gabriel's chest.

The Commander looked at Gabriel in shock and Gabriel looked back at him with sadness. "Su na du falen, cho." He said, then repeated it in English, "I pity your lost soul, mortal." He then let him go, then looked down at Raven. She was badly hurt. He picked her up, looked around quickly for the human and then started up the cliff towards the communal nest.

Just outside the boundry, the remaining hunters were dead or dying and so were the lycan defenders. The ground was soaked in blood, but there was movement. One of the hunters was conscious. Missing his lower body, he managed to pull himself to his back-pack. He pulled it open and took out the rocket. "Please God." He gargled as he lit it and then died as it lifted off. A bright red line blazed across the sky before it exploded in a mass of red dust.

Seconds after it exploded, the Suited Man spotted it and turned around. He smiled broadly as he realized and then turned back to the source of the smoke. "Clever demons." He said as he walked, forcing his mind and balance to ignore the pull away. He wouldn't have seen the polar bear now following him.

Shortly after the rocket was spotted, the phone rang in the Head Man's office. "Rocket sighted, Sir." The voice told him.....

McDugal watched the fight below, feeling so helpless. He was not trained as a fighter in any way. He could not help out in fighting the Hunters, and it looked as if they didn't need his help at all. Soon enough the hunters were dead, their blood soaking into the ground. He had heard what the commander had said to Raven and a dread filled him. He then saw the rocket trail and knew it had been a signal. As Gabrial brought Raven up to the ledge, he could see that there was something wrong with him. He collasped as he finally made it and McDugal knelt down to look at him. "He has been posioned!" he had heard of what had happened to Raven, "There is no drug store around here to get the proper drugs to counter it." He looked around but doubted that there was anything around that could be used. But he saw the soft glow of tendrils of Genorra. He licked his lips and placed his hands on the convulsing body of Gabrial. The tendrials broke through the ground and began to wind themselves around him. Some wrapped around his hands and a soft glow began to cover Gabrial. The convulsons stopped and then he looked at Raven. She was injured as well. He smiled and reached over with one hand and touched her. More of the tendrels began to wrap around her. "I Have to go." he told her. "You will heal, but it will take a bit of time. But I must get out of the Dead Zone fast and try to warn the nests. I don't think this was just an attack on you. That rocket was a signal and from what the hunter said down there, I think they will be under attack soon."

Gabriel groaned, still feeling the effects of the drug gas. He shook his head, "You won't get there in time." He said, "You should go and whistle for help." His eyes closed again and he seemed to relax.....

"Well you two will not be able to do anything for awhile. Besides, the old girl......" he patted the ground, "I think will help me." he smilled.

Gabriel shook his head again, "You need to whistle." He told him, "She is faster than Genorra." He lifted one hand, with effort, to point out a picture on the wall. The creature depicted would be highly familiar to McDugal. Feasting among a group of Angelus was a huge white griffin.....

McDugal looked up and chuckled. He nodded and stood up and then climbed down the cliff and found the pile of artic clothing he had. He dressed and then went out and saw the carnage. He searched the bodies of the lycans and hunters and found a radio set with the frequency that would get him Anubis' palace. He then looked around and gave out a loud whistle.

The whistle echoed for a good two minutes before it faded away. Inside the cave, Raven heard it and half smiled. Genorra was healing her wounds, but the damage to her wing was more extensive than she thought. The bolt had literally severed the tendon. Across the miles and into the desert, Leanne was enjoying a light snack she had hunted down in the sand. It took a moment for the sound to reach her keen ears, but when it did, they perked up straight and she lifted her large head right up. "I know that sound." She said and started sniffing the air around the echo. "I know that smell too." She opened her massive wings and jumped into the air. "Hang on Shamus, I'ma comin'!" She flew high to hitch a ride on the jet stream and within an hour, she could smell and see the arctic ice. Now it was just a matter of spotting him. It wasn't hard. She just had to head for the huge red spot. She noted a smaller one a few miles to the West and a polar bear wadnering away, but passed it off as normal. Then, with one last thrust of her wings, she descended quickly and landed with a thump a few yards from McDugal. She then skidded her way across the ice and stopped just shy of knocking him down. She then lowered her head and snorted lightly at him. "You called?".....

McDugal had began walking, not knowing if it would work or not. He still had the option of using the Magik as Raven called it. But to McDugal it was using the energy of the earth in ways that the mind could form and mold it. There was as saying, "Anything is possible that the mind can conceive of." or something like that he thought. When the large griffin form apeared and landed he cocked hishead to one side, as she almost ran into him. "We have to hurry. The Hunters will be attacking the nests, I need to be out of the Dead Zone quickly so I can use this." he held up the radio.

Leanne's face turned angry, "Attacking the nests?" Her entire body shuddered with fury and she then started looking around, "Where is the Guardian?" She asked....

He was an hour away from the santuary. "Wounded as is Raven. But they are being healed. We must get going immeadely!"

Leanne's eyes went whiter than possible and without warning, she grabbed McDugal up by his scruff and took off back to the sanctuary at a staggering pace. She bounded over the boulders and then up the cliff to the communal cave before dropping McDugal unceremoniously on his ass before leaping over to Raven and Gabriel. She sniffed them both, then sneezed, then nuzzled Gabriel. "I should have been here." She said....

He opened an eye, "Go! We will be alright." Gabrial said weakly.

Leanne nuzzled him once more, but then looked at Raven, "Your nest is being attacked. Do I have your permission to do what is necessary?" she asked. Raven growled and threw her good arm over Leanne's neck. Leanne pulled her up and over and then went back for McDugal. "Get on."....

McDugal got on to her back. "Raven, you need to stay and let the old girl heal you."

Raven shook her head and pulled her damaged wing into her side, "My nest, my law." She said. Leanne checked both were secure enough and then went to the opening. "I'll be back to check on you soon." She said to Gabriel, then launched herself out of the cave.....

"Just need to get out of the Dead Zone." Hopefully we can warn them in time. Both other teams had been waiting for the signal to attack and it seemed it was taking forever. When the rocket had been launched and it had been seen by the rear detachment of the hunters that had gone in, they made the call back to their main base where the bald headed man was. He grinned when he got the word. Butbefore he could even radio the other two teams a semi truck ran into a power pole and cut the power to the operations center. "What the Bloody hell!" the man screamed. Get me power back, NOW!" he screamed again.

Leanne nodded and started to climb. The weight from McDugal was much to carry, but Leanne gritted her teeth and did her best. They would reach the boundry in half an hour at most. In the main base, the Bald Man's lacky went running from the centre. He ran as fast as he could outside to find the semi imbedded in the powerline's structure and grabbed a radio from a passing soldier on the run to help the driver. "Attack!" He yelled into it, "Make the attack!". Seconds later, the jets were scrambled and he watched them fly over the command centre before parting company. He smiled and then ran back to inform his boss.....

As they flew McDugal kept trying the radio. He needed to get intouch with Anubis or the Palace as fast as he could. The Jets would take time to get to their destinations, but the ground teams were in place with in LA and Bagdad. The message from the one man had reached the nearby base, but then it had to be relayed from there to the attack teams. The teams made their way through the sewer tunnels. They had a full range of weapons that held the deadly drug. It didn't matter if humans got in the way, they would shoot them as well. "Hurry!" he told Leanne. There was worry in his voice.

"I'm hurryin', I'm hurryin'!" She yelled back. The jets made their way quickly, they were faster than ordinary jets thanks to an advancement in fuel that ironically enough, had come from the Angelus. They covered the distance in very little time. Leanne finally reached the boundry. She knew because the sudden turbulence knocked her sideways a little....

"Alert, Alert, Imminate attack by hunters." he yelled into the radio as he was knocked sideways some as they got out of the turbulence. He repeated the message over and over again. As the message was received and retransmitted to both nests, the hunter's emerged and made their way to the Palace.

As Anubis' personal guard came running with the message, another was coming in. Two planes had entered their airspace and they were heading right for the palace. At the same time, the other two were heading for Cain's home....

In Iraq, Cain and the young ones and Afrika were enjoying their time out in the desert going through the dig site that had once been the site of his first empire. He was telling the young ones of the deeds Anubis and the others had did, some of the decisions they had to make to keep the empire strong and going. Some had not been very nice, but had to be done. It was a very young world at that time and of course mistakes had been made. The alert came in to him at the site. He told Afrika and the other two Angelus to stay there with the children and he began his flight back to the city. The hunters began using their guns with silencers to attack the guards at the base of the tower and gain access to the tower. In Bagdad the Angelus were informed and they grabbed weapons and fley out
to defend their nest.

Once the planes were over the Angelopolis, they began unloading the heavy gas. It blanketted the entire city in white cloud and dropped quickly. Both planes made their run and then turned around to make another pass. By this point, Anubis' army had come out and started firing at the planes, but the effects were already taking effect. Many of the younger Angelus started coughing and struggling to breathe before falling into fits and then unconscious all together. Then the older ones began to fail. One of the planes was hit by the guards and sent out his mayday. He was ordered to crash into the palace. Maximum damage, he was ordered and he followed.....

Seth Grabbed his sister and took her to the roof. There the glider was already assembled. Anubis had gotten it for him. He was going to have to explain to Raven about it but he wanted Seth to ride the air currents with his Angelus brethern. Hooking himself in he told her to hang on to him. He could sail out and up higher then she could at the moment. The planes came in and dumped their load and Seth didn't like what he saw. He launched them into the air and angled the glider to gain altitude, above the decending cloud of stuff. Some of the Angelus saw their brethern fall and held their breath climbing up into the sky. They lycans fought the hunters and drug the Angelus that had fallen inside the building sealing the doors. Some of them had been affected and fell. The humans as well surcumed to the deadly gas and they were weaker then the lycans and Angelus. They died quickly but painfully. Sophie came running down stairs, "Oh my god!" she called out and then ran to get her bag. Ever since Raven had been poisoned, it had been thought that an attack using the heroin would be used. She had prepared for it even though it had not come. She began administering it to the Angelus. First the young as they were weaker then the adults. She was able to save some but not all. Tears fell ike rain from her eyes as she went from one to the other. Then the top of the tower was hit by the plane and exploded, causing damage to the upper structure. Anubis was caught outside when the planes flew in and dumped their loads. He fell to the ground a good distance from the palace. He tried to cover his face, but it was to late, as he had breathed the stuff in. In Irag the planes made their sweep over the city and missles were launched. One plane was hit and destroyed, its load in its tank falling to the ground. The second released its load before it was shot down.

Sophie had done her best thus far, but many of the season's hatchlings were dying faster than she could get to them. The damage caused by the plane started a domino effect in the upper floors of the building, but it's base structure would stop it collapsing entirely. Still, the top four floor began to crumble and move. On Leanne's back, Raven suddenly screamed and fell from Leanne's back. "Hold on!" The griffin shouted as she turned into a dive to catch the Angelus.....

McDugal held on tight. Seth rode the currents high above the decending cloud. He saw the jet slam into the plalace taking out the top four floors, which included the penthouse. His lips were in a snarl as he saw the devistation that the cloud was doing below. "Bastards. The Bastards." he yelled. "They will pay for this!" he yelled.Indeed they would. Anubis' body was shaking as he reached over to his wrist with his other hand. "Die!" he croaked out as he pressed a botton. In London, Washington DC, Berlin, Moscow, and Rome, the high yeild nuke warheads went off devistating the cities. The Bald headed man who was smiling, lost that smile as the blast took out the command center and him with it and all the hunters that had
been there.

With Raven back on board, Leanne made double time on her flight and they landed on the beach in less than an hour. By this point, Raven was crying hysterically and staggered up the beach. She looked up at the skies, feeling that both her children were there and screeched to them before running into the city. The cloud had landed so to speak now, leaving a white mist about two feet from the ground. "Anubis!" She screeched, "Ha wen ey?" (Where are you?). She coughed and spluttered, but the mist was dying down quickly. People everywhere were trying to cope with the attack and some were already handing out the antidote Sophie had created those years ago. Again she screeched to both her children and to Anubis, all the while, her heart and soul wretching with sickness at the devastation around her.......

Seth and Evie heard their mother's screach. Seth began his decent, As they got lower, Evie detached herself from him and glided and flew the rest of the way down to the ground. Seth landed the glider on the street stiring up some of the powder, but holding his breath till he unhooked himself and made his way to his mother.

Raven fell to her knees as she saw her children coming to her. She opened her arms wide and then snatched them both up to hold them close. The act made her stumble and she fell to her knees again, but made sure to keep them both above the landing mist, "Thank you Great Mother!" She cried, shaking with both happiness and grief before she pulled away from them slightly, "Where is your father?" She begged desperately...

Seth and Evie shook their heads. "Don't know. When the warning came I took Evie to the roof and launched the glider. I was able to get above the cloud. Dad was not there, he was out on some inspection." Seth told her.

Raven cried and nodded again, "Ok." She said, then hugged him before turning about. Her wing and back hurt badly and the wound was starting to open up again. "Anubis!" She screeched, "Anubis! Where are you?!" Trying to scent in the air was useless so instead, she grabbed the first lycan to pass her, "Where is he?!" She demanded, "Where is my mate?!"

The Lycan shook his head, "Not sure where he is. He was inspecting the construction of new civic center when the attack came. I know he was contacted when the warning came. We all got the call. He would have been making his way to the Palace."

"Run back and find him." She ordered, "I'll follow you." Her wing was bleeding now, but she ignored the pain and lifted Seth onto her back. "Evie, you will fly. Stay out of the mist."......

McDugal was horrified at the scene before him. People lay everywhere dead. He took off running towards the Palace. The upper floors were in ruins, but the lower ones were still intact. Inside he saw the Angelus that were dying and fell to his knees by them. He raised his fists in the air and brought them down onto the floor. There was a rumbling and the building shook and the floor began to crack. "I had a feeling you ran deep and far old girl." he stroked some of the tendrals that broke through the floor. He knelt there his eyes closed, his body shaking as the tendrals began wrapping around the angelus and lycans and humans that were barely alive. He couldn't save them all. Some were already dead and others to far gone to save. Tears fell from his closed eyes as he could feel the dead through the tendrals. Finally he fell forward, his breathing shallow, his heart beat illreagular. The lycan took off in the direction of the civic center that was being built. Evie took to the air, able to fly longer and higher then before. Seth held on to his mother.

Raven followed as quickly as she could and she prayed that Anubis would be there. More than that, she prayed he was still alive! She could feel Genorra doing McDugal's bidding and once again, felt somewhat disturbed by it. She had never intervened like this before, not for a mortal. McDugal had to be something truly unique and she hoped they would be able to save what Sophie could not. Just then, she felt something deep in her heart and it made her drop to her knees. "Mum?" Seth asked, getting off her back, "What is it?" Raven caught her breath and held her chest. "I can feel them all!" She cried, "Every one of them, I can't shut them out!" Seth helped her back up and they both started walking again. "Guard!" Raven called, "Guard! Where is he?" They ahd reached the civic centre.....

"Feel who?" Seth asked. He looked around and then spotted his father on the ground not far away. He didn't wait to hear Raven's reply but ran to his father, falling to his knees at his side. "Father! Father!" he yelled and shook the still body. Evie landed and stood over the two of them, tears falling down her cheeks.

Raven didn't answer, but followed Seth to find Anubis. She dropped to her knees again and grabbed her husband, "Anubis!" She yelled, "Anubis!" For all intent and purpose, he looked dead. "No, no!" She shouted, "You can't do this to me! You're not dying on me, you selfish bastard!" She shook him harshly, ripping open the wound down her back in the process, "I won't let you die on me! Wake up! Wake up!"......

The lycan got on his radio and called in for help. Anubis didn't move or respond. Seth began CPR. He had learned it at school, an extra course that had been given to them. "Come on Dad, Come on!" he pressed on his chest and then blew air into his lungs. Men with air tanks on and masks came in an Ambulance, stirring up the powder. They came running to them and hefted Anubis on a streacher as they began to continue giving him CPR. A gurnney was brought and he was lifted up and placed on it and taken back to the Ambulance. "Well take him to the hospital." one of the men said

Evie landed and looked at her mother, "Take Mum too!" She ordered, "Look!" And the fledgling was right. Dark blood flowed freely down Raven's back from the wound....

One man took Raven by the arm, "Come on, it looks as if you need to be patched up as well." Evie looked at Seth, then hugged her bother. Tears fell on his shoulder. "We need to get back to the Palace. Our friends...... Oh Seth."

Raven grunted and growled at the men at first, but she was too weak now to fight them off. "What of the nest?" She began asking, "What of my family?".....

In Iraq the Angelus that was able to rise above the cloud of death flew over the city. They dove down again and again to try and pull their brethern out of it. Half the Angelus there had been affected by the cloud. Cain made it back and he was pissed. As the cloud settled to powder, he landed at the Palace and had those that were not dead get intouch with the other next. Communications were broken but it seems they were hit harder then Bagdad. "If it is war they want, then it is war that they are going to get. Put our military might on alert. I want bombers and fighters in the air, our land forces massed at our boarders immediately!" Back in LA the paramedic turned to Raven, a grave look on his face. "Not good Lady Raven."

Raven cried again and then felt she had been shot with something. The second paramedic touched her arm lightly, "Pain relief, MiLady." He said softly, "Until we can get you to the ED. Sleep now, we'll take good care of you." Raven nodded and closed her eyes, but her mind wouldn't rest. Instead, she used what energy she had left and cried out to Cain and Afrika. "Hurt!" Her mind cried to them, "Anubis! Nest! Anubis! Hurt!".......

The world was rocked by the five nucular blasts. They had not expected having a nuke placed in a city to be remotely detonated. The attack on LA and Bagdad had been reported all over the world and that the five nukes had been in retaliation of the attacks. Millions were dead, and millions more injured and even more dying. IN LA a million were dead, thousands were dying as help was not able to get to everyone. The Ambulance raced to the hospital as the paramedics worked on Anubis. Seth took Evie's hand and lead her back to what was left of the palace. They came in and were immediately surrounded by body guards. As they moved to their friends, Evie's hands shook as she saw those that had died. She fell to her knees, placing her face in her hands. Seth stood, anger filling his eyes.He Looked at his body guards. "My father may be dead." He took a deep breath, "Until it is determined, the duty of leading this empire falls to me." he didn't know if he was ready, but his father had been teaching him how to be a leader. "I want our military might on alert and at the boarders. I want all air assets in the air and ready to take out anything, navel forces are to set up a barrier between anyone and our coastlines. Sink anything that comes close." They looked at him then at each other and one headed off to relay Seth's Orders. He walked over to Evie. "Come Sis. We have to try and contact Cain and Afrika."

Afrika heard Raven's cry and quickly gathered up her boys and started back. She had seen the devastation and felt some of her nestmates in their death. It hurt, but she was scared now not for them, but for Anubis and Raven. Her thoughts had hurt, which meant she was hurt. She found Cain, hoping he'd heard her too. "They need us." She told him, "They're both hurt." She looked around and saw that things were being taken care of there, "Or send just me?".....

Cain shook his head. "Can't send you or anything right now my love. Anubis set off his Nukes." he pointed to the monitor that was now showing the devistation of the five cities. "He retaliated for the attack and right now it would not be safe for any of us to travel. Not till we find out who is on our side." he took her into his arms and held her. "I am trying to get communications with LA.

Afrika nodded sadly, "I hope you can soon." She said, "Raven's voice sounded like she was badly hurt. Did you feel it too?"......

Cain nodded. "I felt her pain and her sorrow." It was strange how he now could feel that. So much had changed in him. Finally communications were up and running again. "A grave faced man apeared on the monitor. "Death toll still coming in. Several of the young Angelus are dead and a like number of their parents. We have managed to stablize the rest and, and the man McDugal....... He has done something, that stablized them and seems to be drawing the posion out of their systems." he was quiet a moment, "Just got word about Anubis from one of our soldiers. He might be dead. His son Seth has taken command and has gotten the military into position."

At the news about Anubis, Afrika covered her mouth in shock, "Oh no!" She breathed, "What about Raven?".....

"She has returned but also has been injured." the man said. "She is at the same hospital as Anubis. No word on how bad though." A moment later Seth's face apeared. "Grandfather. What of you and the others there?"
Anubis licked his lips. "The young are safe. They were out of the city when the attack came. Some of the adults are dead, along with a majority of the population of the city." Seth nodded and looked at his grandfather. "We are ready here to repel any attack against us. Haven't heard any word from what might be left of the United States government. You have any advice for me?" he asked.

Afrika could barely contain herself, "Oh Seth, I'm so sorry, my darling." She told him, "I'm glad you and Evanglina are ok, but i'm worried for your mother and father. You should be with them and let his council deal with this for now."....

He shook his head. "Most are dead. Mathaius survived with his new mate. I will rely on his advice. But I must be here to keep things in order, that is something Father Taught me. I have sent Evie to the Hospital to see about Mother and Father. She will let me know. Also Sophia has gone with her. She can tend to mother's wounds more then they can."

Afrika nodded, "Well, I'll be there as soon as I can, honey." She told him, "Until then, I'll keep sending my thoughts to them both."....

Seth tried to smile but couldn't. He nodded "I appreciate that Grandma." It was strange calling her that. She was so young looking. "Sir we have build up of military on the otherside of our boarders. Egypt has sent word that they will support us as has Pakastain. Northen countries in Africa have joined us and have begun sending air and sea assets. One of the men monitoring communication consols spoke up. The devistation in Europe has thrown those countries into turmoil, riots are rampet." came another mans voice. On the other end of the world, a lycan approached Seth. A representative from the US government is requesting permission to cross the boarder." Seth looked at the Lycan, "Bring him here. I want to see what the bastard has to say."

Afrika nodded again and touched the screen with her thumb, as though she was touching his forehead. She then walked away to deal with her own children. In the hospital, Raven began to come round somewhat. The painkillers they had given her were powerful, but she was happy to see Sophie. "Where is Anubis?" She asked her faithful friend. Sophie smiled back, "He's in intensive care." She replied softly, "They've given him a concentrated dose of the antidote and they're waiting to see if it works." Raven tried to get up, "I have to be with him." She said. Sophie was quick to her side, "You're going nowhere, not in your state. You're lucky you're alive, Raven and you're even more lucky to keep your wing. You need rest. I'll go and check on him, ok?" Raven nodded and shooed her away. Sophie went into the intensive care department and looked at the doctors, "How is he?" She asked....

The doctor's face was grave as it seemed everyones was. "We have him on life support. His phisiology is something we have not seen before. We know he has great healing powers but I don't know if it is enough to save him. We won't know for at least 24 hours."

Sophie nodded, "That's why I'm here." She said, "Show me what you have so far and I'll adivise. We can't let him die."......

The doctor brought out the chart and showed what they had done, the blood work report, toic screen. They had a flow of the antidote in an IV, he was on O2 and hooked up to an array of equipment.

Sophie looked over the charts carefully and then the toxic reports, "Increase the IV antidote." She said first, "And give him asprin, as much as he can handle thin his blood and allow quicker absorbtion. Raven is desperate for him to live."....

"We will do our best." He told Sophie and ordered the change in drugs. McDugal lay on the floor of what remained of the palace with the Angelus that survived. Tendrils wrapped him as well, as it seemed a white glow flowed from him to the others. Soon a few of the Angelus began stiring and opening their eyes.

Sophie nodded and went back to Raven with the news. On the way, she found Evie wandering around. She wanted to see her parents. Sophie took her to her mother first and she seemed happy that she was ok. Then she wanted to see her father and wouldn't take no for an answer. She barged past the doctors and guards and eventually stopped at her father's bedside. From there, she climbed up and aid on him, wrapping her wings around him and begging him to wake up......

The doctor waved the nurses and orderlies back to let Anubis' daughter to climb up on the bed with him. He left orders to let her stay as long as she wanted. Back at the command center that had been set up in another tower, Seth paced the floor as reports came in. Their military might was ready. Beyond the great wall that had been erected by the US Government, the military might of the countrywas poised for an attack. He waited for the arrival of the emisary. He would be brought in by helicopter. He now wore a pistol, holstered at his hip, and a long dagger at his left hip. It was coated with the poison that the hunters had on their weapons. In attacking with the stuff by air, they had killed their own hunters on the ground.

The Emissary arrived and stepped from the helicopter with a heavy foot. The man was huge by normal human standards, but there was something else about him that said he was anything but human. He stepped into the car and then back out again at the entrance of Seth's building. The guards stepped aside, seeing that he was actually bigger than them! He entered the building and then was led to a room to wait for Seth. "I understand I am speaking with the Prince?" He said to a guard. The guard nodded. The man nodded also and then sat down to wait.....

Seth entered a few minutes later. His face was a stone mask, his eyes cold and filled with hate. He moved to the front of the table and stood looking at the man. "Speak your lies." he told the man.

The man stood up, "And which lies would they be, Prince Seth?" He asked and then oddly, he got to his knees. It was to be eye level with the boy and a large gesture of trust on his part......

"How your government and that of the other countries had no part in this attack!" he spat out.

"I won't deny it." He said honestly, "There are... were people in the governments that took part in this attack willingly. Me personally, I had nothing to do with this. The first I learned of it was watching my wife and child burn in your father's retalliation.".....

That did not phase Seth. He didn't care how many had died in his father's retaliation. It was justified payback for what they had done. "What is it that you want here?" he asked.

"I'm here because your father has made me the president." He said, "And his integration ideas were the reason I was put on the president's council anyway, so I would have come simply to thank him. Right now though, I'd like to stand toe to toe over Louise and Alisha. They had no part in all of this and they still died, but seeing as he's not here, I'm standing toe to toe with you nstead." He then looked down, "Knee to toe rather."....

He looked at the man with no change in his face or eyes. "So now you are the President of the US." Inside Seth was impressed. The new leader of an enemy putting himself in harms way, being there where he could be taken prisoner or killed. "What is it that you wish to discuss then?"

"Preferably, the complete and total domination of the human species." he said without hesitation and without emotion, "And when your father is better, an apology for the deaths of my family.".....

Seth raised a brow at his statement. "Complete domination of the human species? Are you saying that you are going to surrender the rest of the US to my father and mother?"

The man nodded and shrugged his shoulders, "Pretty much." He said, "Humans have hunted, killed, enslaved, raped, pretty much every degrading thing possible to our kind for millenia and to be perfectly honest with you, young Prince, even in my new standing with them, I'm tired of kissing ass to keep my life.".....

He looked at the man a bit differently. "Our Kind?" he asked. "What are you?"

"A once loyal and very good friend of your ancestors." He said, "My name is Argyle. I was born in 1641 to a proud fleet of Griffin. Nice to meet you.".....

Griffen? He had only heard his mother speak of one of those. She was Leanne. She had been the one that had brought Raven and McDugal back. "Well perhaps my mother's people. I am human still." he said. "So what does the remainder of the government think of your decision?"

Argyle lifted an eyebrow, "I never would have guessed." He said, "All I can smell is Angelus. And you're hardly the size and shape of a human boy your age. I'm impressed." He then grunted and got back to his feet. He towered over the boy, but his knees ached from kneeling. "There isn't much left of them." He said honestly, "A few defense people and some advisors, but I can deal with them soon enough. Most of them think I'm still just a big black human.".....

Seth nodded. "Then order your military to stand down and I can do the same. At least those that face the rest of the US. Canada will be another story as will South America." he chewed his bottom lip a moment. "My condolences on your loss, but we have lost many here as well and my father may be one of them."

"I doubt Canada will pose too much of a problem." He said, "Over the last ten years, we abnormals have been slowly taking over. I can call them all up with one phone call." He smiled. "And South America won't lift a finger." Came another voice. It was Mathaius. He smiled sadly and knelt down with his arms open wide for Seth. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner, Kiddo."....

Seth embrased Mathaius. "Uncle it is good to see you." There was one more figure behind him. She was now in her human form. Seth saw her and went to her taking her hands. "Thank you for bringing my mother home."

Leanne smiled and batted the child's hand away. Instead, she picked him up from Mathaius and hugged him, "Anytime." She said, "Anytime, Seth. Whenever you need me, you just whistle, ok?" She put him down and ruffled his hair before regarding Argyle carefully. Argyle did the same and then growled at each other.....

Seth looked at the two and was about to say something when Mathaius placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. He had seen such before. He turned to Mathaius, "So, why not worry about South America?"

"Because I control pretty much everything between the Gulf and the Horn. With the drug barons gone, I simply stepped in and took control." He said warmly, "And the lycans we took with us have created a few extra for ground coverage. No-one south of the border will lift a finger to help the humans." he then crouched down and fluttered his wings a little, "Why don't you go to the hospital. I hear Raven is awake. No doubt she wants to see you. I will cover for you.".....

He nodded and left the room. Immediately two body guards fell in behind him, armed to the teeth. A car was pulled around and he got into it as two moved ahead and two behind his. He was sure that Mathaius would handle the rest.
Across the world Cain was having the city cleaned up, There was alot of the dust around and he needed it all cleaned up. People in Hazmat gear was sucking it up with huge vacume like trucks. Things were tense on the boarders of Cains empire. Everyone was nervous and didn't know what to think. Isrial had nukes and Cain had conqured it. Now they belonged to him. This bothered a lot of countries. They didn't want to have what happened to the other cities. Most were scared to try anything, but also afraid Cain would attack."

Sophie got word that Seth was on his way and went down to meet him with her own guard. Her skills made her more than valuable now. When the car pulled up, she pulled the door open and quickly hugged Seth. "I'm so glad you're ok." She said, "Your mother is fine, just a little weak right now." She led him into the building, "Your dad isn't doing as well. I've got him on a full IV and i've concentrated the antidote to compensate. Evie's with him.".....

First he went to see his mother. He walked in and went to her bed and hugged her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Raven hissed in pain, but nodded, "I'm fine." She said strongly, "What about Anubis?".....

He shook his head. "Sophia says he isn't doing so good. Have word from Gandfather and Grandmother. The young ones are safe but several of the adults are dead. Many here are dead as well, along with some of the young." he was trying to be strong but his body shook. So many of his friends were dead. At that time McDugal apeared in the doorway. His skin was white as a sheet he looked drained of strength. He looked like hell. "He will be alright." he said as he pushed himself away and made for Anubis room. He gave a tired grin to Evie, as he sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hands on Anubis. The white glow began to flow from his hand to Anubis.

Raven looked up at McDugal and felt sadness. The Magik he was using was taking far more from him than he could cope with. It was Merlin all over again. There was little she could do though. "Sophie, go with him." She ordered, "Have a bed ready with a glucose drip, anti-psychotics and pain relief." Sophie knew by now not to ask questions about her magiks and quickly did as ordered. Raven then turned her attention back to Seth and held him close, "I'm glad your father will live." she said, "He will have much to answer for when I'm stronger."....

"That doesn't sound to good." he managed a slight smile.

"It won't be when I get my claws into the people responsible for this." She coughed, "And I know exactly where to start.".....

The low readings on the machines began to increase, heartbeat, breathing, temperature. Everything began to rise and the doctor stood there, his eyes wide with wonder. When Sophia arrived she gave the orders Raven had given her and the Doctor motioned to the nurses to do as she said. Soon McDugal slipped to the floor. He was instantly lifted up and placed on a second bed and the IV was put in and the drugs given to him through it. His life signs was low, so very low. He was put on oxygen then the doctor turned to Anubis. His chest rose and fell regularly, his heart rate was normal. He looked from Anubis to McDugal.

Sophie entered the room and looked between both as well. "It's the Genesis effect." She said to the doctor. "They call it Genorra. I learned about it from Raven. With a little help, he should be well enough to come off the support in a few days." She then moved to Anubis and checked him over. She smiled softly and stroked Evie's soft hair. "Anubis, can you hear me?" She asked, "Anubis?"..

He groaned a bit but that was it. He didn't open his eyes. His whole body hurt and there was a weight on his chest. A familiar weight his clouded mind senced. A hand and arm came up and wrapped around her.

Evie smiled and lifted her head, "Daddy!" She hugged him tightly and then shuffled up to put her head on his....

One of the nurses smiled and slipped from the room and went to Raven's. "He will pull through." she told him. Seth smiled and hugged his mother and then made his way to his father's room. He moved up to the bed and put a hand on Evie.

Raven felt a huge weight lifted from her soul and finally relaxed to sleep. Evie looked at her brother and smiled brightly, "He hugged me!" She said happily, "Hows Mum?".....

"She is doing good." he told her and then looked over at McDugal. He had been there helping the other Angelus. Now at the hospital to help his father. "He did it, din't he?"

Evie nodded, "Put his hand on him and gave him Genorra Magik." She said....

He walked over to McDugal's bed and looked at the pale form. His hair had streaks of grey in it. He put a hand on his arm. "Thank you." he whispered.

Evie looked over and gave half a smile, "He looks like Merlin." She said, "That odd man Mum helped a long time ago. I've seen his picture in her journals."....

"Maybe he is a decendent of him." Seth said.

Evie shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe." She said, then cuddled up to her father again, "I love you Daddy."....

Seth walked back over to his father's bed and put his hand in one of his fathers and squeezed it. "Come on Sis, you need to rest some to. Everything is well in hand here now."

"I'm fine where I am." She said and closed her eyes, "I'll rest here until he wakes up proper, then I'll go see Mum."....

He smiled and with his other hand patted her shoulder. "Ok Sis." he said and then left to return to the command center. Until his father was himself again he would keep things going. When he got back he let everyone know the status of his mother and father. There was sighs of releif and great joyious celebrating. He found Mathaius and told him.

Mathaius was greatly relieved, "Thanks to the Great Mother!" He sighed, "That's wonderful news!" He patted the boy on the shoulder and nodded with relief. "Oh, before I forget, I sent Leanne on a little errand and i've given Argyle some rooms to rest in before he returns to what's left of his country."....

Seth nodded and yawned. He needed rest himself. He didn't know how his father could do all that he did and still do more. Before he went to find a bed, he was told that the military might of the US had stood down and he gave the order for his forces to do the same,along the US boarder. He then found a bed and crawled up on to it and fell asleep. In the morning a list of the dead Angelus was ready.

By the morning, the doctors had been able to remove Anubis from the intensive care unit and he was now placed in a private suite with Raven so they could be together. Raven was also healing, but slower than her husband. Sophie stayed with them to deal with their care and Evie was close on hand to help out. Argyle came down to the conference room to say goodbye before he went back and Leanne was there also, waiting to hear the news. They sat at opposite ends of the room and Mathaius sat in between them for safe measure.

Seth had read over the report and his heart ached. They had all been his friends and they had all accepted him as one of them. Their parents had likewise accepted him and he had felt apart of a huge family. His work was not yet done though. He had to get the poison off the streets and buildings. It was a task that would take several days. He sent people out to round out every available aircraft that could dump water. Those that were used on forest fires. They would be used to dump water over all the buildings in the city, again and again to wash the stuff off of them and down into the street where water trucks would be washing it down the drains. Once in the sewers it would be collected at the exit pipes into the river or ocean by tankers, using large hoses. It would be days before everything was ready but at least he got it going.

He then went to say good by to Argyle. Soon the rest of the country would be in his father's hands. Their empire would be the entire former United States, Mexico and from what Mathaius had said, all of South America. If all fell in line with them, the empire would be the most powerful on the planet. None would be able to stand against them.

When he entered he smiled at Leanne. "My father is doing fine now. McDugal........... " he shook his head in wonder. "He saved his life as he did for many of the Angelus." he then turned to Argyle. I will inform my father of what you told me. When he is well enough to leave the hospital I am sure he will come to see you." he looked at Argyle and then Leanne. "Is everything alright here?"

At the hospital, Anubis awoke. His head ached and his vision was a bit blury, but he saw Evie standing by his bed "Evie?" he said, his voice horse and dry.