.::Victoria::.
Protect the child.

Wraithe follows her eyes as she looks at something ahead of him.  The pool of blood remains, but the mud has been replaced by a floor.  Wraithe watches as the rain pushes the blood deep into the cracks and crevices of the linolemium.  He traces the blood back to the source.  Where his children were clutching the cross, now like two people, a man and a woman.  The man is lying on his back, his chest ripped open.  The woman is lying next to him, her eyes locked open, staring at her love.  In one hand she's holding a small golden cross, and in her other, she's grasping a newborn.  Wraithe's eyes affix on the child, it's mouth open and wailing.  Two hands, female, reach down and pick the child up from it's mothers arms.  The hands pull the child up to a womans bosom.  Wraithe looks up into the eyes of the woman now holding it.  His wife, Victoria.

.::Victoria::.
Protect the child Phoenix.

A tear seeps from her eye as she looks down at the newborn.

.::Victoria::.
Protect the child.

The scene suddenly shifts, and a great clawed hand swings by Wraithe's face.  The rain hits his eyes, clearing his vision.  He's on the field of battle.  A large beast is in front of him, swinging furiously, trying to remove Wraithe's head.  He ducks and dodges, then with a swing of his sword, he cuts the beast in two, right through the chest.

.::Nathan::.
Wake up brother.  This is war, not high school.

Just as the words spill from his mouth, his rune encrusted sword hacks through the neck of a beast.  Not far from Nathan, Xavier has gone wild with glee.  He leaps from one beast to another, his claws and teeth ripping and shredding any meat it comes in contact with.

.::Xavier::.
They should have sent more!  This is too easy!

Veratu, the Vampyre, hears the screams of his brethren fighter.

.::Veratu::.
Do not worry Xavier!  Look!

Ground Zero.  The focal point of the battle.  One of the many Gates of Hell.  One after another, beasts of every shape and size spring forth from the gate.  The beasts are dumb, and unbiased in their killing, going after everyone that doesn't share their lust for evil.  The screams of men and beast alike echo through the streets of southern Rome.  The beautiful homes that once lined the streets are now ablaze, or destroyed, depending on which creature had reached it first.  The house fires illuminate the streets, creating a grotesque scene.  The Templar Knights have not shown yet.  The Chosen, in all their glory, couldn't muster more then three hundred men.  The Lycans have shown, but their numbers were few, due to their distrust of the Vampyre.  The Vampyre.  Aside from Veratu, they have yet to be seen.  And still the beasts come.  Their power fueled by the rage and hatred of their leader.  They are never ending.  At first, the beasts were outnumbered two to one.  Now, they outnumber their fate-accepted enemies nearly twenty to one.

Twenty to one.  Fates accepted, dedicated more to the survival of their races, then to any one icon or god.  Gods have no place in the hearts of the living who are in the midst of battle.  Only the dying cry out to him/her.  Begging for another chance.  Begging for another choice.  Where would they be now?  Married?  With children?  One more chance, or one more choice, and they would do it all differently.  Only the dying that is.   But in a battle like this, there is no room for the dying.  They can ponder the what-if's in whatever manner they choose, once they're dead.  Once they're gone. 

Now the streets are awash with blood.  The rancid stench of fecal matter and piss stir from the dead and scared.  Shrieks of pain and fear echo from those that choose to ponder the "what if's" during battle.  A woman screams in the distance.  The sanctity of her soul being defiled by two smaller beasts.  Her clothes, and part of her leg have been torn from her, they share her.  In some gruesome dance that goes far beyond the terms of sex or rape.  The 'larger' of the two beasts plunges himself into her screaming pipes, silencing her.  The beast laughs as he watches the life be forced out of her.  Her body goes limp, just as the beast howls, expelling himself inside of her.

.::Angel::.
To your left Saint!

Saint dives to his left, just as a large steel war hammer crashes down next to him, obliterating the concrete that makes up the road.  Saint swings his body, and his sword, removing the beast from it's lower legs.

.::Angel::.
Eyes open Saint!  I can't baby sit ya!

Saint leaps to his feet and spins to catch Angels glance.

.::Saint::.
I don't need a baby sitter!

Mid way through his sentence, Saint raises his sword horizontally above his head, just in time to deflect a blow from another beast.  Angel laughs as the beasts clawed hand gets severed clean, drenching Saint in the beasts blood.

.::Saint::.
I hate this shit.

Angel laughs again as he plunges his sword through the midsection of another beast.  Some twenty yards behind them, Megan realizes that the odds have been changed.  She now finds herself surrounded by five beasts, all of them salivating.

.::Megan::.
This is bad.

Megan yells as she lashes out, hitting the first beast, hurting it enough to push it back.  The second and third rush in.  Just as they're about to strike, the clanging of steel on steel rings out, and the first of the two beasts head falls to the ground.  Megan dispatches the other, slicing it across the knees, then severing it's head in two.

.::Megan::.
Oh my guardian Vampire!

Megan proclaims sarcastically as another of the beasts is severed in half, revealing Veratu standing behind it.

.::Veratu::.
Keep your wits.  I'll be near.

Veratu turns, blades spinning, and starts to head towards the gate.

A few blocks from Ground Zero...

.::Kate::.
Billy, what the hell is happening out there?

.::Billy::.
I don't know babe.  Maybe a riot or something.  I can't see it from here.

The slender man standing at the window wearing an old Red Sox t-shirt slowly pulls the shades closed.  He turns around and looks at the woman sitting on the couch behind him.

.::Billy::.
How's Lucy?

Kate looks down at the baby monitor sitting on the table beside her.

.::Kate::.
Sleeping.

Suddenly, the lights kick off in the house, plunging the room into darkness.

.::Kate::.
I'll get the candles.

Billy looks out the window again, and sees a faint orange glow down the street.

.::Billy::.
No.  I'll get the candles.  You grab Lucy.

Kate looks curiously at Billy.

.::Billy::.
We may have to leave.

Blocks away, the battle rages on.  The force that Wraithe and the others now fight, has nearly doubled in size in the last few minutes.  High above, Fallon battles with her own set of beasts.  Her glowing blue halberd slashes off the wing of one beast, sending it hurling towards the ground screaming.

.::Fallon::.
Hud!  We're beyond being outnumbered!

Down below Fallon, Wraithe swings his sword, dispatching beast after beast.

.::Wraithe::.
I've noticed.

"Protect the child".  The words echo around the inside of Wraithe's head as he dispatches another beast.  Wraithe turns, and notices that the bestial armies they're battling have begun to split off, and head in different directions, down various streets.

.::Fallon::.
Hud, we have a problem!

It was a problem they didn't foresee.  Their enemies had either picked the right gate to emerge from, or just god lucky.  The gate itself sat dead center of a five lane intersection, not counting the various alley ways branching off.  The enemy horde, what numbered more then they could count, began to break.  The stronger beasts stayed with the main pack, which was fighting Wraithe and his companions, while batches of weaker beasts went off in search of things to play with. 

Wraithe, spotting this, begins to dart to his right, where Marcellus, and the remainder of his 300 warriors did battle. Through the haze of the heat from the surrounding fires, Wraithe spots Marcellus, poised atop of a car, firing arrow after blazing arrow into the oncoming beasts.  He was joined by two others, each of them firing arrows in the same manner as Marcellus.  Surrounding the car, were about fourteen men, shields raised, swords swinging, sending a spray of beasts blood into the air.  As Wraithe neared, he noticed that Marcellus and his two archer companions were covered in blood and sweat.  When he was about fifteen feet away, Marcellus turned and nodded to Wraithe through the haze.  Just as he did, the archer to his right was suddenly impaled by a wicked looking spear.  The archer lurched forward, dropping his quiver and bow.  He pitched forward and hung eerily over his brothers in arms below him.  They thanked God for the extra protection from the beasts, but they were saddened that it came at the cost of a friend.

Marcellus quickly snatches up the quiver and sits it between him and the other remaining archer.  Wraithe continues  his trek, smashing and hacking through beast after beast.  He finally reaches Marcellus' front line of defense, and pushes past the shielded soldiers.  They fall in behind him, offering him protection from behind.

.::Wraithe::.
THEY'RE BREAKING OFF!

Marcellus fires another arrow and looks over at Wraithe.

.::Marcellus::.
I've noticed.

.::Wraithe::.
How many men can you spare?

Marcellus laughs as he takes another shot, sending a streaking arrow through the face of a beast.

.::Marcellus::.
Not many.  Our numbers are being cut down.  My men are split into pockets up and down the street, and they're not fairing well.

Wraithe frowns.

.::Wraithe::.
Can you call them to you?

.::Marcellus::.
I can.  Why?

.::Wraithe::.
I need your men together.  To draw their attack.

.::Marcellus::.
You want them to do what!?!

.::Wraithe::.
Pull them together.  Tighten your ranks.  Circle them around you, and get more archers up there with you.  I need to take Xavier's people and the rest out of here so we can try to contain this. 

Marcellus hangs his head, then pulls out a decorated ox horn from his belt.  He blows into it, and a deep, bellowing howl echoes through the air.  All across the battlefield, the men start to rally, pushing and screaming their way through to their leader.

Wraithe looks at Marcellus as the man blows on the horn once again.  The yelling continues as Wraithe begins to see men pulling towards his position.

.::Wraithe::.
What is that?

Marcellus places the horn back into his belt, and picks up his bow.

.::Marcellus::.
The Horn of the Rose.

Wraithe shoots Marcellus a curious glance.

.::Marcellus::.
I just called my men to their deaths.  This horn symbolizes rebirth.  They're sacrificing their lives, so that others may live.

Wraithe nods.

.::Marcellus::.
Go now!  We will hold them on our end.  Now stop them on yours!

Across the battlefield, Veratu senses the shift.  He dispatches a beast with his twin blades, and looks up towards the sky.

.::Veratu::.
FALLON!

The winged form of Fallon swoops in above Veratu, her blue halberd glowing and dripping with blood.

.::Fallon::.
What's up?  I'm a little busy.

.::Veratu::.
We're on the move!  Tell Xavier and his men to be ready to go!

.::Fallon::.
You mean we're leaving Marcellus and his men?

.::Veratu::.
Marcellus and his men are more then capable of taking care of themselves.

.::Fallon::.
Where are we going?

Veratu smiles.

.::Veratu::.
Hunting.

Blocks away...

.::Billy::.
Whatever's going on, it's getting closer.

Billy closes the blinds, and looks over at Kate, who is now holding their newborn, Lucy.

.::Kate::.
How close?

.::Billy::.
Not more then a block away.

Kate begins rocking Lucy in her arms.

.::Kate::.
I'm scared Billy.

.::Billy::.
Me too.

Billy flicks apart the blinds and looks out.  His eyes widen as he spots several "men" moving down the street carrying torches and swords.

.::Billy::.
HURRY KATE!  I don't want to be here when they get here.

.::Kate::.
They?

Kate leaps up from the couch, and begins heading towards the kitchen.

.::Kate::.
Where are your keys?

.::Billy::.
On the counter out there.

Billy remains glued to the blinds, his eyes jerking back and forth from one figure to another.

.::Billy::.
HURRY UP KATE!

From the kitchen, he hears Kate scream.  Without thinking, Billy leaves the window and bolts into the kitchen.  As he hits the doorway, he freezes.  Off to his left, Kate is huddled against the wall, clutching onto Lucy with everything she's got.  But it's not that sight that locks Billy up.  There, standing just inside the back door, is a beast, standing nearly eight feet tall.  The creature is hunched over so that it fits in the room with the low ceilings.  The back door behind the beast seems to have been spread apart from the beasts sheer size.  Seeing the fear in Kate's eyes forces Billy into action.

.::Billy::.
KATE!  RUN!

Billy leaps at the beast, hoping to catch it off guard, but the beast catches Billy in mid-air, and slams him through the kitchen table.  Billy slowly starts to get up, and as he does, the massive hand of the beast collides with his head.  Billy slams back into the wall and feels the warmth of his blood begin to coat his face.

.::Billy::.
Kate...run...

Billy starts to his feet yet again, fighting off the pain that's welling up inside of him.  He stands up, his back leaning against the wall.

.::Billy::.
Leave...her....ALONE!!

Billy pushes himself off of the wall and towards the beast.  Kate screams behind him as the beast raises it's clawed hand, and swings down.  Billy attempts a scream, but the blood gushing up his throat denies him of that.  Billy's mouth, open wide, shoots a stream of blood onto the beast, then his body crumples over.  Kate looks down at Billy, his blood stained face, so peaceful, his eyes locked open, staring right at her.
The beast looks down at Billy, then up at Kate, and smiles.  Kate cringes as a massive stream of saliva falls from the beasts mouth.  The beasts eyes shift from Kate's face, and down to Lucy's.

.::Kate::.
No...

The beast takes a step forward, forcing Kate's free hand into a search for a weapon.  Finding non, her hand moves to the small cross hanging around her neck.  She grasps at it, and pulls it free from her neck.  Her knuckles white, her fist clenched harder then ever, blood dripping from her hand where the cross has embedded itself into her skin, she prays.

.::Kate::.
God watch over us.

Elsewhere...

.::Xavier::.
They've already started into the houses!

.::Megan::.
Christ!  It's a slaughter!

The group watch as the beasts ahead of them go tearing one house to the next, destroying all that they come into contact with. 

.::Angel::.
We have to intervene!

Wraithe steps to the front of the group.  His eyes burning with fury at the acts being done before him.

.::Wraithe::.
We split into three groups.  One takes the left, the other takes the right.  I'll take the leftovers!

Nathan steps forward in protest.

.::Nathan::.
You can't fight these things alone!

.::Wraithe::.
I can, and I will.  NOW GO!

The group splits.  Veratu, Nathan and Angel head to the left, while Xavier, Megan, Saint, and Fallon head up the right.  Wraithe smiles as the group leaves him, standing alone in the middle of the road, encased in the black armor, and wielding the Phoenix Bane.

Then they come.  As if a tidal wave of devilish bodies were washing towards him.  Wraithe plants his feet and readies his sword.  His eyes ablaze with fire, a grin across his face.  They clash.  The overwhelming weight of the bodies drives him back, but Wraithe continues to swing.  Body after body fall to the ground, their parts removed and sizzling, Wraithe begins to push back.  The screams of the innocent echo in his head.  A beast clubs his across the back, but he doesn't flinch.  The screams of the innocent die out, replaced by a voice.  The voice of his wife.

.::Victoria::.
Protect the child.

Through the fury of beasts and blood flying around him, Wraithe manages to focus enough to realize that the house from his vision is only fifty feet away.  He continues to swing, but the beasts rush him.  They manage to knock him to the ground, and Wraithe hears the ringing of his sword on the pavement as the beasts kick it away.  Seemingly all at once, they pile on him.
The weight of these beasts would be more then enough to kill any normal man.  But Wraithe isn't normal.  Not now.  He takes a deep breath, breathing in the musty stench of the beasts, and closes his eyes.  It is then that he hears another voice.  The same voice he encountered underground just a few days before.  That of the Great One.  The voice of the firebird itself.  The Phoenix.

.::Great One::.
Submit and I will aide you.

.::Wraithe::.
To what gain?

.::Great One::.
No gain Wraithe.  For in the end, I shall ask a favor of you.  I offer you my essence, in return of a promise.

.::Wraithe::.
So be it. 

Wraithe's eyes bolt open, his thought chain with the Great One broken.  The flame that burns from his eyes intensifies.  Flames begin to spurt from his limbs, instantly charring the beasts on top of him.  Wraithe lets out a howl, and as he does, the Phoenix itself emerges from his body and rises into the air.  Without warning, the Phoenix begins it's assault.  With it's great wings of fire beating, the Phoenix swoops down, spreads it's wings, and soars down the street.  In one fell swoop, everything the beast touches becomes dust, as if burned by the fires of the sun itself.  The beasts are destroyed, the houses surrounding Wraithe leveled.  In an instant, the ordeal is over.  The great bird of fire soars high into the air, it's flaming beak spread wide in a scream, and dives back towards the earth.  Back towards the body that bore it.  Back to the body of the man known as Wraithe.

Moments later, after the dust has settled, the rest of the group that followed Wraithe emerge out onto the street.  They gasp in shock when they realize that there is no trace of the near six-hundred beasts that they had stepped forward to fight.  No body parts.  No blood.  Just an empty street, illuminated by the house fires surrounding it.

Their eyes trail up and down the street, then towards Wraithe.  His body lies limp and steaming, barely a trace of life in him.

"So high is the price of life..."

Nathan and Fallon are the first to reach Wraithe's body.

"So high indeed..."

Nathan reaches down and places a hand on Wraithe's chest.  He curses out loud as he touches Wraithe's breast plate, his hand burned on the touch.

"For the greater good, one will fall..."

Tears begin to fall from Fallon's red eyes.

.::Fallon::.
Hud...

Fallon's tears fall off her face and down onto Wraithe's breast plate.  The tears sizzle on impact.  Fallon reaches down and grabs Wraithe's hand.  She pulls his hand up to her face, and places it gently against her cheek, her eyes wincing closed, forcing more tears out, and onto Wraithe's hand.

"Only to rise again."

Blackness.  No blinding light, welcoming lost souls to the pearly gates.  Just blackness.  Through the darkness, a deep, bellowing laugh emerges, soon followed by a voice.

.::Great One::.
Worry not Wraithe.  The powers you have received, the powers I have given you, make you much stronger then this blackness around you.  This is what the pitiful see.  The ones not deemed good enough to re-emerge.  Open your eyes Wraithe.  Open your eyes and see.

Sparing bright light burns into Wraithe's eyes.  After a moment, the initial shock disappears, and Wraithe sees where the voice was coming from.  The Great One.  The Phoenix.

.::Great One::.
Do you know why you are here Wraithe?  In this land of in-between?

Wraithe squints as he looks up at the great firebird.

.::Wraithe::.
Land of In-between?

The phoenix laughs.

.::Great One::.
Of course.  The land of life and death.  The land of wrong and right.  Where everything exists, yet does not exist at all.

Wraithe nods.

.::Wraithe::.
In that case, no, I don't know why I'm here.

The head of the Great One swooshes down, so that it's directly in front of Wraithe's.

.::Great One::.
You're here, because you're dead.

Wraithe's eyes widen slightly as the firebirds head snaps back laughing.

.::Great One::.
Don't worry Wraithe.  You'll get used to it.

.::Wraithe::.
I will?

.::Great One::,
Of course.  Where do you think a phoenix goes while it's waiting for their ashes to prepare themselves.  We are the ying and the yang.  Life and death.  Your "Gods" greatest trick.  We will die, only to come back again.  People that walk the earth believe in Heaven and Hell.  How foolish they are.  This is as far as they will ever know.  Past this point lies death.  Eternal darkness.  But to turn back, that means to enter life again.

.::Wraithe::.
Rebirth?

The Great One cackles a bit.

.::Great One::.
For most.  But not for you.  You will return from whence you came.  Back to your body, back to your friends, back to the war you were born to fight.  Consider this a "pause" in the action.  A chance for you to catch your breathe.  No close your eyes.  Your journey is about to start again.

Wraithe looks up at the great bird of fire.

.::Wraithe::.
And what about you?

.::Great One::.
I will wait here, as long as I have to.  Until you make your final visit here, and my ashes are prepared.

Wraithe smiles slightly and nods, then closes his eyes.

.::Fallon::.
C'mon Hud.  Breathe!

Tears stream down Fallons face, emerging from her red eyes.  She still clasps Wraithe's hand in hers.

.::Fallon::.
You can't die.  Not now!  We need you!

With a great force, Wraithe's body heaves as he swallows down a large gulp of air.

.::Wraithe::.
Dry your tears girl.  I'm not dead yet.

Fallon nearly falls backwards.

.::Wraithe::.
It'll take more then that to put me down.

Fallon gathers herself, and allows a smile to cross her face.

.::Wraithe::.
Help me up.  We've got work to do.

.::Nathan::.
Work?

.::Wraithe::.
A child lives.  Nearby.  I'm not sure why, but we must find her.