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A new cartridge locked into Colonel Sallea's submachine gun, the voice of the General's aide squawked over the radio.

"Colonel Sallea, Captain Yuiop of the 5th special forces brigade is coming in for an inspection of the artifacts. See to it that she's kept safe until her backup arrives."

"Did she have all the proper paper work," Sallea asked.

"Of course, all the documentation is right he.... Oh s***, these are blank stationary. Where the h*** did I put the documents? The General is going to chew my @$$ off!"

"Where's the Captain!?" Colonel Sallea yelled.

"Just entered the temple complex now,"

Colonel Sallea switched channels, "All personel, listen closely, we have a young women in the premises, one Captain Yuiop, who may be impersonating an officer of the 5th Special Forces Brigade. Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage, maintain cautious vigilance and stay friendly, stall her if at all possible. Over."

As soon as she entered into the inner sanctum she heard the scream of Forsooth in her mind, but this scream wasn't anger, it was terror. Then it ceased, and she could no longer feel his presence. She put three fingers against her temple for a moment, concentrating, he was gone.

"Why," she wondered, feeling no great loss, but curious nontheless.

"Because he was of no further use to me," came from the swirling power, "The choosen one is here. The mortal I awoke to find is here. Forsooth only sought to use me for his own gain, for that he was destroyed."

A corporal met her in the minor sanctum, "Good day, Mam," he said, "How goes it?"

"Have Colonel Sallea meet me in the inner sanctum, we need to discuss moving these artifacts," she said.

"Yes mam," he answered.

In the office, Colonel Sallea recevieved word of Red's request, "Seems your bogey wants to have a little chat," he said, finishing off his cigarette and pulling out another one. He was nervous, Lieutenant Faulkner could tell because he always chain smoked when he felt he was in a tight spot.

Off course, Lieutenant Faulkner was so absorbed with the Lieutenant she didn't notice her own predicament. The straps of her bra where falling over her arm. Twice she had turn around and pull the straps back into place as discreetly as possible. sweatdrop What she thought was a disfunctional bra was actually a decrease in her own measurements. The curves of her womanhood were receding, slowly and gently, but receding nonetheless. A keen eye would notice her uniform was beat less crisp, a product of being slightly big for her decreasing build, and possibly the slightest reduction in height.

"Don't go," Lieutenant Faulkner said.

Her plea fell on deaf ears, he was already navigating around the bear carcass in the chambers, moving quickly.

"Wait for me," she yelled, following after him.

Colonel Sallea bit down on the filter of his cigarette, hard, as he spoke, somehow he managed to see through the illusion hiding Red marksm and he cleched the filter still harder, almost gnashing between his front his teeth as he approached.
"Captain Yuiop of the 5th special forces brigade," he said, "We need to discuss something?"

"I need a full report," Red said calmly. "I may be a Captain, but I'm special forces, for this mission I outrank you. I hope you understand that."

Sallea approached calmly, carefully, fingers carresing the trigger finger.

"Yes, mam," he said, playing along.

When he was close enough she turned to him, her eyes glowing bright red. "The architecture, the granduer, the depth, this building is truly magnificent. Don't you think?"

"With all due respect, Mam," Colonel Sallea said, snickering, "This place is a @#$@&%# mad house."

Red turned to the Colonel, walking close, she held no weapon so he didn't retreat or take cover, just stood his ground and watched.

In the bunk room, Lieutenant Faulkner gaped at her reflection for only a moment while feeling her soft child like cheeks. The spell had put a halt to the acceleration of the youth process, but the formula that had fell on her was the extremely potent. On drop would erase ten years of age from a mortal biological, and she had a canteen of the liquid dumped on her. The rune would keep her from gaining youth past the point of viability, but by the time she saw the mirror she was a mere twelve year old in a military uniform so big that her pants were sliding from her narrow hips and she had to tighten her belt to the most extreme notch just to keep them up. No matter, her concern for Sallea overode the present predicament. Once she got her clothes together as best she could manage and stumbled past Lasselle to get to the innersanctum first. The girl's (for she was exactly that now) life had been spared by Captain Lasselles prompt action. In a few hours the effects of the liquid would cease, and Lieutenant Mellissa Faulkner's body would stabalize somewhere between the age's of seven and eight.

"No!!" Lieutenant Faulkner shouted, as Red closed in on the Colonel, her voice childlike.

"Mellissa?" Collonel Sallea said as he looked back, stunned for a moment as the child grabbed him, pulling at him to get away,

"What the h*** is going on here!" Sallea screamed.

"It'll be okay, I'm here," By then Red put her uncloved hand on his shoulder, a mark on her palm burned through his uniform, and when the mark touched her skin her entire body glowed.

"It's time for you to fufill your destiny and merge with my spirit," said Ymir, "We'll form the perfect incarnation."

Within seconds they were encapsulated by a stream of dark energy. A massive stream of energy escaped, shooting upwards through the temple roof and into space, giving the boys quite a show, as the energy was so virulent that day seemed to turn into night. And nothing could be done but besides watching as the three people were caught inside the energy. Within minutes it was over, and the energy disipated, everything entering the Colonel.

All the soldeirs gaurding it disapeared to a sacrifice, but lasselle and the Raven were spared due to their defenses. Three bodies where left in the inner sanctum: Colonel Sallea, who jumped up and briskly dusted himself off, a crying eight year old girl in oversized uniform (the magic had accelerated the final stages, but she would get no younger), and Red. Red was still passed out, but all the marks had disapeared from her body save the original.

It got his attention. The light pushed Yarneth back, or at least his psychic aura did, and when the attack was finished he actually spat some blood. It was quite a draining attack, and he didn't like it one bit, especially since it was unleashed before he had a chance to defend himself.

"Damn that hurt, very good for a mortal, but I suggest you cease attacking me if you value your life and the lives of everyone nearby," Yarneth said. "That really, really hurts. I'm not entirely composed of darkness, though.

"Don't worry about Sallea, he'll grow accostumed to this little merger. We are one, body and mind. This time it is complete."

He had no grudge with Lasselle, but if she wanted to die, it was up to her, he wasn't going to allow his new found body to destroyed so early into such an exciting journey. If she would hold her fire, he had more to tell her, but remained prepared for another attack.

"Tell Odin's lackeys I hold no grudge against them, they can do as they please. It's not like they can help the sins of their master. But the age of the Gods is over, you can tell the Raven's to consider them poisoned by the world they made of my body. Now that revenge is thus served, I have no need to make enemies of his pets. The Eons have made me quite forgiving.

"Then again, I sense Hugin is already here. Hello bird."

Yarneth laughed at himself, wiped the blood from his nose, and put out his arms, three thousand strategys for attack and defense scrolling through his mind. "Ahh, FREE AT LAST!" he yelled. "I can actually go where I please, this feels so good! Thank you all!"

Sallea's radio squawked, it was the general himself, "Colonel Sallea, what in the world is going on in there!"

Yarneth grined widely as he picked up the radio, holding up his left hand to let lasselle know he was not unprepared for anopther attack, "How dare you contact me. You petulant little mortal monkey of supreme ignorance. Do you know who you are talking too General Bakkar. Let me fill you in before you s*** your pants. You are talking to the immortal incarnation of Ymir, but since I'm in a good mood, I'll bestow thirty minutes on you, my gift, so you can pack off monkeys and their stick toys and get them safely off of my teritory. Attack, and you're entire division will evaporated into ash. Do you understand that, or is too much for you for the noodle soup in your head to comprehend?"

The General screamed over the radio, so Yarneth flung it against the temple walls with a miniscule amount of psychic energy and it burst into peices upon making contact. He took out Sallea's cigarettes and crushed them in his palm. They served him no purpose as well.

At this point Red began to come around, "Ughh, I'm rid of him," she moaned, "I have a splitting headache."

"Mellissa Faulkner will stay with me," Yarneth said, "The rest of you mortals can go do as you please for a while. I have more important matters to attend to."

Then Red saw the incarnation anew and recognized it instantly, her eyes glowed, not unnaturally, but with an intense hatred that had festered in her heart over her lifetime. She was free to express that hatred. Within seconds a magic nuetraling canister was fired at Ymir's incarnation, and with ungodly speed she lunged for Yarneth's neck, determined to pull out his jugular with her own hands.

"No!!!" Faulkner cried, in running toward Red she lost her pants and undergarments, and was basically a kid in a big green camoflauge shirt that was more like a robe for her, "Please, don't hurt him!"

Outside, the General was fuming!

"I think the circus is in town and the freaks have escaped," he growled angrily, and he figured Sallea got his hands on something that made him powerful. "Surround the compound, get ready to send the whole damn division in if we have to. Sallea, you'll hang for this!"

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

A bright sunny day for a picnic. Yarneth took the shovel and dug it deeply into the rocky soil to the cheers of his staff and the rest of the crowds. It was time to build a city, time to make history. The construction equipment began to move. The Yaits Corporation headquaters was underway, to be finished in six months. All the stock market speculation was finally paying off.

Location: Old Offices in Durem

A fax came through to Yarneth's office. Apparently the main office had received word of a disturbance in Latent from a branch office. The proper proceedures were being followed, so there was nothing Yarneth felt he needed to add to this information, command wise. A call came forward, he answered it.

"Mr. Yaits, our branch in Latent is reporting a severe disturbance, they seem to think the town is under attack, but I haven't seen a thing about it in the news."

"Leave them be, if it is anything serious the appropriate people will handle it, there is nothing else we can do but hope for the best,"

"Okay sir, I'll be sure to pass the word around."

"You do that."

So they choose Latent, not Lament.

Yarneth smiled, it was time to see the Lantian Shield & Spear in action, if they would dare face the undead alliance at the gates of Latent. A small slug issued from his hand, it grew a small red eye and and slimy wings. Mixing darkness with the wind, he opened a small portal and flicked the beast through. It would keep a bird's eye veiw of Latent, and give him a spectator's veiw of the battle.

He laughed, once the fighting was over, he would personally make sure that Yait's Corporation and the Order of Charitable Monks would be ready to become the leading benefactors of the battle stricken city.

Location: Old Offices In Durem.

Something unexpected had developed. Yarneth saw the ghost that was absorbing the magic from the undead. But he couldn't decide wether this was a beneficial development or not.

In the back of his mind he wondered if she would attempt to absorb the slug, from the vibrations of Raven's voice he assumed she would. Too bad there was little magic holding the creature together, only as much as might be found in walking corpse. The main thing holding the beast together was malice & hatred. That is what made the slug powerful.

A ghost, of what kind, and would it be able to absorb all that made the slug powerful without being corrupted itself? Besides filth and human waste the slug had absorbed the rotting corpse of the unloved, objects endowed with vile emotions from their owners, the desire to murder, hurt, heartbreak, medical waste, despair, the cries of unwanted children, the vomit of drunks, the tears of widows and despairing elderly, blood of victims, but mostly human hatred. The longer it rolled around the more it jetisoned the acidic filth and absorbed the hatred. The hatred of an entire city was pulsing through through the creature, emanating in veins with a dark violet glow. Approaching the beast could darken the most innocent of hearts, absorbing it, well, even Yarneth wouldn't attempt to do so. In any case, he had severed the link to slug, it's destruction would not hurt him, so he would let them play their little gambit, and wait for the results.

The beast had overindulged on rich food and had gone out of control, so if it wasn't destroyed by some one, he would have to do so himself anyway.

Still, he thought, she could absorb the hatred tthe slug has taken in. But a ghost made flesh on the hatred and suffering of others would become a malevolent entity. Purification, if it could be done, would only serve to destroy the slug, which was an imbalance in itself, possesing no love to balance the intense hate.

"Argghhhhhh!" he pounded his fist on the desk, he hated when he didn't know what was going to happen next.

Then he the link to his eye, as if their was static on the mental network, it was raining in Latent, holy water!!! He ordered the little spy creature to fly above the clouds before the rain became to heavy. But his reception was blocked until the storm ended, or until a way to end the storm was found.

No, he thought, why invest more energy in helping those who barely seem interested in helping themselves. The undead had created the chaos, and he was in position to exploit it. There was no further need to expend valuable energy lending them assistance. He had a business to run, but first he had a woman to kill while everyone was still busy.

He created a portal of darkness and wind, stepping through it, into the canyons of the Barthavos desert.