Darken tried to get up, and found it painful. He felt like he had been burned alive. He gathered his knees under him and drew himself up to his feet, reaching for Phoenix.

Liandra helped him up, smoothing his jet-black wings with her own ebony wings. "What happened?" She asked. Her fairies sat on her shoulders, wringing their hands and looking deeply worried.

"I don't . . . know," Darken said, helping Phoenix up. To his shock, she felt rather weak in his arms. "It was like my . . . soul power exploded. I'm . . .more worried about Romanova, though."

"Oh," Phoenix said, holding tight to Darken lest she fall. "God . . .Darken . . .something's wrong . . .what I was afraid of . . .it's true."

"That's what I felt, then?" Darken said.

"The seals are broken," she said. "They're free."

Garuda stretched his arms wide, and pulled Kirone close to him again, kissing her deeply. He had missed the feel of a woman in his imprisonment, and was eager to make up for lost time.

Typhena scowled at them, her face taught with jealous rage. Once, she had been her brother's beloved. Lassius was the product of their love, but he had turned her back on her, after Lassius had been born.

She turned to the hulking God of Rage, seething silently on her left. It hadn't been her fault he had been born a near-mindless brute. She had oftentimes wished that when they were free she would be the first to feel his touch, and now to see him flaunt this child, this mortal in front of her face disgusted her.

I hate this . . .Kirone, Typhena thought.

She noticed the black-robed demons milling around them. They had the mark of Garuda's handiwork on them--as the most powerful of the Dark Gods, he had been able to exercise his will on the lower creatures of this cursed land.

It had been the only way to effect our return, she thought. Will he keep them around though? Why do we need an army anyway? We're gods. Our power is absolute.

Kirone stiffened. "The Royal Guards," she whispered.

The red-armored vampires marched in formation to the site of the bloodshed. Their captain seemed shocked by the dead body of Cryptonus.

"What has happened?" he demanded.

"Cryptonus has been replaced," Kirone said, pulling away from Garuda reluctantly. "I am now your sovereign. As I rule the Spheres, so do I rule the vampires."

"You killed him," the captain sneered, drawing his weapon. "You are a half breed, unfit to rule us. And for your treachery, you will pay the price."

Garuda stepped in front of her. "You will do no such thing. Kirone is under our divine protection. Leave and go with your life. Tell your people of the new order to come. Resistance will not be tolerated."

"We will resist," he said. "Like her, you are not of this world. We came here as vampires to live in purity. We will allow no outworlders to despoil that."

Garuda's green eyes narrow. "What a narrow, provincial vision."

"Royal Guard," the captain commanded. "To arms!"

The Seketha rose up, ready to defend their god. Garuda waved them back. "No, my attendants. Not this time. I have been too long without activity; I yearn for the exhilaration of combat. My fellow Gods, let us show them the price of their temerity."

Kirone stepped back, lost in her exhilaration. Garuda was so commanding and powerful. It sent a rush of heat through her to watch him, even just standing there. She wanted him so badly, wanted it to be like the first time he had visited her.

He's so beautiful, she thought. So powerful. I want to bathe in that power, and make him mine.

Lassius was first. The weaponry of the Royal guard broke off of his iron-like skin. His huge hands reached out, crushing the head of one of the guards in his hands. A casual sweep of his arm decapitated another guard. He moved through the legion like a hurricane.

Sarene moved reluctantly forward, her hands trembling. She didn't want to do this, because her powers of despair hurt her as she hurt them. Nevertheless, she attacked anyway. She summoned her avatar, a beast of bright blue energy, a hideous Hydra-like monster. It lashed out at the troops and they fell, consumed by despair. Sarene knew it worked, because she was feeling it too. Tears flowed from her eyes as she watched them stab themselves and kill themselves.

Typhena sneered at her sister. Sarene was almost too weak to be considered a god. So cautious about using her power. Luckily I have no compunction about it.

She gestured and brilliant orange tendrils surged from her hands. They cast a web over the guards, sending waves of pain into them. She smiled.

That's it, she thought. Hurt, scream out. Struggle against my agony web. The more you hurt the better I feel.

Finally, gorged on their pain, she smiled wide and burst them, their bodies exploding in fonts of blood and viscera. She idly flicked pieces of bone and tissue off of her glove.

The captain had tried to retreat, but to no avail. The Seketha were upon him, their insectile hands grasping at him, shearing him of weaponry. The dragged him back through the temple, before Garuda.

"You didn't honestly think we would allow you to return to your people, did you?" Garuda asked him.

"My people will never submit to you."

"I hope you're wrong," Gaurda said. "My fellow Gods and I challenged and universe and brought it to heel before us. I filled a thousand oceans on a thousand worlds with the blood of my opposition. Surely one of the races of this dimensional backwater has the sense to not resist us?"

"You intend to kill me?"

"After a fashion," Garuda said. "You see, I and my brethren are Gods. We were bound supposedly because we represented the worst of the nature of life. Typhena is the goddess of agony, Lassius' dominion is rage, Sarene's is despair."

Garuda extended his hand. A green light issued from his palm. The Guard suddenly seemed to degrade. To age, and then decay.

"I am the god of corruption. And from my hands you now know why."

Finally the captain crumbled to dust. Garuda looked to the Seketha before him. "You have served me well. For this I will grant you a boon."

With one gesture, the horde of Seketha changed, becoming larger, more powerful, and more insectile. Black and green armor covered their bodies. External organs glowed with power.

"There," he said. "An appropriate guard for us, don't you think, Kirone?"

"Very much so," she said, smiling. "Now I think we should perhaps go to my ship. There are . . .things I'd like to attend to."

Garuda looked at her, raised an eyebrow, and smiled.

"Dark Gods," Darken said.

"That's right," Phoenix said. "They were alive before our universe was created, before I was. They conquered and ruined their universe, so a new one--this one-- had to be created. Everything except for them was destroyed."

"Why weren't they?" Liandra said.

"They couldn’t be destroyed at that time," Phoenix said. "In their old universe, they were powerful beyond even my ability to comprehend. It took everything possible to bind them. They were put in a place, it was hoped, no life would ever arise from. Only now, with them here, in a new universe, adjusting, are they vulnerable."

"Vulnerable how?" Darken asked. "Romanova, fighting Kirone is one thing. But these are ancient gods. What could we do against them?"

"They can be beaten," Phoenix said. "They’re still adjusting, vulnerable. If we go to them, now, they can be hurt, harmed. . . ."

"Killed?" Liandra said.

"That may be the only way to keep them from dooming us all," Phoenix said. "Darken, I know this is not what you want to hear. I know it only makes the situation grimmer. If I can spare you any of what may come . . .I'll go alone."

Darken reached out to her, pulling her into his arms. "No," he whispered. "Don’t say that. If you go, I'm going too."

"You don't have to," she said.

"I love you Romanova," he said, kissing her softly. "Where you go, so will I. Into life, into death, it doesn't matter."

"And where you two go, I'll go too." Liandra said.

Darken and Phoenix looked at her.

"You can't go," Darken said.

"You can try to stop me," Liandra said. "I'll find a way to get there myself."

"Why?" Darken said. "Liandra . . .if," he sighed, trying to find the words. "When I'm gone . . .they'll need you here to pick up the pieces."

"Why wait?" Liandra said. "Why do we have to wait for the future to fix itself, Darken? Why can't we three take hold of destiny instead of just following it?"

"Liandra, what are you talking about?"

"All our lives, you and I," she began. "We've read the books, we listened to Kael's prophecy about Unity, and we carefully . . .blindly . . .followed that destiny. He didn't count on this. The rules have changed, and we can't follow that path anymore."

Darken looked at her, and suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine. She's right, he thought. I don't think I've ever heard anyone be this right.

"Darken, destiny doesn't dictate life. Life dictates destiny. If we're going to stop Kirone, if we're going to top the Dark Gods, and I've we're going to fix all this, we need to do it for ourselves, the only way we know how. Together."

Liandra sighed. She hadn't meant to say all that. "And it goes without saying," she began. "We should start now."

"A flying ship," Garuda thought, looking out the window. He brushed his emerald locks from his face. "Things have changed very much."

"The Morgana's quite impressive," Kirone said. "I made sure it was. After all, it's our flagship."

Adamov watched these interlopers with detached interest. They looked much like the other races he had seen in these worlds, but he could sense their powers, not through his sensory data--that registered only quantifiable things. No, he sensed this deep inside himself.

That was ridiculous, he thought. I cannot feel. I am dead inside until Vertigo is mine.

"Prince Adamov," Typhena said, drawing close to him. The smile on her face looked like a predator enjoying its prey. "You're not of this world, are you?"

"No," he said. "I am not."

"I can tell," she said. She brushed her body against him, accidentally on purpose. "You carry yourself so much differently, so . . .powerfully. You impress me."

Adamov looked at her, his red eyes glowing, twin red pinpoints in the darkness.

"I understand you're actually . . .dead?"

Adamov looked at her, unmoving.

"And that you’re dead to feeling," Typhena said, stroking his metallic arms. "No pain, no love, no hate, no sense of touch, even. Fascinating."

Adamov frowned at her.

"I'd love to know what it takes to make a machine hurt," Typhena said. She stood on her tiptoes, whispering in his ear. "I find the prospect of finding out . . .exciting."

Adamov pushed her away and staked off the bridge. Kirone watched him go, and raised an eyebrow. "Don't feel bad, Typhena," she said, putting her hands around Garuda's waist. "Adamov's not the most social being. Or the most responsive."

"They're all that way at first," Typhena sneered. She didn’t need that bitch Kirone to tell her what her eyes already confirmed.

Kirone leaned over Garuda, kissing lightly behind his ear. "You were magnificent today," she said. "I got so excited watching you. You're so powerful, you know, my sweet god."

Garuda smiled. "I'm nothing without your love," he said softly. "None of this could be achieved without you."

Kirone smiled. "It was empty triumph until I had you here . . .like this."

Garuda's eyes narrowed. "Why do I sense that's not all you want?"

"You’re a god," she said, licking his neck very lightly. "You tell me. We've got some time yet, before we reach the Angel Sphere. There's nothing that needs our attention. Except for me, that is."

Garuda took her hand. "An excellent point. Past time, I devoted my full attention to you, dark beauty of my heart."

Garuda turned to the Seketha. "Continue as ordered," he said. "Empress Kirone and I desire . . .our privacy . . ."

"Garuda," Typhena began.

"We'll see you again in time for the landing in the Angel Sphere," Kirone said.

"GARUDA!"

They ignored her, and the bridge door closed around her. Typhena balled her fists up and held them against her head to keep from crying. She entertained a sudden urge to destroy this ship. The Seketha were beyond her reach. So was Kirone, no doubt, Garuda's protection was absolute. And she didn’t dare go against him.

Not with the terrible knowledge he has at his disposal, she thought. Not with the power he has. It laid waste to a universe before . . .what he would do to me . . .

She idly sucked on her fingernail, beside herself with anger. Suddenly, a plan came to her. She walked off the bridge, the tall heels of her boots clacking on the metal floor.

"You can't be serious," Sachiel said. "You honestly expect us to just let you go to Nycheladra, on some mission to destroy Kirone?"

"Think of it as a prelude to your assault," Darken said. He was lying through his teeth, and he hated it. But Sachiel wasn't ready to hear about the dark Gods. Not with everything so desperate. Better he shouldn't know the real odds they were up against.

"If we three go, and eliminate Kirone, the whole force falls apart," Darken said. "Those creatures she has attending her, the undead angels, the machines, it all falls apart."

"What if you’re wrong?"

"I'm not," Darken said.

"I could stop you from going."

"No," Darken replied. "You can't. You know you can't."

"If the decision's not mine to make," Sachiel said. "Why did you come to me?"

"I don’t want a decision," Darken said. "I want my friend's blessing before I go to what will most likely be my death."

"You’re awfully calm about that. You can't honestly expect me to go with you talking like this."

"I learned something today," Darken said, looking away. "About how we should live, and the way things should be going. And about the nature of destiny."

Sachiel looked at him. Darken looked back at him.

"I remember, just after Maryna died," Sachiel began. "You raided Kirone, one man against her ship and her army. We all thought you were dead, you had the look in your eyes of a man going to his death, a man throwing himself into the arms of death."

Darken brushed his hair aside and looked Sachiel in the eye. "How do they look now?"

Sachiel sighed. "Different. Not like a man looking for death. More like a man who realizes death may occur because of the path he's chosen."

"Then I have your blessing?"

Sachiel braced himself against the rail of the ship. He sighed. "It's a hard burden to bear. Should one man give his blessing to another, for something like this?"

"You can bear it," Darken said. He put a hand on his shoulder "After all, you will be the one who writes the new future for all of us."

"Me. . .?"

"Look around," Darken said. "Machines, Dragons, Humans, Angels. Everyone's working together. Unity is here. The question is, can it bear the crucible of the time?"

"And you?" Sachiel said. "What do you do?"

Darken looked at him, his face not smiling or frowning. "I guess I start the fire."

They embraced. Not the embrace of best friends, not the embrace of people parting in sorrow, but the embrace of people walking towards the future.

Garuda braced Kirone against the door, tearing at her clothes. "Ohhh," he sighed. "My dark beauty. I have longed for this. To have my flesh on your flesh, to feel your craving for me. In truth, instead of in spirit."

"I have longed for you ever since the first time," Kirone sighed. "You can't know how much I want this."

"I've waited incalculable millennia for you, my love," Garuda said, baring her breasts. He planted a row on kisses on her snow-white skin, his hands encircling her breasts. He massaged them gently.

Garuda felt a rush of heat, one part desire and one part embarrassment. He couldn't help but remember Typhena, and how they had seduced on another. It was wrong to compare the two, especially since the comparison was so flimsy.

Typhena was brutish, dominating. She liked her pain and pleasure in equal measures. Kirone was different. There want and love in her. Tenderness to balance her lust for power. Power in any form.

Garuda had never known her like, in all the people he had known. She captivated him, her soul as well as her body.

He ran his hands over her now naked form. So young, so perfect, he thought. Perfection like this . . .is this the nature of this new universe?

Typhena found Sarene alone in one of the lower decks, curled up in a ball. Typhena felt a rush of contempt and disgust. Sarene was so pitiful, she hadn't learned to love the rush that came with her powers like she had.

She looked at her, frowned and kicked Sarene hard into the side.

Sarene gasped.

"Get up," she said. "Stop your whimpering and listen to me."
"W-what?" Sarene said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's about Garuda," Typhena said. "He's too fond of this new world and this . . .Kirone. It's unnatural. Even now they're coupling like rabbits."

"I th-think . . ."
"I didn't ASK you to think!" Typhena said, smacking Sarene with the back of her hand. Sarene wiped her blood from her face. "Why you even survived, I'll never know. I am Garuda's consort, and I should be with him now. How dare he choose a mortal over me?"

"Don't understand, why you have to be so . . .cruel," Sarene said, crying again.

"Garuda is mine," Typhena said. "I bore his child, I ruled beside him. I am a goddess. And I will not be tossed aside for that mortal whore. And you are going to help me."

"No," Sarene said. "I refuse."

"Oh you do, do you?" Typhena said. She gestured and one of her agony tendrils slithered around Sarene's throat. Incredible pain surged through her. Sarene began to scream.

"STOOOOOOOP! PLEEEEASE!"

"Why should I?" Typhena said indifferently.

"IT HUUUURTS!"

"Of course it does," Typhena said. "And it's going to KEEP hurting until you pledge your loyalty to me. You’re going to help me kill that bitch and regain Garuda's favor."

Sarene nodded. The tendril vanished.

"Good," Typhena said. "I'm happy to see you’re good for something, sister."

"He'll kill you, if he finds out."

Typhena looked at her. "No," she smiled. "That's the beauty of it. He'll kill you. And don’t bother telling him, because he won’t believe you. If he gives you time to say anything, that is."

"He killed all the others, like us," Sarene said.

"So he did. But there are still some of us, sleeping. And using you as a sacrificial lamb is certainly an acceptable loss. After all, sister, don't you crave death?"

Sarene nodded. "Then we both get what we want," Typhena said.

Garuda bent Kirone over the bed and took her. He could wait no longer for her. His knees forced her legs open and he was inside her. His green hair tickled her back and he bent over her, driving into her as hard as he could.

Kirone's taloned hands ripped the mattress. Her teeth were grit hard. This is incredible, she thought. She gasped through clenched fangs. It hurt, but it made her feel wonderful. It was like her senses were opening up, like a flower to the sun.

"Garuda," she breathed. "Yes. More, Garuda. MORE!"

Garuda seized her hips and went even harder. While he was doing this, his mind was taking notice of the sensations within him. He had never taken notice of his physicality before, but here it was. So precious. So real, at long last.

He was sweating, drops of perspiration on his furrowed brow like dew on a leaf. His muscles ached with exertion, and deep within him, burned his climax, which he was trying to hold back.

Not yet, he willed himself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kirone said, tearing another hunk of mattress out as another orgasm ripped through her. She could barely breathe, her leg muscles burned with effort, and her throat felt raw. She had never felt better in her life.

"My god . . .I . . .I. . ."

"Kirone," Garuda gasped. His chest heaved with the exertion. "My sweet dark love. Give me your gift."

Kirone looked at him, her red eyes wide. "Really?"

Garuda nodded, moving out of her to lie on the bed. Kirone knelt over him, taking him back into her. She gasped as he trigged fiery response in her. She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts together.

"I'll give you mine," she panted. "If you give me yours."

He smiled up at her. He brushed his green hair away from his neck. "Of course," he said. "I am yours, beloved."

Kirone began to work on him, feeling him near. He was pulling at her, unable to get enough of her. His lips were screaming her name, and he seemed to be on the verge.

"Kirone," he gasped. "Now . . .please."

Kirone's red eyes flared and she bared her fangs. She learned forward and sank them into his throat. The pain was delicious to Garuda, and all he needed. His climax roared through him like the explosion of a star, surging through them both as his blood surged into her.

Kirone was shivering at the sensations coursing through her. The blood of a god was burning in her veins as her sex burned for him. She thrust a few more times, and reared back, his blood spilling from her mouth.

She leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Garuda took her in his arms and lay her against his chest.

Beside them, invisible to them both was Typhena. The agony of their lovemaking had called to her. Garuda, consumed by his task had not seen her. Typhena, there but not there all at once, shook with rage.

Her memory drifted back to when she would take Garuda, her agony tendrils wrapped around the both of them, as he took her with abandon. His sister, his lover. His queen, his empress.

And now to witness this perversion, she thought angrily.

She paced around the bed, surveying the signs of lovemaking. They were near asleep now, she thought. She reached out, trying to touch Kirone's cheek.

"Soon, little mortal," she whispered. "Soon you will be dead."