Author's Notes: This is a transition... really, the very first time I'll write a character besides Amanda and Kain for the time being. It may or may not happen again, but don't get excited if you begin to hate Torrent as much as I do. Man, this is hard. (I need something to chew on - why am I starting to feel like my fanfics are starting to suck? Is it because they do?)

Torrent

I had been tracking the creature for days and days. I saw him defeat the demon and with nothing more than complete awe. Obviously, when his hood fell back and his mercury hair became visible I knew he was not human. There was a gasp from the crowd... and mine were among the eyes that watched him leave as fast as his legs might possibly carry him. Then, when I could escape unnoticed, I left the tavern and chased after him. Days went by, as I lost sleep but continued to follow as fast as I could.

But without food, and without hunting, I grew weary. I slept an entire day away with fever, and not a moment went by when I didn't imagine myself sitting amidst some great feast and gorging myself to my heart's content. My stomach felt like a great vacuum was sucking at it, harder and harder until it was a twisted knot of empty, dry flesh.

I collapsed in a cold patch of grass near an open lake. The world pitched and heaved with each throb of my skull. Someone must have been pounding on it, I knew. Or something. I closed my eyes, and felt my energy trickle out into the grass like fresh blood. Night drew its silken sheets over the world and left me blind.. or maybe I had merely fallen into unconsciousness. I remember hoping I wasn't going to die - that I was simply resting.

Then a voice - a strange one. As if two people were speaking the same words sliced through my bliss and gave me cause to search the uncertain blackness before my unmoving eyes. Someone lifted me with surprising ease and propped me against a tree. When I could discern what was said, I felt relief.

"Ah," the voices whispered together in tandem. "Another foolish human. No weapon... ah!" The figure lurched back as if burnt when it reached for my neck, and touched the jewel that hung there. The fingers had barely brushed it and seemed to cause him pain.

"That... that stone..." the voices whispered, then snarled. "Damn it all that I would never lay eyes upon that thing again! I cannot so much as stand its touch!"

The man gave a low growl, but steadily drew closer again to me. When I saw his eyes, they were a savage yellow-gold that filled me with fear and fascination. Then the blackness stole over me and my ears drummed with the sound of laborious wing beats. I felt the touch of feathers against my face, and then felt nothing more.

The stone hurt to be so close to it. But death was hanging heavily like a shroud of dust that could not be lifted easily. At the Aerie, where my foolhardy host had lived out the last of his days when the Sarafan ripped his heart from his body, I took him to one of the best rooms possible. I had to be careful with him if I was to make him an ally, human or not. He had a weapon... and I wasn't sure if he knew it 'was' a weapon, but until I did, 'twas better to be his friend than his enemy.

He slept a long time. Nourishing him was no problem. My thoughts were scattered. Within my mind Janos stirred like an infesting parasite, roaring monstrously for control again. His bloodlust kept him at bay, but it also made me vulnerable in this body. I drank blood from a chalice in my claws and oversaw the servants as they nursed the human boy laboriously back to health.

While I sipped, I considered how this one would be useful to me, each mouthful of blood nourishing my host and yet filling me with a fear of Janos Audron. The vampire would soon take hold and I would have to let him while I mulled over my live capture. A fountain of water behind stained glass trickled across its surface, chill and soothing. Janos had a good eye for architecture which was why many of the statues hereabout had been left untouched. But a great many of the vampire idols were smashed and replaced with my own - the Aerie had become a sanctity for devils now, and nothing winged could make it up to my hidden place. A vampire's tomb had thus become my sanctuary.

Torrent

When I woke, the final nail in my coffin had been hammered in - for there were ghastly apparitions before me. My worst fear had come true and I was among the demons that scoured Nosgoth. But they neither looked directly at me nor ignored me completely, for one of them brought a plate of the most delicious food I had smelled and touched and craved in awhile. Round masses of muffins stood high on a silver platter, and on a second platter stood chicken legs and a huge tureen of gravy and a bowl of mashed potatoes. I was grabbing the spoon and forking the food into my mouth before the plates touched the table bed. Demons or no, I was starved and half-mad and nothing would keep me from this feast.

Presently I was aware of a tall, imposing figure make himself known to the rest of the room. The servants fled before it and disappeared through the doors behind him like chastened dogs, leaving me alone with the being. It was not until I had eaten myself exhausted that my eyes found his.

Through the haze of a happy stomach and renewed weariness I found his eyes were clear as day. They were not blazing green or any such thing. In fact, he looked kindly and ancient, his stately black wings folded loosely behind his broad shoulders. He was tall - much taller than me by a head. He gave me a small smile and moved toward me carefully. Another servant came to move the feast from my reach, unnoticed by the tall angelic being. His hands had three fingers, each ending with a deadly claw. His skin was the blue of death without dying; his eyes fiery yellow.

"Are you well now, young one?" he asked in one voice. Two undeniable points revealed his fangs... but why was he consorting with the demons? I supposed like called to like... in any realm.

I nodded my head to answer.

"Do you know where you are?" I shook my head. "That is to be expected. You have been long in the forest without food. Whatever were you doing?"

Should I tell him about Kain and his daughter? I wondered, fear creeping into me. What if I lie and he found out?

"I was following somebody. Important, you see. But I'm not at liberty to tell, so please don't ask, sir..." Once more I found myself staring. This creature was both terrible and beautiful. I knew not whether to be afraid or positively entranced. I was nevertheless entranced anyway, for when he came close he touched my forehead and nodded.

The thick accent was easier to understand this time. "You are not so warm anymore. The magic seems to have worked well. Now...I must ask you to do something..." And here the voice changed. A struggle ensued and the winged being lurched upright again, his spine straight as a tree and then curled again as he scraped his claws over his head. "N-No! I am not done speaking" "You will not speak again! Ahh... much better."

I sank into the pillows. The body was horrible again. Fire-tipped wings, his body slightly burned as though he were made of cooling magma. Green bled from his eyes. A terrible glowing green that reminded him sorely of the Reaver in Kain's grasp.

The voice had two tones. Both of them were not pleasant, but the one that underlie it was the voice of the kind man who had looked after him. "I know of who you follow, boy. There is no lying. I'd like you very much to keep following him - don't worry, you will have protection... and you'll lead them both to me. Understand?"

"Both to... you." I couldn't tear my eyes away. I couldn't escape. Finally I pushed the blankets away and moved off the bed, putting the furniture between myself and the demon. "But... what about the girl?"

"Let me worry about the girl. You don't know it yet, but they are the enemy, Torrent." I gasped, but it was too late - he had already taken the name from my mind. Damned demon! "They want to destroy Nosgoth, you see. The girl is a dangerous weapon and she must be destroyed before she can fulfill her role. You will lead them to me in ignorance. You know where the Aerie is but Kain does not. See to it they get here in due time. I will fly you back to near where he is... and you'll follow. Do as your told, and I'll let you live."

I shook my head, but my mouth didn't move. And I wanted to say no! Would he really kill me? By the blood on his lips that I finally noticed, I knew the answer had to be yes. Maybe. I couldn't risk it - I was tired still, but he would want me to go immediately. When the sun set, he teleported me to the forest and I was once again alone.

Amanda

My back ached more than ever. I tried using some of my witch stuff to make it better, but it only dulled the ache by a small margin. I rested in the darkness of a tomb that I managed to squirm into. I was only a few days away from the Pillars I saw in the sky at night. They seemed to glow a little against the starlit sky. When it rained, I kept walking, keeping my eyes on the pillars that seemed to penetrate the clouds. How tall 'were' they? Did they disappear when they reached beyond the atmosphere?

"I hope Kain finds me...but then I'm hiding in some dead guy's coffin," I thought, hoping I'd be found before long. I hungered for Kain's touch and his eyes and his blood, mostly. I was still his girl no matter what way I thought about it. I didn't have time to worry about the nature of my love for him... only that I needed him soon. By the gods, my goddamn back was killing me. I whimpered into the palm of my dirty hand, eyes closed, biting my lip until I saw stars... and Raziel, hovering wraith, bleeding eyes and screaming in the reflection of a curving, black sword.