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Damn, was all that she thought before the gargoyles attacked and brought down the helicopter. Pain, brilliant and stunning, shot through her body when her eyes opened. The rush of upcoming ground was terrifying and she braced herself against the impact, closing her eyes once more.

The harsh sound of metal grating against metal, the swift crack of the shattering glass, and the giant boom of the chopper meeting ground rang out in her eyes as she was jostled against the wall. The sudden still silence that enveloped around her was blissful and let her mind wander into one of the rituals she had been thinking about before the crash.

A voice was barking out orders when she came to and she opened her eyes. The sky was covered with some clouds and blotted out by the tops of the surrounding trees. Sydney brought her hands to her face and rubbed the dirt and glass from it. Groaningly she sat up and looked around. The others seemed to be up and moving, following given orders.

Pushing herself up to her feet, she stumbled slightly and winced as she looked down. Something had cut along her side, whether it was from the gargoyles or the crash, she didn't know which. It wasn't a horrid wound, but it trickled her precious blood down her side. She grumbled slightly at it and climbed out of the debris, knocking over some fallen branches.

Fuck.... that hurt... she thought to herself and looked around. "Where the hell did they come from?" she asked softly to no one in particular as she tried to use her gadgets, but found that they weren't working.

Sydney studied the others and went to stand beside Phoenix. Her side still bleeding slightly, but she paid it no mind, it wasn't worth wasting what little resources they had with them.

Henry was stuck in the shrapnel when he heard the sound. He quickly pulled off his artificial leg and detached it from the wreck while sitting on the ground. After he fastened it back on, he went with Nova, Sydney, and Adrian to look at the cargo. Oh, wait, my rifle! Henry thought, and ran into the chopper to find his case. After a long hard struggle, he found the duffle bag with his (old) uniform and the case for his Drago and Desert Eagle. When he came back out with his supplies, he went with the three others to inspect the rest of the cargo.

They came upon them quieter than gargoyles normally were capable of. There had only been the barest whisper ("I want...") and a fleeting shadow before they were upon them, shredding the helicopter. Nova grimaced and hit her seat belt, slipping deftly from her seat and to Sydney's side. Of all the creatures the Silence took care of, gargoyles were the worst, for her. They were not particularly strong, but they were obsessive when they locked onto a target. And they were loud. Their screams and snarls echoed even above the rushing wind and Pheonix's, Zack's, and Henry's shouted comments. And under the bestial snarls, Nova could hear them gloating to one another. Gargoyles were not particularly bright and never said anything interesting. "I'll have this one! No, mine! Mine! I want! I want!" Really, it was all very loud and messy.

The crash set her ears ringing and her body aching. She clambered slowly to her feet and peered over Sydney. Her eyes were open, but she was still. Nova gazed down at her uncertainly. Pheonix had given them orders... With a small shrug she moved away, confident that she would follow at her own pace. She began gathering the scattered cargo, keeping a mental tally. It seemed that a few bags were missing. They may have been found by one of the others. Sydney joined them quickly and Nova's gaze flickered toward her.

"There is a bag of medical supplies somewhere from the ship. Do you need assistance?" she asked, nodding toward the line of blood trickling down Sydney's side.

Zack kicked the seat off the pilot that was still in one piece. Dammit, no pulse. He checked the pilot's supplies and found some medical kits and rations. Zack looked over at the other pilot... or the upper half of the other pilot. It seemed that he had tried to jump ship with a parachute, one of the gargoyles got him. "Poor bugger."

Zack walked back out and reported to Phoenix. After getting a nod in return, Zack adjusted the straps on his suit and scoured the sky for more of the stone beasties. Nothing. He turned back around and asked a generalized, "Where the fuck are we and how are we on supplies?"

"There is a bag of medical supplies somewhere from the ship. Do you need assistance?" Nova's voice filtered through her mind.

Sydney dropped her eyes to her wound and studied it. "No, but thank you. I'm just going to need a few vials. Don't want the blood to go to waste before I can use it," she said softly and moved away from Phoenix to find some unbroken vials. Her search found her leather bag and she let out a sigh of relief. Upon opening it, three unbroken vials lay in sight. She stuck her hand in and grabbed them.

Sitting back on her heels, Sydney opened one of the vials and placed it near her wound, watching the blood begin its slowing trickle into the glass container. After a few moments, the first vial was filled and she was closing it. Her eyes lifted to the sky as she opened the second vial and she studied it, searching for any more of those damnable stone creatures. The pain from her wound was dull, dull enough to forget that she was wounded.

Tessandra was shaking with adrenaline, sweat plastering her fringe to her forehead, trying to focus on the Weave. With one last look at Nova and Sydney, who she was worried about, she closed her eyes.

The Weave swamped her, a strange, intoxicating sense of enlightenment that had nearly made her go insane the first time she had experienced it. It was like being constantly above the surface of a raging waterfall. With each blink she was dipped into the water, with nothing but a jutting rock to anchor her there in the deluge of energy that swept past her. And with her eyes closed, it was like being completely immersed in the force of Niagra falls.

In the real world, Tessandra gave a flinch, and inwardly, the sensation of being in Niagra falls dulled to the tug of a small stream.

The white hot glare of the Weave-Grid dimmed enough for her to see the lines and details. She saw the moving figures of her comrades, the dull after-signature of the gargoyles fizzing sporadically on the wreckage of the helicopter.

She drew her senses in, focused them, gathered them into a charged ball, and with a practiced yet wary motion, cast her consciousness out into the surrounding twenty miles. She felt thin, tense, light, and her view of the grid became so wide it was almost impossible to see the lines.

In the dim gold glow, she sat, like a spider in a web, her physical form becoming still, her heartbeat slowing...

Tessandra's eyes slowly opened, and she took a few deep breaths, her eyes unfocusing for a second, then regaining control. She licked her dry lips and swallowed, as if waking up.

"Phoeni-" but he was already looking at her. She sat down on the ground, rolling her neck, looking a bit tired. "What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?"

She didn't wait for an answer, "Bad news is there's a following force of about 30 gargoyles tailing us, and several high level beings. Good news is we have just enough time for Sydney to set up a few tricks, provided we find a decent site. Half an hour tops. And... *&%^... there's a Whisper too. Once it gets close it'll blend into the Grid. Only Nova will be able to hear it, only it's harder to pinpoint sound, especially one so quiet as a Whisper. If a Whisper touches you... it eats your energy signature. Whatever the spark is that makes us human is, the Whisper eats it. Your heart will stop, and you'll never be conscious again. We'll need energy barriers. Can we do that? Now we have about twenty minutes."

She turned to the new guy, "Hey, Comrade person, can you get us to a secure place? Kinda quickly?". She started grabbing bags and equipment, slinging them over her shoulder, looking noticeably panicked.

Whispers. God Damn Whispers. Because the Grid seemed duller the more you viewed at once, in this case a 20 mile radius, their bright signatures were easy to see. A bright white, they did not bend the grid. They had no physical form, so could not be seen except there the lines glowed brighter. They were unintelligent parasites, like viruses, programmed for nothing except survival. Any energy they touched became a part of them. Over time, energy they acquired leaked back into the grid. If they did not encounter more energy, they simply vanished. The only way to stop them was to overload them with an extreme amount of energy, or avoid them. The details were few, but it seemed to work.

You could see them, 2-D squares sliding across the grid, but once they got close, and you zoomed in, it was impossible to tell them apart from empty grid. Any other being had an energy signature of a different colour. Reds, blues, purples, so on. A slightly brighter shade of gold was NOT easy to see, especially if it had no shape. It was the only being Tessandra had encountered that she was as powerless to see as the others. It had occurred to Tessandra that Whispers might not actually be from another plane, that they could simply be a part of nature, that many unexplained deaths were attributed to them. But Whispers were normally slow and traveling in only one direction. Down the grid or up the grid. This was coming with the gargoyles, at a diagonal. If someone had managed to control a Whisper... that would have taken a hell load of power. And it was fast.

"Time's ticking away guys...." Tessandra said, looking in the direction the Russian came from. And then she started running.

Henry lifted up some random crates and bags, all while thinking of the gargoyles. What were they doing anyway? That's ridiculous. They're cretins, they are. They're just like the students at school. I'm glad that war happened so I could get pulled out of there. He looked back to the day he was forced out.

It was a routine patrol, just like a couple days before then. Henry was in the Humvee with his rilfe, pistol, and knife. He was to look around to see if there was anyone in hiding that was planning an ambush. Sadly, there were. Henry had a simple assignment after they spotted them: push them out of the building and/or kill them. He didn't have to enter the building, since he was a sniper. Instead, he climbed a building across the street from the hideout so he could pick them off through the windows. After one or two shots, he noticed someone reflected in his glasses. He quickly grabbed his knife and faced the attacker. An enemy, of course. He soon stabbed between the man's ribs. As he walked down to see who else was there, he noticed the grenade. He couldn't make it to the next building when it went off. His left leg was in the air, being pushed by the right. The leg exploded and when Henry landed on the rooftop of the adjacent building, the knife in his right hand stabbed into his left hand. He screamed in pain and blacked out.

So, Henry continued lifting the boxes and crates, following the comrade to a safe place. He thought about the Whisper. A spirit that can cloak itself so it can only be heard. Henry almost shivered at the thought. The only really real spirit he had encountered was a really noisy and reckless one. It banged into stuff and made it easy to see. The ironic part was how weak it was to the random beating on a can. He didn't want to shoot it, because that would be even louder and even more reckless than itself. Henry strived perfection inside, but it was too late for his outside.

Nova's eyes darted in several directions quickly and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was distressed. Too many things were happening at once, too many bad things. She did not trust the stranger from the woods, he made her nervous. He slurred his words the same way the guards used to just before bad things happened. The gargoyles were not gone and the forrest rang with thier arguements, grating further at her nerves. They were far away, but heading in their direction, getting closer very quickly. Tessandra had sighted a Whisper. Her fear was contaigious as she snatched a few bags onto her back and started running toward the shelter the stranger had pointed out. Nova longed to follow, but too many direct orders, conflicting each other, crowded her into place. Gather supplies, watch out for Sydney, listen hard, get to safety, follow Tessandra, keep listening. She rocked nervously again, straining for those first notes of a Whispers monotoned song. SeekSeekSeekSeekSeekSeek...

Following Tessandra's lead, Nova slung as many bags as she was sure she could carry and be swift over her shoulder. Again, she moved to Sydney's side and touched the woman's arm slightly without thinking. "Pheonix," she called softly, though she kept her focus moving, cocking her head different directions. "Retreat seems a good idea. The gargoyles could cloak the Whisper until it is too close; I can hear them from here. We should retreat." Her body seemed to lean towards Tessandra, but she did not move, waiting for her orders.

Half-awake, Adrian could hear loud screeching sounds, nearly deafening him. He awoke with shock and terror, he hoped that it really wasn't what he thought it was. Quickly looking out the window, Adrian saw that he was right, and that it was Gargoyles. Adrian heard Phoenix yell, "Adrian, Tessandra, pack our bags, make sure all our weaponry and items are secured in case we need to abandon the chopper." Before long, he heard the loud roar of the chopper being latched on from the Gargoyles and ripping it to shreds. Soon after he could hear the recognizable sound of the chopper begining it's fall down to the ground. "ah, shit... this is one is going to be a-" he thought before the chopper began spinning heavily downward.

Adrian was back in his condo again, he could feel the warmth of the fire place as the window showed a outline of lights. "Back here again?" He thought to himself, "Wait if last time was a dream then this must also be-." Pain rushed through his body and he could feel the grass and dirt beneath him. "Ah , god... jeez," He thought as he fumbled trying to get up. He dusted himself off and saw that there were no permanent injuries and that he was luckily still in one piece, his gun also managed to stay in once piece too, along with some of his medical supplies. Phoenix order Adrian and Henry to unload all the weaponry outside, or at least what was left, it looked like a little more than 1/2 was lost in the crash or scattered off somewhere. Adrian began to start unloading the crate with the weaponry, he could overhear Tessandra say something about Whispers, "Great, just what we needed, a Whisper!" He thought with much sarcasm. Whisperers were just as bad as Gargoyles but just invisible. Another person appeared, he looked Russian and had a very Russian accent. "Good day comrades, I seen ye bird went down and came to see if ye needed help," He heard him yell with his Russian accent slightly slurred, probably was drinking but that didn't really mind Adrian. He grabbed as much medical supplies, ammo, and a couple of rations before following Nova, Henry, Tessandra, and the comrade.

His breath was heavy, his heart filled with madness, his mind chaotic.

"How could they be here ? In mid-day, in such large numbers. This has never been encountered before. In all the tasks i have been part of, never have i saw the beasts gain such courage and mount a full scale attack in the middle of the day. Thus i was right. The Company did keep something from me, i was not fully briefed, it would be impossible for them to not know about these actions." he said to himself, thoughts raging in and out of his brain.

He turned around, watching Nova do her best to assist Sydney. The others were gathering supplies as told, Tessandra focusing on detecting anymore interferences.

"God, i know i'm not your greatest servant, and I know it has been a long time since i last lit a candle in your Church, but, damn I need some good news now." spoke the man to himself, lost in his own worries. Without warning, from the seemingly deserted city, a man emerged, drunk, from the looks of himself. Phoenix quickly eyed him from the distance, trying to judge him by his appearance. Tall, somewhere in his thirties he would say, and he appeared to be in a some-what good physical shape. Though suddenly, Tessandra turned towards him, making the man loose his trail of thought and focus at the matters at hand:

"What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?" without even getting to answer, she continued.

"Bad news is there's a following force of about 30 gargoyles tailing us, and several high level beings. Good news is we have just enough time for Sydney to set up a few tricks, provided we find a decent site. Half an hour tops. And.. fuck.. there's a Whisper too. Once it gets close it'll blend into the Grid. Only Nova will be able to hear it, only it's harder to pinpoint sound, especially one so quiet as a Whisper. If a Whisper touches you... it eats your energy signature. Whatever the spark is that makes us human is, the Whisper eats it. Your heart will stop, and you'll never be conscious again. We'll need energy barriers. Can we do that? Now we have about twenty minutes."

He forced himself to not gasp, trying to maintain control over his feelings and his body. A whisper, here. He had only fought one in his entire life, and the time he did he was inches away from dying, literally. They were one of the most dangerous beings he ever encountered, and they were incredibly hard to battle, especially because he could not see them, thus he could only rely on pure luck, and Nova's assistance to banish it from the mortal plain. A cold shiver went down his spine, remembering that dark night when he had first encountered one, when he saw one of his partners crash against the cold ground, lifeless.

"Time's ticking away guys...."

The words woke him up, taking him back to reality. Tessandra turned to the newly arrived stranger and started asking questions:

"Hey, Comrade person, can you get us to a secure place? Kinda quickly?"

"That is safe." pointed the man towards a nearby building. Without warning, Tessandra grabbed a few bags which were near and darted towards the location, along with Henry and Adrian, fear seeming to infiltrate their hearts, or, care for their own safety. He grunted, Nova and the new blood being the only ones he seemed to be pleased with at the moment, both of them staying still so to receive new orders.

The sun glared above them, no more clouds could be seen on the crystal blue skies, which stretched until the horizon's line. A warm breeze of air traveled the lands, making the elderly trees move at unison, just as if each of their branches was an instrument in a grand orchestra. No more birds raced through the heavens, even the mighty eagle had abandoned his search for prey.

"So I take it ye the leader? Where ye headed, and what is she talking about?" suddenly asked the drunken stranger, forcing Phoenix to shift his gaze, leaving the moment of calm that surrounded him for just a few seconds to be forgotten. Though as he turned, his eyes stoped on the man's clothing. The name-tag read: "Sgt. Kamarov."

He could feel his heart stop, blood ceasing to continue runningi in his veins, as he gave his very best to not turn pale. Rising his right hand he ripped the name-tag off the man's uniform:

"WHERE did you get THIS ?" he asked with a commanding tone, not knowing if it was hope to see an old friend that he felt, or anger. His eyes measured the man up and down several times, as finally, he could clearly see the resemblance.

"Vorusko, you poor excuse for a man.. is that you ?" spoke Phoenix, a light grin plastering itself across his face.
"Yes yes yes ! It is you ! What in the eight spirits are you doing here ? Never mind, you have time to explain yourself on the way to the building."

Quickly turning towards Nova and Sydney, he regained his well-known calm, his harsh, calculated face, saying:

"Nova, I want you to position yourself at one of the windows. Do not bother fighting the stone beasts, I need your help. I will engage the whisp on my own. I need you to be my ears and my eyes, you can hear it, you can tell which side it is coming from. With your assistance, we might have a chance at taking it down. If we don't, we would perish, and that is not an option.

"New blood." said Phoenix, looking towards Sydney. "I want you to place a blood barrier at the entrance to the city. I do not know to which extent your powers grow, so at least do your best to stop a few gargoyles. We should be able to handle the rest. Also if you are able to slow the Whisper down in any manner, do so, or at least if you could create some sort of wards with your own blood and mask them, making them look as individual energy signals in it's path. By the time the Whisper realizes it was tricked, we would have enough time to do it. If not, the nwe will just rely more on our own abilities."

Shifting his gaze once more, he yelled at those who were heading towards the building:

"Adrian, Henry, Tessandra. Set up battle-posts at the windows, use all the weaponry you can. We have an incoming party, preppare yourselves."

And with those words, he motioned for the blood-witch, Nova and his old-new found friend to follow him, Phoenix starting to travel towards the building himself.

"New blood, I want you to place a blood barrier at the entrance to the city. I do not know to which extent your powers grow, so at least do your best to stop a few gargoyles. We should be able to handle the rest. Also if you are able to slow the Whisper down in any manner, do so, or at least if you could create some sort of wards with your own blood and mask them, making them look as individual energy signals in it's path. By the time the Whisper realizes it was tricked, we would have enough time to do it. If not, the new will just rely more on our own abilities," the voice filtered through her mind, pulling her from her scan of the sky above.

A swift nod, a pull of the drawstring on the bag, and the retrieval of a jeweled ritual dagger was her only answer. Already her mind was deep in a meditative state, conjuring up the specified workings. Deep breathing and slow moving, her mind whispered to itself as if reminding her that she had work to do still.

Sydney took a deep breath and looked at Phoenix. "I'm going to the entrance. I need to be there to set up the barrier," she said and then set out at a quick jog. Her ritual dagger already at her left wrist, slicing the skin. Along the way, blood dripped upon the ground.

"Blood upon earth, I ask thee to protect us in your working from that which seeks to destroy your work," she whispered as she neared the city entrance. A quick dart of her eyes to the sky and she knew she needed to work quickly. Already she could see a dark cloud approaching. Moving swiftly and confidently, Sydney cut her right wrist and let the blood pool on the ground. "A barrier made of blood," she said softly as she felt the stirring of the wind, her mind worked the spell for the barrier.

Concentrating on working of the barrier, she could feel the soft pulls of energy from the earth and a smile played upon her lips. As the barrier jumped over the city, Sydney worked on wrapping her wrists and setting up a few, what she called, parlor tricks, spots of human energy for the Whisper to attack first. Lightheadedness made her stumble slightly as she rejoined the group and she leaned against a wall, taking several deep breaths. And this is what you wanted.... her mind scolded her.

"The barrier is set and the parlor tricks have been laid. We should have enough time for whatever you have planned," Sydney said outloud. "There are about twenty-five parlors and in about fifteen different locations."

"Adrian, Henry, Tessandra. Set up battle-posts at the windows, use all the weaponry you can. We have an incoming party, preppare yourselves." Henry heard the leader say. Henry already had the batle plan being mapped out. Get to the windows and start shooting. The comrade spat out some Russian and moved upstairs. Henry didn't understand exactly what he said, but it was pronounced as an insult from what he heard. He didn't react, instead looking through the scope of his rifle. Thank God I got this out before the comrade put our heli back in the air. Henry thought while looking in the sea of stone that was heading their way.

He wondered how soon he should fire; too soon and the team would be alerted; too late and... well, they'll be inside. He held the rifle steady while he took his eye off the scope and looked at the attackers' current position. About a quarter-mile from where Sydney did her barrier ritual. Henry knew this was the time. He put his eye backon the scope, and moved his gun slowly to the forehead of a fairly large gargoyle. Oh, wait, I need my good bullet for this. Henry's left hand fell to a pouch on the opposite side of his belt as the knife. He felt a slightly thicker bullet, and loaded it in. He returned to the good-sized stone demon and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet penetrated the gargoyle's head just right. He fell over, and other lesser beings fell over. Wait for it... Now. As Henry thought this, the creature's head exploded, taking down two more of the things walking on their fallen brother. Henry chuckled a bit, loaded a regular bullet, and continued with the dirty work.

Henry shot twice more, both times embedding the bullets into the stone creatures' heads. Henry loved the ranged attacks. However, just in case, he layed down his side arm under the windowsill he was shooting from. If there was a surprise, he would have to get it ready with his left hand. The hand might as well be in a cast. He felt a bit of stinging on his scar. He ignored it and shot another gargoyle in the shoulder. Damn this hand. Must have hit a nerve when I landed on it. It was never the same since the grenade. Henry beat himself up a bit, loaded another bullet and finihed the gargoyle he somehow missed before. He smirked and loaded again.

Tessandra ran into the building and upstairs, following Henry and Adrian. Tess's long range weapons experience was very limited, she was best at close combat with her box blades, normal laser, silver spikes, charmed energy swathes, whatever was needed. Deciding Adrian and Henry were better suited to the gargoyles, she started rummaging through bags, finding more ammo should they need it, closing her eyes now and then to see how Nova and Sydney were doing.

She understood now that unless they killed all the gargoyles, Nova would never be able to hear the Whisper. Wincing from the gunfire, Tess risked a look out of the window. The gargoyles were almost on Sydney's blood barrier.

Finding an energy ball, she held the clear, strangely spongy object in her palm. The energy inside had been donated by one of the Company's ritualists. One squeeze and it was primed, open one's palm and the ball would spring into the air and burst into fizzing sparks of energy, coating the surroundings, the signature lasting for several hours.

When Tess closed her eyes to see the weave grid, only energy warped the grid to show form. All tables, chairs, dead things, essentially, had no signature, so were not visible. If she had to fight in here, she would be knocking into all sorts of things. The Energy ball helped her see a bit better.

Her box blades were clipped on, energy spikes in the attachment slots over her knuckles. She clenched and unclenched her fists. She saw Henry grasping for more ammo.

"Save it," she said, watching the gargoyles, "See how many the barrier kills. You'll need all the ammo you can to fight the High Levels...".

She now wore her goggles, and the blindfold. Her body became still, tense, the waves of paranormal activity rolling off her. She made herself a part of the Grid, snaking down lines here and there, past the raucous pulses of the gargoyles, shivering as she realised how close the Whisper was, pressing on to the High Levels. A pastel green, a deep maroon, a fizzing orange. Tessandra tried to match the signatures to the spirits.

Maroon, a Bloodfeeder. Essentially a vampire, but with three mouths full of teeth, and palms sprouting pearly spikes. Sydney could easily take care of that one. But any other person and they'd be screwed. Tessandra silently thanked her lucky stars for Sydney's presence. The pastel green was a Mirrorlie, a visible spirit, but also a shapeshifter, able to take on any living form in appearance, and once close enough would spray acid. Science could take of that, though Tessandra doubted they had any alkali products with them. Fire might work. Fire usually worked with a lot of demons.

As Tessandra zig zagged back to her body, she had an idea. Alcohol. Alcohol plus match equals fire. Fire plus Mirrorlie equals bye bye ghostie. The last one though... that orange... what was it?

Tess didn't have to think any further. Loud swearing erupted from Adrian and Henry, and she adjusted her field of vision to show form better than colour. Whatever it was, it was big. No magic came from it. It was pure force.

"Yeah I'd say saving ammo for when you need it was a good suggestion Henry," she said, shouting over the roar of action, "Because it's gonna take a helluva lot of lead to bring that f***** down,".

Tessandra stood, trembling, useless. The Whisper. Where could the Whisper be? How could they fight it? Whispers could consume a hundred units of energy before overloading, and drawing energy from them was impossible. It just didn't work. This was one of the reasons Tessandra thought it wasn't a real spirit. A human life, at maximum a small child's life, was about one unit. The Whisper she had seen had been about forty units, forty times brighter than a human signature. The fact was, they didn't have sixty people to sacrifice, and the Whisper was being controlled, not moving along one line of the Grid.

Human energy was non-renewable. Even if they had had enough, they'd die either way. Energy, any energy would work. But Tessandra only had about 15 Energy Balls, which were about a millionth of a unit each.

Sydney needed to deal with the Blood-feeder... The others needed to be warned of the Mirrorlie, and they needed all the metal they could get to take down the big dragony thing...

Suddenly she sprung into action. "Adrian, we need fire. There's a Mirrorlie and we need to burn it BEFORE it hits the blood barrier, otherwise the gargoyles will get through easy. We need to warn the others there's a Mirrorlie otherwise they'll think it's one of us. Henry, use whichever weapon you don't need for bringing down the big demon to kill the rest of the gargoyles. Sydney will probably see the Blood-feeder, she should have enough time to get it. As for the Whisper, well... I don't think Sydney can conjure sixty units... not with so much energy already spent. Alchemy... Alchemy..."

She was muttering to herself now. E=mc squared. Energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. Mass into energy... Her own thoughts came back to her; "Energy, any energy would work.".

"We need a bang," Tess said, suddenly calm, "A big, big bang."

And then, just like that... BOOM. An invisible wave rolled over them, making people stagger. Invisible to all but Tessandra, whose Weave eye was momentarily blinded by the burst of searing energy. The gargoyles had hit the Blood-barrier, the Whisper within their ranks, feeding on Sydney's barrier. About five gargoyles got through, the mirrorlie, in it's natural form small and sickly green, falling into a limp mess, while the Blood-feeder let out a piercing screech and lurched towards Sydney's location, it's black eyes wide. The massive dragon demon landed with a resonating thud, and flexed, eying it's prey. Then, suddenly, Tessandra realised something.

"The Whisper! I can see the Whisper! It has enough energy to be bright at the distance it is. Any closer though and I'll lose it. But I can see it roughly. I reckon it's got about 80 units." Tessandra swore under her breath, in sheer surprise. Sydney must have poured upwards of fifty units of Energy into that barrier. Whatever she was, she was strong. A bit more hope kindled in Tessandra's heart, and she grinned.

"Alright, you two, concentrate on the big thing. I need to find Phoenix...". And with that she ran down stairs, blindfolded, hand on the banister, Energy Balls in her utility belt, throwing one whenever she needed to. "Phoenix?!" she yelled, looking for his signature, "Phoenix!".

She hoped he knew where to find another 20 units from. Sydney's signature was flickering ominously. Tessandra hoped she could deal with the Blood-feeder. Where was everyone? Tessandra was blind, the grid expanding and shrinking, still reeling from the aftershock of the exploding Blood barrier. She needed to focus.

"Who the fuck are ye to know me name?"

The man spoke with a aggravated tone of voice, visibly annoyed by Phoenix's presence. Without giving him the time to reply, the Russian turned around cursing in his native language, unaware that Phoenix could understand him. He reached for one of his grenades, before throwing it towards the chopper, and in the blink of an eye, a mass of flames erupted, like a awakened volcano, igniting the torrents of fuel which were slowly impregnating in to the dried earth. The helicopter disappeared in a couple of seconds, the fire engulfing it like a hungry beast. If he had any doubts before, he had no more now. What Vorusko had just did was standard protocol, and only a soldier would know such things.

Shifting around, the man began running towards the building he pointed out to the others earlier, unlocking the heavy door which allowed access inside. With a screech provoked by the rusty metal, he sealed it shut after the last member entered the premises.

"And I want me fuckin' name tag back too.", though at his last sentence, no reply was given. He could hear them, the enraged beasts, the merciless fiends, marching towards them. One by one, like birds released from captivity, bullets whizzed, setting flight towards the air, embedding themselves in the bodies of several Gargoyles, causing them to collapse on the street.

Even through all the noise, he could still hear the Russian curse in his native tongue: "What is this? A fuckin' handicap convention?"

Seeing as the alcohol still kept it's presence in the man's head, he decided to shed some light on the soldier. Speaking in his language, he said:

"Vorusko you poor excuse for a soldier. It's me God damn it, have four years been so cruel on you ? Phoenix is who I am. old friend, you seem to have forgotten much more than me. At least you still know basic soldier protocol, that's the least you could remember." said the man, smiling in a it's-good-to-see-you-again way.

"And this is my team, you can get acquainted later. Even though some of them do not show it, they are all professionals. I have been promoted Squadron leader, as you can see, this is Silence's main team. I trust all of them, with my life, except that new blood which i did not get the chance to study closely, but i am guessing this battle will do. Shut your mouth and start aiding us, this is going to be one hell of a ride."

Even though he wanted to say one more thing, Tesandra came down the stairs, doing the best she could to keep herself standing. Quickly, he noticed the blindfold was on, which meant they were deeper in than he expected.

"Phoenix !" echoed her voice through the stairway. "Phoenix !"

He grabbed her hand in to his, squeezing it tightly, in order to let her know everything was all-right. He pulled her down the stairs, making sure she did not trip or fall, and said:

"I know it's coming closer, i cannot feel it, i cannot see it or hear it, but I know. If i am still correct, the only way to obliterate these annoying parasites is to overcharge them. Give me Energy Balls you have." He took them with care, counting the beautiful objects one by one as she placed them in to his hands, while the woman informed him of the amount of energy units required.

"I have never tried to use my ability to create 20 units of Energy, it is *the man shrugged* a high amount, even for one with so much training as me. My powers draw upon the energy surrounding me, from the air i breath to my own being. Though.. i cannot see *the man tried to hold his cam with stoicism*.. I will do my best, Tessandra. I want you to take Vorusko with you, he will take you up the stairway and will assist with everything he can. Tell the others to protect the roof ! I will be heading up there, it is crucially important that no being disturbs me while i am focusing."

Having ended his sentence, the man left the woman and his old friend behind, quickly darting towards the roof. His right hand rose to his neck, taking the silver cross away, wrapping it's chain around his right palm, leaving it to hand some-what loosely. Reaching the roof, he smashed his way through a locked door, and in a few seconds, his eyes were gazing once more upon the glorious Sun, it's light shinning down on his entire being.

Closing his eyes he united his hands, just as if praying, slowly starting to utter words in a strange language. As each word was released, invisible waves of energy rippled through the air, one after another, one after another, his energy level rising constantly. His hands were shaking, his throat was dry, adrenaline rushing through his veins. Without opening his eyes, the man used all the breathe he could muster, releasing a loud yell:

"NOVA ! I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHEN THE WHISPER IS CLOSE, AND WHERE IT IS COMING FROM !" \

And with that, he released another wave of energy, greater in power than any of the previous ones. he was trying to draw it to him, to call it, as he knew that if he didn't draw the Whisper's attention, it would go for the first person it sees. Hopefully, a higher level of energy would be of greater appeal to it.

"Come on you bitch, come on." thought the man to himself, squeezing his hands together, his entire body and mind focused on the task at will, the amount of both telekinetic and normal energy released by him being quite large now, causing the small debris on the roof to lift from the ground around him, just as if they were flying with a mind of their own.

"Are you ready to be sent back to hell ?"

Sydney took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to the roof. The energy pouring from up there was staggering and she fought against the urge to start using and twisting that energy. Wait.... she thought to herself and closed her eyes. Focusing her own energy, she took several deep breaths and let it bleed into the flowing energy. She didn't know what the man was doing, but she figured he could use the extra energy.

She opened her eyes and moved to a place where she could easily hide and sat down, cross-legged. She continued to take several deep breaths, letting each one out slowly, and let her energy merge with the focus of a true blood ritualist. A warm trickle flowed at both her wrists, adding a boost of energy.

Focus... don't let yourself be drawn away by the shots.... they are protecting everyone... her mind crooned softly as she felt her concentration slipping away. He'll appreciate the extra boosts.

Sydeny's eyes flew open as she gasped for air, feeling her barrier be destroyed. "NO!" she gasped out and quickly set to strengthening the parlor tricks, ripping away the bandages she had used to wrap her wounded wrists. The blood still flowed, adding to the energy gathering up on the roof. She divided the flow swiftly and went to her knees, pressing her wrists into the dirt and grim of the street.

"Goddess, protect us I ask thee," she whispered softly and wove a complex barrier around the building.

Nova narrowed her eyes against the constant barage of sound. She had positioned herself on a window sill, hanging halfway out of it. Her name, floated up the stairs and added to the mayhem. "NOVA! I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHEN THE WHSPER IS CLOSE AND FROM WHAT DIRECTION ITS COMING!" She stood imediately, pressing her hands to her temples.

"Shouting is not necessary," she murmured as she slipped down the stairs, crossly, though her voice was just as soft and without inflection. She stopped in the doorway of the room, taking in Pheonix, his body taut with strain, still in the center of the room. She nodded to Tessandra (though later it would occur to her that she had been blindfolded) and then darted in even more quickly, stopping at the point furthest from any windows, from the stairs, to the spot she deemed purest of earthly sound.

It sometimes seemed as if the Silence understood her gift more than she did. It had been them who trained her to hone it, them who taught her to block the everyday speakings of the supernatural, before she went even more insane. Nova dropped to her knees, pressing her palms to the floor and concentrated on losing touch completely with this physical, rational, unknown world. She had lived, in ways, among the supernatural, much longer than among mortals. She knew their ticks, the songs they sang, the proper way to adress them, the insults that they killed each other for. Hearing them had almost nothing to do with her ears. It was spiritual. It was mental.

She flinched as Pheonix's energy buffetted against her, a momentary roar that she quickly adjusted to. Seeking with her mind, she skipped lightly over the snarling gargoyles, skirted around the enigmatic mumblings of the Mirrorlie, leaving behind the deep gloating of the dragon.... There! Barely within the range of her hearing were the low, hungry notes.

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"The Whisper has locked onto the energy here. It comes."