You want to hear more?...The Story of Gabriel and Michael?...~Sharp pain shoots through his body, clutching his side, he Smiles~...Some say old wounds never truly heal...I would have to agree with them....

I stood at the edge of the bayou...my wandering soul had lead me here...My eyes gazed out across the murky water, I felt for once at ease...I sighed at the beauty of it all, as if remembering...The long hours passed as I sat there, pondering the meaning of it all...

"Beware"....Suddenly I felt my heart freeze...I looked and there was no one to be found...Hesitantly, I smiled to myself...must have been the wind as it whispered through the trees...again, it called to me..."Beware, fallen one....They come for you"...I heard it clearer now...A young woman's voice called to me, from where I do not know... Her warning stern and solemn...Her words fell upon my ears...and I listened...

I stood, looked around again...as if I had expected someone to be there just in the shadows...there was no one...I reached to my side..."Judgement"...My Blade from the heavens...hung there...silently singing to me...Forged in the Heavenly fires above...it's keen edge had passed it's judgement many times before...It glowed there...and I knew...

Minutes passed...the quiet morning air whispered through the trees...Silence blanketed everything...

"Vachon, if that is what you call yourself now"...commanded a voice from the weeping willows nearby..."I know your true name, Betrayer...."...The voice seemed oh so familiar, as it mocked me...

"We know your name too,"...Called a harmony of voices from every direction..."Betrayer"...All the voices swam together in my head...but each was distinct and very familiar to me...Hallow laughter filled the stillness now...They all mocked me...

I felt the anger as it swelled within my breast...No one had ever mocked me so, except....."Gabriel" I whispered aloud...The name hissing between my teeth...My eyes now glowed with a Hellish green fire...Just as the name escaped my lips...He stepped from behind the willows...He had a smirk upon his face...Fury engulfed me...and, unknown to me,...My rigid, muscular body now glowed brightly as my eyes did..."Judgement" cried to me...

"Leave me, Gabriel" I stammered to him...as I tried to contain my rage..."Leave me be, I want no quarrel with you" My heart now pounded...My anger had never burned my soul, as it did then...Never had fury coursed through my soul, save on the battlefields of Heaven and Hell...I trembled with a resound hatred...

"I will not" He retorted to me..."You are a Betrayer of Heaven, and you will be punished" His words stung my being...His smile again mocked me...He laughed aloud...and the chorus of voices joined...All laughed, save me...

"Michael"...I again whispered as if I questioned myself..."Michael"...I called, louder now...And He stepped from behind an old, dead sycamore...He laughed aloud at me...His Blade gleamed, in hand..."Michael, leave me be".........

Hardly had the words left my lips...when a tempest of wings and Blades assailed me from every direction..."Judgement" now screamed for release...and I granted it...My Blade sang as it sliced the cool, early morning air...It glowed furiously as it hewed the head off one of my attackers...I spun, dodged, and parried my way from the storm of blades...I reached out...and clutched something...feathers...I spun again as my captive's Blade bit into my upper right leg...I cried out, tearing Him to me...Fear took Him...He knew He was dead...I saw the look of horror in His eyes as I drew Him to me...my fangs bared...His wing snapped easily within my grasp...Never had I know I possessed such strength...I had never been tested, since my bringing across...He screamed a bloodcurdling screech...My heart now raced...I felt the Bloodlust as it overtook my being...I felt the Anger burning within...My soul ached for his blood...and blood I gave it...I sank my teeth deep into his neck....He screamed, bashed, and battered me with His arms, legs and one good wing...My grip, He could not break...I drank of Him, feeding off His life...I felt His blood as it poured into me...His struggle ended....

I laid his body down onto the earth...and rose again..."You have no idea what you've done, do you!!!", I bellowed at Gabriel....My voiced rolled as thunder would...It echoed in every ear for miles....My Anger did not subside, it doubled...I burned hot...My leg ached, but I paid no heed...His blood flowed through me...I tasted it on my lips...Gabriel stood aghast at what had just transpired...He knew I had been cast out...but no idea of what I had became...I saw it there for the first time...Fear...

"Demon," He spit as He charged...His blade drawn high over head...Michael too, joined the fray...I felt their anger, I felt their fear...I fed of it...The rest of the Angel's company stood frozen...Unwilling to engage this foe...I laughed at their cowardice....I bid them face me, as Gabriel's Blade crashed into mine...I mocked them all...Our Blades sang an eerie song as they scraped down one another...Sparks flew....and aura's burned White Hot...

We stood there....Blades locked...The burning from us...Our hatred of one another...Cast such a blinding light...All thought it was Day...I gazed into His eyes...smelt His Blood...heard His heartbeat....and I wanted Him...The frenzy again encompassed my soul...I felt it as it tore at me...urged me to take Him...I needed His blood...I lusted for it...He saw my Hunger then...He knew....Yet, He smiled...

Michael blindsided me...caught me off-guard...He bashed me with the hilt of His Blade...I crashed onto the ground...Blood gushed from the wound...Dazed, I regained my senses as Michael and Gabriel approached...the others still stood their ground...neither advancing, nor retreating...Both of their Blades slashed at me...I dodged Gabriel's...but Michael's found it's mark...It buried itself deep into my left shoulder....I cried out as the pain washed over me...I drove the Blade through me...clawing at him...My rage, flesh, soul burned...I felt the pain no more....Anger, hatred, frenzy were now all I was...I slammed Michael with such force...I heard the bones of his chest give way....and I threw him backwards into that sycamore from which he had came...The old tree splintered, shattered upon impact...and a shard pierced through His right shoulder...Blood...oh such blood, surged from that wound...

Gabriel cried out to His fallen comrade...I turned to Him....Crazed....Blood flowed from every wound...Michael's Blade still buried in my shoulder...I slowly pulled the Blade out...dropped it to the ground...Gabriel's shock, disbelief so evident on His face...He stood there dismayed...I launched myself into Him...threw Him off balance...All I could hear was His heart...and I wanted to end it's infernal beating...I slashed at Him with "Judgement"...the Blade bit into Him...His cry of pain was music to my ears...I relished in it...I wanted more...RAGE, FURY, HATRED...I drove into him again...He parried my blow to the side...and kicked me away long enough to regain His footing...We eyed each other...I charged...A high arc "Judgement" flew...Gabriel met my blow with equal force...His Blade shattered...fragments exploded throughout the clearing...My Blade sank deep into him....I saw the pale, deathly look on His face as we fell...I struggled to Him...straddled Him...looked deep into His eyes....and smiled...my fangs exposed...blood dripped from me...I bent over...Gently whispered in His ear....

"Good Knight, sweet Gabriel...."I rasped...and kissed Him upon the neck...My teeth now scraped his perfectly white flesh...A smile danced across my face...I had won...But, before I could taste the fruits of victory...the others intervened...they grabbed at me...pulled me away...

"NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!" I cried out....as if in pain...I tore myself from their grasp...grabbed the one to my right and practically tore his head from his body...His neck collapsed...head flopped backwards, lifeless....I staggered towards the others...They scattered...I turned back to Gabriel...He now stood...Amazed was I...He held in His hand....my Blade..."Judgement"...and He plunged it into me...I felt my own Blade tear my flesh, it sank to the hilt in my right side....I staggered again...and collapsed...as did He...I laid there, and expected to die...fully aware...I clutched at my Blade....and painfully pulled it from me...I laid there and felt the blood pour from me...

The others, fearful I would again rise...hurriedly gathered Michael and Gabriel...and took flight...leaving me there....to die they thought, as did I...

I crawled into a small "tomb" of rocks...to hide myself from the approaching dawn...and laid there, in pain...wishing death would take me in her gentle grasp...I drifted into unconsciousness....I dreamt of an Angel, that day...a beautiful creature...She beckoned to me...and I came to her...and fell into Her waiting arms..."Death," I thought, "if this be you...take me"...I felt her loving touch, this Angel of Mercy...She held me, as I laid there...helpless...My head rested in her lap, I could feel Her watching me...Loving me...So content was I...I cared not if I should ever wake up...But I did...

I awoke the next night, much to my surprise...my wounds no longer bled...I felt the pain as it coursed through my body...Burned, my wounds did...especially, the final I had received from Gabriel...Weakness held me...I laid there, trembling...afraid I might not die...Just lay there for eternity...unable to do a thing...But I felt it deep inside me...utter hatred...revenge surged...I wanted one thing...and that was to see Gabriel die, at my hands...I felt the Hunger there...It ravaged my soul...Blood, Revenge...I needed them both...I began to move...my arms at first...then the rest of me...Something inside had snapped, I felt driven...I eased myself up onto my knees...and let out a terrible cry...My howl of pain rang out across that bayou...Each breath a labor...I raised to my feet...and stood looking upward...Silently cursing them all...

"I Live...."I challenged, " Come, and die with me"...My voice carried throughout the heavens...and I thought, maybe due to feverish circumstances under which I stood, that I had seen the very Gates of Heaven...Tremble at my challenge...I heard Discontent there...Fear...Loathing...I smiled to myself, despite the pain raging through me...My wings, black, leathery ancient, miraculously had not been injured in the fray...I spread them wide...encompassing much of the clearing...Slowly, I moved to "Judgement"...which laid there, silent...I held my Blade again...

The gust from my wings cascaded through the underbrush...My body practically broken...Bloodstained and ragged was I...Yet, as the wind raised me into the night sky, I looked magnificent...An Angel, again...Dark and foreboding, but an Angel none the less...I sailed into the black of night, I watched the clearing slowly shrink away...The shattered remnants of Gabriel's Blade shown like stars..."Come to me"...That voice...That irresistible young woman's voice called out...I heard it clearly now...I soared high into the night, and followed that voice...I needed to know the One, who stood by me in spirit...who warned me of certain peril...I would find Her...I had to...