[quote]Her body lurched back as her eyes widened at the familiar sensation of falling. There was a hole at the top of the bell tower that opened up to a spiraling staircase that lead down the length of the tower. Time seemed to slow as she fell, weightless. Another arrow went whizzing above her. The great brass bells glinted in the evening sun, along with… the bird?

She only had half a moment to stare at it, stunned and confused. Then Meryn went tumbling down the bell tower's stairs. [/quote]

The spiral staircase seemed to spin rapidly around her while the clouded daylight shrank far above. The floor rushed up at her, and she might glimpse the lines of a sigil etched into the stone before a gust of wind surged and spun out of the darkness below, twisting around her with enormous power. The wind slowed her fall, turned her upright, and set her feet down carefully in the middle of the sigil before it dissipated. She would feel a little lightheaded, drained of energy. The sigil had been powered by her own will to live, after all.

[b]"Who's there?"[/b] An old man was standing between Meryn and the only open door, a book clutched in his bony hands, wielded like a bludgeon. He was a thin, crochety looking fellow, with a hunch in his back, a bald head and comically furry eyebrows. He wore a threadbare housecoat over his faded pajamas, and his slippers had been worn to the heel.

The room at the bottom of the bell tower was round and clean and filled with shelves of books. There were ancient tomes and new paperbacks, pamphlets and maps and binders full of drawings. Though all of it was in an array of sizes and materials and degrees of wear, no library could have been more excellently maintained.

The old man's sharp eyes studied Meryn a moment before they went wide -- and he scowled with a deep jowly frown. [b]"What you doin' with Spook's mask?"[/b] After another moment his eyes widened one more time in realization. [b]"Don't you tell me he's kicked off."[/b] He lowered the book slowly, confusion and regret lining his old face.

Through the eyes of the mask, the old man's dreams were like the old scuffed books on the shelf: gray and deep blue, etched with old tired frustration and a long, eventful life.

[hr][quote]"What the hell is that! Why are ya like those beasts?" Ronken backed further into the alley and away from Switch, fists raised and ready to defend.

"Get away from me!" He yelled. "I've had enough magic, crystal shit, and stupid letters! Get AWAY!" [/quote]

Switch stood with her weight on one leg, hands in her cloak pockets. [b]"Okay,"[/b] she said with a nonchalant shrug, grinning. [b]"You're you, man, you be you, do whatever you want. The city's crumbling to the ground and everyone in it is about to die if they're not dead already. The food's poisoned, the water's poisoned, there's no one to call for help because the city's self-sustaining -- but hey, you're a big boy, you can make your way on your own. Just think, now you won't have to pay those thugs back."[/b]

With the same grin, she leaned back against the wall, keeping herself between Ronken and the only exit. She placed a cigarette between her lips, and -- after the click and bright cupped glow of a lighter -- exhaled a slow smoky breath.

[b]"Listen. Ronken, right?"[/b] She tilted her head at him. [b]"You're infected. I hate to break it to you, but eventually you're gonna look like me, so get used to it now. I gave you a pendant."[/b] She gestured at a string necklace that hung around his throat, threaded with a round reddish stone with a rune carved into it. [b]"It's slowing down the spread of the Crystalline. Don't take it off. Again,"[/b] she took another puff of the cigarette, [b]"you're welcome."[/b] A small smile crossed her thin face. [b]"There's stuff that people like us are pretty good at. You can say we walk the edge between dreams and reality. I brought you back 'cause I think you're capable of a lot more than you like to let on."[/b]

She took out the box of cigarettes and held it out to him, grinning.

[hr][quote]Feela came to a stop and shook her head violently, the bone shards on her necklace jangling loudly, it must have come untucked while she ran. She squashed that tiny, furious voice in her head and looked around again, trying to pick up some kind of trail.[/quote]

A burst of hot steam hissed out of a broken pipe and billowed into the darkened road. A rat darted into an alley where a woman's corpse was sprawled. Vacant windows gaped lifelessly. A robot sat broken on the street corner, creaking as it raised and lowered its arm brokenly. At the other end of the street, a house burned; black smoke blanketed the sun.

There were traces of demon-soot everywhere -- Feela's quarry had certainly died here, but the corpses had gone.

Footsteps rushed down the adjoining street ahead. A small boy with black hair, a wool jacket and a gas-mask ran full-tilt into the crossroads, where he skidded and turned around, breathing heavily. He spotted Feela and stopped, stunned by her strange appearance.

[b]"What are you doing?"[/b] he called urgently, his voice muffled by the mask. He beckoned to her with a hand. [b]"Come on! We have to get to the shelter! You'll miss out on the rations! Have you seen anyone else?"[/b]