"No, thank you so much. You saved me!" She leaps into Delacroix's arms, wrapping her self around, "thank you!" As she pulls away from the elf Delacroix feels... stronger. As if he has regained some of his lost will.

The girl runs of, skipping through the woods, with nary a wave back.

The landscape begins to fade. At first it is as if it is simply getting dark, then things begin to become translucent and finally disappear altogether.

Delacroix walks to keep up with the girl. "Where are we going?"

The girl turns to answer you , but she vanishes like the rest of the landscape.

The guardian appears again.

"Well done Elf, you have cleansed some of the evil from your body by not letting the girl die. The next test will not be as easy."

He waves his hand and the blackness turns into a bright flare. As it fades Delacroix finds himself on top of a tall tower. The horizon is filled with smoke as is the city below him. It looks like Portland but he can't be sure, since most of the building are burning. Screams float up along the wind, along with the crys of anguish.

The tower is an old building of some sort, is is 20 stories tall and has been burned out so that all is left is the metal frame work.

Delacroix walks down the towers steps. Cautiously and intently.

He reaches the bottom and gazes out on what has become of Portland. A ruined mess. What isn't currently in flames has already been burned to the ground. The remains of aircraft are haphazerdly strewn about. Though things look different...

The flapping of leathery wings catches the elfs attention. A massive humanoid shape descends out of the air, a hundred feet in front of him. It has red skin, horns, and large wings, it looks like the devil himself.

A horror.

Delacroix backs away from the wreched beast, preping himself to sling a spell if needed.

The creature snorts, and flames leap out of it's nostrils.

"I smell meat," it's voice rumbles like rocks rolling down a hill. The creature turns toward Delacroix. It takes a few steps and stops. Reaching down with one massive hand it grabs a car and tosses it into a near by building.

"Aha!." Cowering under the car is a small child. It's soot covered face is streaked in tears.

Delacroix yells to grab the attention of the child. "Child! Come to me!" Delacroix kneels waiting with arms wide open.

The deoman laugh as Delacroix trys to get the child to move. The boy runs as fast as he can toward the elf.

The demon roars, sending a shockwave of energy out infront of him. The child is lefted of his feet and thrown passed the wating elf. The beast charges forward. Massive feet leaving burning craters in the ground.

The creature roars defiantly as the spell rips into him. The child manages to struggle behind the defending elf,and continue to run away.

The demon approaches, barely fazed by the deadly spell.

"You have much to learn little one, I shall enjoy feasting on your soul."

The Demon approached the cursed elf with a snarl that turned into a smile.

”You are doomed little one”.

Magic flowed of the demon like rain off a roof. Nothing Delacroix could hope to do would affect it in the least while. But the child has escaped. The child would be free. In a distant dark part of the elf’s mind something broke free. A deep seething self loathing pulled itself free form his soul and departed into parts unknown. That was a heartbeat before the demon struck.

Pain and agony lanced through Delacroix’s body. The twin curses ripped his flesh from his bones and tore out his still beating heart. The elf collapsed into the cold embrace of death. But a smile crossed his face. He had saved two lives, and maybe his soul.

“Delacroix…”

Darkness.

“Delacroix were there.”

A sharp light pierces the elves mind. Along with the Riggers cold, electronic voice.

“Delacroix, were here. Time to go.”

The mage opened his eyes. The sun shown through the cabin door and splashed across his face. For the first time in over a year, the caress of sunshine was not painful, but pleasant. The curse was gone. Confusion reined in his mind. The sun had been an enemy for so long, now it was a friend again.

The private school the three men dropped the girl of looked picturesque. It sat on a grassy hill just outside of Sacramento. Tree’s, paths, and shrubbery dotted the landscape. Sever children played near the main building, happy squeals of delight echoed through the air.

Miri’s earlier fear has seemed to vanish along with Delacroix’s dark shadow.

The headmaster approached the vehicle cautiously, moving as if he was perfectly aware of what the vehicle was capable of.

“Greetings, I am the headmaster, I presume you are here with Miri?”

Grendel’s affirmative echoed from the vehicles outside speakers.

”May I see the girl?”

Miri was torn, her hand rested on Grendel’s shoulder. She seemed eager to go play with the children, but unwilling to leave the big elf’s side.

Grendel jacked out and looked at the girl.

“You need to learn to make better decisions girl. Go. This is the life for you. Not mine.”

The girls lower lip trembled, but she held strong. No tears fell. She squeezed Grendel’s shoulder and then took a few steps toward the door. She turned back and looked at the Rigger.

“I’ll miss you.” She said.

She then ran outside, and into the sunshine.

Watching the package leave, Grendel takes the opportunity to down the last of his 3LIT3 RUSH soda before fishing another can out of the cooler. He glances over at Delacroix.

"If you need to use the facilities, now's your chance. Next stop is San Francisco. I'm going to call Zoe. Oh, and burn those drawings."

Suiting actions to words, the slim rigger turns away from the sunlit hillside, dropping back into the network and accessing the comm control interface. He waits patiently as the software completes is authentication protocols.

Zoe. We've completed the initial transfer and are continuing. ETA eleven hours.