EL-HAZARD : MORTAL ENGINES

                        by Alan Harnum

                 Chapter Five - A Sea Symphony
           
El-Hazard is a copyright of AIC/Pioneer LDC.  This story, 
however, belongs to me, and I request that you don't publicly
post or archive it without my permission.  

Commentary much appreciated.

* * *

     Shayla was confused for a moment when Nanami began insisting
that her brother was passing through Balam's harbour in a boat
full of Bugrom, but quickly put it together as they rushed down
the steps towards the docks.  

     "Which boat, Nanami?" she asked.
          
     "The one full of Bugrom!" Nanami snapped as they ran to the
edge of the closest pier, nearly knocking a fisherman over.  
Makoto was lagging behind, weighted down with the Power-Key
Staff.
     
     "I can't see anything.  Must be the Phantom Tribe."
     
     "That one.  Next to the one with the red flag and the twin
masts."  Nanami pointed.  "My brother's on it."  Her face twisted
into a grimace.  "With that little Phantom Tribe worm."  

     "How big is it compared to the other boat?" 
     
     "Half the size."
     
     Shayla cursed.  What looked to her like a Dorusian merchant
ship appeared to be more than the twice the size of the 
red-flagged Gainosian cruiser.  Then she scooped up Nanami in her
arms and took a run towards the end of the pier.

     "Shayla, what are you doing!"
     
     "We're going to fry some bugs," Shayla said, and leapt.  A
splash of flame licked the stone edge of the pier as her boots
left it, and they flew a good twenty feet to touch down on the
deck of a small pleasure boat with another burst of fire.  "Stop
screaming, Nanami, we're perfectly safe.  Are they still in the
same position relative to the other boat?"

     "They've pulled ahead about twenty feet."
     
     "Damn sneaky bastards."  The Dorusian ship didn't look to
have moved at all.  

     "What have you done to my boat?!?"
     
     "It's okay, I'm a priestess!"
     
     They left the boat owner trying to put out a small fire, and
landed atop the second tier of the Gainosian ship, near the 
pilot's wheel.  The young pilot stared at them in disbelief.

     "I am commandeering this ship in the holy name of Mount
Muldoon," Shayla snapped, putting Nanami on her feet.  Back on 
the pier, Makoto was staring at them, mouth hanging open.

     "Follow that ship!" Nanami ordered the extremely confused
pilot.

     "Umm... I'll have to ask the captain..."
     
     Shayla clenched her fist, which burst into flickering, rose-
coloured flames.  "Do what she says."

     The pilot gulped.  "What ship?"
     
     Shayla blinked.  The merchant ship was gone.
     
     "It's directly ahead of us," Nanami said.  "Maybe fifty 
feet."

     The pilot protested.  "There's nothing there!"
     
     Shayla pulled the Lamp of Fire from its sheath on her leg.
"Just make the ship move faster, idiot."
     
     The pilot gulped and moved the crystal-topped lever next to
the steering wheel up two notches.  The boat began to surge
forward through the water.
     
     "Shayla, what are you going to do?"
     
     "I'm going to leave dear little Nahato too occupied to throw
his illusions," Shayla replied.  She yanked the ripcord; sparks 
flew.  Power exploded through her body.  A manic grin came onto 
her face for a moment as the intense, almost sexual pleasure, hit
her.  Chains of fire leapt from the gems of her uniform, 
surrounding her in a web of light.

     She pulled back her arm, and hurled a carefully-shaped blast
that hit the water fifty feet ahead in an explosion of steam.

     "They've moved about ten feet to the left now," Nanami said.
     
     "Thank you for informing me _now_!" Shayla yelled, turning
and retargeting what appeared to be an empty stretch of water.
"There's nothing in the way, is there?"

     "No."
     
     "Good."
     
     Suddenly, a serpentine neck, thick as a tree, burst from the
water in front of the ship.  Atop it, a monstrous, scaly head
snapped blood-drenched jaws.  The pilot screamed and pulled the
wheel frantically to the left.  Shayla's blast went through the
monster, and it dissolved into nothing.  A mist, black as the
night itself, began to rise from the water, making any attempt to
see futile.

     "Nanami, did I hit them?"
     
     "No.  They're to the right now!"
     
     "Shit!  I can't see a damn thing!  Damn sneaky blue-skinned
bastards!"

     An impact shuddered the cruiser, and Shayla was nearly
knocked off her feet.  Nanami did fall, and Shayla had to grab 
her arm to keep her from tumbling down the short flight of steps
leading down to the main deck.  The mist dissolved, revealing
that they had crashed into the high, spiked wall that divided
the downstream traffic from the upstream traffic.

     "We're sinking!" the pilot cried.  "The captain is going to
kill me!  This is all your fault!"

     "Nanami, can we still catch them?"
     
     Nanami shook her head.  "They pulled in front of a bunch of
other boats.  They'll be out of the harbour and out to sea by 
now.  I'm sorry, Shayla."

     "Damn it!" Shayla pounded her fist on the railing of the
boat.  

     "Hey, are you listening to me?  What am I going to tell the
captain--"

     "Shut up."
     
     "Uh... Shayla, the boat _is_ sinking."
     
     "Not any more, it isn't."  Afura touched down lightly on the
deck, in a gust of wind that ran over Shayla like a caress.  "Miz
is holding it up with her power."

     "If you'd been here, Afura, we could have caught them,"
Shayla muttered.

     "But I wasn't, and we didn't," Afura said with a sigh.  
"Let's get back to the others and figure out what we're going to
do."

     "It wasn't Nahato."
     
     "Hmm?"  Both Afura and Shayla turned to look at the younger
girl.

     "It wasn't Nahato," she said again.  "He was on the boat,
but there was another one, up on the back, throwing the 
illusions.  Tall, in a cloak with a hood.  They had a staff.  It
looked..."

     "Looked like what?"
     
     "Like Ifurita's.  Or a similiar design."
     
     "Oh, shit," Shayla said.
     
* * *

     Fatora brought her hands down on the marble top of the 
podium with a resounding crash.  "I don't _care_ how depleted 
your navy is, we need a fleet of ships and we need it 
immediately."

     The Speaker of the Senate replied, "Princess Fatora, a 
committee study has determined..."
     
     "To hell with your committees!  Don't you understand 
anything?  The leaders of the Bugrom sailed down the middle of
your harbour and are currently in the Sea of Tears!  The longer
it takes for you to give us what we need, the less our chance of
catching them will be.  We've already delayed enough, merely
because you required an explanation as to why the honoured
priestess from Muldoon set a ship on fire, sank another, and 
damaged part of the harbour in her valiant attempt to stop them."

     A thickly-bearded senator stood up from his seat on one of
the tiered benches in the Senate House and spoke.  "Princess
Fatora, what if this is merely the prelude to another Bugrom
attack?  They could be trying to split our forces."

     "Split our forces by using their Queen and their General as
decoys?" Fatora scoffed.  "Even the bugs aren't that stupid."

     "So that woman I saw on the boat was Queen Deva?" Nanami
whispered to Afura, from where they sat in the visitor's gallery.

     "Undoubtedly," Afura replied quietly.  "Though I still
wonder who the one in the cloak was..."

     A female senator in a rich golden robe stood.  "Honoured
princess, we cannot spare any significant number of boats; the
risk is too great.  If they are in the Sea of Tears, they can 
hide from even a full fleet for a long time.  Especially if, as
you say, they are allied with the Phantom Tribe."

     "Fatora's a tough negotiator," Makoto murmured.
     
     Next to him, Alielle nodded enthusiastically.  "My Fatora's
a wonderful speaker."

     Fatora sighed heavily and hung her head.  "How many boats
can you spare, then?"

     "Perhaps a half-dozen small cruisers with crew," the Speaker 
said.  "They are lightly armed, but fast and maneuverable."

     "I am aware of the efficacy of Gannan's navy," Fatora said
with a smile.  "In fact, I wrote a paper on it during my studies
at the Roshtarian Academy.  If it truly is all that you can 
spare, I am still most grateful."
     
     "She's good," Fujisawa muttered.  "All sweetness when she
needs to be."

     "I think being a princess must be rather like being a
priestess," Miz said softly.  She touched the back of his hand.
"There are certain roles you have to play."

     A tall, middle-aged man in an elegant crimson uniform stood
up from his seat.  "As commander of Gannan's navy, I would say
that we can spare at least ten small cruisers and one larger 
cruiser to the Princess's cause."

     The Speaker, who did not look entirely happy at the other
man's words, nodded his head.  "Very well."

     Shayla smiled, almost ferally, and clenched her fist.  
"You're not going to get away from me this time."

* * *

     "That was very close," Deva said, as Balam retreated into 
the distance and they entered the Sea of Tears.  The coastline
retreated, and soon they were on the open sea.

     Jinnai took his comb from his pocket and reordered his hair.
"We were never in any danger."  He turned to where the Bugrom
cowered near the cabin.  "A lot of use you were," he sneered.
"Thankfully, I have a few _competent_ servants."

     He looked up to the top of the boat's small cabin, where the
angels had perched in flaming glory as they fled the harbour,
shielding the boat from sight with their wings.  They were 
invisible again, now, but he could feel their presence, like a
vaguely sweet scent on the edge of his senses.  

     What vexed him was just how Nanami had managed to spot him.
He'd been puzzling over it since she first pointed them out in 
the harbour.

     The Bugrom nervously approached him and offered their
apologies.  He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and went to
stand by the prow of the boat, so that he could stare out at the
waves.

     Deva came to stand behind him, a tiny frown upon her face.
"Where are we going, Katsuhiko?"
     
     "Wherever God sends us," he replied.  "We sail straight as
we can.  That's what I saw."

     The frown grew, slightly.  "Do you truly trust in this,
Katsuhiko?"

     "I do," Jinnai answered, with almost manic fervour.  A
cresting wave rocked the boat slightly, and Jinnai gripped the
railing to steady himself.  "Trust in Him, Deva.  Be not afraid."

     Deva said nothing, only glanced back over her shoulder, her
eyes narrowed.  

     Far out in the distance, Jinnai saw something moving through
the waves, leaping and twisting with their movements.  A dolphin,
perhaps, or some other sort of marine animal.

     He snapped his fingers.  "That's it!"
     
     Deva blinked.  "What is?"
     
     "I figured out why Nanami could see us," Jinnai explained.
"The angels are hiding us from our enemies.  But Nanami, 
traitorous as she may be, is still my flesh and blood--they 
didn't recognize her as my foe."

     Deva shrugged.  "I suppose that is as likely an explanation
as any."  She looked back again over her shoulder.

     "Why do you keep doing that?"
     
     It took her a moment longer than it should have for her to
respond.  "I am worried that they are pursuing us."

     Jinnai snorted.  "We have a good lead."
     
     "A Gannanian ship can overtake us," Deva said.  "Especially
one of the smaller ones."

     "They can't catch us if they can't find us," Jinnai said 
with a grin.  He stared up at the sky, filled with fluffy clouds
and the bright radiance of the sun; even the weather portended 
victory for him.

     "What is that?"  Deva pointed straight ahead.
     
     "Well, I'll be damned," Jinnai muttered.  "It's not a
dolphin."

     Deva's eyes were wide.  "How can anything move that fast in
that water..."

     It was too fast for the eye to register any detail beyond
the human shape of it.  Whatever it was, it moved through the
water like a spear, not riding the waves so much as simply
cutting through them.  The wake it left on either side seemed far
too large for such a small object.

     A hundred feet.  Fifty, in the time it took Jinnai to blink
and try to focus upon what it was.  And then it was upon them.  
It landed on the deck in a single smooth leap, and made no sound
as it hit.

     Sea water streamed off it and puddled on the deck.  Jinnai
realized he was holding his breath.  No one aboard the boat moved
except the Demon-God.  There was nothing else it could be.

     It stepped towards him.  The skin of it was very pale, and
had green tinge to it.  It wore no clothing beyond a pair of
trousers the colour of ancient jade.  Sea-green hair fell in a
wild tangle about its face, barely constrained by a seven-pointed
crown upon its brow.  One hand was human in shape, but had no
false covering of skin, and shone like molten silver in the sun.
That hand held a seven-pointed trident with a fist-sized green
sphere directly below the head.  The other hand was merely a
foot-long spike constructed of overlapping pieces of metal.

     "Who are you?" Jinnai asked.  He was not afraid.  "Name
yourself."

     The Demon-God had no face, merely a blank expanse, the same
smooth silver colour as its hand.  In the mirror of that face,
his own features looked back at him, distorted almost beyond all
recognition.

     It had no face, and yet it spoke.  "My name is Lethiaphan."
     
     And it cast the trident at his feet.  The weapon hit the
deck with a clear, ringing tone.  

     Deva and the Bugrom seemed frozen as though in ice.  Jinnai
knelt and picked up the trident.  It was cold and damp.  "And why
have you come?"

     "To serve you, master."  The voice was as emotionless as
that of a computer, without any tone or inflection.  The Demon-
God turned, and with its silver hand lifted the sea-green hair
away, revealing the connecting socket at the base of its neck.

     "Mister Jinnai..." Deva began.
     
     "Silence!" Jinnai snapped.  He positioned the three long 
pins at the base of the trident and jammed it home.  Lethiaphan
snapped rigid as a statue.

     Once, twice, three times, he turned.  There was no lightning
as there had been with Ifurita, merely a numbing cold that flowed 
up his arms and through his entire body.

     He laughed, and pulled the trident free.  Lethiaphan turned
and held out its open hand.  Almost reverently, Jinnai returned
the weapon to its owner.

     Deep within the mirrored face of the Demon-God, something
flashed dark and cold as the heart of the void.  Somehow, Jinnai
got the impression that it was smiling.

     "What do you wish?"  Lethiaphan asked, its voice as flat as 
it had been before.

     Jinnai pointed back towards Balam.  "We may be being pursued
by some foes."

     The Demon-God turned its head.  "There are eleven boats, 
moving in formation, following the rough path this vessel has
taken."

     Jinnai smiled.  "Makoto.  You would try to foil me, of
course."

     "If they are your foes, I shall destroy them."
     
     Still smiling, Jinnai nodded.  "My thoughts exactly.  
Destroy them all."
     
     Without another word, the Demon-God leapt over the side of
the boat.

     Jinnai threw back his head and laughed.  "You won't even
have a proper grave, Makoto!  A burial at sea is still more 
than you deserve, but it's what you're going to get!"

     "Katsuhiko," Deva said urgently.  "If Makoto is aboard those
boats, won't your sister also be?"

     The words sank in slowly.  His laughter died in time with 
it.  A coldness, beyond even that he'd felt when winding up 
Lethiaphan, settled down over his heart like a heavy weight.

     "Wait!" he screamed after the distant figure of Lethiaphan.
"Come back!  I want to change your orders!"

     But Lethiaphan was too far to hear him.  Or, if it heard, it 
did not obey.

     Jinnai ran to the stern of the boat, and raised his voice as
loud as he could.  "Stop!  I _command_ you!"

     The Demon-God was nearly lost to sight now.
     
     "STOP!"
     
     Gone...
     
     "Nanami..." he whispered.  "Why did you have to get in my
way?  Why did you have to ally yourself with my eternal foe?"
     
     "Katsuhiko, I..."
     
     He slapped Deva's hand away before it could fall upon his
shoulder.  "Turn the boat around!" he snapped to the Bugrom at
the wheel.  "Back the way we came!  Full power.  NOW!"

* * *

     Fatora put her hands on her hips and laughed.  "Not bad, 
huh?  I managed to get us the flagship of the Gannan navy with my
charm and beauty."

     "No, not bad," Makoto agreed, genuinely meaning it.  Seeing
Fatora meet with the Senate had changed his opinion of her; he
could now see how the two sisters, one calm and conciliatory, the
other aggressive and confrontational, might work well together as
rulers.
     
     "I'm impressed," Nanami said, looking to the left and right
at the smaller boats following them.  The formation of the force
was an arrowhead, with the schooner-like flagship, 'Godswind', as 
the point.  The Gannanian boats seemed to operate on a similiar
technology to the skimmers that had brought them to Balam, and
barely touched the water as they sailed over it.

     "I just want to get those blue bastards," Fatura muttered
darkly, clenching her fist.  "I remember that little one, Nahato,
from when they had me as their prisoner..."

     Alielle looked up at the princess with wide eyes.  "How did
you ever endure, Fatora?"

     Fatora smiled faintly.  "I thought only of returning to you,
dear Alielle."  As Alielle giggled, Fatora threw an annoyed look
over her shoulder.  "Helmsman!  Can't this vessel go any faster?"

     "I'm sorry, your majesty," the helmsman replied.  "We're
going as fast as we can."

     "Keep an eye out for their boat," Fatora said, turning to
Nanami.  "You're the only one who can see them."

     "I know that," Nanami muttered.
     
     Fatora ignored her and turned to stare at Ura.  "And what do
you think, kitty?"

     Ura leapt off the railing and hid behind Makoto's legs.
     
     "Ha!  Still can't face me because of your failure, can you?"
Fatora sneered.

     "Leave her alone, Fatora," Makoto said quietly.  His hands
tightened unconsciously on the Power-Key Staff.

     Nanami shaded her eyes with her hand and peered out into the
distant, empty ocean.  "I think I see... something.  It doesn't
look like a boat, though."

     Alielle stretched up on tip-toe and gripped the railing as
she leaned out over the edge.  "I think I see something too.  It
looks like..."

     "A fish, or something," Makoto said as he looked.  "Maybe a
shark.  It's dived under the water now."  A sudden, cold feeling
fell over him.  "Princess Fatora..."

     To the left of the Godswind, one of the smaller cutters 
exploded as a column of swirling water erupted from the sea and
ripped it in half.  Men screamed and dived overboard.  Even 
before the column hit its apex, it was splitting into dozens of 
spears that struck out at the men as they tried to swim to the 
safety of the other boats.  Those hit sank below the surface 
without a sound.
     
     "My God..." Makoto whispered.  
     
     To the right, another cutter abruptly stopped moving.  Then
a water column lifted it like a leaf caught in an updraft, turned
it over in mid-air, and sent it crashing down into the sea.  The
screams of the crew ended as though cut off with a blade.

     On the deck behind them, the voices of the sailors of the
Godswind rose, sounding slightly panicked.  

     "Under attack, assume defensive position."
     
     "Ready fore and aft weapons!"
     
     "Begin scanning for source of attack!"
     
     "What's going on, Makoto?" Nanami asked.
     
     On left, a series of muffled booms echoed.  A dozen
fountains of water exploded near the most distant lefthand boat.

     "They're firing on something," Fatora said.  "But what?"
     
     A silence seemed to fall upon the ocean.
     
     "Did they get it?" Alielle said softly.
     
     Ura meowed hesitantly, then leapt up onto Makoto and formed
herself into armour.

     The boat that had fired suddenly began to turn as though 
caught in a whirlpool.  It spun fully around three times, each 
rotation increasing in speed, and then was lifted out of the 
water and flung sideways into its neighbour.  The two boats hit 
with an immense crack, and a jagged split opened in the hull of 
the second vessel.  The one that had been flung, damaged and 
thrown off-balance, began to sink stern-first into the sea.

     "What is going on?" Fatora shouted.  "I demand to know what
is going on!"

     The ships began to turn, changing their formation in
preparation to defend against the unknown foe.

     "Makoto!"  Nanami seized his arm.  "What boat were Mr.
Fujisawa and Miz on?  Shayla and Afura?"

     "I don't know, Nanami," Makoto whispered.  "I don't know."
     
     A talon of water erupted from the water in front of the 
Godswind, and riding upon the point was a figure with skin like
pale jade.  One hand was a whirling circle of blades--no, a
propeller of some sort, with forks of electricty crackling along
the edges of the blades.

     "Not another one," Nanami wailed.  
     
     The Demon-God landed upon the top of the Godswind's 
figurehead, a grey-winged female angel holding a trident.  It
seemed new-born from the sea, without even a face yet, and it too
bore a trident.

     Fatora stared for a moment, and then turned and ran away,
screaming for the ship's crew to do something.  Alielle and 
Nanami slowly backed off.

     Makoto stood fast, holding the Power-Key Staff horizontally
in both hands.  Wrapped around his chest, Ura hissed and bared
her fangs at the Demon-God.

     "I thought I sensed another," the Demon-God said.  Though it
had no facial features, Makoto knew that it was looking at him.
"But I do not recognize you.  What is your name?"

     "My name is Makoto."
     
     "Makoto.  An unfamiliar name."  The emotionless tone somehow
made the Demon-God seem more menacing.  A fair number of the 
crew, most of them clutching some sort of weapon, had gathered on
the deck behind Makoto.  "I am Lethiaphan."
     
     The propeller-blades abruptly stopped spinning, and folded
in upon themselves, until the hand had become a wicked foot-long
spike.  Lethiaphan pointed the trident it held at Makoto.  Power
leapt and sang between the tines.  

     "I will kill you now."
     
* * *

     "Can't this damn thing go any faster?"
     
     "Not unless we drop some ballast over the side."
     
     Jinnai looked back at the half-dozen Bugrom on the boat.
"How well do they swim?"

     "Not very well," Deva shot back with a hint of anger.  "And
the Sea of Tears has some rather large predators in it."

     Light dazzled his eyes again, and the female angel stepped
out of thin air, wings folded against her back.  "Turn back, 
Katsuhiko Jinnai."

     Jinnai stood open-mouthed, unable to speak for a moment.  "I
have to change Lethiaphan's orders," he finally said, crossing
his arms.

     "God has chosen your path," the angel warned.  "Stray from 
it at your peril."
     
     "My sister is there!  I didn't think before I..."
     
     "Some are chosen to die for God," the angel said, without a
hint of mercy.

     Jinnai unfolded his arms and lifted a placating hand towards
the angel.  "But... it's not supposed to happen like..."

     "Who are you to say what is supposed to happen?" the angel
demanded.  "Are you God's servant, or God himself?"

     For the first time in as long as he could remember, Jinnai
was genuinely uncertain.  God had sent him on this path, and 
yet... Nanami.  But she had thrown her lot in with Makoto 
Mizuhara, his nemesis, his antithesis, the embodiment of 
everything he hated.  And the ally of his enemy was his enemy.

     Even if it was his little sister.
     
     "Turn the boat around," he whispered, hanging his head.
     
     "That is enough," Deva said sharply.  "This charade ends
now."     
     
     Jinnai looked up, eyes blazing and voice rising caustically.  
"I said turn the boat around."
     
     The angel smiled.
     
     Deva stepped forward, and seized it by the throat.  The
smile disappeared.  "Drop the illusions now, or I'll crush you
like an egg."

     "Queen Deva, what are you doing?"
     
     The twin circular markings in the centre of Deva's forehead
were glowing, and bulging slightly forward from her skin.  
Hundreds of facets, like those of a gem, or the eyes of a fly, 
gleamed upon them.  

     "These are no angels," Deva hissed.  "I have let it go this
far because it served our purposes, but I believe we may dispense
with them now."

     The angel began to laugh.  Slowly, it transformed from a
light, crystal-clear tone, to a grating cackle.

     "Very interesting," she said.  "I should have done my
research better.  So the Bugrom Queen is not so helpless as I
have heard said."

     "I am hardly helpless," Deva said drolly.  She raised her
free hand and seemed to point at something.  Lines of silver
thread, rather like the webbing of a spider, shot from her
fingertips and wrapped around, to Jinnai's eyes, empty air.

     No; not empty.  A small, blue-skinned child fell and hit the
deck, a knife dropping from his hands.  His arms were bound 
tightly to his sides.
     
     It all fell into place for Jinnai in a second.  For a 
moment, he stood frozen with rage.
     
     "Do you think I am a bloated queen, helpless by myself?" 
Deva snarled.  "I am the highest pinnacle of the Bugrom.  I can
kill now, or you can drop the illusion."

     The angel's beautiful features faded away into the wrinkled
blue-skinned face of an old woman.  Her white robes became a
hooded cloak of sable black, and her flaming spear ceased to burn
and became a metal staff topped by a grey stone.

     Jinnai walked over and kicked the bound child in the side.
Hard.  "Little sneak!  Deceiving me, the messenger of God?"  He
kicked him again; the child cried out, and looked at him with
venomous hatred.  

     "Leave the child alone," the old woman said quietly, in a
tone that marked her as one used to being obeyed.  "Perhaps we 
can still come to some arrangement."

     "You speak surprisingly confidently for a woman with my hand
around her throat," Deva said sardonically.  "Mr. Jinnai, what do
you think should be done with them?"

     "For deceiving God's messenger there can be but one 
penalty," Jinnai said solemnly.  The boat was still moving back
towards Balam--hopefully they'd get there in time to change
Lethiaphan's orders, but that was only on the edge of his mind
right now.  "Bind her arms and legs, and toss her and the boy
over the side, Queen Diva."

     Deva nodded grimly.  "An appropriate judgement, Mr. Jinnai."
     
     Jinnai stomped his foot down on the small of the boy's back.
"Don't try to get up, now."

     "Pathetic fool," the boy said, trying but failing to sound
unafraid.  "Our lord will feed upon your heart."

     "It's sad to see such hatred in eyes so young," Jinnai
commented with an exaggerated sigh.  "Take that staff off her,
Deva.  It looks interesting."

     Without any apparent effort, Deva wrested the staff from the
old woman and handed it to one of the attendant Bugrom.  Another
motion of her hand wrapped the old woman from throat to feet in
silvery webbing.

     "You make a great error," the woman said calmly.
     
     "I've made many errors," Deva replied.  "I just correct 
them."

     With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the bound old woman 
over the back of the boat.  She hit with a splash and sank like 
a stone.

     "Lemulla!" the boy screamed.  "You bitch, you bitch, I'll--"
     
     "Be silent!"  Jinnai struck him across the face.  
     
     "You may kill us," the boy said in a low voice.  Jinnai's
slap had cut his lip against his teeth, and there was blood at
the side of his mouth.  "But though you may slay these mortal
bodies, we shall be avenged."

     Deva effortlessly lifted the boy and threw him over the side
after Lemulla before he could speak another word.

     "What now, Mr. Jinnai?"
     
     Jinnai said nothing, only reached out and took the staff
from the Bugrom who held it.  

     "We're going to go retrieve my errant little Demon-God," he
answered heavily.  "After that... I guess we'll see."

     The staff was a soothing, comforting weight in his arms as
they headed back towards what was no doubt a one-sided battle.  
His mind was in turmoil; he had seen the angels in his dreams,
and then they had come to him.  But they had been lies.  Had it
all been lies, even from...
     
     No.  Better to die than think such a thing.
     
     "Nanami, you fool," Jinnai said softly.  "Why can't you
just see the way these things are supposed to be?"