Prologue

YES, YOU ARE DEAD

"Dropping that thing into a volcano should have done the deed," the taller and much larger figure said with a laugh as he stepped through the Ethereal Portal on to the cobblestones of a deserted back ally.

"Slow it down some, maybe; reduce it in strength a minimal amount, yes; kill it, no. There is no known way to kill a Demon Stalker short of Direct Divine Intervention," replied the shorter and much smaller figure. "Then we must have lost it traveling through the Ethereal Bad Lands, and that Essence Storm you kicked off has got to have done something," stated the taller man, somewhat unsure now.

"No we did not lose it, we just put some distance between us. 'The Storm' bought us about five minutes or so more delay, most likely less. We are going to separate here Pandarion, you are to going to find Damian and Kellion and meet me at the waterfront in an hour. While I lead this thing on a merry chase through..."

The area of the alley was suddenly engulfed in bright bluish-white light, very rapidly followed by a loud sharp crack of thunder as the light rapidly faded. The small man reached out and touched the larger man, who instantly shot rapidly up into the air, fading from sight as an Invisibility Contingency spell took effect. Even before the large man had reached half his height about the ground, the smaller man spun about, while he pulled a throwing dagger from his left forearm sheath and threw it in the exact direction of the thunder. He then chanted a few syllables of an Arcane Spell and disappeared in a pop as the air rushed in to fill the void the man had just vacated.

The dagger flew through the air, only to stick into a black short inhumanly thin humanoid like figure. The blackness of the being was so complete that it was impossible to look at. It was as if the outline of the being was actually cut out of reality, revealing the absolute blackness beyond. It turned about as if scanning the area for something, then it shimmered a bit as if seen through hot wavering air, and disappeared once again into the ethereal, the dagger still embedded in its chest right where its heart would be if it had one.

Somewhere Outside of Time

~WHEN DID IT ALL START?~ The Voice asked, by placing the words directly in the Grey's mind, the effect was so perfect that he thought he had in fact heard them being spoken.

"I don't really know, I think it was just after the fall of Valencia, but before the 'Long Night' got underway. That would make it the winter of 5476 old calendar. Who are you anyway?" asked Grey.

~YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, responded the Voice.

From the 'heavy' quality of the voice, Grey knew that he as in the presence of, or to be more exact talking with a HIGH LORD, or if you prefer a GOD, even if the voice did sound exactly like his own.

"Just looking for conformation: so I am dead then?" asked Grey.

~YES! VERY DEAD!~ answered the Voice.

"Why do you sound like me?" asked Grey.

~YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION TOO, answered the Voice.

"Just making sure I am dead," explained Grey

~YES, YOU ARE DEAD, confirmed the Voice with a slight sigh, which Grey correctly interpreted as a growing impatience with his unwillingness to accept the obvious.

"Why do I seem to be floating is a sea of grayness? Where are you? Where are the Halls of Judgment? Where is my Soul Body?" Grey asked each question growing angrier with each one.

~CALM YOURSELF. YOU CAN THINK OF THIS AS A PLACE OF TRANSITION, I AM ALL AROUND YOU, I AM THE GRAYNESS, AS YOU HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED AT THE HALLS, YOU DO NOT NEED A BODY YET, answered the Voice.

"How long have I been dead?" asked Grey, his anger replace with curiosity.

~TIME IS NOT A CONCEPT THAT APPLIES HERE, THERE IS ONLY NOW, IT IS ALWAYS NOW; NO PAST, NO PRESENT, NO FUTURE, answered the Voice.

"Wonderful, how long am I going to be here? No don't tell me, I have been and will always be here. Right?" Grey asked with a soft laugh.

~NO, YOU WILL BE ARRIVING AT THE HALLS, IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF SUBJECTIVE TIME, replied the Voice.

"Can we just sort of bypass them, I am not really looking forward to what is to come, and I would really prefer to just avoid the whole experience if I can?" asked Grey wanting to avoid the mental and emotional anguish that comes with Judgment...

~YES, IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN AVOID THE HALLS; THE RESULT WOULD BE NON-EXISTENCE FOR YOU THOUGH, answered the Voice, with a playful laugh.

"Oh! In that case I guess being Judged is not all that bad, giving the alternative. So, are you going to answer my question, why am I here and not in the Halls of Judgment?" asked Grey trying to bring The Voice back to the question.

~NO, THERE WILL BE TIME ENOUGH FOR THAT LATER. AT THIS TIME YOU DO NOT HAVE A 'NEED TO KNOW', I AM SURE YOU UNDERSTAND. SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THAT YOU WERE HERE BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY FOR TO YOU TO BE HERE, BESIDES WE HAVE ARRIVED, answered The Voice.

Instantly, there was sound, weight, a blur of surroundings, and Grey was standing before three large empty white thrones, all sitting on a raised dais of highly polished black stone. Though the voice was silent, Grey knew that it was still present. Then as if they were always there, the three Judges were there sitting on their thrones, MULUNU with her Sword T'Colos; SORCAMOR with it's All-Seeing Orb, and Blind KOS with his Red Staff. They were dressed in simple white robes; each was bare foot, except for SORCAMOR whose hooves were unshod. Grey was dressed in the black robes of the recently dead; wearing a pair of well cared for commando boots. Grey examined himself and as far as he could tell his soul body was an exact copy of his living body, old scars and all, as it was at the exact instant of his death, including the black obsidian dagger that was embedded in his chest and heart, the last of which Grey was not aware of at all.

The three Judges just stared at a point just past Grey, when they should have already started telling him that he was in Halls of Judgment, and his past life was to be judged to determine the fate of my soul. But they just sat there, looking not quite at him, almost as if they were staring into, through and somehow past him to someone or something else.

The Lady Destiny

They are in fact looking directly at a limited manifestation of myself, that they are able to perceive. 'Whom am I?' you ask. I have many names, 'Lady Luck', The Hand of Fate', 'That Insane Bitch', and some other less flattering titles; but I prefer 'Lady Destiny'. And for the record, I do not work for, nor am I associated with THE FATES. Now pay attention to this next part, it is very important to what is destined to happen.

The Voice said, "THIS ONE IS MINE, YOU NEED NOT BOTHER YOURSELVES, I HEREBY CLAIM HIM." "WE ARE THE JUDGES, WE DECIDE HIS FATE," bellowed SORCAMOR.

"You have no claim on him what so ever, he is mine, I hereby claim him," calmly replied the Voice.

"HE MUST BE JUDGED, THE FATE OF HIS SOUL MUST BE DETERMINED," screeched MULUNU with her crow like voice.

"THERE IS NOTHING TO JUDGE, WITH REGARD TO THIS ONE. FATE WAS NEVER, NOR WILL IT EVER BE, AN ISSUE IN HIS LIFE, HIS ENTIRE EXISTENCE TO THIS POINT WAS PREDETERMINED. HE IS MINE AND I HEREBY CLAIM HIM," answered the Voice.

"HE LIVED, HE EXISTED, HE HAS A SOUL, HE MUST BE JUDGED, THE FATE OF HIS SOUL MUST BE DETERMINED," reasoned KOS.

"I HAVE SAID THAT HE IS MINE, AND I CLAIM HIM. THERE IS NO NEED TO JUDGE HIS LIFE AS IT WAS UNDER MY DIRECTION; THERE IS NO NEED TO DETERMINE HIS SOUL'S FATE, AS I ALREADY HAVE DETERMINED WHAT IT IS TO BE," stated the Voice.

"HE IS THE ONE, THEN," asked KOS?

"YES," responded the Voice.

"THEN WE WILL NOT INTERFERE, YOU MAY CLAIM HIM, BUT HE MUST REMAIN HERE IN THE HALLS OF JUDGMENT, AND HE MUST BE JUDGED; BUT YOU MAY DETERMINE HIS FATE," stated SORCAMOR.

"VERY WELL, IT IS AGREED THAT YOU MAY JUDGE HIM, BUT HIS FATE IS MINE TO IMPOSE," agreed the voice before its presence left The Halls of Judgment.

At a Judgment Station in the Halls of Judgment

The newly arrived, recently dead being encased in his soul body, once known as Grey, sits at a writing desk.

'Life takes on a completely different meaning when one is dead, ' wrote Grey on a simple scroll, one lacking any embellishments at all. 'And don't think for one second that the irony of that statement has escaped me. After all, when you are living, you are experiencing the moment, thinking about the future, or remembering the past.

After you are dead, all you can do is relive your past life, without any changes; no editing, no rewriting, just the life your lived, as you lived it. Of course, the purpose of this is to be judged, by THE POWERS THAT BE, or the LORDS OF JUDGEMENT, if you prefer, ' wrote Grey, with the last part looking very much as if it wrote it self with little or no direction from Grey.

Grey stopped writing at that point, and just stared at the quill, and then at what he a just finished writing. Putting the quill back onto its holder, he looked up at the three judges and said, "I thought I was supposed to be writing this, what was that last bit all about, I am specifically referring to the parts written in Upper Case? "Are you responsible for that? Because I certainly had no intention of writing that."

"YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SHOW THE PROPER RESPECT AT ALL TIMES," answered SORCAMOR pointing at Grey with his Orb, and staring at him with his three eyes.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

'While this is supposed to be about my life; be warned, that this work is not entirely my own, there will be occasional editorial changes, ' Grey wrote with some satisfaction.

'Perhaps I should introduce myself; Sabastion Greylan, at your service, Valencian by birth, Natalian by choice, professional adventurer by trade, 'AS IN A PERSON WHO GAINS WEALTH BY QUESTIONABLE MEANS!'

Grey threw the quill in the general direction of the holder, and looked up at the Judges, and with a great deal of effort, calmly asked, "What's that about, and what does it have to do with being respectful?"

"YOU ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO TELL THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH," replied KOS pointing the Red Staff of Truth at Grey, not bothering to turn his blind eyes to look at him.

Not saying anything in return, Grey picked up the Quill, and continued to write.

'Now you see what I mean, THE POWERS, only allow for the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the absolute truth, not taking the situation or personal point of view, into any consideration, ' Grey wrote taking obvious great pains when writing THE POWERS, to indicate the respect he did not feel.

"Anyway, as I was saying; for most of my professional career, I have resided in the City of Belisarius, the capital of Natal; a prosperous metropolis of slightly over half a millionHumans, Elves, Dwarves, and other beings...

'BUT YOU ARE GETTING AHEAD OF YOURSELF.' Interjected MULUNU.

'There, THE POWERS THAT BE, did it again, 'no editing, ' 'all the truth, ' 'nothing but the truth;' now they are dictating how I have to tell the story of my life. GODS it makes me sick. And another thing, the way THE POWERS THAT BE, and GODS, always appears in capitals, it's annoying.'

Mulunu point her Sword T'Colos, at Grey, who was lifted from his chair and slammed into the immense white pillar that stood ten feet behind the desk. There he writhed in intense pain as blue flame danced about his body. He did not, could not scream, because his total consciousness was involved in experiencing the PAIN.

"Don't ever describe THE POWERS THAT BE, as annoying, or question the wisdom of THE POWERS THAT BE; the results are unpleasant and extremely painful."

Grey's 3rd Law

After sometime had passed, the flames abated, leaving his clothing, body and obsidian dagger undamaged. He fell to the floor, and he just laid there for an eternal moment. Then he slowly climbed to his feet using the pillar a support, slowly walked back to his desk, set his chair upright and sat down.

~YOU PROBABLY SHOULD AVOID DELIBERATELY ANNOYING THEM, THEY ARE ALREADY HARBORING RESENTMENT, BECAUSE I HAVE INVOLVED MYSELF IN YOUR JUDGMENT, said The Voice.

"I thought they were supposed to be completely impartial, and besides I had nothing to do with your becoming involved," said Grey.

~THEIR CAREFULLY ORDERED EXISTENCE HAS BEEN DISRUPTED, AND THEY ARE SOMEWHAT ON EDGE BECAUSE OF IT. SO I REPEAT MY SUGGESTION THAT YOU DON'T ANNOY THEM, replied The Voice.