Dear Daniel

-Daniel Fleeting- My mind echoed.

It was an echo that had lasted throughout the ages. For too many lifetimes I have had to listen to those two words, pounding in my head like a relentless drum beat.

I accept.

I accept.

I accept.

They represent my greatest weakness, and that day often makes itself known in my dreams.

(1097 AD. Somewhere outside Jerusalem) My coughing roused me from my place on the hard dirt. A handful of earth was ejected from my throat. My face was caked with sand and blood.

I groaned, and slowly used my battered arms to lift myself from the ground. I was shirtless, my jerkin laid tore on the ground, and my frayed pants looked as if they belonged to a beggar rather than a warrior.

"You weren't supposed to live Daniel."

An icy chill traveled up my back. I was alive, against all the forces that had conspired against me, I was alive.

I twisted my head slowly toward the voice.

Father Fredrick in his brown robes sat calmly on a rocky outcrop. Across his lap rested a sword in a white sheath.

Fredrick held up the twisted silver metal that had once been the cross he gave me. "These are not easily made you know, especially one of this magnitude."

I attempted to stand, my legs wobbled uncertainly underneath me, but I maintained my stance. I searched the ground for my sword.

Fleeting Light lay covered in dirt and scorch marks in the ring of soot the demon had left in his wake. Wearily I stumbled toward my fallen weapon.

~You have betrayed our cause Daniel~ said the voice accusingly.

"Shut up," I said aloud. "You would have seen me die."

~Better dead than accursed.~ The voice replied accusingly.Human immortality is a sin of the highest regard. Heaven is denied to you now. You have not served your purpose human.~ I picked up Fleeting Light and tried to wipe it down as best I could with the remnants of my jerkin.

Father Fredrick sighed, "You're an abomination my child. Like a dog that once served its master, but contracted the froth, and hence must be put down."

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I could feel my chest tightening; a light sweat broke out over my forehead. I moved my hand to clutch at the tightness. My fingers brush against foreign ridges on my chest.

I looked down.

Just beneath my collar bone, where my heart lay, was a dark pentagram. It looked like a scar seen on animals of burden after a branding. The symbol was identical to the one that had blazed on the rock the demon had left me.

I looked up at Fredrick, his eyes were fixed upon me. "Apparently you are immune. Had you not accepted the demon's influence, I should have the power to end your life with a glance, as is my right as your maker. But no longer is that true. You do not answer to my magic as your superior Judicar."

I kept my fingers upon my new scar. "What is this glyph that I wear?" I asked softly.

"That is the mark of your sin Daniel. Where there once beat a mortal and true heart fashioned by God, is a dark and twisted perversion that pumps the demon's magic through your blood. His magic will keep you alive long after your natural years have been spent."

Immortal life ... I no longer answered to death, I no longer answered to God. I suddenly felt light headed. My faith, which I had once held dear, felt like a burden of which I had just been relieved.

~Everyone answers to God Daniel. Your heresy will be punished.~ The voice whispered.

I shook my head vigorously."Get out of my head intruder, leave my thoughts in peace." I murmured.

~Father Fredrick must put you down Daniel, you cannot be allowed to exsist.~

"I'm sorry Daniel. Truly, when I saw you sitting quietly with your rosary I felt something for you. You alone were faithful amongst so much debauchery." Father Fredrick eased his body off of the rock.

"In fact I knew you were the one that I needed the instant I saw you. I gave you the tools to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. You could have been a hero, a legend amongst the Light."

I spat on the ground, "You sent me to my death. You knew you didn't make me strong enough to survive, just strong enough to commit a useful suicide."

Father Fredrick slowly drew his sword. It gleamed in the setting sun. The words 'Fair Fredrick' were etched into the side.

"I wish in your final moments that you would repent ... but hearing your harsh words, I know that that will not happen. Embrace death Daniel, and know that instead of receiving salvation, you go to your eternal damnation."

I raised my sword.

Father Fredrick sighed, "Then fight to the bitter end child, it makes no difference."

Father Fredrick bounded quickly and within seconds he had closed the gap between us. He moved like a warrior in his prime, rather than an old man.

I barely raised my sword in time for a hasty parry.

Fair Fredrick glanced off Fleeting Light.

Blue sparks flickered off both swords as they made contact. For a moment, both blades gleamed with an ethereal light.

Fredrick attempted to slip his sword under my guard in a fluid riposte. I deflected his blade once more, and backed up in an attempt to reestablish my guard. However, in one blinding flash of preternatural speed, Fredrick turned his sword and made a savage swipe at my left leg. It missed by a feather's breadth.

I refused to believe this old man was a better swordsman than a warrior of youth.

~Age has no meaning for the fitness of a Judicar. He'll be as spry as a young man until God calls him away from this mortal Earth. You, however, will die here. I'll make sure of it.~ Fredrick crept closer again. I kept my sword at the ready. He made an obvious feint to the right, and then tried to swivel it into a left side shoulder jab. In swordsmanship if you can anticipate your opponents move your own movements can be deadly.

I neatly ignored the feint and sidestepped the shoulder jab. I brought my own blade up and caught his sword hand wrist as he overextended himself. For a normal man, that would be enough for him to drop his sword. Fredrick simply winced. Still, my opponent was wounded, now would be the perfect time to press the attack.

I raised my sword.

~ENOUGH OF THIS FARCE, the voice screamed in my head.

My body suddenly felt like it was filled with lead. My arms wouldn't respond to my will, and my head felt heavy, as if I had spent the entire night drinking. My mouth moved on its own.

"I've immobilized him, his heresy will no longer interfere with what must be done," the voice said using my mouth.

Fredrick nodded, "Thank you, Vraiel. I'm sorry your host has turned so far from the true path. I'm sure all will be sympathetic once I return you to Heaven."

Fredrick's eyes suddenly erupted into a livid silver color, "I too thank you Vraiel. Fear not, all will be well." Fredrick's voice had taken on a rather feminine tone.

I felt my body contort into a low bow. My mouth started moving again, "It has been centuries since I'd last heard from you Ilirial. You host is both faithful and true. I will tell all I see of you once I return to Paradise."

Fredrick bowed and continued in his feminine tone, "Please do. Now come Fredrick, let us finish with this unpleasantness."

Father Fredrick hefted his sword and slowly walked toward my frozen body.

This was it. I was going to die, simply because I wanted to live.

I railed against the force that kept my body stilled. I could feel Vraiel in my head. His influence felt like a foreign presence in my body. I focused on that sense of otherness and tried to force it aside.

~Stop fighting me. Mortal willpower cannot overcome me.~ Vraiel said.

"This is my body, I control it ... NOT YOU!"

I could feel Vraiel's might retreat slightly.You completed the ritual, you accepted the life of a Judicar. You agreed to house an Angel in your body.~

"I never knew what was happening. I was never told," I seethed. I continued to push at Vraiel. Feeling slowly seeped back into my limbs.

I was winning.

~Curses, it is too soon! I haven't had the time to complete the merge.~ Vraiel said. His voice sounded far away inside my head.

Father Fredrick cocked back his sword, he left his guard completely open, he was completely confident in Vraiel's ability to hold me.

Vraiel sensed he was about to be overwhelmed. He made one last desperate effort to use my mouth to warn Fredrick that I was free. I mercilessly clamped down on Vraiel inside my mind. I immobilized him like he had me.

Father Fredrick swung, his blade aimed directly for my throat.

I ducked.

Fair Fredrick went sailing clean over my head. Fredrick's eyes widened in disbelief, "Vraiel what are you doing?" He shouted.

I grinned like a mad man, "Sorry Father," I said wickedly. I thrust my sword into Fredrick's chest. Fleeting Light sunk into his body with a wet thud.

"Daniel?" Father Fredrick whispered softly. Blood ran down his chin and his eyes had clouded.

I felt a rush of pleasure. The symbol on my chest began to glow a lurid red. "Yes my child," I whispered softly back in a mocking tone. His face darkened slightly, "You jeer at me in my final moments? Your soul turns blacker with each moment Daniel."

I twisted my sword brutally, and was rewarded with the sound of fresh gore. "I've decided Father, that sin is preferable to your brand of righteousness."

Once again I felt a wave of pleasure from my own heart. The symbol continued to glow.

The priest's eyes once again turned bright silver. "Vraiel," said the feminine voice named Ilirial. "If you can hear me, then I charge you thusly. Make every moment of Daniel's immortal years agony. I go to Paradise ... the Light will hear of the sins that have occurred today."

The silver flickered out of Fredrick's eyes and his body sagged around my sword.

~You don't know what you've done Daniel~ Vraiel whispered in my mind.

I pulled my sword from Fredrick's lifeless body. I didn't reply to the Angel in my head. I cast my gaze out onto the horizon. The crusaders had been victorious. I could hear the sounds of their revelry in the distance.

I wiped my sword on Fredrick's robe. I could see their far off campfires. It would be only an hour's hike to return to my station. For a brief moment, I let myself imagine that I could return to my old life.

I sighed, and sheathed my sword. It didn't feel right to go return to their ranks. I doubted I was welcome in 'God's army' now.

I turned and started trudging my own path amongst the dusty rocks.

Endless years of immortality yawned before me.

(1623 A.D. Northern France) I returned to consciousness with a start.

That dream had been more vivid than the last. Today would probably be the day. I stretched, and rolled of my bedroll.

~I really hate it when you dream of that day~ Groused Vraiel in the back of my mind.

"Sorry I muttered, I can't really help it when we get this close to him," I said apologetically.

My little campfire sputtered out of existence underneath my boot. It was a fine day, the sun was shining and if was a perfect climate.

I slung my pack over my shoulder and adjusted Fleeting Light so that it buckled at my hip. My horse whinnied lightly. She was a good white mare, and I had got her at a bargain in Paris. Her previous owners had been old and poor, and had been unable to get any decent use out of the spry horse.

I loaded her saddlebags and heaved myself onto her back after them. I had been traveling for days. While I was used to constant travel, I wasn't used to being so close to my goal.

I paused. I tapped into my powers, and extended my consciousness. I winced slightly at the pain that erupted in my chest. My demonic center hated it when I used the powers of the Light.

I ignored the pain, and continued questing outward. He couldn't have just disappeared. His magic was too powerful for him to go unnoticed.

~There!~ Vraiel announced suddenly.

"Where?" I asked. "I still can't sense him."

Vraiel chuckled, It's very faint. He isn't exuding any power at the moment. If my consciousness hadn't stumbled directly over him I never would have found him~

"You don't think he knows we're tracking him do you?" I asked.