The current had him. His lungs burned. Nick threw off the last of the crude ropes and kicked for the surface, or at least the direction he believed the surface to be - he couldn't see anything in the murky and churning water. The young man broke the water and gulped down air. By the third deep breath his brain processed the rumble that drowned out everything else. He had enough time to wimpier before he shot over the edge of the waterfall.

The river flowed by, slow and turgid. He stood and stared down at the swirls and eddies as the water flowed past the bridge's supports. He pushed the memories, the knowledge away, and for a time he was content. The noise of the cars, the bustle of the shoppers and the lunchtime crowds, the life of the city flowed around him much like the river around the great concrete columns. Nick's mind turned to the crowd, cars and looming skyscrapers, and for a moment, he wished he was like them - oblivious.

Nick feverishly climbed up the natural rock chimney. His feet and hands on opposing sides of the the knobby rock, he focused on his legs and pushed himself upward towards the bright shaft of golden sunlight. Suddenly, something cold and sickly moist coiled around his ankle and gave a great tug.

The bull troll roared as it pounded its chest. He watched, unimpressed even as a fist the size of his chest raced towards him. Great tongues of lightning arced from the man's body and coursed up the troll's equally massive arm. The burte and its arm paused for a moment, long enough for its eyes to widen in pain and the crackle of electricity to fill the clearing, before being flung back from the wizard.

Nicodemous slowly closed the distance. He held his staff high in one hand and smirked as he stared down at the leader of the troll pack. The wizard snarled in the being's gutteral, simple tongue: "I'll give you and your kind two choices!"

Dirt rained down from above as he slowly removed his hands from his ears. "AHA! A bit too much powder!" Bertrand, who had not bothered to duck behind the wall, clapped him on the shoulder. "Come, Nikolai, we will get the mixture right next time!"

"Please sign here, initial here, here, here, and here, and sign and date here." The pen traced a cryptic course over the documents as the ram-horned devil pointed out the required locations. Nick took the golden pen from the devil's well manicured hand and dubiously eyed the packs of thick forms. The devil steepled his fingers as he offered the young man his best disarming smile. "It is all as we agreed, I assure you."

The destroyer slipped from the wormhole, no flare of fusion drives announced its presence. A featureless, matte-black arrowhead, the kilometer long craft was nearly invisible against the backdrop of stars. Sensors passively scanned the surrounding space, to do any more would give away its position. Satisfied, the craft lined up on the system's star and slid forward through the void.