"Is it?" she said. "What about the victims of the Dark Ones? Was what happened tothem natural?"

"Is it?" she said. "What about the victims of the Dark Ones? Was what happened tothem natural?"

"So what are you saying? That the Dark Ones were a beneficial part of nature? Hell, that's crazy! How

can you eventhink such a thing?"

"I'm not saying the Dark Ones were beneficial," Merlin replied. "I'm merely saying that, in their time, they

served a purpose. Only times have changed and humanity has evolved. The purpose that the Dark Ones

once served, we now serve ourselves. Therefore, the Dark Ones are now a threat to the natural balance

of our world. And that is where our purpose comes in."

"I just wish it didn't have to be us," said Kira. "I just wish we could all live a normal life."

"I know," said Merlin. "You didn't ask to be chosen for this. But at the same time, you are among the

few to whom the opportunity has fallen to make a difference in the world. And that's both a great

privilege and a great responsibility. The time will come one day, when all of this is over, when you may

decide to have a child. That time may one day come for Billy, too. What we do now will determine the

sort of world those children will grow up in. It has often been said that children are the hope of the future.

Only they aren't. Not really. Always, it is what thepresent generation does that will determine the sort of

future their children will inherit. And what they do as adults will, in turn, determine the future that their

children will inherit. For far too long, each succeeding generation has vested their hopes for the future in

their children, when it was reallytheir responsibility. It is not enough merely to dream of a better world.

One must accept responsibility for it, and to accept responsibility for the future means to act in present.

And that is not an easy thing to do. But then again, it never was."

"Then I guess we'd better get busy," she said, bending over the map.

Wulfgar stood at the window, looking out at the city. The large luxury apartment had all the modern

amenities anyone could ask for. However, Wulfgar had little use for them. To him, the electric lights

seemed harsh and glaring, so he never bothered using them. He preferred the soft glow of candles and

the fragrant illumination of oil lamps. And he had no use for the kitchen appliances, since he did not eat.

There was a time once, thousands of years ago, when he had enjoyed eating, but he had fallen out of the

habit and besides, what often passed for food in this modern world did not appeal to him. He had tried

some of it and found most of it unpalatable. Fresh vegetables were easily obtained, as was beefsteak

from the butcher shops, but the so-called processed foods, in foil-wrapped and frozen packages, were

yet more symbols of the decadence the human world had fallen to. So, Wulfgar's refrigerator and

cupboards were bare. He ate nothing and drank only wine, one of the few things he had discovered in

the modern world that the humans had actually improved upon. He did not require the sustenance of food

when he could dine upon the life force of his victims. All other forms of nourishment paled by

comparison.

In his human disguise, he was a "spiritual counselor," an adept who worked with people to "balance their

auras" and nurture their "emotional growth." It was all nonsense, of course, but the humans had always