it, it meant conceding defeat and he could not bring himself to do that. He had spent a long time in

preparation for this confrontation and he knew that he was ready. He would not allow the reappearance

of Gorlois after all this time to throw him. Besides, to leave now would be to waste a golden opportunity.

The city was in a high state of excitement and anxiety. The deaths that he had brought about had

frightened many people, but at the same time, they had given an edge to the festive atmosphere of the

fiesta that was about to begin. People were already out roaming the streets in crowds, both locals and

out-of-towners, basking in the illusory safety of their numbers and wondering with a perverse fascination

if they might be rubbing shoulders with the killer.

it, it meant conceding defeat and he could not bring himself to do that. He had spent a long time in

preparation for this confrontation and he knew that he was ready. He would not allow the reappearance

of Gorlois after all this time to throw him. Besides, to leave now would be to waste a golden opportunity.

The city was in a high state of excitement and anxiety. The deaths that he had brought about had

frightened many people, but at the same time, they had given an edge to the festive atmosphere of the

fiesta that was about to begin. People were already out roaming the streets in crowds, both locals and

out-of-towners, basking in the illusory safety of their numbers and wondering with a perverse fascination

if they might be rubbing shoulders with the killer.

He had studied the humans. He had learned from them. There was much to be said for the old

knowledge, but there was something to be said for the knowledge that humans had discovered, too.

Wulfgar had devised a strategy that would unite the elements of both. He would use magic to distract the

avatars as it channeled strength to him, but he would use human technology to destroy them.

The spell he planned to use was dangerous in the extreme and they would not expect it, for it had never

been done before. He had practiced it, in stages, over a long period of time, gradually building up his

already formidable ability and confidence and concentration. It was a spell of his own devising, a

masterwork of necromancy. It entailed the conjuring of a demonic entity, and then the splitting of that

entity in two, so that his animated subconscious would be bifurcated, able to strike in two different

locations simultaneously. That, in itself, would require tremendous energy and concentration, but that was

not yet the truly dangerous part. Because at the crucial moment, when the splitting of his subconscious

surrogates had achieved its desired purpose of splitting up the avatars . . .he would let go .

He would release control completely, freeing the twinned demon of his dark side, and concentrating

solely on his corporeal self, he would choose his moment and strike. The danger was in what would

happen in that moment. He knew that he would have enough of himself left to make his body do his

bidding. If he chose his moment with careful precision, if he timed it perfectly, he felt certain that he would

succeed, for there was no way that they could be prepared for it. However, there was a danger if he

remained in such a metaphysically fragmented state for more than a few brief moments. The demon

entities might take on separate lives of their own, part of him, yet foreverapart from him, leaving him a

weakened, fragmented version of his former self.

Yet, if he succeeded, and he felt confident that he would, the avatars would be dealt a crippling blow

from which they would be unable to recover. The surviving Dark Ones would then flock to him for his

leadership and together they would easily prevail over the remaining avatars. For, unlike the others, he

would not make the mistake of trying to take them all on at once. It was what they expected, for it was

what all the others had attempted to do. They expected him to take advantage of the crowds occasioned

by the fiesta that was about to begin and cast a powerful spell that would claim many lives at once, giving

him a massive infusion of life force energy that he could turn against them. Only that was not what he was

going to do. He would use his twinned demonic entities to distract them and catch them by surprise. They

would be forced to divide their strength to pursue the demons. He would then choose one of them and he