Mere seconds ago he had been battling ultimate evil, and now— The painful tingling from the tattoo on his forearm reminded him of how he came to be here, but where was here? “It is time for you to make a choice, Verchiel,” said an angelic being looming before him. Verchiel focused on the striking figure. There was a strength that radiated from this one, a strength that he had not felt in a very long time. A strength he’d last felt while in the presence of the Lord. There came a terrible pounding that made the plain white room tremble, followed by the sound of a ruckus that seemed to come from somewhere outside the chamber. “Listen to me,” commanded the divine being, as he moved closer to regain Verchiel’s attention. “Once, you had a vision for this world,” the being continued. “You saw its potential, and attempted to make it so.” Images flooded into Verchiel’s mind: memories of how he had come to the world of God’s man in pursuit of criminals from Heaven’s war, and how that mission had been tainted when he discovered an even larger threat.
