EXERPT FROM "EBONY HEARTS"

Uriel let the gentle pull of the Earth drag him slowly lower over the churning, rolling, blue mass. He tried to maintain a certain amount of equilibrium, cursing the opposing wind that had heralded the bright flashes of lightning and great sonic booms of thunder he flew amidst. He had been airborne for several hours now, and was growing very tired, both physically and emotionally from the hurricane scale gales that surrounded his destination. It seemed as though for every inch he flew toward his end, he was pushed back a thousand feet by the turbulent squall. He felt like a flea caught in a tornado, and was close to shedding tears of frustration. Uriel was headed for a small island off the coast of Maine, an ex-military weapon testing base. The weather was not the only thing that was strange about the island, as a matter of fact; it was for that other strangeness that he had been killing himself with fatigue trying to get there.

"I must not falter." Uriel said aloud to himself, rolling out of the way just as a bolt of lightning tried to claim his life, it had not been the first time during his foul journey, and he doubted it would be the last. He repeated the words again, hoping that they would give him strength in his time of need. Despite his efforts, his eyelids began to get heavy, and his chest and back muscles continued to burn with strain he had been feeling for quite some time. The almost overwhelming physical pain he felt though, was nothing compared to the torrent of emotions waging war deep inside of him. Fear, grief, guilt, and rage coursed through his psyche, cutting deep bloody rifts into his conscience. He thought to himself, I will not fail, as he started the last leg of his trip. The island had come into his sight, and he knew that he could make it.

With an extra surge of zeal, he flapped his mighty, pure-white wings again and again, fighting the tempest with all of his might. He flew faster and faster, no longer soaring blindly toward his goal. When he was just a few kilometers off of the island's coast, he heard a loud crack as searing pain shot through his shoulder blades and right wing. He began to fall, realizing that his wing must have snapped out of place due to the tremendous pressure. His last thought before his consciousness fled him was that he must not falter, and then all was dark.