I could see the almost outrage rolling through his aura.

"No, Sir," I answered, "What I want is several AC-130's placed at the airport in Wichita where we can work with your men to use them in a battle to defend our world."

He sputtered, "We just don't let anybody have access to..."

"Read your orders, Colonel," I said with rage nearing the surface, "Read them now. I'll wait."

He took a step back. I think I was probably doing that whole Crazy Eye thing Prada had been talking about at the Hooters. But there were so many of the officers we had to deal with that hadn't been at the demonstration, and they keep seeing an eighteen year old talking about using multi-million dollar pieces of military hardware for experimentation.

"If I'm not mistaken," I said after a moment, "they say you are to give us any military hardware we request. I stress, any hardware. This includes aircraft, assault vehicles, cargo vehicles, and cargo aircraft. I can even get a staff vehicle if I want to request it. All I need at this moment is three AC-130's at Wichita to use in our defense. Count on the fact that there will be much more needed before this is done. Get used to it, because I've waited as long as I'm willing to for government support."

"It's been approved by the President, himself." I stepped closer to him-- "I will not wait any longer to get started down there. The Kresh could return at any moment, and we will be prepared for them when they come back."

The things that Calvin Heltor had revealed so far to the interrogators at the Academy had sent chills up my spine. They would come back. Not an if, but a when. We hadn't even scratched the surface of their numbers. The figures I'd come up with from the interrogation of the Wraith were not even close to the true numbers of Kresh. And I know that Heltor spoke true, or at least what he thought was the truth. I'd watched several of the interrogations just to test him for truth, and for his skill at Pushing people.

I was never where he knew I was there. And terror would spike through his aura every time my name was mentioned. The Kresh even had a name for me. Rash'Tor'Ri. In their language it meant ender of all life, or life-ender. I liked it.

"I will be relocating my forces to Kansas over the next few weeks, Colonel," I said with finality. "I expect to see my planes there when we arrive. Soon after, I expect to see cargo craft there to take us, and our forces where we are needed if they choose to show up somewhere else. These are things that have already been discussed, and approved at the highest levels."

I turned around, and walked away from Colonel Wayston before he could say something else that would spark my rage even more. It seemed that I had to fight the rage almost constantly. The only time I seemed to be able to escape it was when I could get away from everyone and just sit alone for a time.

It wasn't easy to get the time to do so, but it was necessary for me to function. So I would take the time. As soon as I got back to Montana, I would hit the Guard trail and run through the mountain tops. That always seemed to calm me. Sometimes, Lyrica would join me and she was one of the few people who I could be around at those times. She never seemed to awaken the rage in me.

I love to run in the woods above the Academy. There are rock bluffs and sheer drops all across the mountain range in Montana. The air was cool and I spent nearly as much time airborne, leaping from one outcrop to another, as I did on the ground.

I had run for nearly two hours and sweat was pouring from me. Two hours at extremely high speed. I stopped in a quiet spot and sat down, leaning against the trunk of a large oak.

I opened my Inner eye to see the power flows of the world as I relaxed and something immediately caught my eye. There was a large tree a little ways from me. And it was absolutely teeming with life. Squirrels, to be accurate. There had to be thirty or so of the critters leaping amongst the branches.

I'd never seen so many squirrels at one time in a single tree. Of course, the hawk that circled above probably thought the same thing. It was probably thinking, like I was, about lunch. Although I wasn't thinking about eating squirrels, and the hawk most definitely was.

It dove toward the tree, and as it passed the peak of the tree, I saw a brown blur slam into it from the tree. Feathers exploded in all directions, and the hawk plummeted toward the ground. As it slammed into the ground, I watched in astonishment as the largest squirrel I have ever seen leapt back toward the tree and turned to face the hawk. The hawk launched himself back into the air and fled.

I began laughing harder than I had laughed in a long time. Not because of the hawk's circumstance, but because the squirrel that was gripping the side of the tree trunk, glaring at me, had a Soulguard knot.

"Lyrica Jayne," I muttered as my laughter had run its course.

I stood and nodded toward the squirrel, "Go protect your people Squirrel King. I'll go protect mine."

I turned away from the Squirrel King and started running back the way I had come. I had to stop several times along the way to let a bout of laughter run its course.

I guess, when you have a Soullord raised from age six to fourteen running through the hills of Montana, there's no telling what you'll find lurking in the forests.

I'm sure that a good laugh was something I would need since my next act was to face a reporter who had come to the Academy to interview several of us. Paige had done her interview and Jacobs had done an interview as well. But they wanted me there, too, and I would rather face a ravenous horde of Demons than talk to the damn Press. But I also know that we need the publicity to draw more volunteers to the Soulguard.

Mine might be a little easier, as well, because I planned to do it with some of the Guards training behind us, where people could see some of the amazing things a Soulguard can actually do. Perhaps that would keep some of the attention from yours truly.

Chapter 13.

"Is it true Mr. Rourke," Jennifer Alstead asked, "That anyone can become one of these Soulguards?"

"I wouldn't say, anyone," I answered. "There's a vetting process, of course, and a person has to be able to pass the tests for certain attributes that are a necessity in becoming a Soulguard."

"And what might these attributes be?"

"First and foremost," I said, "is the ability to focus. It is the paramount skill needed to do the things necessary to become a Guard."

"What things?"

"You know I won't answer that, Ms. Alstead," I answered. "I understand everyone else evaded this subject in their interviews. So let me be blunt. There is an oath involved in the joining of the Soulguard. It is an oath that defines us as Guards and as people. We use these skills we have gained to protect Humanity from the Kresh. Up until recently, we only knew them as Demons, a name given to them centuries ago when we became aware of their existence."

I looked straight into her eyes, "If a person is not willing to swear this oath, they will not learn what it takes to become a Soulguard. We do not use our skills against other Humans. We fight the Kresh. We will not be used against other countries, we are a worldwide organization. Therefore I would appreciate if you quit asking my people about it. They won't answer so don't bother."

She was taken aback for just a moment at the severity of my statement, but she wasn't silent for long. "Ok, then, we'll change the subject a little bit. Is it true that some of the people around us are actually over one hundred years old?"

I knew it was coming. They couldn't go without asking that question, and Paige had been very good at evading questions earlier. I'm not so good at it.

"Yes, that is certainly true. One of the men who fell at the Battle of Kansas was actually two hundred and forty years old. It takes a great dedication to become a Soulguard and fight our enemy. The service is long but there are benefits as well. As you can see, we don't age nearly as fast. The downside of it is that we spend many more years fighting the Kresh than a normal hitch in a military branch would have."

I hid a smile as the camera began to stray. I knew what the man was watching behind us, and Soulguards training would definitely draw the eye of someone unfamiliar to it.

"Interview is over here, Keith," Alstead said and chuckled.

"Sorry Boss," the cameraman returned, "but you gotta see this."

She turned around as Kharl threw Trent half way across the Dome to hit the "Mat".

Trent got back up, quickly and looked around to see if anyone had been watching. As it turned out, Keith, the cameraman had caught it all on tape.

"Aw man," Trent whined, "did you tape that?"

"Keep yer mind in the fight boy, or you can ask him," Kharl said as he pointed at me, "where you end up."

"I wouldn't try anything stupid, Trent," I said. "It always results with your face in a wall."

Alstead was watching the two as they began their match again. She didn't even say a word for several minutes.

Kharl tends to wipe the floor with whoever he spars with, and this was a demonstration for the new recruits who stood off to the side. And with the new stream, he was faster than lightning. There was no beating him in unarmed combat now.

She turned back to the camera, "That is truly amazing. But let's finish the interview, and then we'll watch the training."

Keith looked sheepish and brought the camera back to us.

"I think we were on the subject of age," she said, "How long does a Soulguard live, Mr. Rourke? Will you die of old age?"

"Probably not, Ms. Alstead," I answered. "We're fighting a war, and I expect I'll die in battle."

"But what if you were to stop fighting right now, and go become some sort of monk or something? Would you live forever?"

"In all honesty, I really don't know."

The camera started to stray again, and Jennifer coughed to get his attention. "Well, it seems that my cameraman can't retain his focus very well, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's probably not Soulguard material."

I laughed as he jerked back to focus on us.

"I have a sneaky suspicion that someone doesn't like interviews, and may have just set it up to have his where there would be a great deal of distraction."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said and smiled.

She shook her head and laughed. "Ok Keith, watch the match. I think we're done with our victim now."

As Keith turned the camera back to watch the Guards practice, Kyra was entering the ring with several new trainees to work on their sword skills. She saw the camera, and looked my way with narrowed eyes.

I sighed as she pointed to me, and crooked her finger for me to come over to her.

"That," she pointed at the camera, "seems to be your fault, so now you have to be the one who works out in front of it. And since I'm not as fast as you anymore, I think you should practice with someone who is."

She pointed behind me to someone, and crooked her finger just as she had done with me. Somehow I knew who was there. I smiled as Lyrica walked past me.

Kyra's right, Lyrica is as fast as I am. In fact, she's much faster. Her stream is twenty two inches in diameter, and she can channel power just as I can. The only thing in my favor is the fact that I have more experience.

I love to spar with her. We both open our Inner Eye, and it seems like we can read each other's actions before we even make them. It's one of my favorite activities, and I know she feels much the same about it.

"I'll go easy on you old man," she said and laughed as she was handed her practice swords. It was a musical laugh, and another reason I loved to be around her. There had been a lack of those laughs for some time after the fight with the Council, but it seemed that they were back.

"He's over there," I said motioning to where Kharl was standing, "I'm just a pup."

A young Guard trainee approached me with something akin to awe rolling through his aura to hand me a set of practice swords. I really wish they wouldn't do that. It makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Lyrica gave me a knowing smile as she saw the same thing in the man's aura as I did. I could see a bit of the pity she felt for me over it.

As the Trainee left the ring, Lyrica settled into the first stance of the Dance of Blades. With a slight salute with her right hand weapon she said, "Defend yourself!"

I settled into the beginning stance and laughed.

She lunged forward, incredibly fast. But I wasn't there. I had already dropped and rolled to the right while flowing into a new stance.

"Not gonna be that easy," I said and launched an attack of my own.

She parried, and we began the Dance in earnest. Our blades blurred with speed to the eyes of the people who watched. But to us they still moved at a normal pace. The world just seemed to have slowed down around us.

That's the key to all of our skills as Soulguards. We have to have the focus necessary to let our minds move as fast as our bodies. It wasn't the amount of power you could use, but how fast your brain could move that gave us our limits on speed.

Except in a case like Kevin Graves. His body couldn't move as fast as his mind, giving him the awesome control he had over his power when using it. His focus was so great that he never even slowed down his Pull after he started it. He stopped when the job was done.

I had reached closer to that focus than ever before back at the Battle of Kansas. I can't just turn it on like him. I need a trigger. But it's good to know I have limitations, to keep me from buying into this reputation that seemed to be building around me. If for no other reason than that.

I felt the crack against my ribs as I had let my mind wander. The rage surfaced just a bit, and the world slowed even more. In a split second, my left blade slipped inside her guard and connected with her side, just below the ribs.

She grunted and kept coming.

We continued for some time when I heard someone say "Halt" in an incredibly slow voice.

We both spun to a halt, halfway through the moves we were in the process of. I could see the joy in her aura, and it gave me a warm feeling. She enjoys the sparring as much as I do, and surprisingly she likes to be around me as much as I do her. The kinship of being Soullords is a part of it but the nicest part was the total lack of fear and awe that seems to be what everyone else feels while we are present.

As we started to walk from the ring I turned to her. "So I was running through the mountains, earlier, and you won't believe what I saw. There was this great big squirrel..."

The look on her face was priceless.

Chapter 14.

"I can be a great help to you and your cause," Jennifer Alstead said.

We were sitting in the cafeteria for Mages in the Academy complex. There weren't many of us left here now that the move to Kansas had begun. Newton was suffering from a different kind of invasion than the last.

Soulguard forces were arriving each day from all over the globe. We couldn't pull too many from any one place, but we knew that there was a Gateway there, and had to build up a defense for when they came back.

"What exactly, do you want from me?" I asked.

"The world needs to know the Soulguard, Colin," she answered, "and that means it needs to know you."

"Why me?"

"You are already the most famous person connected to the battle in Kansas, except for Jacobs, maybe."

She turned her phone toward me where I saw the footage of the Battle of Kansas. It showed where I had gone berserk when Kyra was struck down by a Wraith. I thought I was about to lose my Mom, and I had left a path of destruction that was hard to believe.

"It's gone viral, and you wouldn't even believe how many views this file has received."

"I don't know what else I can do for you," I said. "I won't reveal what it takes to create Soulguards. All I can give you are my own personal views. I don't understand what good that'll do you."

She shook her head as she looked at me in disbelief.

"You really don't get it," she said. "I see how everyone looks at you. They treat you like the second coming of Jesus Christ. You walk on water as far as they are concerned. Your personal views mean a great deal."