He awoke to the silence of the world falling as white noise upon his ears. It echoed around him, his every action, it spurred it. He hated it. He could feel a sense in his body that didn't belong, he exiled it by drinking straight from another open bottle on his bedside.

The burning liquid ignited his throat, destroying and scorching anything that remained of sobriety. Gale took a deep breath. His eyes locked onto the other side of the room meaninglessly. His heart burned quietly.

It took him a while to realise the lack of light pouring in. His clock's hands were suspended way before his normal waking hours. Realisation hit him shortly after, an early awakening.

Try as he might Gale could not force the City to come back to him. He fell into a frustrated silence, punctuated by the repeated grunts as he desperately tossed and turned trying to find a place of rest. He sat up on his bed growling with insurmountable rage. He scrambled to his feet, a cigarette already clenched between his teeth and a bottle in his hand, he stumbled to his radio room.

Gale banged the door open, he tripped and trod to his seat, falling down into it with a silent thud. His large notebook sat in front of him, its cover had long deteriorated as had the city he once knew. It seemed almost an upsetting coincidence that the journal that housed his dreams would have decayed just like they had. However whilst he could repair his tales of the City, and often had, it was a damning irony he could seldom achieve such comparable feats in the City itself.

Especially these days.

He pawed quietly at the lock, eventually managing to turn its key with a shaky hand. That same hand ran over the leather cover, the metal bolted to its surface had long rusted, yet it still held some of its marvellous brilliance. Nostalgia filled him as he turned the pages to once in particular, dated six years ago.

Yet even as he read his transcripts the words just couldn't form. his mind blocked them, the image they conveyed was muted. He could remain there for ours, trying to relive it. Yet when his day to day kicked in it was clear as glass.

It haunted him…

" You need to wake up."

The last of the page was smudged by water drops and liquor stains. He dared not read it. He didn't need to. Again it haunted him.

He stumbled up from the chair, scooping up the bottle as he went. It took a lot of effort for him to even make it to the door. He made desperately for the cluttered living room, he tried to reach his stereo. Gale's mind was fogged. Not just by the alcohol but thousands of unwanted thoughts plagued him. He would blink and see his wedding, he'd blink again and see his son for the first time.

"Not a chance." He spat to himself, stopping in his tracks. He upended the bottle, chugging the liquor like it was orange juice. His throat screamed, his body burned. He felt a brief, yet unwanted relief as it ran out of the intoxicant. "Oh for god's sake." He growled, turning and hurling the bottle at his front door.

"Bloody Empty!" Gale shouted after it, he wobbled on his feet as he tried to stop his motion, it didn't work.

He screamed in pain as he landed. His joints cracked and popped. The radiator was far from forgiving.

His screams turned to roars of rage as he cradled his head. He beat against the floor, he hurled fists at an invisible assailant. He tried to breath but the air choked him.

"Let me go!" He roared, his body screamed at him. His eyes burned as they watered. His vision turned clouded. His mind was broken again. The pain was as fresh as the day it came. "Bring me back! Tala! Wake Up!"

He could feel his mind letting go of his body. He couldn't control it. The pull of the City was more sheer this time. Less a gentle whisper on a breeze and more like the pull of a hurricane. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the tears from them…

But it wasnt enough.

His mind held on, half in one world, half in another. Like hanging over a cliff he couldn't let go of.

He rolled to his side. His hands grasped for purchase upon the cold metal, He kneeled now, his head resting upon it without feeling. His body still screamed. This damn world wouldn't let him go.

So he forced it.

The sound echoed, but that was all that betrayed his actions. He couldn't feel it, not the pain that should've lingered, nor the impact of his skull upon the bare metal. The onslaught weakened the world's grip, until eventually he only felt it yield.

With a deep breath, sleep claimed him again.

It was a strange change. As he felt his body in the city again he felt the alcohol drain away. His mind was clear, his movements were precise, instead of loose. Gale could breath. The air was fresh. It felt more real than anywhere else. It was pure. He opened his eyes to the world. The clearing he had landed in was in fact a huge junction of skyways. He leaned forward, peering over the Shardship's bow, he could see the distant causeways far below him. He gently stroked the hull of the Shardship. his hands undoing a decay that had set in whilst he briefly waked, The ship's skin beneath his fingers began to ebb like it was alive.

He flicked his hand forwards and the armoured gloves retracted. He lay flesh to stone for the first time in ages, letting the soothing sensation of the ship flood him. He closed his eyes, remembering.

He wanted to stay there, just reminiscing about the times he spent in the City, but instead he clicked his fingers.

With that one click the memories faded, his mind changed from wanting to relive memories to wanting to make new ones. He held his breath and jumped from the Shardship, landing with gentle feet.

He let out that same breath, the broken surface of the skyway repaired beneath him. He chuckled briefly.

"Ah. Finally one you can still walk on." He said with a smile, he jovially jogged forward and booted a broken fragment into the sky. His aim nowadays though was not as good as he thought it was. "Gale, you never learn…"

It clinked off of a distant part of the Skyway, mostly harmless.

Yet it sent the entire section ahead of him crashing to the ground. He knelt, pressing his hand hard against his section and closing his eyes as the expanding crack ran up to him. He believed…

He wished…

He believed hard, he believed in it harder than he thought he could.

He prayed to the city.

As the crack reached the junction it was intercepted by his belief in the City. The restoration expanded across its surface, his belief enhanced it, bringing it to long before the decay, but before it was abandoned. The cracks filled in, the new surface flowed like water outwards only to freeze into ribbons of crystal. Etchings and engravings spread like rot across the new skin of the skyway, another snippet of times past, passed into the dying now. The crashing skyway nearly broke through into the pure crystal. Its force was too great…

But the City had its own to rival it. In that one moment the crossroads ignited like a fountain of light, stained with every colour it erupted from deep below its foundations. Within moments the skyway had begun to pulse like a bridge of rainbows, it pulsed in all directions, igniting a wave of coloured light that began to snake its way around the decrepid spires, stretching far into the City's depths.

The light halted the collapse, it denied it, it tamed it, and at its sundered edge the light bled from it, catching itself upon motes of dust every colour. The wind caught the display of life and drifted it like a cloud of hope across the city. Colour in a world of grey.

Gale waited until the sounds of crashing and cracking had stopped. His body was tense. He was ready to spring.

He relaxed as the world turned silent once more.

The sad fact was, that the moment he began to relax once again, the moment his concentration shifted, the incredible display of light that once occupied the City vanished, turning back to the cold clear crystal that made up this long forgotten world. He saw the decay creep in again. Rust flowed towards him, cracks spread once more, but its majesty was unseen. The junction was safe, but its display of life had gone. All that marked its presence was the gentle wisps of clear crystal that filled the air, the engravings ablated away quicker than dry sand in the wind. They hung free in the breeze, no longer bound but they too had died. The world was hollow and nearly lifeless once again.

He got to his feet, walking forward towards the new edge. The causeway beneath was devastated. The skyway's descent had ripped it apart. Shards of its structure scattered between the spires, another area turned to solely ruin and wreckage.

He felt guilty. Incredibly guilty. He hung his head in shame, turning around, he picked a direction and went, leaving the shardship where it sat. He placed its crystal on his hip as he went by, running his hands over its surface.

It was a while before another thought entered his head. His route was snaking toward a large spire. It stood out from the rest in its district. Not just in its sheer size but its shape. It was as if someone had taken it from the Heart of the City and placed it there. He traced the horizon with his eyes, the Heart itself wasn't that far away, but its gargantuan spires had gradually shortened long ago. Something was odd about this one.

Gale laid his fingers on his temples, looking back through his memories to see if it had always been here; Thinking hard it had. The City couldn't grow anymore, It had to have always been there, so obvious it didn't stand out. He remembered it once shone with beams of light, Each one stretched for an eternity into the deep fog, like beacons to what lay beyond. Looking up those lights had long gone out.

He continued towards the spire, curiosity filled him. Its facade was broken like every other spire, but some parts remained. The large gateway's frame was made of solid black marble, shaped like eight threads spun loosely around a larger one, eight steeples sat like a crown, even the structure itself was like a twisted rope, rising around a large central core. It held a sort of power over everything, not one of creation like the City's heart or the ocean far away giving life to the City. It seemed more like the bridge that spanned into the perpetual fog, it was something important. Yet never spoken of. Never used, but always needed.

Gale stepped through its gateway. He frowned briefly. backpedaling and looking down he saw something intriguing. From where he was he could see no other entrance. He engaged his flight suit. The shoulders glowed as he began to gently hover. He gracefully flew around the spire, the journey was huge. Its surface was fraught with gashes and rends, rooms of unknown nature or purpose could be seen inside. The only true way in was via the skyway.

He flew back through the threshold, landing softly. There was just this one large room, a few clear doorways sat inset in the walls. Its gates lay across the floor, long fallen and having long devastated anything in their path and scattering debris across the floor. Their surface carried on the spiraling rope pattern from outside, like it was meant to blend in. The remains of several huge deadbolts lay around the threshold.

This place was never meant to be entered, and it was truly unnerving.

The room was silent. No gentle call of wind, no sounds of distant rumbling. Gale stopped moving when he noticed he couldn't even hear his footsteps.

He lightly kicked a fragment...Nothing.

He tried to shout… Nothing.

It made him distressed. This was very new. He felt the human instincts warn him. Not that it mattered to him. He just smiled, laughing silently he jogged eagerly towards a doorway. Like each door in the City, it looked like a sheet of near perfectly clear glass. Like many others though, the glass was cracked, making the fissure appear to float.

He stepped through it, the glass didn't resist, it didn't break. It flowed around him like a pristine liquid until he was completely through, sealing into a single sheet once more behind him. He pushed away the faint feeling of nausea from it, continuing to jog through the damaged corridor. As he went he gently brushed the fronts of his shoulders, letting them glow bright and act like inbuilt torches, igniting the corridor for him to see.

The corridor twisted around and around. He couldn't tell if it was going up or down. but what he did know was eventually the ruin began to end. The walls were pristine, the floor was undamaged, the halls were lit once more.

Soon after Gale found himself at another doorway, and inside he found what the tower was built for. The room beyond was round, There were eight doorways, each leading to what seemed like mirrors, but up close, they were filled with the grey fog that bordered the City only many magnitudes brighter. A border of what seemed like fire surrounded a fuzzy reflection of his room, giving the effect the mysterious fog itself was on fire. The City never ceased to amaze though.

He had no reflection, but someone else did. He turned around and sure enough, he was alone in the room. He turned back and they were looking straight at him. He felt excitement at seeing yet another in the City, yet it began to occur to him she wasn't really there. She came up to the mirror, looking behind her just as he did. He could just about make out some of her features, short blue hair, glasses, quite thin, she seemed to have a lightweight flightsuit. Her eyes were sad. He pointed at himself. She did the same.

He reached forward, his hand passed through the mirror like the City's own doorways, yet as his fingers entered the threshold all he could feel was cold. He pulled his hand back sharply, gasping silently in both surprise and shock. Frost covered his fingers. He touched them and he could feel the sheer cold. He desperately tried to warm his hand up. He took one last glance at the mirror, the woman was gone.

He'd spend the next few hours trying to figure out what the room was. The eerie, unnatural silence constantly invaded his mind. He'd noticed above each doorway was a different symbol, and not a shred of similarity between them. The rooms center had an empty pedestal, marked by the symbol he always recognised as that of the City. The room was like a meeting place, for those people very different from one another, a terminus almost. He couldn't gleen much else. The City held many mysteries, many that no one was meant to understand. He sat on the pedestal for a short while, contemplating the room's past.

He had a moment of curiosity as two doorways faded into nothing. The images inside them vanished, only to be replaced by a faint flash of light and nothing else.

Gale's curiosity turned to one of concern. A sound finally punctured the silence. A distant rumble. An unearthly rumble. Something on a scale unimaginable. It seemed like it came through the empty doorways as they were shattered apart, as well as beyond the City itself.

The rumble sounded like ethereal thunder, never had there been a sound like it in the City. This was no collapsing tower or district...

This was no crashing shardship or shardcraft…

It was a sound never heard by Man.

He ran desperately through the spire, he charged up the corridor as the thunder erupted again, so loud he could feel it pulsing the air. He slammed through the glass doorway and through into the large atrium. Gale could feel the whole City shake underfoot He charged to the gateway and was immediately stopped in his tracks.

Through the huge doorway was something he'd never seen. Something filled him with awe. It hung in the fog far far away, it glowed, it moved, it ebbed. Shimmering like fire in the sky yet on a scale so awesome. It was like two burning eclipses, two burning eyes. Something far away igniting and dying in a cataclysm that made him scared, and would anyone who else saw it. The eyes started to collapse, the fog wall billowed like it was being drawn in towards two areas, dare he say, everything seemed to be pulled towards it.

The wind started to shift, it too began to roar straight towards it. The hearts of this cataclysm pulled closer to one another, whipping up chaos and damnation between them. As they merged it sounded like the world itself had begun to crack. Gale heard the sounds of more shattering behind him, he dared not take his eyes off this thing, for a moment he wondered if this had been what the clock was counting to…

Was this the end of the city?

Or was it just the beginning of it?

In the far distance he could just about see the City's great bridge. it stretched and flexed, it was holding fast though, the City was still fighting to survive.

The singularities merged to a single point, a collision that seemed to be on a truly cosmic scale.

As the turmoil brought hellfire onto his Fallen City, Gale pressed as hard as he could into his temples. The rippling inferno in the sky continued to grow.

He was scared.

He wanted to wake…

He'd only once else wanted to wake before.

The roaring wind whipped the loose debris from the Spires, pulling the scattered dust and shards towards it, creating a large cloud of debris over the city. Fragments whizzed by. Whipping past like needles in the air…

Carnage.

He tried to wake...

With one last clap the singularity vanished, Gale shielded his eyes as the light seared his eyes. Were he awake he would've been blinded. It was brighter than every sun, and each supernova they would birth. There was no shadow, there was no shade. In one moment the entire City was alight, the deepest chambers lit up. Light refracted a million times, creating a shadow of rainbow light behind the construct into the nothingness it claimed kingdom.

The City, for one lingering moment shone brighter and brighter than any star, drowning out its own.

Slowly the light began to fade and the air came still. Gale was able to look upon it. The site was amazing. It was like an aurora, emanating from the former singularity, it shimmered with a golden ring, alive, it cried a beautiful sorrow, its power made the City almost sing in a mourning tribute. The halo met the horizon, and the aurora began to envelope the city. A searing fog rushed across it, the airborne debris ignited into shooting stars.

Gale instinctively engaged his helmet as it met him. He kneeled in the torrent of fire as it raged around him, he watched as the skyway crumbled in front of him, its debris flayed against the spire. The ShardShip was plucked off the ground spiraling into the City' depths. He could feel the heat, it was so strong. with a gentle whisper it tempered, calming as the aurora passed by into the nothingness beyond. The City was finally still once final time, alight once again under its own sun…

The clock tower tolled again...

...And Gale couldn't help but think though that somewhere, something massive had died.

"No he is breathing... I don't know, I've just got here... Yeah third floor, you should have his details on the system, it's not the first time. Stupid man would be pissed at his own funeral." He heard a distant voice. They echoed, they were all around him. and he desperately wished they would quieten down a bit. "He's waking up hold on, Dad?"

"Who let you in?" Gale spat, he tried to lift himself from the floor, his legs fought him, his head was on fire.

"Dad you shouldn't get up." Alban stated firmly. Gale could just about hear someone chattering on the phone.

"My flat, remember. Help me up." He insisted, getting himself to a sitting position. His head screamed at him.

"No Dad I won't." His son insisted, standing up and stepping back. His father glared at him, standing up slowly. He knew he was at the point of no return. "Stay down."

"How dare you." He sneered, he struggled to his feet, his mind still disoriented, he clenched his fist, his knuckles went bright white. He swiped a near empty bottle from the radiator, he took a hasty and hefty gulp. "How. Dare. You."

"No, he's on his feet... And pretty angry. Please can you-" Alban began, he was caught completely by surprise as his phone was smacked from his hand. He stared at his Dad shocked. There was no anger, no rage, just shock.

"After everything I've done for you! I had to give up my career so I could walk you to school! All the times I helped you at university, the meetings I was in! How people looked down at me at times for my 'parenting' and this is how you thank me!" He spat each word like venom, the force of each one wobbled him. He didn't even know why he was angry.

"Dad calm down, let's get you a cigarette and sit down, shall we?" Alban said with his hands out, he kept an open stance. Despite his condition his Dad was still a weapon. The man finished the bottle. He was drunk again already.

"I don't want to sit down! I want you to look at me! Look at me and see me!" He started to choke on his words. "I just want you to believe me! Believe me Alban! If you won't, who will!" He pleaded. Tears ran down his face. Alban couldn't believe it.

"This again Dad?" He said frustrated, he saw the sadness turn to rage on his father's face. "Do you really think it's worthwhile ruining what's left of your life so you can keep trying to save your fictitious fantasy?"

His dad was silent for a moment, and that made Alban more worried than anything else. The tears had suddenly stopped. There was no other feelings there but that blind hatred, aimed at anything that moved.

"Maybe you're right…" Gale had his voice very low, almost a whispering growl. His eyes could shatter solid rock. "But maybe you're wrong… Eitherway, do you really think that would stop me?"

Alban raised his hands in surrender, the action made Gale snort. "Maybe one more story won't hurt?"

"Goddamn coward, such a disappointment." Gale muttered his words, but still made sure he was loud enough to be heard. He raised his voice again, spitting his next ones like venom. "One more story as opposed to none at all? That's the way you'd like it isn't it? Get me locked up so you don't have me bleeding your millions deep pockets dry."

Gale stormed off to his armchair. He plopped down in silence, lighting a cigarette and draping his old jacket over his shoulders.

Alban quietly picked up his phone again. He turned away from his Dad.

"Hello?" He hoped that the operator was still on the line.

"Hello Mr Mayfair, I've diverted a police car to you, I heard shouting is everything ok?" The operator sounded relieved.

"Yeah, everythings fine. There's no need for an ambulance or a police car now, he's awake and seems fine."

"Mr Mayfair I would not recommend it, there could be serious damage-"

"If they come, they won't be let in. Man survived being left in the Falklands, I'm sure he'll survive a concussion, Corona will be by in half an hour anyway, she'll check him over. Thank You." He spoke each word with insistence, hanging up the call. He quickly texted Cory, begging her to come quick.

"You never did like it when things don't go your way." His Dad said chuckling. Alban turned around and immediately put his head in his hands. Gale already had another drink.

"Really? You've had what half a bottle already. Dad? You nearly died, can you…" He said. His face lit up for a moment, he could feel his dad staring at him. "Tell you what if you put the glass down I'll let you tell me about the City.

"It's only a little glass." Gale said, he slowly brought the glass slowly to his mouth, teasing his son like a schoolboy.

"Dad, you could keep fish in that." Alban ran his hands down his face. His father had a faint smirk on his face. He begged. "Please?"

Gale cocked an eyebrow at his son, and gestured for him to take a stool. Leaning forward he poured his whiskey back into its bottle and dropped the glass onto the floor beside him. He smirked slightly as Alban took the bottle away, placing it on a box beside him.

"Im ready." Alban said with a smile. He liked the way his Dad spoke of the City.

"You're sat like you were when you were twelve." His Dad said with a smile. His mood had completely changed, again.

"Well like you said I still am." He thought for a moment. "Tell me of when you first saw the City."

"How am I supposed to remember that?" Gale grumbled. He fiddled with a lighter. He almost seemed nervous.

"When the roads were the colour of rainbows. The buildings ignited in the light…"

"...and the City was alive." Gale continued, lighting his cigarette. He could see it coming back to him, until the smoke hit his lungs, then he wretched.

"It was beautiful. More beautiful than anything I've ever seen. Apart from your mother." Gale began after a minute. He Glanced at the picture once again.

" Tala is everything ok?"

Thoughts came back but he pushed them away. He wished desperately he still had his whiskey. "I was scared at first. We were on a patrol and I woke up clad from the shoulders down in armour. I thought I'd died. Everything felt so real. The wind on my face, the sounds of hustle beyond. It was confusing. I felt lost. Never had I felt something so real. I went outside and I saw it. It shimmered, it glowed. The floor beneath me pulsed with lights of all colours of the rainbow and the spires caught the dawn light and sang with luminescence. People walked the skyways, flew between the spires, or did whatever the hell they wanted… Didn't matter your creed or race, I'd fight the same bastards I dreamt of the night before. They were all equals there, never would you see someone hurt, never would you see someone bullied. We were all on this adventure together. I took to the sky, and I could see the City radiate with light, it seemed endless, it just simply was… and always was…"

Gale's eyes glazed over for a brief moment.

"It was wondrous, it was illuminated with every shape and colour you could conceive. Try and picture that sight, and it still isn't good enough. I don't think there is a word in our language for something so… pure.

"It still is, now it's just a shadow of its former self. It's still beautiful. But I haven't seen it truly radiate in years. It can come back to its old self, it's not too late. Things are happening in the City now that have never happened before. There is a chance, every chance we can bring humanity back to the City."

"Who's we?" Alban asked. He pointed at both of them. "Not 'us' we?"

"Not you. Why would I want you?" Gale spat, his words never ceased to strike his son hard. "There's another there now. She believes in the City. I can tell, she'd want to see it in light again. At Least I hope so. There is something about the City that brings out the best in people."

"That's very interesting." His son whispered, he tried to sound sarcastic. A jab back at his Dad, but it was far from it. He didn't seem to notice though, he didn't even seem to realise he had spoken. This wasn't the ramblings of a mad man. Alban could tell that every word he'd had said he'd believed...

"When you enter the City you are at peace, nothing else matters. In that world you are free. Truly free. There are no nations, no wars, no conflict, you are free. And I have another visitor." He stated. Alban looked confused. He stared out the window, at the door. There was no one. Moments later the front door creaked open.

"How the hell can you do that?" Alban asked, he waved his hand, dismissing the idea. He got to his feet, placing a few packets of cigarettes on the table, and some money on the fireplace. He created the new arrival. "Corona."

"Hey Gale!" She said happily. Gale placed his hand to his head, she was too loud. "Hey Al, how is he?

Gale looked up in surprise, he looked at his son. "Al?" He mouthed. his confusion was ignored.

"He's had a fall in the night. Overdrinking." He explained. "...Again." Corona nodded.

"Have you checked for potential concussion?"

"No, he doesn't seem any more delirious than normal. Wasn't going to stop him sleeping all day anyway."

"I can hear you two y'know." He said angrily, Gale had picked up his glass again. He pointed with it, the hatred had returned to his eyes. "You. 'Al'."

"Yes Dad?" Alban said, he rolled his eyes and he could hear what was coming.

"Grab my mail." He said. His son put his coat on.

"You don't have any mail. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Gale said, he took a massive mouthful. "Sod off."

"Yes sir, anything you say sir. I'll polish my boots sir, I promise. Please put the cane down-" His Son began mockingly, he stopped as his Dad rose to his feet, darting to the door with his tail between his legs. "Seeya later Corona, if he does end up on the floor again, just leave him. I've got people to sack."

Without another word Alban left. Gale's eyes followed him out the door. He growled to himself, sitting back down heavily, he lit another cigarette within moments.

"You two have another spat?" Corona asked as she started picking up rubbish, it would take months to clean this place, without Gale being there anyway. "I thought I was hearing friendly voices!"

"I don't really give two tosses Cory, so there is no point making conversation out of it." He said, pouring another glass.

"That's not true. He does love you, really he does, and you should too." She said with a smile, the man's glare had no effect on her. "He's your son, he's your blood."

"Should have worn a jacket." He said with a smile, he was about to take another drink when he burst into sudden laughter. Cory watched in shock. He coughed violently. "She said that as well."

"Don't be so crude, Gale. You're far better than that." She spoke with a frown. "I don't think Tala would approve of your methods…" Cory felt a pang of sadness as that jewel of water reserved just for her appeared in his eyes. She pulled out her pad, taking down a brief note.

" I'm not there yet."

"What's the term for a person like me?" He asked, he puffed heavily on his cigarette.

Corona rose to her feet without a word. She could feel Gale staring at her. She picked up the pile of money and smiled at him, she got the faintest of smiles back. "I'll be back with your shopping."

"That's what I thought…" He whispered as she walked away. He dried his cheek, and put on his usual frown. Any semblance of emotion other than anger left his visage. Inwardly he was betrayed. He whispered to himself. "I do love him, when he's not a twat."

He was alone again, and moments after that he was on his feet again, he gingerly walked through his flat. Gale grunted as he forced the deadbolt open, and with a powerful shove the door creaked open to his radio room. He dropped into his chair.

Gale was hit by a sharp stab of pain in his back. He breathed deep, spots appeared in his vision as the pain rapidly turned to agony. He tried desperately to control it. He calmed his breaths to no avail, he desperately forced his thumb between his knuckles, attempting in vain to distract the pain.

It took mouthfuls and mouthfuls of alcohol to cause the pain to subside slightly. When the time came that he was able to see properly he reached for his pen. Despite the breathtaking agony, he opened the book, and proceeded to write down the events of the night. He set aside a space, enabling him to sketch with great accuracy the event in the sky, and briefly, the person in the mirror. Even drunk, the man was a wizard with a pen.

He flicked on his radio set as he carried on writing. He swapped over settings and worked the controls on autopilot. He only paused to swap his hands over, but he didn't even miss a beat as he did so. His hand still wrote, his other still worked.

Gale let out a deep breath as he set his pen down, scanning his notes, he held certain ones in memory.

Something clicked in his mind. An idea. Something that would need to be tested, when the time was right.

He donned his headset, and glanced at the clock. Without being even a second later, he started his broadcast as he always did, when he always did.

"Do you remember it?"