"I know," he darted in front of the bounty hunter, "every moment, until Leviticus, from that day was agony. My anguish never ebbed, and I screamed until I could no longer speak. Everything was pain, nothing but misery." He laughed without mirth, "It eclipsed everything, devoured every part of me, and I couldn't drag my family down."

"What happened?" Cassidy begged. "You became a monster!"

"Bullock, you have no concept of my hurt," he sneered. "Hell is endless as its agonies, and I wallowed in them. Until, Leviticus came with Miquipapalotl," his words fell to a bewildered rasp of shame. "Anything to escape the pain, even this damnation, from one Perdition to," the Captain shook his head. "Know, Bullock, what I do to you, it'll be a merciful end!"

"Please," Cassidy pleaded, "I don't want to fight you, Barnabas!"

"Daddy," April rushed around her mother, who stared at the Captain.

Barnabas recoiled as if shot. The little girl took a step forward, and he retreated. "No," he whispered, a man downing in a nightmare. As her face rose into rapturous joy, she grinned; his countenance descended into shamed horror. Again, though confused by his misshapen visage, she took another step towards him. From a numb hand, the saber fell to the floor. In the ruptured eye, all of the abysmal misery lived, deepest fear realized.

"Daddy, are you okay?" she raised a hand to her mouth, tears welled, and the other reached for her father. "We came back for you. We missed you!" her smile, although tentative, was filled with a hope only an innocent could entertain.

The abomination, once a man, now a terror, withdrew from April. Into himself he fled. Wide brim hat pulled low. "Stay away, I'm…unwell!" he whimpered.

"What is wrong with your voice?" her lips quivered, hurt and confused. This man was her father, and he lived in her heart, brave and strong.

"William…Bill," Matilda stepped forward, but grabbed her daughter's elbow. Cassidy blinked; none of the men knew the Captain's middle name.

"I told you to never return!" Barnabas groaned.

She stepped towards him, but the wings, which appeared as a duster, fluttered in agitation. "I don't care how badly you're injured...or whatever your affliction!"

"I can never leave," the Captain rasped in a buzz strangled lament. "Though Miquipapalotl had revitalized me, I live only at her discretion. The cost of the salvation from my torment was high, from which there is no escape."

"We can save you, Captain," implored Cassidy.

A weak smile pulled at Barnabas's lips. Horror washed over the Captain, and eyes shifted to somewhere beyond the door. Around the room he searched, desperate, but he looked to where the horse was caught. "Take the horse," he said; a heavy step struck the wood of the church's front porch. "I can control them…a little," he looked at the bounty hunter, there is only one, and I need you to keep him here!"

"NO, I WANT MY DADDY!" wailed April.

Cassidy nodded, dashed to the back door. He pulled Matilda and her children with him. Through the storm they raced to the horse, yet no local moved. A tremor moved through them with two wills at war for control. Up into the saddle she climbed, and the bounty hunter helped the boy in front. April looked back, cried for Barnabas. Rain hid the tears, which Cassidy was grateful. Out into the desert they rode.

Eyes, blue as the dawn, turned back to the church, under the slouch hat. He would save Barnabas this time, he swore. A wail of agony rose from inside, and the locals shivered under the battle for control. Gun in hand, his grin was stony, and back to the church ran the bounty hunter.

Upon the charred floor, Captain Lee shivered. Dark, dusty wings that shrouded his mangled body lost scales. Mental strain robbed him of strength, for Leviticus was a fearsome opponent. Out of the desert the strange priest had come. Many promises he'd proffered, miracles bargained, Barnabas recalled. Transformation sworn to be deliverance, it was a curse that sullied the soul, defiled the body. Though pulled from the devastated mire of his pain, a new affliction was thrust upon him, all who chose Miquipapalotl. Scales, dusty and sweet, from the Goddess, Black Witch, delivered one from their misery, yet in its absence a hateful voracious pain wracked the body. Barnabas escaped one hell to be in another.

Leviticus stood among the charred ruin and broken wood unbothered. Ponderous, he studied the agony of the captain. "Mister Lee, your actions have damned you," he mused, "and all for nothing. We'll catch the woman, your children. I'll suck the marrow from their bones. He stepped towards Barnabas, loomed over his decaying body, "I shall devour her screaming before you. I will—"

Rapid boom of the revolver filled the church. Bullets tore through Leviticus's face and chest, yet ricocheted off thick bone about his heart. Curious, he turned to Cassidy, whose gun smoked in his hand. "Mister Bullock, I've watched your progression," he turned briefly to Barnabas, "and you don't have the petty attachments of the Captain." Back to Cassidy his dower gaze fell, "I'll give you all your former officer has thrown away, and the one thing you seek above all else, purpose." Wounds inflicted by the revolver healed.

The bounty hunter reloaded, act fast from years of practice. "I don't know what you are," he raised the revolver, "but we're walking out of here." Past the priest, he saw a mass of darkness; pallid corpse face hung, hands floated. Wind rushed, low beat of wings hummed, and the Goddess watched. Lightning flashed; the face and arms were flat like a thaumatrope. Cassidy recalled how the optical illusion had made the blue bird image appear to fly.

"Miquipapalotl wants you to be her sword," Leviticus ignored the words, his gun. "All of your sorrow will be sweetness. Every pain will be pleasure. You seek purpose, just like your Captain, and you will have it. No longer will you wonder about the dark places, alone and broken."