Battle for Paradise

by David Wheatley

"We were too late," Strange whispered, his voice weak after the mystical confrontation with Kulan Gath. "The portals are open and the Sons are coming to this world. I can feel their presence tainting this world..."

"We have done what we could," Doom said, with equal weakness, but there was more of a confidence to him. "We interrupted the spell and the Sons of Set have been scattered. They will still emerge but separated from each other, we may have a chance of defeating them, ending their tyranny once and for all."

"You planned this," said Forge, staring at Doom, with a mix of rage at the betrayal of trust, and awe at how the man had played everyone with such consummate ease. "You knew this would happen."

"Yes," said Doom with no real trace of pride, as if he were confirming the actions of someone else. "I knew Kulan Gath was the Secretary General. I knew because I was told of it and this world is not that different from my own in terms of the timeline."

"How could you do this?" said Strange, and Forge knew that Strange too had been played by Doom. "You are Sorcerer Supreme. Your duty..." However Doom was not in the mood for righteous indignation.

"I know what must be done. If Kulan Gath thought I was on to him, he would have done things differently and we would have failed to stop him at all. The Sons will rise, we will stop them, and we will stop him."

"And if you're wrong?" said GW Bridge, looking at the Sorcerer.

"Then we all die together," said Doom, without missing a beat and then he paused. "Stop the Sons," he commanded. "Strange and I will defeat Kulan Gath, and that will be the end of it."

"I wish I had your confidence," said Forge but this world had heroes, champions and hopefully they would be ready for the coming war. That had been little more than a few hours ago, and Forge had been to see the Security Council and explain what had gone on as Doom and Strange had gone after Kulan Gath. Excalibur had gone to the SHIELD office to see what was going on and the portals had opened, scattered as Doom had predicted. However Forge had been busy, calling heroes, arranging SHIELD so that they were on their highest alert possible and it was now and only now that he was seeing the extent of Kulan Gath's reach, and he knew that there was going to be an enquiry of what the Secretary General had done in the last few months.

Cults were appearing based on the Sons of Set, worshipping their gods, and not just the usual suspects such as the Sons of the Serpents. The Avengers were dealing with one cult as they faced off against one of the Sons of Set, but it seemed as if that one had been there a while and he would have to look in to that later as the other Sons were only just coming in to view. SHIELD forces had taken most of them out but there were still stragglers, and SHIELD resources were being stretched.

X-Force was at work against one of the sons and Excalibur were in Grenada taking on another. He wanted to be there with at least one of the teams but he had a higher responsibility, making sure that the terror and panic that was being caused was being dealt with quickly. One of the Sons had appeared in Africa, albeit briefly, and that had caused mass panic which was being handled by Timothy Dugan who was still recovering after the Fin Fang Foom affair. He'd done well, but the damage to the Behemoth and the casualties had been high and Forge had given him the Africa job to keep him going. With all the troubles in Africa right now, the last thing needed was a panic caused by a snake god, and there were similar scenes across the world.

"There are days and there are days," said Forge as he looked up and down the screens in his office that had been focused on the various broadcast information networks, using high speed scans to keep an eye on world reaction and seeing what was going on so he could send in people to keep things in check. His people were working hard and he had his arm hooked in so that he could check what was going on with a greater degree of efficiency, as well as freeing the screens to see what was going on in the world and he knew it would give him a headache after he disconnected, but that was his problem, and right now he had a world to protect from itself as the heroes battled the godlings.

He was the Director of SHIELD and he had work to do, but he had the suspicion that he was missing something, and he wondered what it was...

"I hate snakes!" shouted USAgent as he held his energy shield over his face, protecting himself from the elements. This Son of Set was powerful, not only as a fire breathing, vicious snake god but it had a command of the weather, and it was good at what it did. The weather over Grenada was normally more pleasant, he knew that because he'd been here on holiday once or twice, but now it was a mixture of powerful electrical storms, with snow and ice and gales and the calm tropical climate was being thrown in to chaos. "And I hate snakes that can screw around with the weather!"

"We've had better days," Savitar said, thankful his powers were keeping him warm, but he was having difficulty staying in the air to fight the demon, which by the time they had arrived had eaten a lot of people and more than that had taken some of the women to be his mates. The thing on everyone's mind though was that they as a team had been sued by Kulan Gath to bring the Sons of Set to Earth and more than that the price for doing so had been a portion of their souls and they were still greatly weakened from the experience.

Another problem that they had encountered was that Darkstar had tried to contain the creature in a Darkforce sphere but the creature was a demi-god and it had fed of the power of the Darkforce Dimension, giving it greater power than it had and it had made their task that much more arduous an ordeal, and now she was working on getting the civilians and holiday makers out of harm's way. Excalibur had been put together so that they were the equivalent of the Avengers, perhaps more powerful than Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but at their current weakened state they were not living up to the reputation and ideals that the United Nations had formed the team with.

Armory was unleashing as much of it's arsenal at the snake as Bridge could command, but his targeting and tracking data was off because of the atmospheric conditions and he was scoring with the energy weapons and bullets but his missiles were being blown out of the sky, and it's wounds were healing quickly and the focus that bridge had to operate the system under normal parameters was less than he could give it, and these were definitely not normal parameters. It was as if his heart wasn't in it, but he knew he had a job to do and that was what he was doing.

Hauptmann, Union Jack and USAgent charged as best they could, braving the elemental assault, and as one they attacked the snake but the creature let them get in close before swiping them away with a flick of it's mighty tail, and the heroes were on the ropes. This was a creature that had great power and though it had so far said nothing, they knew it was capable of speech. It seemed to consider them more of a distraction than anything else and every so often it's tongue lashed out, trying to grab one of them in effort to eat one of the heroes.

"We need something else," shouted Sabra, trying to make herself heard above the roar of the wind and crash of the lightning. "We need some way of causing the creature to pause."

"Nothing springs to mind," said Hellios, trying again with his powers, but there was very little his blasts were doing. "Let's face it, Kulan Gath did a number on us and we've not been ourselves since."

"There has to be something," Sabra shouted back. "Some way we can buy ourselves some time to get back in the fight!"

"There is a way!" Honey Lemon said, but they didn't hear her. She had done an analysis of the creature with some equipment she had pulled from her belt pockets and it was allowing her to see things that Bridge was not because of the interference. It confirmed what they had thought about the creature and her relationship with it, given everything that had happened. Then she shouted "Be ready!"

"What for?" Sabra cried back as Honey Lemon stood within the centre of the storm, a device attached to her head and she looked up at the snake, and focused her mental energies, hoping that this psionic device would allow her to make contact with the creature. She had to buy the team time to find a way of defeating the creature and this was the best way.

~I am Nyoko Anda~ she said ~Vessel of the Harbinger~

~You are the creature that allowed us to ascend to this realm~ the serpent said as it continued to fight, not giving pause for the conversation. ~And these mortals were those that gave of their souls so we could rise~

~Spare them and I will surrender myself to you willingly~ she said

~I will take you willingly or not~ came the reply. ~Why should I spare these creatures?~

~Because they will make better slaves than corpses~ she answered. ~I can feel the battles with your brothers occurring and I know that their plans do not go as well as you had hoped~

~We are diminished apart, as you are diminished in body. Your lifeforces should have enabled us to ascend as one, but you did not fully give up your souls, and you as the Vessel should have been sacrificed in our honour~

~You will be the last of the Sons of Set, the one true heir to his dynasty. If you merge your power with that of the Vessel of the Harbinger~

~Then I would be able to send a signal to the scions of Set across the dimensions and they would come to this world as a great army an avenge the loss of the progenitors~

~With you as their one lord and master~ Honey Lemon bowed in deference.

~You are willing to do this?~

~I would rather live as a goddess than die as a mortal. If I have destroyed this world, then I would see the fruits of my labour~

~The Harbinger chose wisely~ said the serpent and his tongue flicked out, wrapping itself around her and it pulled her in to it's mouth.

"NO!" cried Sabra, but it was too late and the mouth closed as Honey Lemon was drawn in to the snake and then a tidal wave came and swamped the area, but Darkstar was on hand, alerted by Bridge as to what was going no and she managed to cover her friends and allies with a Darkforce coating, shielding them from the disaster and as the waters subsided, they realised the serpent was gone. The weather was still wild and unruly, but it was random, as the snake itself no longer directed the elements, instead allowing them to do as they would.

"What the hell just happened?" said Savitar as the Excalibur members regrouped.

"A plan," said Armory. "Honey Lemon and I discussed this on the way down. She's the Vessel of the Harbinger, which is how she did what she did, and as such she has a connection to the higher powers. We figured the battle could go well or badly, no in-between, and if it did she would give herself to the snake."

"That's a terrific plan," said USAgent, the sarcasm dripping from him. "Give herself to the snake?"

"She sent the power out, through the dimensions to summon them," said Bridge. "The snake can now send for reinforcements of his own and destroy the world."

"I'm still not sure where the plan is going," said Union Jack. "We're wasted, physically and mentally and now it has Nyoko to bring in more snakes?"

"Wait," said Sabra. "Gath needed to take of our souls to open the portals to bring the Sons here. How will the Son bring reinforcements?"

"It needs to gather a sacrifice," said Hellios. "Like we were to the Sons."

"Exactly," said Bridge. "We've bought ourselves some time. The device on Nyoko's head allowed her to contact the snake, but also to protect her thoughts."

"How did you know it would use telepathy to talk?" asked Hauptmann.

"How many talking snakes have you heard of?" said Union Jack. "And these are gods so telepathic conversation could be quite important."

"Thor's not a telepath," said USAgent. "Neither's Hercules."

"Either way, it bought us some time," said Bridge. "That's what matters."

"So how do we find them?" asked Darkstar. "They've seemingly disappeared."

"Or gone underwater," said Hellios.

"We find them using the tracking device Honey Lemon has. I can use Armory to find her."

"I didn't think the system was working too well," said Hauptmann.

"I may not be able to make direct scans, but I can still pick up transmissions," Bridge said, thinking it might be harder if he were any further away from the system than Anguilla.

"So what's the plan to stop the snake?" asked Hellios.

"That's the clever part," said Bridge. "I just have to ask someone first, but he'll not say no."

"Are you insane?"

"No," said Bridge. "I'm not. Forge, Excalibur's had it's collective ass handed to it by a giant snake that wasn't that bothered about fighting us. Darkstar's power was absorbed, my weapons were ineffectual and it's a ten foot snake so the others are having difficulties right now!"

"I have things to do here," said Forge. "I can't leave my post. My orders…"

"Forge your orders have gone to hell," said Bridge. "The UN's in an emergency session to deal with this, the Secretary General's actually an evil sorcerer and we've been used by him since he ordered the rebuilding of the team. SHIELD's gonna get a new role out of this and we both know it. You may not even be director after they've done."

Forge closed his eyes. He knew that Bridge was right and he knew that there was a duty to perform and that there were things that he could do that weren't tied to his Directorship. He'd been ordered not to put himself in harms way because SHIELD needed a Director. He'd made all these changes to the way he operated, the way he did things and it had been compromise after compromise after compromise. He'd never run X-Factor like that, so why run SHIELD the same way?

"The way to stop this creature is not to outgun him because we can't do that just now but to fight him in a way nobody else could. You're the guy, Forge. The Soul Spell that protected you from Kulan Gath is the means to stopping the creature now. It's half human, which means it's vulnerable there and that's how you can use the Soul Spell to get to him."

"Okay," said Forge, softly. "I'll do it. I'll use the power to take the soul of the creature and banish it for all time. Then you guys can take care of it's body."

"Hurry," said Bridge. "I don't know how long we'll have before the creature makes it's play."

"I'll have to make some adjustments to HERMES," Forge said. "There's been a shift in the Earth's biosphere since the portals opened and we've not got around it yet."

"I know. That's why we flew to Grenada," said Bridge. "I'll see you soon. Right now we've got people to save from this weather."

"Good luck," said Forge and Bridge signed off and Forge stroked his moustache as he broke the link to the various places and he logged in to his own computer systems at the Compound, the base of operations that formerly belonged to X-Factor that he had used as his own workshop, laboratory when he was not at the Aerie. "Hello Shrapnel," he said.

"Director Forge," the artificial intelligence program answered. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, Shrapnel. I need you to do something for me."

"Yes, Director Forge?"

"Shrapnel, override code Genesis Alpha Tango Seven Three Six Omega."

"Standing by," Shrapnel said, it's usual mannerisms suspended by the code Forge had built in to the system and the voice replaced by a voice that sounded eerily like the Maker himself.

"Upload template to SHIELD super computers," Forge said.

"Working. Upload complete. Neural connection established."

"Copy."

"Duplication programme in effect." Forge closed his eyes and focused as the pain came over him and he muttered the words he had prepared for such an occasion, and though it seemed to last a lifetime it was only for a few moments. He did this because it was the only way he knew he could do it, because he knew for what he had to do there needed to be a sacrifice and that was what he would do. "Completed."

"Good," said Forge. "Monitor and access all queries and directives using copied data."

"Activated," Shrapnel answered.

"Take care of things while I'm gone," Forge said and went down to the HERMES chamber and started to make the adjustments. If he was right, then they'd never even notice he was gone.

Nyoko looked around the cavern in which she had been regurgitated.

~I know your kind need air top breathe~ said the snake, it's voice occurring in her mind.

"Thank you," she said.

~There is no need to thank me, I do what is necessary to ensure I can utilise you and summon my offspring, those scattered in other dimensions.~

"What is your name, my lord?~ Nyoko said. "You do have a name?"

~You may refer to me as Mjnari~ the serpent said. "I will even speak with you."

"You can speak?" said Nyoko. "Fascinating."

"I am half human, and in being half human there are certain aspects I have retained. I can speak and should I choose to do so I can take a human guise, but most of my brothers find that form repulsive, as do I."

"Most?"

"Attum believes the human form is a part of his heritage and uses it more frequently than the rest of us. However Attum is of no importance. He is the lesser of the Sons of Set."

"Yet you needed him to conquer the worlds," Nyoko answered.

"Seven is a mystical number. There are seven heads on my Father, there were seven sons. Seven souls were needed to facilitate the Ascension. There are seven days, seven seals, seven heavens. Seven stands for the expression of the mysterious God force in Nature."

"Plus it is the only divisor that cannot be fully part of a circle," Nyoko said.

"That is because seven cannot be bound by conventional forces, within magic or science. Seven is the only number that is capable of dividing the number of Eternity."

"I have seen that in action," Honey Lemon said, the scientist within her coming to life at something she knew very well indeed. In the most ancient rules of occult philosophy the rule was laid down that the number 7. The number 1 is the first number, representing the First Cause, Creator, God or Spirit, or whatever the force was named. A circle of the zero, 0, has always been taken as the symbol of endlessness, otherwise called Eternity. Mathematics told that by placing the 1 and the figure zero by its side, and you get the significant symbol of eternity such a figure as 10, or 1000 or 1,000,000. To divide that number by the mystic number 7 and you get the number 142857, reoccurring. One million for example gave 142857.142857 and so on and so on. It was that very number that had allowed her to develop the miniaturisation process that allowed her to store items in her pouch.

"It was that very aspect that allowed the Pharoah's people to build the Great Pyramid, instilling it with a mystical alignment. Khonshu's vested interest ensure that the outer angle of the Pyramid was 51 degrees and 51 minutes and this allowed him to touch the planet with his power, and not just be confined to the moon."

"You know much," said Nyoko, thinking that if the knowledge of these creatures could only be used for good. What kind of world would it be?

"I am a god," said Mjnari. "My mother was a goddess, so unlike my brothers I am a true god."

"Your mother was Storm," said Nyoko. The pieces fit, the control of the weather and the perception of divinity.

"You are astute, mortal. The Harbinger indeed chose well, and is that astuteness that allows you to perceive your destiny."

"Yes," she said. "However you will need a sacrifice to open the portal, to begin the summoning."

"Perhaps," said Mjnari. "However, I do not think so. I believe that I can use the power of the Earth itself to provide the life-force I need."

"What?" said Honey Lemon, thanking the stars she was protected from the invasiveness of Mjnari's mental aspect.

"My powers are elemental and as such I can perceive things in terms of colour, of life and art. I can see the very biosphere of the Earth and I can manipulate it in ways my mother never considered possible, ways I can conceive of because I am a god."

"So was she," said Honey Lemon.

"But she cast it aside, treasuring humanity more than godhood. She limited herself and her capabilities and as such she denied herself her full potential. I am the child of my father and I will not do so. For this I am forced to take a body but the price is worth what will be gained. Behold the true power of the elements!"

The snake assumed a human guise, and the surroundings began to alter as the very life-force of the planet was channelled in to the creature…

"I feel a bit better," said USAgent as he helped evacuate the last of the people from the island. Darkstar had placed the impregnated females in a Darkforce quarantine until their children could be dealt with, hopefully by someone like Doctor Strange or Doom. Either one of them should know how to deal with demonic pregnancies and they certainly did not want this world to deal with this problem again.

"I know what you mean," said Savitar. "I've more juice than I had earlier."

"I meant I was getting bored," said USAgent. "Normally I'd be tearing the place apart to find the bad guy, but I just didn't have the will to do it, but now I'm getting restless."

"Ah," said Savitar. "I was feeling just a bit more charged than I was earlier, but it's probably part of the same thing."

"I hate snakes," Walker said. "Never liked them."

"There's not many who do," said Union Jack. "The snake's an image of evil, of terror. Guess that's why Hydra was chosen as the symbol for terrorists."

"That's the last of them," Sabra said as the evacuees headed out towards Anguilla and the other Caribbean islands, protected by Darkstar from the waves and such and the members of Excalibur gathered. Grenada's people had fled and on the island there was only the seven heroes left. They had been together for a short time compared to most teams of heroes, but in many ways it seemed like a lifetime and perhaps this was the battle they had been formed to fight.

Armory stood there and through it's eyes Bridge looked at the people. His people. Savitar, Hellios, Union Jack, USAgent, Sabra, Hauptmann.

"And there was a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat," he muttered to himself, thinking of the statue outside the Avengers mansion, the one that was of the originals. "They were the Avengers," he said. "Today is unlike any other when all Earth's Mightiest Heroes are fighting for survival and if one of these gods gets through the net, then we'll be dealing with this one for years. We've got women who've been infected with their spawn, and that's just here. If this serpent brings his spawn from other worlds, it's game over for us all."

"So let's take the bastard," said USAgent. "Or die trying."

"I'm game," said Union Jack.

"Likewise," said Hauptmann. "One way or another this is my last mission and I will end it in style."

"And so say we all," Sabra said. "I may not be the woman I used to be, but I'll give it all I have."

"Let's finish this," said Savitar.

"If the power of Hellios can be put to good use, I can think of no better place." The Greek looked at them all. "Let's go."

"Follow me!" said Armory and took to the sky as the sky grew darker than it had been before and the winds died down as if the very Earth itself held it's breath and the ground began to turn dull, a greyish hue forming around everything as the colour and life started to dissipate from the natural world around them. Even the seas themselves began to crash against the shore with less forcefulness and the heroes knew the ending of the battle had begun and that time had now run out for them.

Bridge checked the systems, triangulate the location of Honey Lemon and the Armory system shot up and then ploughed in to the ground, smashing stone and earth as it travelled, blasting with it's weapons and making a path to where the godling was and as the heroes arrived they could see the god in a human form, with energy being drawn in to it and being channelled through the being and in to Honey Lemon who was in turn becoming more snake like in her appearance, her arms seemingly stuck to her body and her skin turning green.

"He'sss draining the power of the planet to open a portal," she said, trying to fight what was happening. "I cannot ssssstop the transssssssformation."

"EXCALIBUR STRIKE NOW!" Bridge commanded and the heroes charged forward.

"Fools!" cried Mjnari. "Do you think I will allow you to stop me?" Lightning hurled forth striking at Union Jack and Sabra, both of them being protected by their costumes, but just barely and they were badly burnt by the experience all the same.

Savitar, Hellios and Armory poured on a massive energy assault, but the power that was being drawn in by the godling was more than enough to stop the attack and he fired power of his own, the fiery breath that he had cast forth before now spewing from his eyes and mouth at the heroes and Hellios and Savitar were matched by the heat itself.

Hauptmann was the first of them to get close to the creature and he leapt at the Son of Set and wrestled the creature to the floor, interrupting the power flow and allowing the others to regain their bearings, but the German had miscalculated what was going on and instead of drawing on the Earth itself, the snake started to draw upon the bio energies of Hauptmann.

"NO!" cried USAgent who drew his guns and began shooting at the snake who recoiled as the bullets struck him but that was all he did and then he cast Hauptmann aside, the German being left as little more than a withered old man, but he was alive, for what good that did him.

"Mortal creatures, you are dealing with a force you cannot possibly hope to comprehend and will never hope to defeat!" it cried. "I have used the power of the Earth itself to call upon my children and they will come!"

"Not on our watch," said Bridge and Armory unleashed everything it had at Mjnari but the creature was too amped on the life-energy of the planet to be wounded by the assault, and it reverted to it's true snake form.

"I can feel you, all the way from here, hiding behind the tin mask," Mjnari said. "Your shield will do you no good when my kin arrive. I have no more need to fight you - I have done enough."

"I can't fight it," said Honey Lemon and the portal to another world began to slowly open.

"You don't have to," said Forge as he appeared, teleported in by HERMES. That had been closer than he'd liked, and he had thought for certain that he would materialise in solid rock as the atmospheric anomalies had been harder to compensate for than he had liked but he had appeared here, and luck must have been on his side, or perhaps some higher power was watching down on him. In either case he was here.

"Little man," said the snake. "What hope have you?"

"More than you know," said Forge and they could see the markings on his face, painted on. "You are not a true god, you have a mortal soul alongside your godly one and the two halves are one and I can affect them with the soul spell."

"I know this spell," said Mjnari. "My mother's memories show it very clearly, Maker. She loved you so much. Yours was the last thing she thought of as I devoured her."

"You cannot faze me," Forge said. "Ororo died on this world some time ago and I have grieved. You cannot hurt me with her death, or any version of her that you choose. The soul spell will bind you for all time and with no soul your body will be vulnerable."

"You dare pit yourself against me?" said Mjnari. "What makes you believe you can defeat the son of an elder god?"

"Because I am a shaman, a guardian of the mystical forces of the Earth and I have defeated your kind before."

"The Adversary was a trickster compared to me," the snake said but Forge was no longer listening and his chanting became less words than more a physical force, backed by the gestures he was creating and with a final gesture he pointed at the snake and turned it in to a being of energy but the energy was dark, malevolent and he brought it forwards towards him and then his own body began to change and became energy himself, a bright light against the darkness that was Mjanri, and the two energies struck each other and then…

You cannot hold me!

I can hold you, keep you bound with my soul, ensuring that the portal you have opened stays closed forever.

This is not possible, mortal creature. I am a god.

You were never a god. You considered yourself one because that is what you were taught on your birth world. You are a god because you are worshipped as a god, but here you have no blind followers, no faithful. Here there are those who can fight you and you do not have the power to stop it.

I am the Son of Set!

I am the vessel of the earth, a guardian of reality. If my fate is to protect this world then that is what I will do, no matter the cost. I will battle you for all time and in a battle of souls then neither of us will win and we will battle for all time.

I will find a way to defeat you, mortal.

No, you won't. We will be cast to a place where dimensions meet and our combined energies will seal this realm from your presence. It's over…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

…the combined energy seemed to gather a focus and was propelled towards Honey Lemon who could do nothing to resist and she was hit by the energy as the portal above her grew wider and the heroes could hear the hissing of a thousand godlings behind the doorway waiting for access to be given, getting louder as they came forward and then portal closed with an explosion of power and two forms fell to the floor.

Forge and Mjnari lay there, unmoving and there was no signs of conscious life in either one and the heroes as once struck at the snake and in less than a moment there was nothing left of the creature but ashes. However the forces unleashed had weakened the cavern.

"Savitar, Hellios, grab who you can and go!" Bridge said as he used the Armory to pick up Forge. The bio scanners said his body was alive, but there was something certainly wrong with the SHIELD Director. Then he grabbed Honey Lemon, as Savitar grabbed Union Jack and Sabra while Hellios collected USAgent and Hauptmann and took them up to the surface as quickly as they cold as the cavern collapsed all around them and they reached the surface.

"Have we won?" asked USAgent.

"I don't know," said Bridge. Union Jack and Sabra were still recovering from the lightning attack, Hauptmann was almost dead, Nyoko was still trapped in mid-transformation between being a snake and a normal woman and Forge was wrong after his use of the spell. Plus there was the cost to the people of Grenada, the women who would have to undergo tests and other operations. Then there was Grenada itself

The place had been devastated from the assault by the god's weather attack and the draining of it's life-force and Bridge looked through the Armory unit, tears were in his eyes. A little piece of paradise had been damaged, perhaps beyond repair. If anyone doubted the cost of what they had achieved here today, then this was it - they had prevented their world from ending up like this, a shell of what it had once been. Grenada would recover, life would return to this place.

He just hoped the rest of the world would be as lucky.