Silence, not empty, nor endless, sliced through the space of time, the time of space. Tendrils of steam that arose constantly from the tools of Kruger's craftsmanship - the forge, the fire, the water baths - began to hiss.... White Bright Curls drifting heavenward Twirls plummeting hellward White steam filling, billowing, white and yet not white, Irridescent Opalescent Sparkling as if light reflected within upon light Within.... The source of light.... The source of life.... ...within.... But how is this possible" "Divorce the laws of man and listen to the still small voice...."

Such thoughts drift to him, thoughts not his own, but meant for him....but in a female voice.... "Do ye not know" Have ye not heard" "Has it not been told you from the beginning" "Have you not understood since the earth was founded?"

Geometric designs danced upon the surface of the white, Fireflies eternally blinking The bright, The light, Clouds of steam, that was not steam Clouds upon clouds upon clouds As if heaven had come to reign within his smithy Heaven of earth Earth of heaven "Peace. My peace I give you. "

Peace would be what he felt, not the bewilderment of thoughts of unsound mind Jumbled Tumbled But clear and bright and that sudden feeling of knowing Beyond doubt, bejond space, beyond time, beyond all mankind, That he knew, he absolutely knew!! A cosmic assurance A greater Truth than he had ever known before. Like God gave him a glimpse of the Universe God's own plan. Only a sliver, Only a glimpse, For to reveal it all would overwhelm. Yet, it was there, that feeling that he knew the Truth of God, And all of mankind's history. Her voice again comes to his ears, Sweetly Gently Caressing, possessing But never to fear, no, my Child, never to fear Nothing can he see, Nothing can he feel, There is only this Voice, filling his senses, Filling.....him Filling him up even as it lifts him, Lifts and carries his hope, Upon the clouds that still drift, Clouds that are all he can see, Clouds obscuring form yet form is there Glowing Showing Presence in the clouds..... "Be not afraid. You asked for judgement. Judgement you shall have. Favor is yours, kind Kruger. The favor of abundant life. Life....and love....and the sanctification of your steel. Whatsoever is past is gone. Be not afraid of what cannot hurt you any longer."

A sudden rush of wind blows through his shop, sweeping all before it, sweeping clean. All dissipate....vanish into the veil.... Invisible to the eye.... Seen only with the heart.

Stands before him a woman, or so he believes, Her form, her outline, her body reminding of such, She is and yet she is not. She smiles. She shines like an opal, glossimer clothed, shimmering. And it seems as if in brightness his heart is warmed, A feeling of such contentment, such joy, Never has he felt before, Never has he even imagined it could be. Yet it is so. "I have been always. Now I am with you. For you. When you need, when you fear, when you walk without knowing where you go, I will be by your side. I bring greetings from the Most Holy. Who is well pleased with you. And your work. His Righteousness shows in your labours. His Glory shines in your steel. Well done, thy good and faithful servant."

She moves, but seems to move not at all. Standing by his new creations, her arm stretches, her fingers touch And the flash of light, brief though it is, is blinding in its intensity. Yet it lasts but not a second of man's time, and causes him no earthly pain. And where she touched, lightning radiates up and down the one hammer he had so recently forged, handle and head. "Heaven, Thou aret named well by thy Creator. Blessed be He who has made you, and He who will wield you, for He shall not be touched by the harm of the unrighteous, but always protected by the Light of His Glory."

When she moves, more like gliding without moving, the light receeds from the hammer, leaving it as before. And she touches the other. Wind like fury comes forth, bringing with it lightning, thunder, and rain.....a storm of hellish porportions....a hurricane of hell....lasting as long as her hand lingers upon the handle of the hammer....as long as her fingers trace up it to fondle the head....until she lifts her hand, breaks contact. And all is at the calm once more. "Hell, Thou aret the fury of the Righteous for the indignant, the voice of the meek, the justice of the poor. Blessed is He who has made you, and He who will enact your judgement upon the masses, for He shall bring forth Mercy and Justice, with the courage of the ages."

She turnes full face to Kruger. A beauty indescribable. A joy insurmountable takes him in prayer to his knees. "Beloved, never avenge yourself. Leave it to the wrath of God, for it is He who says, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.' Now sleep....sleep in the arms of the angels....and know the Truth of what you have witnessed when you wake."

In the one instant, this was happening. In the next, it was not. She was gone. And he would be left to wonder, did it ever really happen at all" And if he went to his hammers, to pick them up, to gaze upon them in their rest, they would look the same, and yet.....yet.... In the way the Creator knows who His Beloved is, In the way we accept the call of Him, That is the way that Kruger would know of his newly formed war hammers, that is the way that he would know of their power, their glory, their mercy.... ....bestowed upon them....bestowed upon him.....by the very messenger of LifeForce.... .....her name whispered to him in his slumber, as the only evidence of her being there at all..... ......Marissa de Vie.....

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale?" (Captain Ahab in Moby Dick by Herman Melville 1851)

The movements were smooth ingrained within him through years of holding the hammer. Few knew their weapon as Kruger knew his. Even those who had trained hadn't done so to the scope that he had with hammer. Day in and out had given him a feel for them. True he wasn't training in combat sparring against one knight and another, but those hammers could fly. Twenty eight years with the hammer at the forge had given him plenty of practice and knowledge. Flipping one hammer and another in his hands, Heaven and Hell spinning swiftly reflecting light at the walls as the smith casually tossed and caught the leather bound hafts.

It was true that he would never work like this in combat, this was an exercise for his mind, to keep his eye sharp and his memory from going stagnant. He caught both hammers in a complex movement that had his body twisting into his first form, Awaiting Judgment. There was no echo of the name tonight, only the enemies he imagined to be there. The heat of the forge kissed his bare torso, heating the expanse of his back and the myriad of scars that striped it. His weight shifted and the hammers that had moved quickly before blurred, awaiting judgment became sweeping justice which turned into bringing order. He flowed through his movements seeing the men against him even though he was alone. Bringing order became banging the gavel which became leading the witness.

Movement after movement, and fewer still knew that he was this proficient with body and weapon. They didn't understand the nature that was Kruger either, so often just missing the moment he was most needed. Hung jury moved swiftly into the hangman's kiss, and morphed into blind justice a form that had him twisting around to deal with an attack from behind. Sweat poured from the smith, save right now he was more than that.

Blind justice became unanimous conviction and then chaining the guilty. Kruger came to rest back at the point he had begun, his weapons up and his breath coming in deep satisfied draws as he faced the door in awaiting judgment. He sent the pair of hammers into the loops at his belt, and straightened. He couldn't say why he felt that he needed to practice so hard tonight. It may have something to do with how clouded his mind had been lately. It may have been a way to let everything fall away and have just his body and the void. It was true that thoughts rushed back at him the moment he stopped moving. When that first ache began to hit him again he slid the hammers out once again. Series after series until his legs faltered and he stumbled.

His whisper carried due to the acoustic nature he had created within the walls and ceiling. "adsum"absum." I am here"I am absent.