Nathan's vision began to clear, and he staggered back. The blurred image
of a thousand grinning people, of a dozen different races and in
clothes of a hundred different colours; dissolved into nothing, to be replaced
with clouds of dark-grey where the people had been, now
just faint forms. Fainter still were other things, red creatures
that latched onto the clouds, and dragged the faintest of all away.
He looked at them for a moment, and saw them grow more clear as the
moments drifted past; along with the rest of the world. It wasn't
quick, but it was still there. At the end of the street he saw a mutated skyscraper, ripped
apart and distorted just within recognition. The base of it glowed
a firey orange, into which the clouds were sent, hurried along by
the creatures. At the top of the skyscraper, a dark blood-red cloud
hung. On occasion, a burst of fire shot up the core of the building,
and the clouds erupted in an expanding burst of lightning.
He looked upon the creatures again. Their
walk was a shuffle, one that gave the impression that their limbs
were about to drop off. They were wrapped in a tight, blood-red
robe; addorned with twisted pieces of metal, and rising to a large
hood that sagged over their faces, like slime. One of the creature's
hood oozed down the back of their head, to reveal a human face.