Jared nodded, ordered two more cocoas, and then said, "I need to learn that fire trick.  Which brings me to the Taint.  You implied it was not evil, but if Chaos.  So... What *is* Chaos, where did it come from, what does it want, and how do I fight it?"

  Araniel said "Well, I can help you a bit there.  You understand the theory of the four elements, right?  And that there may be more than four elements, right?"

Jared nodded.  "Vaguely.  Earth, air, water, fire, right?"

  Araniel nodded, and said "There are dimensions for other elements too, more than just the four major elements you mentioned.  Light, Shadow, Chaos, Order, Darkness, and others.  Humans can't normally sense or cross them, although my kind do because we're made to do so, but in essence, Chaos is the tool that was used, with some careful prodding, to create all life."

Jared paused.  "So, making a SWAG here, unfocused Chaos could be used to warp, or mutate, existing life, then?  Hence, why it is so dangerous, and contagious?  It warps life on a DNA level, like cancer does, and can be passed from person to person?"

  Araniel nodded, and said "You have it dead on the mark."

Jared paused again, and asked, "Werewolves.  Vampires.  Other things that go 'BUMP!' in the night... were they caused by Chaos infection?  Both can spread their condition, if the stories are true... and, of course, the next question is, since I don't, so far as I know, have the ability to conjure fire like you do, how to I find and destroy Chaos?"

  Araniel said "Could you sense the taint, once I pointed it out to you?  If so, remember that feeling, and when you sense it, like with any other sense, home in on it.  Now, we shall have to experiment with your abilities when we're a little less public, but I think I could teach you to call darkfire."

In reply to Araniel (msg # 265):

Jared nodded.  "Yes, once you pointed it out.  A combination of creepy and queasy."

  Araniel nodded, and said "You sense it, you hone in on it, and you track it down and destroy it."

Jared smiled.  "Dark Fire.  I like the sound of that.  I have wondered where my abilities come from... Kinda creepy abilities, used to fight evil.  Like "Ghost Rider."

  Araniel laughed, and said "I think I might have seen your 'Ghost Rider' person on the television.  It looks confusing."

Jared shrugged.  "Hollywood.  All imagination; nothing needs to makes sense."

  Araniel chuckled, and said "That sounds about right."

Jared paused, and then said, "Why can the dead speak to me?  Why can I see them?"

  Araniel nodded, and said "That would be a darkangel bloodline.  They handled the shepherding of the souls of the dead.  It's why you can talk to them now, I would venture."

Jared rubbed his unshaven chin thoughtfully.  "When you say, 'bloodline', I assume you mean something other than genetics, since so far as I know neither my mother nor my father was an angel, dark or otherwise?  Although it does seem odd... you've said things that would imply there are inherited factors here, but that would be really tough."

  Araniel nodded, and said "It IS a hereditary factor.  Think of it like a serious recessive."

Jared paused, and then said, "Then we are all Nephilim, eh?  So some sort of mutation activated my extremely recessive Dark Angel gene?"

Jared pondered this, and then shrugged.  "Cool.  I can work with that.  Learn Dark Fire.  Fight the good fight."

  Araniel chuckled, and said "Yes.  Good idea.  It is always good to have more people doing GOOD."

Jared paused again, and then asked, "Do my now active genes convey any extra rights, responsibilities, or bans?  In short, is there anything i cannot or should not do?  Above and beyond the usual."

  Araniel tilted his head, and said "Well, if one follows the laws that Moses was given, one is generally safe."

Jared sighed.  "Tough not to kill in my line of work."

  Araniel shook his head, and said "That's where the confusion comes in.  See, your JOB is to defend and protect those who can not do what you do.  If you are protecting them, and your enemy falls dead, then you have not slain another for personal reasons.  So that's not breaking the laws of Moses."

Jared shrugged.  "But I'm not a white hat type of guy.  I want to find the bad guys and kill them wherever they are.  Asleep, in their beds, if possible.  To me, there reaches a point where a person has hits "unrecoverable"; terrorists, child molesters, etc.  I want to slay them all.  No trial.  I don't want to wait to catch them in the act.  Their past actions doom them."