Frank was in his element. As the biggest target and most surely the biggest threat most of the Furies gravitated towards him in one great feathered swarm.

I'd turned to look for him, just in time to spot the immense shadow that was Frank hovering in the dark recess of the high curved ceiling. It snatched out two long tendrils of shadow towards one of the wispy Furies, entwining its smoky form in his dark clutches.

It was a bizarre thing to witness, two clouds of smoke and shadow, two things that by every right should not be able to move or think independently, fought against each other in mid air. Eventually the darkness of the shadow overwhelmed its assailant and it consumed the wisps of smoke. Swallowing it down into some dark and unknown recess of its being.

I suppressed a shudder at the sight. Nothing I'd ever seen in all of my years in Hell quite compared to that, not when I tried to comprehend exactly what had just happened. Where had the Fury gone? Had Frank eaten it? Or was that far too simple a way to try and look at things? Either way, the sudden disappearance of another of their flock stirred the rest of the Furies into a greater frenzy of action.

While attacking me they were virtually invulnerable in their smoky wisp-like forms, but when it came to the Whisperer, they were in fact much more at risk without a solid state from which to fight him.

It was quite something to see. At least five Furies suddenly burst into existence in a flurry of wings and feathers, transforming much more quickly than the one that had attacked me. And not a moment more passed before Frank was visible again too, right in the middle of the fray, batting away scratching claws like he was swatting at flies.

He grabbed one that had made a dive for his face, and proceeded to rip off the creatures wings; to the accompaniment of yet more horrifying shrieks. It was only then that I realised I couldn't find Lucas.

Frank was handling himself well enough, but it occurred to me only then that I wasn't sure how well Lucas was equipped to defend himself against the Furies. There were just too many of them for him to hypnotise, one or two he could probably handle, but if there were as many as Frank was contending with he was going to have some problems I was sure. I needed to find him.

With nowhere better to start looking, I would have to try and retrace the steps he might have taken, figure out where he would have gone; or perhaps where the Furies might have taken him. While they were distracted with Frank I made a quick dash for the stairwell where we'd emerged from. If I could just spot him somewhere.

I made it to the stairs unscathed, and I was pretty sure unnoticed. All the Furies continued to flock towards Frank while he methodically tore them to pieces. Looking away from what was rapidly becoming a bloodbath a dark shape at the bottom of the stairs caught my eye, and a flicker of movement had me suddenly running down them two at a time.

Lucas was sprawled out flat on the dusty floor, knocked out cold by the look of it, and a Fury leered over him. Its claws flashed out, scratching him over and over, teeth gnashing, and I'm pretty sure I saw blood flowing over the front of his shirt.

"Lucas!" I shouted, drawing nothing but the Fury's attention.

It hissed at me, snapping its sharp teeth as its wings started to beat and she rose into the air, furious that I had interrupted her fun.

The force left my hand before 'd even given it a second thought, coming more and more naturally every time I put it to use. It caught the Fury hard in the chest as she soared towards me, her wings crumpling and crunching beneath her weight as she hit the wall. I wasted no time in reaching out with my power again, it was easier the second time, already knowing it was possible and exactly what I needed to do. My fingers warmed from the touch of the flames as grasped the fiery light with metaphysical fingers and hurled the flaming ball towards the Fury before she could launch another attack.

Fire had worked so well last time I was confident it would once again, so I didn't pause to watch as the Fury went up in flames. I rushed to Lucas' side and knelt on the ground to inspect his wound. I was right, he was bleeding. A long trail of four identical claw marks raked across his chest, ripping through his shirt and skin like it was paper. Thankfully though it didn't look to be too good, it was his head that really worried me.

However he had ended up at the back at the bottom of the stairs, he had definitely hit his head, and hard. He was still out cold, even through the agonised screaming of the Fury as it burned alive, and there was definitely a damp patch of blood matted in his long blonde hair.

"Oh shit," I cursed, as the dying screams of the Fury died away and the flames began to burn out, plunging the hallway into darkness. What I wouldn't have given in that moment for some magical healing powers.

Lucas would be okay, it would take more than a fall down some stairs and a bang on the head to put him down for good. But we needed him up and moving sooner rather than later. There wasn't going to be much time for nursing injuries, not when we didn't know how long Malick was going to be gone for, but I wasn't sure I'd even be able to wake him up.

"Lucas," I said firmly, tapping at his cheek. But the moment my fingertips touched his flesh I felt that unpleasant and familiar pulling sensation, as if my mind were being sucked down a plughole, and I tumbled head first into Lucas' memories. My last thoughts before I was completely dragged away from my own consciousness was 'why the hell didn't I remember that would happen?'

I could have kicked myself for not thinking about the Revelator power that lay forever a threat right on the surface of my skin. I didn't want to delve into the depths of Lucas' mind, not to mention all of the screaming from the burning Fury must have attracted the attention of others, or possibly something worse. I had to tear myself out of his head before something took us all unawares, it just wasn't so easy.

Looking out through Lucas' eyes we were back at the top of the stairs again. In another very peculiar out of body moments, I watched myself run out into the tunnel and head straight for the door Jesse was still safely tucked away behind. I saw the wispy form of the Fury swoop down, two clawed hands outstretched from the billowing smoke as it snatched me by the back of the jacket and hauled me into the air. I winced, recalling the painful impact with the wall, but I saw nothing more of my own confrontation with the Fury as another one suddenly swooped down in front of our eyes.

From behind us Frank reached out with his long arms, caught the Fury right in front of our nose, and tossed her protesting form away where she burst into wisps of smoke before she could hit the wall.

"Wakey wakey sunshine," Frank growled in our ear. "She's determined, but she won't make it in there one her own. I'll distract as many of them as I can, you get to that bloody door and get her inside with the meatbag. I'll get in whenever I can."

He hissed his orders then shrank back into the shadows, fading from our vision as he moved in the darkness up the stairs. I knew what would come next, I'd watched Frank do it myself, but what I hadn't seen was what had happened to Lucas, and a part of me wasn't too enthusiastic to live through the experience.

I could feel the reluctance in his body, he didn't want to do this. He didn't really want Jesse back with us, and he was even more reluctant to put his own life in danger for him. He knew deep down that he couldn't refuse, but he hesitated in the stairway which had been his biggest mistake.

No sooner had the taken two uneager steps out into the corridor when another Fury descended on him. Billowing in its smoky form he never even saw it coming until it had its claws in his chest. She pushed against him, against us, and Lucas stumbled backwards, his feet slipping and balance going as he tilted back and fell heavily down the stone steps. The weight of the Fury on his chest driving him hard into the ground.

I felt the pain in the back of his head searing through my own skull. Black spots danced in front of our vision and I felt the heavy drag of unconsciousness try to pull me down.

"No!" I yelled, fighting back against the force of the memory. I didn't want to be dragged under into that black pit, not while I was still stuck inside someone else's head.

Concentrating hard I tried to picture myself back in my own body, feeling the physical touch of his cheek beneath my fingertips. It was harder to escape as the memory I was experiencing in Lucas' head died and the blackness of oblivion overwhelmed him. Somehow I just knew that if I let it take me I would also be led out cold on the floor beside him.

I twitched my fingers, willing them to move, and with a cry of desperation I ripped my hand away from his skin, stumbling backwards onto the ground. My back pressed against the wall I took some deep breaths to try and steady my nerves. The breathing was a reflex, it served no real purpose as the air entered and left my body in exactly the same state, but it made me feel better all the same. And as I regained some composure Lucas let out a grown and stirred on the ground. He was waking up.

"Lucas," I gasped, crawling towards him, but taking care to keep my hands away this time. "Hey, Lucas, wake up, c'mon."

"Ugh, my head feels like it's splitting in two, what the hell happened?"

"Yeah, well you're not far wrong. A Fury took you for a fall down the stairs, you cracked your head pretty hard."

"Damn, that's all we need." He grimaced as he tried to sit up, using the wall for support and wincing as he leaned back against the nasty cut on his head that was still wet and sticky with blood. "And look at my shirt."

He fingered the long tears in the fabric, more concerned with his clothing than the scratches that painted his chest – which had already begun to scab over.

I let out a chuckle, I couldn't help myself. It was like a welcome release of all the tension I hadn't realised had gathered up inside of me.

Lucas frowned. "What's so funny?"

"You." I sighed, smiling for the first time in a while. "At least I know they didn't hurt you too badly."

"Not too bad, have you seen my shirt, and never mind my head. This had all better be bloody worth it."

"It will be, just as soon as we get what we actually came for. Can you get up?" I asked, getting back to my own feet and glancing quickly up the stairs. We had better go up and see how Frank was faring. He may have been holding his own when I left him, but I wouldn't put it past the Furies having something up their sleeves.

"Yes, I'm fine. Though a drink and some extra strength painkillers wouldn't go amiss."

He eased himself back to his feet just as an enraged roar thundered from above us amid the furious hissing and screaming of the Furies that had become like a constant white noise in the background.

"Come on, sounds like Frank might actually need our help."