The shimmering patch in the alleyway coalesces into a form like that of a 
man, but a man of great splendor and beauty. He is neither man nor god, but 
rather an animus spirit, previously bound. He steps onto the sidewalk and lifts 
his hands toward the street. As he tosses back his head, a devastating barrage 
of lightning strikes down out of the night. Within seconds, half a hundred 
dazzling bolts blast at the staggering, fire-blackened form of Adam Malik. As 
the lightning strikes, Malik falls. An instant later, a new fire erupts, a 
massive pillar of boiling fire, roaring toward the dark heavens, completely 
enveloping Malik’s body.