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North Lawn, Heaven

Up high above the earth, in the celestial realrass, hands clasped behind his back, head down, eyes straight ahead His croquet whites had not been put to proper use, his failure to concentrate rendering hiel Colin&039;s prodigious skills with a el&039;s balls had been rolling thither and yon, going everywhere except through the wickets

Eventually, he&039;d given up the pretense There was no training his ht save what irritated him so, and therefore he was useless but for ambulation and rumination

Damn it, rules needed to be followed That hy in contests of wit and wiles they were agreed upon before play began--so there were no questions or errors due to ame Verily, he had always believed that a fair contest required two things: well-matched opponents and well-defined parameters

And in the case at hand, namely that of the future of mankind, the first criterion was met rather squarely His side and the deths, weaknesses, and focus

Most particularly the focus part, as both "teah the stakes were: The very future of the world below hung in the balance, the great Creator&039;s patience having been tried over a protracted, inconclusive course of conflict between good and evil on the planet below Mere weeks ago, it had been declared froh that there would be seven final opportunities to prevail--and upon a simple majority of them, dominion would be won over not only the physical world but the bucolic heavens and the fiery depths of Hell

Nigel was in charge of the "good" side Devina captained the "bad"

And that scurrilous deael and Devina were to choose the souls "in play" and then sit back and watch Jim Heron interact and steer the course of events such that the resolution was either redemption or condemnation

Seven chances And the first one had been resolved in Nigel&039;s favor

The next six were to be conducted in the true arena And in the course of events, Nigel and Devina were allowed a certain ael had won the coin toss, so he had been permitted to approach Jim first--and for parity to be preserved, Devina had been likewise allowed to interact with the man But now they were supposed to be off the field and on the sidelines for the most part, with interaction limited to the occasional time- out and the end-of-match recap by whoever&039;s side won

Devina was down there, however Down there andabout

"You interfered as well"

Nigel stopped, but did not turn around to face Colin "My dear boy, do go fuck yourself"

Colin&039;s laugh was deep and for once lacking in sarcasm "Ah, there&039;s the lad we know and love I&039;d wondered where you&039;d gone, given how badly you&039;d played"

Keeping his back to his best h castle walls of the Manse of Souls Beyond the vast stone fortification, in an infinite mansion of fine appointhts of those who had proven the their tiels did not prevail, all of those who so deserved what they had noould be lost to the pits of Hell As would all else--including himself and his three associates

"Adrian and Edward are not in the rules," Colin pointed out