THE GHOST CLUB PART II: THE REVENGE OF THE CREATURE

 
I was feeling quite contented with my life. I have rested for several weeks after our expedition into the realm they called Earth. The mission was quite tough but we managed to pull through and returned home after what we thought was a successful assignment. We had eliminated the half human half dragon horde who had escaped into Earth.  Or so we thought.

My superior Amelia was promoted because of the success of the mission. I was given a star of merit. However, both of us felt that it was quite unfair to the rest of the soldiers who never returned. Only a handful of us came back, all of us scarred physically and mentally with what we had to endure in the other realm. Some of us actually felt short changed when we returned as the other realm looked and felt more peaceful than ours.

Here in Stormwind, Azeroth, there was always something uneasy just below the surface of existence. We were forever on guard against the marauding orcs and the mutants we called Payla, deformed off-springs of mutant dragons and titans as well as other similar beings who were always interested to destroy the capital of Azeroth. Peace was not one of Stormwind’s attractions.

Late one afternoon however the relatively calm days I had was shattered with a knock on the door of my home. I still stayed with my parents for want of better housing. I opened the door to Amelia’s familiar beautiful face, now with a scar across her eyebrow from a wound sustained during the last battle.

I invited her in and watched her sashay to a sofa and sat down in the graceful way she had. She smiled and asked how I was but I knew the chit chat was leading into something else. I was not wrong.

“Fire Elemental has not returned, Grace. It has been more than a month now and he is still not back from beyond,” she said and stopped for she knew that many others had not returned.

“Investigations showed that the Lich King’s horde have made camp at the entrance of the east side of the moonshadow. Should any of our soldiers from beyond go through this portal they will run into the Undead,” she added.

I stared at her in horror.  Running into the undead would prove fatal for anybody especially when they were not ready.

To be continued…..

I stared at Amelia waiting for her to say something else.

“We must make sure that the hordes leave that area so that our soldiers can return. Hundreds of them are camped there now. I don’t know why but we must make them move away. If they don’t leave we must destroy them,” she said, her voice taking on that steely edge that showed she was determined. She crossed her leather clad shapely legs and stared at her fingers.

I knew something was amiss as she was not looking me in the eye as she usually did when she wanted to drive something in. I stared at her, waiting for her next sentence.
“We have not been assigned.”

I squeaked.

“Not been assigned? What do you mean? Are we going or are we not? On whose orders?” I asked, almost breathlessly. Going against the enemies without getting an order from high up was a no no. No soldiers moved an inch unless ordered. For a dangerous mission like that, it would be a whole lot of deliberations and meetings by the higher ups.

“Nobody has been assigned. It’s not right. Soldiers should be sent to clear the path in front of the portal. What if the undead find the path to the portal and go to other worlds? Why are the ministers quiet? Why aren’t they telling King Anduin of Stormwind? He would send an army against the horde of the Liche King,” Amelia growled, pacing the floor. She looked majestic in dark brown leader outfit that hugged her slim body.

“Amelia, the alliance must be told about the horde’s presence so we can team up with them again as in the days of King Varian,” I said aloud, thinking back to the days in history when our people were at war with the horde.

The hordes that we faced this time around were the undead called death knights. They used to be human that fought for the alliance but the Lich King with his sick necromancy, raised them up to serve him.

“We must leave as soon as possible. We cannot afford to wait any longer. I have rounded up ten other soldiers to come with us. We leave tonight,” Amelia said, in her commanding voice.

I watched her as she left the apartment, jumped into her pod, and sped off. Although the pod hovered just inches above the ground, it went quite fast.

“I am going with you,” a voice behind me startled me and turned to see my friend Jademere, standing by the door. I gaped at her in surprise; she was not supposed to be in Stormwind, but far north in the Forest of Eternity around Sunwell.  She was a slight looking woman, with shimmery hair of many colours, almond-shaped green eyes, oversized pointed ears and ivory skin that’s typical of the elfin race.

“Jademere! What are you doing here?” I almost shouted at her.

“I thought you would be assigned to fight the undead.  I want to go with you,” she answered, her eyes changing their colours into hazel.

“You were eavesdropping! But why? This is a dangerous mission. You are not a soldier, you are a Mage! What could you do? Magic the hordes into pigs?” I sputtered.

“Oh Grace don’t be funny. I have my own weapons even if you cannot see them. Besides, my brother Tygermire, went towards that area a week ago and we haven’t heard from him since,” she answered.  

To be continued…

I blushed when I heard the name. Once upon a time, I had a crush on Tyger. He was a handsome young Elf then. He was tall, and regal, his blonde almost white hair falling on his shoulder. We were all at the academy at that time when we were children; learning the art of combat, self-defense, magic and spells and generally how to survive in our world. Of course there were reading and writing too.

They were Blood Elves actually and had once fought the human kind but after they had re-taken Sunwell, the Elves source of magic, power and life, we had made peace.  

Jademere and I waited for sundown, so we could ride away with the other soldiers to the portal in the east side of the moonshadow. There were three other portals to other realms, the west, north and south. There were many worlds out there that were different from one another.

Amelia was not as annoyed with me as I thought when I told her Jademere, an Elf no less, was coming with us. She just stared at the lithe silk-clad Jademere, and told her to follow orders. Jademere nodded. It was a relief for me as I didn’t want to be at the blasting end of Amelia’s ire.

As the pale reddish sun of Stormwind went down, we rode our motorbike into the sky. Jademere’s contraption was like a horseless chariot that lightly glowed green as it flew. Amelia frowned at this as she thought it would  expose us to our enemies, but there was no help for this.

As we were flying over the city, we noticed that a vehicle was following us. It had the government signs on its roof.  We hovered on midair and waited for it to approach.

“Soldiers!”

A man poked out his head and stared at us. He was a policeman, on patrol and he didn’t look too pleased to see us.

“What are you doing in this part of the city? We were not informed about you,” the man said, frowning. He looked like a robot in his uniform which was too smooth over his head and body.

“Err…we are just going off to visit our friend’s home,” Amelia answered, smiling so charmingly that I forgot she was my commander.

The man looked at Jademere and scowled.

“What is this blood elf doing here?” he growled.

“Escorting them to my home…” Jademere answered, sweetly, gesturing with her hand.

The man immediately smiled, nodded, closed his vehicle window and moved away.

I looked at Jademere.

She giggled. I sighed. Magic did have its plus side, I thought.

We hurried away after that, going full throttle on our flying bike. The wind that buffeted against our face was not very refreshing as the smell of brimstone seemed to grow heavier and heavier on the air as we approached the portal.

By sunrise, we saw the glowing blue portal from afar. We also heard the groans and moans of the undead as they milled around their encampment.

To be continued….

In the distance we saw the 10 other soldiers approach in the vehicles. They all looked pumped up, their muscles rippling under their leather jackets and armour. The women among them were clad in the same uniforms, without the muscles of course. They were lithe, voluptuous soldiers who were almost terrible in their beauty.

I was envious of their beauty at times as I was short and a little on the plumb side; not endowed with beauty but with a zeal to serve. My father was a soldier, one of the defenders of Stormwind during the time of the old King, Varian Wrynn. And being the only child, I wanted to carry on his legacy.

The ten other soldiers landed their vehicles on a flat rock on top of the mountain overlooking the camp far before us. We stood there looking at the hordes. We could smell them even from the distance; the smell of death and decay.

“There are too many of them. Do you think we could take them all in?” one of the huge man asked Amelia, his voice like stones grating on granite. His hands caressed his huge and terrible gun restlessly as if he could not wait to use them.

“We have to try,” Amelia said, staring up at the gigantic man. He flinched a little at her sharp retort. Two other women approached Amelia. They stood there in a tableau before the rising sun and I could not help but admire the scene; they were like a trinity of fiery beauty.

“We will rest for the day and attack at sundown,” Amelia said, adding that they had to rest well before the battle so that they would not be disadvantaged by weariness. Riding the whole night was not really a glide in the clouds.

We went under the shadows of the jagged protrusions of rocks around the flat area, hiding from whoever might pass overhead. Some of us took out our energy food to eat as breakfast while others leaned back and closed their eyes.

Jademere and I shared a shade while Amelia and the two other women soldiers shared another. They were talking intently together and I gathered that they were both of high rank in the army and were planning some strategies.

Suddenly we heard whimpering from one side of the area where the rocks were gathered more densely. Jademere looked at me, a little frightened and I put my finger to my lips. We carefully stood up and investigate the sound without attracting the attention of the other soldiers.

As we neared the outcrop of rocks, we saw movement and heard a low groan. Without hesitation, we ran to investigate and to our surprised it was a bloodied being. We went nearer and saw that it was an Elf, that looked so broken and bloodied that it looked like a big rag doll.

I stopped short as the figure rolled on to its back. It was Tygermire…all bloodied and broken, his face was raw and his hair was matted in blood.

Jademere screamed.

To be continued...

Her piercing scream attracted the other soldiers and they rushed to us. Amelia looked absolutely furious as the scream of an Elf carried so much resonance, it could be heard for miles around. Imagine the scream of an eagle…
  
They all stopped short when they saw the shuddering figure on the ground. They were fascinated by the bloodied elf, who was gasping as his blood flowed. Elves were not easily killed, as they were half immortal creatures who lived a very long life. When they did die, they did not rot on the soil, but disappeared into thin air, their spirit joining the energy of Sunwell. Or so I heard, but I had never seen an elf die.    
   
Jademere fell down before Tyger and gently lifted his head to rest on her thigh. Tyger squinted at all of us, a brief smile forming on his torn lips.    
   
“The legion of Stormwind…” he whispered.  
   
The mocking nuance in his voice did not escape Amelia, and the commander scowled at him even as she squatted and looked closely at him.  
   
“What happened, Elf? Why are you in such a sorry condition?” she asked.  
   
Tyger swallowed and answered, in just above a whisper, “I was caught when I flew too low near the horde. They are many of them. Their marks are straight and sure, their death arrow found me even when I camouflaged myself in the mist.”  
   
“Sister, go home. Tell our parents that I join Sunwell.”  
   
Jademere sobbed.  
   
“No Tyger…No. I will help you, knit your spirit within your body and we will fly home. We will sleep in  Silvermoon City tonight. We consult the spellbreakers and the sorceress. Your years are long yet brother…we are sin'dorei! Children of the blood,” she spluttered through her tears, her hands gesturing to create a spider web of green and blue string like lights and folding it over her dying brother.  
   
“They pierced my heart, sister,” he sighed and seemed to glow. He shuddered and the most beautiful hue of green, purple and yellow encased his body. They turned into coloured dusts and then Tyger was gone.  
   
Jademere’s keening wail was a sharp sound that pierced the ear. Her green eyes, gleamed yellow and then orange and then back to green. The true and terrible beauty of the Elfin race manifested in her for a brief moment. I stared in awe and fascination at her and then she was just a heap on the ground mourning the passing of her brother.    
   
Amelia cleared her throat.  
   
“Well I hope all that noise did not get us undue attention,” she said, turning away and gesturing to the other soldiers. But not before I saw the glint of tears in her eyes. I wept in my own way, quietly. I helped Jademere to her feet and she clung to me. We walked back to our shade, and rested through the night both lost in our own thoughts. Occasionally I heard her hiccupped and I patted her shoulder in sympathy.  
   
Dawn welcomed us in its cold grey light. We stood up and got ready to hear Amelia’s command. Although we were not on official mission, we always looked up at her as the leader, due to her rank and her vast experience in battle.  
   
“Three of us will fly to the front, four on the left and four on the right. Jademere and Grace you will fly above,” she ordered.  
   
I nodded and looked at Jademere, who looked too calm and collected for one mourning the death of a loved one. I knew she was seething inside and that such anger could at times be an impediment in such a mission.  
   
Suddenly there was a muffled boom from the portal and a strong gust of wind blew against us. We stared in horror as several flying contraptions and their drivers appeared in the glowing blue area in the horizon.  
   
They were heading straight towards the undead horde!  
   
To be continued…

“Get on your rides, now…we must try to help them through!” Amelia shouted, jumping on her bike. All the others followed suit and fell to formation as instructed earlier.  
Jademere and I went to our respective vehicle and hovered behind the soldiers who were all hovering over the ground.  Our eyes were on the flying vehicles that had just entered through portal.
 
They were a dozen of them and they seemed to be on full throttle. They just blasted through the blue area and fly like bullets towards the waiting hordes.
 
Passing through the portal can be a little scary and overwhelming. I usually felt a timelessness in blue nothingness and a feeling of being transparent, I become molecules then come together again as I leave the portal.  So I would feel a little disoriented for a few seconds. The oncoming crowd didn’t seem to falter at all.
 
Suddenly the horde gave a shout and from the ground raised a phalanx of men skeleton in armour on fiery dragons which seemed to be on fire. There was a weird muffled roar as they rose up to meet the dozen soldiers.  
 
Amelia yelled and all of us soared up in formation. The horde were intent on the dozen soldiers from the portal that they didn’t notice us coming. I looked at the soldiers that just entered the portal and noticed that one of them was exceptionally muscular and he was a human who wore the orc armour.
 
“Fire Elemental,” I breathed and glanced at Amelia, Now I knew why she went on a mission that could strip her off her ranks and might even earn her a court martial.  
 
The other ten soldiers watched the approaching soldiers intently and I knew immediately that they volunteered because it concerned their loved ones. I wondered why I was roped in though as I was not related or involved with the homecoming soldiers.
 
The booms of guns sounded like thunder and the answering missiles from the dragons and undead were like red and blue lightning. There were roars of anger and pain, as they met in midair. The battle was fierce and blinding too, as the fire power were like clashes of giant forges.  
 
“Into Battle!” Amelia shouted and they rushed in. The three women hugging their machine and flying into the melee was a sight to behold. They began shooting at the milling horde in midair. They were noticed by the horde and soon they were dodging and shooting, flying, swinging and soaring through, above and under the flying undead.  
 
The eight other soldiers were shooting and dodging as well, cutting down bones of live-dead soldiers.  
 
The undead were not easily killed. They were put together by magic and twisted necromancy. The skulls must be shattered for them to stay down. Some of them came together again as their head was still intact. Watching them fly back on their dragon missing an arm or leg could be mind-blowing.
 
Jademere and I flew together over Amelia and the two women, shooting as rapidly as we could. At least I was. Jademere used her hands to create orbs of cold air that froze the target. What she froze I shot. The target made nice breaking sounds when they disintegrated.
 
Surprisingly, my elfin friend was quite collected. I thought that losing her brother would affect her and impede her judgment, but I was wrong. We were working together quite nicely.
 
The battle was fast and furious and we saw many undead and their dragons drop to the valley below, but there were more of them spewing fire and fiery arrows at us.  
 
We were tiring. But the undead were not, the battle was going into their favour and Amelia who was singed and wounded knew it. She flew close to Fire Elemental and signaled to him.
 
In unison they fired their guns crosswise and rode their bike around the milling dragon. They made a perfect circle of fire and then the twenty other soldiers closed into the circle with their fire.  
 
There was an explosion. The fire blew back towards the firing soldiers instead of closing the circle and I saw everyone thrown backward engulfed in flames. The roar of anger and triumph from the horde was deafening.    
 
Jademere and I retreated swiftly into the jagged mountains.  
 
To be continued….

We rode away almost blindly. My eyes were filled with tears and I know Jademere was sobbing, as I could hear her. I was hurting all over my body; there was a cut on my forehead and the blood was flowing freely, mingling with my tears.

I could not keep the sight of my fellow soldiers engulfed in fire from my mind’s eye. I could not believe that Amelia, my strong commander had fallen. It was too much for me to digest at that time.

Maybe we were too careless or we were not paying attention to our surrounding but we almost crashed into a Payla as we tried to escape into the jagged mountains.

It gave a roar and Jademere and I stopped in midair. We stared at the terrible yet somehow regal being in shock. The Payla was half man half dragon; deformed off-springs of mutant dragons and titans. They were powerful beings that seemed to have a racial hatred for humans and anything else that didn’t resemble them.

He must have followed the soldiers from the other realm through the portal as they; the soldiers’ mission was to eliminate Payla from earth. Maybe this particular dragon sneaked back in with them.

Our hesitation was our undoing and even as I swerved, I felt the full blast of its fire on me. My bike exploded and I plummeted to the valley below, as helpless as a dead bird.

As I was falling, I wondered If Amelia was dead and if we would meet in the hereafter. I was also so terrified, my chest seemed to be on fire, and my head throbbed painfully. I was going to die!

Suddenly I fell into something and banged my head. I looked up and saw that I was in Jademere’s magic horseless chariot. The silk clad elf looked at me in relief. I was so relieved that I couldn’t speak. I was safe! And I still had my gun which was strapped to my right arm. Somehow she had dive her vehicle and managed to catch me.

We soared up to meet the flying titan. It seemed to grin as it rushed us. We rushed forward to meet it, as we neared; Jademere shot the biggest frost ball I had ever seen. It hit the dragon right on the head, and without hesitation, I shot it. Seeing a beheaded dragon falling into the valley below could be so bizarre; on one end it was still fiery and on the other it was frozen. When the frozen part broke into pieces, the fiery end fell, still clawing the air blindly.

We flew on together in the chariot. I was badly hurt, and Jademere was not in her tip top condition although she regenerated very swiftly every time she got hurt.

Suddenly we saw dots in the horizons like swarms of bees; we swerved into some rock formation to hide and watched the dots grew larger. We gasped in surprise.

It was an army from Stormwind! There were a whole regiment of them from various units. We gaped in awe at the sight of those regal looking army in their uniforms and armours and mode of transportation. So they did assign someone after all…a whole regiment of them no less!

We hid from them as we knew that we could land into big trouble if the authority knew we went in without directives. I didn’t want Amelia to be implicated too as the army was aware that I served under her unit.

Instead of flying towards Stormwind,  Jademere made for her home in Silvermoon. We glided into the night as the sun set, travelling the night journey into the elf domain.

To be continued…

We rode away almost blindly. My eyes were filled with tears and I know Jademere was sobbing, as I could hear her. I was hurting all over my body; there was a cut on my forehead and the blood was flowing freely, mingling with my tears.

I could not keep the sight of my fellow soldiers engulfed in fire from my mind’s eye. I could not believe that Amelia, my strong commander had fallen. It was too much for me to digest at that time.

Maybe we were too careless or we were not paying attention to our surrounding but we almost crashed into a Payla as we tried to escape into the jagged mountains.

It gave a roar and Jademere and I stopped in midair. We stared at the terrible yet somehow regal being in shock. The Payla was half man half dragon; deformed off-springs of mutant dragons and titans. They were powerful beings that seemed to have a racial hatred for humans and anything else that didn’t resemble them.

He must have followed the soldiers from the other realm through the portal as they; the soldiers’ mission was to eliminate Payla from earth. Maybe this particular dragon sneaked back in with them.

Our hesitation was our undoing and even as I swerved, I felt the full blast of its fire on me. My bike exploded and I plummeted to the valley below, as helpless as a dead bird.

As I was falling, I wondered If Amelia was dead and if we would meet in the hereafter. I was also so terrified, my chest seemed to be on fire, and my head throbbed painfully. I was going to die!

Suddenly I fell into something and banged my head. I looked up and saw that I was in Jademere’s magic horseless chariot. The silk clad elf looked at me in relief. I was so relieved that I couldn’t speak. I was safe! And I still had my gun which was strapped to my right arm. Somehow she had dive her vehicle and managed to catch me.

We soared up to meet the flying titan. It seemed to grin as it rushed us. We rushed forward to meet it, as we neared; Jademere shot the biggest frost ball I had ever seen. It hit the dragon right on the head, and without hesitation, I shot it. Seeing a beheaded dragon falling into the valley below could be so bizarre; on one end it was still fiery and on the other it was frozen. When the frozen part broke into pieces, the fiery end fell, still clawing the air blindly.

We flew on together in the chariot. I was badly hurt, and Jademere was not in her tip top condition although she regenerated very swiftly every time she got hurt.

Suddenly we saw dots in the horizons like swarms of bees; we swerved into some rock formation to hide and watched the dots grew larger. We gasped in surprise.

It was an army from Stormwind! There were a whole regiment of them from various units. We gaped in awe at the sight of those regal looking army in their uniforms and armours and mode of transportation. So they did assign someone after all…a whole regiment of them no less!

We hid from them as we knew that we could land into big trouble if the authority knew we went in without directives. I didn’t want Amelia to be implicated too as the army was aware that I served under her unit.

Instead of flying towards Stormwind,  Jademere made for her home in Silvermoon. We glided into the night as the sun set, travelling the night journey into the elf domain.

To be continued…

I looked out from the balcony outside the room and gazed at the wondrous sights of Silvermoon city. I was on the tenth floor and as such I looked down into a wondrous vista that was part nature part magic.
 
The ground below was aglow with lights, the multi coloured grass and bushes along the concrete roads were growing lushly. Flowers of many shades grew on curbs and dividers glowed as if they were breathing. The vehicles that travelled over the road were in all manners of shapes with the colours of magic covering them.  
 
Silvermoon was a sprawling city comprising tall buildings and on one of the hills was a palace where the Elf King resided. The palace was enshrouded in magical shield, so it looked like it was surrounded by silvery mists.  
 
Three months have passed since our fracas at the border of Azeroth in the East Portal. I mourned the passing of my fellow soldiers as in my mind I was the only survivor and Jademere of course.    
 
I was very badly hurt and lost a lot of blood. I had stayed in bed for several weeks, being looked after by Jademere’s family. When I recovered, I found out that my face was badly marked by Payla’s fire. I now had a scale-like scars running down from my eyebrow to my chin on the left side of my face. I was glad I didn’t lose my eye.  
 
My hair was burnt off and was just growing back, but curiously it was growing out curly.  
Jademere was none the worse for wear. She was just as radiantly beautiful as before except for that look of sadness in her eyes. Her parents, a couple of tall regal looking elves, mourned their son too.  
 
I had sent word to my mother that I was with Jademere and that I was recovering. She replied that someone from the Government was looking for me and she said it would be best if I stayed away for a while. I believed that it was because they knew I was one of the soldiers who went against orders and jumped the gun on their mission.  
 
I cried as I knew I could never go home. Not unless I was ready to be court martialled, and I was not…did not want that.  Jademere assured me that she was happy to have me stay with her. I knew that and was grateful but I wanted to go home. Nothing beats the smell of home and your own bedroom, I thought.  
 
I was mourning my fate, dolefully when Jademere burst into the room excitedly. I looked at her and she just smiled there, waving at me to follow her. I shook my head but followed her inside.  
 
I gasped in surprise and wonder when I saw who was standing in the vast living room.    
 
“Amelia!” I almost screamed.  
 
“Grace!” she answered and strode towards me. She gave me a brief hug and pushed me away, staring down on my face.  
 
I twisted away and looked at the other figure. It was Fire Elemental, standing there grinning which did not really went well with his fierce face and gigantic muscle bound body.  
 
I stared back at Amelia, so happy to see her.  
 
“How did you find me? Where did you go?” I gasped out.  
 
“Not so hard to figure out where you would go,” Amelia answered, laughing a little.  
 
I grinned.  
 
“We dived down into the valley below and escaped through a tunnel in the mountain. Amelia and I once used that tunnel during a mission before. We were badly burnt but our bike was intact, so we managed to fly through. There is an abandoned village on the other side near a waterfall. All of us stayed there to recuperate and recover.”  
 
“All of you?”  
 
“One of the soldiers died, but everyone else survived. They have all gone home now as nobody knew they came with us. Only you and I were implicated as a policeman met us as you know. Since we have not reported in for duty for the last few months, we have been declared as deserters. We can’t go home, Grace.”  
 
Amelia stood there, silently, for a moment. She had changed, I thought, her hair was completely white and the scar on her eyebrow seemed deeper. She was leaner too.  
 
“I know, we can’t go home. Sooner or later they will search here too. Where will you go?” I asked.  
 
“We will go to the Outland. I heard the land is recovering and the people are getting back to nature, we will explore the land and if it is welcoming, we may stay there,” Fire said. Outland had once been destroyed a long time ago during a great and terrible war.  
 
Outland was the homeworld of the orcs and refuge of the draenei, peaceful humans who escaped there from their world, Argus, fleeing the demonic Burning Legion.  Of course Fire would go there, that was his homeworld after all, being part Orc and part human.  
 
“Will you come with us?” Amelia asked.  
 
Outland was very far away. It was near the North Portal. We would be riding for several nights.  
 
I nodded.  
 
Jademere waved at us from her window, a sad smile on her face. She had begged me tearfully to stay but I knew one day the military police from Stormwind would come for me.    
 
We flew towards the portal in the far north through the moonlit sky. I felt the scars on my face itch. I looked at the figure of Amelia and Fire on their respective bike before me. We were slayers of dragons but in the end we became victims of these creatures, in our own way.  
 
Ends  
 
Grace-Grace  
Amelia- AEMelia564 (Y)  
Jademere- Jade-Pandora (jade tiger)  
Fire Elemental- Daniel Christiansen