Diviner Jonathyn walked into the small room with a scowl, with Peklo close behind him. Peklo was sure to close the door and lock it with his key. Jonathyn wore a long red robe that covered his shoulders and touched the floor, an outfit that was plain but recognizable wherever he went. He was a middle-aged man, with brown hair and a goatee. Ogen stood up attentively, while the guard leaned up against the wall with a smirk on his face. Ogen's heart raced, as he realized the importance of the moment.

"Sir, I am happy that you came," started Ogen.

"Just sit down and relax on the bed," Jonathyn snapped. "I know your foolish story. I don't understand why you want to die so badly, but you picked a bad day to do it! Now, close your eyes."

Ogen's face was expressionless as he sat down on the bed, while Jonathyn moved forward to get closer to him. The diviner lifted his hands and laid them on both sides of Ogen's, head, and started to exert pressure from both sides. His hands then started to vibrate, as they squeezed harder. Jonathyn began to whisper fervently. The pressure increased, until Ogen had to resist the urge to pull away from him. It became unbearable in the next second, when finally Jonathyn let loose with a groan. Ogen quickly opened his eyes, and looked at the diviner. For a moment, his eyes were the image of fear, awe, and wonder. He knew. Ogen finally had the proof that he needed. Regaining his composure, Jonathyn, turned around to speak to the guard.

"This man is a ... a liar. Have his head taken off."

As Ogen rose like an angered lion, he thought of how incredible this was. When he grabbed the back of Jonathyn's neck with the strength of a vice, he realized that the diviner did know exactly what Ogen saw. Peklo did not even have time to react until Jonathyn's face was forcefully applied to the wall, while Ogen realized that even the diviner could not accept the unbelievable. No one would. But he would not die with the rest of the city. Jonathyn dropped to the ground, leaving a bloody smear on the wall.

Peklo could not believe his eyes, reaching for his sword. But Ogen was on him as fast as possible, putting his arm around the back of the guards neck. He forced the guard to move forward, as Ogen bent his neck forcefully without snapping it. Ogen quickly sat on the ground and crossed his legs, bringing the guard with him. He then rapidly forced Peklo's head under his armpit, while covering the guard's mouth and pinching his nose shut. For a few seconds the guard tried his best to free himself and scream. But his voice was muffled, and his body was flat on the floor with an improper position to rise while Ogen held him so. He was unconscious in a few moments, wasting all of his breath trying to yell for help. Ogen let the man's head drop hard on the floor, and began to take off the man's clothes. He then proceeded to remove his own, and put on the guards gear. In less than a minute he was wearing a tight fitting uniform, along with a broad sword, crossbow, and arrows. Removing the keys from the uniform, he unlocked the door, closed it, and began to walk smoothly down the hallway.

He found that he had not been the only prisoner in the dungeon, as he looked inside rooms as he passed. Most were sleeping, but there were a few that were awake. Ogen knew that they probably heard the guards muffled screams, but did not think much of them since they had certainly heard weirder sounds down here. Occasionally he passed other guards, some of who, would give weird stares. They were all standing still this early in the morning, but would start patrolling soon. And then they would see the mess he made.

But Ogen planned to be long gone by then. The only way out of this section of the castle was through the highly guarded throne room, where he counted on the king not being there since he would be sleeping soundly now.

A few staircases later, he was near the back of the throne room with no problems. He began to take a step forward, risking his identity with the knights lined up in there. But then he noticed the back of the Helon's feet in front of his chair, where he was sitting. Ogen could not believe that he made such a tactical error. Of course, he thought to himself Of course the king would be awake in the throne room anticipating the results of the diviner's words. Ogen did not think the king cared enough about the results to wake up this early in the morning.

Thinking, Ogen knew that there had to be another way out. Will fate be kind to him again? Yes, he thought, as an idea came to him immediately. He walked silently back toward the way he had came, and headed towards the kitchen. He remembered where the place had been from the night before this day. On his way there, he tried to be silent, but his heart seemed to pound loud enough to wake up the entire castle. He came to the kitchen door, pushing it open with mild force. He prayed that one of the female cooks were not inside, possibly preparing breakfast. But there were none, as Ogen saw when he looked inside the room. There, on the far end of the room, was a large window. It was already pushed open, a dumb mistake since bugs were now inside the room. Running to the window, he saw that the sun was just beginning to rise. He put his feet over the ledge, and fell hard into the grassy courtyard.

No one was around, and he headed towards the front gate. The knights were silent as he opened the gate, possibly thinking that a guard was sent out on assignment. Ogen turned his joy into energy and determination, having escaped the castle and on his way to his home. Soon, he was out of sight of the castle, and he began to sprint as the sun rose. The streets were empty, but some where beginning to open their shops. The wind picked up suddenly, chilling Ogen a bit. For minutes he ran with all of the speed that he could muster, until he came to the house of his beloved. He opened the front door, and darted up the stairs until he came to the section of the great building where he had dwelled. He passed through ornate statues, beautiful portraits, flowers, and furniture, digging his heels into the thick rug. Around the corner, he slammed open Gwen's bedroom. She who was lying down awoke with a scream, but then recognized her man. He ran to hug her, but only briefly.

"Don't ask any questions. We have to go now. Trust me."

Soon, they were both headed in the opposite direction of Fig Forest, outside of the castle's walls. They both managed to get by the guards wearing hooded cloaks, while carrying supplies for their new life. They headed towards Dawn Forest, which was on the other side of Kinion. In that direction there was the small town of Charity. Within the forest, Ogen explained to Gwen the entire story, and she believed with much difficulty. Many nights they spent together, bearing the sadness and pain of one another. To describe to you their experiences in detail would take more words than the space I have available. That is for a different tale, but it is true that there was strength found in true love. However, I will talk about the events of their last night on their way to Charity.

Ogen was walking, a little ways ahead of Gwen. The next morning they hoped to reach the town for food and rest, though the trip had not been physically hard. Emotionally and mentally, it was the most difficult experience of their lives together. It had not been physically hard, until that moment.

Ogen heard the footsteps of his wife stop abruptly. Whirling around, he looked to see what the problem was. Gwen was staring to her left, at what Ogen saw as he turned was a lumbering shadow. But the shadow did not remain still like a rock. Rather, it slowly moved closer and closer, into the clearing. It was in the shade of trees now, but soon it would reveal itself by the bright moon. Ogen raised his crossbow and fitted an arrow.

"Stop where you are ... sir, or I will fire," Ogen said. "Who are you?" But the large shadow continued to make its way into the clearing. Ogen knew he was bluffing when he said he would fire, he could not shoot at what he did not know. He paused, letting the shadow be revealed by the light. Then Ogen fired, without hesitation. Where the creature formerly wore armor to the skin, there were now only fragments of the red covering. Beneath the shattered protection was pale moist skin. Its armor was tattered and broken all around its large body, which gave the creature a new appearance all together. Ogen guessed that the creature was no longer invincible, but pathetic and weak with soft skin out in the open. Even the creature's face must have been armored, thought Ogen, because it too had the texture of a slug's body. It no longer carried a staff with a strong upright posture, but it was hunched over and weaponless. Nevertheless, it still sought to kill the man whom he had hunted.

The arrow found its way to the beast's right shoulder, and Gwen screamed with the beast. The skin burst with the sound of cracked melons. If she had any hint of doubt left, then it was gone at that moment. Ogen did not let the shock of the creature's appearance take away from his concentration. Somehow, the demon survived the fall. But Ogen guessed that it would have rather died then to be in the shape that it is now in. Ogen planned to put the creature out of its misery. He fired another arrow as it walked slowly and steadily towards him, this one in the chest. Another, in the stomach, and again in its ribs. The creature's eyes were focused on Ogen and Ogen only. It seemed to have a drive towards Ogen that defied logic. Just a senseless drive, dripping with coal black blood from the arrows. It was almost upon him now, and Ogen felt that he would only need a close shot in the creatures head. He reached behind his back, finding an arrow. But then, the crossbow was flying high into the air, sent by the back of the beast's hand. Wide eyed, Ogen moved back far enough so that he could pull out his broad sword. Realizing that the creature was slow and weary, he knew to make every cut count. He swung at the creature's side, letting all the memories of loss and sorrow fill his head. He wanted to be angry, to make his swings hard and true. He ran around to the back of the creature, where it followed, but not without losing the ligaments in its left leg. This brought the creature to one knee; the other leg sprawled uselessly. The sword ripped across the front of the right knee, making the creature collapse face first into the ground. It used its arms to lift the front of its body above the ground, where it raised its starry eyes to see the Sword coming down on its head. And that was the last thing it ever saw. Black blood spurted high into the air as if in celebration of the event.

Gwen stood with hand over mouth, feeling droplets of blood sprinkle from the sky as she stared at the motionless form. Her husband stood heroically, pulling the sword from the demon's head. He turned around to look at her and said, "Come."

The next morning, after cleaning their bodies, they came to a plain that contained the city of Charity beyond it. The walked across the golden stalks of grain as they bent in unison by the influence of the wind. There were not many words spoken to each other, and they did not feel too joyous about the victory the night before the morning. They did not know how to feel happy, with the future they had to look forward too. They understood that they had each other, and that was a reason to live for. But they both were pained with the thought of possible losing one another, leaving one to fight for humanity alone.

Gwen noticed it first, a colurm of smoke far into the distance. It was in the direction of Kinion, which could only mean one thing. The impossible had happened. The black spiral that climbed into the heavens were the dead remains of books, art, beliefs, prejudices, money, sex, ambitions, dreams, futures, projects, rivalries, theories, songs, and people. All of the things that Ogen thought were important were now meaningless, drifting into the sky like it had never been real. Those things were so real to him when they existed; he thought that they would last forever. But they were never that important. It made no sense to him that anything that was truly worthwhile would eventually fade away to nonexistence. At that moment he realized that the only things that were truly important were those things that lasted forever. Looking down at Gwen, he realized that the love that he had for her would last forever, even after death. He did not know how, but he knew that no fire could burn that away from him. He would tell her what he felt right then, that she did own something that would last forever. And that was his heart. He also knew that he had her heart, and that her love would always be there for him.

They began their journey again, realizing that the life ahead of them was one of constant running and danger. It may be possible that the demon invaders can be defeated, thought Ogen to himself But that would take a miracle, and those only came from the Creator above. Gwen pulled herself to Ogen, holding onto him tightly. They were together like so all of the way to Charity.

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