In the bell tower, the bell Rhaine had blessed began to vibrate.
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Dong!
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The sound echoed through the church, and to the undead pouring in, it was a death knell. The magic Tyler had used to reanimate them unraveled. One by one, the creatures froze, then collapsed lifelessly to the floor. Alex staggered to his feet, clutching the wall for balance. He opened the door and stared in awe at the heap of fallen corpses. “Good job!” he shouted back to Rhaine and Copper.
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Rhaine pushed herself up, her ears still ringing. “We need to get out there and stop them!” she said, already making her way toward the door.
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Copper nodded and followed close behind as they began to climb over the pile of bodies.
Alex grunted, “We should just let them kill each other and be done with it.”
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“You would think that,” Rhaine snapped, yanking a body aside. “But the most sacred duty of the Church—of the Watchful Eye, is to stop exactly that. The Usher and the Harbinger can never be allowed to fight!” She shoved another corpse out of the way. “If we don’t stop them, it’ll be the end of everything.”
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Alex sighed and nodded. “Of course. How silly of me.” He reached out to help, pulling Rhaine and Copper through the doorway. Just as they cleared the threshold and slammed the door shut behind them.
Dong!
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The bell rang again.
---
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Orion forced himself to stand, his leg trembling, on the verge of buckling from the pain. “Sorry,” he whispered, sweat stinging his eyes. Brother Constance gently wiped his brow with a cloth.
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Grand Father Lewiston snapped, “You are sentenced to death! Stripped of all rank and title within the Church!” He turned to the guards. “Restrain him. Strip him of his robes. He will go to the Burning as he came into this world, naked, and cloaked only in his own filth!”
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The guards shoved Brother Constance aside. He stumbled but didn’t resist as they seized Orion’s arms, offering no chance of escape. As they tore away his robes, they suddenly recoiled in shock.
The infection had spread unchecked, violent. Inflamed red lines snaked across Orion’s body like veins of fire. The wound where Marcus had stabbed him was worst of all, split open and weeping pus. A foul stench clung to him, thick and rotten.
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Lewiston covered his mouth, turning pale. The sight churned his stomach. “Look at him!” Lewiston shouted. “The guilt and sin of his actions have soured his vessel!” He motioned sharply to the guards. “Get him out of my sight!”
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Brother Constance stood frozen, powerless, as Orion was dragged away. Just before they reached the door, Orion collapsed again.
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“I said, get him out of here!” Lewiston barked.
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A guard yanked Orion upright. As they lifted him, Orion mumbled something. “The guilty man wants his final words,” the guard said.
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A hush fell over the chamber. All eyes turned to Orion, waiting.
---
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“Ahh!” Tyler screamed as the vapor blade plunged deep into his chest. But then he laughed.
“How stupid are you?” he roared, striking Marcus across the face. “I’m the one you made the deal with. You really think your soul could hurt me? After everything you’ve done?” He hurled Marcus against the wall. “You cried when I killed your family,” Tyler sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. His hand began to twist, morphing back into the monstrous claw of the demonic bear. “You whined when you gave up your precious little soul.” He struck again, harder.
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Marcus wasn’t thinking anymore he was moving purely on instinct, fury driving every action. He grabbed the handle of his sword and slammed it across Tyler’s face.
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Tyler staggered, blood spraying from his mouth. “Damn… that hurt,” he growled. Where the blade’s metal had struck, the wound didn’t heal.
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“Hit him again, my son,” the voice of Annihilation whispered into Marcus’s mind. “He must die for what he did to you.”
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Marcus obeyed without hesitation. He brought the blade down again. And again. Each blow staggered Tyler further.
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“Looks like you’re ready,” Tyler said, grinning through the pain. He took a step back, and completed his transformation. The demonic bear now stood before Marcus, hulking and monstrous. “Let’s finish this!” he roared, charging. Snarling, Marcus leapt to meet him.
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Just before they collided, the vapor blade solidified, reforming into steel. Tyler’s claws slashed. Marcus blocked. Then, an opening. Marcus drove the blade into Tyler’s waist. The steel sank deep. Tyler roared not in mockery this time, but in agony. Marcus twisted the blade, its edge scraping and tearing through muscle and bone. Tyler howled, blood poured from the wound.
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“Yes!” Tyler growled, his voice warped into a deep, demonic snarl. This this level of hate was exactly what he wanted from Marcus. With savage delight, he lunged forward and sank his monstrous teeth into Marcus’s shoulder. He thrashed his head violently, tearing away chunks of flesh. Blood sprayed as he ripped through muscle. Still holding Marcus in his jaws, Tyler lifted him off the ground and hurled him across the room. Marcus hit the floor hard but kept his grip on the sword.
Tyler didn’t move. He waited, knowing Marcus would come to him.
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And he did. With a furious cry, Marcus charged.
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“Kill him!” Annihilation roared in Marcus’s mind. The time had come. The darkness stirred, trembling with anticipation.
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Marcus lunged again, thrusting the blade forward but Tyler was faster. He swatted Marcus aside with a massive paw, sending him spinning. Marcus landed with his back turned, and Tyler seized the opening. He wrapped his thick, bear-like arms around Marcus and began to squeeze, crushing the air from his lungs, bones groaning under the pressure.
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Then,
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Dong! The church bell rang a second time.
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The bell’s sound boomed through River Hallow, shaking the very ground. The blessing woven into its toll pierced the air like a blade. When it rang, both Tyler and Marcus recoiled in pain. The sound cut deep not into flesh, but into something far more rooted. Tyler released Marcus with a snarl. “That awful sound!” he growled, staggering. The blessing blurred his vision, and through the haze he could barely make out Marcus, who was also buckling under the bell’s effect. For a fleeting moment, the sound broke Annihilation’s grip on Marcus. The voice fell silent. All he could hear was the bell, clear, resonant, eternal. In the chaos, it became a moment of stillness… of peace… of clarity.
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Then Tyler surged forward again and wrapped his arms around Marcus, squeezing tightly, determined to end it.
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At the edge of town, Rhaine, Alex, and Copper reached the entrance to River Hallow. Their eyes widened at the sight of the battle. “Oh no,” Rhaine gasped. “We have to stop them!”
Without hesitation, they drew their swords and charged. They nearly reached them, but they were too late.
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Tyler squeezed with all his strength, bones cracking under the pressure but Marcus had one final plan. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated and turned the blade back into vapor. Then, with deliberate intent, he turned it inward. He knew the vapor wouldn’t harm either of them physically. That wasn’t the point.
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“No!! Stop!!” Annihilation’s voice shrieked, now filled with something new, fear.
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The pain that had kept Marcus pliable, broken, and ready to be consumed was gone. For the first time in a long time, he felt free. Not from suffering but from control.
His mind flashed back to the night Tyler killed him. And in that moment, Marcus decided to return the favor. He drove the vapor blade through his own chest forcing it into Tyler’s heart as well.
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“You idiot!” Tyler snarled. “I already told you.. your soul can’t hurt me!” He started to laugh at Marcus’ supposed mistake.
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But Marcus didn’t waver. Lorna’s smile. Connor’s first hug. These were the memories that filled his mind. “There was never a version of this where you survived,” Marcus said softly.
Then the blade turned back to steel. It pierced through both of their bodies. Tyler staggered backward as Marcus collapsed forward, the sword still embedded in their chests.
Tyler shifted back into his human form. He clutched the wound, his hand slick with his own blood. Stumbling to the ground, for the first time in a long time… Tyler felt fear. He was dying.
As the light began to fade from his eyes, he saw something in the distance a small figure. It was the little girl. Elle. He hated her.
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Rhaine and Alex came running toward him, weapons ready, but Tyler only smiled. He knew what was coming. Annihilation was on its way. With the last of his strength, Tyler raised his hand… and gave the middle finger, not at them… but at the little girl in the window. Then he died.
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Marcus’s vision blurred, fading into darkness. But the cold he felt now wasn’t the haunting chill that pulsed from him for so long. This was something final. This was death, at last coming to claim what it was owed.
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Then he heard something.
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Lorna's voice, singing softly in the distance.
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And a second voice, gentle and warm—it was Connor's.
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“Let’s go home, Daddy. This time… without the lies.”
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