THE SPIRITS OF Decay surrounded me with scythes raised. It was the end…or so I hoped. All went black as they swung as one, and a sinister voice entered my thoughts.
You are mine now. You sought to enter the unknown, and so you shall! The voice echoed all around. I was so cold…I could feel nothing but the still darkness. You shall bear witness to what is to come, helpless to intervene. That will be your torture. The pain you will know will not come from my hand but from your own eyes and heart.
A glimpse of the world passed all around me. The men I had fought with were all dead, and their families were mourning them. The Survivor had become the Specialist, and he was growing stronger. The girl had been taken, trained, and was now being used as a conduit. The company—the people in charge of the facility, who called the shots but never showed their faces—who, what, and where were they? Why did no one beyond the facility hear about the dead or the living who had fought so valiantly to spare the world from the dark forces? My own family was informed of my death—from “accidental work-related injuries”—yet they went about living as if nothing had changed. Such was their way in life, so it was with my death.
The entity who had bound me to him forever routinely attacked the girl in her dreams, forcing me to observe her pain helplessly. It would bring her to tears, then leave her sobbing. I could only observe from the shadows of the room.
The girl grew and became stronger. There was another, a man who could pose a threat to the entity.
“She truly believes that this man, this Warrior of hers, will come to her aid and free her.
Foolish girl,” the entity told me. “He gives her hope, and she clings to it.” I prayed she would continue to believe.
“Ghost hunter,” the entity said to me. “They will soon attempt to capture me. The time has come.” It spoke with an evil laugh. The entity entered her mind and was pulled into a vault, leaving me stranded between worlds, observing the chaos that ensued. The entity had established a connection with her mind and could now use her as a conduit through which more dark creatures could enter the world… and slaughter everyone they encountered.
By the time she was twenty, the girl was quite strong, but still she could not repel the entity. The Specialist had been sent away on an assignment. A familiar-looking security chief did all he could to repel the creatures, but it was not until her Warrior arrived that the creatures could be pushed back.
The Warrior was in the sewer system, about to enter into the facility, the demons at his heels. He climbed the ladder, and, using what energy I could draw from him, I shut the hatch behind him. As I reached out for him, he took my hand and held it tightly.
“Warrior,” I said. “You must save her…but before you may do so, you must revisit the demons of your past. Learn from them…conquer them.”
He held my hand firmly. He locked his leg around the ladder and released his grip on the rungs, grasping my other hand. Our eyes met. Tears welled up, or would have, if I had been
alive. He was strong, and his eyes reflected purity.
“It is too late for me, Warrior,” I said, and he heard the despair in my voice. “But it is not too late for her. Find her. Save her.” I looked behind me then back at the Warrior. My hand trembled in his firm grip. My eyes told my story. The darkness had consumed me, and now it sought to take me back.
“I won’t let go,” he said to me, holding firmly. I groaned as the forces beyond me pulled at me, but he continued to hold on. I smiled as he held on. A sensation of relief crept into my spirit as I stared into his eyes one last time.
“You will triumph, I know. Farewell, Warrior,” I said softly. A white cloud puffed from my mouth. My hand vanished. The light awaited me.
The Reckoning