I was wandering the lonely streets of Nordan. My body was shivering from the cold and sharp wind, my eyes almost entirely shut to protect themselves from the hail flying against my face. I'd love to return to the warm inn at that moment and just get myself a drink, relax, and forget about my worries for a while, but there was no time to waste. Slowing down could mean that whoever might be coming after me would be at an advantage and I had to make sure that my death does not come at the hands of some second-rate assassin. Not to mention that my goal was so close I could reach it within a matter of minutes. Marley's mansion was in the very center of the city, right next to a fountain. Water in it was almost constantly frozen, so it was more of a sculpture, but everyone still called it a "fountain." Not even any fancy name, like: "Fountain of the great Marley", or something like that. People from Nordan were never really good with names. At least that's what I wrote as an excuse for my laziness. Coming up with backstories and details was never a problem, but naming was always my weakness. That's why my characters were often called something really stupid.

The streets were lonely and empty. The blizzard created a deep fog, hiding everything behind a gray filter, which caused almost every building to look exactly the same as the ones next to it. I couldn't even say whether I was going in the right direction or not, but as long as I was going somewhere, I didn't want to give up. Who knew a path to one's death would be so damn complicated.

It would take about five minutes to reach Marley's mansion, but thanks to the weather, it was at least fifteen. I just hoped that he'd open the door for me. Despite being a hero of one of the books, he didn't treat beggars very nicely, and I sure looked like one. To pass the time and keep my mind from focusing on the stinging pain of my freezing face, I started to count the road tiles I walked over. By the time I reached the fountain, the number was close to five hundred. I never expected myself to last so long.

When my eyes saw a change in the road's decorative pattern, I finally raised my head again. The stiffness in my neck was killing me. Staring at the ground all the way there wasn't the brightest idea, but there was no need to complain now. It wouldn't help me anyway, and the stiffness would disappear along with me.

The town square around the fountain was usually very beautiful. Apart from the busy market district, this was the only place where traders could set up their shops. Because of that, it was always filled with people, bringing various goods from all around the world. Golden jewelry with beautiful gems, hand-crafted sculptures and other pieces of art, or rare consumables, like cocoa beans or tobacco. That always drew even more people here, usually rich men wanting to buy these fresh exotic goods. It was a symphony of the local economy one would watch with great interest. Like a child who's fascinated by a busy ant colony. But now, the place was empty. No market stands, no people. Nobody. It was perfect for me, but no place ever made me feel more nervous than Nordan on that evening. My eyes shifted to the mansion, standing right across the square. The size of it almost felt intimidating, and on the other hand, its beautiful vintage architecture seemed to be inviting me to come closer. And so I did as it asked of me. When you know you're walking to your own death, your life doesn't flash before your eyes. You just start to feel the urge to take as many more breaths as you can. To enjoy the feeling of the sharp wind stinging your face and the sound of your own racing heart. It made the short walk towards the main doors feel like an eternity. As if I wanted to take in as much more life as I could, while I still had a chance.

*knock knock knock*

Usually, it's Death that knocks on your door, not the other way around. It took a while before anyone came to answer. It was Marley. His tall and buff physique felt much more intimidating than I imagined. The blond hair and many freckles, on the other hand, were giving him a rather sympathetic look. Like your a friendly neighbor who makes a living by wrestling bears and fishing with a spear.

"Eddie..." There were so many things I wanted to tell him, but I never expected him to call out my name so fast. Perhaps the main characters knew me better than others.

"Please, wait before you kill me." That was the only thing I made myself spurt out. I didn't know why he should wait, or why I should want to stay alive, but my mouth was faster than rational thinking.

"Sure... come in." Blank. That was the best way to describe his expression. It was as if I wasn't speaking with a human. As if his very soul was missing.

I entered the mansion. Its interior looked beautiful. Everything seemed to be made out of marble or its equivalent. On numerous pedestals, I could see tiny little trees similar to bonsais, accompanied by dioramas of miniature mountains and karsts. Before I could take a proper look around and admire it all though, Marley grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Why did you come here, Eddie?" Once again, no sign of emotion.

"I..." Getting the answer finally out of me was harder than I ever expected it to be. "I-I want you to kill me. I want you to take my Divine Creativity and save this world once more." His face didn't move, but I could hear a certain surprise in his voice.

"You came here to tell me that?" I didn't have enough courage to repeat myself. Instead, I just nodded and tried not to feel scared at the thought of dying. Why was I suddenly so scared? Before, jumping off that roof didn't feel difficult at all.

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"Alright, wait here." Marley went into one of the other rooms and finally gave me a chance to look around a bit. The place was painted in a light green color. It seemed that this was a living room. There was a fireplace with many trophies hung above it. Heads of all kinds of creatures. The idea of me being part of his wall of fame didn't seem appealing at all.

"Alright, come here." Marley came back, holding his favorite weapon. The simple steel sword he got from his father. With this, he once fought to save the world in the book I wrote. Looking at that blade almost made me feel nostalgic.

"I'm glad you came to me. When I heard about your arrival, I was worried that the Ancients would find you first." That surprised me. I didn't remember creating anyone with the name "Ancients."

"Wait! Ancients? What are you talking about?" He put down the sword for a second.

"You don't know about them? They are a bunch of lunatics who believe that teaching you to use Divine Creativity to save the world yourself is the right way to go." Surprising how only a few words can give you enough hope to make you wish to stay alive. "Lot of nonsense. You're the one who destroyed this world in the first place. Obviously, you don't want to save it, nor do you have the capabilities of doing so. The fact that you came to me proves that. Now, stay still and I'll chop your head clean off." Marley picked his sword up again.

"Hold on!" That stopped him, but the curious look on his face was telling me that he wants to hear more than that.

"Can... Can I... umm... at least pray for the last time before I die?" That was the only excuse I could come up with all of a sudden.

"Alright." He put the weapon down once more but kept standing there.

"I mean... by myself. I prefer to pray in solitude." Lies were leaving my mouth as if I was back in high school, explaining to my teacher why I didn't get the assignment done on time while trying not to spill the beans about a weekend wasted by playing a new video game.

"Sure... The guest room upstairs is all yours." He pointed to the staircase in the middle of the rather large living room. "Come down here when you're done. Take your time." I nodded and headed to the second floor. Stairs creaked under my feet and with each of those horrendous sounds, I kept on thinking about what I should do next. Everything was so confusing now. The idea of people looking for me with the intention not to kill, but to save me, sparked a new will to live inside my heart. A will that perhaps was there all along. It felt more like getting permission to live. But no matter how free and happy I felt at that moment, a certain fear was also playing with my thoughts. Marley knows I'm here now. Even if I run away, it won't take long before he finds me again. I couldn't help but be bothered that a hero I created would be so okay with killing me. Yes, I took his family away, but surely he must feel at least a little bit happy with the rest of his life. I mean, I made him a hero after all.

As I closed the door to the guest room behind me, the fear of Marley was already turning into terror. He was nothing more than a killer at that point. And what do you do when somebody wants to kill you and you can't fight back? You run. And that's exactly what I did. I opened the window and used the various decorations on the mansion's exterior to safely climb down into the garden. It was a beautiful place. I always had a weakness for those lights mounted in the ground, shining up onto beautiful flora. The way this entire place was glowing with flowers of all colors, and the tiny streams of water were quietly hissing into the empty night, accompanied by leaves, gently gliding down from exotic trees, which used to be their homes, made me really feel happy to be alive. The wards around the perimeter made the snow stay outside, turning this idyllic place into a little paradise in the eye of the storm. Even though the air was still cold and my face was stinging, taking that deep healthy breath was something I haven't done in a long time. It felt as if all the voices in my head were finally gone for good.

"Predictable." A voice out of nowhere suddenly brought them all back. As if he took all the bad out of me, only to shove it down my throat again. I turned around and saw Marley. The way he was holding his sword was telling me that he wouldn't be willing to put it down one more time. His grip was firm, that much I could see even from the distance. He was heading right toward me with an expression that could only be described by the word "determination." And a determined hero is something everyone should fear.

"H-How? How did you know?" I wasn't able to understand. Did he predict that I'd run away? Were my lies that horrible?

"You think this world is nothing but your playground. You shaped us to your imagination. You raised us from nothing to what we are now. You know us like a parent knows their children. But you know, these relationships work both ways. We too, know everything about our father. And I know that you're not a religious person. Praying before death? To what? To who?" He was right. I never believed in anything divine, despite writing heaven and hell into several of my works, along with gods, angels, demons, and other deities.

"Give me what is MINE!" That face is something I'll never forget. Marley, who was always willing to understand and help anyone who needed him, no matter who it was, was now looking at me with a face that screamed nothing but wrath and greed. But before his blade could hit my neck, something grabbed me by my hood and pulled me away. Marley's blade still hit my arm, but a minor cut was far better than decapitation. Even though it hurt like hell. Seriously, how could those heroes in the books withstand such injuries?

"Marley. As always, you create the most noise, no matter which side you take." The voice of my savior was deep, and with each word, a shiver ran down my spine. I turned around to find out who could bear such a horrible tone. Regret. I never should've turned. The hand, still holding my hood, was sticking out of a ragged black robe, and lacked any skin, flesh, or muscles. The rest of the being was not much different. Black robes and bones. Two red flames danced in their owner's eye sockets. And in the other hand, a tool only two kinds of people would use. Farmers, for reaping their freshly grown grain... or the reaper. And I seriously doubted that farmers had suddenly turned into skeletons. My wish to live... was heard by Death.