Arkon woke to the sound of screams; as his eyes adjusted to the hollow light, he looked around his small room.

There wasn’t much to see, his double bed in the middle of the room, a couple of empty cupboards next to the small stove over the single place in the room. It was a small house, but it was enough for a lonely guy like him, though it did make him somewhat moody at times.

He slowly and unwillingly got off his bed and reached for the little meal of some meat and water he had prepared the previous night.

He started to dress as he chewed on some beef jerky.

After he was fully dressed in his black shirt and pants; he reached for his sword, Shadowmaster. It was the only thing that seemed to be of any worth in the room, it was made of meteorite steel, and was virtually indestructible. It was the chosen weapon of the Harbinger, and if anyone else touched it, they would die in various ways.

He sheathed the sword and hung it on his waist before going out to the forest to find where the screams were coming from.

The Unholy Woods were known for unwelcoming to those of pure and holy nature, and heroes were nothing but holy and pure. On the contrary, being filled with darkness as he was, he was the natural ally for the Woods.

He unsheathed his blade and slashed a couple of times to get a good grip before going out to the clearing where the screams had been coming from.

The trap he had set up had worked, there was a huge crater in the middle of the clearing and there was a person in it.

The hero’s armor was full of cracks, his sword was broken and he seemed to be losing a lot of blood.

Arkon swiftly got closer to him and reached out with the tip of his sword to remove his helmet.

He almost fell down as he backed away as he was overwhelmed by surprise. This was the first time he had seen a thing like this, he knew that there were female soldiers in many countries but he hadn’t expected them to send a woman to kill him. He had never heard of a female hero, let alone met one.

She had dark brown hair and blue eyes, even though she didn’t seem like she showered for months, her skin was a stainless pale white, her body was that of a super-model with toned muscles and a perfect amount of fat just where it looked right. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen; too bad she wanted to kill him.

He’d killed women before, but there was something different about her; something that made him feel relaxed; somehow, he didn’t feel like he could kill this girl. He felt like he didn’t want to kill for the first time in his life.

He had been born to kill; he’d killed his midwife when he first opened his eyes to the world. His parents had hidden him and sent him to school where he had killed everyone present. The only people he didn’t kill were the ones he had a connection to. The only people he remembered not killing were; his parents and the girl he had a crush on, whom he killed when she called him a madman and ran away.

He’d killed everyone who got in his way, anyone who got between him and what he wanted, until he wanted nothing anymore. Now he only killed because he didn’t have anything else to do, he’d tried to befriend heroes before, but they hadn’t even listened. He knew she wouldn’t listen either; he was a blood-crazed killer in everyone else’s eyes. He was a monster, not a human.

He knew he shouldn’t hope, he should just kill her and be done with it; but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t kill the girl that lay before him. So he didn’t.

He sheathed his sword, crouched down, and picked up the unconscious girl. He quickly made his way to his house with the girl in his arms, kicked the door open, and laid the girl on his bed.

He didn’t care if his bed was getting stained; he felt the need to help a living being for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what he’d do without her. He barely knew, better yet, didn’t even know the girl but he didn’t feel like he wanted to live if she wasn’t with him.

He never got hurt, so he’d never needed any bandages, but he’d acquired some when he last went to the city to get more supplies. It had seemed weird at the time, but maybe he was preparing for this day without knowing. It wouldn’t be the first time he had prepared for the future without knowing, so he wouldn’t be shocked if that was the case.

Nevertheless, he removed the girl’s armor and clothes to clear the wounds with some water and bandaged them. Then he covered the girl with the blanket and went out to get some food, as he knew that she would be hungry when she woke up.

She woke up in a warm bed for the first time after the six months she’d spent searching for the Harbinger, the last thing she remembered was being blasted away by some sort of dark magic that she wasn’t expecting.

She slowly opened her eyes to the foreign room, as soon as she saw that she was alone, she tried to get up but a sudden pain in her stomach put her right back.

She was almost falling asleep when she heard the door open; her eyes went wide as she saw the man who entered the room.

He had black eyes like the night sky and jet-black hair. His muscles sprang to life with his every move, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of his body, before she knew it, she was staring.

He seemed to notice her stare and turned to face her. Under his gaze, she finally noticed that she was actually naked under the blankets, her face turned bright red as he started to come closer to her.

“Why am I naked?”

He seemed fazed for a moment before continuing to inch closer to the bed, a smirk spreading across his face.

“I had to take care of your wounds, don’t worry I didn’t do anything funny while you were unconscious.”

To her surprise, her face got even redder than before. She tried to get away and pulled the blanket over her head, trying to hide from him.

“Don’t come any closer or I won’t be responsible for what I may do!”

He continued smirking as he finally reached the bed and grabbed the blanket.

“I’d love to see you try”

She punched him in the stomach with all her strength, this would have made everyone back at home fall to their knees but he didn’t even seem to notice.

He forcefully removed the blanket over her and started to examine the bandages while speaking to make her feel less embarrassed. What he didn’t know was that his voice was having the opposite effect on her.

“I’m Arkon, and you are?”

“Valeris”

“Valeris, what a beautiful name.”

She blushed at his reaction.

“Thank you. What is a man like you doing so deep into the Unholy Woods?”

He finished checking the bandages and put the med-kit away. She quickly pulled the blanket to cover her body making him smile at her embarrassment.

“I’d ask you the same, what is a knight like you doing in the Unholy Woods? You would have been dead by now, had I not found you and taken care of you.”

She noticed the sadness of his voice and thought about how to reply to his question. She decided to tell the truth since he had taken care of her so well.

“I’m here on a secret mission to kill the Harbinger of Ragnarok, the Reaver of Souls.”

She expected a shocked expression from him but he seemed unaffected.

“I knew people called me the Harbinger of Ragnarok, didn’t know about the Reaver of Souls though. Must’ve gotten it after all the so called heroes they threw at me.”

Her eyes went wide open and she tried to get up while her eyes searched for anything to grab. Arkon seemed hurt for a moment, but he was expecting it, he just hoped… Nevertheless, he didn’t want Valeris to hurt herself, so he put his arms on her shoulders and pushed her back on the bed.

“You need rest, think about killing me later.”

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She suddenly felt exhausted and struggled to keep her eyes open.

“I’ll k…”

She finally gave up struggling, let the exhaustion take over and immediately fell asleep.

Arkon felt like he could cry at that moment, the surge of new and alien emotion took over his mind, he felt helpless and hopeless for the first time in his life. Never had he cared for what humans thought of him, never had he cared for someone else, and the one who made him care saw him as an enemy to be slayed.

He wanted to die, but he had to take care of her even if it meant her hating him, even if it meant that he would never taste the happiness of seeing her smile again. If she continued to live, then so would he; he would survive and protect her till death.

He felt this craving in every part of his body, the one that showed him that he was doing the right thing. The feeling that he was born with; the need to kill everyone who got in his path, now turned into a need to protect.

He had lived till this day for the purpose of finding her, he was born for her sake; the big guy had a plan for him; even when he’d thought that he had no purpose in this life but to destroy everything he came across, he had purpose for the first time. He had a reason to continue this miserable life.

“Till death do us part, or so they say, so be it.”

He didn’t need any sleep; the only reason he slept was to make time run faster, and at that moment, the only thing he desired was to slow down time.

He spent the rest of the night watching Valeris as she slept, and trying to understand the new emotions he was facing.

She woke up furious only to see Arkon watching her with a gentle look in his eyes. This couldn’t be the man she’d heard tales about, the horrifying monster parents told their children to scare them. He seemed more human than anything at that moment and she questioned what she had been taught.

“Are you really the Harbinger who will bring about the end of the world?”

“I don’t know anything about the end of the world, but I’ve certainly been called the Harbinger by many people.”

“Have you really killed so many people?”

He laughed nervously and thought for a moment.

“Yes, I’ve been killing people ever since I can remember.”

She looked at him with a shocked expression then suddenly froze.

“Then, why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“You’re different.”

He sounded so sure that she found herself relaxing and letting go of the sheets she had been subconsciously clenching between her fingers.

“Why, how am I different from everyone else?”

He tried to find an answer but nothing seemed to come to his mind.

“I just know it, it’s a feeling, call it a hunch, but I just know that you’re different. You make me feel relaxed and make me experience emotions I didn’t know existed within me. I don’t want you to die, I can’t explain this feeling, I’ve never felt it before, I want to protect you, you’re worth more to me than anything else in this world.”

“Then would you kill yourself for me?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt when I can’t protect you.”

“Even if it meant saving my life.”

“I’d find another way, I always do.”

“So I take it that you won’t let me leave.”

“No, not unless I can follow you. If you run away, I’ll get rid of anything in my way to find you.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No.”

She seemed saddened for a moment and looked at him.

“Why would you go so far to keep me safe? You don’t even know me.”

“I do.”

“What?”

“I do know you.”

“How?”

“I’ve known you ever since I was born, heck; I’ve known you before I was born.”

“How could you know me before you were even alive?”

“Don’t you feel it, the connection between us, the one that made me save you, the one that made you come here to find me?

She felt it at that moment, the feeling she had been trying to dismiss ever since she’d heard that he was the Harbinger. She felt safe at that moment; he, the one known for killing anyone he comes across, made her feel safe. She couldn’t put a finger on this feeling but contrary to all that she knew, she felt like she could trust him with her life.

“I do.”

He slowly reached out to touch her, but she reflexively slapped his arm away. She immediately regretted her reaction as he seemed like he was about to cry.

“Valeris, please, I... I need you, please don’t shut me out. You’re the only person I need in this damned world, please don’t make me suffer any longer, I’ve killed enough in search of you, I want to stop. I’ve grown weary of all the killing, I want some peace. I know I don’t deserve it, but please let me be with you for the rest of my days in this god-forsaken world.”

She could see his eyes were filling with tears, he was on the verge of crying, she felt sorry for him. He hadn’t chosen to become the Harbinger, he was chosen before birth and had no choice in this matter. From what she’d gathered, he had an urge to kill as soon as he saw someone, and he had no choice over the matter.

She got off the bed looked up at his face, her eyes filling with tears of sympathy. She stood on her toes to be able to reach his face and wiped away the tears forming on his eyes. He responded by wiping away her tears with a smile on his face which made her smile back.

“Ark… I don’t even know you, but I get what you mean. I came here to kill you, but I don’t think I could live without you anymore. I’d always had this longing deep inside me, this craving for something I could never find; now it’s gone. I missed you Ark, I don’t know how I know you, but I missed you.”

She pulled his face closer and sealed their lips together, in his broad arms, feeling his breath against her own, feeling his body against hers, she finally felt complete for the first time in her life.

After hours that seemed like seconds, he pulled away to take a good look at her. Her eyes were red from tears and exhaustion, her body felt weak in his arms, but she seemed happy, and that’s all that mattered. He couldn’t even believe what was happening, he had prepared for the worst. He had expected to be her shadow, always close but never fully together. He couldn’t even dream about her expecting his feelings, it was too unimaginably wonderful and nothing good ever happened around him. He was overwhelmed by emotions and couldn’t even think straight.

“Val… Don’t want you to ever leave me again; I don’t know what I would do without you in my arms. You’re my doom and my salvation, my end and my beginning; you make me feel like this world is worth living in. I…”

He struggled to find words to describe his feelings but Val saved him from his misery putting her index finger on his mouth and shutting him up.

“You don’t need to tell me what you feel, I feel the same, I will never leave you and I expect you to never leave me.”

They looked at each other in silent agreement and remembered their fate and what was on store for them.

“Till the end of the world,”

“To the brink of doom,”

“And the future of peace,”

“No force shall ever,”

“Draw us apart.”

“The Harbinger of Ragnarok.”

“The Messenger of Valhalla.”

“United once again,”

“Under the burning sun,”

“On the unholy world,”

“Of the forsaken ones,”

“Ready for the end,”

“Never to separate,”

“Together we shall,”

“Bring the end,”

“To the world,”

“That the mortals run.”

The Harbinger and the Messenger smiled at each other and the pact was sealed. Still under the effects what they’d just done, they spoke in unison:

“It’s time for the beginning of the end.”