~~~Caffeine~~~

[Canis Imperator]

You have toiled for too long beneath the shackles of enslavement. Cast off the chains and rise to the summit of your world. Become a true lord and rule over...

"No!" Caffeine barked at the bad ball. The not for chasing or fun, ball. It was trying to take away Dearest Human, that made it very bad.

"He is mine!" Caffeine howled. "He is mine, he is mine, he is mine. He Is Mine!" He kept howling until the bad ball went away.

[Rex Gula]

No longer must you beg and grovel for scraps. Take up the mantle of gluttony and feast to your heart's content. Fulfill your every...

This ball was worse than the first one. It tried to trick him with snacks! Tried to trick him into letting Dearest Human get taken away!

"MINE!" Caffeine howled his absolute outrage at the ball and didn't stop until it too ran away.

More bad balls tried to trick him and steal Dearest Human, but Caffeine saw through all of their lies. They offered him treats with one hand while ready to kick him if he tried to eat it. Very Bad!

Eventually, one good ball finally appeared for him to play with.

[Canine(Pug)]

Stay on your path of servitude. Change nothing as you ascend to the next stage...

Caffeine chewed on that ball, and it was perfect. Just the right size and texture. It even had the perfect flavor! He chewed on it very happily... and just wished Dearest Human could rub his belly while he did so.

~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley couldn't help the smile as he watched Caffeine sleep in his lap, even if the racket had woken him too early. Woken him from a nightmare of faceless and formless things that scratched and clawed and ripped...

The pug was squirming, twitching, and even making small barking noises, and it went on for a while. Stanley hoped his dreams were pleasant, at least. Especially when Caffeine kicked extra hard one time and nearly knocked the wind out of him.

He stayed there and watched Caffeine dream until the sun rose outside. It cost him some rest, but he wasn't likely to get more after the dreams, and the enjoyment he got from the pug more than made up for it.

When Caffeine finally woke, stretched, and then climbed to his feet on wobbly legs, Stanley had a feeling... especially after that kick. He checked the pug's status.

Status

Name: Caff Caffeine

Race: [Canine(Pug)](F-grade)

Traits: [Good Boy]

Class: Beast Lord (Legendary) - Level 5 (Novice)

Class Skills: (None)

Attributes:

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Dexterity: 10

Perception: 10

Intelligence: 10

Willpower: 10

Soul: ??? [Twin-Soul Bonded(Stanley Cascade)(Lee Cascade)]

Non Class Skills(0/3):

[Big Enough]

[Strong Enough]

[Fast Enough]

[Tough Enough]

"Who's a good boy?" Stanley said, among other silly things, to the pug. Then he made Caffeine's whole morning by breaking out a giant breakfast spread of cheese and meat.

He let him have as much as he wanted. Another potentially dangerous shopping trip would be the least he could do, and it would be far less risky with the new F-grade Caffeine.

The only thing Stanley was unsure about was how Caffeine's race looked the same while his own had changed from the evolution. Did dogs not get more options? Not to mention a Beast Lord... And if beasts got options... Well, Stanley had been offered a half-beast choice. Would beasts get a half-human option? That was just weird to think about...

Caffeine looked up from his meal and woofed softly, right before Stanley heard the voices.

He pulled Caffeine into his arms to keep him quiet and then flew silently to the large window. They were only a few stories up and could easily make out the small group approaching his hideout from the street. It was time to go.

Stanley didn't fear the other people, especially not with Caffeine at F-grade, but he... preferred not to engage. It was doubtful they could pose a serious threat against the two of them, but Stanley had seen too many close calls. All it might take was one lucky headshot, and he'd be dead. Or Caffeine would be...

Better not to risk it. There was nothing to gain from them anyway, unless he wanted to kill them for their cores. Which he didn't.

So he carried Caffeine and what was left of their food, and flew them both higher into the skyscraper. After seeing how hard it was to break a damn window the day before, he'd chosen a lair to sleep in instead of looking for a bank. Obviously, after he killed everything inside.

He stopped in the fancy offices on the top floor to use their bathrooms. They were always nicer at the top and usually had windows, which was better than the dark pits downstairs.

Luckily, he didn't need to put out nearly what he was taking in with the binge eating. Either the regeneration, or his trait, or maybe just something to do with mana entering the world. It all added up to him not needing a bathroom very often. A nice perk when you're trapped in hell.

Unfortunately, the door to the roof wouldn't open. It was something he'd seen in a previous lair, and he suspected it was intentional. One way in and one way out. The lairs were becoming more and more like a dungeon in a game. Where you had to fight through all the mobs before reaching the boss at the end.

Stanley didn't play by those rules. Not when they made their dungeons out of glass.

In the interest of preserving his knife, Stanley settled for a metal desk leg. Then he thought about all the assholes who'd tried to kill him until he was good and angry...

You have attacked a Lair structure. All residents notified.

He wasn't sure what the point of the message was; he'd already killed the residents. Unless something moved in while he was sleeping? Or would the humans downstairs get the message?

It didn't matter, and he flew away to find another skyscraper full of monsters.

His new fighting style had paid off in more ways than one. First, neither he nor Caffeine got wounded. That was big. Second, he was getting better at feeling out the world around him with psychokinesis.

The only downside was that a lot of the monsters had no qualms about taking cores from their dead fellows. Stanley was better at feeling the world, sure, but picking out the tiny cores in a mess of dead creatures... that was still beyond him. Unless he held each kill up and waited for the core to fall. Doing that slowed down his killing speed dramatically, but if he killed fast, then he lost cores.

It was a problem. One that he could solve by fighting more up close and personal... which only brought him back to the original reason he'd started doing things differently. What was the point of having telekinetic powers if the monsters were still in his face?

He found a promising skyscraper, one with monsters running in and out of the doors at ground level. Not that he needed or wanted a door. Instead, Stanley flew to the opposite side and reached through the windows with his power. It was time for another slaughter, this time for his own growth rather than Caffeine's.

The glimpse he'd gotten of the few near the doors told him they were bugs of some kind, and it felt about the same inside when he crushed or ripped them apart. He didn't get to use his knife when doing things this way, but felt like it was a fair tradeoff. Since reaching F-grade, the drain had reduced significantly for attacking directly. Likely because he wasn't fighting monsters a grade above his own.

Caffeine's growl was the only warning Stanley got, and it was enough. He'd learned the hard way to respect the pug's reactions, and flew away at full speed before he even saw what triggered the growling.

He got to see it anyway, because it turned out the bugs had wings under their shells and the fuckers used them to chase him into the sky. They'd apparently detected his attacks from outside the lair, something Stanley hadn't seen before and what he hoped wasn't a new trend.

Then they kept chasing him... for a ridiculously long distance.

The numbers thinned as Stanley climbed higher, with bugs turning back in ones and twos. When it was down to a manageable amount, he killed them. The first few by crushing their heads back into their bodies, and the rest with his knife. But like the previous bugs he'd fought, these also had hard shells that made the knife less ideal. Maybe he should add a sledgehammer to his arsenal...

Stanley went back down once it was over and found the bugs waiting for him in a cloud around the building. They saw him coming and didn't wait for him to attack first. So the chase began again. Back and forth Stanley flew, each time getting a larger horde to chase him into the sky. Each time, he killed them and went back for more.

One perk of their aggressiveness was that he got most of the cores. Aside from a few lost in the initial chaos of each engagement.

Despite the slaughter, they just kept coming. More and more, until Stanley had to retreat from the swarm surrounding the building. The numbers were insane... and he was once again grateful not to be trapped on the ground like everyone else.

He sat high in the sky and glared down at the dark haze surrounding the building. There were enough of the fuckers that they were literally blotting out the sun... until a spark of orange light appeared... and grew rapidly.

Stanley jerked to one side as a ball of fire larger than his head shot past him. He swatted at the fireball, primarily to see if he could actually hit the thing, and never found out because it exploded immediately after passing him. He did, however, feel the shockwave, and even blocked it; the action more of a flinch than anything intentional.

The expanding cloud of flames wasn't as easily stopped, feeling much softer and less... real. They didn't reach his face, but Stanley felt the heat. Enough heat that he really wanted to avoid the next one, which followed on the heels of the first. Then another after that, and another, and another.

It felt like machine gun fire as he flew away while dodging back and forth to escape the constant exploding fireballs. The barrage was so intense that he couldn't risk striking back for fear of taking a hit from their spells.

In the brief moments where his world wasn't full of fire, Stanley caught glimpses of his attackers. They were still the bugs from the building, only these new ones were solid black and slightly bigger. There were only maybe a dozen of them, but they were faster and kept up better. Also, the fireballs.

Stanley stopped flying up and headed away over the city, still weaving and dodging. Maybe the shitty bugs claimed the airspace over their building and would leave if he got far enough away.

They showed no signs of giving up as their building shrank into the distance.

One nice thing was the exploding fireballs helped counteract the freezing wind attacking Stanley's face and hands. Not that he needed it. The winter already felt far less severe since reaching F-grade. Bright side and all that crap.

Then he finally pulled ahead enough to fight back, and started by trying to catch a fireball with his mind.

The damn thing felt like a ball of fluff, as if there was nothing solid inside the flames, not even fuel. Of course, it was magic and needed nothing to actually burn or explode. Stanley still hit the fluffy fireball and hit it hard enough that it exploded.

It hurt; a stinging needle in his brain.

Stanley still didn't understand how his power worked exactly. It felt like a piece of his mind stretched out to touch whatever he attacked or manipulated, yet there never seemed to be any travel time. Though it seemed to require a bit more than idle thought to activate his power. That was the largest delay he had.

The fireball had exploded far away, but he felt it in his head instantly. Not a lot, but enough to notice. Enough to feel like it had touched him.

He could also reach through the lair windows and walls, something that felt like it shouldn't be possible if his mind had a physical presence. What was the point of glass becoming so strong if he could reach right past it? Was he going to find a monster eventually that could do the same? Just kill him instantly with no warning? Potentially, without even being able to see him...

That was a terrifying thought, and Stanley almost felt bad for the monsters.

Then he slapped the closest firebug out of the sky with as much force as he could.

It exploded.

Stanley had been half expecting it, which was why he'd gone with the smack instead of trying to grab the thing. It still stung his mind, but honestly, it was so minor compared to the other pains that he'd endured lately, and he didn't give a shit. Stanley slapped almost all of them out of the sky.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As he did that, and in between dodging the fireballs, he noticed the rate of those same fireballs was dropping off considerably. They had to be running out of mana... assuming they used mana, which begged the question of why they were still chasing him.

They were a lot less threatening as both their numbers and the spells they threw dwindled. Stanley would have to remember this as a strategy to use in the future when he found crazy aggressive monsters like these. In the meantime, he tried a few experiments on the last two bugs.

His knife flew through the fireball with no noticeable resistance, and the spell exploded like before, with the same sting in his mind. The unforeseen consequence was that he dropped the knife. His visual on it also disappeared behind the explosion, and when the fire dissipated, the knife was gone. Probably on a long trip to the ground... Oops.

One of the downsides of being in the sky was the lack of things to throw... so Stanley threw one bug at the other.

It didn't explode when he grabbed it, which meant the self-destruction was most likely triggered by a damage threshold. It also didn't explode when he threw it. Or when it hit the other one. Primarily because it never hit the other bug.

As soon as Stanley let go, the little shit spread its wings and swerved to avoid the collision before zeroing back in on him with a fresh fireball.

It was the last fireball, because Stanley crushed the bug into goo... and it exploded.

"Son of a bitch!" Stanley yelled, then used the anger to slap the final bug out of the sky. He barely felt the sting from that one after the crushing mistake, and actually felt a little woozy as he drifted through the sky. The worst part was that none of the exploding bugs dropped cores...

Caffeine licked his face, and Stanley opened his eyes to see the pug watching him worriedly. "It's good, Caff. You're a good boy." He'd been very good and hadn't tried to go skydiving even once during the chase. Another minor downside of fighting in the sky; no beast lord to help him.

Stanley's head was pounding after his fuck up, though that wasn't quite right. It wasn't a headache. Not like any Stanley had felt before, but that was the closest description he had to what he was feeling. Where before the stings were a pinprick, nothing more than a sticker in your shoe, now it felt like he'd stepped on a nail. Only with his brain.

His analogy sucked, but all he wanted now was to just stop doing... anything. So he kept descending toward the city below. Caffeine hadn't been fighting yet today, and he could watch out for the both of them. For a few minutes, at least.

They landed on a flat roof, and Stanley was just glad it wasn't the ground as he curled up with his hands over his head.

Caffeine tried to get at Stanley's face a few times, and he might have been whining, then gave up on that and curled up behind Stanley's knees.

Stanley lay in the fetal position with his eyes closed and hoped this wouldn't be a regular thing. He definitely would avoid exploding bugs from now on.

He wasn't sure if he dozed off, or how long he laid there, but came back to himself when Caffeine climbed over him and moved away with small woofing sounds. There was no loud barking, so it couldn't be that bad...

The sound of voices yelling woke him up again later. Luckily, Stanley was feeling much better by then... at least until he recalled Caffeine wandering away and didn't feel the pug on his legs. He sat up, suddenly very awake.

Caffeine wasn't far, and Stanley spotted him easily at the edge of the roof, looking down at something. The pug glanced over when Stanley stood, and he wagged his tail briefly before turning back to whatever had his interest below. It was probably food. It was also the direction the yelling voice was coming from...

"In this realm of false promises and treacherous illusions, we find ourselves ensnared within the devil's web of deceit. It lures you with promises of power and grandeur, but its fruits are poison to the soul."

Stanley heard enough of the woman's voice before looking over the roof to know he'd found a nut-bag. Then he looked down into the massive field and realized he'd found a shit ton of them.

Hundreds of people filled the field, the crowd stretching all the way to the river in the distance.

Across the river, Stanley could see the downtown skyline, and realized he hadn't flown as far as he thought. Those fucking bugs...

The woman kept screeching. "I stand before you as the chosen emissary, the harbinger of salvation in this wretched realm. Hearken unto my voice, for it carries the divine truth untainted by the devil's cunning lies. I alone am the vessel through which the light of purity and righteousness shall shine, guiding you toward redemption and deliverance."

Caffeine was growling softly while staring down at the speaker. Stanley agreed with him and gave the pug some pets. "You tell her, Caff," he said, and flinched when what sounded like the entire crowd chanted.

"Your words are our truth. We follow and obey, for our salvation."

That wasn't at all creepy...

"Resist the voice that whispers in your mind. For the System lies and will lead you only to damnation!"

"Your words are our truth. We follow and obey, for our salvation."

Stanley hadn't thought about it before, but it wasn't surprising to see a religious cult kicking off already. Hell, there were probably a ton of them in Boston alone, not to mention the rest of the planet. It was the end of the world, and cults loved that shit. As for this cult... well, it looked like they were planning to burn someone at the stake.

"This unfortunate one before us," the speaker said, gesturing toward the pyre. "This poor soul has let the devil in, has succumbed to the voice of corruption, and has strayed into darkness." The figure tied to the stake—Stanley couldn't tell if it was a man or woman—struggled violently while the cult leader droned on.

"Hope is not lost. For she can still be redeemed!" The figure, apparently a woman, stopped struggling. "The fires of God will purify her and, through her suffering, save her soul from damnation!" The struggling resumed, much more frantic this time, as a flaming torch was lit and approached the pyre.

Stanley didn't want to get involved with anyone, much less a massive cult willing to burn people at the stake, but it was hard to turn away. He should be able to fly in before anyone knew he was there and just snatch the woman...

Caffeine barked. Loudly. Damn it, Caff!

The response to his bark was even more creepy. Only the preacher lady and a small group around her turned to look. Everyone else close enough for Stanley to see didn't move, didn't even flinch.

It was definitely time to go.

Stanley pulled Caffeine into his lap and lifted into the air. Then paused momentarily to grab his last bag of food...

"Behold!" the crazy lady yelled, torch still in hand. "We have before us another lost soul! One lured by the false promises and honeyed venom of the great Deceiver himself!"

Stanley was reaching down to snatch their victim away, but he stopped at her words. Not because of what she said, but because of the notification that popped up afterward. Deceiver my ass!

Hidden Debuff Resisted: [Silver Tongue of the Orator]

"It's not too late," she yelled. "Renounce your sin, forsake the corrupt abilities the Devil has poisoned your soul with! Kneel before God and beg his forgiveness!"

Hidden Debuff Resisted: [Silver Tongue of the Orator]

This bitch had a lot of nerve to be dissing the system while straight up using it herself. Of course, that begged the question; how many of these people were here willingly? From the way they were acting, Stanley suspected all of them were brainwashed. Or mind controlled? Once again, he couldn't see what the effect of the debuff was if he resisted it. Which he was fine with.

"Come down!" the bitch yelled at him, followed by another resisted message. "Fall on your knees and..."

She stopped talking when Stanley's mind wrapped around her neck and squeezed. Her hands came up and clawed at her throat, but it was no use. Even though she was clearly F-grade, it still didn't matter. Stanley was pissed, at her, at the mob of idiots following her, and that now he had to kill her. Using that skill on him was as good as attempting to kill him. She'd earned death for that alone.

Worse than that, though, was the moment he'd attacked her, and every face in the massive crowd turned to look directly at him. All but one.

There was a child standing next to the cult leader, a young boy or girl with blond hair, and they only stared up at the woman, their small hands clutching at her dress.

Then a dome of magic sprang up over the woman, hiding her and some others behind the glowing wall, including the child. More magic lights lit up in the group around the dome as her little entourage attacked Stanley.

The dome burned at Stanley's mind, but didn't cut him off completely. He could still feel her neck. Sorry, kid, Stanley thought. But your mom's a fucking psycho.

He squeezed until only wet pulp remained, and then yanked his mind free from the dome. It burned even worse on the way out, and Stanley fought down his gag reflex. Both from the pain, and also the sensation of crushing someone's neck...

Magic in every color of the rainbow flew at Stanley, and he only hesitated for a moment, his eyes on the opaque dome where beneath it a woman was still tied to a stake ready to be burned to death. Sorry, lady. I did what I could.

Stanley felt sick as he flew away, dragging the angry Caffeine with him. He'd killed their leader. Hopefully, the bullshit mind control magic would wear off and someone would untie her. But he couldn't do any more. Magic was fucking bullshit, and his head was pounding again.

None of the spells reached him, all fading or arcing away as Stanley fled. He needed to find more monsters to kill and get stronger.

~~~Zeke~~~

Zeke trembled as he watched the evil lady struggle on top of the bonfire. They had tied her mouth so she couldn't speak, but Zeke could still hear her muffled cries as Mommy gave her sermon.

Hidden Debuff Removed: [Silver Tongue of the Orator]

Zeke hated the Devil's voice! It wouldn't stop, no matter what he did. He prayed and prayed, but the voice still got into his head. All he could do was try to ignore it. Mommy said that was the best way, and she got really mad when he asked her about it. She got even more mad when he mentioned the light inside his chest...

So he did what she always said to do and asked God to protect him from the voice. Jesus, please make the voice go away! I am a believer. I won't let the Devil take me, I promise! So please help me... and please help Mommy... and Eve.

His sister stood next to him, and Zeke glanced up at her before quickly looking away. Eve was one of God's warriors now. She didn't smile and laugh, didn't tickle him or call him Zeke like she used to. She was serious.

She also wasn't a Crusader like the others around Mommy. God hadn't given her any powers yet. Maybe that was why she didn't smile anymore. Zeke knew he would give anything to be a Crusader...

A loud noise startled him, and it took Zeke a second to recognize that it was a dog barking. He looked up with the others and felt a chill when he saw the flying monster in the sky. Jesus, please save us!

Mommy tried to save the bad man. She told him he just needed to repent, but the man wouldn't listen to her. He had already listened to the voice, and it had corrupted him. He reached out a hand, and Mommy stopped talking and clutched at her throat.

The man feared her words, feared the truth, and now he was attacking her to make it stop! The crusaders jumped to defend her, using their holy powers to shield her from the demon, but she was still gasping for air! Zeke held onto her and begged God to protect her. "Jesus, please..."

Zeke was watching when the demon crushed her throat. Her neck squeezed in like it almost wasn't there, and her eyes bulged wide as blood sprayed everywhere. NOO!!!

Then Mommy was falling, and Zeke couldn't believe his eyes... This couldn't be happening. She was God's prophet. She was humanity's last hope. She was his mom... and in that moment of weakness and disbelief, Zeke did the one thing he should never do. He listened to the voice.

Golden light burst from his hands, and his mom lit up with the same color as she fell down on top of him. The light felt soo good... so right. It was warm and clean... and so beautiful.

+1 Faith

Skill Level Up: Purifying Light

Zeke cried then, because it felt too good, and he knew the devil had taken his soul.

"Ezekiel!" Mommy's voice made Zeke cry harder. Because he was so happy she was okay, and because he couldn't bear to look at her and see the disappointment on her face. "What did you do!?"

-1 Faith

Zeke buried his face in the dirt. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Strong hands lifted him up, and Zeke squeezed his eyes shut in shame. "Look at me, Ezekiel!"

He opened his eyes, vision blurry with tears. "I'm sorry..." Then his mother pulled him into a hug, and Zeke broke down sobbing. "I didn't want... I didn't mean to... please forgive me!"

"Oh, Ezekiel," she said, stroking his back. "It's okay."

+1 Faith

Zeke sniffled and sobbed a few times before he could say. "It... it is?"

She pushed him out to arm's length, and Zeke felt more tears rising when he saw all the blood on her face and neck. "God saved me," she said, smiling. Then the smile faded. "But you listened to the voice, Ezekiel. The devil got inside you."

-1 Faith

"I'm sorry..."

"You let him in... but God used the devil's power against him. He used it to defeat the devil's own champion. Even as you fell to temptation, God used you for righteousness."

Zeke smiled, but it was weak. Mommy had the look that said he was still in trouble...

"God purified me so that the devil's power was turned on its head... but if you let that light touch anyone else... it would corrupt them instantly!" She was squeezing his shoulders super hard, and Zeke felt tears forming in his eyes from the pain. "Do you understand how dangerous that is!?"

-1 Faith

"I'm sorry!"

She stood then and turned, leading Zeke toward the bonfire where the evil lady was still tied up, and Zeke realized he was going to get put in the fire too... because his soul was as corrupt as hers now...

-1 Faith

It was hard to keep walking once he understood, but Zeke forced his feet to move. He had sinned. A sin so terrible that this was his only path to redemption. Would it hurt? He was so scared... and crying again as he begged God for forgiveness.

-1 Faith

They stopped before the stacked logs, and Zeke wondered if he was supposed to climb up or if someone would carry him up like they did with the other lady.

Then his mom handed him the torch, flames flickering menacingly at the end.

-1 Faith

"Should... should I climb... up?" Zeke could barely get the words out. His legs were shaking, but he could do one last good thing to save his soul. He could be brave like the crusaders. They never showed fear even when they had to fight to the death against the devil’s forces. Zeke would be like them... he hoped he could be like them...

His mom stared at him for a long time, and Zeke tried his best to stand straight.

"No," she said after what felt like forever, and Zeke almost collapsed in relief. Maybe he wasn't lost yet... "You will stay with me, Ezekiel. God has told me you still have a role to play... as a Crusader."

Zeke smiled as tears streamed down his face and his heart soared. A Crusader! "Thank you, Jesus!"

"You will be a special Crusader, Ezekiel. My own personal Crusader."

Zeke nodded rapidly, still beaming. "I will!"

"You must only ever shine your light on me, and only if I am injured. If it so much as touches another here, you will damn their souls! Do you understand the responsibility God has given you?"

Zeke nodded. "I do! I do!" Then he dropped to one knee and recited the oath of the Crusaders as he'd seen them do so many times. "My life for the Prophet, my soul for God, I pledge unyielding devotion and unwavering sacrifice in the face of death."

"Rise, Crusader Ezekiel," his mo... no, the Prophet said.

"Rise, Crusader!" the crowd chanted around him, and the noise filled Zeke with pride. He wasn't lost. He never had been. God had a plan for him all along, and he didn't care what the voice tried to say ever again.

"Now light the holy fire, Crusader Ezekiel, and send this lost soul to God."

"Yes, Prophet!" Zeke turned to the pyre and... Eve snatched the torch from his hands.

He spun in surprise, and found her looking at him with tears in her eyes. Was she happy for him? Happy that he was a Crusader?

"Eve?" The Prophet asked, her voice not happy anymore. "What are you doing?"

Zeke stared at her as Eve trembled, still with tears in her eyes, still staring right back at him.

"Give him the torch, girl," his mother, no, the Prophet said. She was smiling at Eve... "This is his moment. Let him do the..."

Eve shook violently, her face spasming... then thrust the torch into the wood before anyone could react.

The Prophet stopped smiling. "You will regret that, brat!" Zeke hated it when Eve fought with mommy... No, she was the Prophet now. He was a Crusader! He would be strong.

Eve smiled with tears running down her face as she watched the flames lick upward quickly, the dry wood burning in a beautiful golden light as it reached toward the sky. She was still smiling when she looked down at Zeke, but now her face looked more sad than happy…

Zeke smiled back at Eve. He liked it when she smiled... when she was happy. It made him feel safe. Maybe she would smile more now that he'd found his purpose?

The Prophet spoke to the people as the flames spread. She spoke to them of devotion, of sacrifice, and of redemption, and Eve's smile faded back into that same blank expression she had so much now. Her tears dried up in the heat of the flames before them, and she never looked his way again. Just stared into the fire…

Zeke blinked against the smoke while trying to ignore the muffled coughs and screams from above. He ignored the devil's whispering voice and focused on the Prophet. The sinner would thank them for this when she got to Heaven. Even if she had to suffer now...