Exiled: The diary of Shinya Akame

A teenage farmer gets dragged along by his friends to explore a cave where they find something that sound have staid hidden and plunges our 'hero' into a chaotic world where everything can go wrong

Diary of: Shinya Akame

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E2 999/7/49- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I had another nightmare last night, a dream of fire and war, of darkness and demons. Night after night I see the same thing again and again, in my darkest dreams to the brightest days I see it. Sometimes I see the snowy mountain top littered with blood and bodies, sometimes I see a demonic gaze from the corner of my eye only to turn my head and see nothing but a shadow in the woods or a poorly lit room. Nothing but a beckoning darkness enticing me to creep closer out of naught but curiosity only for it to ensnare me in its abyssal void of pain. I resist every time and am now afraid of dark places out of fear that there might be someone or something there, a pair of eyes in a shadowy corner watching me, waiting to pounce. I sleep with a sword under my bed just in case any transcended horrors lurk in the shadows for my home or the thick fields of my farm. Every morning I awake in a cold sweet for the unknowable horrors I witness when asleep, for the past few days I have been writing down my dreams the second I awake in hopes to recall the full events that I see and every time it’s only fragments upon fragments but bit by bit I wrote it down and every time the dream was the same, every time a bit of new information shone to light it added to the grand picture that unfolded on the page, it was a story, a story of war, of religion, of demons. I see a mountaintop with red snow and a raging battle around an archway of enormous size. Men of the northern empire battle cultists wielding the elements themselves as weapons, sword against stone they clashed bathing the snow and then everything stopped as the archway erupted to life. The once empty archway now filled with an unholy darkness precipitated by an unnatural force as the doorway into the unknown wavered and shook out of fear of the encroaching menace. Eyes, red eyes looked down upon the army around the gate as if judging men as inferior beings as it’s monstrous appendage spring fourth from one world into our own and as the being emerged for the nothingness, it’s flesh blacker that the night sky as it’s silhouette looked as if a robe was woven into it’s very body, the monstrous evil cried out a deafening screech and then…I wake up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E2 999/7/50- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It is the last day of the second era, my mother suggested that I keep a diary so I would have some place to vent my frustrations and so on like last night. Not sure why I’m writing that to myself though but I guess it’s helpful for my bad memory. Thankfully my mother taught me the northern way of writing so if my friends find this they won’t be able to read it. I have a lot of work to do in the morning and turn of any month is the busiest day to be a farmer, doubly so when you have to tend the whole field yourself. The war wages still but we aren’t too affected by it; I guess that’s one advantage of living in a small village. However the racism towards me I could do without, being mixed race can be a pain sometimes, I doubt I will be attending the party in town later tonight as well. No doubt Ryan will be there and he treats me worse than anyone else solely because of my ethnicity, unfortunately he is a lot bigger and stronger than me so all I can’t really do anything but avoid him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A new Era for mankind was ushered in today; three thousand years humans have lived on Mahkum, three thousand years we have been here. I thought about that as I lay in bed last night thinking of what it was like before we came, and furthermore, where did we come from? The church of the seven saints teaches us that humans have always been, but if that were so then why does recorded history only span the last three thousand years even though Mahkum is clearly much older than that? Then there are the rumors and fairy tales about the time before history, how there where monsters the size of mountains and an enormous white orb that hovered above the earth, if that were true then where did the ‘orb’ go? Enough of me ranting philosophy I have a farm to harvest, hopefully I get enough money to live on as well as buy the medicine for mouther, the skin around her neck is getting darker by the day. Whatever affliction ails her is clearly spreading.

It was the best harvest I’ve ever had; I guess that old myth of the millennial harvest held some merit after all. Thankfully my three friends decided to come to my place this morning, they even lent me a hand but only after they made me promise to go exploring with them next time they went. After the harvest I went into town to sell it all off to my usual buyers, although there was this one b*****d that bumped into me at the bar, he was drunk naturally. That jerk even said I should be hung as a traitor just because my father was from the western isles, people like that is the main reason I never go to the tavern. I would have done something other than ignore the drunkard if I actually knew my father; he was drafted into the war a bit over eighteen years ago when it started and I was his going away present to mother it seemed all be it unknowingly. Neither of us can even contact him as he is on the opposing side of the war, he might not even be alive anymore. As for the extra money I made there was this wandering merchant that came into town this morning who claimed to sell the usual hocus pocus magical elixirs and so on. Though on top of that rubbish he actually did sell some hard to find medicine, after describing my mother illness to him he gave me something that actually worked. Her discolored skin on and around her neck started returning to normal within an hour of drinking it. Honestly I noticed a few gullible people buying his clearly fake potions, I’m surprised he even knew this place existed seeing as how were so far away from anywhere of notice. Now before it gets to dark out I must pop round to Josh’s house to see what’s going on with the whole exploring thing he got me to agree to.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/2- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A new day in Trident Wood and today is the day that I go exploring the forest with my friends. So far this Era is turning out alright; you know other than the war raging along the entire western coast of our nation it’s going quite well compared to the first few years on the last Era. Anyway I’m expecting Josh, Alex and Kaleb to come around to my place later on; in the meantime I shall tend to mother. The sickly and rotted looking skin on her neck has returned to its normal color overnight though she is still not completely better she assured me she could take care of herself. I’m going to take this with me when I go exploring the forest, I might see something interesting and want to wright it down lest I forget. Honestly I’m a bit nervous as I’ve never been in the forest proper, though as long as I don’t separate from my friends it should be fine, after all they said they do this frequently enough to know the area to some degree.

We have been walking around for nearly an hour now; there wasn’t anything all to interesting so far. Were currently sitting in a small clearing near the heart of the forest, the others are eating fruit and giving me strange glances, probably wondering what I’m writing about. After lunch where to enter the cave that Kaleb discovered not far from here. All in all this wasn’t a bad arrangement considering how much they helped me yesterday.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/3- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I’m not quite sure why this all happened or how, going into that cave was a fucken mistake. This blasted demon in my head that torments my dreams. I’m afraid…We went deep into the cave, through narrow passages and stumbled upon a large open area, there was a platform of some sort in the center surrounded by a seemingly bottomless pit that protruded a strange dark purplish light. In the center of the platform there where broken chains and at the edge of the pit there lay an old rotted skeleton. The four of us upon seeing this where somewhat frightened as the skeleton it was clear something used to be held captive here and was freely roaming; we didn’t know if it was alive but didn’t want to chance it. Once we were at the cave’s entrance we were encroached by a strange unnatural darkness, a hand grabbed my arm. I knew it wasn’t one of my friends; the hand was cold and stung my skin. I turned to see a reflection of myself though he had an evil expression; this thing’s body began to meld with mine as if it were as spirit trying to possess me. As its body fused with mine and took control of my body it felt strange, as if I were looking through someone else’s eyes. This thing had control of my body and all I could do was watch as my hands turned to claws and rip my friends apart. I tried to fight against it but couldn’t do a thing, suddenly my vision was enveloped in a white light and a strange hooded man stood before me. This man was the only thing I could see in the endless sea of whiteness that surrounded me. He approached me and placed his hand upon my chest and seared a marking into my chest in an odd star shape with an eye in the center. The rest was but a blur; I was on the ground and could see a-lot of blood as someone screamed. Then I was in the back of a cart, then being dragged into a building. Then there was black, with a pair of red eyes looking at me, I knew it was the thing I saw in that cave. This creature took the form of the darkened figure from my dreams, the same red eyes and clawed hands, it spoke to me about what it was, a demon. They think I’m responsible or they have no idea what’s going on but ether way I know I’m going to take the blame even though I had no control of what happened. I’m mainly writing this so I might be judged fairly and hopefully I won’t be hung. The demon did tell me one thing, “survival is essential” and I plan on doing just that.

       I still can’t believe that there dead, my only friends are dead…why? Why me of all people?

       I’ve been sitting in this dank cell for hours now waiting to find out what will happen to me, I don’t even know what time it is outside. I’m getting anxiety not knowing if I’m going to die or not but every time I start to panic I hear a voice in my head “survival is essential” It feels more like a promise than a goal.

       Well that’s it; I was given but one choice. The gallows or the war…I chose the latter naturally. A prisoner transport is to take me to Vilta and from there I’m to be transported to the bloody coast…May the seven watch over me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/5- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Thankfully they allowed me to keep all of my belongings, the heavily armed escort I could do without however. One man with a sword would suffice, but then again they understand this whole situation less than I do. They informed me that my farm would be taken over and my mother would be taken care of. We are soon to arrive in Vilta where I’m to be lumped in with the rest of the convicts and shipped to the front lines; hopefully with this demons help I might just survive this ordeal.

       After tonight we get shipped to the front lines, stationed in a makeshift prison until we get thrown blindly into battle. Also this demonic prick in my head has explained a lot to me. Apparently Wrath is one of seven ancient demonic beings that where the first enemies to humanity and felled by the seven saints, however he refuses to tell me about the time before the first day. It was rumored the first day was a bloody war but that’s just myth, the church tells us it was the day the seven came into being and bestowed there divine knowledge upon us. I find it somewhat hard to believe that seven saints and seven demons happened to appear at the start of recorded history out of nowhere. I’m not sure if Wrath doesn’t know or simply refuses to tell me; either way I’m not going to live long enough to find out so what does it matter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/8- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Eight days into the year and already edging ever closer to my own demise, I am afraid, not of the coming conflict but of what is to come afterwards. I have always questioned the church’s teachings, is there really an afterlife? Does the Godland really exist? I’m sure I’ll find out before the weeks end. I know this diary is short but if you find this please return it to my mother. Before we get shipped off I will hide this in the camp that is outside the prison, hopefully it is found. Speaking of which the caravan is about to reach the prison, after were given gear were to board the ships and sail directly north under cover of encroaching fog and darkness. I can actually see the fortress island from here if I strain my eyes.

       I have a blade barely able to cut paper and a rotted shield, my armor is barely an improvement from cloth! It’s clear that they spared no expense; b******s…then again were criminals, fodder. This may well be my last entry. May the seven judge me fairly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/9- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well I’m not dead…that’s a surprise. Wrath took over my body in the midst of battle like he did in the cave, I had some form of control this time and we ended up killing everyone be it friend or foe. I single-handedly captured the second most impenetrable fortress there is, after I raised a flag to signal our victory I passed out due to all my energy being drained. Whilst I was unconscious Wrath and I had a conversation, he only knows raw fury as his weapon and I can actually think tactically and strategically in battle, so we came to an agreement that would benefit us both. He grant’s me his powers: i.e. the ability to make my arms become demonic, as long as I remain in control though it does take a toll to be in that form for too long. He seemed bitter but agreed to it out of a need to survive, however I do not know how to activate this ability nor have I had a chance to try. From the battle I know my arms get larger and become pure black, I also grow large claws, incredible strength and incredible speed. Again I have no idea how I would trigger this, also I don’t really know if I want to. Last time was horrific enough; it’s going to give me nightmare for the rest of my life not to mention how I detest unnecessary violence. Anyway after that battle I awoke the next day in a cell, they were surprised I survived and after examining the battlefield they thought I was an expert warrior, a laughable though but I simply agreed with what they said. They spent that day deliberating on what they should do with me and finally decided to assign me to the elite squadron. Desperation of war I suppose, however I did meet one guy tonight, he’s so damn upbeat and optimistic its borderline contagious, Nigel he said his name was. When I was being introduced to the elite squad everyone was being formal, everyone except him of course. Slacking off in the corner, when I introduced myself to him he seemed so friendly, he had a short attention span though but he was quite fun loving and care free, we need more of that in these times. Apparently Nigel is an expert, well basically an expert everything, I was told he was a member of a low class family and always strived to be something more. The others are simple solders, basic military background and not much variation between them.

       Nigel and I have become fast friends, he actually seems to care about me rather than just string me along. We’ve been assigned an assassination order, were to kill an enemy fleet commander in the dead of night and torch the camp on the way out. The Metonym’s use a lot of thick paper in there construction so the “get out and burn it” part shouldn’t be too hard, although I’ve never been one for sneaking about. We leave to cross the channel tomorrow afternoon so by the time we cross the narrow sea it will be dark; I’m going to leave my diary here as it’s seen as “dead weight” by our commanding officer. We should be back before first light if everything goes according to plan…whatever the plan is.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/10- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Today has been quite slow so far, mainly preparations for the mission this afternoon.

Okay so Nigel just told me were going to make up the plan as we go…that’s reassuring. Hopefully I’ll just be a lookout; I don’t really want to kill anyone needlessly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/11- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well that could have gone much, much better. The mission went according to plan at first; I didn’t even have to do anything as I was lucky enough to be designated a lookout. However after the initial assassination mission we ran into a slight issue that being the boat was taken by the fucken tide! Thankfully Nigel pulled through for us when he came up with the ingenious idea to hijack an enemy ship and sail it back. After a short while of infiltrating a nearing dock we found a ship that was far enough out and lightly maned. Though whilst we were assaulting the ship I did try to avoid conflict though one of them snuck up on me and almost like and unbeknownst to me Wrath had taken over my arm and grasped his skill and swiftly crushed the skull in my hand. Though my arm did not change into the demonic form as I expected I didn’t even notice my arm move until the man’s crushed skull was in my hand. I dropped the body to the ground and threw up almost instantly; even on the ride home I still had bits of brain on my shirt. I couldn’t tell if Wrath save me or just himself, frankly I don’t care though he has become more heated each time we converse, he’s losing his temper…I’m afraid he will lash out at my squad, I fear he may be overcome by some form of bloodlust.

       One of the pros of being in an elite squad it seems we get extended breaks between assignments, good thing to because it was almost dawn by the time we returned here. On the plus side I will be killing far less people and with Nigel around being here is actually a bit fun. He’s a good distraction from the horrors of war; he’s a good friend though I dare not tell him of my unique condition.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/12- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Finally a day to take it slow, it’s been a bit over a week since I could take a break from all this chaos. Though it seems when I sleep Wrath can talk to me directly, almost like were talking face to face, even though he uses my appearance when he talks to me through my dreams. Other than Wrath shouting and ranting at me in my dreams today was actually nice, all we did today was training if can so be called, more accurately the five of us were goofing about and showing off our separate skills. Nigel seems to be a “Jack of all trades but master of none” he said but he could have fooled me with his swordplay. Although he does get distracted easily if he isn’t in actual combat but besides that, his fighting skills are the best I’ve seen. However there is one thing I noticed whilst sparing with Nigel this evening, whenever I went for an attack he would block, dodge or deflect it every time when he focuses enough, I questioned him on this and he simply replied with “I just know that’s what you were going to do” also in the stealth training he could almost predict the future, or he has excellent hearing. As for the other three Rick is an excellent archer and Johnathan is a masterful tactician, then there is Brad, he is quite quiet and a master assassin as well as giving off some creepy vibes when you’re around him long enough. Hopefully tomorrow is a good day as well; I’m going to keep my diary on my person from now on, I rather like this entire diary idea. Oh I also got a letter from my mother; I wrote her back to let her know I’m alive and well, thankfully the guards held up there promise and some people from the village are coming around from time to time so she is doing alright for now, hopefully I can return home if I do my job well enough here but the war if far from over.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/13- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I really must break this terrible habit of waking up behind bars. People are calling me a traitor as they pass the cage I am in; apparently I killed our commanding officer in the dead of night. It must have been Wrath as I have no memory of it, only my blood stained clothes. And just when things were starting to look up…just my luck aye? I must do everything to avoid being hung as I’m sure Wrath wouldn’t allow me to die, if I die he dies so perseveration of this body is his priority. I wonder if that’s true because if it was he should stop murdering people! I will try my best to explain how crime and punishment works and hopefully he will get it through his thick skull.

       They have just started transporting me back to Vilta to be locked away again, though this time I’m going to have the pleasure of being in a sky cell at the very top of the Tower of Chains. Usually it’s given to the worst of the worst so they have a choice to jump to their deaths or not as in the eyes of the church suicide is one of the worst things someone can do though fighting an unwinnable fight is the most honorable, it doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s religion.

So I went from being a farmer that was possessed by a demon to being fodder, then I was in the elite forces and now I’m to be executed for treason…this has been an eventful month so far…this sky cell has a nice view of the city though. I wonder if news of my Wraths existence has gone public, though I doubt the church would let news of a demon existing get into the public. All of Vilta is nothing but religious zealots, there would be city wide uproar…could be fun to watch though since they want me dead and all so f**k em.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/14- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Still on the road, these people fear to even get close to this cell needless to say I did enjoy lunging at the guy who gave me dinner, the look on his face when he fell to the ground was great! Got a good laugh out of it but if they are scared of me then they won’t confiscate this diary. I plan on talking to Wrath in my sleep and explaining everything to him then hopefully he will stop killing needlessly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/15- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I ended up sleeping a lot longer than usual, by the time I woke Vilta was within sight though still a few hours away. My transport had not stopped for lunch like they did the day before but simply tossed some bread and a flask of water into my cage and kept going. I guess they fear me so much now that they want to be rid of me as soon as possible.

       Nearing nightfall we arrived in Vilta, as the wagon passed through the streets I received but cursory glances, clearly news of what I am had not spread onto the public but to the extent it had spread I’m not yet sure. After my escort hastily dropped me off at the Tower of Chains two massive armored men came out to great me. Both adorned in think, clunky armor they restrained me and walked me to the very top before unshackling me and kicking me into my cell. The drop from here is clearly impossible to survive demon or not, whoever appointed me this cell must know of what I am, though I must say the view is nice.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/17- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Yesterday was entirely uneventful as I did not write about it, though earlier today when the guards changed I did hear them converse a small amount, basically my fate is still being decided though one of them suggested he would stab me instead. It seems only higher ups know the truth. However a strange event did occur not but an hour ago, Wrath appeared before me in the waking world! Though he was merely an apparition that only I could see as well as being somewhat transparent, the form he took was that of the large demon from my nightmare, the red eyes and clawed hands along with the abyssal black skin, though it appears he is clothed and wearing what a wraith would wear. Something akin to the western mythos of the ‘grim rapier’ he said he found this from berried in my mind as well as manipulating my brain so he could appear before me. It’s clear he has knowledge of how brains work when even we don’t, though when I try to question him about the matter and his origins he refuses to tell me only referencing he had a father, as for information of the first day he also says naught but when I ask of his father he simply said “You could not comprehend it if I told you the truth” so naturally I pestered him about it for an hour until he got sick of me and vanished.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/18- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Nigel is a fucken legend! He broke me out even though he to committed treason in doing so. We have been fleeing north all day, keeping of the roads and sticking to the wild as we can’t afford to be seen. Were the most wanted criminals in the southern empire right now, better than being dead I suppose.

       We’ve made camp, staying off the main roads has slowed our movement speed drastically, and being on foot makes it worse. I reckon where almost half way between Vilta and the fork in the main road that leads to my hometown, we have a long way to go to reach the border but even if we get there the border is closed and going around it is almost impossible due to the Tahwil desert, nobody who goes into that desert even comes out again. With all the running I haven’t had the chance to ask Nigel why he rescued me; I would ask now if he weren’t asleep. I’ll ask him next time I go to make an entry as seeing this will remind me, with what’s happened I might not get a chance for a while.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/23- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We have been on the road for days, or should I say off the road. We just arrived at the Black Sea; the plan is to travel near the eastern coast as we move up the country, trying to avoid large villages as we go. Due to the war in the west there a far fewer guards and military personal on this side of the country, that helps us travel with a bit less stress and anxiety about being spotted. We have made camp at the shore of the black sea and plan on trying to catch some fish to cook and eat. Wrath and I have been talking more and he is slowly coming to understand how the world works and I am learning a bit about him and how he begins to go insane if he doesn’t kill something every now and then. As for Nigel I asked why he rescued me “I take care of my friends” he said, also he told me he read my diary back at the military camp. I think he empathizes or relates to my situation and what I’m going through though I can’t be certain of that.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/25- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We spotted a small bandit camp in the woods; Nigel scouted it out and said there were three of them. Under cover of night we plan to sneak in there, take their weapons and kill them, honestly I’m surprised we lasted this long with nothing but a dagger, a bow and some basic survival gear.

       That went off without a hitch; they died painlessly in their sleep. Honestly it feels weird to kill when I’m in control; I had no remorse for them though. While waiting for them to sleep I heard them boasting about raping and killing a fourteen year old and then doing the same to her mouther after making her watch. Its people like that I truly believe deserve to die. Thankfully they had clothes that fit the two of us, some leather armor and best of all the clothes have hoods. Being quite possibly the two most wanted criminals in the nation; yea I would rather conceal my appearance as much as possible. We buried the bodies at least and now we have a place to spend the night. At first light were to take as much loot as we can and head to Glenumbra, a town just south of the border, and make some cash and see if we can bribe someone to get us past the border.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/26- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       It’s a red dawn, not a good sign of things to come, were currently looting the bandit camp, found we found some swords and stocked up on arrows, I found a shield and we both found proper weapon sheathes. Nigel is stocking up our food supplies right now; we found some other crap we can sell off in Glenumbra. Were about to head out, weave now entered lawless lands of the north, so I’m sure these aren’t the last bandits were to see.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/27- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We arrived at Glenumbra’s inn an hour ago; we sold all the access equipment we found and made a few gold, I used to make far more than that a month farming so I doubt it’s going to be enough the get us North. We haven’t taken our hoods down since we arrived, a precautionary measure as the church might have put a bounty out on our heads, it’s only a matter of time before that happens and this would be a terrible place to be if it did. However Wrath has begun to come around a bit more, he seems to understand the crime and punishment system a bit more however he refuses to give me his powers unless it’s a necessity. He’s a bit of a stubborn prick, but then again he is the physical embodiment of wrath. But he refuses to cooperate with me fully even though it would benefit us both, although he is being a bit nicer towards me now; he’s still a total dick at times and refuses to answer a lot of my questions.

       We’re going to spend the night at the inn and at first light were to head to the border, I don’t think we have enough money to bribe anyone there but Nigel assures me he has a plan.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/28- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Heading to the border now, expected to arrive at one of the military blockades in two days. Thankfully there isn’t a bounty on our heads just yet or at least not one with a high enough price for the people out here to give a crap about it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/30- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We’re in sight of the emperors walk border; the empire has a large military presence here, going to have to conceal this so they don’t look over it.

       As I expected we were denied access to the northern empire but Nigel had his wits about him and managed to get them to take us to Balim, the grand archives of humanity; thankfully it’s considered holy ground and no-one is denied access regardless of circumstance. We can visit Balim but after were done were to be escorted back to the south, Nigel’s plan is to ether sneak off and flee north or pay someone off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/31- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We just arrived at out rooms for the night in Balim’s western tower, a placed reserved for visitors to sleep. It’s nearly dinner time and we both decided to eat in my room so we could discuss our next move. I must say this place is giving me a weird vibe, all the Liberians have that monk haircut and browns robes, not that strange but they also have a rope tied around their waists with a big loop in it, far too large for holding anything in it so what is it for? And they also have these strange looking daggers on their person, the weapon looks far too dull to be used for self-defense, so what’s it for? Something that fancy looking, I doubt it’s a letter opener. Also for being the birthplace of knowledge they really seem to enjoy guarding history, tried to take out a few books and they insisted I not leave the main hall with them or I would be restricted on looking at any historical tomes. What’s so wrong with wanting to learn in the comfort of my own chambers? And furthermore why the hell is the historical tome regarding the first day so heavily guarded. I couldn’t even get near the damn thing let alone read it, there is only one guard protecting it but it’s in the dead center of the main hall. Anyway enough ranting on in a diary, Nigel should be here any second with food.

       We have decided against trying to escape from our military escort as that would make us into wanted criminals in the Empire as well as the southern states. The best course of action is to go back and find another way to cross into the north. We have another day here though too I’m going to try and find out as much as I can about this tight lipped demon in my head. Hopefully I can find a book that tells how the seven saints got rid of these things so hopefully I can do the same.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/32- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Today’s looking to be basic, both Nigel and I are to research Wrath and whatever an Exile is as much as we can. Also whoever it was who gave me this strange marking on my chest, all I know is the mark on my chest keeps the demon at bay but that’s all the information I could find on it. Hopefully I can get my hands on some historical tomes or books about the church; hopefully I can find something that will help.

       I can’t believe how much time I spent reading these books, it’s almost dinner time already. Currently I’m sitting in the main hall with a small pile of books beside me while I write this just so everything is fresh in my mind. The strange vision I had around three weeks ago, the one with the hooded man in the endless sea of white, the one I had the day this demon entered my head. This strange, endless white land as said to actually exist somewhere, it is referred to as “The Great White” in every book about the church. It’s said to be a land where the seven saint’s themselves still reside, other books claim it’s a place where the dead must travel to if they are to find eternal rest. All of the religious text match in its description but differ on what the purpose of it actually is. Unfortunately I can’t go there as the Great white lay past the Giant Land’s, an impassible stone wall at north’s end depicting the seven saints themselves. Even if it were possible to climb that high I would even make it to the base, nobody but the blessed is allowed into holy lands. Interestingly the right to the holy land or “Great White” actually sparked a war in the year 2863 between the golden city and the barbarian tribes of the north who believe there ancestors descended from the Great White itself. Unfortunately the identity of the hooded man who marked me is still unknown to me but a vague description of him has popped up in some of these books labeling him as a “watcher” whatever that could mean so I’m to simply refer to him as “the watcher” in all future entries. Also I had that recurring deem again though this time it was slightly different, or should I say longer than usual. In the dream the monster or “Exile” as wrath calls it, steps through the portal and makes a defining, screeching sound that makes all the solders fall to the ground in agony. After that I saw a strange tear of sorts ripping the sky asunder, it is hard to describe but the air seamed to move in an odd fashion whilst seaming to be pulled open like a curtain. The sky began to change into a dark reddish color, at that point I looked around and in remembering in I was atop the tallest mountain in the world is Mt.Eshki, after that I simply awoke in a cold sweet. After dinner I’m going to research the mountain a bit as in the dreams Wrath is with me…there must be something else…something linking all this together. The dream, Wrath, the hooded man, that massive monster made of darkness, that massive rip in the sky and the sky itself changing color. There must be a link…but where?

       I can’t remember if I wrote this in here yet and I can’t be bothered reading through to cheek as it is quite late. Wrath is one of the seven original sins, they were basically the enemies to seven saints that fathered humanity, but with all that happening three thousand years ago some facts would have been altered or lost altogether. Anyway I did some research on Mt.Eshki, I didn’t find out a whole lot other than it’s shrouded in superstition and peculiar sightings, and it might be a good idea to check it out one day. On another note we are to be escorted back to the southern states tomorrow, I’m just glad the imperials that man the border don’t care or simply don’t know where criminals in the south.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/33- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well we had our breakfast and now were being taken back across the border; on my way out I did hear the Librarians murmuring about so prophecy of some such nonsense, still I should keep my eyes and ears open for anything else. With the existence of Wrath I’m not entirely sure what‘s myth and what’s real anymore, what else could be out there?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/36- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Back in Glenumbra already…thankfully we still don’t have wanted posters with our faces plastered all over the nation yet. Nigel told me we have three options. One: Go west into a damn war zone to cross the border. Two: Go East into the Tahwil desert to cross the border, unless you know a way through (which nobody does) you’re better off going west. And our final option is to get more money so we can actually bribe our way across the border. The third option is clearly the best so now were mercenaries. As soon as we get enough money to cross that border were gone, because if word gets out that were still here, were going to have an army coming for us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/37- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well now were completely broke, all we have is our clothes, weapons and a bit of food. Nigel and I have been trying to find anyone in this damn town who needs some work done but nobody is hiring at the moment. Honestly I’m glad, I don’t want to be hired by some bandits or anything, if I am going to have to kill someone it has to be a bad person who deserves it. Nigel agrees with that philosophy but were desperate at the moment, were basically asking everyone at this point.

       We got a job! We found a few wanted posters around, turns out even a backwater place like Glenumbra has town guards; they don’t really do anything though besides drinking. There have been a few attacks on the roads around here and the bandits responsible have annoyed the guards enough for them to issue a bounty. So were headed northeast after we get everything we need for a two or three day trek. The bandits were after are A bit North of here, there camped right in the middle of Hell’s Pass, the southern entrance into the Tahwil desert, very open place so it would be impossible to sneak up on them. We have no idea how many of them there are but the bounty is 20 gold a head, and since I have a murder hungry demon I think the two of us can handle whatever we come across.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/39- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Nearing the end of the month and I went from farmer to criminal with a demon in my head and some sort of divine seal on my chest. I’ve gotten over the sudden change and in all honesty I really wanted to get the hell out of that town, albeit in a more dignified way. I had the itch for adventure; I guess most people stuck in an endless cycle want something new and exciting until they actually get what they want. Nigel and have made camp for the night already and have finished dinner, the entire day was nothing but walking. I would have liked to have a warm meal but we can’t risk a fire with the bandit camp only an hour or so away. Before first light were to sneak close and see what were up against and then we will attack that night. Hopefully their lookouts are few and far apart so Nigel can take them out with a bow before we sneak in and finish them off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/40- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We spotted about five guys in total; meaning when it gets dark there should only be one or two lookouts. Nigel takes his out with an arrow then we finish the remaining four, here’s hoping the lookout doesn’t make too much noise when he dies. I was wondering why we didn’t attack before dawn so I asked Nigel about it, he said he spotted them moving some barrels around but they didn’t open them. He thinks they contain beer and they’re going to drink it tonight, considering the resin where here is because these guys raid booze wagons it’s not a far-fetched theory.

       I’m getting quite nervous about all this; I have no idea what’s going to happen. I don’t really fear for my life or anything, I’m sure Wrath will step in if I’m in danger since were linked an all that. But what if Wrath goes berserk and kills Nigel? What would I do then... I’m getting a bit too worked up I think, Nigel is a pro so if that does happen he should be smart enough to not die. I still have no idea if it’s going to work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/42- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Tonight we strike the bandit camp, we spotted them opening the barrel and drinking the beer inside. Nigel was right but I’m wondering why did they wait to open the thing if they already had it? Anyway when they get drunk and pass out is when we strike. Only a few hours till nightfall, I’m off to take a nap as I didn’t get a good night rest. Nigel will wake me before the attack.

       Well that was really easy, Nigel took out one guy but he screamed out, two others herd and came to check it out. They were so drunk one ended up killing the other thinking it was an enemy trying to sneak up on him, Nigel took out the other guy the we waltzed in and Nigel killed one and I killed the other. I looked away as I did it though, I would rather a fair fight but he insisted we smother them with pillows as they slept. We got the five crests, that’s one hundred gold for us, it’s nowhere near enough to get us across the border but it’s a start. We can also afford some ammunition, food and more with that. Since they had actual beds in their camp we decided to stay here the night, after moving the bodies of course.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/43- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Almost sunset, we have been on the road for a few hours now. Today was…interesting to say the least. I will write about everything that happened in full once we find a good place to make camp.

       We awoke in the early afternoon, the sun hanging high in the sky above our heads. We began to loot the camp and after a while of gathering supplies and weapons we spotted something kicking up sand and coming our way. It was a group of people, at first I thought them to be other mercenaries but as they came properly into view we noticed they were the rest of the Sand Fists bandit clan. Instead of finding their clan members in there camp they instead found us, two strangers and the bodies of their kin. They drew their swords instantly and so did we, the surrounded us quickly and about four of them came at us at once. It could have been more I’m not completely sure as it all happened so fast. Nigel took out two and took out one before the rest of them stepped back, and then their boss came out. He stood easily two heads higher than me, a giant in every sense; he called out for a fair one on one fight, him against Nigel since he was the better fighter of the two of us. I guess he would rather kill us himself than have his men die, Nigel used a simple broadsword and the giant bandit held a massive axe, something that size could easily fell a tree in but a sew strikes. Nigel dodged and weaved, taking gabs at him where he could but the guy was so big it seemed as if the cuts did nothing. After a few seconds the bandit leader hit Nigel in the head with the butt of his axe knocking him down and almost knocking him out instantly. He was about to kill him but I challenged him to a fight. He didn’t kill Nigel and instead faced me. I wasn’t as strong or skilled as Nigel but I do have an ace up my sleeve. The bandit land snickered amongst themselves as he approached me, he pushed me back into his men who were still watching, they pushed me forward again into what seemed like a small, circular arena they had formed with their bodies. I tried to copy what Nigel had done and dodge his attacks, I dodged about two swings before he threw his axe at me. I caught it as a natural reaction and he grabbed it and kicked me to the ground. I was on my backside as he walked closer and lifted his axe to swing down at my head. At that point I was wondering what the hell Wrath was doing, why had he not intervened yet. I could very easily die and then so would he and him being a demon of wrath I thought he would jump at the opportunity to kill people. So the bandit leader swung his axe and I raised my arm up to try and catch the blade of the axe, certain that wrath would lend me strength and I could stop the blade before it hit me. The blade fell into my left hand and instead of catching the blade it tore violently through my hand, my wrist and half of my forearm. The large bandit pressed his boot to my face so he could remove his axe as if he were cutting a tree; he pulled the axe and pushed me to the ground with his boot where I lay in searing agony. I clasped my now torn open arm as I wallowed in pain, the sand crawling into the large wound making the pain grow every moment, but very quickly that pain turned into unbridled rage. I stood up and strange tendrils of darkness seamed to creep from the wound and at the same time the bleeding stopped, these tendrils covered my entire arm and my hand turning it to its demonic form as it had before. The bandit leader was facing his audience of spectators, boasting and getting them to cheer for him. As he faced away from me I held my now clawed fingers together to form a spear and thrust it through his back and out the other side. A few shocked gasps could be heard from the other bandits before a silence befell us, broken only by my arm being removed from the leaders chest and then his body falling to the ground. I could feel my mind, my will slipping away as it had before when Wrath took over my body but this time it felt a bit different, I still had some control of my own actions. Then all the remaining bandits attacked almost all at once, We (Wrath and I) killed many of them within seconds by simply moving a hand across their necks as they were all almost perfectly aligned as the charged. Hopefully him using my body in such a way develops some mussel memory because the fight was something else, he was disarming them, using them as shields; it was unlike anything I had seen before, the motions where so fluid and elegant in one moment but barbaric and untamed the next. After all of them died Wrath subsided and thankfully I didn’t pass out right away though I did feel week and exhausted, I did throw up though as what I had just seen was quite grotesque. I got Nigel to his feet, he has a bump on his head now, and then we looted the bodies for money and took their crests to turn in later. They had a few hundred gold on them, more than were going to get from the bounty in any case; they must have just robbed a caravan or something to have that kind of cash on them. Anyway that’s, that, well get back to Glenumbra in two or so days and get our gold from the bounty. Hopefully we’ll get a bit of a bonus for taking out here leader as well, his clan crest looked a bit fancier than the others.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/45- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We now have around 700 gold! We go a bonus for killing the leader and another bonus for taking out the entire clan! We need a few thousand for the both of us to head north though; you could buy a house for that price and a fancy one at that, it’s a rip off but we gota pay it to go north.

       Well s**t, where already were down to a few hundred gold already. We had to replenish out food and water, get our clothes fixed and out weapons mended, stocked up on ammunition and got some new weapons and armor. The armor is made of light material and we got a few new weapons such as short swords and daggers. We had to buy this stuff so we could go after higher paying bounties and actually live, fair point I guess, already looking for our next job, no time to celebrate I guess.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/46- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We found a trader heeding south that’s looking for protection, they leave tomorrow and only want an escort to Emperor Walk. Once we get off the side roads we get paid and then head back. We started to get a bit of reputation at the inn were all the mercenaries hang out, they were slightly impressed at how two of us took out an entire bandit clan. Of course they have no idea how we did it, anyone finds out about Wrath and word will get out and an entire army will come for us. We leave in the morning on the escort job.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/47- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Nigel is sitting up front with the driver and I’m in the back keeping an eye behind us through a window, this other freelance guy named Nick is tagging along as extra security, he’s currently standing on top of the cart itself. Were about to turn off of Bandits’ Path and onto the barbed road, once we reach the end we turn left then after we arrive at Three Corners were done. An easy job, we should arrive at Three Corners by nightfall since this is faster than walking.

       Well we arrived at Three Corners, a very original name considering it’s at a crossroads. There was an attack but by the time I opened the door and got out Nigel and Nick already took care of the two attackers, I thought I spotted more in the bushes but I guess they didn’t expect the caravan to be so well guarded. We each got paid 20 gold, after paying for a place to stay he night and a warm meal we barely broke even, Nick took his gold and meet up with some other guys before leaving. We’re going to head back in the morning but we aren’t going to stick to the roads, hopefully we will find some bandit’s to take out on the way back, we can loot their camps and pocket some extra gold whilst making the place a little safer for travelers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/48- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well it seems that Nick guy has left, I was going to ask if he wanted to tag along; an extra pair of eyes is always welcome. Or in that guy’s case one eye, he had a burn mark covering half his face, I was going to ask him about it but it seemed a bit insensitive. Anyway we had breakfast and were heading back to Glenumbra now. It should take a day or two depending on how many bandit camps we cross and how thick the bush is.

       As we left Three Corners I spotted a small group of military with that trader we escorted, I told Nigel were going to try and avoid jobs that take us to close to Emperors Walk just in case where spotted. Anyway I think were about half way back to Glenumbra, we found a bandit camp and wiped them out rather easily as we took them by surprise. They were part of the Flame Sword clan, one of the larger ones in the area, this is actually the same camp were the two bandits came from yesterday on the Barbed Road. They even have the bodies here; there was actually one bed more than there were people, meaning they sent someone somewhere. Probably going to give a report to their leader, even if that is the case I was inside and Nigel was up front with a hood on so they wouldn’t know our faces. If they’re to go after anyone it would be that other guy who was with us, Nick I think his name was, the burned face guy and besides he seems to be part of a larger group of mercenaries so he should be fine. Anyway we got some loot and some gold from the camp and we are continuing on though not for much longer, the sun is setting soon.

       Found a nice spot to spend the night, a nicely hidden area at the base of a big tree, going to have something to eat from our supplies then head to bed. Might have a chat with Wrath, he hasn’t told me much about what happened in Hells Pass with the whole growing back an arm thing and why he wouldn’t steep in to help sooner.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/49- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Well I had a nice little chat with Wrath as I slept, he told me he would only step in if our lives were at severe risk as he is still adapting to living inside someone’s head and him lending me his abilities does take a toll on him more so than it does to me. One thing I did find out though is he can only regenerate my arms as well as take them over; apparently it has something to do with the symbol scared into my chest. Unfortunately none of the books at the Grand Archive said anything about it, also the reason he was being so evasive during that fight is because he can only heal my arms that fast. He can heal/grow back other bits but it’s slow and in combat that could get us both killed. Were almost back at Glenumbra where we’ll sell the gear we scavenged, should arrive before lunch time.

       We have around 400 gold now; it’s an improvement I suppose but where still a long way off what we need. It’s only a matter of time before word gets out that we’re here then were screwed so we need to get more gold and faster. We’ve got to start thinking about ways to get money faster but without having everyone know about Wrath, if word gets out about him then we really are screwed.

       While Nigel was getting some dinner I took the crests of those Flame Sword bandits we killed to the guard post and got a few gold for them, I also took one copy of every bounty they had so I can see what the easiest and most efficient way to get money would be. Going to flip through these tonight and see if I can figure out something.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/1/50- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I looked through all the wanted posters last night, there were a few that paid a lot but they were on the other side of the main road, larger military presence that way since it’s closer to the war. It seems word of a demon fighting in the war and being arrested for treason has finally reached this far but thankfully rumors are meet with skepticism. Fortunately none of these stories include any type of description, well not enough of a description for anyone to recognize us anytime soon. As for the bounties I did find a few in the lawless zone that we could do, one is to kill the leader of the Flame Sword clan and the bounty on his head is about 100,000 Gold, maybe more depending on the circumstances. There are two downsides though, one: He has an army and two; the reward money is so high it has to come from Vilta itself (maybe), and if that much money is being sent from Vilta it’s bound to have a military guard. It’s a lot of money but it won’t work, the second highest paying bounty is for some guy called Goran that Mutilator. A few thousand gold if you bring him in dead and even more if you bring him in alive, he was last seen on the Barbed coast north of the city of Raven Speer, that city might actually have guards that don’t just sit of their a*s and get drunk all day so it might be a bit risky if there government are close to the church.

       We’re heading to Raven Speer in a bit. I did some asking around in the pub and that place is apparently not that great if you a mercenary, this one mercenary clan basically run all freelance jobs, there price is high so everyone looking to place a bounty that won’t cost too much does it here. We’re going to walk their and then see if we can track down this Goran guy, I asked around as to why nobody else had taken the job already and this guy loves to set traps in his lair. Too bad were leaving now, tonight is the last day month and it’s free drinks at the Sword’s Sheath during the darkest hour of the night, would have loved to stay but we need gold, fast.

       We decided to stop for a quick bite to eat not too far from the city gates; I must say the sheer size of the city wall sure put’s Glenumbra to shame. We picked some apples off a tree so we wouldn’t eat into our own rations, after we eat we’re going to head into the city and look for a place to stay the night and then tomorrow we will take care of the bounty.

I get what they were talking about know, this city is littered with mercenaries, all part of the Blood Raven clan. Also there a bunch of arrogant stuck up b******s who talk down to everyone, I like the big city as I never set foot in one before but I would take Glenumbra over this place any day, at least back there most of the mercenaries treat you as equal.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We scouted up the shore until we were at Ravens Rest, as the name suggests there were a lot of ravens flying about. Wrath appeared before me in his spectral like form he had done once before, he asked what we were doing witch surprised me as I thought he could see everything I did. He said he tends to not pay attention to what’s going on unless there’s bloodshed; he then explained that he isn’t that attentive to the real world as he is still trying to adjust to being inside my head. Whilst writing we have come across an entrance to what appears to be the entrance to a cave system. There is evidence that a person has been going in and out frequently, footprints, rubbish, and more littered the entrance of the cave. Where heading inside, if this person’s name is anything to go buy the missing people might be here, if we find them (or their remains) we might get a bonus.

New Diary it seams I now have. New ingreadiants to! A blonde one and a demon one! Maybe grind the blonde one into a power and use t to season the demon!? Will that please you? Will you fiannly come back for dinner my cosmic beuty? Why wont you awnser me? You always awnser me in my nightmares, I see your gift achent one! The gift of the hole! TIME TO COOK A MEAL FOR THE 8 OF US, A MEAL FIT FOR FORE!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/3- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       That was a disturbing ordeal, that psychopath even wrote some strange things in my diary to boot; I suppose I should write down everything that happened in the last two days. I’ll write it all after I get into my room, it’s going to take a while to write so I would rather be comfortable and have food and drink available if I need it as this is going to take a while to write out.

When we went into that cave it was so dark we couldn’t see, Nigel lit a torch he made out of driftwood and some other supplies and then we proceeded further in. As we started to go deeper into the cave we started to smell a putrid stench coming from further inside, we used this foul smell to find the right way when the path diverged again and again. We started to hear faint echoed humming as the stench got stronger; I accidently kicked a small pebble and the humming stopped abruptly. We were both on edge after that as we knew Goran was aware of our presence, as we proceeded Nigel spotted some booby traps and got lucky guessing the location of others. As we continued in we both suddenly tripped on what I think it was a wire, strong enough to trip us but thin enough so we couldn’t see it at all, right after we tripped we were struck in the head by something and were knocked out. I do not know how much time passed but I awoke in a strange room within the cave, there was nothing in the room besides a single lit torch on the floor. There wasn’t even an exit to the chamber I was in, the walls and roof where the shape of a perfect dome. I tried everything I could think of but nothing was working, all of the walls were real and there was no way out going up or down, I was stuck in this room. Hours passed before I heard the faintest humming coming from the other side of a wall, I inspected it and found the exit to this room was actually covered over by a bolder. At that point Wrath appeared before me in his spectral state and we discussed what we should do next as if we couldn’t get out I was sure I would starve to death. As the humming faded into the distance Wrath changed my arms to give me a bit more strength and we slowly but surely pushed the massive bolder out of the way. As we pushed the bolder the foul stench violated my nostrils once more, it was so strong in almost made me gag and once the bolder was pushed out of the way I walked into the next room and the found the source of the smell. There were corpses and limbs hanging from hooks on the wall, rotted entrails oozing from the dismembered corpses, there was a table with a corpse and it, its chest was open and its face was peeled off so the mussels where visible. There was a cooking pot with limbs sticking out of it and a table was set with organs, eyes, brain and even a boiled and blistered c**k, even recalling it now makes me nauseous. The sound I made alerted Goran to my presence and he walked in the room holding a severed head, blood still dripping from it. All I could see of the head was the blonde hair; I looked at it in shock as I though the head belonged to Nigel. My initial shock quickly turned to rage as I gave my body to Wrath willingly, we punched him in the face making him fall to the ground as he dropped the head. We grabbed his arms and placed a boot on his chest as we pulled his arms off, after we thrust our claws into his chest and pulled out his still beating heart out, he just kept laughing the entire time so we ripped his jaw off before ramming his heart down his throat. I say “we” because both Wrath and I had control, this was a joint effort. After we killed him my arms returned to normal and I turned to the head on the floor, thankfully it wasn’t Nigel but someone I did not know, they were still young though. I then made only my right hand change into a claw was I removed Goran’s head, his heart fell out of this throat as I lifted the head from his neck. It seems after working together Wrath was more reluctant to let me use his power and I was starting to get used to it so it wasn’t as taxing on us. As I removed the head I heard Nigel calling out my name, I took the head and went to find him. I entered a room filled with cage’s once of which contained Nigel, I freed him and found a sack to put the head in. I told him I killed the guy and left it at that when he questioned me about the missing jaw, we proceeded in the opiate direction that I came from, and we soon found ourselves in the sick f***s bedroom where a beheaded corpse lay naked on the bed. I was repulsed but did nothing more than gag and look away, Nigel was a different story; I covered the body in the bedsheets so we wouldn’t have to look at it. The room did contain a trunk at the end of the bed, I opened it as Nigel had already left the room was waiting outside. The chest contained what I assume is all the gold of the people Goran had killed along with my own Diary as well as our supplies and weapons. I quickly skimmed through and noticed he had written in it, I closed it and put it in my pocked, after I counted the gold as I took it, it was a few hundred or so. As I left the room I passed Nigel who was still wiping his mouth just around the corner, I told him what I had found and continued on. Because the bedroom was a dead end we had no choice but to go the other way, so I made sure to stay ahead of Nigel by a few steps and as we approached the corner that led into the dreaded room I told Nigel to brace himself as I took the head from him. As we walked in the room Nigel made repulsed sounds as he looked around, he pointed out two things that he questioned me about. The first was Goran’s corpse; I explained that it was in fact Goran’s body and what I did as well as why I did it. Secondly he pointed out the bolder and the strange device next to it, it seemed as if you could use a switch to move a bolder. I didn’t know there were such devices outside of the northern capitol; we didn’t spend much time in that room and quickly moved on. We took a torch with us as we tried to find a way out of the labyrinth, as we walked we discussed what had happened. I told him how I was trapped in that room behind the bolder and he told me he was stuck in that cage and couldn’t escape. We figured out that I was put in the cave because of Wrath as it was clear by what he wrote the read my Diary, if he had put me in an iron cage he knew I could have easily cut my way out. After a bit of talking and stopping to tend to Nigel’s wounds, Goran had prodded and poked at him with sharp objects, shortly after we found the exit and saw the sun rising from the Barbed Sea. It was morning the day after we had been captured, with some proper light we could see Nigel’s wounds, they were not deep but they were infected slightly. We then went back to Raven Spear and the first thing we did was buy Rot-Away to treat Nigel’s infection. After getting him settled back in his room at the inn I went to collect the bounty and turned over Goran’s head. I then tolled the guards what I saw and they gave me a small bonus we now have thousands of gold. Nigel did tell me that Goran was deliberately trying to infect Nigel’s wounds with some strange type of mushroom; with what he described of the black mushrooms I swear I had seen them before, maybe back home? I can’t be sure, but now I must go and get drunk so I might be able to sleep tonight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/5- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Back in Glenumbra and it feels good, this place as already starting to feel a bit like home even after such a short time being here. We have gained respect among the other mercenaries ever since we wiped out the entire Sand Fist clan with just the two of us. The people here are surprisingly nice once you get to know them a bit despite their rough exterior. Onto more important news though while we were gone apparently there were a few people looking for us, I thought it might be military until they were described to me. I was told they were wearing normal clothes and hooded cloaks, obviously whoever these people are they are trying not to be recognized, a technique used by people who don’t frequent towns. If they were trying to keep their identities hidden it could be bandits, maybe a survivor of the Sand Fists? There is still a chance they could be military given what they know about me, but even so why not just make wanted posters? Third thing it could be was the Flame Swords, even if it was it would be impossible for them to know where we are and what we look like…Ah no point in speculating it’s time we take it easy, Nigel has gotten a lot better after being tortured by that psychopath, I just wanna drink, eat and have fun, put that whole ordeal out of my head. In regards to the guys asking for me they were told we went to Raven Spear, if they went there looking for us (considering that they have accurate descriptions of both Nigel and me) It shouldn’t take them long to find out we already turned in the bounty and are back here. They will probably come back in two or three days at most. So time to take it easy for a bit and relax.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/6- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Today was a good day, I needed one as well. Thinking about going back to the Grand Archives again for a few days, I didn’t really get to read up on everything I wanted to last time I was there, I’ll talk it over with Nigel and see what we should do next.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/6- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nigel’s wounds have healed over completely, he’s got a few scars on him but that’s about all, but the scars have started to go slightly darker than they should, we applied more Rot-Away and left it at that. Yesterday I think I told everyone what happened in the cave because everyone was a bit nicer to me than usual, that is when they went cracking jokes at my expense, and I say “T think I told them” because I was quite drunk most of the day. I talked to Nigel about going back to the Archive and he said it would be a good idea to go in a day or two from now, so that way we are able to avoid the people looking for us as they can only mean trouble. Were hardly the best or most well-known mercenaries around so they can’t be looking to hire us, tomorrow were going to start walking to the border to request access into the Archives. We’re going to simply go west through the bush until we reach the small town of Last Watch, after we get there we’ll head to Emperors’ Garden and then follow the main road till the border

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/7- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       On the way out I overheard some people talking about a few people missing from the Black Rock Legion, there considered the best of the best mercenary clan even though there not the biggest. So a missing member is a big deal, whoever abducted or killed that member is going to have a small army coming for them soon. Anyway that aside we arrived at Last Watch a bit ago for dinner, no action on the way here though I’m going to ask around a bit to see if anyone knows anything about bandit movements before we go.

       I didn’t expect this place to be quite small; it’s around the same size as my home town, anyway I asked around a bit and someone told me a lot of the bandits are heading to the south of the lawless zone. Only thing there is the Flame Sword’s base, it’s some sort of old fortress called the Black Fort due to the unique dark stone it is made from, no idea why that guy told me that but whatever, we are heading out to Emperors’ Garden in the morning and should arrive at the border by the afternoon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/8- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We just arrived at the Emperors’ Garden; it’s a very lovely place with all sorts of different trees and plants, truly picturesque. We had to stop for lunch, it would have been a crime not to, and after we eat we have to keep moving so we make it on time. I wish we had horses.

Had a small talk with the border guard before one guy was sent with us to the Archives, he looks almost the same age and us so I wonder why he’s guarding the border. I asked him his name since he would be escorting us, said his name was Levi Katal, I asked him about his strange sir name and where he was from. He simply said he was from the Tahwil Desert and didn’t say anything else, I had heard talk of a city out there but it’s just a myth. Also he didn’t have the color of a desert dweller; his skin was so bright it was almost as if he almost never went outside, the long hair didn’t help convince me either but it didn’t seem as if he was lying. Anyway we should be arriving at the Archive’s soon; this guard does seem to be a bit more professional and attentive than the other when we were here last.

       As we arrived I couldn’t help but notice the guards expression, almost a look of disgust came from him as we were greeted by the Liberians. We are staying here for two days then we head back, now to get some food in us then head to bed for the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/9- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Did some more research today along with Nigel, didn’t find anything new really, just the same old vague crap about this and that. The Great White, Mt. Eshik, the Exiles, everything I knew already or at least not anything credible enough to warrant investigation. Actually there was one thing about the first day I didn’t notice before; the Exile in that story is sometimes referred to as a single being and sometimes seven individuals, not entirely sure what that means as there is no explanation, if I want to learn anything it would be in the old tome that’s kept under that glass casing in the middle of the main hall. That guard, Levi I think his name was, he kept wondering off as we did our research and kept an eye on the Librarians more than us, when I wasn’t engrossed in research I wanted to ask what he was doing but he was absent more than not. What we really need is to get our hands on that book in the middle of the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/10- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Nigel woke me before sunrise; I’m not sure what the exact hour is but we’re going to steal the ancient tome that sits in the great hall.

       We have the tome and we are back in my room, it was kind of strange how easy it was to get, we just walked in and grabbed it from the case, not a soul around. However the tomes itself has a lock on it, were taking turns trying to pick the lock but were not that great at it. Will write another entry once it’s open or when we have to put it back before anyone wakes up and notices that it’s gone.

       I got it open finally and looked inside, the second I looked at a page I slammed the book shut and locked it again. I knew something was wrong, the page I saw did not have words on it but instead had…It’s almost impossible to describe but it was moving and churning about, like something was trying to leave the tome. There were faces, eyes and abyss calling to me and there were strange monstrosities that only a nightmare could conjure within a black abyssal nothingness that contained everything. I do not know what I saw but I do not want to look at it ever again and I must not let anyone see it. I didn’t look at it long but even I know if a normal person read this tome might just drive them mad.

       We put the tome back and Nigel went back to his room, I talked with Wrath about what it was and he actually told me that tome contained knowledge not fit for humans to look upon; I could look at it because of Wraths presence. He said my human side froze up upon seeing the contents of the book; it was Wrath that moved my hands to slam it closed. The tome contains all knowledge, everything that was, is or ever will be. He said humans can’t stay sane after learning the cosmic truth. Whatever that means, the tome was written by immortals for immortals and not for mortal eyes to look upon. The existence of it alone brings up so many questions though; questions I want to find the answers to but Wrath told me I am not ready for the answers, I may never be. I wonder if the Librarians themselves have looked upon the tome. They do act very strange but I wouldn’t call them insane, though they do give off that cultist vibe. Anyway this was one hell of a morning, suns coming up and I’m hungry, no use pondering over questions that are impossible to answer.

Ymg' ahor nafl ahmgr'luh ah'ehyeah kadishtuor ngnah h' ahor ymg' zhro lloig

Well that happened, I was summoned to the leader of the Librarians, he asked for my diary and wrote what is above as he spoke to me; he talked about the tome as if he somehow knew I looked at it. He was surprised at what I had done and asked questions about what I saw in the pages, I gave simply told him the truth of what I witnessed and as I explained to him of the ‘things’ I saw his expression never changed. After I answered his questions I asked if there was anyone else who looked at the tome, he looked up at me and simply said “Goran and myself” by my reaction he knew I had crossed him. I questioned him upon the circumstances surrounding the two such, he explained how they are the ones who found the book to begin with and they both looked at its contents, however he did not tell me why Goran went mad and he didn’t. I asked him of the origins of the tome and its contents as well as where the two had found it, he replied simply saying “In a cave somewhere far, far away”. The strange language he wrote above this entry is very ominous; Wrath can read it however and translated it to the common tongue for me. He said it translated to “Thou shan’t covet knowledge last thou forgo sanity” or at least something along those lines. For the rest of the day I’m to do more research, though I fear I may only find even more questions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/11- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We can’t find Levi our guard/escort; we checked his quarters to see if he had overslept and he was missing even though today is the day were meant to be escorted back to the south. Nigel and I took this time to discuss what we should do and in the end we decided against fleeing north as we would be reported and ‘missing persons’ and if we are spotted we would be deported. If we’re to get north and stay there we either have to sneak past the border (impossible) or bribe our way through, if we do either of those two nobody would know to look for us for any reason.

       Levi just showed up out, said he lost track of time as he was looking around, didn’t really ask, didn’t really care. Were to head back to the border where we are to spend the night before heading back to Glenumbra. Hopefully we managed to shake those people looking for us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/12- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We arrived in Glenumbra not to long ago and when he walked into the bar we noticed the hooded figures sitting in a corner, watching us. The have to be the people who have been trying to track us down though the only seem to be scouting us out. All the rooms have already been booked and I asked Harold (the innkeeper/bartender) as he said they don’t have a room. Once it gets dark in the next hour or two they have to head back to wherever they came from and we are going to follow them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/13- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We followed them to a small camp in the woods just a few minutes off of the road; we managed to keep our distance so they didn’t know we were following them. Even from this distance I swear I can hear some sort of muffled grunting or screaming, I think they have a prisoner they’re torturing, savages.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/14- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Another interesting day it seems, the three of us are still in the bandit camp, a few corpses here and there but they don’t disturb me as much as they used to. I’m starting to become desensitized to all this, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I suppose I should continue the thing I do and write what happened in detail when something interesting or noteworthy happens.

       We snuck into the camp after everyone went to sleep; first place we went was the large tent where we heard the strange noises from earlier. Tied to the central post was a man with a burn mark covering part of his face, it was Nick, that guy who was with us for that escort job to Three Corners. I removed the cloth from his mouth and untied him. He thanked me and grabbed a nearby dagger I can only assume was used on him not to long ago. I asked him what he was going to do and why he was here, he informed us as he was gathering things from around the tent. The two bandits that died during that escort job were the sons of the leader of the Flame Sword clan; they only saw his face so they went after him to get information on us. The leader of the bandits is out for blood, the day after the escort job we did run across the camp of bandits we killed on the escort job. It seems I was right; there was one extra bed there because they sent someone to their base to report what happened. That would explain the people who were looking for us the last few days, the guys we tracked here. After he gave us a basic explanation he said he wanted to kill these guys for torturing them, we agreed to help him as he would have gotten killed if he somehow screwed something up, we each killed one in their sleep and one of them screamed, the other three were alerted and rushed out to find us, we killed one each again and it was over just like that. A very short battle but thankfully a small one, I would hate to use Wrath in front of someone I didn’t know after we were confirming they were dead Nigel found another one cowering in a tent, we tied his hands and questioned him. He told us everything; how they were going after the Black Rock Legion (The one Nick is in) and how they’re going to attack Glenumbra he said by month’s end it would no longer be a city, they had already sent someone to their fortress and they will return with an army. Nick just killed him moments ago and finished gathering gear, were heading to the Black Rock Legion base with Nick to plan something, I assume we will be attacking the Flame Sword clan ether in Glenumbra or attack their base while most of them are away. Their hideout is just passed Ravens Rest, passed were that psychopath lived in that cave, we should arrive in a few hours.

       This place is insane; it’s half a ruins and half a cave complex, far bigger than it looked on the outside. They plan to attack Black Rock fortress while the Flame Sword army is away then fight their main force when they return so they would have the upper hand. They asked if we could help and we declined as we needed to play our cards right even though we don’t have a-lot to begin with. They said we could stay here and if we changed our minds we should tell them soon as possible as they are leaving before first light tomorrow. I’ll think it over and talk with Nigel about it but I’m not sure, there is the option of not getting involved…but then again if Glenumbra is destroyed it will be a lot harder to get money to go north, if we join these Black Rock Legion guys we have a better shot at survival.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/15- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       They were gone when I awoke; Nigel is still here of course, I talked with Wrath as I slept and we agreed the best chance of survival is to stay in a large group, though his reasoning of saying that was he thought of them as meet shields. We’re going to head to the Black Fort where hopefully the Black Stone Legion is now in command. Random thought, those names are way to similar, I’ll have to ask someone about that; we should get there later in the day if we head out now.

       We are currently hiding in the tree line looking upon the now smoldering Black Fort. There are many corpses outside the walls of the fortress, probably a dozen or so, however there are a few pillars of smoke rising from inside the walls itself and the somewhat large door looks heavily damaged but is closed. It’s clear that they broke into the fortress but it is hard to tell if they won the battle or not or got massacred after getting through the main gate, It’s too risky to simply walk up to the gate but it might be a risk we would have to take. Nigel and I are currently discussing the best way to go about this, if we walk up to the gate we could either be greeted of fired upon depending on who won the battle. Also if we sneak in to see who is currently occupying the premises we may be mistaken for enemies and fired upon, regardless who is in command.

       I alone decided to walk up to the gate while Nigel was taking a piss; thankfully Nick was the one who peered his head over the wall to greet me and opened the gate. I called Nigel over after the gate opened and now we sit with Nick as he explains what were to do next. Everyone else is to barricade the fortress and build up defenses as best they can in preparation of the Flame Sword clan to return. I also learnt the Black Rock Legion was named after this fortress, apparently their founders built this place but they were taken over by bandits, also the leader of the Flame Sword clan is not here, he went to Glenumbra with his little army. I must admit I really do wish we could have stopped them attacking Glenumbra, I really liked that place, sure it had its flaws every place does but it was starting to feel like home…now it’s gone. Honestly…that pisses me off. A second home taken away from me against my will, a second place I can never go back to.

       We’re helping fortify the place, I was somewhat surprised to learn that these people don’t have a leader; they are more like a community or a family. Simply hearing that makes me want to stay here, but I’m not sure if I can keep Wrath hidden forever, I think it would be best to avoid staying in large groups needlessly. In this circumstance I need to be with these guys, because if they lose the upcoming battle, the remaining forced to the bandit’s will be coming for Nigel and me. I don’t think I can take on a small army myself, Wrath had already explained that with his power I can regenerate my arms easily but the rest of my body heals slowly and if I were to suffer a fatal wound that would be the end of me, of us both.

       I decided to hold a meeting with the entire Black Rock Legion, I informed them that on the battlefield they may see something not entirely human fighting alongside them. I made my right arm turn as I had before and showed them, some gasped, some questioned but none panicked. I still have no idea what to even call it when my arms change so it won’t take as long to write here, I can’t think of a name for it however, I might in the future though. I might as well describe it here as I’m not sure if a have done so yet.

       When the transformation of my arms take place it is almost as if tendrils spout from my wrist and crawl up my arm and down my hand, coating the entire arm in them before they fuse together in one sloid form as they seep into my skin and become my arm. The claws are also formed from the tendrils as extended versions of my fingers, even though there sharp enough to cut some metals. The arm itself gets a bit larger and more muscular, but the tendrils that are now part of my skin instead of covering it stop once they reach my shoulder and touch the brand scared into my chest. I explained this to Nick just now and he said we would be willing to draw it in here for me.

I don’t know what this is or

What it means, the Archive had no information on it. Hopefully this strange mystery isn’t a mystery much longer…Smoke rises to the north, tomorrow will be a bloody battle…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/16- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Last night the fort undertook repairs both inside and out, the result of this is that it looks as if no battle took place to begin with; thankfully the damage done wasn’t too great. All of the bodies, blood and damage visible from outside of the walls had been ether removed or repaired but the inside was barely touched. Also we have information that a-lot of the higher ranking bandits of the Flame Swords are ex-military along with their leader, they would most likely be marching in a military formation with a heavily armored vanguard at the front of the formation at all times. With this information Nigel devised a plan of attack that would give us the upper hand, were to hide out of sight as the army approaches the gate and open it as though it were still under bandit occupation, after the vanguard entered we close and bar the gate quickly and ambush the vanguard before they know what’s going on. We need to attack them but try to not kill them, the goal is to disarm and restrain them so we could take them atop the walls and execute them in full view of their army before throwing their bodies down to their feet. The reason for doing this is to kill their vanguard as well as cause a drop in morale therefore giving us an advantage.

       I can hear the faint sound of marching in the distance, I shall write of what happened after the battle.

       That was a hell of a day, needless to say we won otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this down but not everything went according to plan, after we finish tending to the wounded and doing everything else I will write of the battles events in more detail.

       The start of it all went perfectly; we separated and ambushed the vanguard then took them up onto the wall, I took one of them and Nick was there giving some sort of speech. (I think he’s sort of like and unspoken leader amongst the others, or at least a father figure or something) He was shouting some intimidating crap I wasn’t really paying attention, I was to focused on the a*****e I was holding in place trying to break free, I wanted to hit him or something but my hands were full. After Nicks little speech the enemy leader stepped forward and spouted some insulting words at us, about honor and the deaths of his sons. After Nick and the enemy leader stepped back things went wrong, a barrage of arrows befell us seemingly from nowhere, it seemed they were too proud to let their comrades die the way we had intended. After the barrage of arrows stopped all of us threw the arrow littered bodies we had used as shield off of the wall and into the crowd below, before I could look to see if any of our men had died Nick had raised his arm and was about to signal our men to fire arrows down at them. Nick lowered his arm and a barrage of arrows flew overhead in fell into the bandits below us. Our archers killed a few but not enough at they simply crouched and raised their shields as our archers continued to barrage them with arrows. They did not have the equipment to assault a fortress so I wondered what they would do next as I turned away and sat down. I sat right above the entrance to the fort, ready to drop down if the doors broke; I was even swaying my legs ever so softly as they dangled off the ledge. Before too long I heard a loud sound of wood bending and breaking, I wasn’t sure how they could break the door nor did I really care at the time, I was listening for the distinct sound of the door crashing open. I knew the walls were too high to scale without a ladder so they could only enter through the door and as I was thinking that exact thought the door slammed open. We had men standing between the now open door and the large open courtyard holding large shields the size of men and the people behind had spears poking through the narrow gaps. The shields were taken from the now dead vanguard as we were not as well equip as the enemy, she wall of shields is all that stood between the enemy and the courtyard, if they were to get out of that funneled archway the battle would be a lot more difficult. I looked down between my dangling feet to see a bunch of massive, brutish men, very similar in shape and size to the leader of the Sand Fists I had killed. They basically pushed the wall of shields apart and were meeting with a barrage of arrows to their face; at that point we had taken out their main defiance wall as well as their biggest and strongest men. I must say that was a bit of strategic genius from Nigel’s part, not that I’m surprised given his military background. After that I stood up and time seamed to slow down as I watched their main force charge through the breach. As I watched them rushing bellow me something clicked in my head, I was justified as they were all bandits, killers and rapists the lot, the click in my head was a seemingly primal instant no doubt helped along by Wrath. I looked down at them running into the fort, I got ready to jump down and attack the largest one I could see and just before I did…I smiled. Everything after that is a bit hazy, just a lot of killing until there was nobody left to kill but throughout the entire battle I could feel a smile on my face, I don’t know if it was me or Wrath conjuring that smile or if was a bit of both. After the battle was done my arms returned to normal as I examined the battlefield, I wasn’t disgusted but more like slightly disturbed at what I saw, the overall plan was to also capture the leader alive but when the battle was over I was holding his severed head by its hair. But hey, at least we can get the gold for the head…not sure where we can go to get that kind of cash though bet once we get it we are heading north of the border. After I looked around the battlefield I collapsed from exhaustion and awoke the following morning ( a few hours ago) Both Nigel and I are going to walk over to Raven Spear with the bandit kings head in a bag to see if they have enough money to pay the bounty, as for Nick he was overseeing repairs and burials.

       Well Raven Spear’s government is poor, the mercenary clan that runs this place owns all the money and the city government and they are not willing to pay out a thing. So were heading back to the Black Fort with a head in a bag we can’t do anything with.

       It’s already getting dark out, before we open discussions for what we should do with the head I’m going to take care of some personal matters. Nigel and I are going to head back to Glenumbra; I need to see it with my own eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/17- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Nick came with us to see Glenumbra, nice guy. Unlike him we can’t retake our home, we can’t retake a charred pile of rubble; I think that’s why he came. I walked around and simply observed what they had done; at least I can find closure in the fact the same guy who watched this place burn under his orders is the same guy who watched as I removed his head from his body…As I walk around this place I used to call home I examine every charred body I come across, I take note of the smallest details and try to figure out what happened, all I can say with certainty is the people here, they put up one hell of a fight…I’m done here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/18- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I never actually noticed the Black Fort bordered the Black Sea…a lot of names related to the color black, there’s even a small forest that is sort of like a backyard. Well since we have nowhere else to go I guess this is home for the time being, might as well go introduce myself to everyone, “Hey I’m Shinya and I’m a half demon”, totally normal conversation to have.

       At least everyone has agreed that f word about my powers got out it would be very bad for us all, so everyone is going to keep their mouth shut.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/20- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We have decided the help with the aftermath of the battle, a few hundred bodies or more need tending to and it’s only fair we stay and help, considering I’m responsible for killing at least 30 or more of the bandits myself.

       A few of the members of the Black Stone Legion decided to send a few people to gather information about the fallout of what happened, the news of the sacking of Glenumbra is going to spread fast, we need to know what people are saying so it won’t come back to bite us in the a*s.

       It seems cleaning and repairs will take ages to finish, maybe a few days or so. Everyone here has welcomed both Nigel and me into the group and we accepted join the legion, not like we have anywhere else to go. As for the head of the enemy leader, we are keeping it in a special room that is very, very cold to keep the head from falling apart. The room is quite deep in the ground and even has ice on some of the stone but I think the coldness comes from the lake right behind the fort though I have no idea how.

       A small group has been sent to Three Corners. We can’t really go anywhere for now, a few other groups have moved on to Raven Spear and Last watch to start taking up bounties and jobs to help the clan earing gold to pay for necessities and so on as well as information gathering.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/23- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The team sent to Three Corners had returned late last night, they say the news of Glenumbra being destroyed as already reached that far and beyond, though how much further the news has traveled we do not now. But what caused them to hurry back so quickly was not that the news had reached that far but the way the story was being told. The few survivors of the attack report to anyone and everyone that the bandit army was more like a horde of demons, leaving a trail of fire and death in their wake as the butchered and slaughtered everything without mercy. As the stories travel further they only speak less of the truth as they get more and more misconstrued as the tellers of the story exaggerate and delude the truth of what happened. Once the news of an ‘army of demons’ reached the church they will only know of one person that fits the profile. Me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/24- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We have been talking and talking, discussing what could happen and what we should do. If the church catches wind of the events that occurred in the manor we were described they will surly send an army if not a battalion or two in order to kill us…then again I’m not sure how high of a priority we would be considering the war. Also we decided that someone would take the head of the Flame Sword leader to Raven Spear and they would send a letter off to Vilta to send the money here, since it won’t be wanted criminals meeting a military escort their shouldn’t be a problem.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/26- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The days have been long and slow, now that we have a place to stay with enough room I have started to take to the training grounds within the castles main courtyard, it may just be a few bits of gear pushed against the far wall bit it’s still is better than nothing. Since I am quite lousy and even neglectful of the weaponry I have that I simply gave it to some random passer by just before that bloody conflict a few days ago instead opting to use my claws and carry a sword as a precautionary measure. I hope to perfect the elegance of close combat; I have managed to perfect the art of transforming my arms at will though I have discovered when I do so it takes a great toll on my fatigue. Though I have stopped passing out after an intense training session with my powers though I can only use the a few times a day, in other news the money should be arriving at Three Corners in but a few days from now, we have a group waiting there to retrieve and transport the gold once it arrives, however along with the letter from Vilta there were also troublesome whispers. The church is enraged that not only did the demon escape but is now starting to cause havoc amongst the countryside, roomers have reached my ear that they have sent an army of considerable size to Glenumbra to try and track me down. Once they get to the lawless lands I will have to be isolated so nobody can trace my whereabouts.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/29- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The gold finally arrived at the Block Fort; unfortunately it is not enough as most of it was used almost instantly to go to basic needs and to the mourning. I can’t righty take their money considering what transpired, however I was given a considerable sum, I shall count it soon to check on how much we have.

       We might just have enough to cross the border, I was asked why the price was so high when others heard my come about this revelation, I can only assume the northern Empire already know who we are and know were criminals. They tend to know a great deal but do not get involved with anything anymore; they have not taken part in anything of the sort since the war of white a few hundred years ago. Unfortunately the gold happened to carry an army in tow, they are but two day’s march away from the lawless lands, if were to go to the border we must act fast, I’m somewhat hesitant due to the risk of being caught.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/31- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well it seems we have once more run into a problem. We went to the border and tried to bribe our way through, it was a few thousand more than that the first time we tried to get through so he didn’t have enough. I tried the “do you know who we are” line in an attempt to fool him into thinking we were important people as to lower the price, he looked down at me and with a faint smirk he replied. “Yes I do know who you are, Shinya Akame the wanted criminal and Prince Nigel the outcast, now you both run along before you have more than one army marching towards you” In shock I turned to Nigel and then I started to walk back, I bumped is shoulder as I passed before he turned and followed me. After walking for a brief moment I suddenly turned to Nigel and grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer. I shouted as I asked why he never told me he was a prince, he replied saying that he didn’t want me to treat him differently because of his origins. As we walked the path back to the fort he told me his tale. He told me all about his abusive father who said he was never as good as his older siblings; he strove to be great in everything from swordplay to archery, and all that other crap, however once he had finally gotten good enough to win his father’s approval his father passed away. It was then reveled to him that he was in fact a b*****d and the man he had tried so hard to impress was in fact not his real father, in that man’s will it stated that Nigel’s ‘father’ knew of his secret outings to help the poor and because of this banished him. With no entitlement to royalty everyone who he ever thought of as a friend turned their back to him in his hour of need. As he wondered he did good to complete strangers but was shunned by all higher class members of society, so eventually he joined the military were even there his past was known by the higher ranking officers, eventually the whispers spread, now being obscured by exaggeration and falsehood as it made his seem like a criminal. Unbeknownst to him the house he had lived had burned down the same night he left, people though he did it, however nobody confronted him about it as they talked behind his back. Forcing him way without saying a word and then I arrived we bonded quickly given our unspoken circumstances we were drawn to each other, we could both tell the other had been through very dark times and we decided to stick together for all the dark times to come…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/33- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We arrived at the Fort just moments ago, however we didn’t see any sign of a military presence on the roads. It was a risk going to the border but we made it back, at least that’s something.

Scouts have reported that the military arrived at Glenumbra last night, they sent a small group to Last Watch to ask questions so it’s fitting to assume the did the same to Raven Spear, they know our face so we cannot leave the confines of this fortress.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/35- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The bulk of the military forces have gone to Raven Spear, we are going to get one or two updates a day as we need to stay informed. Honestly I don’t see why these guys simply cut their losses and toss us out; then again with all the time we have spent here we have grown closer with the Black Legion, though I am trying not to become too attached to the people or places. I don’t want another home to be lost should the army find us, it seems due to Wraths presence I have been afflicted with a cure of not being able to stay anywhere for too long, to not be able to call a place home. I wonder if this trend will continue or if I might one day find a new home, or if I’m doomed to remain an exile forever.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/36- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I feared this news; it seems the military are coming this way, we have been preparing for this to happen and over the weeks have been stockpiling weapons and Back Dust. It is a dark powered color and when exposed to flame or even a spark in erupts in a ball of fire, excellent for igniting people and objects. Nigel being as he is had already started devising a plan to defend the fortress, if I could I would rather turn myself over but Wrath would stop me from doing so. I have yet to hear of this plan, all I know is that we face overwhelming odds and I doubt we will all live; they will attack the fort later today or tomorrow. Even if I ran the military would not know of what I had done and sacked the fort regardless, if they couldn’t find me they might even torture people for information. It seems I have hit a dead end in my unwanted journey…I just realized something funny, when I lived in Trident Wood all I really wanted was to go on an adventure but now that I have one all I want is to go back. I guess there is no such thing as a perfect adventure like in the stories I was told by my mother, if I alone survive I will go back to my home. I know for a fact I can’t actually step into my old life lest I want the people I’ve come to know so much to die like the people in Glenumbra and soon the people here. I can only assume this diary will be obtained by the military and the church, please know that when this all began my actions were not my own, I didn’t want any of this to happen and I am sorry for what I have done and had to do to survive. Though I will not apologize for the deaths of bandits and criminals alike as they are nothing of not scum who would be better as to not torment the innocent, though I do hope my actions after my escape from Vilta does something to change your mind of me. I don’t want to be known as a villain when I had no say in the matter, I only wish to be remembered as I am now, as man who tried to write wrongs, a man who tried to rid parts of this horrid world of criminals and ternary and a man who tried to be a good person…that is my wish.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/37- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        We are alive; though I can’t say the same for the entirety of the Black Stone Legion or the fortress itself. I thought I was the only one to live until I found what I thought to be Nigel’s body, however he was not dead and thankfully my new companions had an understanding of alchemy and medicines. They used this knowledge to save his life and the them I am grateful, though I tried to repay them with gold they refused so instead I’m protecting them on their pilgrimage, I say that but in truth I would have gone with them anyway as they are heading north, past the border. We are currently waiting for the rest to arrive as we wait at a large camp filled with hundreds of pilgrims, the last are meant to arrive tomorrow then we set out. Nigel’s resting in the bed; thankfully he is still on one piece, now I shall write what accrued over the past day.

       It was the middle of the day when we heard the thundering march bearing down upon us; we had just gotten everything ready for their arrival. There were small mounds of rotted bodies that littered the ground outside our walls and within those many mounds hid some of our own men armed with long blades, they were to stab at people when the fighting started. We also had many archers and crossbow men atop the wall, their arrows and bolds covered in cloth and coated in an oily like substance of witch I know little. There were small braziers near the archers for them to light their arrows before firing them, also there were those who were not as skilled in archery and they were armed with possibly our best equipment, they held a helmet that had been bent shut to create a deformed steel ball of sorts; it was filled with Black Dust with flammable rope protruding out of the helm, I did not know what they were at the time but found out after the fighting started. As I took in these observations I then spotted a glistening between the trees, they had arrived. A barrage of steel and iron came crashing down against the blood soaked grass and dirt before our gates. The army marched in a far more organized manor than that of the bandit horde that stood in their place but a few weeks ago. I looked down upon them and spotted ladders and a battering ram that was being carried by around ten men. I spoke to the archers I stood beside them, instructing them to fire upon the ones holding the ram and the ladders upon my command or when the fighting had started. The leader of the army rode his horse up to the wall and looked upon me, he began to speak at me about surrendering myself and Nigel to them and there would be no conflict. I wanted to but Wrath took over my arms if not my entire body; he ripped a crossbow out of the arms of the person next to me and without hesitation fired it straight through the commander’s head. I then regained control of my body and handed the crossbow back as the commander fell from his horse, the bolt still protruding from his skull. There was an odd and eerie silence as the body fell to the ground; it felt as if it went on for a long time when in truth only three or so seconds had passed. Whilst the army before me was still in shock I ordered my men to fire at will, telling them to focus on killing the ones with ladders or the ram, at that point all hell broke loose. Our men fired arrows of flame upon the enemy as they advanced, ladders began to creep up the wall as the thud of the ram hitting the gate was muffled by the war cries of hundreds as they began to advance, their shields held above their heads as they moved. Suddenly dozens possibly more of the enemy suddenly fell as all I could hear was a ringing sensation and a sharp pain in my ears, before the battle had begun many of our foes had fallen though they still greatly outnumbered us. My ears adjusted back to being able to hear sounds as I realized that it was the deformed helmets filled with Black Dust being thrown into the enemy, as the dust exploded it caused the helm to rip apart and hurl small shards of metal in every direction that could pierce flesh as well as armor. Though coming to this realization of what I can only assume is a new invention we quickly ran out of them as the enemies climbing the ladders had reached the top, at that point I summoned Wraths powers to turn my arms into weapons and I began to fight. I suffered light cuts across my body, nothing too serious for me as I continued to evade as many arracks that I could and the once I could not dodge I either blocked with my claws or let my arm sustain a blow. After I killed one person I gained only a second of respite before my next opponent was hurled upon me, within these brief moments I looked over at Nigel to see him firing arrows and shouting commands, after I made sure he wasn’t in need of aid I turned my head towards the men under us, using their bodies to hold the gate shut against the ram. As I fought I did everything I could to keep the opponent from descending the wall as we could not afford the focus of Nigel and the men holding the door to be moved elsewhere. Suddenly I heard an incredibly loud crashing noise, there was no mistake, they had broken through. All I could hear after the loud crashing sound was Nigel shouting “get down” then suddenly a deafening sound ruptured my ears, much louder than last time as I was thrown through the air stopped only by me crashing against the fortresses main building, I did not know at the time but two barrels filled with Black Dust was lit at dropped right outside the now broken gate. The explosion killed many of both us but more so them; it also made the archway as well as the wall collapse on top of the advancing troops creating a small deformed wall they now had to comb over to advance, the process of which would make the venerable to attack. Once I had regained my bearings I was helped to my feet by Nigel, our men were standing in a line with arrows drawn ready to fire, upon the encroaching army. The enemy forces began to climb over the deformed wall and as they did they were fired upon by the front row of archers, after they did so they gave their bow the person standing behind them before charging into battle. This action repeated four times as the archers fired once our men had fallen victim to the seemingly never-ending onslaught of iron and blood. After this the remaining forces retreated into the fortress itself were we had archers waiting at the end of corridors and men hiding near doorways with a tiny amount of Black Dust ready to destroy the door to slow the enemies advance. We continued to retreat further into the fortress as we continued to pick off as many as we could until we reached the storage room, we stood in a hallway outside the storage room ready to spring our final trap as the room was filled to the brim with Black Dust, the plan was to ignite a fuse upon seeing the enemy and run as fast as we could to the other end of the hallway where there were stairs leading down to a hidden exit into the forest behind the fortress. We lit the fuse and ran, Nigel was right in front of me as we escaped the building, the ground was overgrown and Nigel tripped on something and fell into a small ditch in the ground, I stopped to help him bet then I was overcome with a blinding light, then everything went dark. I thought for sure I was dead at that moment and then I saw something; it was white and flat as far as the eye could see. I wiped my eyes and looked around again only to see six other ME’s standing around the hooded man I had seen all that time ago, the one who branded me with this strange symbol. I looked again to the other copies of myself convinced it was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, I looked back at the hooded figure before me who had moved within arm’s length. I tried to speak but my mouth would not open, he simply examined me and I did the same to him. I could not see his face though as it was shrouded by shadow, he looked me over and uttered two words “not ready” as he pressed his finger against my chest and nudged me ever so gently. This faint push was somehow enough to push me back though I did not fall onto my backside, I simply fell. I could not discern the ground from the whiteness around me as I flailed about in a panic I looked and noticed the reflections of me were not reflections at all but different people entirely. The one next to me looked at me panicking and spoke the words “You get used to it” Suddenly I shot up having woken from whatever it was I was in, I dear not call it a dream but more like a vision. I panicked slightly and looked around to find myself a field of purple flowers surrounded by trees, there was a thick fog surrounding me as small yellowish lights emerged from the ground and floated towards the sky. In that moment I thought I was either dead or had been thrown into a painting, I stood dumbstruck as out of the thick fog a group of men walked in my direction. They were adorned in blue robes as they each held a staff with a lantern dangling from the top, they had a strange pack each was caring on their backs that gave the impression that they had humped backs, these things they were caring were held by chains and forced them to walk in a slouched over manor. I was confused as to what I was seeing as they walked right passed me until one of them walked right up to me and stopped just before colliding with me, as this one stopped they all stopped, I asked who this person before me was and the man looked up at me and explained all. They are pilgrims from Vilta taking a holy pilgrimage that can only be undertook once every thousand years, they told me they knew a way through the Tahwil Desert once I asked where they were going, I then asked if I could come with before reality hit me. I ran in the direction of the fortress, somehow knowing exactly where to go even through the dense fog, the pilgrims followed me for whatever reason or perhaps they were going that way anyway. Upon emerging from the woods I was meet with the sight of death, so many bodies covered the grounds near the fortress. I then hurried over to where the secret exit emerged and to the exact spot that Nigel was when he tripped. In his place I found a large slab or rubble, I could only assume it had crushed him but I lifted it anyway, it was incredibly heavy but once I tossed it aside I found Nigel still in the ditch, it seems the rubble acted as a shield, he was not conscious but he was not dead, nor had he lost any body parts but he did have a large bump on his head. I picked him up and carried him to the front of the fortress were the strange pilgrims stood amongst the trees. I walked over to the and present Nigel to them, the one who spoke to me before looked around the forest floor and ripped some foliage from the ground and rubbed it against Nigel’s wounds, he told me it was a special herb that helped the healing process but mainly stopped cuts from becoming infected. I carried Nigel as I followed these strange people; we arrived in Hells Pass after what seemed like eternity walking. There was a large camp in which I sit now with many, many more pilgrims, they took Nigel into a tent and began to mend his wounds as I asked a few questions to these people. They told me they were members of the church of the seven saints undergoing a pilgrimage to the holy lands to the north, the great white. I then asked why they were only now starting the pilgrimage over 2 months into the third era, they simply said preparation for this travel takes a long time and they can only begin to prepare at the turn of the era. I’m not too involved or even interested in the church so their speaking of baptism, holy rights and the saint blessings were all but lost on me. That brings us up to the present where I sit here as the sun sets, Nigel is to recover by dawn and that is also when the dozens of pilgrims I now accompany begins its journey across the unforgiving desert. If we live we would finally after all this time make it north.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/38- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       It is dawn and the rest of the pilgrims have arrived; Nigel is up and about though still dazed and confused due to the head trauma. Even so we must soon begin our arduous trek across the desert and hope we make it out the other side, this is a risk but one he must take. Unfortunately we lost almost all of the gold we had during the hectic battle; hopefully once we arrive north we can find some way to make more. My next entry will be after we make it is I doubt anything of noteworthy interest will occur.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/47- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We finally made it across the desert, of the three hundred that set off I’m glad both Nigel and I are one of the 73 who survived; many simply collapsed and were left there to die. We are in a city called Quyma; it is named in the ancient tongue hence the strange sounding name. The language of old is apparently more used up north, there is also the fact I didn’t even know if this place really existed outside of fairy tales. Quyma is the place where the Empire designs and creates almost everything, it’s said to be the most advanced place in the word and standing atop the hill to the south of it, looking down at the city it looks unlike anything I had seen before. It appears most of the city is made of metal and there are pillars of smoke being made by larger towers of sorts, I’m actually exited to have a look at it.

       This place is incredible, they have technology I never even knew about, they horses and carriages like everywhere else but they have massive metal structures moving about and steam being released into the sky. They have large buildings where they can create things incredibly fast, all the buildings have windows made of glass, the reads and paved expertly and they even have guns here! I asked someone how long this city had been this way and she said only in the last few years, the massive change happened in almost a month she said. I was baffled at how fast they could change a city this size that quickly, the sheer quantity of metal used astounded me and they used steam and other such things to power everything. They even use metal in their clothing! I spotted a man whose entire right arm looked to be made of it, I believe they use brass or bronze for almost everything, apparently all other metals such as iron or steel are used to make things for the rest of the empire to the west. That was about all of the information I could get from simply asking strangers and walking around. As for the pilgrims they are to go north into the mountains, they are to go both over and through them as they try to reach the wall of the saints, past that is where the great white is said to be but the wall is so enormous in scale it is impossible to pass. As for us were to head west through Traders Way, it is the only was in and out of the eastern part of the Empire and it a direct route from here to the Imperial capitol. The trip will take a while and be boring so I shall write in here again if anything of interest occurs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/49- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We have arrived at a very small town of Traders Rest, it only consists of a few buildings most of which are places you can spend the night before you journey onward. The legendary golden city I visible in the distance, the sheer size of the city is mindboggling even from this distance. I wonder how long it would take to travel from one end to the other; however I fear we may need identification to enter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/2/50- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We have a few hundred gold left, it’s going to be somewhat challenging to make money as the only way I have done so is farming or killing to earn gold. I guess we’ll see what the golden city has in store for us once we get there.

       On our way here a girl bumped into us and both she and I fell to the ground. I helped her up and before she ran off she said something odd to me. “That city is a living nightmare” she yelled us just before she ran the way we came, her red hooded cloak bellowing behind her. I couldn’t help but laugh due to what we had been trough to get to this city but now that I walk the streets I sort of see it, it isn’t a “living nightmare” by any means but it is a very unpleasant and backwater place. Nothing like the picturesque stories of the city made of gold I had heard in my youth, Nigel and I agreed to go further into the city in hopes the inner areas would be much nicer than the proclaimed “slums”.

       This section if the city is massive, it’s already getting late and we have just now arrived at the wall separating the “slums” from the nicer inner districts. This guard post I stand in now has a map on the wall, the entire city is composed of three districts, each circling the other and separated by a wall, except of course the outer district were the poor seam to live, it had no wall guarding it from the outside world. It seems the further you get to the center the worse the sounding area becomes. We are about to head into the middle district, after that we are to look for a place close to this location as I can only assume it would be more expensive the further in you go.

       Lucky us, there was an inn right through the checkpoint, apparently you don’t need identification papers at all, lucky us. We each have a room to stay in and a nice meal for the night, in the morning we’re to look for work. This place does have something like I have never seen before, in main room of the inn they have this box that emits the sound of people talking about the local goings on. It plays the part of a town crier, reporting the goings on to everyone in the city all at once, apparently this technology hasn’t been around long and is not that easy to obtain outside of the inner district.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Right after breakfast as we were walking out of the inn and a guard at the checkpoint across the street called the two of us over to him. He knew exactly who we were and told us he had gotten a report from his superiors to find us so they could come and retrieve us for an unknown purpose. I have noticed that every guard does carry a gun on them at all times, also there are different types, some long, some short and some that are used for various different things, though that last one is only an assumption.

       We were met by a commander of sorts and he instructed us to enter a horse drawn wagon to be escorted directly to the palace in the center of the city. The reason for us going there I know not, though as I look out of the window at the higher class inner aria of the city I am at times astonished that a place like this even exists. It almost seemed like I wasn’t even on Mahkum anymore, I pestered the guard who is sitting across from me with questions from time to time. The city of gold is called that because touching the north-west side of the city is a mountain famed for having an astonishing amount of gold inside of it. This incredible amount of wealth along with the history of the empire (having survived more wars than any other nation) would go some lengths to explain the strange and somewhat advanced technology I see. Also I just now asked the city’s name as I only know it as “The golden City” or “Imperial Capitol” but the city is actually called “Oltin Shahar” though almost nobody refers to it in the ancient tongue in which it was named.

       We have just now arrived at the palace gates and the size of it dwarfed that of the Grand Archives. We are to be given an audience with Emperor Kor, the successor of the late Emperies Fi and his Advisor. As to the nature of the meeting I still know nothing, though there is no doubt that it would be about Wrath since even the border guard down south seemed to know everything about us.

       The sun has already set, I am writing this now in the confines of my bed inside the palace itself. My eyes grow heavy so at this current time I am unable to write in full the events that occurred in between my last entry and this one. So I shall write in full everything that happened tomorrow as we are leaving on our first assignment. This has been one interesting reflection day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/2- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       I write this now sitting in a cabin being drawn by a horse, or should I say horses, the three of us are sitting quietly as our new masked acquaintance sits across from me. His mask being almost featureless and painted black with but a singular opening for him to look through, the hole over his right eye has a dark red paint dripping down the mask to give the impression of bleeding. He adorns a black hooded coat that hangs down to his waist, the rest of what he is wearing also being black and considering his line of work (which is now our line of work as well) the clothes are fitting. Now as we head north in this carriage I shall write in as much detail as I can recall the events of the evening prior.

       As I exited the carriage I was met with the sight of an enormous door, leading up to the door was a deep red carpet and standing at the sides were men adorned in black armor with every piece seaming to be outlined with gold, the color theme present throughout the entire palace. As I approached the door it seemed to open by itself, I quickly deduced that it opened due to a contraption, the details of which were beyond me. I walk inside first ahead of Nigel and our escort before coming to a stop as the carpet ended in the center of the large room. More armored men were standing on the sides of the carpet, much like they were outside; they held a shield against their chest and a blade sheathed to their belt. But what made me stop walking forward was the sight of the emperor who sat upon his throne; he was seated in an elevated positon in the grand entrance. The emperor however is all my gaze could see for the first few moments, I was astonished upon learning the great emperor of the northern empire was a child, no more than the age of thirteen, his feet did not even touching the ground as he sat upon the throne with a portly man whispering into his ear who I soon found out was the grand advisor to the crown. The officer that was escorting us steeped forwards and ever so formally introduced us to him. The emperor looked upon us and asked “is this the man with the monster in his head?” The childish way in which the words escaped his mouth left me dumbfounded that this boy was in fact an emperor. Nigel responded and the portly adviser whispered in his ear, I heard the emperor say to him ever so faintly “of course uncle” before he stated that he would leave these matters to his advisor. The child emperor who was named in the ancient language as all have been before him stood up and took his leave, his small frame almost instantly vanished as he stepped behind his throne witch I can assume lead to the emperors sections of the palace as the servants quarters and where we slept that night was not atop the stairs where the throne sat but through hallways to the left and right of where I stood at the time. The fat advisor walked down the stairs and raised his hand dismissing the armored men as well as the man who had brought us here; he walked closer and introduced himself as Xudo Qudrata, the advisor and uncle to emperor Kor and brother to the late empress Fi. He informed us that he knew everything about us; I shall try my best to recall his words exactly. “You must be Shinya Akame, the boy with a demon inside you, and this must be your friend prince Nigel, or should I say former prince Nigel. Now!” The turned and stood directly in front of me. “Shinya I do believe you committed treason by butchering your commanding officer whilst in a form of demonic position. I would like to see in what manor you did this” I looked back at Nigel and then back to Xudo to see his toying with his moustache that before the same hand stroked his pompous goatee. I simply made my right arm change into that form to witch I hand now become used to, his eyes lit up as he witnessed this, he moved my hand so the bottom of my claws were facing the ceiling before he drew a small ceremonial dagger he had on him. “Not to fear, I only wish to test the strength and sharpness of these magnificent weapons” He spoke the words at me but not to me, more so as if he were talking to Wrath, he sliced at my claws and the dagger in his hand split near the hilt, the blade dropping to the floor as I returned my arms to normal having indulged him. At that moment I thought he was genuinely interested in what I could do but I realized only later he already knew of my feats at the Salt Fort so he already knew all too well what I could do. At that time he spoke once more after dropping the hilt of the now broken dagger. “You see I called you here because I want the two of you to work for me as assassins” As those words hit my ears my eyes widened as his little game became known to me, I looked at the small ornate and broken blade at my feet to realize it was of a superb make, one an emperor would have. “You see” He continued in a somewhat arrogant and cocky tone. “My last group of assassins has but one survivor and I need more men with extraordinary abilities like the two, or should I say three of you and as I’m sure you figured out by now refusing me is not an option” At that moment I looked upon him as my gaze was on the broken blade at my feet as he spoke as I pieced it all together. If I refused he had already framed me for breaking the dagger, I assume is an offence punishable by death considering he would also say I stole it, another deadly offence. As for Nigel I know he would either sentence him to death for the same reason or hand him over to the southern states where he would be executed. Without knowing I had been backed into a corner, as I thought for some way to get out of this a man walked out from behind the throne, the same man who sits across from me now in fact. I begrudgingly accepted his offer (as if I could refuse) and was then formally introduced to the hooded and masked man who was introduced to us as “six” why he was named after I number I do not know but as he approached me he said “My name is Six and I’m to be your mentor in a sense, more so I shall be your new teammate” he then tossed the clothes I now wear into my arms, a long black coat with whitish gloves and black pants and boots. As I examined my uniform Six then gave Nigel his as he continued to speak “and don’t bother asking me my real name because I will never tell it to you” as Xudo approached the top of the stairs leading to the throne he gave us our first assignment, to head north to a small town of Snowfall for reasons that would be explained upon our arrival. Six then escorted us down one of the side corridors to where we would spend the night, the door to our room adorned with nothing but a black handprint, Six told us to be ready and dressed in our new clothes by morning. Once we awoke we got dressed in our new clothes that I somewhat like the look of and now here we are, on our way to Snowfall.

       I had just asked Six why he wore a mask and his response was very interesting to me, he explained he was a master at spying on people though people grow suspicious when they see the same person almost everywhere they go, he uses disguises to conceal his identity and adorns a mask all other times. He said “if nobody knows your face or name the greatest and easiest disguise is not to use one at all” this I found interesting and also clearly true, though in the long silence between basic conversation and questions it seemed as if Six was looking at me in a way you look at someone you think you recognize, though it was hard to tell as all I could see of his real face was a singular blue eye. We are to make camp on the side of the road tonight and continue our journey in the morning. The town of Snowfall is a tiny village a short ways off the main road leading north; we should arrive in a few days.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/5- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We have arrived in the small and quaint town of Snowfall, its residence, though scarce in number, are very kind and welcoming of outsiders. I expected it to be a bit larger in scale but it’s even smaller than my hometown.  Even Six’s strange attire and appearance did not faze them; in fact the children of this town even seemed to enjoy tugging at his cloak, completely ignoring his somewhat creepy mask and Nigel of course was great with the children. They directed us to this cabin where we could stay for a very low price, now we’re here six is to tell us of our mission.

       I was quite surprised to find out why we are here; we are to investigate these people of suspicious and extremist behaviors akin to that of a terrorist. I was surprised that the empire could even suspect someone like that to be in such a nice place but Six reassured me of the power of the empires vast intelligence network, of that I could not argue but I still find it hard to believe.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/6- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Today we are to investigate the village, looking for anyone acting strange, hidden passageways or caves that may contain something it shouldn’t and so on. We decided to split up and look around the village as well as conversing with the people and look around as though we’re the simple tourists the villagers think we are.

       It seems we couldn’t find anything as of yet without being found out, it is quite hard to explore a place with such a low population without being noticed as everyone knows everyone else. Not surprising considering there are only thirty or so people here. We are to resume our exploration at dawn, Six said he had a plan to disguise his face and pose as a hunter from somewhere else, in doing this he could explore the outskirts and if he is spotted simply act like he didn’t know there was a village here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/7- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We meet back up for lunch at the tavern and discussed in hushed voices our findings, Six had found a strange cave that wad a crude wooden door at its entrance, there was a lock and a chair out front meaning someone would guard the door. We guessed the guard that would have been there had gone to get something or had to go to the lavatory, regardless we have planned so seek in that cave after everyone is asleep in the dead of night. All we have to do now is wait for everyone to sleep and we can investigate that cave, hopefully we can get this done without rising a blade.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/8- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Today is the day of the 138, a holiday in all the lands where the people follow church of the seven saints, today is a day of remembrance of the saints as they lived 138 days, a day when we take the day off and pray. Though I never had this privilege when I was younger due to being a farmer, I never really got a day off, even though I used to tend the fields with my mother all but the last time I did so. As I sit here in the inn, the smell of fresh blood wafting into my nose as the room behind me and the space outside are littered with corpses that fill me with the fear to turn my head and look upon them. I sit here only able to look back on the past few months and as I did look back a crushing realization came over me. For the last three months all of the important decisions were made for me and all I’ve done is try to handle the horrible situations I find myself in because of the actions of others. When Wrath killed that officer and was arrested for treason, when the sons of that bandit leader died, when the military came crashing down upon us, when I walked through the desert, when I was blackmailed buy a fat sack of s**t. All of it was because of things I had no control over or was simply trying to deal with…I’ve had enough, and what happened this morning pushed me over the edge.

We went deep into the cave, through narrow passages and stumbled upon a large open area, there was a platform of some sort in the center surrounded by a seemingly bottomless pit that protruded a strange dark purplish light. In the center of the pillar there stood a woman, her arms chained above her head, her long black hair covering her face, her exquisite red dress looked ever so alluring. I walked closer to the edge of the pit and froze upon seeing an old rotted skeleton perched on a rock. I had seen this before; all that time ago it seemed as if it were to happen again. Nigel and Six called out and warned me as I walked forwards, their cries cut short as instead of falling into the void before me I instead trod on the air as I walked ever closer to the strange woman whom I thought I knew. Is my foot made contact with the platform I made my right arm transform; he held my claws up ready to thrust in through the woman before me again and again. But I couldn’t once she looked up at me, I cannot even recall the details of her face but at the time I was bewitched, though Wrath gave me some resolve as my claws ever slowly inched closer to her face. No words were spoken, not even a sound as the claws pushed slowly into her skull and through the other side, at that moment I regained control and began to rip into her flesh, dismembering her body and tearing off everything that stood before me, tossing bodily remains into the abyssal pit below, my companions watched in horror at my actions and after I was done I turned to Nigel and Six to see them unable to look away from me as I stood drenched in blood, I effortlessly bound back over the maw of the chasm and simply stated. “She was a demon” before casually walking passed them, I only stopped once I heard Six say “there was nobody there, you were attacking the wind” At that moment I looked down at my dark attire had no blood on it, then the silence was broke by clapping coming from where I stood moments ago. The three of us turned to see the same woman unharmed and unbounded. “You must be really messed up if that’s what you fantasized about when you see me, or would it be that you know what I am” She spoke with a smirk that really got on my nerves, both Nigel and Six where moving and behaving oddly at that moment, each walking to a different point in the cave and acting out something. “What are you doing to them?” I said casualty, I assume they both were experiencing what had just happened to me so I was not too concerned. “Well I simply show people what they want, I let them indulge in their deepest desires” As she spoke, that smirk still on her lips, she seemed to almost step over the chasm and walk up to me, at the same time Wrath appeared before me in his usual phantom like form and explained she was in fact the demon of Lust, after she allows people to indulge in their deepest fantasies she does the same, meaning she kills them in the worst way possible. “Aww leave it to the ever so forward Wrath so spoil my big reveal” These words shocked me; she could see Wrath whereas nobody beside me could, her hand passed through Wraths ghostly figure and he seemed to disperse like smoke. She looked at me again and I was frozen, it was all to like the time Wrath first came into contact with me, I could see, hear and smell but my actions were not my own. She whispered an incomprehensible utterance into my ear and at that point all I remember are flashes of images. Woman screaming, blood on the snow, children hiding in terror, one of which I remember holding the severed head off, and then I awoke with beer in hand in this exact seat facing the wall, afraid to turn around as I knew what had happened. Wrath assured me he had no control either, he cannot lie, demons are unable to lie after all. As of the locations of Nigel and Six I know naught, I only wish to sit here and down this drink until I have found or have mustered the courage to turn my head and face what lay behind me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/9- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What I witnessed yesterday haunted my dreams, the sight of what I witnessed makes Goran and everything I witnessed in his cave seem like nothing. Men, woman, children, severed limbs, disfigured bodies, entrails, boned ripped, still hanging from inside some of them…I dare not go into any further detail as even remembering it in the slightest is causing me to feel nauseous. I found Nigel and Six as I walked over the bodies and instead of responding to them I just walked into the carriage that had brought us here, got in and closed the door. I know not how long I sat in stunned silence before I passed out, though when I awoke I was in a panic, covered in a cold sweet. I soon calmed and was told by Nigel that we were going to head back to the capitol, I then noticed Six was not in the cart and I asked about it to which Nigel replied “the driver was among the dead so Six is driving” The exact phrasing of his words I knew he chose carefully as to try and make it easier on me, he avoided saying I killed them intentionally. I know all too well that Lust was the one manipulating my actions through what means I don’t know, but then again I still have no idea how my arms are able to change or how this seal in my chest stops he darkness from taking over my entire body. These things maybe don’t have an answer that I can comprehend, that I can’t understand and even if I did I wouldn’t be able to explain it. Though I do know one thing, as soon as I get back to the palace I will do everything I can think of to quit this job and finally take control of my own life. I will prove once and for all that my actions are not that of fate but are my own; I will take control of my own life!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/11- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We are nearing the imperial city, I can see the mountain with ease as well as the half of the city that doesn’t dip over the horizon, I asked the other two about what Lust made them see and their replies were interesting and somewhat cryptic even to them. Nigel recalled faintly his vision was something about his real father and his real last name of witch we do not know, that in turn led us to telling Six all about our pasts until meeting him. Six on the other hand could only remember a single image of what Lust showed him, he said it was a city with no walls and towering buildings everywhere, the place was completely surrounded by sand and that was it. He is still reluctant to share his past or even his real name and face but I don’t really blame him, nor do I see it casting an aura of distrust over him, he genially seems to be a nice guy who actually cares though it seems he gets rather serious when there is work to be done. His almost bossy demeanor comes out when he’s on a job and next to him Nigel’s “serous mode” looks like he’s still joking around. We did talk a bit more seriously about what had happened in Snowfall, we agreed that Xudo needed to be questioned, but in truth I do consider Six to be a sort of friend and hopefully he will soon reveal more about himself to us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/12- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The three of us have been talking for up to an hour or even more about what accorded upon our arrival, come morning whether we like it or not were to be dispatched south…to the Grand Archives. The following is what happened after we got past the main gate and entered the palace courtyard.

       We approached the main door to the palace and as we walked closer I couldn’t help but notice something was wrong, a gut feeling that Wrath was warning me of something. Six pulled a lever next to the large door which caused it to creep open, I could hear the machine working away even though it was inside of the wall and under our feet. At the point of hearing the device I realized I hadn’t last I was here, it was quiet, to quiet. I voiced my concerns to the others and they looked around noticing it for the first time as well. The bustling streets beyond the palace walls, anyone who might be inside, the guards that stand watch, none were heard or present. As the doors finally opened we stepped inside to be greeted by no-one, Six called out Xudo’s name and sure enough he walked out from behind the throne and looked down at us. “Your back already? Ah what am I saying I knew exactly when you would return” I responded by questioning his knowledge of our progress, every mission he dispatches is kept secret so how would he be informed? “Well it’s quite simple really…I know everything” I could not tell if he was joking as he spoke, his heavy frame walking down the stairs towards us. “So how did it go?” He asked and in quick response Nigel said. “You should know, you did just say you know everything” I simply thought Nigel was making a joke until I noticed the stern look upon his face; he was trying to trick Xudo into saying something he shouldn’t. He approached me and made an odd expression before frowning slightly. “Your no fun, but it is true I do know everything, but for the records we need a debriefing” I genuinely could not tell if he was telling the truth or not, he held great knowledge and clearly was manipulating the emperor so his power reaches far and his knowledge immense. “Actually there is no need for a debriefing, nor is their need to ask the question you so want to ask so I shall simply tell you. Yes I do know what happened at Snowfall, how there is no longer a Snowfall and yes I shall permit you to leave my service after you finish your next mission” I was baffled at what I had heard, he simply walked up the stairs and vanished behind the throne only saying one last thing “I’ll see you and your friend later Shinya, take care” After we retired to our quarters inside the palace and tried to figure out Xudo’s new cryptic game, how he claimed to know everything that happened in Snowfall, how he said “I’ll see you and your friend later Shinya, take care” what did he mean by that and who was her referring to as being my ‘friend’ not to mention why he said ‘friend’ as opposed to ‘friends’. After pondering for a while it seemed we found there to be no definitive answer to our query, the only way to know is to ask Xudo personally and I doubt he would even answer, most likely he would give us more riddles. As for our next and last assignment we are to go south come morning, we have been provided new clothes. The same royal design as before, black coat, white gloves and gold/yellow trim with a somewhat fancy air about them…I like the less now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/13- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       We are on our way to the archives, just the three of us and with no transportation provided, it will take a few days of travel to arrive at the archives but I asked Six what were to do there. “Apparently the archives found something very ancient right below the building; the empire speculates it may be something very powerful that could win a war overnight, we do not know anything else other than the way to enter the archived undetected” I then asked how he knew were the entrance was and without hesitation he responded saying that he had been there before.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/19- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       The last few days, though long and arduous have proven to be entertaining is a way. Most of the time the three of us talked and get to know each other a bit better, both Nigel and I are starting to see Six as more of a genuine friend than an acquaintance. We constantly tell stories of our past or just stories in general as well as making a few jokes at the others expense from time to time. We have arrived at the archives, or should I say just outside of the archives, we moved along the edge to the northern perimeter of the massive building where are sitting now, we did not make camp but instead left our supplies here as we are to infiltrate the archives tonight and leave in the morning. The mission calls for the utmost stealth and if we are to be seen we have to kill whoever sees us. I’m not going to do that though, I’m sure we won’t be spotted.

       It’s getting dark, were heading in now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -E3 1/3/40- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Well here I am, writing in this diary one last time, I don’t know why I’m doing this as I haven’t for so long. I sit now in a small town in the west not far from the marshlands, I don’t know the towns’ name nor do I care enough to learn it, besides it does not really matter. I sit alone in my room, it is morning and my floor is littered with empty bottles that once contained alcohol.  The days past are but a blur in my mind with only small images that I can remember, most notably is Wrath stopping me and shouting at me as I tried to end my life, as long as he is in my head I can’t die, he won’t let me die. So instead I have though up a way to finally end it and at the same time make Wrath unable to stop me. I’m to drink myself to death…though after I die I suppose this diary will be recovered and studied so I suppose I should write down what happened on the day the world changed forever but before I do I simply wish to get something off my chest, to have this written or known at all, to write of the visions that haunt me. When I sleep I only see a few things, Wrath has become the most pleasant of these dreams, the rest are but flashes, an army atop a snowy hill, blood across my claws in a dark cave, a field littered with dead Metonyms’, a snow covered building with nothing inside but the dead and worst of all, a blinding light followed by a haunting view of the sea… I only write this because if I tell anyone of my involvement they try and kill me, but I kill them first, some by choice, some by Wrath. I have changed this word in a way I could never have foreseen…and for my actions that night I am hated by anyone who knows of my involvement. I am truly exiled.

       It all started as planned, we infiltrated the building through a hole in the outer wall, far too high up and to out of the way for anyone to fix or notice, the building is thousands of years old after all. Once we climbed the wall with large spikes we found ourselves in an isolated room, the door leading out however was locked and barred from the other side. After we moved a few things around we found a crack behind a bookshelf, we had to kick it open a bit more to fit hoping nobody would hear us. After we widened the crack enough we managed to squeeze through and onto a series of rafters that diverged outward diagonally. We decided to split up there as we were in sight of each other the entire time we crossed the rafters, once we had reached parts of the building that were still accessible we had no choice but to decent into the hallway below. Both Nigel and I descended at the same time and each looked in opposite directions taking the roll of lookout, however as Six descended a metallic noise came from him. After that we didn’t move and stayed silent, only for the silence to be broken by the sound of someone walking in my direction. I did not want to kill anyone innocent so I didn’t and as the librarian spotted me an arrow flew through his head and he fell to the floor. Six came up to me and in a mix of whispering and shouting he said and I quote “what the f**k is wrong with you this is a professional operation, when you get seen silence the one who saw you before the alert others” As he spoke I noticed the metal bow he held that seemingly came from nowhere, I replied to him after examining the peculiar bow for a moment. “He was innocent, I don’t want to cause pain to innocent people” to witch he replied something I cannot forget. “Same with me, that’s why I aim for the brain or the heart, they die without feeling a thing. Though I’ve seen enough pain for 10 lifetimes, that’s why I hold no remorse for cults like these” As he spoke those words his bow seamed to fold in on it-self and he tucked it away under his cloak, resting out of sight on his back. I though little of what he said at the time, not knowing it alluded to his past but still we pressed onwards, after walking through the hallways in as quiet manor possible we gained our bearings. I had been here enough to know my way around to some extent and I led us to the main hall where we spotted a door that was bared shut from the side we were on. I had only previously glanced into that room and it was always a large empty circular room so why would it be locked lest it contained that witch we were after, I walked up to it and lifted the wooden beam and carefully placed it down before I slowly pulled the door open, both Six and Nigel stood behind me in anticipation not knowing what we would find. As the door crept open an astonishingly bright light overwhelmed us and made us unable to see for a brief moment and within that moment the three of us were swarmed and detained, masked before we could see what was going on. After being pushed and pulled by people I could not see I was restrained and bound before the sack over my head was removed and revealed in impossible sight. Standing before me was the leader of the librarians Qani Himochi holding the tome that I looked upon last I was here. But that is not what I was baffled by because behind him, in the center or the room was an orb that seemed to be made of glass emitting a bright blue light, it was floating above the ground and spinning ever so slowly, it was covered in strange patterns and an even stranger writing. Surrounding the orb were over a hundred Liberians most likely every resident of the archives now stood in this room, as I was looking at my surroundings and most notably the massive floating orb, to both sides of me were my friends being unmasked and beholding this insane sight. Then in a creepy unison all of the librarians removed their rope belt and stuck there head through the hoop that was always present, they then cast the other end above their heads and over the wooden rafters above, catching it once it came back down, they all had stools behind them that the stood on as they tied there rope creating a noose before drawing there daggers and holding the blade against their palm. Whilst the preformed this creepy and somewhat disturbing ritual they had clearly practiced, the leader walked up to me and spoke “This is an amazing day Shinya Akame for today is the day your fate finally comes to fruition” His talk of fate angered me as I did not want to be a slave to it, I wanted to create my own destiny instead of having people make choices on my behalf. “Today the day the first prophecy comes true! The first of seven that tell of the worlds ending! Now I shall forgo my sanity to read once more from the tome!” He shouted like a madman as our questions were unheeded, he opened the book and began to read aloud. “When the brightest bright and the darkest dark clash the world will be thrown into chaos awakening the old hunger that lay so deep below as well as freeing the demons of old!” The demons I could only assume were Wrath, Lust and the other sins, though I know not of the “old hunger below” could be. The second prophecy was then read. “When two demons battle they shall shake lose the rocks humans have long since forgotten and one of the demons shall be slain by a demigod that enters the world from a long slumber!” This was confusing and bizarre to me but he continued to read on. “A slumbering god of old controlled by a tyrannical lord shall remind the world of its folly!” The forth verse read “The sky shall rip asunder and a new world will be born!” He went on talking of Gods dying and demons rising as well as monsters in the sky and in the hearts and minds of men. The last verse read “Once a world in flames in which a great evil shall rule, two ends of the universe shall meat as one and fell that most evil releasing something even worse that will befall the word!” Upon hearing these things that ‘must come to pass’ I grew enraged and vowed silently in my head to defy the metaphorical hand of fate, at that moment the leader panicked slightly and shouted. “What is this? It changed! There is another verse!” I was confused and a little happy, did my choice just change fate, did I just change the fate of the world, and did I finally master my own destiny? As these thought rushed through my mind the leader began to speak the new verse in a somewhat confused tone. “That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die” That baffled me as I could barely understand the words let alone their strange meaning. He closed the book and placed it at my feet he then drew his blade and cut the palm of his hand and at the same tome so did everyone else. I looked around at them as all at once they kicked there stools away and hung by their neck, as for the leader he walked up to us and ripped us from our bonds. I was the first he let free and my body was moving on its own, walking slowly towards the floating orb, I was compelled to touch it. Qani moved to the other side of the orb and simply stood there and my friends grabbed my arms and tried to hold me back though I kept moving. I threw Six to the floor and my arms turned against my will, my hand clasped Nigel’s collar and held him against the orb. That’s when a blinding light appeared from the orb, all I could see was Nigel as his body seemed to turn to dust and float away leaving nothing behind, I blacked out. I awoke later to the sounds of yelling, it was Six I could barely hear him but I knew his exact words. “Where is the land?” He asked as I sat on the ground looking at the sea. “Where is the land!” he then looked around franticly. “Where is Nigel? Did he fall?” Only then did I notice, my vision still blurry, that there was a massive crater before me, Six ran to the edge and shout out for Nigel as loud as he could before I finally spoke. “He’s right here” I uttered; Six turned to me and hurried over asking what I meant. “He’s right here” I said again as I opened my clenched fist to reveal nothing but a torn bit of cloth from Nigel’s clothes. Out of frustration Sox yelled loudly and turned, removing his damaged mask and throwing it to the ground as he shouted. He turned back to me and I saw his face though not for the first time, his face had some freckles mainly on his cheeks, long dark brown hair and a small, barely visible moustache above his lip. I then realized who he was and as he was helping him up I pushed him away. “Levi?” I asked “Levi Katal?” “So you do remember me” He replied, I stumbled back in surprise and bumped into a wall, only then did we notice we were still in the archive, well half of it at least. I then realized what happened, the blinding light shot forward in the direction I touched and destroyed everything in its path, I looked out to the sea and was thrown into a deranged panic and I realized that the sea I was looking at was once were the southern states once were. Half of the world, gone…I then stumbled during my panicked fit and almost fell into the crater though Six or should I say Levi stopped me from falling. “What do we do now?” I asked only to be meet with the one reply I didn’t want to hear “I don’t know” At that moment we heard a deep growling sound that seemed to have an echo, the noise came from the center of the creator as the air seamed to move and shake only in the direct middle of the hole in the ground. The air shook and quivered violently until something burst from it, it was like a hand but horribly grotesque and deformed, what followed was the rest of this creature, the appearance of witch was so horrid and grotesque I cannot even begin to describe what I saw nor could I compare it to an animal or should I say a mix of every animal, not without looking at it for hours at least. I was shocked at what I was looking at, so much so I could not move nor hear anything say for the creatures horrid and deep clicking like sounds as what I can only assume was its head moved about slowly through the air. I was then slapped by Levi who yelled for us to run, I grabbed the tome from the floor and ran and fast as I could, we ran and ran until we could run no more. Over the days that followed we wondered north, though our paths met at a crossroads. Levi wanted to go back to Xudo, even though we was evil after what we saw Levi decided to go with the evil that had an army he could hide behind, I on the other hand was tired of being a victim to fate and took my leave. I wondered aimlessly and ended up in a few small towns, I kept my hood up as my hair had turned white from the blast witch was a religious sign of a demon in younger people. I traveled from town to town with only Wrath, my newly acquired white hair and this ancient book, as I wondered I heard whispers of what was happening. The Metonyms’ had won the war considering there was no longer a foe for them to fight against, where the archive once stood there was a portal of sorts spewing unspeakable hell spawn witch the north was fighting were and when they could be found and the biggest change of all was when people started to throw fire, lightning, air and everything else from their hands. It seems magic is not only real but now it’s everywhere, the church taught everyone that magic was evil and with everything that happened people are afraid, looking for someone, something to blame and magic is a prime candidate. As for the few times I told people of what happened that dreadful night I was attacked and I killed everyone in self-defense so I simply never talk about it. The sadness of losing my best friend plunged me into a suicidal depression. I tried many time to kill myself to no successes, every time I tried I looked at the old tome, my fate did not change as Wrath would not let me die. So the past few days I have spent every gold I own on alcohol in hopes it would kill me…well that’s my story and if I do die the fate of the word would have changed to though I beg you not to look onto that tome as it will drive any mortal insane.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(This diary was recovered by the empire in the small town of White Orchard. This book and all other contents found are to be delivered to Grand Advisor Xudo Qudrata)

MUst kill MAgeS.

MusT kILl DemoNs

MuST GeT RevenGe FOr WhiTe OrChaRD

MUST KILL SHINYA

SIR GALAHAD MUST KILL EVERY DEMON ALIVE

Author's Note

If you copy/past the story in an attempt to change the font in may remove the spaces between entries. Also i am working to the next one already so that's why the ending doesn't feel like an ending.