It ended with a strike. His life took only one blow from that half-dragon. It was a reminder of his inferiority. A grim reminder of what his limits are. It was not questionable for him to die just like that. It was the end of his life.

A vortex swirled, a shadow of a woman crawled out of the soul of another. She had brown skin, her lovely hair has grown whiter, and there was an odd color on her eyes. She swam through this vortex as if it was a giant ocean. The vortex was filled with nothing, other than the soul that was floating in the middle.

The soul in front of her was unchanged. The soul opened its eyes. It suddenly screamed madly as it tries to crawl out of the vortex.

This soul had raging violet eyes, energy seeps out endlessly as it tries to crawl out of this vortex. The woman, who was swimming in this vortex examined the soul, she was able to find the truth about this man. Her soul has merged with him and she was his blade.

She learned many things. She hated the soul of this man to death. But whatever did he do, it bound her to him. She would be forever with him until death. Not even the afterlife can separate the two, it was indeed a forever and ever for them.

The soul twitched. It looked at her who was swimming through the vortex. The soul called out to her, hands pointed, eyes forming a line of tears. The woman's soul frowned, arms folded, the soul eyed the soul trying to get out of this place.

"You are a fool," said the woman. "You seal me and bring you with me. Have you ever thought of the curse that you live by?"

She shook her head, "I do not like you. Severing my soul is impossible. I hate you, but I need to live with you in order to live. That's why..."

She swam like a mermaid towards the soul. Her lips pressed on the soul, arms circled around the neck of the soul. She grabbed hold of the soul's hand, swam up and dragged him to a lighter area. The soul shook as it grabbed hold of her, the soul's lips pressed upon her.

The two embraced, she pressed her arms around the soul, not making any expression as she does. She didn't know why but her instincts told her to do so. The soul clung to her embrace. She locked her shadowy legs on the soul, her lips still tightly pressed with the soul.

"I am not good at this," she thought, pressing her lips, making movements with her tongue. "You are lucky to have me at this moment, fool. I never expected this, to die alongside you, meeting a legendary being. I guess I underestimated life, looks like you are going to become a demon, fool. This is your fate...and you cannot be with that woman unless she abandons her duty for you."

She then embraced the soul from behind, rested her chin on the soul's right shoulder, before whispering, "Wake up, Walker...you...who am I kidding? How long do I have to wait? I have been going at this for years already."

The soul shook. She rested her chin back on his right shoulder. The light from above the vortex shone brightly, Squinting, then closing her eyes. She whispered something incomprehensible to the soul. He was no demon and he could not hear that whisper until she tells it herself.

...

It was an empty field of grass. A man opened his eyes, squeezing it open he looks at the sky. He drags himself up, leaned his hands behind his back and looked at the wall of a city a quarter mile away from his position. There was a frown in his face, his brows drew closed.

"I died."

"Yes," said a voice.

"You are still here?"

"Yes."

A form materialized in front of him. This form sat by his left, "Do you know what place is this?"

"I think I do. I have a bad feeling, however."

He looked at the marching band of adventures that are currently heading in the direction of the city where Ciara was. "I think we went back in time after I sealed you."

She looked around, "We rested here."

"Yes. I think we did. But...why am I back here again?"

"I do not know," said Tania. "You died and the first thing that I know was that we are in this place."

Nolan reached for his belt, "Looks like I have the sword. I knew it was bound to me."

"So what should you do now?" said Tania. "You are back here...I do not know why but are you planning to retrace your steps? Meet that woman again and become her black knight, then meeting that half-dragon?"

"You are rather calm," said Nolan. "What happen?"

"Nothing much," Tania shook her head. "I am just too shocked about this. That band is heading to the weasel fault valley, and I know that I saw them march like this. Why do you have the ability to revive back in time?"

"I do not know," said Nolan. "I never thought about this."

"Clearly you didn't."

She shook her head once again, eyes gazing at the walls of the city. Nolan eyed the materialized form of Tania. His eyes grew misty; his stare growing intense by the moment. The stare was caught by Tania and she sneered, turned her head away and snorted.

"Stop looking at me, tool."

"I think you are hiding something."

"I should be the one asking that, fool. If you can explain why we are back in time then that would be best. And tell me if this is your ability; the inability to die. I do not like this, I do not like the way this is happening, it kills me inside knowing that if you die we will go back in time. This curse of yours walker is horrible, and to spend it with someone I hate is torture itself. I may not be a good person but I do not deserve eternal damnation and the worst part is that I have to spend it with you."

Nolan didn't reply at that, he eyed the sky, grabbed hold of his sheath and marched towards the city, leaving a rustling sound of grass.
He walked inside the city. The carpenter shop hollered at the people. A huge man showed the hunt he did for today. Two kids walked with wooden swords. A stall selling freshly roasted chicken. A caravan slowly rolled towards the gate, ignoring a guard.

Stopping at a stall, reaching for his pockets, he bought food. It was a simple roast that they sell on the day. It smelled good enough so he took a bit. He chewed, licked and gnarled on it until the food was gone. Leaning on a wall, his head covered by a hood showed no emotions.

"What will you do, Walker?" asked Tania. "Are you really going to retrace your steps?"

"I don't know," said Nolan. "I have clearly died. But I feel empty. You are calm. I thought you'd be distraught, seeing that you are stuck with me possibly forever."

"Are you willing to let me go?" asked Tania.

"No."

"Then you are a possessive man. I cannot believe that you'd cheat on her. Forever and after, till death do us part...if you think about it you have already married me."

He bit down with a smack, "I don't want a demon for a partner."

She materialized in front of him, "And yet you have sealed me within your soul. If I didn't hate you then I would have fallen in love long enough to endure countless years of being trapped inside a void if I could...to wait for you."

He cocked his head, "You have a way of telling me to free you. You really are too calm despite knowing all of this."

She smiled curtly, "Why fight it? You possessive man has taken hostage of me. You bound me within your soul, unable to leave you after death. So how about we talk this out, Walker? How about you agree to my terms?"

"A devilish contract?" he snorted. "Do you think that I'll fall for that?"

"No tricks and no dirty promises."

He looked at her, "I do not your kind of people. I have lived my life killing and slaying your people and do you really think that I would agree to this? You must think that I lost my mind by dying. Hah, I would have to disappoint you, Tania."

The smile on her face didn't disappear, "If I am going to be stuck with you then I might as well cooperate. I don't know how you bound us together, but nonetheless, I am willing to cooperate with you. You drove me into this despair, I could hate you forever but knowing that I am bound to you even death makes this grudge stupid. I hate you for doing this but I can only forgive you because you force me into doing so."

"I do not need your cooperation," Nolan curtly said.

She shook her head, "But I do. You are confident in your ability to resist my will. But I've learned how to crept into you and allow my powers to run amok within your body. It is corruption and you know that with this power you can and might be able to face enemies that are stronger than you. You have taken advantage of my blood to protect yourself better but it is not enough. Even that sword of yours was unable to be drawn towards a being that is mighty and absolute. I am giving you a chance here, a chance to be better than what you are. You are a practical person and you should know that having me as your weapon is a good choice. You just won't admit it. Because of pride, you forego this chance of being better."

"You are tempting me with that?" said Nolan disdainfully. "I do not know what came to mind as you say this. Did dying change you enough to lend me your power? Or do you fear that without power I would have to die endlessly and you do not want that? Tell me, what did you saw after death?"

Her eyes became misty, mouth curled into a frown, "Sadness. Utter sadness that I cannot fathom." She floated around him, hands behind her back, face pointing up the sky."

"I cannot trust you."

"I know. You hate my kind. I hate you. But you leave me no choice but cooperate with you. You turned me into a part of your soul, your blood runs within me and mine into yours. Do you think that I am fond of this? I may be a devil but I had people that I wanted to protect! I didn't kill because I want to! I killed because it was necessary for me to do my part in saving my homeland. You know where my home is and you know how terrible the conditions are in that place!

"Any rational being would search for a way to better their lives. It is hardwired into our brain. What would you do better the lives of children that are suffering, knowing that you have a way to give them a better life and knowing that doing so you need to conquer this place? You, humans, don't want peace! And we have gone tired from trying to win peace! Are we so different, Nolan?"

"Yes," said Nolan. "Your reasons are wonderful. I think you are righteous for doing so. I think that helping my race overcome the presence of the demons is wonderful as well. I respect your sentiment truly. I will not say otherwise and I will not scorn you for that." He clenched his fist. "But I cannot trust you, Tania. I've lived my life knowing nothing but slaughter. I understand that you want to cooperate with me for what I have done. I do not know what you saw after death that made you think this way...but I cannot trust you. After all," he smiled, "I am the monster who made you a part of me, a tool that I can use to fight the monsters that I have been fighting."

"I see," she nodded. She then looked at him while slowly disappearing. "Nolan, have you heard of the Old Revenant who fell in love with the goddess of light?"

"I've heard of the Old Revenant, the father of all Bleak Walkers...what of it?"

"Nothing," she smiled, disappearing. "I just think that I can relate to that Revenant."