Rain fell in icy sheets against the walls of the city. Boots slammed the ground as Soren and Elias scaled yet another palisade.

"Elias" Soren yelled ducking behind a marble statue.

Alarms wailed through the city's streets while dogs barked somewhere below. Soren slammed a round into his sidearm."Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck. Where the hell is he. This was his plan after all and now look at us."

A rifle cracked. A guard spotted Soren and fired clipping the concrete inches from his head. "Shit."

A spotlight behind the guard caught a figure approaching from behind as Elias grabbed the guard and drove his knife into his chest.

"I'm over here Soren. Quit complaining." You act like this is the first time you have been in a fight." The guards body dropped as Elias ran for cover.

Soren ran and dived into the dark corner next to Elias. "We both know that isn't true and this wasn't part of the plan. You said you studied this complex's blueprint".

"I did!" Elias said mockingly and throws Soren a wink. "Listen were here and everyone is tired of being pushed around by these selfish corrupt kings. We need to end this for the sake of this city and we owe it to ourselves. Who knows maybe we have a chance to be more than guns for hire."

Soren rolled his eyes. "I have no damn urge to be anything other than what I am now. You can do what you have always done and take your group of lackeys and do whatever you want. Where are those two anyways?"

Elias shrugged "Hell if I know. They were supposed to be shutting down the power in this area and as you can see?" Suddenly the alarms stopped and lights go out. "There we go." Elias smiled. "We go now".

The pair moved from cover and headed up the stairs to the security control room for the city. "Were almost there". Elias laughed and moved for the main control board.

"Shouldn't there be guards in here". Soren exclaimed with a hint of worry.

Elias's hands darted across the controls. "Relax Soren. I paid the girls to distract the guards and told them I would give them something special if they could clear this place out for us." Elias raised his eyebrows and pointed at his crotch.

"How is it that you seem to convince everyone to follow your plans" Soren rolled his eyes as he moved to the monitors to look for guards.

"Dogs. The damn dogs are here which means the guards aren't far behind. We need to go" Soren exclaimed as he pulls his knife and firearm.

Elias scoffed "Why would you bring those tired old relics from our old days. We were broke so I understood but c'mon man? Now this is a weapon". Elias held up a multi-barreled large caliber revolver and stroked it. "Mmmmm. Twelve shots of pure stopping power. Beats that single shot antique you got."

"Lets go". Soren hit the doors release button. "Besides this baby" Soren raised his gun "has seen somethings and its the only gun with the ability to blast through tank armor." Soren moved from the door into the vast hallway before the kings chamber.

"Yeah! At the cost of your arm" Elias moved in in front of Soren. "The dogs have gone quiet at least"

"That's what worries me". Soren said under his breath as he scanned the surroundings.

Suddenly that spectral white dog from earlier appears at the end of the corridor. "What the hell" Soren bellowed as he aimed at the dog.

"Where the hell did you come from. You see this?" Soren turned his head to Elias.

Elias looked over to the area Soren was aiming. "What are you on about. I don't see shit."

Soren looked back to where the dog was just standing. "Huh? Where did it go? I swear I..I.. never mind. It couldn't be?

Elias moved to the control panel for the kings chamber. "Just hope this code the ladies of the night gave me is right. Otherwise were fucked."

"You mean your trusting this whole plan to kill King Valen to a bunch of harlots?" Soren raised his brow at Elias.

Elias chuckled "And you! That's why I brought you and your relics." and pointed at Soren's gun mockingly.

The door opened to reveal a huge room with vaulted ceilings and long drapes of red over the windows. In the center of the room a bed. Four posted and clad in gold. Red sheets to match the drapes and a lump in the middle. 

Elias moved to the bed. "What the shit. He's already dead!"

Alarms began to sound again as guards rushed in and pointed their rifles at Soren. Two bodies lie behind them in a heap of flesh and blood on the hallway floor just outside the secondary door neither of them noticed behind a set of drapes.

Soren raises his gun and ready's his knife as Elias moves behind him.

"Sorry old friend" Elias whispered as he drove his knife into Soren's back. "I'm not ready to die yet"

Elias then turned to the guards "When the alarms sounded I came to check on King Valen. This man was stood over his highness next to the bed. He would of killed me too if you guys hadn't showed up."

Soren collapsed onto the cold stone floor. Blood pooled beneath him as the world started to blur. Elias was talking. Of course he was. He was convincing, always the talker. That's how i ended up here. Friends? I should have known better.

Beyond the guards just before Soren's vision completely faded, standing motionless. How could they not see it. The white hound stood watching him. Silent. Unblinking. It stared through him. Cold spread through Soren's limbs as every sounded faded into silence.

A voice that was not a voice pressed into Soren's mind.

"At last.....I have found you."

The world did not end in fire. It ended in applause.

No one could remember exactly when the sky lost its color. It hadn't happened all at once. First came the endless gray mornings. Then the rain that carried ash instead of water. Crops still grew, but they tasted hollow. Birds still sang, though fewer returned each spring. The stars had become faint, as if even heaven had begun looking away. People called it progress.

The nations had finally united beneath a single voice—a man known only as the Shepherd. He preached peace without freedom, unity without truth, and salvation without sacrifice. His gospel promised an end to war, an end to suffering, and an end to doubt. Millions believed him. Those who questioned simply disappeared. The Shepherd's churches stood where courthouses once ruled. His priests judged every thought before every crime. His words echoed from every screen, every classroom, every home. Children learned his commandments before they learned their own names. Faith had become law. Mercy had become weakness. Truth had become whatever the Shepherd declared it to be. And the world bent beneath the weight of it.

The seas rose where they should have receded. Forests blackened without flame. Cities groaned beneath foundations that seemed to rot from within. Strange shadows lingered at the edge of vision, and every year more people vanished without explanation. Doctors spoke of a sickness with no cause. Scientists blamed collapsing ecosystems. Politicians promised another solution, But the oldest stories whispered a different answer. Creation itself was beginning to reject mankind. Sin was no longer hidden in dark corners. It marched through streets in broad daylight wearing polished suits and holy robes. Greed was praised as ambition. Cruelty was called justice. Lies became scripture. Those who clung to the old faith were branded enemies of peace. The balance between the living and the dead had begun to crack. Few noticed. Fewer cared.

Somewhere beyond the reach of cities, where abandoned roads disappeared into forests older than memory, a solitary traveler walked with a pale hound at his side. He wore no crest. He carried no banner. Only an old curved knife he called Quietus on his side, and a weathered single-shot firearm known as The Last Word hung from its holster. The ghostly dog beside him never barked. It watched. It waited. And wherever the two wandered, the dying found an unexpected companion in their final moments. They knew not his name nor the reason for his Presence. They only knew that Death had finally came.