That night was a beautiful one, in which he did not even have to make much of a fire. The amount of wood that was burning would be able to last him through the warm night. His mind had come a long ways since the first disaster. Tendrils of peace were making their way through the walls of doubt like the ivy on Kinion Castle. There was something stronger than him working for his benefit, he knew. Maybe Kinion was not finished after all, he thought to himself. There seemed to be someone that did not want the great nation to end, maybe someone above who sympathized with the loss of such a great civilization. Yes, he was being chased, but he felt confidence along with his renewed health. I will make it, he thought to himself, I will---

A very large and dark figure appeared behind the fire. Because of the flame's light, Ogen could not make any of the thing's details. Ogen could only see that it was big, and it walked on two feet. There was no doubt in his mind of who or what it was. No animal would come so near to a fire, and no man was that size. Ogen was able to make out the shape of bulging muscles, as he scrambled to find his sword. His scratching hands found it, to his left. In a twinkling he was on his feet, with his sword in front of him. The large being slowly raised a staff from his right hand, which began to glow. This was going to be a fight. But then, a thought hit him like a rock. Sometimes, he thought to himself, I can be so stupid. How soon he had forgotten that swords had not been able to harm this creature. His only hope was to run. When he had stood up to face the foe, he felt a sort of bravery. But now, as he began to warily back away, fear gripped his heart like a vice. He turned and moved his legs as fast as he could, trying to put as much space between him and the monster as he was able. He entered the black darkness and blindness of the woods, which suddenly erupted into dazzling fire and light. A loud and shaking rumble came from his right side, and he did not even have to turn and look to see what it was. The light came from the energy of the demon's staff, he knew, which must have missed him and surely decimated a large portion of the area to his right. Ogen managed to keep his balance despite the shaking and kept running.

The creature must have been moving after him, because Ogen heard its blood-curdling cry from not too far of a distance behind him. A huge part of him wanted to roll up in a ball and hide somewhere. Even though it was fairly obvious that the creature's tracking abilities would not let him do so, it took all he had to resist the urge. The creature was faster than he was, and probably did not sleep for it to catch up to him so soon. There was no reasoning with the creature. All it wanted to do was kill every living thing in sight. Ogen wondered where it and the rest of his mates could possibly be from. He asked himself a question: Did he have a chance? The furious waterfall that he heard just ahead of him answered his question. If he remembered correctly about where he was, the only way to cross the falls was by climbing across a single rope with his arms. The rope was tied around to trees high enough so that one can make it across with the roaring falls descending at least one hundred feet to the river below.

But Ogen did not know if he would be able to make it with it being dark, and with the one chasing him right behind. But he had to do it or get burned alive. He came to the tree, thankful that the moon was bright enough to outline the rope for him. He put his sword in its place and jumped to reach the rope above. Quickly, he started to climb across, reaching out with one hand at a time to tightly hold onto it with his fingers. He did not dare look down, knowing that he would only see blackness that would engulf him completely if he fell. Moving with haste, he did not bother to make sure that he was always holding on to a piece of the rope like monkeys do when they move across treetops. Instead, he forced his body through the air, creating instances in which would be gliding over the watery grave. The rope bent dangerously close to the falls as he bounced his way across. With a leap, he landed safely on the other side.

He did not even think about the feat that he just accomplished, but lowered himself in a brush and watched to see when the beast would come on the other side. Ogen quickly thought of a plan, which would take advantage of the fact that the demon will expect him to flee like he had been. The monster crashed through the thin layer of trees that were behind the falls, and surveyed the area. It moved its head slowly, eerily. Moist muscles that seemed to be chiseled out of stone reflected the moon from beneath its smooth shoulder armor. Its monstrous and toothy head noticed the rope, and made its way to it with haste. It attached its staff to a belt, and reached up to the rope without jumping. Ogen was amazed to see that the rope bent less then when he was on it. With delicateness that contrasted its size, it was swiftly making its way across. Ogen snapped out of his stupor of awe, and arose with his sword in his right hand. The creature spotted Ogen as soon as he moved, and screamed in anger. The demon had been tricked, and it now realized the fact. Ogen quickly cut the rope on his side with one stroke, and watched as the creature swung down and was pulled into the powerful force of the descending water. Ogen was able to see no more of the monster, but he did see that the rope dangled by itself.

Ogen then ran as fast as he was able, energized by the joy of his victory. He could have stood there and looked at the dangling rope for a very long time, but he chose to run in a spirit of disbelief. As he ran, he knew that no living creature would be able to survive the fall that the demon must have taken. He kept on with this speed until he was too exhausted to do it any longer. He would have to find a new place to rest. He managed to cover extra amounts of unplanned distance that night. Ogen found a familiar place to find rest in, knowing that he could possibly see the high spires of Kinion Castle in the next day.

Ogen awoke bright and early, looking ahead to the short distance that he had to cover. His feelings were mixed. He thought of the warmth of his wife's hug, but also the pain of the revelation he must give to her. His victory over the creature was amazing, but he knew that he was only one of many who would make their way to Kinion. Evacuation was the only way for his people now, and he knew that he had to lead them. Somehow he was confident that he would be able to lead his town to safety somehow. He also knew that he only had one goal now, to make sure that he and his entire civilization live as long as possible. Thoughts like these were forming in Ogen's mind, as he swiftly made his way through the forest. He did not even want to stop for food, as he knew that his destination was near.

The anticipation was at a peak when he saw the most familiar landsite in all the forest in front of him: The Great Black Cave. Long ago, Kinion had built an underground passageway that connected this cave with the city's town square. As long as one had light to see through the dark tunnel, it was preferred over the long and windy path through the woods that began at the front gate of the town. The path in the cave was very confusing if one did not have a light, and was easy to get lost in. Unfortunately for Ogen, he did not have a light at all. He would be forced to take the path in the woods, or possibly lose himself in the cave. He turned to the side to go into the forest road, which was paved with stones of all colors .... and he stopped. He suddenly guessed that the demon would somehow be in that path, waiting for him. But it was impossible, he reasoned to himself. The dream had been only a dream. It was not possible that the creature had gone ahead of him, much less survived the fall. Ogen was not one to believe in weird omens, and it just was not logical to go into the cave without a light.

Soon, the colorful stones became a rainbow-like blur beneath his feet and Ogen's boots struck the stones rapidly. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap was the sound that rang throughout as he ran, never losing his pace and endurance for the purpose of seeing Kinion as soon as he could. He swung his arms with all of his might, to force his body forward all the more. He was breathing Heavily and loudly, with his chest raised up and eyes as wide as he could make them. The loudest noise that he was able to hear was the staccato rhythm of his own heart. Not only was it loud in his ears, put it seemed to pound very hardly against his chest. Ogen felt that his heart would have jumped out of his ribs if his chest had not been there to hold it in place. The feeling inside of him was so strong, that he began to yell as he ran. At first it was a low growl, and it gradually became a hysterical scream. His eyes were focused ahead, straining to see the peak of a shining spire. Because of this, he was not able to notice the stone that was out of place, which his foot ran into and caused him to abruptly end his screaming.

The path had been hand made, with heavy colored stones that were placed into the dirt. Somehow, the stone that tripped Ogen hard to the ground was out of place. Ogen slowly raised himself, and looked behind him to see the phenomena. Some kind of large animal may have taken it out by digging with its horns, or.....no. It could not possibly be true. He would not believe that the demon had tampered here, with the sole purpose of making an obstacle for him to fall on. Surely, thought Ogen, it was a preposterous idea. Nevertheless, fear began to make its way into his heart as he started to run again. His wide eyes were now focused on the trees, bushes, and especially the stones that were around him. He tried to focus beyond the pounding of his heart, which was louder than ever now. Ogen began to feel ashamed of himself, taking such a concern about something that was far from possible. But he still continued to look and listen like never before.

There was a loud rustling coming from a vegetated area just ahead. Tiny needles seemed to prick Ogen all over his body at once, and he began to feel sick. Ogen called himself a fool over and over again in his mind, as the area of bushes, small trees, and leaves moved about fervently. All of his sight was focused ahead on what he knew that he would see step out of the rustle. So many thoughts passed through his mind in those few seconds before the area revealed its contents. First he thought of how overly confident he had become, thinking that he could actually succeed in a place where his Creator had obviously warned him from in a dream. Then he thought about his dear Gwen, who would not even be able to see a corpse when the monster was through. He was in an openly lit path now, with no darkness and trees to hide in this time to avoid the staff s disintegrating power. He thought about the possibility that he was the last surviving bit of resistance against a seemingly inevitable change in the world order.

He began to kneel just as he had done in the dream, suddenly weary. Instead of the black darkness of evil, there arose white light. He widened his eyes in disbelief as his vision was filled with the brightest of birds, small ivory doves that poured out of the forest. His eyes were wide in relief, and his ears were full of the tweeting noises the birds made. Ogen began to breathe heavily again, as he started to sob. The tears that dripped from his eyes were of pure joy, and assurance that he was safe. He somehow knew without a doubt that the demon that stalked him was dead. A second later, the birds were gone. Yet the action created a memory in his mind that he would be able to recall vividly forever. Tiny white feathers that were shed fell to the ground like snow, finding their place on the stones. Ogen heard a peeping noise that he was just able to make out in the area that the birds came from. The source of the noise was a bush, and he found one of the birds stuck between two bristling twigs. The black beady eyes shifted right and left, and it was vibrating its small wings in an attempt to free itself. Gently, Ogen pulled the twigs apart wider, so that the bird may have room to move. It then bolted out of its former trap, and rushed to catch its comrades.

Ogen had only to walk up the small hill ahead to see what he had sought after for a long time. There before him was Kinion Castle. It stood tall and bold, as if in defiance to anything that dared to oppose it. Ogen smiled and laughed, with total happiness and a great feeling of accomplishment. He didn't know if he would be able to save his wife and people as easily as he saved the small dove. But he would certainly try his best, and hopefully keep alive what he knew to be his only reality. He started to run again, with renewed vigor. Inside of his heart, there was a peace beyond understanding.

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