I blast shadows in every direction, as well as swinging my sword like a madman. Every last one of us has to give everything we've got. Anything less will surely end in a horrible death. Our small group cuts our way to Knor, slowly making progress. Knor observes our struggle but does not attack. My sword whirls at the land Knormites, hitting their tough skin but not penetrating. My blows distract the Knormites just enough to let me run by, and the Knormite joins the mob behind us.

It seems that we're doing well until the air Knormites join in, and we're hit with hundreds of small laser blasts.

"It's raining lasers!" Person cries, dodging the attacks. The rain of lasers slows us enough to allow the land Knormites to rejoin the brawl. A few come at me, wielding axes, swords, and daggers. I charge myself with darkness, and then release it, sending a pulse of shadow at my enemies. The blast is enough to knock the weapons out of their hands, but the Knormites themselves are weapons, too. They all have sharp claws and teeth, and won't hesitate to use both. I struggle to keep the Knormites away as lasers continually pour from the sky.

"We're not going anywhere at this rate!" Tarna cries in frustration. "New plan. If you have ranged Bestowings, take out the air Knormites! If you have to rely on melee, hit the land Knormites!" I hurl my sword at an approaching Knormite and it's flung backward. I know my sword will dissolve, and I can make it reappear whenever I need it. I follow Tarna's instructions and start hurling shadowy bolts at any flying Knormite I can see. Cass rushes toward me to provide cover while I attack ranged. Person's lightning flies at the monsters, too, and after a few moments, the lasers have decreased, at least enough for us to move without being blasted. Cass finishes slicing a few Knormites and turns to me.

"Get your sword back out, okay? We're coming up to some water, which means more Knormites." I nod and continue charging, leaving some of the slower land Knormites behind. Once we reach the pond, small fish start jumping out of the water and flopping back in. The water Knormites are mainly a jaw with eyes.

"Like the Book Of Knor said, we don't need to fear these guys as long as we stay out of the water," Tarna yells over the roars of the Knormites. Suddenly, Ray's eyes turn pitch black, and he rushes toward Person. Caught by surprise, we watch as Person is shoved into the water. Immidietly, Ray's eyes turn back to normal.

"No!" he yells. "Knor caught me off guard." Person yells in panic as the water Knormites swarm him. He's completely surrounded by the creatures, and there are so many that he disappears from view. I watch the mass of Knormites in horror. Person is... gone? Did Knor just get his first victory? Tears fill my eyes, and I'm filled with rage at Knor. Luckily, there's plenty here to take my anger out on. I whirl around and blast shadows at the Knormites around us, and my attacks are fuelled by anger and hate. Behind me, I suddenly see a light. I turn to stare at the pool where Person disappeared, which is glowing. Glowing with lightning. A ball of electricity engulfs the pool, and when it dies, Person falls into the water. We run and drag him out before the water Knormites reclaim him.

"How did you do that?" Tarna asks, astounded.

"I dunno," Person replies weakly. "It was near-death instinct, mostly. Also, my lightning went crazy in the water. It spread and grew..."

"You had me so worried!" Tarna exclaims, kneeling near Person's panting body. "Don't you... if you..." Then, Tarna bends down and kisses Person, a full-out kiss. Person's eyes grow huge and he seems to be struggling to process this. I look away, stunned and embarrassed. Tarna stands up again, blushing.

Blushing? Kissing? The apocalypse is really revealing a lot of Tarna's feelings. Person lays on the ground, utterly stunned.

"Right," Tarna says, still blushing. "Let's go back to killing Knor, eh?"

"You love him!" Cass declares gleefully, doing a flip off of a Knormite's head. "Tarna the great and emotionless is in love!"

"Can we discuss this when we're not surrounded by demons?" Tarna asks, trying to sound leaderly but actually sounding embarrassed. Cass grins but obeys, helping Ray, Rolly and I to clear a path to Knor. Person and Tarna join us after a moment, Person still looking stunned.

"Wrive?" he asks as he slices at a Knormite. "I kind of want to start dancing, but I also want to blow a million Knormite's heads off. Is that wrong?"

"How about you do the second option," I suggest. "And hey, the apocalypse brings out the worst in everyone." Person accepts my suggestion and released a massive lightning bolt. This clears the path for a few yards, bringing us gradually closer to Knor.

"I feel so alive!" Cass whoops as a few Knormites are set on fire by Ray.

***

"They stand a fighting chance, my lord," Allen worries. He stands beside Knor, watching the battle.

"Incorrect," Knor disagrees. "Even if they wipe out every last one of my creations, it changes nothing. We will gaze on their dead bodies today." Then, changing the subject, he notes, "I see you're back to being Allen."

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"You said 'we' earlier, as if you and I were equal. Are we equal, Allen?"

"No, my lord. You are greater by infinite miles." Knor doesn't respond to that.

"I have seen destiny, Allen. The boy must die."

"Which boy?"

"Tacking, of course," Knor spits. "He has qualities that the others do not. He must die. They all must, of course, but mainly the boy." Knor pauses for a moment. "You must kill him, Allen. It must be you."

"Me?" Allen asks, seeming to be shocked. "Kill Wrive Tacking, my old friend?" Allen's face twists into a grin. "With pleasure, my lord. With pleasure."

***

The battle is not without pain for us. We all take a hit from a claw at one time. We can't dodge the laser rain. Occasionally, a determined sea Knormite will flop its way to land and bite someone before it dies from lack of water. But overall, we're succeeding. There are still at least a thousand of each type of Knormite left, but we're making our way closer to Knor. He's the target. These Knormites are just obstacles. Of course, our target is the very face of evil, and he's massive and powerful. But we'll take him down. We will.

***

After plenty of fighting Knormites, we reach a Knormite-free spot. The Knormites gather around us, but stop attacking. Then, they step aside to let Allen through. With his helmet and black cape, he looks like a king. He stares at us coolly.

"You've come pretty far, pests.. I'm impressed. But the fun and games are over. The Knormites are merely a distraction, a tiny shred of Knor's power. It's time for round two." Allen looks straight at me. "This time, you'll stay dead."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Cass growls, stepping in front of me. Allen studies her for a moment, and then, quick as a flash, bolts toward her. Before I can defend Cass, Allen has returned to his spot, a few feet away from us. Cass cries out in pain and clutches her face.

"You're lucky I punched instead of cut," Allen sneers.

"You stay away from her!" I yell angrily.

"Make me," Allen challenges. I hold my hand out and my sword materializes in it. Allen smiles.

"Wonderful." I attack first, swinging at Allen's chest. He blocks and retaliates with impossible speed, hacking away at my defensive stance. I stumble back, startled by Allen's skill. I aim a bolt of shadow at his hand, sending his sword flying. Allen growls and lunges at me, switching to using his fists and feet as weapons. I swing at him, knowing that my sword is more dangerous than any punch Allen can throw. Allen manages to kick the handle, though, and my sword flies backward. He follows this up with a rain of kicks and punches. I fon't have time to make my sword reappear, so I'm forced to use hand-to-hand combat. Allen's blows, even when he nearly misses, hurt as if he has iron skin. It's all I can do to dodge his insane attacks.

"Guys!" I call desperately. "A little backup?" Allen pauses his attack long enough to sneer at me.

"Knor has seen to it that they don't intervene." Glancing at my friends, I see that their eyes have a hint of black in them. Knor is forcing them to stay put. Without help, I know that Allen will kill me, with his bare hands if he has to.

"Stop this, Allen," I order, hoping to waste time. "Stop fighting for the enemy. We could really use you."

"Yes, you do rather need me," Allen grins. "How unfortunate." He begins coming toward me again, and I don't know whether I can survive another round of Allen's brutal assault.

"I know that there's still good in you," I insist.

"Wrive, you idiot! I was never your friend. It was an act! When will you accept that?"

"Never. Because you had plenty of chances when you could have killed us all, if you'd wanted. But you didn't." While buying time, I'm also trying to persuade Allen to join us. Deep down, I truly believe that Allen could become good. I know he could be. For a moment, Allen looks unsure of himself. But then he just frowns.

"Stop delaying this fight, Tacking." Allen approaches me again, and this time, I'm not talking him out of it. Once he's close enough to punch, he pauses.

"In some fights, the fighters mainly attack the torso of their opponents. The girl... Tarna... taught me that." Allen blurs into a tornado of punches, and while I manage to block most of the blows, a few slip through my guard and nearly knock the air out of me. There's no chance to retaliate.

"Knor boosted my ability," Allen continues, grinning. "And now look at what I can do." The flurry of punches ends, and Allen switches to different attacks.

"You and your friends taught me to chop-" Allen chops at me, slamming my shoulder. "You taught me to kick-" Allen kicks, and I stumble back, barely managing to stay standing. "You taught me everything I know about fighting. I suppose I should thank you for that. But, of course, I won't." I look up at Allen in time to see him charging at me. His body slams into me, and I slide across the ground on my back. I'm taking huge breaths, trying to keep myself breathing. Allen stands over me, looking at me with disqust.

"You taught me mercy, too. That's a lesson I'll never need." Allen examines his gloved hand and slowly pulls the glove off. I'm too exhausted and helpless to move as he reaches toward me.

"Well, Tacking? No last-minute comeback? No big surprise to foil me?" I manage to open my eyes and look at Allen.

"Allen-" I gasp a breath. "You are..." I gasp again. "My friend. Knor has you in his grip right now, but I'll free you. I promise." Allen looks down at me, his hand only inches from my chest.

"And how exactly will you free me, Tacking?"

"Like this." With a big gasp, I manage to release a stream of shadow from my damaged body. The shadows flow to Allen's helmet and knock it off. He looks startled for a moment. But his eyes remain black. He begins laughing.

"Oh, you had me scared for a moment. I thought you were actually going to do something useful. Ha! Oh, Tacking, you have a miserable last stand!" I stare up at Allen in despair. He laughs at my failure as I lay here, broken. I thought that if the helmet came off, he might become a good guy... As I watch Allen, something appears. A spark? A glimmer? I watch, startled, as it hovers over Allen's head. Then, it goes into his hair and seems to soak into him. Allen stops laughing and looks up at the faint glow above him. There's a moment of silence as he stands, hand inches away from my chest. Then his arm pulls away from me and he slips his glove back on. He approaches his helmet and, after a moment, throws it. Then he turns back to me.

"Wrive Tacking... my friend..." I stare at his eyes. Are they turning white? Could it be? "Thank you," Allen says, voice full of emotion. "And goodbye." Then, to my horror, he's blasted away from me in a flash. I look at what blasted him: a tentacle. Knor's massive body looms nearby menacingly.

"Worthless human," he spits. "He did so well, until he went near you." I feel arms around my neck, and I fear that someone is going to kill me. But then a head and hair enter my line of sight, and I'm relieved to have Cass hugging me fiercely.

"Wrive, I'm so sorry! Knor froze me, and... and I saw the whole 'Allen' thing. I'm sorry, Wrive." I manage to stand, stretching my battered body.

"So am I, Cass." Tarna, Ray, Rolly and Person join us, all of us looking at Knor, not far away.

"He killed Allen," I inform my friends.

"We know," Tarna whispers. "I'm sorry." We all stand, looking at Knor's massive self.

"Look at us now," I say, nealy laughing at our hopeless situation. "Six people. Knor's killed Allen, who turned out to be good in the end. We've still got an army of demons and the lord of all evil to beat. What do we do?"

"Same thing we always do," Tarna responds firmly. "Overcome it."

"Can we overcome it?" Person asks doubtfully.

"Yeah," Cass replies. "Yeah, we can." We all stare at the impossible challenge in front of us.

"Lost together," Tarna says.

"Lost together," we all repeat. Knor's tentacles writhe menacingly. Somehow, the sheer impossibility of the challenge determines me. I set out on my journey with two friends. One was just killed and one is sick. But later, I met Tarna, Cass, Rolly, and Ray at The Hideout. That's when it really started. With shelter, food and water, I had a chance to do something. We had a chance to stop Ultra Tech. And now here we are. It really started with the people at my side. And it will end with them, one way or another. Because although we've faced death, traitors, riddles, Dusk Walkers and demons, that only means one thing. We're lost. But when you're lost together... well, it's not always a bad thing.

***

My friends and I dash at Knor, weapons drawn. This time, Knor himself decides to attack. First, his black eye glows with purple light and a laser fires from it. This laser is as big as I am, and when it hits the ground, it explodes. His lasers are like the air Knormites', but much bigger. We dodge his beams without much difficulty, so he switches to his tentacles. They lash out, all four of them, which slows us down greatly. Knor slams his tentacle in front of us like a wall, and Cass prepares her blade. She swings, and a moment later, a horrible noise fills the air. It's like grinding metal mixed with an earthquake, but it is actually Knor's scream. His tentacles thrash in pain, removing the barrier from our path. We continue the dash toward him as he recovers. We're close enough to deal damage with our swords, but not high enough. Rolly, in golem form, flies around and claws at Knor, but even Golem-Rolly can't do more than bother Knor.

"I have to get up there!" Cass yells as a eye-beam flies by, exploding and sending dirt flying.

"I've got an idea," Tarna calls. "But it'll need all my concentration. Cover me!" Tarna closes her eyes, and I wonder what her plan is. No matter what it is, though, I'll cover her. Knor doesn't aim at her specifically; he's more focused on Ray, Rolly, Person and I, who are either using our Bestowings to fire things at him or, in Rolly's case, clawing him. We can't distract him enough, though, and he notices Tarna, who still has her eyes closed. He fires an eye-beam at her, and I throw a huge shadow bolt in panic. When my bolt and Knor's beam collide, there's a mighty explosion, but Tarna appears to be okay. Annoyed, Knor relies on his tentacles to wreck havoc, although he avoids Cass. After sliding under a swinging tentacle, I hear Tarna shout, "Ready!" Then, before my eyes, the earth rises up in a slope, extending itself higher and closer to Knor. If we climb onto Tarna's newly made cliff, we could hit Knor! Knor noticed the cliff, though, and fires an eye-beam at it. The cliff begins to fall, but Tarna gives it a magical boost.

"I need to concentrate on keeping the cliff up!" she yells, eyes still closed. "Cass, get up there and show Knor what we're made of." Cass salutes and uses her Bestowings to run up the side of the cliff. Knor's attention goes to her, and he starts attacking the cliff, sending chunks of earth flying. I'm certain that Cass is doomed; the cliff is in pieces, even as Tarna reassembles it as quickly as she can. But somehow, Cass lives. She jumps from one chunk of rock to another as the chunks go flying, and this brings her closer to Knor. This is crazy! Our plan might actually work! But my hopes fall through the floor when the cathtonite blade slips from Cass' grip. She bounds from rock to rock, almost flying as she chases the weapon. But it falls, and clatters to the ground. Knor's attention goes to the blade, and his eye begins to glow.

No! I scream mentally. If he destroys that sword, we lose. We're done. Finished. I hurl a shadow at the blade, and seconds before Knor's beam demolishes it, my shadow bolt pushes the blade out of the way. Person grabs it and takes off running. Knor's full focus goes to Person, and tentacles and eye-lasers begin flying. I dash to Person, who's frantically trying to save himself and the blade.

"Over here!" I call to him. He tosses the blade to me, and I begin dashing away. Frustrated, Knor focuses on me. I jump over tentacles, dive away from eye-beams, and run as fast as I can. Rolly flies over to me and speeds along next to me.

"Wrive!" he calls. "Hang on!"

"What?" I ask, but Rolly doesn't answer. Instead, he grabs me and lifts me off the ground. Clutching me by my shoulders, he soars away from Knor's attacks. The sensation of flying is both amazing and terrifying. Rolly flies us closer to Knor.

"Here we go!" he yells. Clutching the blade, I wait as Rolly speeds toward Knor. This is it. However, one of Knor's tentacles slams into Rolly from the side, and we begin to fall. I look around desperately and see Tarna's cliff, now stable, with Cass on top.

"Coming your way!" I call to Cass, and I throw the blade with all my might. As Rolly and I slam to the ground, Cass prepares to attack. The cliff juts forward, giving her a path to Knor. Knor's tentacles aren't close enough to stop the blade this time! Cass makes a flying leap, wielding the blade, ready to strike. We've won!

I almost can't believe it when Knor's eye-beam blasts the blade out of Cass' hands and the beam hits Cass. The blade flies away, too far for anyone to save it. Knor sends an eye-beam after the blade, and this is the end. We can't damage Knor. We've lost. We've failed. Knor has won.

***

Knor laughs his horrible laugh as we stare at our only weapon, now destroyed. I can't believe it. I believed that we could win, and my belief made it seem for sure. But now...

"Weaklings," Knor laughs. "Is that all you have? I suppose I can't expect more out of you humans."

"You were human once, too," I remind Knor bleakly, not caring what happens anymore. "Why did you become this?"

"Fate," Knor replies. "There is nothing anyone can do to change it. This is my fate."

"You didn't choose to be evil," I note. "Interesting." Knor snarls at me.

"Good and evil are just twists of fate, boy. Evil is just your opinion on how fate affects you."

"Is it fate that you haven't killed us yet?" Tarna asks, letting her cliff crumble. "You could have started the fight by blasting the cathtonite blade."

"Indeed, it is fate."

"I don't think so," Cass chimes in. "I think you're like Allen. I think that there's still a little bit of the author left in you, and-"

"Nonsense!" Knor hisses. "Your author was a traitor to destiny. He saw it and didn't like it, so he tried to change it." Knor's gaze shifts to the smoking shards of the cathtonite blade. "See what happens when you try to change destiny?"

"You might think that the author was a traitor," Rolly says, shaking pieces of earth off of him. "Maybe you blame yourself still, blame yourself because when you were human, you failed. Take it from me, what you've done can be confusing. Was it right? Was it wrong? You know it was right if you feel a feeling in your gut that says you did the right thing. Do you feel that feeling?" Knor doesn't answer for a moment.

"Don't try to fool me," Knor says quietly. "I know what fate has decided for us all. I've seen it. Prepare yourselves." Knor's eye begins to glow, but pauses. I hear what made him pause. It sounds like the wind, but different. It's almost as if the wind is speaking.

"And after the tears and pain, you'll overcome this." I realize that I said that once, to Cass. "I've cried and felt pain. Pain of loss, pain of swords, pain of betrayal. The end... my end... I can overcome this. This world, even. I'm here now, but I know of a place not on this earth. This is what is supposed to happen. This is fate. This is destiny. But this is not the end." Even stranger, the wind sounds a little like me.

"This is the vision I saw the most," Knor says thoughtfully. "Almost every day. You and I stood here, and those words echoed in the wind. Those are your words, boy. Don't ask me to explain, but even if you didn't say them, those are your words. Do you accept them?" Tears fill my eyes as I wonder about those words. They say that this isn't the end, but it is. I can't overcome this. But at the same time, I think I'm ready. We couldn't have fought any harder than we did. We came far, for a group of runaway kids.

"I'm ready," I tell Knor. Because there's nothing else to say. We're finished. And I think I'm ready. Knor stares down at me.

"You children said that there is still a hint of good within me," he says. "An author, who is still committed to you. Tell me about him."

"He's faithful," I reply, smiling against the odds. "He doesn't give up. He sees the future, and he works to improve it. He writes the rules. He makes his own destiny, his own fate."

"Fate has always written the rules," Knor murmers. "But... we can change fate, can't we?" Then, Knor begins to glow. Not just his eye, but all of him. Beams of light burst from his body, and there's an explosion of light. I shield my eyes and turn away. When I turn back, there's empty air. Knor is gone. But the truth is, Knor isn't gone. Knor is back. Back in human form.

***

The author, the reason we've done any of this, stands in the absence of the giant monster. He's wearing robes and has wild, white hair. He has glasses, and a cut on his arm. He looks around at my friends and I as we approach him.

"I haven't seen you in so long," he whispers. "Except through the eye of the beast." He grabs us all and hugs us, which is a little weird, but I'm too tired and emotional to protest. Once he pulls out of the hug, he looks at me.

"You restored me, Wrive. I thank you beyond words. But... I realize that not all our problems are fixed." I know what Knor means. As the others look at me, puzzled, the metal box over my heart sparks.

"It's damaged," Rolly gasps. I nod. "Well, we have to fix it! We'll think of something, I promise-"

"No," I interrupt. "It's too late. I don't have long left." Cass stares at me, eyes filled with tears.

"Wrive, you can't just... just die. We just beat Knor and rescued him, too. This is supposed to be the big celebration. You can't... I won't..." Cass breaks into tears and rushes in to hug me. I hug her back, knowing it's the last time I'll hug her.

"Goodbye, Cass," I whisper into her ear.

"I love you," she whispers back. I smile, even as tears roll down my face.

"I know. That's what's keeping me alive." Cass smiles through her tears, too, and squeezes me one last time. Then Person approaches me.

"This is goodbye?" he asks.

"Doesn't have to be," I offer. "This can be a... a good luck."

"Luck for you or me?"

"Both of us," I smile, and I give him a warm hug.

"Good luck, Shoot-y Pete."

"Good luck, Wrive." Ray is next, and hugs me, which he doesn't usually do.

"You did good, kid. Real good. We held together, and look what you did. You defeated Knor."

"We defeated Knor," I correct him.

"But who found the Collections House? Who solved the first riddle?" I smile, realizing how much I've helped.

"Thanks, Ray."

"You deserve more, bud." With one last hug, Ray walks away, letting Rolly talk to me. He tries to say something, but decides against it. He opens his mouth to speak, but pauses.

"You were never a traitor, Rolly," I start for him. "Thank you for keeping your golem self a secret. It was the right thing to do." Rolly smiles.

"Thank you, Wrive." Rolly steps aside to let Tarna bid me farewell.

"You were a soldier, Wrive. You never gave up. You were always doing what was right. You deserve some rest."

"Thanks," I reply greatfully. "Now, you keep Person safe." Tarna scowls and blushes.

"Get over here," she says and hugs me. I hug her back, and now everyone has said goodbye. I face all my friends now.

"Guys, you're all so amazing. I can't imagine who I'd be without you."

"Same here," Ray chimes. I smile, not caring who I'd be without my friends. Because I have my friends, and I'm me.

"So, you take care of yourselves." I pause for a moment. "Lost together?"

"Forever," Tarna promises firmly. I smile, and a few sparks fly from my heart-machine. I take a deep breath and focus. This is it. Sparks keep flying from my heart-machine, and I imagine white, white in all directions. As I focus, the wind begins whispering again.

"The end... my end... I can overcome this. This world, even. I'm here now, but I know of a place not on this earth. This is what is supposed to happen. This is fate. This is destiny. But this is not the end. I smile. Those are fitting words.

***

A fuse blows in Wrive's heart-machine. His friends, with tear-filled eyes, watch in surprise as his body flashes white. And then, Wrive Tacking is gone. He'd disappeared. Knor steps toward the place where he'd been moments before.

"He's dead," Cass whimpers.

"No," Knor says with a smile. "Gone, for sure. But dead? Wrive is smarter than that." And Wrive isn't dead. Just lost. Like he's always been.

"Let's go home," Tarna murmurs. And so the group looks back, one final time, at the empty space where Wrive was, moments ago.

"Lost together," Cass says quietly.

"Forever," Tarna promises firmly. "Forever."