The demon crumpled to the ground as if the same moment in time had repeated itself. The life left its wide eyes. Frey chopped off its head for good measure. The hundreds of bugs swarming about the area fell down dead. Frey spat on the demon's corpse. "That's for Thomas." He turned to see Doevm kneeling next to Thomas. "That's right…Doevm." As he shambled over, his limbs shaking from the venom and his headache, he gripped his spear harder than ever.

Doevm's back was turned, aligning the limbs into place. One stab with the bloodwood spear would be all it would take to send Doevm to the afterlife alongside Thomas. He also held out his Kopis. One stab wouldn't be enough. He could make Doevm's head tumble to the ground, just like he had done to the demon.

'Doevm, you did this to me,' Frey thought, rage washing through him. 'You forced my hand. You could have told me at any time, at any place, but you settled on stringing me along and manipulating me like you do to so many others. If you could bring people back from death then what about Hopi? Why did he have to die? Did you even care? Or were you just glad that you could just keep your secret? Why did Thomas get captured if you are so powerful? I was only blaming myself because I didn't know any better.'

He took a breath and took aim at Doevm's heart. 'And you are just sitting there, probably plotting your next lie. You are probably going to twist Thomas's death into something that was my fault. I'm tired of it. I just want to go back and be with…' His grip loosened. 'be with who? If not you and the rest of the group, then who do I have to protect? If I do this, I will end up going back to a house that is no longer my home and live the rest of my life as a Virility guard with no friends, living day after day, fighting without a purpose.'

"Find new friends." A voice said inside of Frey's mind. From the corpse of the demon rose a transparent figure that the light seemed to go straight through. The figure caressed the side of his cheek and whispered close to his ear, so close that he could smell the iron in its breath. "You can talk to anyone. You can be the captain of the Virility guards. You can get the power to protect."

'Protect who?' Frey thought. 'Doevm's been the one protecting me the most with all his intricate plans. He saved me from that den of Ghouls back at the front lines. He trained with me and talked to me about improving and his views of the world, even if I didn't necessarily agree. He helped teach me how to read. He-'

"He beat you and tried to erase your memories." The voice grew in intensity and wrapped its hand around his spear, bringing the tip closer to Doevm's back. "He almost killed you when he lost control in that cave. He's probably scheming something now. He's using you."

'Using me?' Frey thought. 'What use do I have, strength? Why does he need that? He could have taken power if he wanted it. He gave me the squad leader position while Wade was absent, even if it was only temporary. He's helped me so much more than I've helped him.'

"He wants what you inherited, the power of the hero - that white aura around you. No plan can counter it. You are the strongest, who can smash your way through any plan."

'And?'

"You can be free and live how you want to."

'What do I want?'

"You want to protect."

'That's right, I want to protect.'

"That's right."

Frey's spear clattered to the ground.

"What are you doing?"

'Protecting.' A crackle, the smallest spark lit up a fire, engulfing Frey's body in a white, pulsing aura. He turned towards the demon's transparent figure.

Doevm's words echoed in Frey's head, a memory replaying itself: "Hang onto what you want to protect."

'That's right. From day one he's never lost a fight. Never. He's not the kind of person to do things without a reason. So what if I have this power? What is it good for when compared to his genius? And now he has magic? I'm surprised he isn't the hero. He might have hid the truth from me but I've been way more of an asshole to him. He's my friend damn it and he deserves respect!' The white flames spread everywhere.

The demon screamed and flailing about and then…stopped. The demon looked down at its body and cackled. "You, you don't know how to use this power, do you?" He took a step towards Frey. "Well that's just great. That's fantastic. Now, you're mine-" the demon faded in and out of existence as a sharp, needle-like pain shot into the side of Frey's head, like something had invaded his mind, his soul.

Frey glanced back to find that Doevm had stood up and grabbed the back of his head. The pain subsided. Now he only felt something tugging, resisting Doevm's influence.

When Doevm retracted his hand, he had an orb, which shattered.

"Frey," Doevm said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I said kill him. What's taking so long?" The transparent demon lept forth. "Kneel."

"What?" The demon screeched as its knees buckled under itself, as if an ironclad order had carried with Doevm's voice.

"Doevm, is that…is it really you?" Frey asked, reaching over to touch him.

"Yup." Doevm said, pushing the smelly hand away. "I told you not to do anything and now look at where you are, stuck in your own mind and nearly possessed." He smiled and slapped the back of Frey's head. "You giant idiot."

Frey's smile faded. "Wait. So that means that you weren't really healing Thomas just now, right?" Doevm shook his head. "And you don't have anything to heal him…he's really dead."

The demon reached its long limb over to one of the pickaxes leaning against the wall. Doevm looked over. "Don't attack us."

The demon cursed as the pickaxe clattered to the ground. "You!" It stretched a long finger towards Doevm. "What manner of being are you?"

"Thomas is dead for now," Doevm continued as if not hearing the demon's words. "But to someone like me." His form changed. He grew taller and his flesh stripped away, leaving only bone. A black cloak formed around him and two blue flames burned where his eyes used to be. "To a Lich such as I, death is nothing more than a temporary state of being."

"A Lich?" Frey gasped, looking Doevm up and down. "Oh that…that's good. That's great!" He clapped his hands together. "So you're a Lich. That means you can resurrect him as an Undead, right? Everything's ok now, right?" He smiled with an expression Doevm had never seen on him before so the Lich punched him in the gut. "Why," Frey groaned as lurched forward.

"Because you're becoming delusional." Doevm said as helped Frey sit against the wall. "Calm down and take some deep breaths before you say anything. I'll take care of this." He narrowed his flamed eyes at the demon. "What happened?" He ordered with a bit of soulmana.

"I put him through his worst memories!" the demon blurted out. "I put him through hell, his worst nightmares. It was all so I could possess him and kill you. I-I didn't know he was working under you, nor who you were. Please," the demon knelt down. "Spare me forbidden one. I was ignorant. I would never-"

"Enough." Doevm growled. "He is not serving me. Your fate is already sealed." He took a deep breath and clung tight to "Lich's Malice". The demon screeched for mercy. Doevm's next words were everything but merciful: "Mutilate yourself until death."