The two of them began their journey, filled with mainly walking, eating, sleeping and sewing, much to Corvus’ irritation. There wasn’t much conversation between the two, aside from Cleo occasionally going on long tirades about how Corvus wasn’t possible and listing off all the things wrong with him.

Gilgamesh chimed in with his own points about how Corvus’ appearance was terrible, which Corvus would’ve taken offence to had he not blocked out both by focussing on fixing his shredded jacket. At least he had a shirt now, with some help from the now-dead bandits.

But all this theorising and long rants about the world had got Corvus thinking about himself. Gilgamesh wouldn’t give him an answer, instead giving the same ‘your path’ speech over and over again, and Cleo said she didn’t want to lead him on with ideas that might turn out to be false.

Corvus stopped wondering about himself shortly after. Instead, he turned Cleo’s mind to the world, prying for more information about how the life and death came about. She gladly took him through another explanation of the world, but more about magic than before.

“The magic that split the world is most commonly called Primal magic, it’s what makes the islands of Ruin so dangerous and also what gave the original heroes their incredible souls. These days it’s almost completely vanished, the Ruin islands being the exception, replaced with other forms of magic that are made of small pieces and fragments of Primal magic. Mages and wizards use

Arcane magic to power their spells, Shamans use Natural magic to fuel their hexes, Alchemists use various objects and earthy elements to create sudden bursts of Rift magic, and of course there's life and death magic on top if that.” She had explained, as if tutoring a child, which Corvus technically was.

The rest of the days were spent quietly walking through the forest, nothing of note besides Gilgamesh occasionally cursing and yelling at particularly annoying birds.

It was rather easy to tell that he was incredibly bored.

The memories of the journey faded fast, until one moment that was particularly memorable happened to them.

“I still don’t fully understand this.” Cleo called, removing her spear from the neck of a large bear cub that was still holding Corvus’ severed leg in its mouth. “I mean, how are you ok with losing limbs?”

Corvus shrugged, strapping his greave to his newly grown leg.

“Well, I don’t feel it and they grow back. I’ll have to sew up the damage though.” Corvus scowled at his torn trousers. “What is with me and damaged clothes?”

Cleo stepped off the beast, tossing Corvus’ shoe back to him that she had recovered from the inside of the cub.

“Come on, get that on quickly. We don’t want to be here when its parents get here.” Cleo warned, strapping her spear to her back.

“Parents? Something that size has parents?” Corvus raised his eyebrow doubtfully, while manoeuvring his new foot into the near-swallowed shoe.

“You’ve really never been this far from a town?” Cleo looked at him like he was a toddler. “Well, get ready to be chased by a full grown magical beast then.” Her face portrayed sarcasm, but her eyes flickered with fear.

“I'm pretty sure I've killed several Axel sharks before. A bear is no problem.” Corvus said, testing his new leg with some weight before walking over to Cleo. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the slight fear in her eyes. “Wait…just how deadly are we talking here?”

“Depending on the breed, they can use magic to an extent.” Cleo’s voice was shaky, as she began to walk in the direction that the were following.

“And we’re not running?” Corvus asked, walking beside her.

“We’re almost at the edge of the forest, they won’t follow us there unless…”. Cleo's voice trailed off, a bead of sweat running down her face as she turned her walk into a run.

“So we are running. Unless what?” Corvus asked, dodging around a tree and keeping beside her.

“If it’s an entity, then we’re probably going to die.” Cleo shouted, turning her run into a full-on sprint.

“Entity? Please tell me there's not super-powered magic bears now.” Corvus complained, easily keeping pace beside her.

“It's the name for the strongest alpha-males. I’ve heard stories about a dire-wolf entity that was twice the size of the next biggest male.” Cleo panted, bounding over a tangle of roots.

“Poor females.” Corvus muttered to himself then turned to Cleo. “How does that mean we’re dead if they don’t leave the forest?”

“You really think something that big and strong is afraid if it loses cover? We just have to hope that we didn’t kill the wrong bear cub.” Cleo almost laughed at the rising tension.

Corvus nodded, before fully focussing on the run forward. He began running with all the strength he could muster. The trees began to fly past faster and faster, the world moved by more and more until the features of the land began to fade into a mass of mixed colours. He only realised just how fast he was moving after two things: when Gilgamesh floated beside him and cursed at him for waking him up, and when he heard a scream behind him.

He stopped instantly, skidding to a halt and nearly face-planting into a tree. He scanned behind him, before realising that Cleo was nowhere to be seen. He looked to his path, small craters where his feet fell, the perfect backtrack. He began to run back, more carefully this time, searching his surroundings for Cleo and the source of the scream.

Then there was the roar. A guttural, bestial fury that shook not only the earth, but almost the whole forest. Corvus knew where he was going now, and sprinted towards the noise. He could hear Cleo, panting and running out of energy. Great bounds of a massive and angry beast was also close by.

He had to get to her first.

Tiny thoughts of abandoning her and running flashed across his mind, but he vehemently shoved them aside for reasons he didn’t quite understand. There was only one thing that he would accept in his mind right now, and that was saving her. He’d have to pick Gilgamesh’s brains about it, assuming he didn’t avoid the question again.

He broke out into a full sprint in the direction of the noises. He summoned his anchor to his side, darting his eyes across the forest, seeking the ever-growing source of the noises.

There was movement. Corvus’ eyes focussed on Cleo, her face a mask of fear and her red-black skin was scratched and scored from small branches. Then there was movement behind her, and a lot of it. Corvus chose not to focus on it, instead sprinting towards Cleo. She spotted him, her eyes widened before her brow furrowed in pain and exertion. The tattoos on her left hand coiled and writhed, forming a black skull in her outstretched palm and launching it towards Corvus.

At first, he was confused, but he saw her tapping her wrist and understood her plan. He threw his anchor out, keeping an iron grip on the extending length of chain. The skull hit the ethereal steel and quickly began seeping black energy into it, sending veins of black over the surface. He didn’t stop to let it settle, instead pulling it to himself and skidding to a halt in front of Cleo.

She ran past him, saying something that Corvus didn’t listen to. Instead, he was focused on the earth-shaking bounds of what he could be see clearly.

Sure enough, it was a bear. A rather large bear. Ten feet tall? Fifteen maybe? But what made it terrifying, was the fact that dark purple clouds swan in and out of its enormous amethyst hide, sparking violet fires and puffs of poison all over. Corvus was certain of one thing.

“This is going to suck.” Corvus noted quietly, sprinting towards the beast. He heard Cleo call after him.

“Wait! You don’t stand a chance! It's an—“. She screamed at him.

“Entity. I guessed.” Corvus called back, running faster.

“You’ll die!” Cleo was trying to chase after him, but her exhaustion floored her.

“I can survive this.” Corvus said, half to himself.

The deep, sickening purple of the Entity’s eyes bored into him like Gilgamesh’s, less from authority and irritation charisma, more with sheer terror and power. It opened its monstrous jaws, sending an ear-splitting roar and several drops of disgusting saliva sizzling against the ground. Its eyes bulged slightly, and its throat began to swell as a jet of poisonous vapour spewed out like a geyser, bubbling and singeing the ground and trees.

Corvus’ eyes widened slightly with effort as he began sprinting at full speed towards the cloud of poison and the giant mass of angry bear. He vaguely heard Cleo scream behind him, something about that not being the plan. Corvus was starting to get annoyed by the fact that she was worrying.

“I can survive anything!” Corvus shouted, a sudden fire in his void-like heart.

He sent power to his legs, kicking the ground with everything he had. He was launched skyward, over the bellowing cloud of poison and far over the head of the confused Entity. He was going to over-shoot.

Corvus flung his anchor with reckless abandon, ignoring the branches and trees breaking against his back. The anchor flew down, the scraping sound of the chain extending filled his ears. The bear was starting to look up when the anchor flew down and used its mouth as a purchase, almost lifting the surprised creature’s front legs off the ground. Corvus stopped in mid-air, coiling the excess chain round his right hand before pulling down with all his might.

The bear roared angrily at being used this way, pulling its head back down. This sent Corvus rocketing towards the monster’s back. He felt his bracelet glow and pulse against his skin as the black inky magic swam from all over the anchor and chain to the small section that was wrapped around his hand, which emitted a low hum of powerful magic.

His fist collided with the Entity’s spine, using all of his strength and all of Cleo’s spell in one hit that sent shockwaves through the beast. There were cracks of bones coming from both Corvus and the bear and it whined in pain. Corvus took a handful of the thick, green hide with his left hand and used it as a handhold to launch himself back towards its front where Cleo was.

The bear looked up at Corvus when he flew passed. He waved politely, causing the bear to tilt his head in confusion. Corvus landed in a heap on the ground, breaking more bones. He was pretty sure that he had torn every muscle he had, and his right arm was essentially a bag of skin full of shredded viscera.

“Could be worse.” Corvus noted, trying and failing to stand on a broken leg. He tried his other leg and quickly found himself upright again, feeling the bones shift themselves in his many broken body parts. The bear was also trying to stand, with just as little success. It's hind legs weren’t moving at all and its front paws were clawing at the ground, attempting to move.

There was blood coming from its mouth from where Corvus’ anchor was and it had a small crater in its back. It's eyes were glowing with rage and there was violet fire streaking across its hide, wishing to be released. The bear was staring them down with a look of murderous rage. Corvus understood. He turned to Cleo, who was on the ground, wide eyed and frozen in awe.

“Sorry, I’ll be with you in a minute.”. Corvus apologised before turning back to face the bear. His bones had almost fully reformed and his muscles were raring to go, tensing with anticipation. Then something unexpected happened.

The flames on the bear’s hide kept up and flew towards Corvus in coiling whips. Corvus swiftly drew his dagger from his back, holding it towards the closest ribbon of flame.

His bracelet flared to life under his wrist-guard again, just as intense as before. The writhing purple fire leeched into the steel, turning the blade a shimmering violet. The rest of the flames changed course, swimming through the air towards the blade and being absorbed just the same.

When the air was clear, the dagger was almost hard to look at with how bright it was, and the handle was sizzling against Corvus’ skin. It would probably leave a scar. Corvus began running towards the bear, careful not to re-break his bones that weren’t fully healed yet.

The bear’s eyes were full of fear. It began desperately clawing at the ground to try and escape. After it judged that to be impossible, it opened its mouth and bit into the ground, its teeth sizzling against the soil.

Vines and roots began swelling from the ground and striking at Corvus, trying to trip him up. He kept running regardless. There was movement above his head, which he chose to ignore, and focus on the treacherous ground. A thunderous crack to his right did get his attention.

A tree began falling in front of him. Even if he had both hands, his body was in no condition to hold that weight. Corvus threw his dagger in the air, hoping to catch it before it hit something and lost the magic.

He hopped over the tree and looked for his dagger in the air. It wasn’t where he expected it. There was a murder of crows flying around it, each carrying it two at a time and swapping when their feet began to feel the heat. Their cawing filled the forest. Corvus didn’t really understand, but he kept running towards the bear, leaping up to deliver a kill strike.

The crows dropped the dagger into his hand, point down, full to the brim with fire. The crows cawed, though Corvus couldn't tell what they meant.

“Thanks.” Corvus said, quietly, aiming the dagger downwards.

The point met the bear’s neck, while its jaws were swinging wildly at the pain. The fire left the blade and filled the poor beast, incinerating it from the inside out. It's roars of agony filled the forest, sending animals skittering for cover and birds flying for the sky.

Its screams turned into silence as its hide turned to ash. The scent of charred entity wafted through the forest, either terrifying or enticing hungry creatures.

Corvus stepped off the corpse’s neck, removing his scorched dagger from the charred neck. Cleo was standing just a few feet away, in stunned silence. Her expression quickly changed to worry and she began to ask how Corvus was still alive. He held up his hand to stop her.

“I told you, I can survive anything.” Corvus waved aside the worry and began walking over to her.

“No need to…”. Corvus’ voice trailed off as his vision blurred and his senses went dark. He felt himself collapse to the ground, hearing a vague sense of her cries.

‘Oh. Guess not.’