Prophecy: Tome of Heart

1. The Greatest Story Ever Told

It was the end for them. They didn't want to believe it, but they were stared blatantly in the face by what they'd spent so long denying. Toby was in the lead, running down the twisting tunnel marred by shadow as he dragged Austin behind him, hand in hand. Austin was scratched up, bleeding all over as a result of the battle they'd just narrowly escaped. They'd been lucky to get an opportunity to slip away, and it was only provided because two of the beasts they'd been engaged with had decided to fight one another instead. That was what this place was, a warzone; but they were smaller, weaker, and slower than any of the others in this dimension.

The creatures they had witnessed made sense in a way. True, they were hideously deformed, and beyond description for they were so grotesque, but they'd seen it before. They knew too well what world they'd fallen into through the portal-the world that was created for the sole purpose of jailing all the champions left behind when the order of the old gods had ended. Champions like the Anchoress, or Genesis. Only it wasn't just one they had to contend with at a time, but thousands, all as tall as buildings and with teeth that gnashed at them with unrelenting malice.

Had they stayed back where they were, they wouldn't have lasted much longer. But that was behind them, literally, and they continued to run. It was all they could do. Toby was afraid, his heart pounding in his chest as he sprinted forward, keeping a tight grip on the man he towed behind him because he refused to leave him behind. It was rare for him to be afraid like he was, of anything, but he tried not let it show as he pressed on, knowing that one of them had to be brave. This wasn't going to be their fate, he would not accept it.

But Austin was weaker than him, in body and in soul, and he faltered, his feet giving up when they caught on the ground, and his hand slipped from his lover's as he collapsed. He too was afraid, but unlike the hybrid he didn't hesitate to let it show, and he sobbed where he was, because he knew what came next. He knew they wouldn't make it out alive. His golden hair was dingy from the dirt, as was the rest of him, and the filth crept into his wounds and burned him. He was ready to give up, to accept what was coming-what had always been coming. He couldn't run anymore.

"Come on, you have to get up," Toby was kneeling beside him, panic in the voice that he tried desperately to keep calm. There was a noise from somewhere in the darkness, back down from there they'd came. It was a terrible noise, and he knew that the small lead they had would be gone in a moment and the creatures would find them again. "We don't have time for this, damn it. Please, get up!"

"You have to go without me," Austin wept, pulling away from the frantic touch he'd received. He wasn't blind, he knew that Toby had always been better than him. More skilled, stronger, resilient. But he, himself, was not. He was deadweight, and he wondered if Toby might still yet find a way out if he wasn't tethered to him. It was worth a shot, and he wanted him to go, to try to find salvation, because he had meant it-he accepted that he was going to die. "I'll only slow you down."

"I'm not leaving you." Toby was forceful, grabbing his head in his hands and forcing him to look at him. But all he saw on the face he loved was terror, and after a second he gave him a hard kiss. "I'll never leave you. I promise, this is not how it ends, we can still get out of this place, but you've just got to trust me. That prophecy is wrong, I refuse to let it happen! Please, you have to listen to me, we can get through this, but you just have to get back up."

There was another noise, louder this time, and Austin glanced back into the pitch black. He still was unsure, but he knew that Toby would not leave without him, so he nodded his head, trying to stifle any remaining tears as he climbed back to his feet and allowed himself to be dragged once more by the hand down the tunnel. It seemed to go on, twisting endlessly as it had been, until finally there was a change. They came up to a mouth, and Toby held his breath as he bolted for it, hoping for the best as they burst into the clearing and assessed their surroundings.