THE GONG TOLLED in the distance as the wind began blowing through the vacant town. Doors creaked as the wind pushed against their rusted hinges. Sebastian leaned, weak against Annalysia's shoulders. Sweat beaded his forehead as a fever ravaged through him. He picked his head up. "There, the tavern on the left with the symbol of a dragon is where he lived." The woman looked at him as he spoke. There was a pang of worry on her face.

"You don't look so well."

"Of course not," the gamekeeper spoke with glee. Annalysia looked into his face terrified as he pushed past them, "the bullet I shot into his leg was laced with a special mixture that I created to end the Undertaker once he had used up his usefulness. Just like the Seer. Though, I must say, it's taking its time working on him. I wonder if I didn't put enough wolfberries in. Doesn't matter. I will have him on my slab in no time. Then all my questions will be answered.

The man stopped and faced them. "Still, I will be surprised if he survives the next ten minutes." Annalysia went to lay him down. He dug his untrimmed nails into her arm and stared into her eyes. He couldn't find the words, but he silently begged her to continue. The Seer was the only one that could help them. She nodded understanding his plea.

"I assume this is the place?" Rowell inquired as he stared at the tavern. "I heard the seer frequented here when it was a thriving city. I must say, at the beginning no one believed that this game was punishment and tried living peacefully. Not even in this society were they free from rebels."

The man took Sebastian's silence to mean he was right about the hideout. His heart dropped as the man in white entered the tavern first. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled away from her, rose to his feet with great effort and limped inside.

The air was smokey and burned his eyes. He glanced around the darkened cavern. The round wooden tables were tipped on their sides and the matching chairs laid broken and scattered. Many bones set about from fatal brawls from fifty years ago when the arena first opened. Sebastian shifted his eyes to the counter where a man sat with his legs crossed in deep meditation.

"So this is the legendary seer?" hissed the man in white.

The orical opened his milky eyes."I hear the voice of a man." He spoke with a raspy voice. "I haven't heard this voice in a long time." The seer turned his head towards the man in white and furrowed his brow. "It couldn't be Rowell Mc Manning, could it?"

The man in white took a step back. "Yes, it is. I have had a promotion since they placed you here many..."

"Aww, you were the man that flew me in on the helicopter and placed me in this wretched town. It was also you who drugged his wife so she could kill your only son in the name of science."

Rowell strengthened his back.

A smile pulled at Sebastian's face. Although the seer was blind, he could see into the heart and soul of every human being. He was what one might call a seer. If Rowell did all the wicked things they accused him of, plus who knows how many more, he deserved what was to come. The seer picked up a rod that rested against the countertop. The orb that sat atop began glowing. "Rowell Mc Manning, I see you are unfit for life. I sentence you to death."

A storm cloud appeared hovering over Rowell. He dropped his syringe and fell to his knees. "I'm sorry, I can change." Rowell held up his hands as lighting began dancing on clouds. "Look, I can free everyone. If I can go back to the capital..." He trailed off.

Lighting sparked out of the cloud and shot downward toward Rowell. Rowell's body jerked from the voltage and his hair stood up on end before he fell face down onto the dirty wooden floor. The seer placed the staff back on the counter before turning toward Sebastian and Annalysia.

"He thought he could get one over me. Haha, that's funny. Good to see ya again, Undertaker." Sebastian smiled and took a step forward. His head spun, and he collapsed to the floor. Pain flooded through his body. He heard Annalysia run toward him, drop to her knees, and pull him into her arms. "Looks like you brought your sister along for the ride."

Sister? Sebastian turned toward Annalysia. Their eyes met; everything made sense now. He felt an urge to protect her because she was his sister. It had been so long since he had last seen her and now in his dying moment; he had her by his side.

"Tell me, Annalysia Creaven, what crime did you commit to be sent to this place?" The oracle repositioned himself on the table where he sat.

Annalysia exchanged looks with Sebastain. He could tell she doubted he would be her brother, but they were so young when he disappeared from her life, she would never have remembered him. Annalysia pulled him into her lap. "About one year ago, I found the greatest man and loved him. He proposed to me nine months later. One day, I was talking to him on the phone discussing wedding plans." Tears began cascading down her cheeks and onto his face. "There was a sound like a gunshot."

"One week later, on my wedding day, they arrested me for murder. Then three months later, I was taken to court and sentenced to fight to the death. I didn't kill him. I swear on my life. But the government doesn't care as long as someone takes the blame. We are not safe under them. We are not safe anywhere."

The seer nodded before turning his attention towards Sebastian. The reaper heaved a sigh. His vision began blurring. "How did you get here, Undertaker?" the seer asked.

"You already know, old friend Sebastian grimaced.

"Humor me," Seer said.

"When I was six," Sebastian began, "it was my sister's fourth birthday. I slipped away from her while she slept. I wanted her to wake up to something special. Even though we had nothing and lived in an alley, she was still my sister and I wanted her to have the best." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, there was a bakery that found out we were homeless and would look the other way for me so I could take whatever we needed for that day.

"On this particular day, the government had come around to gather food for soldiers and bully the locals. The soldiers caught me stealing and asked who my parents were. I told them the truth, and begged to be released because it was Annalysia's birthday. The next thing I knew I was locked up in a room with tubes in my arms, surrounded by people behind masks and bright lights. That man," he gestured to Rowell, "was there. He was the leading scientist. He turned me into a decaying monster. To make sure I obey his every word, Rowell promised me that if I did my little sister would be put up for adoption. If I didn't, well, they would trump up charges and have her sent in here with me."

The seer raised his eyes and glanced into some unknown horizon as he let the story sink in."Well, I deem you both innocent, but sadly I can't free either of you." Sebastian and Annalysia looked at him in surprise. Why couldn't he release her? It was over for him. He was dying and would die any moment. But what about her? She was the reason he had been here all those years ago.

"However, one of you two can."

Sebastian looked up at his sister's tear-stained eyes. She didn't have to believe they were related if she didn't want to; she just had to play the part until his passing.

"How are we supposed to..." Annalysia began.

"By dying. One of you has to die; then we can all go home!"

"No, there has to be a better..."

Sebastian grabbed his sister's arm, causing her to look at him. He didn't want her to fight anymore. Sebastian just wanted the oracles' words to become true. He was dying anyway. At worst, the oracle lied. At best, she would go home.

"Please stop fighting on my account. I know we just found each other, but if I'm dying anyway, the least that could happen—"

"No, please stop talking like that."

Sparkles began flying off his hand. Annalysia grabbed for them, but there were too many of them. She couldn't catch them all if she tried. "Anya," he whispered. She looked at him, "I hope your life is happier than it is now." With those last words, he closed his eyes and let death consume him.

***************************************

ANNALYSIA SAT OVER his body. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. Her brother's body faded into a brilliant ray of sparkles. A gong sounded in the distance at his passing. Her body trembled. She didn't want to believe it was him, but yet. "Anya." The name whispered in her mind on repeat. No one ever called her that, not even her adopted family. Could he have really been her brother? So many questions burned within her mind.

She placed her hands on her eyes and let the tears slip through her fingers. Gongs sounded in the distance, one right after the other. She lifted up her head. The orical began glowing and disappeared into a ray of sparkles just like her brother. Annalysia stood and rushed out the tavern's doors. She watched as the oracle's sparkles joined hundreds of others in the sky. She dropped her head and closed her eyes. Nothing but happiness flooded through her. Though she didn't quite understand, she knew several lives were saved, just like Sebastian's.

The sparkles traveled up her legs and into her tattered dress. The process tingled but did not hurt. She reached her hand up towards the sky before she was consumed in a cloud of sparkles. She blackout as the sparkles lifted her into the sky and joined the other innocent warriors in their pursuit of freedom.