"Don't do it!" I cried. But he didn't listen, he just got a calm look on his face and then committed to his plan. The ground in the room he was in ruptured and shattered, then he fell into the void of darkness below. I had no choice. So, I had dived down into the void with him and sprouted black wings so I could escape from the pull of death. He was getting too close. I tried to make myself more aerodynamic, but he was slipping through. I grabbed his hand and just barely pulled him out, making sure I had enough energy so I can teleport out of there, but I was losing him. I placed my fingers to the sides of his head and went into his mind.

"...but I need to get back." Kieran was saying. He was talking to Death, a dark skeletal figure clad in pitch-black armor.

"You cannot go back" rasped Death. "You have died, so I am here to bring you to your next reincarnation."

"Oh, ok" sighed Kieran.

"Hold on one minute Death!" I exclaimed, marching over to them.

"How'd you get in here Mil.." Death faltered.

"I'm here to bring Kieran back to the living realm, as himself." I replied.

"You cannot just "bring him back", it's impossible."

"Oh yeah? Then how'd I do that." I challenged, pointing at Kieran who was now glowing in a harsh magenta light. I was proud of myself. I gave him some of my life energy so he could come back. I was about to give Death a smug look but then the light changed to an orange. At first Kieran seemed perfectly calm, but as soon as the light turned to orange he cried out in pain. His hair started to discolor and change to white. His bright silver eyes that I was always so fascinated by started to swell with tears. I watched in horror as he continued to writhe in pain. His left eye started to glow with orange light as well.

I ran over to help him but as soon as I got close enough to touch him the ground seemed to bounce. The ground rolled with the same motion as ocean waves. I was losing my balance and fell over, then I fell through the ground. I had just been kicked out of his mind. Turns out he was thrashing and glowing on the outside too. I again tried to help him but as soon as I touched his head, I was thrown back into a nearby tree with such force that I could hear the breaking my back. I collapsed in a pile of pain. I couldn't even move. I didn't know how this could get any worse. Of course, the universe proved me wrong and decided that basic direction would be flipped.

The tree that I crashed into was now falling directly onto me. I was going to be crushed when it got launched by a flash of orange. I was astonished and looked up at my savior. It was Kieran! But also, not. I had a look of euphoria on my face that at once distorted into a look of horror. His face was slowly getting covered by a growing piece of bone. His face had now changed to that of a skeleton. His left eye had completely turned orange, and his right eye's pupil became as slim as a snake's eye. His stare chilled me to the bone. Suddenly his face relaxed, and the skeletal mask shrunk down underneath his clothes. He had a sense of peace on his face, which calmed me down. He picked me up very gently and placed me inside a shelter that just appeared. And my vision drifted to darkness.

Her face was so peaceful, which made it hard to believe how much pain she was in. The pain was so great that the only thing keeping her awake was the adrenaline rush of a falling tree. But something kept nagging at me. Why'd Death start to call her something besides Meirah. It was something like Mil. Melean? Milana? I was getting frustrated but then remembered that when we first met, she said that Mieran wasn't her real name and that if she told me her real name that I would be frightened. I also didn't know what happened to me.

At first Meirah tapped me, and my head was filled with happy thoughts. But then all those happy memories and ideas got burned and destroyed. This process made my head feel like it was on fire.

This lasted for a while, and I know it would have lasted longer if Meirah hadn't been thrown back. The sickening crack of bones jolted me awake and I was able to gain conscience just in time to save her from a falling tree. I then set her down, quickly made a shelter, then placed her inside. All I remember feeling during those few seconds was a lot of worry and a lot of restraint. I could tell that whatever happened with me during the pain, made me a lot stronger and I was afraid that I'd crush every other bone in Meirah's body.

I decided to clear my head with some training, so I went into a nearby open field.

Throwing waves of flames around, putting them out using water magic, generally making a mess of the area around me was fun. I was about to make a house with my earth magic, when a pack of Dire wolves came out to attack. I dodged one's lunge, flipped over another, and punched another in the snout. When my fist met its snout, I could see the shock waves ripple throughout its body. I jumped back when it tried to bite my hand, which then lead me to get run over by another wolf. The wolves grouped up again, looked at me, then all attacked at once. I thrust out my hand, hoping something to help would come to mind, when I heard an aggressive vacuum sound. I looked up and saw that the wolves had disappeared, leaving behind a swirl of white mist. I looked my hands and saw the white mist slowly sink into my hand. I decided I had enough for today and went back to the shelter to sleep.

"Wake up. Wake Up! Come on Kieran you gotta get up."

Still groggy, I rose, rubbing my eyes. I looked at Meirah and saw she got her armor patched up. I then noticed she was sitting normally, even though I was fairly sure that since she had her back broken, she wouldn't be able too.

"How're you sitting up straight." I asked.

"I used to some healing magic, along with the fact that I'm a fast healer." She replied. She then looked down and had a look I've never seen on her face. Guilt. "I have something to tell you Kieran. Remember how I told you that Meirah wasn't my real name and that you'd fear my real name?"

"Yeah, I remember." I answered.

"Well, we've been through enough hardships together, and you even faced Death, so I think you're ready to know. My real name is Milim, and I'm a Demon Lord." She said, looking at me kind of like she was embarrassed.

"Ok" I said. "I don't know what a Demon Lord is, and I've never heard name Milim, so there's no problem with me being scared of your name."

I meant for that to be reassuring, but it seemed to anger her.

"How do you not know the name of the oldest and strongest Demon Lord! Entire armies have fallen to my hands." Milim fumed. "I've destroyed an entire kingdom by myself."

"Wait then how did your back break since you're so strong?" I asked. "Or why does it take forever for you to charge up your teleportation for long distances?"

"Well... I sort of maybe had a bet with the other Demon Lords. Basically, I took an interest in your battle against Segora back in Falmuth, and one of the other Demon Lords named Cairon, challenged me to assist you on your endeavor with only using 5% of my strength." Milim explained. "So I used magic to limit my abilities." Milim explained. "I was planning to teleport us to my domain, but when you decided that your goal was to commit suicide and take Segora with you, I couldn't keep enough magic to get you out and teleport that far."

"At least Segora's dead. I can... do what? What do I do now? My old master kicked me from his training, Segora's dead, I don't have anything to go to!" I realized.

"Umm... maybe... you could... come with me to my place." Milim said. "You could live there. Of course, you'll be given major perks for being my companion."

I looked at her dead in the eye and raised an eyebrow.

"I was your companion? No,no,no,no. You were my companion." I corrected. "But I would be glad to return with you. You also get to brag about how you easily completed Cairon's challenge."

That seemed to get a smile from her. So we grabbed our things and teleported off to the land of the forgotten dragon.