The End of War.

Hi.

My name is Oliver Bough.

I am also referred to as The Dove. I am a nest like Faceless was. I got that name because I have Doves inside of me and no other birds. You probably could have guessed that though.

You're also probably wondering why I'm posting here and Faceless isn't. Well, it's because he's dead. He told the birds, before he died, to tell someone else to write what happened so here I am.

Now here's the story told from his point of view.

I arrived at The Grove with Portnoy after about a day and a half. Harold was already waiting there. The grove was bordered perfectly by the surrounding foliage and it made me uneasy. There was something ominous about it and I was hesitant to actually step into the grove. Harold mocked me for my hesitation but then I remembered our first meeting. Back in the apartment I had blindly followed Harold instead of attacking with the birds and that had led me into a trap. I was smarter this time. I released the birds and they flew immediately towards him. He scowled and put out his hands. Smoke began to spread from him like mist and obscured the entire grove. For a split second I saw a large silhouette in the smoke but it was gone. At this point I felt a small rhythmic pounding in my head. The birds were blind in Harold's smokescreen and he began picking them off. I could feel it each time one was destroyed and the pounding became stronger. I called the birds back and decided to just have them nuke the area with lightning. This was... Inneffective. The Lighting fizzled out about 7 feet above the grove. This place definitely had some power. I realized I would have to either enter The Grove or get Harold to come out. I couldn't think of any way to get him out so keeping the birds around me, I slipped my mask back on and headed in. The moment I stepped into the Grove The Smoke cleared and Harold was standing there a few feet from me.

"How about we make this fair. You keep the little birdies off and I'll stay solid for our fight. I've had enough of being an amorphous cloud anyways. That seem fair?"

Realizing that he was actually giving me an advantage, I readily agreed. Although, I was certain he must have had a reason. The fight started simply enough. He created a blade seemingly out of thin air which I later realized was made out of air. I don't know much about physics and I travel around with birds living inside me so I'm not going to question this. His blade despite being made out of wind was still surprisingly solid and sharp. He got one hit in nicking my arm. It wasn't much just a small cut didn't really hurt. Now about that advantage I mentioned earlier. I actually have training with a blade. I'm pretty sure Harold has none. Although. he was holding his own so I guess being a servant of the fear of war gives some kind of natural weapon proficiency or something. Either way though I was obviously the more talented swordsman. Within minutes of the fight I was beating him back. I figured maybe if nothing else I could force him out of the grove. I pushed him to the very edge of the grove and he realized what was happening. At this point he began pushing back with an almost frenzied determination. It worked well enough to keep him in the grove but he was unable to push me back or score anymore hits. It seemed like no matter what I was going to win. I figured agreement or not if I managed to get a blow in he'd turn to smoke and try to flee. So I was incredibly surprised when I managed to get through his guard and my blade slid into his chest. He looked surprised but then shrugged.

"I had hoped it would be you," was all he said. Then he died and at that exact same moment the pounding in my head intensified until I realized it was the sound of war drums. Portnoy was still watching from outside the grove and I saw his eyes widen. A moment later he was gone. I couldn't see anything outside the grove. Inside the grove however things were changing. Large Fetters appeared hanging from the trees and a ring of flames appeared surrounding the grove. A moment later chains attached to fetters wrapped around my arms and legs pulling me down to a kneeling position. In front of me a figure like the silhouette I had seen earlier began to form out of smoke and stitched leather. First it was a bear than a bull and a lion. It's form changing frequently to some other animal. I knew instinctively that I was looking at The Brute. I also realized the meaning of Harold's last words. Raising The Brute had required a living sacrifice. He was intending to use me but he had been the sacrifice instead. The brute was revived. I had to do something but what could I do. I was trapped and my mask was on trapping the birds inside. I couldn't remove it. The birds came to a decision on their own they were nice enough to tell me what it was before enacting it. I would have preferred something else but I guess it was the only way.

That's the end of The Faceless Bastard's account the rest is from The Bright Ones themselves.

With no other choice we pierced our way out of his body. He died in the process torn apart by our exit but it was necessary. We swarmed The Brute. It was still weak from it's revival and from our secondary efforts elsewhere. It could not stand against us. It was too late to destroy it again but we made sure it could never regain it's full power. 

So there you have it. The  Faceless Bastard has died. Torn apart by The Bright Ones as they pierced their way from his body. At least his mission was a success. The Brute's rise was not stopped but calamity was averted nonetheless and he will remain weakened never again to be a threat. Harold was killed and it is confirmed this time that Harold is truly dead. The Brute would not have risen if only part of him had died as happened earlier.

The Faceless Bastard will be remembered as one of the greatest of our number.

Thank you

Oliver Bough

The Dove.

The Last Act of Fate.

The moment I arrived at the mansion/crack den that was where I was supposed to meet The Archangel I felt a horrible foreboding. I knew this was the moment. All those times Fate made me her little bitch this is where they were leading up to. I knocked on the door knowing already what was coming. Percy Aaron opened the door. Of course Percy Aaron wasn't Percy Aaron. The man who stood there holding the door open was my old friend Portnoy Augustus. I walked in warily and sat where I was told to. I waited for him to acknowledge me. Say something about what happened. I betrayed him, almost destroyed the universe, Made him lose his powers and left him for dead. Not to mention he must know I got myself renested. It was then I also realized that since he hates The Fears why is he now working for The Archangel?

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked.

"Surprised to see you." I replied evenly. He didn't seem angry in fact he didn't seem to recognize me at all.

He was about to speak again when a door opened and a fat man walked out. He came over to me and put out his hand.

I looked at him with confusion.

"I thought I was meeting The Archangel..."

"No one meets The Archangel personally."

"Right..."

"Now then come in here." He ushered me into the room he had walked out of earlier and closed the door.

"Now then to business. First of all you need to know where you're going. We can help you with that. You also need a way to counter Harold's home field advantage. Both of these we can help you with."

"What does The Archangel want in Return?"

"Nothing really. The Fears don't want The Brute raised anymore than you do personally. So we're going to give you the method of victory for free."

"Ok so what are you going to give me?"

"A guide. One of ours will travel with you to the Grove of the Semnones. Once there he will assist you in the battle neutralizing Harold's advantage."

I had a sinking feeling. "Let me guess I'll be traveling with the boy out there?"

"Er... Yes. Don't worry The Archangel is aware of your history. You should not be alarmed though. The boy has no memory prior to waking up in the hospital."

"Oh... Well that's good."

"So do you accept our help?"

"I guess."

So me and Portnoy are heading to Europe now.

Hope you're ready Harold.

The Grove?

That's not really helpful Harold. Ok so it's a grove somewhere in Europe. Really not helpful.

However I got an invitation


from The Archangel care of Percy Aaron (That was the name of the person released from the hospital)

You are invited to meet with The Archangel for a discussion of your current goal. The master feels religion is the key to your success. This grove is a place of worship. The Brute is powerful there. So is his servant. But worship is religion. We would be powerful there as well. You could be powerful. Do not think yet. Come. Meet. Than decide.

Percy Aaron, Messenger of God.

Well that sounds interesting doesn't it?

The Birds say it would be wise to accept this invitation. The Brute, and by proxy Harold, is getting stronger and I will need help to beat him.

Epilogue

Alright so me and Vadim met and we informed each other of what happened. The Oathbreaker responsible for The A. Dying Man is dead. Vadim didn't kill him. Vadim was just talking to him when what I assume was The Liar came in. Vadim claims to have somehow recognized that it was not an ordinary human and moved out of the way. The Oathbreaker looked terrified but couldn't do anything. Vadim had broken both his arms and legs before hand. The Liar came to The Oathbreaker whispered something and then snapped his neck and left. Vadim than came to talk to me. I guess that's that. We didn't really stop anything and we returned one of the pieces to the board. Go team. I didn't kill Vadim. It would have been wrong. If Slendy gets mad good for him. I have more important things to do anyways. Time to deal with Smokey.

Success?

So we did it. Harold and any proxies with efficient sniper ability were positioned around the town and the rest of us got busy setting things on fire. It took about an hour or two even with the huge amount of people helping. We lost quite a few but proxies are expendable. In the end none escaped... but one almost did.

The town was burning. I was standing at what I thought was a safe distance and watching the fire. Then at the last second an infected woman comes charging out of the fire towards me. I was too surprised to act and she reached me grabbing me by the shoulders. I was sure I was about to die. I could feel The Artificial infection traveling into me. I'm not sure what caused me to put my hand in my pocket and grab my wife's ring. Maybe I just wanted too feel it one last time.

Whatever the reason the moment I touched it I felt The infection draw back. It was still holding me and staring at me with concentration. I heard gigging and realized it was me. I wasn't in control any more. My hands gripped the woman by her wrists and pulled her hands off my shoulders. Forced her down to a kneeling position. I couldn't hear the birds I couldn't hear anything but the sound of the flames and the giggling.

Then I stopped giggling and I spoke. "You are an imitation. You are fake. I am real." Then I felt a force pushing out of me and into the woman. I let go and staggered back and the woman stood up. She smiled at me.

"Hello Sergei. nice to see you again."

I just stared at her.

"You didn't really believe I'd let you kill me like that did you?"

"The Liar?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course. I've been hiding in that little ring of yours since you killed my last host."

"But... But I thought you couldn't possess me?"

"I can't not for long anyways. I had to ask the birds for permission to save your life and I was only allowed to take control for a few moments."

"Why did you save me?"

"Well if you got infected and destroyed I'd be stuck in that ring forever I needed you alive until I could find a new host. It's just luck that saving your life got me a new host at the same time. Of course I also wasn;t to keen on these insulting copies."

"I'm not just going to let you walk away!"

"You're not going to stop me."

"There are snipers watching this area. Harold is one of them. You'll never get out of here."

She just laughed, pet me on the head and walked off. I heard gunshots but somehow I know they didn't kill her... Him... It.

I fell asleep after that I felt... Tired.

I'm meeting with Vadim tomorrow to deal with the Oathbreakers and make sure this doesn't happen again.

The Liar... I'll let someone else deal with it. I've had far too much of Dying Men now...