Shepherd of souls

-Shepherd, look what you've become....

-I've become what I must be. I am the rift between life and death. The thin divide between breath and grave. I go wherever souls are adrift. From the ground they come, and to it, they return. I cling to life by the thinnest thread. Hallowed or profane... I no longer know. The bells toll and I respond. To life , to death I carry these souls to their end... wherever it may be.This journey is long, but I will complete it.

- Are you lonely , Shepherd?

-All things fade... but me. Everyone I knew is dead... It hurts to remember. I am the first and last of my order. My path is a circle, my work never-ending. My curse is our only hope. I do not know what lies beyond, but it is better than this. Death is not always a release. The damned resist their fate. The constant wailing of souls in torment..... It never ends. So many souls, so few bodies... watch them squirm. If they could see what I see, they'd long for death.

-Alas, poor Shepherd. There is no hope.

- There is some. I do not live in hope. I work to return it. Red is the heart that barely beats in me. Taken from one who can no longer use it. It pulses with life, as the Earth once did. Ah yes, i remember what laughter sounds like... This land was once paradise; now it's a prison. This land will never heal. But I will lay it to rest. To destroy the curse, I use it. To slow the fleet of foot , to delay the end, I still draw breath.

- A futile act, why do you persist?

-Because I must. I've come too far to stay dead.

- Your human form is so confining. You could be infinite. Join us in eternity, remove your chains.

-I think not. There will be no requiem. Not yet. I am enough.

-Look at the wrong you do!

- It is necessary! What I do is just. Every horrid piece of it. Our souls are a small price to pay to cleanse this land. Soon, this depravity will end. The dead shall forgive me. I hope.

- We see you, Shepherd. We know your weakness.

-You know nothing ! I've endured more pain than any words can bring. I must dig ! All these bodies going to waste, I must bury them all! What's one more grave?! Another voice in the cacophony of wails. I am no tyrant. These souls act on their own. They once called this land undying. Yet die, it will.

-As you wish gravedigger. You retreat like a coward!

- I will return anon. My army grows. Allies from below. They rise, they fight, they rot. They die to rise again ! This horde consumes all ! We do not die, and so we fight on. Some of these faces I know well. I remember when I put them in the ground. Death is not to be feared. We are dead much longer than we are alive. Die with me brothers , and be free ! Arise and return to this world. When we end, we begin again. Join me, brother, return, and fight! We shall prevail. We have eternity.

- Get to your task ,gravedigger! Make own numbers endless !

- Those souls are not yours to keep.

- We are stronger. We feed, we grow ! We devour it. It becomes us! We shall take all! Join us shepherd! Let us in !

-Yours is a fool's errand. The world must be allowed to die.

-Do not resist! The mist takes all ! Surrender gravedigger, all will join.

-You are beyond saving. I pity what you have become. You decay and do not know it.

-We are not corruption. We are strength! One more step toward domination!

- One more step toward the end.

-Slay them gravedigger! Make them serve us ! More, more for the black maw of the Death Lord!

-The dead have not forgotten. Do you hear that? It is the end. The hole I dig, it is for you. Tired, ancient, and half-dead. Still, I come for you. I will not damn you. I will end you. Fear not... I will make use of your corpse.I grow cold. My graveyard is full. We all return to our origin. Stay with me, spirit. Tell me of the beyond... in case I never make it. Remember my name. For one day, I will not. One day, I will no longer awaken.

" At last... i see the wolf... and the lamb..."