Quad's legs were stiff. The creatures continued toward him at remarkable speeds. He couldn't seem to move any part of him.

"Run! Run, Quad!!", the voices of his parents called to him. He finally moved and ran, not looking back. He didn't know how fast he was going, but it didn't matter - the only thing on his mind was to survive.

He could hear two of the creatures just behind him. He kept running, until one of the infecteds was able to get infront of him. Quad slid to a halt, almost colliding with the infected form of Lieka. He turned to see Aspen there, who also carried the disease. Quad lowered his antlers at them, "Back off!", he yelled. It didn't phase the deer, who continued to approach him. Aspen lunged at Quad, who braced his antlers and connected with the infected. This gave Lieka the opportunity to ram into him from the side, tossing him down forcefully. Quad stumbled to his feet and tried to regain his breath when Aspen thrust his antlers into Quad's chest.

The stag was already in tremendous pain when the other infecteds arrived and encircled him. His vision was blurry, and all he could do was lower his antlers and ward off any attacks made to him. He connected antlers with Hunter, while FIU and Nina caught him on the sides. Backing off, he blocked another attack from Pan, while Lorak and Rutilus got him on the sides. He was slowly losing his strength as several antler thrusts connected with his body. He slowly slunk to the ground in agony. His body was going into shock when another infected tried to attack him.

Quad stood and was about to ram into the deer when he stopped. "...Maz...ey...?", he said under his breath. His mate, his lover, was before him, the blackness covering her. Next to the doe was their two children, Axie and Zephyr, who also were infected. The trio approached him, not as his family, but as the same creatures as all of the others that surrounded him.

"Zephyr...and little Axie...", Quad let the reality sink in that he failed to protect them from this disease. His body was already going into shock, and he slowly lowered his defenses. His family were the only ones now that attacked him. He didn't fight back or defend himself, and slowly he closed his eyes and passed out.

"Mazey...Axie...Zephyr...", he said in his mind, "I'm so sorry..."

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

His eyes opened just slightly. His body was completely numb, he couldn't move but only a little. He looked around him from the corners of his eyes - he was being carried. Two deer stood side-by-side, Quad's body wedged between them. He couldn't make out their pictograms, or where they were for that matter. He could only feel his body bob a little between them as they took each step. He looked down to see his legs dangle and sway with each of their steps.

As he looked ahead, a mass of creatures were gathered around one being. He saw all forms of life there, as they all turned their heads and saw the deer approach with their prey. Quad looked to the center of the crowd, where a large weasel-like creature had her eyes fixed upon him. The Stoat's body was completely black and slender, and Quad knew this was the source of the infection. The two deer released him before the Stoat. He hit the ground hard, making a slight cry as he felt several broken bones within him pierce into his body. The stag was tiny compared to the Stoat, who towered over him and stared down upon him in a strange way.

"We meet again, hero.", the Stoat said. Quad could barely speak, but he replied, "I've never...", but he couldn't finish the sentence - it hurt too much to speak. "Once again you've failed. Your Twin Gods have faltered for the last time.", the creature cackled at him.

Quad couldn't answer, he felt so hopelessly defeated that he simply lowered his head, his eyes tearing up. "I have waited so long for this day, the last meeting between the two of us. Now it has come, and at long last I will claim what is mine.", the Stoat continued.

She looked down upon the broken stag, grinning slightly. "Farewell, hero.", she said, as she bent down and clamped Quad's body with her mouth. The stag cried out, both in alarm and in pain, but he knew there was no one around to save him. The Stoat lifted him up, raising her head upwards. Quad could not grab onto anything, and felt his body slide.

The Stoat swallowed him, and looking back to the crowd, she announced, "Now we will find the last of the Talux. Their guardian is no longer."

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

There was nothing but silence to be heard. Quad's body was trapped within a void of blackness. He was completely engulfed by the infection, and it burned every inch of his skin. He didn't know if he was already dead - he couldn't tell if he was breathing, and all that he could do was linger in his mind about everything.

His life, his friends, the Endless Forest...he knew he failed them all.

"Quad...", there was a slight sound. He picked up on it, but it was distant. "Quad...", he heard it again...

"Father...?", Zephyr asked him. Quad woke abruptly, finding himself laying next to Zephyr at the Crying Idol. "Were you having another nightmare?", she asked.

"It was...all a dream?", Quad questioned to himself. He looked to see Mazey and Axie there, sleeping soundly. He relaxed a little. "It was all a dream...", he assured himself.

Zephyr smiled, "I love how nice it has been in Autumn." Quad nodded, "I do, too." He thought Zephyr was acting a little odd, so he asked, "Aren't you...still mad at me about earlier?" Zephyr shook her head, "No, I just needed some time to think. You were right, and I'm sorry."

Quad looked back at Mazey. She and Axie still slept. He looked up to realize it was nighttime, and felt like he had seen this before...

"Why does this feel so familar?", Quad asked. Zephyr laughed, "We do this all the time, remember? You always want to talk this late at night." "I don't remember...", Quad admitted hesitantly, and then said under his breath, "...This doesn't feel right..."

He looked back at Zephyr. She smiled at him again. She hardly ever smiles. "Zeph...", Quad began, "Did I ever tell you where I got my antlers at?"

Zephyr nodded, "Oh yes, it is one of my favorite stories. Michael gave them to you after an Abiogenesis. You tell me all the time."

Quad smiled, and closed his eyes assuredly. He's never told Zephyr the story - she doesn't even know what an Abiogenesis is. This was all an illusion, he knew it. He stood and looked at her one last time. "What are you doing, father?", Zephyr asked. "Oh nothing...nothing at all.", Quad said, and at once darted away. He skidded to a halt and turned, aiming his head down and pointing at the Crying Idol. Quad raced toward the statue, and rammed his head into the Idol.

He woke up immediately after, squirming a little as his body felt pain once again. He was once again shrouded in darkness, the substance of the Stoat's belly continuing to eat away at him. He could hear voices speaking, and he listened in time to identify them.

"We've lost him, Michael! We've lost him!", the familiar voice of Auriea cried. "No, no, don't lose hope yet. Quad will pull through.", Michael's voice replied. Quad weakly spoke, "...Twin Gods?" "Quad! Quad!!", Auriea's voice happily called, "I knew it! You were the one!"

At once Quad felt his skin regenerate, his inner wounds healing. The Twin Gods were healing him. When he could speak better, he asked, "There are so many things I do not understand." "It is time for you to know.", Michael replied. Quad at once asked, "Why did the creature say we had met before?" "Open your eyes.", Auriea told him.

He did, and now he could see something more than just the infectious substance. There were things around him - three of them. They looked like big sticks at first, but when Quad's eyes adjusted, he was shocked at what he saw.

"Me? These are me?", he asked. "They are your former lives...", Michael said. The sticks were rather thin bodies of deer, all three looking identical...all three looking like Quad. "Una, Duo, and Trio. Three times have you lived before you were Quad...and all three times you fell for the Stoat's illusion.", Auriea said Quad remembered what the Stoat said, that he had failed once again. "Your nightmares...they have been visions of these three lives.", Michael continued.

"But why me? Why did you bring me back so many times?", Quad asked. "It's because...", Michael began, "...you were never a deer..."

Quad felt something change within him. His back began to change, four large spikes came out from them and grew rapidly. The spikes shaped and white feathers grew from them.

Quad had wings - four of them. "You are a Talux, perhaps the most important Talux to ever roam the Earth!", Auriea said.

It took him a few moments to take this in. He finally asked, "What are the Talux? Where did they come from?" "We created them," Michael said, "But they chose to live without interference. They wanted to have free will."

"And the Stoat...?", Quad questioned. "They created her. It was not their intention, and it cost them dearly.", Auriea explained. "The Talux' numbers began to decrease, but they didn't want us to step in. They thought they could handle the Stoat..."

Quad lowered his head. "Listen, we'll answer the rest later. Seraph and Cherub are in danger.", Auriea said. "What must I do?", Quad asked. "Your mother and father are with you. Listen to them, and you will know what to do.", Michael replied, "After all...they were Talux as well."

He closed his eyes. "It takes a calm mind and a pure heart to summon the power.", Creek said to him. "Just believe and it'll happen.", Brooke added.

"Believe...", Quad said, and his body began to glow. The infection around dissolved away quickly. He could move once more, and focused the power once more...

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

Cherub's wings were becoming sore. She could not keep flying. Slowly she descended to the ground. Seraph looked down at her, chattering at her, but she had already landed and rested her wings. The male followed her.

They heard something coming. The infected deer had already spotted them. Seraph nudged Cherub hurriedly, and the two ran. The infecteds were closing in on them, and the two Talux were led to the Stoat. They stopped before her, the creature more massive than ever.

"At long last...the final two will die...", she began, when she looked down at her belly. It was glowing a bright white, bursting open as the winged deer escaped. He landed above Seraph and Cherub, standing over them and stretching his wings out in protection.

"You won't hurt them!", Quad roared.

The infecteds at once began to close in on them. Quad looked at all of his friends - their eyes fixed on him and the Talux. "I can't fight them all...", Quad began, when he felt his heart warm, "You don't have to. Remember all that they have done for you...and free them from their bonds.", his mother told him.

"Free them? How?", Quad questioned the voice. She didn't reply, and he looked back at all of the familiar faces. He then went into a trance, memories passing by him quickly as he moved from face to face. He remembered how he first met many of them, the frolics through the Forest, the adventures...a tear formed in his eye when he looked at them as his friends rather than a threat. He closed his eyes, and his body began to glow once more, only this time more brilliantly.

The Stoat saw this and fled, taking cover behind a small hill that just barely protected her whole body. Quad's wings outstretched as he glowed, the light expanding quickly and shooting off in rays that struck the chests of his friends. They were unharmed, but the infection on their bodies was completely destroyed.

When the light subsided, Quad saw all of them slink to the ground, slumbering as if nothing had happened. "Remember when you were within the Stoat, when you dreamt?", Creek's voice began, "She did it to all of them as well...they've all been asleep this whole time."

A sound came nearby. Quad turned to see the Stoat emerge, much smaller than before. "No...this wasn't supposed to happen...The Prophecy...", she began, but Quad interrupted, "Not all prophecies come true." "You weren't supposed to fight back, you weren't supposed to be a hero...", the Stoat said. Quad shook his head, "No, I am a hero...", he looked back at all of the sleeping deer, "It took them all to show me that I was anything but normal."

The Stoat refused to be defeated. She approached while Quad was looking away. Cherub and Seraph looked to one another, Seraph giving her a slight nod. He stepped forward, revealing himself from Quad's protection.

"Fool!", the Stoat shouted, and immediately lunged at the small deer. Quad turned, horrified to see Seraph in her jaws, being mangled and thrown to the ground. The deer gasped in pain, his body starting to bleed.

"No!", Quad exclaimed, running at the Stoat and knocking her down. He pressed his hoof into her, pinning her down, "Why? Why do you want to destroy them?", he questioned. The Stoat cackled, "A world of chaos is easier to control than one of order." "Don't you know the danger you'd put into the lives of everyone on this world if it were chaotic?", Quad snapped. "Why do you worry about others than yourself...?", the Stoat questioned him back.

Quad lowered his head, shaking it as he took only a moment to think about the question. "No, I won't tolerate that kind of thought.", he said. His wings flapped and began to glow. The light engulfed him and the Stoat for a moment, and when it faded, only Quad stood. The Stoat was defeated once and for all. He looked down to see the three shrivelled corpses of his former below him, and he watched as they slowly dissolved into small particles that were carried off in the wind. He prayed that Uno, Duo, and Trio were finally at rest.

The stag then turned to see the two Talux. Cherub had already moved to the mangled Seraph. She sat by him, looking down at him with tears coming from her eyes. She pressed his head on her chest, comforting him while he still breathed.

Quad approached, his heart sinking as he saw them. He failed them, they never mated, and the species would fade here. Quad collapsed as he wept, but then he heard something, a faint sound coming from the two. He looked up, as he heard Cherub make strange, drawn-out sounds.

She was humming to Seraph. The male had a gentle smile on his face as he rested on her. They knew that it would all end here. Seraph's eyes closed, and he breathed one last sigh before he died in Cherub's arms.

Quad saw something out of the corner of his eye. Michael and Auriea had appeared and were watching. He immediately threw himself to their feet, sobbing as he cried, "I'm so sorry! I failed!"

The Twin Gods gave him curious looks, "No. The task was a complete success.", Micheal said. Quad looked up to them, "What? How? I couldn't get them to mate, and now Seraph is dead!", he replied.

By now, Auriea had already moved to the two Talux. Cherub let Seraph's head rest on the ground, and the female now rested the back of her head on the male's stomach. She lay belly-up as the God approached, who looked down on her with loving eyes. "I'm sorry, but now is the time for us to intervene.", Auriea said. Cherub gave a slight nod, and the God placed a hoof on her belly. "Where you would produce one, now you will produce many.", she said.

The Talux at once strained as she began to birth. One fawn was born, then another. Cherub continued to birth many new Talux, who flew off when born to begin their lives as the next generation of the creature.

Quad shook his head, "I don't understand. How is she able to birth?", he asked. Michael smiled, "They mated at the Old Oak, when you slept." The god looked down at him, continuing, "All creatures like their privacy, Quad." The stag's body relaxed as he suddenly felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. "They mated...they mated...", he had to say to himself.

As the last of the newborn talux flew away, Cherub looked to the sky, giving a smile as she turned her head to look at her lover's face for the last time. The female reached over and nuzzled the lifeless talux before she closed her eyes and died resting on him.

Quad walked over to them, sitting down as he looked upon them. They truely loved each other, it was so obvious now. The two began to glow, particles of light floating from them. Quad had seen this before, and he looked at the Twin Gods in a stunned manner, "Mom and Dad were talux, too?" The two gods nodded in unison. Quad looked back in time to see two orbs of light, much like those Brooke and Creek had become, float into the sky side by side.

"It's time to take everyone back to the Forest.", Auriea said. Quad looked at them, "Wait...", he said. He stood and looked at his family, "Can...can I show them?" The two gods smiled, "Of course."

Quad turned and folded his wings in. At that time, Mazey, Axie, and Zephyr all woke up. They sat up, yawning and stretching before looking around. The sleeping bodies of the deer startled them a little, but they then focused on the winged deer.

"Father?!", Axie asked. Quad looked at them, giving a slight smile as he slowly unfolded the wings. The three approached, Mazey asking, "Is this some kind of dream?" "No...", Quad replied, "It's all real." "That...is so awesome!", Zephyr suddenly exclaimed. Axie and Zephyr rubbed the wings, discovering how real they felt. Mazey stood next to Quad, "How...?", she began, but the stag smiled, "It's a long story...", he replied.

"Can you fly?", Axie asked. Quad looked to the sky, "I don't know yet," he said, "but I'll try them out." The three stood back as Quad flapped the wings. He hovered effortlessly inches above the ground before landing. He looked to his children, motioning them to hop on. The two kids had suprised and excited looks on their faces, as Axie hopped on and wrapped his front legs around Quad's neck. Zephyr followed, holding onto his shoulders and keeping Axie balanced.

Quad flapped the wings again and he began to fly. He ascended quickly past the trees and began to soar - he suprised both of his children and even himself as to how fast he could go. Adrenaline rushed through their veins as the wind chilled their faces. "Woohoo!!", Axie shouted. Zephyr was silent, the experience was so much fun that she could not make a sound.

It was a once in a lifetime experience...

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

"Keep it a secret, promise?", Quad asked them. The three nodded, they wouldn't speak a word about it. By that time, everyone else had been placed back in the Forest, and none would remember anything of the events that had happened except for Quad, Mazey, Axie, and Zephyr.

The two children yawned as they slowly drifted to sleep. Mazey smiled as she watched them slumber. She then walked over and nuzzled her mate, "Who would have known...that I fell in love with an angel?" Quad smiled as he nuzzled back, "I could say the same for you." The two kept the moment alive for several minutes before Mazey felt her eyes grow heavy. She walked back to her sleeping children and laid down by them, resting her head and looking at her winged mate one last time before falling asleep.

Quad watched them for a moment before he, too, drifted to sleep. It would be the only time he ever had the wings - they would be gone by the time he woke up.

"He's beautiful, isn't he?", Auriea asked. Michael nodded, "We finally saw the Grand Talux." "I wonder if he will ever appear again.", Auriea said.

Michael smiled as he looked to her, "Even gods need faith..."

To Be Continued...