The end of all things came quietly, stealthily, not heralded by angelic clamour or the ride of the horsemen. It was altogether unremarkable, there were no warnings, no last minute heroics or sacrificial daredoing, it could not be stopped, it could not be contained, it was just the end.

Fire flamed and the sky burned, the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air, leaving the populations of the world like twisted offerings to the end of days.

No one descended from heaven, there was no rapture, no prefect world, millions of people's prayers and selfless acts and sacrifices were all in vain, the sublime I told you so of the atheist.

But as all the world burned, three men stood in shattered light and watched it die, watched their friends scream and blacken in a forest full of memories where everything began and everything ended.