The Chronicles of Jonathon Postlethwaite: The Seed of Corruption by David S Denny Page A

              Jonathon tried to scream, but could make no sound. Now they were face to face. Almost touching. Still Jonathon resisted. He could feel the warm moistness of her body inviting him to take them into oblivion.
    Her short, sharp intakes of breath seemed to pull his lips towards hers. Yet Jonathon saw the fear in her eyes, she resisted too, she fought as he did.
    “No," she moaned. “No, Dale."
    Dale's name hit Jonathon like a hammer. Why had she uttered it? Did she think he was Dale? Why, now? Had he......?
                                Jonathon's mind tore out towards the mind of Dale. With an energy fuelled on anger, he tore down Dale’s barriers and sought the memory he thought he might find. But there was none, only a memory of  a  brief temptation which Dale had had, and resisted.
                                Dale was ashamed of it and guarded the memory earnestly. But he could not suppress his desire always and tonight it surfaced in a dream that would fulfil that wish. Through that dream the dark soul of the city had flowed to the roof tops where it could not normally reach, attempting to corrupt and defile Jonathon and Milly, and in doing so, crush Flax's guardian  of  the gate. Dale was the portal here Jonathon realised!
                                Jonathon's out of control body reached out his quivering arms about to take Milly in their first, final and terminal embrace. His mind reached out to Dale again, his message clear and simple. “DALE WAKE UP!"
                                Dale awoke, shocked by the voice inside his head and corruption's gateway to the roof tops slammed     shut.  On  the  roof  tops  a  scream  finally  broke  from Jonathon’s lips, a hollow scream which leapt into the wind and  tore  into  the  heart  of  the  city.  All  the  inhabitants of Dubh  heard  it,  the  clean,  cutting  edged  scream  of defiance and victory.
                                              The army of wraiths began to melt away, flowing in black rivers back to the dark ravines and the underworld where they dwelt. Jonathon took control of himself again and the animal was caged, the wild, dark horse back on the bit. He collapsed at Milly's feet, exhausted and shivering uncontrollably, gasping for breath in the rising, gale which buffeted the roof top fortress from where corruption had been repelled.
                                Two arms enveloped his shoulders, yet no lust arose in him now, only the warmth of love which had arisen in their mutual struggle. He looked into the tear stained face of the girl he had treated for years as a sister, she smiled and held him closely.
    “I could not hold it back Jonathon" she sniffed. “I wanted what the city demanded, but it was truly not me."
    Jonathon shifted to put an arm around her waist.
    “It could not have us like that, we would not truly have had one another.....It was devouring us. I never conceived of Its real power before tonight. It lives and preys on the humanity we build around us to cage the beast we have in us all. It is as I have feared. It is running out of humanity here in Dubh to consume and Flax will make way to new pastures for It to harvest, I must stop it. "
    Milly kissed him gently on his sweat drenched forehead.
    “I saw and felt it too. I was in Dale's dream, it tries to destroy him through his dream. It tries to destroy us all. We must destroy it Jonathon." she implored
                                Jonathon nodded at her simple statement and realised that Milly no longer spoke in whispers, her childish dialect was gone. The child had left her too. Nothing physical had occurred, but she was now a woman, she had fallen in love with Jonathon in the wake of their mutual crisis and that love, that