Ted turned to the teenagers next, who had assembled themselves into a small regiment. They had spent the last weeks concentrating on nothing but this moment. Each was afraid, but their collective presence steeled them all individually. Teenage peer pressure existed even in this, and no one wanted to be the kid who ran away crying.
Ted addressed them all. “You know your jobs. Get up on those walls and prepare to rain hell.”
The teenagers sprinted away, each heading to their own allocated post. Ted was proud of them. He prayed he got to tell them that.
If the demons were coming, did they have a hope of surviving? What if they fought the demons and won? Would that mean the entire area was safe? Would there be others nearby? Other demon armies in Northumberland?
Ted grabbed his hammer from where he’d left it and took some of the tools lying around. His hammer would only come in handy if the demons got inside the walls. It would be a last resort.
He started up the steps leading to the front battlements and heard Frank calling out his name. “Ted!” he shouted. “Think yow better see this.”
Ted picked up speed, taking the ancient stone steps two at a time. He moved up beside Frank, looking out over the edge of the wall.
Something emerged from the forest.
“Thank the stars!” Ted grinned, his tummy turning a somersault of relief.
Kamiyo waved at them from the bottom of the front approach. Philip and Aymun walked beside him. All three were encumbered with bags and bags of supplies.
“Hurry up, kidda!” Frank shouted down at them. “A lot’s happened while yow been gone.”
Kamiyo and the others started up the hill, about to pass through the gate. They looked tired and weary, and the weight on their backs was substantial.
Their return was just in time.
It appeared Vamps might still have been telling the truth. The demons hadn’t attacked yet.
“OH NO!” A shout came from across the courtyard, all the way from the rear wall. “SHIT! HELP! HELP!”
Ted saw Hannah waving her arms to get his attention. She cried out hysterically.
Ted’s stomach sank. Of all the people to over-react, Hannah was the least likely. He sprinted down the steps and raced across the courtyard, his hammer bashing against his jaw as he hefted it over his shoulder. The more he saw Hannah panic, the more he panicked himself.
He made it over to the rear steps and hurried up the battlements. Hannah grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall, making him look down the hill. Steven was down by the cabin.
Four-dozen demons chased him.
“No,” said Ted. “No, no, no. They were supposed to come from the front. Everything is set up at the front.”
“He ain’t gunna make it,” said Hannah gripping the edge of the wall. “Come on, Steven! Run!”
Steven was a picture of terror, arms pistoning, face like a bleached-white bedsheet. The demons shrieked at his back, enjoying the chase. Amongst their charred and blackened corpses, were leaping beasts and leering zombies. A full force had arrived.
Ted was silent, gripping the wall alongside Hannah and hoping his stomach didn’t burst with the amount of acid swirling through it.
Steven was wailing now. Not calling out for help but wailing deep inside his soul. He started up the hill, slipping briefly but then regaining himself. The man was quick, if from terror or actual ability was impossible to tell, but he might just make it to safety if he kept up the pace.
“I need to get down to the sally port,” said Ted, moving from the wall. I have to open it and let him in.”
Hannah grabbed him. “What if you can’t get it closed again?”
“You want me to lock him out?”
Hannah removed her hand and shook her head. Ted raced down the steps and around to the sally port. Already, he could see the top of Steven’s head bobbing frantically. The demons were gaining on him. He still had a lead, but his limbs were struggling now. The speed and incline were too much to take in a sprint. The demons, however, seemed as energetic as ever as they savoured their kill.
Ted yelled out encouragement. “Come on, Steven! You’re nearly here!”
Steven must have heard the words because he renewed his desperate effort. His hands became blades, cutting the air—left-right-left-right-left. It was a gold-medal-worthy effort. He pulled away from his pursuers.
“He’s gunna make it,” Hannah called from above. “Shite, he’s actually gunna make it.”
Ted gritted his teeth, sure it was true. Steven had shaken off his pursuers, putting more and more space between them. He was going to make it through the sally port before the demons caught him. God bless the man.
Steven seemed to sense his victory. His wailing stopped, and a grim determination fell over him instead—the same focus Ted witnessed in Hannah so often. The man’s fear had gone, and only his desire to survive remained.
Ted opened the sally port and threw an arm, ready to receive Steven and yank him to safety. Instinctively, despite still being ten metres out, Steven threw his own arm out in anticipation. He closed the distance quickly, sprinting in massive strides.
Five metres now.
Four.
Three.
“I got you,” said Ted.
Steven reached out both hands, leaning forward.
He cried out.
A massive length of steel pierced Steven’s thigh and pinned him to the ground. He bellowed in agony, stuck on his stomach and unable to get at the metal shaft running clean through his leg.
Ted stumbled forwards, needing to reach Steven and pull him to safety.
What had happened? He had been so close.
Hannah shouted at Ted to get back inside, but her words wouldn’t make sense to him. He stepped towards Steven, writhing on the ground.
Something monstrous marched up the hill. Not a demon like the others. This was a huge and terrifying creature, three feet taller than any man, and more skeleton than flesh. Its dark eyes swirled with malice.
Ted froze. Hannah continued calling to him, her voice a distant echo somewhere behind
