Damien winced. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Let us indeed hope.”
“Sorrow, do you have any sense of what the other demons are doing? Are we under threat?”
“Absolutely, but I sense no demons in our immediate vicinity. The people here make preparations, and that is good, Path walker. I like it.”
“Can you call me Damien, please?”
“But you are more than a name. You are a powerful being, one of few remaining. Your survival is also important. Not as important as Scarlett’s.”
Damien frowned. It was nice to hear that his death should be avoided, but he didn’t think he deserved to live more than anyone else. “Why is my survival important?”
“Because path walkers hold everything together. For this reason, there were once many of you, but with Crimolok’s assault on God’s creations, few of you remain. You might even be the last.”
Damien was about to ask more, but Scarlett interrupted them by skipping in their direction, singing “Get the Party Started”. Sorrow’s wings fanned out like a bird catching water. He even waggled his bottom. “My ward is here. Do not dare harm her.”
Damien rolled his eyes and waved a hand. “Hiya, Scarlett, you all right?”
“Just got off guard duty, because I’m, like, totally a soldier now. Just call me GI Jean.”
“You are my ward,” said Sorrow, “not a soldier.”
“And it’s GI Jane,” said Damien.
Scarlett tutted. “Lighten up, you two. Sorrow, it’s okay to think about something besides my safety, okay?” The large demon attempted to argue, but she raised her voice and cut him off. “Seriously, relax. Oh, and Damien, Nancy wants to talk to you at the castle. Leave the sled with Sorrow; he’ll take it up for you.”
Sorrow bowed in agreement.
“Okay, cheers. I’ll see you both around.” Damien trudged up the hill towards the castle. He and Nancy had been in the thick of it for months now, helping to reclaim the entire state of Indiana from the demons before stepping through a gate and arriving in northern England. Lately, she’d been drifting away. Without the constant threat of violence, she’d grown distant and brooding. Damien understood why. Fighting was a distraction, and now that it had stopped…
Thinking sucks.
Damien passed through the castle’s portcullis, getting that same tingling down his spine he always did whenever he walked beneath its metal spikes – an irrational fear that the gate would suddenly drop and impale him. Next, he headed through the courtyard towards the castle. The Great Hall inside Kothal was a meeting place, a collection of benches and chairs assembled in front of a broad, always-lit hearth. It was a safe place for people when the anxiety became unbearable or the spectres of the past got a little too loud. Nancy hung around there a lot lately, as if she dared not be alone. When she saw Damien enter, she smiled, but it was half-hearted.
“Nance, you wanted to see me?”
“I thought we could go for a stroll. I want to talk.”
“Oh. Is something wrong?”
“No more than usual.” She took his hand and led him back out of the castle. It made him chilly to step back into the autumn air after experiencing the warmth of the hearth, but he soon adjusted. They cut their way through the various huts and carpentry projects, passed through the sally port, and headed down towards the ten-foot outer palisade that had been constructed over the last few months.
Damien looked at Nancy as they walked. “You wanna tell me what’s up?”
She glanced around the no man’s land between the inner and outer walls and grew teary. “Sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “It’s just… this place.”
Damien couldn’t help putting a hand against her cheek. “What’s wrong with this place?”
“The children. I can’t bear it.”
It made sense. It did. “The children remind you of Alice and Kyle. That must be difficult.”
“When the war first started, I thought there was no hope for any of us, but then we saved Indiana. Then we came here and found even more survivors. We lost so many people, Damien, but this place is proof that more made it. What if… what if…?”
“What if Kyle and Alice are still alive?”
She nodded, her eyes wet but no tears falling. She wouldn’t allow herself that weakness. “I’m leaving.”
“What? Nancy, you can’t leave. The demons are still out there – God knows how many. Our only chance is sticking together. That’s how we won in Indiana.”
“Indiana was my fight, my victory. England is your home, Damien, not mine. My kids are my home. I have to look for them. I have to know.”
Tears spilled down Damien’s cheeks. Nancy was much older than him, with a life already lived, but they’d been as close as two people could be during the last year. They were soldiers in arms, fellow survivors, and lovers. “I can’t lose you, Nancy. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
“That’s why I want you to come with me. Alice and Kyle were in London when the gates opened. If they survived, they’re most likely in the south. Come with me, Damien. Help me find my family.”
Damien leant forwards and kissed her mouth. She might have been twenty years older than him, but she was beautiful. Her eyes were a piercing green that he could stare into forever. “I understand that you need to know if your kids are alive. I get it.”
She smiled, this time genuinely. “Then you’ll come?”
“I’m sorry, no, I can’t. I would give my life to save your children, but I would give it to save the children here too. I need to be wherever I can do the most good. This is where I have to be. Like you said, it’s my home. I need to save it.”
Nancy looked at him and swallowed. Eventually, she reached out and took his hand. “I hope you get to meet Alice and Kyle some day, Damien. Stay alive for me, okay? Stay alive, and I’ll
