I stared at the broken-down wooden hut for a while, soaking in the rain.

I guess this was the reason the old warden had been sitting outside. Not much shelter to be gained from sitting in a house without a roof. Or walls. I knew some people weren’t exactly the peak of order when it came to their household but this?

This was just a ruin. I don’t know why anyone would want to live here, how anyone even could.

I was half tempted to just go back there and tell her that she needed her son to fix her house. But I should focus on one thing at a time. I could come back later for this. If I ever came back. My current plan was something along the lines of “get the keys, free Pim and the wolf, leave, never come back”.

I think I’ll keep to killing bristle spiders all day, thank you very much.

I walked around and behind the ruins, finding myself on a slight upwards slope. The ground was muddy and from what I could tell, there used to be grass or other small plants growing here. What was left of them as all dried up and dead now. No sun meant no plants, after all.

Does that mean no strawberries? Aw, I like how they taste like straw and… berries. No wait, I think I’m misremembering that. Stupid memories. Playing tricks on tired ol’ me.

There was something else I noticed as I went up the hill. A heaviness was in the air, and it wasn’t just the rain soaking through my clothes. I didn’t have enough for that to weigh me down.

The bigger part, I think, is that I was finally feeling like I was at the end of something. With just a simple question asked to Will the Warden, I’d have my key and be on my way. I could save the wolf, who would then help me save Pim and now, all that I needed to make it a reality was a stone toss away.

It was a liberating feeling, but the emotional weight it took off my chest was replaced with actual weight from my armor, from fatigue and pain. Just walking up the slight incline on the slippery, muddy ground was a challenge in and of itself. However, I could do it if I only put my mind towards it.

My steps grew slower and slower, coming to a full stop all too soon.

So why am I hesitating? I just need to push through this one last obstacle and for once, it isn’t someone trying to drink my blood or bash my face in. It’s a hill and not even a steep one.

I think I was scared. Scared of finally getting the keys and then somehow still losing them on the way back. Scared that freeing the wolf would prove not to be the right decision. Scared that this wasn’t really the end of my struggles, that all my life was fated to be an unending spiral of poor decisions and poorer outcomes.

I shouldn’t think of it that way. I don’t have the energy to waste on stupid paranoid thoughts. I just need to set one foot in front of the other and put trust in myself. If I can’t even trust myself, how am I supposed to trust anyone else?

I took in a deep breath. The air tasted like water and fresh mud. But also berries. There was a hint of flowers there, too. Odd.

I looked over my shoulder. Nothing there. No fish, no long monster, not even the creaking of the warden’s chair.

Right.

This isn’t the end of anything. This is the first step. My first step towards redemption. The first step is always the hardest, isn’t it? Well, here I am, alive and unwell and ready to change that.

I took my next step forwards. Then another. Then another and another and before I realized, I was running. Running as fast as my tired and wounded legs could carry me. There were no gravestones to trip me this time, no knee-high objects, no swamp-monsters or murderous lunatics. Just a small slope of mud and weeds.

The rain’s not letting up at all. Who cares, I’m almost free!

Running in the darkness like this almost feels like flying. I’m not sure I should be running. One trip is all it takes, one overlooked hole in the ground.

I’m not gonna fall today.

Squeak.

Neither are you, Georgy boy. Just hold on for a bit. It’ll be over soon.

I cast all worries to the side, and almost as an answer to that, a light greeted me. There, at the top of the hill, a dozen steps ahead and in front of a large tree it was. My run grew even faster as I got closer towards the top, my calves burning up.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” I chanted.

I knew it wasn’t the person who fought the demon. It couldn’t have been, they were dead for sure. But I could hope. Maybe miracles could happen. I hoped they did.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

The fire in my lungs felt good, a signal that I was really giving it my all. The light was domed large and dim, yet the closer I got, the surer I was that I was seeing some bright light within it as well.

A person! A friendly face! An ally, a comrade I’ve never met. We could be soulmates! Ok, maybe that was a bit too optimistic. We could be friends!

The smell of berries and rain grew stronger and stronger.

“YES! WOHOO!” I cheered as I crested the top. It cut my voice and I didn’t care.

I wiped away the rain from my face and opened my eyes.

Within the light, there stood a woman. Naked but for a tattered loincloth. The light surrounding her was stark and beautiful, but her skin was splattered with so much mud and blood, bruises and cuts, purples, browns, and a deluge of red.

In one hand, a wooden shield made of planks.

In the other, a simple club, studded with metal.

And in front of her lie a giant, hulking figure, a man in mail, an iron beard, a burst skull and blood and gore covering the inside and out.

The warden Will was dead. The smell was nauseating.

No. No. No. No. No.

I sharply inhaled deep breaths, wheezing and winded, out of it completely. The woman slowly turned around, first her neck, then the rest of her body.

“Uhhh. Hi?” I said, shoving the image of the corpse she was standing in front of to the back of my mind.

Please just be a misunderstanding.

Her eyes were mad. Mad like nothing I’d seen ever before. I’d seen people fear for their life, that small glint in their eyes when they realized they were about to die. Hers were very different, the opposite almost.

“W–what. Are. You. D–doing. With…”

Nothing. There was nothing in her eyes, except for that stare. She pointed it right at me and I felt through my entire being, my entire soul, a foul feeling creep up. As if there were hands under my armor, touching me. Suddenly, at the top of the open hill, it felt very, very cramped.

I tried pushing it all away, gesturing frantically. “I–I’m. Rye. Friend. Keys! I–I. Don’t. Want. To. Fight. I’m. Just. Just…”

Afraid. You’re just afraid, Rye. You’re always afraid, nothing new there, haha. Why is she looking at me like that? Stop looking at me!

“Could. I–I. Maybe. Just… have… the… keys.” Her eyes were devouring me.

I should wait until she’s distracted and then run and then run some more. No, wait, we can talk this out. Whatever ‘this’ is. Why do I feel so uneasy? She’s still just… looking at me, taking deep and measured breaths.

I shouldn’t turn my back to her.

I took an instinctive step backwards. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. It was set into a thin line and very, very dirty.

Stop looking at me like that! What the hell is your problem, huh? I’m not a threat, I’m not here to fight you, I–I’m not food.

I’m not food? Did I really just think that?

I took another good look at her, up and down. Taller than me. Check. Not at all deathly thin. Check. Armed. Check. She gave me another stare, appraising me in turn. In that moment, I came to a conclusion and so did she.

I can’t fight her.

I turned around and bolted. Like, I was out of breath from running up the hill, sure, but that first step, no, that first leap down the hill was the longest leap I’d ever taken. I hit the ground running, almost twisting my ankle as my left foot slipped before my right one had fully touched down.

I need to go, I need to go, I need to go, now!

Luckily, I caught myself. There were footsteps close behind me. I chose not to look back and to just keep on running for my life. The wet grass slick with mud beneath me slipped away with every step as I tore down the hillside, desperate to get away from this woman, monster, demon. But she was right behind me, and I swear I could feel her eyes on my back and her hot breath on my neck.

Run, run, run, run!

I definitely had a dream like this before.

Not now! Box!

Runrunrunrun!

I was going way too fast. Fast enough, hopefully. But it was only a question of when, not if I slipped and fell and found out why people called it ‘breakneck’ speed.

The ground evened out way quicker than I’d liked, but what it took from me in speed it gave to me in balance. I actually managed to run all the way until I could see wooden ruins emerge from the darkness.

Then something hit me in the back of my leg. I screamed and fell, hitting a wooden wall that moaned under the pressure.

Of course, it had to be my left one! Pain spread up from my calf, but I had no time to think about it.

I turned to the side and threw myself around a wall and into the ruin. The wall shuddered as something heavy smacked into it just were I’d been. Rotten wood sprayed across the small room and as I turned around, the woman’s figure was looming over the only entrance.

Her teeth were wide and sharp like a shark, her face not so much contorted into a happy smile at having cornered me, but rather set into that toothy frown of a dry and lipless corpse. Her swing hit nothing but wood, for now.

She’s here, she’s out to kill me, to eat me, what do I do, what do I do?

I did the only thing I knew and tried to settle my breathing as I lowered into a fighting stance, wooden buckler shield held out towards her, spiderbane, my broken sword, at the ready.

Never had I felt as naked and weak as then. Never that I remembered, at least.

She just looked at me for a moment, taking in the sight of me wheezing, shivering, rattling, shield unsteady. She let out a snort and just walked towards me.

I retreated backwards, but after two steps I hit a wall. That turned my panic up a few notches and seizing the moment she lunged at me with her club, swinging it in a strong downward arc.

I instinctively tried to block it with my shield and that was a very, very bad decision. I did pull it up in time, yes, but the block was awkward as her weapon was on my left while my shield was on my right. The swing hit and it hit harder than the flea hosts had. Pain once again shot out, this time from my entire hand and wrist. My thumb ached something horrible.

Do something, I gotta do something, now!

I stumbled forward and stabbed at her from the bottom left, a position that I was hoping would surprise her as she also didn’t have her shield on the ‘right’ side. When it looked like she wasn’t going to block it, I was flooded with relief and glee.

YES! YES! YES!

But she took a step back. It wasn’t a large step, but with her longer reach, she didn’t have to close in too much in the first place. She dodged with near frightening ease and my heart plummeted.

NO! NONONO!

Then, she closed in just as easily and punched me in the side of my head with her shield. I ate wooden splinters and one moment later, I was pinned to the creaking wall with the taste of blood in my mouth. The wall was leaning with the weight she was forcing on me, and I flailed at her with my sword, but a spike of pain later she had disarmed me with a casual swing of her club.

I let out a cry of pain. “FU–CK! WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT. FROM. ME?”

She paused for a moment. I saw her face peer over her shield, looking down at me with that odd look again. She snickered. It was a stupid question.

She glows like me, she’s got sharp teeth and a breath like death, she’s a demon, of course she wants my tasty, delectable soul. That’s why she killed the warden that’s why she’s after me. She’s already eaten so many, just look at the size of hers. I’m next. I’m next and I’m gonna die.

“D–don’t. Eat. Me. Please.”

That got her into a mad riotous fit of laughing and snorting. Was it really all that funny, me, begging for my life? Probably, from her perspective it was like a mouse asking a cat not to eat it.

Squeak!

“Grah!” she said as she pulled her hand back, violently shaking it up and down. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a rat, biting her arm.

George? George! Go George! My rat in shining armor, sans armor!

I seized the opportunity and kicked her leg out. It didn’t move nearly as much as I’d liked and I nearly stumbled as I put too much weight on my left one, but I caught myself and was already grabbing for spiderbane, glinting beautifully in the light.

Something thumped against the side of the shack.

GEORGE!

I looked up as I grabbed my sword, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Or his body. She had torn him off her arm and thrown him against the wall, after all. Kind of stupid, how I could be in a life-or-death situation in one moment, then still worry about the health of a rat in the next. I pulled my sword towards me, readying for a thrust of retribution while she was distracted.

Instead, I caught a glimpse of the underside of her foot as it hit me right below the neck and launched me against the wall again. Except this time, a boarded window in the wall didn’t hold, and I flew through it in a hail of creaking wood and age-old sawdust as half the hut gave away.

Ow. Holy ow, I’m still alive. How am I still alive? She’s not taking me all that seriously as a threat, is she? Judging by the fact that she’s just letting me get up without immediately pouncing onto me, I’d say yes.

Shield? Check. Sword? Not Check. Plan? Nope. No, I have no idea how to do anything except make my death even more painful and drawn out than it already was panning out to be.

I glowered at her as I stood up. She casually kicked my broken sword away into the dark as she strolled forwards, menacingly swinging against empty air with her club. Her face was still plastered with that jagged non-grin.

Shit. Shit shit shit. I’m this close to getting out of this hellish graveyard. I can’t just give up now! I need clever ideas, c’mon, c’mon!

GAH, nothing’s coming to mind. I literally can’t think of a better plan than ‘throw something at her, then scramble”.

Fuck. I’m seriously so, so screwed.

“William? Are you getting into fights again? Take it outside, you’ll ruin the crockery! You better not be letting them mess up your handsome face again.” I heard the voice of the old lady say, as she sat relaxed and reclined in her rocking chair. The demon lady immediately stopped her casual stride, turning to face her.

Oh. Oh no. She’s gonna kill the old lady. Shitshitshit, I have to do something.

“Oh. Oh it’s you!” She said, turning to me. “Barth–Bartholomew, right?”

But all I could do was feign injury and make myself as small as possible. The demon woman walked over to the old lady, completely ignoring me. I was, after all, disarmed.

But not completely and that underestimation gave me a chance.

As she walked past me and I was within seven foot of her, I jumped towards the demon with an amount of force that surprised her and me both.

She pulled up her shield but didn’t react nearly quick enough, even with the noise of my armor warning her of my approach, and I punched her straight across the chin. Which was a hard thing to do, considering she was a lot taller than me, and my arms were particularly short compared to hers, but still I felt my buckler connect.

If I’d had my sword, I could’ve killed her. If I were stronger, I could’ve knocked her out.

That was all I could think as the hit connected, then slipped off the side of the chin. Her head jerked to the side a bit, but her quick counterattack belied the surprise in her eyes. With one circling step she turned.

Then, she took her club and swung at my right hand. It knocked my buckler shield out of both our light’s reach. Which was pretty far, given that my light was at roughly thirteen feet the last time I checked and hers was easily twice that.

Oh, also, in spite of my metal gauntlets, it shattered my right hand at the wrist. So yeah, ow.

I screamed like never before. Tearing up your throat by yelling at someone to get them to notice that they were in a life-or-death situation was one thing. Dislocating a thumb and then having to pop it back in myself was another. Having all of the small and big bones in my hand cracked and broken, my muscles, skin and everything else just contort, pull and yank as the pieces inside poked and pierced it from all angles that were coming from the inside of my hand?

Yeah, I screamed. And cried. I doubted all my life choices and regretted stepping out of the temple, out of my grave almost instantly. What was I even expecting to do, puny and powerless me?

Is this what it feels like, to do the right thing?

I didn’t know if I could handle too many more like it. I guess I was just not cut out for heroics; I was built different but in a bad way. Built small. Built useless. Then again, I was probably not gonna live much longer anyways. Honestly, I should’ve died a long time ago.

A kick sent me to the ground, still screaming, my mind filled with agony and the wish for a swift death right then and there.

What I got instead was the sight of the old warden, gripping the edges of her rocking chair and with a fury in her eyes I wouldn’t have thought her capable of after talking to her.

She took in the sight of me, contorted in pain and bawling my eyes out as I looked up at her, desperation inside of them.

Please just run.

Ithurtsithurtsithurts.

You don’t have to die, too.

GAAH, FRIGG, why does it hurt so much?

I’m sorry I let her chase me down here.

Kill me.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

I tried biting my screams and the pain back. I need to tell her to run!

All that came out was a silent whimper.

Shaking with barely controlled anger, she stood up from her chair. Slowly and deliberately, like a puppet pulled up by its strings, she rose to tower above the demon woman. Then, she let out a howl that was somewhere between breathtakingly awesome and deeply terrifying.

She approached the demon woman behind me and I heard the sudden sound of wood splintering. The air was filled with screams as I took a moment to deal with myself and everything else.

This is my chance. I’m alive. I can run. I can leave.

Hhhhhhhh, the pain.

Shakily, I stood up, holding my hand in my… good hand. Ow. Every sudden movement was blinding. Every normal movement was, by comparison, only the worst pain I’d known. I made my way forward, hobbling, away from this wretched place the way I’d come.

I should never have come here. Everyone just wanted to kill each other. And for what? More light? More souls? Inborn cruelty? To just have something to eat and survive another day?

I want no part in all this shit. Every one of these monsters and sinners can die for all I care. They’re not worth it. They’re already lost. Nothing can redeem them.

I stepped on to the road, the sounds of battle still echoing from behind me. As I took in the feeling of wet cobbled stone under my boots, I hesitated to take another step. Something didn’t feel right.

The keys. Right. Gotta get the keys.

I turned back around, walking towards the unfolding carnage again. It barely registered to me; I was probably not thinking straight at that point, delirious from exhaustion and pain and all.

Past the rocking chair. Past the hut.

A wall breaks. Splinters from the left. Duck.

Keep on going.

The hill. Why is it so big? So long. Slippery. Steep.

Ocean. River. Rain. Step. Step. Step.

I was at the top of the hill. The pain hadn’t gone away, and my hand was swelling painfully, pressing against the insides of my gauntlet.

Bad.

I pulled at the gauntlet. I felt bone scrape against metal and leather.

HHHHHHhhhh. Breathing. Shaky. S-slower.

One bad decision later I tugged hard and with a scream and a whimper off came the glove.

Stupid. Glove. Stupid. Me.

I threw it to the side, looking for the corpse of Will the warden. It may have been hard to miss with all of the bright light from before, but now all I had was my own dim glow to rely on.

Tree. Corsp. Corps. Crosp. Dead person.

He was there under the tree. I gently knelt down and began rummaging through his pockets.

Coins. Pebbles. Bugs. Dirt. No keys.

I shoveled it all into mine. I don’t think I even had a reason beyond maybe hoping that I’d find the key by chance. They weren’t there of course. But that was fine. Nothing mattered anyways.

“He keeps the keys on a necklace around his neck.”

Right, right, someone said that. Who was that again?

“Me” said a figure standing in the darkness to my right. A horribly tall and malformed creature in armor styled like a wolf with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. “And you’ll see that I was right.”

Huh.

I gave the figure a sideways glance. Screams in the distance marked the otherwise deathly silence.

You’re not real.

I came to that conclusion rather quickly and mentally dismissed the wolf. What wasn’t real wasn’t import right now. Pain was real and that mattered. Getting out of here was a real idea, somewhat. What really mattered was the chain of keys around the warden’s neck. I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pockets with the rest of the junk.

A huff came from my left. “Sure I am. I’m a ghost. You’re too late. I drowned.” I hadn’t even said anything and that was as good an indicator as any that he was just made up of smoke and bad thoughts.

Shut up. I’m not late. Also, wolves can’t read minds.

“Sure, they can! Quite presumptuous of you to think otherwise. Have you ever talked to a wolf before? No, you’ve only ever heard of them in stories and fairytales and hid under your covers when they howled at night.”

I wasn’t going to tell him that I had indeed seen a wolf once. I didn’t speak mutt.

The figure coiled in on itself, laughing.

“Hah! Sassy, but you’re all bark, no bite. Shouldn’t you be groveling in the dirt, begging for the sweet, sweet release of death? Or, or better yet: Redemption!”

I turned around and trotted on down the hill, ignoring the cackling creature.

“Hey, Hey, HEY! Don’t leave me hanging here. We’re a comedic duo, you and I. You gotta give me something to work with, kay?”

I’m on my way to go piss on your corpse.

That set off another maniacal set of laughter and snorting. The wolf figure twisted and turned unnaturally, bloating and contracting like a sheep’s bladder. He wasn’t real. But for all that he wasn’t real, he gave me a reason not to think about the pain in my arm.

“Oh, oh, oh man, I did NOT expect so much obscenity from a wee chaste lady such as thou. As yow, sorry. Wouldn’t want to mean any disrespect now.”

Can you go away? I have to focus on not drawing any attention to me. Actually, you know what? Fuck that, not a question. Go. Away.

The malformed wolf figure stood there in the dark to my side, hesitating for a moment.

“Well, if that’s what you need who am I to deny a lady’s wishes? I’m but a ghost after all.” At this, his form became smaller, bleeding away like the scum in a draining sink.

Good. Don’t come back.

“Hah! That’s more your choice than mine, Rye. Really, who think’s their own hallucination has more power over its own existence than you do?”

So, you admit it? That you’re not real.

The wolf was tiny now, legs and arms already squished into his body which was itself quickly shrinking from the size of my head to that of my fist. He chuckled, the voice sounding distant and like wind as his head turned inwards and his metal snout spoke.

“You’re in a deep, dark hole Rye. Better get out before it fills to the brim.”

No shit! That’s all there is to hell, apparently.

And with that, he was gone. I had walked all the way down the slope and found myself standing aside the now even further ruined warden’s hut. The sounds of fighting had grown weaker, as had the screams. Judging by the still present light in the near distance, I shouldn’t be getting any false hopes for a happy ending.

The hut was absolutely smashed, now all but one wall splintered and fallen over. I didn’t find George. Or my buckler. Or sword. I found a rope. And some metal pots.

Metal pots. The most lethal weapon of choice for improvised self-defense. At least I won’t be able to kill anyone with this.

I looked to my left. There was darkness, inviting me to slink away and disappear. I could leave it all behind. No one would know, no one would judge.

I looked to my right. Light and two creatures that looked like humans but most likely weren’t, tearing each other apart. No one would know, no one would judge either.

A scream tore through the air. I peeked around the side of the sole standing wall. The woman – demon – stood above the old lady’s prone form. One arm hung to the side, twisted and unnatural. Her shield was missing, and she stood like she had hurt her leg as well.

She leaned down and on to the much larger woman’s body and bit into her neck. The sounds of slurping and chewing and… moaning filled the cold, still air.

I could just go now. I should just go now.

I took a rope in my mouth and a pan in my left hand. It was hefty, solid iron I’d bet.

Ok. Now, go! Go away and never come back. It’s the safe choice. The only sound one.

So why? Why am I walking towards her? The old lady’s dead, she gave her life to let me live and now I’m wasting the only chance she made for me to run away and instead, I’m running towards her. Running, as in hobbling as fast as I can.

Because. I’m gonna murder that bitch.

The air smelled like dried flowers. I took a deep breath and I felt it fill me, travel from my chest to my limbs. I felt better, slightly, and I needed every ounce of ‘better’ more than ever.

It won’t be enough. It won’t be and you know it!

My legs carried me forward until I stood right next to her. Between all the moaning and frankly unsavory noises, she hadn’t heard me approach. There was genuine surprise on her face as she turned her head to the side, and I buried my pan into it.

What are you doing? Stop. STOP!

She was just dazed enough to notice me straddling her back. She tried pushing herself away from the old lady’s bloody body, but almost collapsed to the ground as I let my full weight sag on to her back. Another hit with the pan to the back of her skull made her fall limp. Victory.

This is unnecessary. Where did all the lofty ideals of ‘I don’t want to murder people’ go?

This is different. This is a demon. Demons deserve nothing.

I reeled back to deliver another blow, but her hand shot up and gripped mine. Even lying on the ground, weakened as she was after fighting the warden and the old lady without any armor at all, she still had the strength to twist the pan out of my hand.

Revenge! You’re not even trying to play at being the hero anymore, godsdammit!

She was crushing my good hand. But I wasn’t done just yet. I bit hers and she shrieked. After a short battle of endurance, she let go, pulling her arm and my head down with it. She went for my neck instead and managed to get some form of hold on it. I felt the sharp teeth dig into my mail, pressing it against my throat.

Praise mail.

See? This is it. This is what you get for not playing it safe, for being unreasonable. Think of everyone else you’re endangering here. It’s not just your life.

I was calm and it felt like the oddest thing. There she was, the person I thought was going to kill me minutes ago, biting into my throat, pressing through my thin armor with inhuman teeth and strength to boot. And there I was, being bitten, and slowly but surely winding my thick rope around her neck, as if I was binding down an animal, as if I did this every day.

This is a bad idea. So, so, so bad.

I pulled the rope and instantly felt the pressure around my neck lessen. I tore my it away and felt the old chainmail tear in turn as her teeth stuck between the rings like nails. She let out a scream of frustration as I held one end of the rope in my hand and bit down on the other one, wrenching my neck back with all the force I had left within me.

Somehow, even though this demon was stronger than me, bigger than me, I had the upper hand for once. It was new to me, to my entire existence in this hell, and it felt exhilarating, even as I held the same position for only a heartbeat.

She jerked her head forward and then leaned back in a brutal headbutt to my face. Something cracked and white crawling pain flooded my face, squeezing the last tears from my eyes. I gasped, gritting my teeth but taking advantage of the lapse in pressure, she went and did it again.

And again, and again, and again.

This is as far as I go. What even is there that I alone can do? Nothing, that’s what.

The smell of iron mixed with the salt of tears.

I can’t hold on. I don’t want to fight anymore. I just want to go home.

The rope in my mouth slipped and I noticed her start reaching for her club.

Fuck.

Another hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat. The old lady was still alive, against both of our expectations, and even the demon struggled under her iron grip. Her head barely wiggled an inch.

I got the rope between my teeth again and pulled. Screams of frustration. Screams of fear and pain. Mine and hers. The rope dug into my hand and her neck. Choking sounds. Clawing. One last pitiful whine.

I don’t ever want to die like that.

In the end, she did. I didn’t let go until my strength failed me and both the demon and the old lady lie motionless on the cold, muddy floor.

I was drained. Beyond done. Beyond my limit. I collapsed on their corpses and just lay there, breathing unsteadily.

I felt nothing on the inside. Everything was dizzy and as her light had faded almost completely, something else filled my body. I didn’t count how far I could see, there was just one thing I knew for sure. The bright light never fully went away.

I closed my eyes and didn’t sleep.