Phantom Pain (trilogy)

Departure

Chapter 10: Departure

The first thing I noticed was that we were the last ones to arrive. Lila and Gavyn already sat waiting for us.

The second thing was the way he was looking at me. He didn't look angry, only exhausted, and for the first time since I'd decided we were friends I was afraid to try and share the light. I could feel him distancing himself from me, whether it was on purpose or not. I was suddenly nervous and a little bit guilty. My hand reached instinctively for where the sword usually hung. Rubbing the handle had become a sort of stress relief for me. It wasn't there. I'd left it in my hammock.

I was grateful that Dez did most of the talking. When we told them how large a legion was, I could see the colour drain from their faces.

“We can't just leave him there.” Gavyn pushed his hair back from his forehead, pacing back and forth across the room.

Lila rubbed her opposite arm. “Do you thing Pastor Bomani is still alive?”

“From the way Shax was talking, I'd say yes,” Dez said. “Gavyn, are you sure you don't know anything. I mean, you traveled with the man for two months. If there's anything, absolutely anything you might have noticed...”

He shook his head, but then he stopped pacing, and looked thoughtful. A few moments passed, no one saying anything, afraid to interrupt him.

“There was one thing different than all of the times before,” he said. “He'd get a call, or a letter or email or something, then he'd say he had a job to do and we'd head out.” He paused. “This time, when I asked him where we were going, he said to visit an old friend. I didn't really think about it until now.” He turned to Dez. “Is it possible that Madam Moore was a Specialist too, like you and my dad?”

Dez shrugged. “Possible. I've never met her, and there aren't that many of us. I'd also never heard of this castle, which is strange, with the heavy duty demon warding they have going on.”

Even though I could tell he was worried for his father, even Gavyn could see the stupidity of going anywhere near the demons' stronghold. Over the course of the day, it seemed that the storm had slowed a little. It was no longer a hurricane, and was now more a constant downpour. Without the strong winds moving through it would be much more manageable. It seemed to be a consensus that we would have to leave the castle as soon as possible. What to do when we did was the problem.

Lila told us that the fire chief had already organized efforts to try and find a disaster management hub. They planned to leave the next day. That gave us an ultimatum. If we didn't want more people ending up like the two men Dez had dragged back, we were going to have to figure out a way out of the valley. Dez seemed optimistic that we could fight our way through, provided that not too many demons had taken bodies. They couldn't do physical damage that way.

She also located two knives and a sword in the weapons room that had the correct carvings with which to fight demons. This amazed her. She explained how rare weapons capable of effecting them truly were. Her gun was near priceless. Of course, none of these would have the same effect as my sword. Only an angel's blade could kill demons in their incorporeal state, but they were better than any human weapon.