The doors to Castle Zaphon screeched open, with dust and cobwebs fluttering down from the hinges, with the light of Eden illuminating the dark corridors of the grand foyer.

  A large staircase laid at the entrance, with short corridors on either side leading to the west and east wings of the castle. Drifter, Locke and Pad entered as the door creaked shut behind them.

  “Castle Zaphon.” Locke explained. “Apparently, it was created as Lucifer’s own personal mansion and over time became the default living space to whomever was crowned the demon king.”

  “Why does it smell like arse in here?” Drifter responded.

  Pad lifted her foot in disgust. “I think I stepped in carpet mold.”

  “Is that the smell?”

  Locke snapped his fingers. “Focus, Drifter. We’re here to find Alexander. This castle isn’t very large, we should have no trouble if we split up and search.”

  “He’s up there.” Drifter pointed to the large doors at the top of the staircase.

  “How are you so sure?”

  “It’s faint, like a dying candle light, but I can sense a demonic presence behind those doors.”

  “Very well. Let’s tread carefully, in case it’s an enemy…”

  Slowly creeping up the unpolished stairs, the three of them quietly snuck up to the door. They listened in, but heard nothing from the other side. Locke delicately held the handle, pulled down and lightly pushed the door open, to just a crack. Then Drifter battered the door wide open with a powerful kick.

  “What are you doing!?” Locke yelled.

  “Got bored.”

  “Have you no subtlety?”

  “There’s no one here.”

  “But, what if there was!?”

  “Then I’d beat them up.”

  The room was decorated like a medieval study, with a desk, chair and bookcases lining the walls and a window opposite the door, as faint rays of light seeped in through the ragged, worn out curtains.

  “You sure this place belonged to Lucifer?” Drifter questioned. “It doesn’t look nearly old enough.”

  “Now that you mention it, this style of architecture does seem different from the rest of the demon world.”

  “Oh my god.” Pad gasped as she rushed into the room. “Is that…?”

  Embedded in the wall, just behind the desk was the visage of a demon, sealed in stone. They looked as if they had been crucified, with their arms and legs melting into the wall. Even encased in rock, it was obvious the creature was of the same species as Locke and Pad, but taller.

  “Is this him?” Drifter asked.

  “Yes.” Locked answered. “Can you still sense his life force?”

  “Yeah. He’s definitely alive in there.”

  “But, how do we get him out?”

  “The same we got you out.”

  Drifter slid over the desk to approach the fossilised demon. Their eyes were closed, making it impossible to tell whether they were still conscious. He pulled out his sword and leaned it against the demon’s body.

  The blade began to glow, reacting to the demon inside. Cracks appeared and pieces of stone flaked off. Light shone from underneath the casing as more pieces were stripped away until the king was set free.

  He fell to the floor on his knees, as the newly awakened being slowly regained his senses. The demon looked down at Drifter with a blank, disinterested stare.

  His hair was long, curly and stringy, drooping over one side of his face, but most notable was his five o’clock shadow.

  “Are you… human?” He muttered.

  “Yeah?”

  “The sword… CORE… has fallen into human hands?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “You… used it to free me?”

  “You going somewhere with this?”

  Out of nowhere, the demon embraced Drifter in a powerful hug.

  “I’m so grateful!”

  “Uh…. that’s nice… please let me go…”

  “What? I thought that was how humans showed gratitude toward each other. Am I mistaken?”

  “No… I just find it uncomfortable.”

  “I see. Then… how about a handshake?”

  “Sure?”

  Drifter reached out his hand and the tall demon grabbed hold and shook.

  “Come on, human. You got to use a more powerful grip than that.”

  “Who the fuck is this guy?”

  The demon suddenly rummaged through the drawers of the desk, searching for something.

  “Ah, thought he put you here.”

  It was a large, black, stetson cowboy hat. The brim was round at the front, but extended into two sharp points at the back. He seemed pretty happy to have found it, like he was finally complete again.

  He looked over to Pad and smiled. “Hey, sis. Is that a baby? Congrats.”

  Drifter stood in stunned, dumbfounded silence as Pad rushed over to her brother crying.

  “I thought I’d never see you again! I thought you were dead!”

  “You didn’t really think they could kill me that easily, did you?”

  “You two are siblings!?” Drifter yelled.

  “Well, duh… can’t you see the resemblance?”

  “What… Locke, are you his brother too!?”

  Locke grunted. “Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t even have the same eyes.”

  Drifter couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re supposed to be the demon king!?”

  The wannabe cowboy looked confused. “I am?”

  “You’re Alexander, right?”

  “Yeah, did Pad tell you about me?”

  “No, Locke did!”

  “Locke?” Alexander looked over at the demon beside Drifter. “I’ve never seen that guy before in my life.”

  “Oh my god… holy fuck… I need to sit down.” Drifter hobbled over to the nearest chair and slumped into it.

  Locke stepped in. “Alexander, do you remember the demon locked in chains?”

  “The one who got his ass kicked by Nahas?”

  “That was me.”

  “Oh… man you got wrecked.”

  “Hold on…” Drifter added. “So, you two don’t actually know each other?”

  “Nope.”

  “Locke you lying cunt! You said this guy was your king!”

  Locke scratched his head. “I didn’t mean it literally.”

  “No! Of course not! That’d make too much fucking sense!”

  “After witnessing their father’s death, I challenged Nahas of my own volition and failed. But before I was banished, I witnessed Alexander’s battle and was captivated by his power.

  Even though he too lost, his selfless and righteous demeanour made him a far better candidate for demon king than anyone of those monsters. I knew I had to meet him again.”

  “You mean this whole time you were just some fucking sperg, poking his stupid fat nose into someone else’s business, just because you fucking felt like it!?”

  “When you put it that way, you make me sound like an insane fool.”

  Drifter immediately chucked a book at Locke’s face and moved on.

  “And you.” He addressed Alexander. “What’s your deal?”

  “Well… Pad wandered into the Garden of Eden when she was young and our father was killed as punishment. I disagreed, and took action. It’s not complicated.”

  “Why?”

  “I… just couldn’t forgive them. I always knew they were corrupt, but blatant murder? That was the last straw. I didn’t care about the consequences, they stole my father and my sister, so I took the legendary blade and used it to confront Nahas and his sycophants, but I lost…”

  “Legendary blade?”

  “CORE… It’s been in my family for generations, buried in a secret location. Father told me that in the wrong hands, that sword’s power was borderline apocalyptic. Using it was forbidden, but I couldn’t just sit by and let those monsters destroy my family, not when they were the only thing I had left."

  “So, do you want it back, or what?”

  “Well, in my humble opinion, as a previous wielder, I can tell, just from looking, that you’ve drawn out way more power than I ever could. Hell, you’d probably give Nahas a run for his money.”

  “Nahas… Do you know anything about him?”

  “He’s certainly got quite the history. You see… in the ancient past, this world used to be illuminated by the light of Lucifer, but he was usually distracted by his fascination with humans and their world.

  Then, one day, he completely vanished. According to rumours, his fascination got the better of him and that Legendary Demon Sword somehow played a part in his downfall.

  After retrieving the sword, Lucifer’s second in command, Cherubim took over and used his powers to create a barrier between our worlds as a precaution, but after his death the demon world began its descent into ruin.

  As time went on, Cherubim’s barrier weakened and about twenty years ago, our father and a few of his comrades discovered they could conjure portals to the human world again, just like the demons of the old days.

  However, this didn’t become common knowledge throughout the rest of the demon world until yours truly used that same trick to throw CORE away. Incidentally, this sweet hat was a souvenir from one of my father’s visits to the human world.”

  “Well, I’m glad we’re all familiar with the backstory of your hat, but what about Nahas?”

  “After Cherubim died, as a fellow follower of Lucifer, Nahas appointed himself demon king. Not that anyone had the power to protest this decision. That tyrant‘s nothing but a monster.

  He cared for nothing but himself and plunged our world into ruin, all while he basked in the only light we had left. I have no doubt that if it weren’t for Cherubim’s barrier, the human world would be at his mercy as well. You guys got lucky.”

  There was a silence as Drifter spent a moment taking it all in.

  “Satisfied?” Locke asked.

  “No… you fucking idiots…” Drifter responded. “Because you stupid cunts, trying to take down your oppressive ruler, my whole world fell into chaos. God knows how many human lives were lost, all because you opened that fucking portal right where Nahas could see it!”

  “We can only apologise…”

  “Whatever, it’s not like I’m perfect either…”

  “The real problem is that we’ve been fighting alone.” Alexander interjected. “But, what if the three of us teamed up? I mean, as long as Nahas is around, neither of our worlds will ever find peace. So, there’s no point in fighting each other. How about it? Drifter, Locke? Wanna crush Nahas together?”

  Locke nodded in agreement. “Obviously. What about you Drifter?”

  “Sure. Wandering around aimlessly was getting stale, anyway.”

  The three formed an alliance, all fighting for a common goal: Defeat Nahas.

  “We should return to the human world.” Locke suggested. “Nahas’ forces could still be causing chaos as we speak.”

  Drifter’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh shit… I forgot about that… Meh, I’m sure it won't be that hard to clean up.”

  “What in the shitting hell is that?”

  Upon his return to the human world, Drifter was greeted by a massive pulsating tumour, floating in the sky, vomiting lasers in all directions, tearing up the countryside as it ominously inched in the direction of the bridge to the mainland. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

  Shocked by his sudden appearance, Amanda marched over to the bemused vagabond.

  “Drifter! It’s about time you got your sorry ass back here! Where the hell have you been!?”

  “Demon world.” He answered, bluntly.

  “Well, what took you so long!? And who are they!?” She asked of the demons who followed Drifter from the portal.

  “Oh…” Drifter introduced them by pointing to each one. “Pad, Locke, Alexander and the baby’s named Key.”

  “Wha- Who are they!?”

  “Pad, Locke, Alexander and the baby’s named Key.”

  “I meant in relation to you, smart ass!”

  “Alright, speak more clearly next time. They’re friends.”

  “Since when do you have friends!?”

  “Since about five minutes ago.”

  “Do you have a fever? Are you being brainwashed? What happened in there?”

  “Can we talk about this later? I think the giant pus ball spewing lasers everywhere is more important.”

  “Drifter!” Called a voice, as a raggedy young man limped over.

  “Holy shit, Dale.” Drifter chuckled at the sight of the boy’s charred rags. “What happened to you?”

  “I was set on fire…”

  “And you survived!?”

  “I couldn’t do it, Drifter…”

  “Do what?”

  “Be a hero… There were hundreds of snake demons and I tried to spare them. We all worked together too. I even convinced them to leave when they were beat, but instead of running away, they just found another victim to torture, and that new victim slaughtered every last one of them… How can any creature be so cruel and stupid? Why couldn’t they just leave!?”

  “The fact that you fought an army of monsters and lived is impressive enough. You gave them a chance and they fucked it up, don’t beat yourself up over it, or you’ll end up like me.”

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Wait… you’re not berating me? I didn’t know you were capable of empathising like a normal human being.”

  “Yeah, okay cunt. Don’t take the piss.”

  “But… I couldn’t save Catherine either.”

  Locke shoved Drifter aside. “What was that about Catherine!?”

  “She went berserk. Lost control of her powers. She wiped out the entire army of demons in a blind rage and then tried to kill us, too. We couldn't get through to her, we were forced to fight her and now… she’s closed herself off in that giant, flesh fortress.”

  Locke fell to his knees in disgrace. “Catherine… I had no idea she was suffering this much… I shouldn’t have left her here on her own! She wasn’t ready yet!”

  “That flesh fortress is impenetrable.” Amanda explained. “It’s way too high up, even my weapons peter out before they can reach it and we’re all too worn out to try anything else.”

  Drifter analysed the horrible monstrosity. Using his senses he could feel the power of each individual demon that was molded into crafting the unholy bulbous balloon. Hundreds of souls swarming together into a giant ball of destructive energy, more powerful than any individual demon Drifter had ever faced.

  However, locked away, deep in the depths of the ball of scorn was a single tepid soul. It was separate from the amalgamation, an independent entity, unconsciously controlling the fortress from the inside.

  It became obvious to Drifter that this soul was the core of the beast. The nucleus holding its dead cells together. The source of its power. If he wanted to bring down the sobbing cyst, he needed to remove that soul.

  “If that thing reaches the mainland, it’ll be total chaos.” Amanda reasoned. “Catherine has to be stopped, no matter the cost.”

  Drifter took a deep breath. “Geez… can’t imagine what kind of shit you guys had to put up with while I was gone, and after all that work, this flying blood soaked turd was your reward? That’s just annoying. I don’t know whether you should scream, or cry, or give up and laugh… I think you need a break. Let me finish this.”

  “Wait!” Dale yelled. “You’re not going to kill her, are you!?”

  “Nah… I’m going to save her.”

  Bathed in a white aura, Drifter blasted off at top speed, leaving the others in the dust. All they could do was wait and hope Drifter knew what he was doing.

  As he made his way out of the city, the flesh fortress, despite being far off in the distance, still detected his presence as a face morphed onto its back, firing a massive red laser to try and keep Drifter away.

  Of course, Drifter had plenty of time to dodge, ducking and weaving around the searing wave of heat. As he closed in, the fortress switched tactics as hundreds of tiny faces formed on its surface, heaving a hailstorm of small red energy bullets to smother the sprinting swordsman.

  Unable to avoid all of the shots, Drifter took a gamble. He pulled out his sword and using his power, levitated it, slightly in front of him, in an upright position. Maintaining this state was tricky, but it was working surprisingly well for a trick he came up with on the fly.

  Next he pulled down on the sword’s handle, spinning it like the wheel of a ship. It span at such speeds it turned into a blurry shield, deflecting the blanket of bullets raining down on him, clearing a path forward. The flesh fortress moved at a snail’s pace, allowing Drifter to take cover underneath the floating hellspawn at a casual walking speed.

  “Right. Let’s pop this zit.”

  Drifter tossed his sword straight into the center of the fortress’ surface. Upon contact, there was a massive flash of white light. The sword returned, leaving a large crater on the underside.

  “Damn. Thought it’d blast a hole right through…”

  The crater suddenly morphed into another wailing face and fired a red laser right on top of Drifter. However, the power of his burning aura alone, shielded him against the pressure of the consuming energy.

  “Not bad… but your beam’s like coal… it lacks density… let me show you what a diamond can do!”

  Drifter pointed a single finger to the sky, gathering energy into the tip, until there was a small, crackling white spark. Once ready, he fired the spark as it pushed back against the burning red plasma.

  That single spark of light pushed back against the large laser and slowly drove it back toward the mouth, but the pained expression of the face suddenly intensified. Its jaw dislocated, forcing it open wider as its eyes rolled back from the strain. The beam darkened, as it focused more of its energy, growing denser.

  “Oh shit.”

  Expertly reading the situation, Drifter bailed. He ran out from under the fortress and took cover, as the beam forced the spark into the ground, obliterating the road beneath it.

  “Guess my usual tricks won’t work against this fat fucking behemoth.”

  Wasting no time, Drifter leapt on top of the fortress, stabbing his sword into the center. This time, instead of using a fraction of his power to throw his sword and detonate it, he instead directly pumped as much power as he needed to forcibly rip open a gaping gash in the beast’s belly.

  Unfortunately, he was given no time to charge up the power necessary when eight mysterious figures rose up from the liquefying flesh around him. The mounds of rippling skin cells solidified into grotesque, bleeding copies of Catherine. All of whom closed in to attack Drifter.

  “Fuck that’s gross…” He complained, disturbed by their likeness to the undead.

  As the flesh clones lunged at him, Drifter was forced to defend himself, or risk being devoured, but this proved difficult once the flesh under his boots melted, holding his feet in place like quicksand. He had no choice but to pull out his sword and fight off the clones, while glued in place, completely at their mercy.

  He slashed away, cutting off limbs and heads, splitting them in half and yet, it meant nothing as they were just constructs created from dead cells. They could not die and continued to resurrect indefinitely. They relentlessly assaulted Drifter, much to his annoyance. Soon managing to get close enough to grab at his back and legs.

  “I’m getting sick of your shit!”

  They couldn’t penetrate his jacket, but they peeled at the skin on his legs.

  “Will you fuck off!?”

  Then they started biting and gnawing on his legs and shoulder.

  “I said FUCK OFF!”

  Drifter suddenly exploded in a bright light that vaporised the flesh clones plaguing him and freeing him from the fortress’ grip. Clearly attacking from the top was far too much of a hassle.

  As if reacting to Drifter’s sudden explosive power on instinct, the flesh fortress suddenly shot forward at insane speeds, throwing Drifter off its back and onto the hard tarmac below.

  “What the hell was that!?” Drifter looked up at the fortress and caught a glimpse of two faces spewing red flames from the back of the cyst.

  “Jets!? It has fucking jets!? Goddammit! At that speed, Catherine will reach the mainland in just a few minutes! Fuck!”

  Frustration clouded his mind, but he knew he didn’t have time to bitch and moan, he needed to act. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

  “Welp, this is it, Drifter… You can’t afford to hold back, not this time. Don’t think about what might happen, just stop Catherine.”

  His white aura flared up like white flames and with a massive boom, he rocketed down the road, leaving a streak of white fire in his wake.

  As he gradually caught up, Drifter surveyed his surroundings, looking for any possible way he could reach higher ground. He knew where Catherine was inside the fortress, but in order to free her, he needed to come at her from the right angle, but with the exception of fragile trees, the countryside was flat and barren, with nothing to climb.

  That was, until the suspension bridge came into view in the distance. The towers near the entrance, connected by the main cables, provided the perfect height for what Drifter had planned.

  He kicked into high gear and streaked past the jet propelled flesh fortress, beating it to the bridge. Drifter put on the brakes and slid down the road, stopping just shy of Richard and his car.

  Richard just stood there, petrified by the ominous flying monstrosity barreling straight for him, but was thrilled to see Drifter had returned.

  “Nice of you to show up at the last minute!” He yelled.

  “Hey, ginger twat.“ He greeted, putting a hand on the officer’s shoulder. “Do me a favour, when this is over, could you come give me a lift?”

  “What are you planning to do?”

  “Booking a one way flight.”

  Drifter ran up the bridge cable to the top of the support tower. He was perfectly lined up with the flesh fortress’ position. As the ball of dead cells drew near, Drifter gathered up as much power as he needed, his aura, shifting into a ball of white light around him that melted the steel beams he was perched on.

  He needed to be careful, charging too much power at once could destroy the metal beneath him, he had to gather his strength at a moderate pace, but also needed enough to penetrate the flesh fortress’ defenses.

  “Stay calm… stay in control… stay focused……… NOW!”

  The second he hit his limit, he launched himself at the fortress like a human missile. With sword in hand, he was ready to pierce through the thick wall of flesh as he soared at the speed of sound, but not without the fortress putting up a resistance.

  A giant face morphed onto the front of the fortress. With an ear splitting scream, it fired one final laser to stop Drifter. A dark, dense, blood red beam that clashed with his sword.

  Locked in a clash, Drifter and Catherine went all in on their final gambits to overpower the other. Drifter fueling his ballistic charge with CORE and Catherine desperately trying to push him back as stray plasma deflected off of Drifter’s sword ripping up the terrain around them.

  “Incredible…” Drifter thought to himself. “I can’t remember the last time I felt a rush like this. Catherine… you’re the first opponent to force me to play at my best.

  Fighting for the sole purpose of saving you, it’s like a part of my soul, I thought I killed dead, suddenly reawakened. I’ll have to thank you for that, later. But, right now, I can’t let you win! This isn’t even close to reaching the sheer depths of CORE’s power! Hell, I don’t even know how far this rabbit hole goes, but it’s about time I did some digging!

  It's time I lived up to CORE's reputation and showed you a power deserving of the title of Legendary!!”

  With a roaring battle cry, Drifter’s power skyrocketed. In a burst of blinding light, his body turned into a black blur within his raging, ivory flames. Rather than push back against the scarlet energy, he drilled straight through it, carving into the beam itself.

  Within seconds, he blasted through the gaping maw of the fortress and burst out the other side, eviscerating the back side of the beast in a sea of flames and smoke, soaring over the horizon, leaving the empty shell of dead cells to plunge into the side of the road. Engulfed in flames, the flesh fortress bled profusely, as it crashed and burned in a field, beside the bridge.

  Richard crawled out from behind his car, sweating profusely. “Fuck me, man… bastard nearly gave me a heart attack…”

  Amanda looked up to the sky in disbelief. “The clouds are clearing up.”

  “Are they okay?” Dale asked aloud.

  “They’re just fine, kid.” Alexander answered.

  “How can you tell?”

  “Look here they come now.”

  They all looked to the sky, as a white streak flew overhead.

  “Holy shit! He’s flying!”

  The white streak soared over the horizon, behind some buildings, followed by an earth shaking crash.

  “I’d say that was more… falling…” Amanda corrected.

  In a football field, on the other side of the city, laid a massive strip of freshly ripped earth. Huddled in a pit of dirt and mud, created from the impact lay Drifter, clutching tightly onto the unconscious body of Catherine, whom he ripped right out of the core of her own flesh fortress.

  Drifter pulled himself up, as he regained his senses.

  “Fucking hell… women…”

  After a few minutes, Catherine finally awoke from her slumber and pulled herself up. Upon seeing Drifter, she immediately went on the offensive, wildly pounding on his chest with her fists, but they did nothing. Her beastial, demonic fever had passed and she was far too drained to pose a threat… and she knew it.

  “It’s over, Catherine… you can stop.” Drifter explained.

  With a final limp punch, her head drooped down as the waterworks started up again.

  “Um, why are you crying?”

  “Because… I’m a monster…”

  “No you’re not, you’re a demon.”

  “What’s the difference…?”

  “Monsters don’t cry.”

  She suddenly looked up at Drifter’s face.

  “What…?”

  “Monsters don’t feel remorse, or sadness, or regret. They only destroy. Is that what you are?”

  Catherine backed off, she wasn’t used to seeing this side of Drifter.

  “Here.” He took off his coat and held it out. “You look a little chilly, unless you really do have some sort of freaky exoskeleton.”

  Her face turned red upon realising she was completely naked, grabbing his coat immediately. She threw it over herself as the two sat on the benches at the side of the pitch.

  “So… how are you feeling?” Drifter asked.

  Catherine just stared into the distance.

  “I don’t know… I… killed so many of them and was consumed by so many emotions. When I gave into my demonic side, I finally felt free… like I could do anything. No holding back, no pretending. I could finally be the demon I knew I’d always been. After that, I became a bloodthirsty knight who only cared about taking the life of their next victim.”

  “Have you always felt like this?”

  “Even when growing up at the orphanage, I always knew I was different from the other kids. The caretakers would always tell me not to be so mean and violent. To not bully the smaller kids just because I was stronger than them.

  It took a while, but eventually I learned to repress my urges and be nicer. I think on some level, the caretakers knew I wasn’t human. The horns and tail never seemed to bother them though, they still treated me like any other kid, but I was never allowed to be adopted. They were terrified of what might happen. They didn’t want some asshole turning me into a media freakshow, or worse.

  So, I stayed behind and watched as kids came and went, even my only friend. I was all alone, until Locke showed up. After spending years questioning myself, not understanding who, or what I was, thinking I was some kind of freak, Locke explained everything.

  I wasn’t a freak, but I wasn’t human either. I was a demon and there were more out there. Eventually, I was adopted by one of the caretakers' parents. By that point I was old enough to hide my identity on my own, and with them, I could live a semi-normal life, all while secretly keeping in contact with Locke, to never lose that connection to my true identity.

  Then, five years ago, more demons showed up. At the time I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t have to hide anymore, I could finally be myself. But it was just a stupid pipe dream.

  Demons wreaked havoc across the country and became public enemy number one. I was heartbroken. Now more than ever, I had to keep my identity a secret. If I ever wanted to be accepted into human society, I needed to hide my demonic side at all costs, not just for myself, but to protect my grandparents too, so when they died, I didn’t have a reason to hold back any more…

  But, buried underneath all that negativity and violent demonic urges, all I really wanted was… acceptance.”

  “Um… shit…”

  Catherine’s story was a lot for Drifter to take in, but at least now, he finally understood where she was coming from.

  “Well, I told you mine, what about yours?”

  “What?”

  “What’s your deal?”

  “It doesn't matter.”

  “But, I want to know. Please, Drifter. Who are you?”

  “After all the shit you put us through, you still have the gall to give me the angry eyes?”

  “What if I gave you the sad eyes instead?”

  “Oh for… f-fine… but, keep it between us, okay? I hate sharing sob stories.”

  “Sure.”

  “My memory ends about five years ago. The early days are a bit fuzzy, but I can recall running from something and that I was a mess. Until, one day, I saved the life of this upper class lady from a demon.

  When she asked me my name, I couldn’t remember. She said I must be some sort of drifter and like a dumb, retard, I just took that as my name.

  She was so thankful, she hired me as her family’s personal bodyguard. From then on, I lived with them in their fancy manor in Little Aston, protecting the neighbourhood and by extension, the city from demon attacks.

  They may have been rich twats, but they were nice rich twats. Life was good, for a short while, but I soon remembered why I stayed on the move in the first place. Those demons… they weren’t just attacking Birmingham for no reason, they were after me, or more specifically, my sword.

  Fighting them was easy, but each new foe was more dangerous than the last. I did everything I could to protect my new family, but then… all hell broke loose. On a trip to the city, hundreds of snake demons rained down from the sky and those things were monsters.

  Murder, mass destruction, devouring the innocent. Within minutes, the entire city fell into chaos. No one was safe and no one could stop them. I was paralysed. Do I stay behind and protect my family, or defend the city? Save as many people as I can, or slay as many demons as I could find?

  I was completely overwhelmed. I had never experienced an attack of this scale before. Then, he showed up. That horrible, serpentine shadow, Nahas.

  I could barely make out his form, or even strike at it. As the world was dying around me, he grabbed the woman who took me in and held her up like a toy, taunting me.

  Before I could even comprehend what he was doing, Nahas ripped her in half before my eyes and tossed her body away like trash. After that… I broke… and everything went white.

  When I regained consciousness, I was standing in a crater, surrounded by nothing. The entire city of Birmingham… gone. All I could do was run away… it was a miracle no one saw me.

  I found out later, a massive explosion of white light erased the entire city. Since those snake demons were there, everyone assumed they were the culprits, but I knew. I wasn’t stupid.

  I destroyed Birmingham.

  Ever since, I’ve taken special care to keep my powers under strict control, to never use any more than what’s necessary, so something like that never happened again.”

  “Wow… no wonder you’re so good at wielding that sword’s power. But, what happened after that? What have you done all this time?”

  “Nothing… I avoided people, fought demons and gradually stopped caring about anything. As long as there were demons around, I could never live peacefully. But you know what the worst part is?

  I can’t even remember her name…”

  Catherine sympathised. There was a reason why Drifter was the way he was, but still she couldn’t help but shudder thinking about his story.

  “If Newport hadn’t been evacuated beforehand, I could have caused a second incident…”

  “Guess you’re not so different from humans after all.”

  “Yeah… we're both a couple of fuck ups.”

  “There you are.” A familiar cop car drove onto the field, as Richard greeted the two. “When you said you wanted a lift, I didn’t expect you to be halfway across the damn island.”

  “Alright. It’s time to head back, Catherine.”

  “Back where?”

  “To the others.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Locke’s waiting for you.”

  “Locke’s alive!?”

  “And better than ever, you won’t even recognise him.”

  “You didn’t kill him?”

  “Look, we’re all stuck in this boat together. So, what do you say? You got the guts to come with us?”

  “Of course! But, before that… Can we make a quick stop? I want to put some proper clothes on.”

  “Oh… yeah, we should do that.”

  As the Sun was setting, everyone gathered by the bridge entrance, waiting for those two to return. The car came over the horizon and parked in front of them. Catherine with her new shirt, jeans and boots exited the car, with Drifter following. She didn’t bother with the hat, as it wasn’t needed anymore.

  Catherine was confused at first, but upon hearing his voice, she immediately rushed over to Locke, overjoyed that her big brother was finally free of his prison. Drifter was shocked too, mostly at how many of his enemies returned to help when he wasn’t around. It was a little embarrassing.

  “Geez… and all because some little blonde cunt, refused to leave me alone.”

  “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.” Dale replied, apparently, having done some clothes shopping of his own.

  “Drifter.” Alexander called. “The monsters that showed up were definitely snake demons, right?”

  “Yeah, so Nahas really was behind this.”

  “It seems like he’s starting to make some bold moves. If we don’t find that son of a bitch, both human and demonkind will never know peace.”

  “Well, I’m not much of a detective, so I’ll let you handle that shit.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I’m better at punching things, you just point me in the right direction.”

  Drifter walked on by, toward the bridge.

  “Hold up!” Dale called. “You’re not leaving without me!”

  “What…? Yeah, sure, whatever…”

  “Or me!” Amanda added. “This Nahas guy sounds like a real piece of work, so I’ll do whatever I can to help bring him down.”

  “Alright… I mean… one more couldn’t hurt…”

  “Wait!” Called a voice.

  “What the fu-! Oh…”

  “I… want to go too!” Catherine pleaded. “Just like how you learned to control your powers, I want to learn how to control mine! I want to fight for all the demons out there who just want to live in peace, like Pad and Spinal. I want to show the world that there are demons out there that aren’t monsters.”

  Drifter sighed. “Goddammit…”

  “Was that a no…?”

  “No way!” Dale interrupted. “As if we’d turn down an offer from someone as strong as you, right Drifter?”

  Drifter saw the determined look in Catherine’s eyes. He had developed a fondness for her, one he’d never admit to, but before he could accept her, there was one final question that he needed an answer to.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty?”

  “Thank God… I didn’t want to babysit another dumb kid.”

  Drifter, Dale, Amanda and Catherine. Victims of a cruel world that took everything from them, have found the will to fight and take back control of their lives.

  They all followed different paths, but somehow, through their aimless wandering, those separate paths have coverged together. Now, they walk the same path, a path they hope will lead them to a better future.