Chapter 1

The campfire licked at the new logs like a nervous kitten and sent feeble sparks to die in the air. I added more sticks to it until it found it's confidence and grew until the heat warmed us, orange flames celebrated with their wild flickering dance. It would have to last through the night. I would have to stay up and nurse it through the darkest hours to guard it and supply it with more twigs once it ate through these.

"Just another night in the woods," I muttered, pushing off from my knees and walking over to Lily, a nine year old girl I ran into six years back when trying to find my next refuge before nightfall. She watched me with her big emerald green eyes as always, the firelight reflecting in them and casting dancing shadows on her small, pale frame. I took a seat in the cool grass next to her and began brushing out the knots in her long, wavy brown hair with a stick I turned into a comb with my makeshift knife some time ago. Lily closed her eyes and began humming a soft tune, content to let me brush her hair.

Ever since our encounter, I have taken care of Lily as if she were my own child. Before I found her there was no purpose to my life. I was a wanderer, simply living out my days in the rain under some kind of roof or another. But when I saw her alone and shivering in the rain, I knew I couldn't abandon her. She wasn't so quick to trust me though. Our progress was slow and painful. But ever since she warmed up to me she's followed me around on my journeys around the country like a lost puppy. I haven't allowed a single soul near her. Not until I knew I could trust them. To me, Lily was the only good thing left in this wretched world.

I pause for a moment. In all honesty, a spirit had appeared in my dreams and called me a protector of some kind. Did they mean a protector for Lily? But why would I need to protect her?

I pause brushing Lily's hair and gaze at the back of her head, lost in thought. Even after all these years, the spirit never returned to explain what it meant. Now that I'm thinking about it I think it was a panther..

Lily's soft voice breaks my train of thought. "Hope?"

"What's up?"

Lily turns to face me, her small lips slightly parted. "Are you ok?"

I give a small smile. "I'm fine. Just lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?"

I sigh and lean against the tent. "Our initial meeting. That's all."

"You seem to think about that a lot."

"Well," I breathe, turning my gaze back to the darkness beyond the trees and crossing my arms behind my head. "It's still a mystery to me."

Lily cocks her head to one side. "How so?"

I briefly consider whether or not to bring up the spirit. I never spoke of it to anyone, not even Lily.

"Don't worry about it, kid."

Later that night while Lily is sound asleep I make my way around the blankets and our large bag inside the tent, careful not to wake her. I crawl out of the entrance and inhale the crisp morning air. A cold wind passes by, sending pleasant chills down my spine. I glance briefly at the thin line of smoke wafting from the circle of charred grass and twigs. The sun will be rising soon, and a new day of adventure will begin. That's what Lily will be thinking when she wakes up. But I know better. In reality, we are fleeing from a superhuman race called Daemons. Well, I call them humans but they're more like demons. Another thing the Spirit warned me about before vanishing. I don't know what they look like, except for what the Spirit told me. It said they looked like humans with horns of any shape, size, and color and that the higher ranks had sharp teeth and slits for pupils. I wonder for a moment if any of them have that ever-so-famous tail with the pointed end. I would find it funny except for the fact that if I ever ran into one I probably wouldn't get the chance.

But why do they want us? Are they trying to capture us or kill us? What's so special about a seventeen-year-old girl and a nine-year-old child? Even after all these years I've never found any answers. The only information I have to go on is I was assigned as a protector over Lily the same time I was warned about this demonic race. Maybe it's her they're after. I just wish I could figure out why. It's stressful knowing you're the only thing keeping a race of humanoid demons from an innocent girl and you don't even know why.

I sigh. Regardless of the reasoning, I have no choice but to continue. Maybe I'll get some answers eventually, but even as I'm thinking it I can feel the doubt creeping in.

The sun pokes its glowing head out from just beyond the treetops, casting golden rays throughout the forest and turning the sky various hues of pink and orange. I melt in the comforting heat the light provides, forgetting all about my worries for just a moment.

"Hope?"

I turn to see a half-asleep Lily crawling out of the tent, rubbing her eyes. "Is it time to go already?"

"Almost," I reply, walking over to her. "Once we bathe and pack our things we can head out."

Lily nods, disappearing back into the small orange tent. I hear her rummage through her things and zipping up her bag. She comes back out with a change of clothes in hand, her backpack strapped securely around her other arm. I head inside and fold the blankets we used, tucking them into the larger bag and bringing it out so I can take the tent down and pack it up as well.