FicWad

"RUN!" Julius hollered, darting to his left.

But there was no need to tell Usha; as soon as the wolves had begun to dash towards them, she had broken into a sprint. She was now a few metres in front of Julius. As the two raced over the sand, Usha saw the obvious: the golden beasts were catching up.

"It's no use, Julius!" she cried, slowing down. "We can't outrun them!"

As Julius ran past her, he grabbed her arm, dragging her along with him. "Maybe not on the beach ..." He made an abrupt right turn, bringing them into the forest. "... But we can try to lose them in these trees!"

The jungle was a mess, full of rotten logs, fallen over trees and plants that stung their ankles. But Julius and Usha were not about to stop because of injuries. There was no telling what the wolves would do if they caught them. The further they got into the thicket, the thicker and darker the trees seemed to get. Julius shuddered, still running at full speed.

"I thought this island was supposed to be home to Light, not Dark!" he commented to Usha.

The demon shrugged, dodging an unearthed tree root. "None of my kin have ever even ventured close to this island before, so I would not know. But I must confess, I am just as surprised as you. These trees almost remind me of home."

By "home", Usha meant Kingdom Come. The name made Julius grimace; it was the last place he had seen Delilah as herself. But she had been full of pain and suffering. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the horrible memory.

"There!" Usha cried, interrupting his thoughts.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the left. They ducked behind the trunk of an enormous tree. Julius was about to protest that this would never hide them, but he heard a beast snarl nearby. Then a most strange thing happened: he heard one of the wolves speak!

"We lost them!" it said, obviously mad. "He will not be pleased."

"What does it matter?" another asked. "We merely guard the beach. Those two will face much more dangerous obstacles the closer they get to the Master's dwelling, atop The Mountain."

Julius and Usha exchanged glances, but didn't speak. After what seemed like a lifetime, the wolves gave up arguing whether or not to search for them, and returned to the beach. When they were finally gone, Julius let out a sigh of relief, and slumped against the trunk.

"That was close," he breathed.

"Yes," his companion agreed, "it was risky. But we have learned valuable information. Now at least we know where The Light resides."

Julius glanced in-between the treetops at the high mountain peak, miles off. "Yeah, but it doesn't make getting there any easier."

Usha also looked at The Mountain, judging the distance. "If we start now," she began, "and rest during the night, we should be there by dusk tomorrow." Julius was in the middle of celebrating the short journey when she added, "But that's if we don't ... meet anyone along the way."

Sighing again, Julius got to his feet. "This really isn't going to be easy, is it?"

The demon looked quizzically at him. "Did you ever think it would be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. No, of course I didn't. But I didn't think it would be this hard ..."

"If you could go back," Usha whispered, averting her gaze, "would you have chosen a different path?"

Julius looked at her, thinking. If he could go back, would he still have agreed to help Usha? No, that wasn't the right question. He wasn't in this - risking his life - to help Usha get revenge. He was in this for Delilah.

"No," he said confidently. "I'd have done it exactly the same."

Usha nodded, smiling slightly. "So would I. Come on, if we don't get going, we'll have to travel harder tomorrow to make up ground."

As the pair set off into the forest, Julius could not help but ponder over Usha's statement. So would I, she had said. What exactly did she mean by that? Was it possible that the demon, the evil spirit, the devil's servant, was having a change of heart?