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The water was colder than he expected and he shouted with alarm when he hit But as he sank into the new subterranean world, he relaxed The cold wasn’t so bad after a while, and though he didn’t like the way the salt water washed down his throat, he’d experienced more unpleasant sensations in the universe of the Demonata

That should have been the end of him, an anonymous, pointless death as Theseus had predicted so ic dwelt nearby and they atching Known to humans as the Old Creatures, they’d once controlled the world Now they were dying, or had moved on, and only a feere left

Some of those lived in a cave beneath the cliff which Beranabus juone there in the first place They sensed the boy’s peculiar brand of ic and curiously probed the corridors of hisboy and instead of letting him drift out to sea and a welcoainst his will He washed up on the floor, where he reluctantly spat out water and instinctively gasped for air, even though he would rather have suffocated

When Beranabus could speak, he roared at the pillars of light (the Old Creatures had no physical bodies) He knew they’d saved hi to make them explain why they hadn’t let him die

“We Have Need Of You,” the Old Creatures answered, the words for inside the boy’s brain “You May Be Able To Help Us”

Beranabus roared at thes verbally, the Old Creatures knehat he wanted to say

“Yes, She Is Dead, But Her Soul Has Not Departed This World She Can Return To You” Beranabus squinted at the shifting lights “If You Remain With Us, Let Us Teach And Direct You, And Serve As We Wish, You Will Meet Your Bec Again”

The promise captivated Beranabus and filled his heart armth and hope It didn’t cross his , and he never wondered what they ain—that was all that s for death behind him, he presented hi, leaving them free to mould and do with him as they wished

Beranabus could never reh he spent ht hi his evolution fro adult

As his intellect developed, he came to believe that the Old Creatures had lied about my return He didn’t blame them—he kneas the only way they could have calmed and controlled him He accepted her than he’d been as a child, and although he still loved and mourned me, he had other issues to focus on He had demons to kill

Beranabus hated the Dehtered his beloved—and the Old Creatures encouraged this hatred They showed him how to open s to the deic to kill the beasts They sent hieting vulnerable demons

Beranabus never questioned their motives He assumed that everyone on this world hated the deh the Old Creatures were not of the human realm and seemed to be under no threat They were more powerful—in this universe at least—than the De to fear from them

As he developed a taste for killing, Beranabus spentthe cave of the Old Creatu

res as a base which he visited rarely, when he needed to sleep, treat his wounds and recover

One night, after an especially long spell butchering deone He would have known it even if he was blind The ic had faded from the air and it now felt like a cold, dead place