THE HOLIDAY TRIP

“When we asked for help and it agreed on one condition, the condition was that will would give it a hundred men to feast on their blood and reap their souls. Thousands were dying every day, so sacrificing just 100 men to put an end to it all sounded like a good deal. However, before it was over, we found out that what the demon wanted was to open the portal permanently for its fellow demons to possess Bannica, and it needed the 100 men to perform the ritual that would open the portal. We could not allow that to happen, so we imprisoned it.”
Cris was still trying to wrap his head around what he had just heard when his grandmother spoke again.
“We have done this before and we can do this again. First, we need to make sure the demon doesn’t capture anyone. It hasn’t regained its full powers yet, so it can’t have gotten far. We’re going to capture it” Doris said.
“How?’’ Cris asked.
“The demon cannot fully function as long as there’s a source of light nearby. The last time we summoned it, we were the ones who ensured that there was a complete blackout in Hartwood. For it to fully regain its powers, I believe I will try to get rid of every source of light in Hartwood; that will be easier to do as there is currently no sunlight, and I imagine the demon understands that too and will attempt to finish everything before the sun comes up in the morning.” Lulu explained.
“Yes. So, what we need to do is capture the demon or at least make sure it doesn’t gain its full powers before the sun comes up.” Doris said.
“Neither of which will be easy to pull off. Do not forget it now has access to demon powers that might even be as powerful as its own.” Lulu answered.
“So, what do we do? Just sit around?”
Doris shook her head.
“No, we wait for it in the maze. If the demon figures out the child has powers and indeed has access to them as Lulu said, it may prioritize getting the one hundred men he needs to perform the ritual over causing a blackout to restore its full powers. If that happens to be the case, it will bring its victims to the pillar; we must be there to stop it. Do not expect an easy fight; it’ll do everything possible to never be imprisoned ag-”
“—That’s why we’re going to kill it.” Lulu said.
“Lulu, that’s impossible. You need a demon-slayer to kill a demon and there’s none here.” Amaru said.
“Don’t be so sure.”
Granny Lulu went to the back of her house and dug up a weapon she had buried; it was a spear whose head was made from the tears of the moon spirit. She brought it back into the house to show the others.
“Good thing the demon slayer is a weapon and not a person.”
The members of the Inner Sanctum were impressed. Granny Lulu continued.
“Darkness can only be defeated with light. However, the weapon cannot be used by just anyone; the powers of the spear would only manifest in the hands of a pure, undefiled soul.
Lulu went straight to Cris and bent a knee to lower herself to his height.
“My dear child, you have the purest soul among everyone here, and we have a pretty good chance of saving Lilith, but only if you help us. You’re the only one who can use this weapon to save your sister. Do you think you can do this?” Lulu asked.
“But, Granny Lulu, I have a weak soul, remember? That’s the only reason why Lilith has these powers and not me.”
“Your soul may be weak, but it is pure, and I have no doubt that your love for your sister and your desire to save will give you all the strength you need.”
“I don’t know, Granny Lulu, it sounds dangerous. Shouldn’t we tell mom and dad? I think we should tell them” Cris asked.

CRIS & LIILTH

“No, my darling, your parents mustn’t find out about this. We need to act now; any further delay might be deadly. I understand your fear, but I promise you that Lilith won’t be hurt. This spear is special, it cannot damage the physical body; think of it as a ray of light that will only pass through Lilith’s body to destroy the demon. So don’t worry about your sister getting hurt.” Lulu assured.
“Can’t we just destroy the pillar so that the demon won’t be able to perform the ritual?”

“No, child, the pillar is like the gate between our world and the realm of the demons; destroying the pillar will be like tearing the gate open, and the demons will be able to come to our world. And that is what the demon wants to do as well, but it needs to perform a ritual before that can happen.

Besides, doing that will not take care of our other problem – freeing your sister from the demon’s grasp. The only way is for you to use the spear; I need to know that you can do it.”
Cris took a deep breath and nodded positively; he was scared and Granny Lulu could see it.
“Yes, Granny Lulu, I will do it.”
“Good boy.”
“But how do we go about this?” Kanah asked.
“We’ve only heard of this before. We’ve never done it.” He continued.
Granny Lulu stood up and faced Kanah
“As long as the spear pierces the demon and Cris here is the one holding the spear, it should work.”
She turned back to face Cris
“You’re going to stay hidden while we attempt to subdue the demon. As soon as you hear me call your name, come out and strike him, and aim for the chest of the demon, ok? The demon is not your sister. Lilith is also a victim of the demon and we want to free her. Ok?”
By the time the demon brought its first victim to the pillar, the members of the Inner Sanctum were waiting to stop it. A fight ensued, with the demon overpowering the Inner Sanctum; a few of the got seriously injured but, eventually, they managed to pin the girl down and restrained the demon. Granny Lulu called out to Cris.
“Now, Cris!”
Cris came out of hiding with the spear in his hand. Looking at his sister pinned to the ground, he hesitated for a moment, but then he saw his grandmother’s stare and brushed off his reluctance; he ran towards them and plunged the spear into her sister. There was a long, loud screech from Lilith; she shook vigorously as she screamed. The screaming and shaking stopped abruptly and Lilith went limp.
“I’m confused, is that it? Is it over?” Kanah asked
Granny Lulu stood up and removed the spear from an unconscious Lilith.
“Yes, Kanah, it is over.”
Cris was crying.
“Why isn’t Lilith waking up? She looks like she’s dead, Granny Lulu.”
“No, my boy. She’s just sleeping; she will wake up soon enough.”
The boy immediately stopped crying and had a look of relief on his face.
“By the way, how did you know about the spear and we didn’t? Kanah asked.
“Let’s just say there’s a reason why I’m the head of the Inner Sanctum.” Granny Lulu answered.
“Well, it’s a good thing the demon’s gone now. The town can now be at peace permanently. In a way, the coming of these children helped us too. Without them, we’d still be worried about Sekhmet getting loose someday.” Athaliah said, to the agreement of the others.
Lilith woke up the next morning and was back to her usual self by evening; there wasn’t so much as a scar on her body from when she was stabbed with the demon-slayer. Granny Lulu and Cris decided it was best to keep all that happened from Lilith and their parents as Lilith focused on learning how to balance her powers with her everyday life as a kid. Cris developed an open mind about business and decided to give it more serious thought alongside his passion to be an artist.