After the ominous rumble that reverberated through the garden, an explosion burst over the family manor. A large spirit with hundreds of floating eyes and a grotesque body had found Svet and wished to consume him.

Kane managed to order Mistuki away from the battle, but what he feared most? What would happen with Svet outside his room? Without any barriers, without any protective charms- The danger that Svet brought on them would be monumental.

Svet, drowned by the voices, was then controlled by someone -or something- that stemmed from deep within. This new persona warped Svet’s ideas of mercy and he was intent on "ending the sufferin" of the spirit. The spirit and Svet fought, and Svet’s gentleness was lost. Svet was becoming more unlike himself and he seemed intent on consuming the spirit.

The battle soon became one-sided. Clearly, Svet had the power to strike the spirit with unmatched brutality. And as time went on, it was evident that the exorcists were not fearing the spirit itself. They feared what would happen if Svet consumed the large mass of souls.

Svet brought the rampant spirit down and ate their accumulated soul. Once  he was lucid again, he was struck with the realization that there was a power within him he could not control. It was a power that overwhelmed his personality and hungered for spirits.

He would starve for more unless he was stopped.

“We’ll have to push everything ahead of schedule,” Kane’s voice rang over the sound of giggling children.

Around him, toddlers were pushed in strollers. Parents snapped pictures of their kids eating sandwiches while joggers ran past in groups. Parks weren't exactly the best places for impromptu meetings between an exorcist and a demon, but the jovial atmosphere raised a blanket over the energies that would otherwise weigh the air around them.

Kane glanced at a child running up the slide and tumbling down. “Svet is out of time. The talismans aren't enough to hide him.”

From others or himself, Kane wasn't quite so sure.

The child, after landing over the wood chips, giggled and rolled back onto his feet. His smile was infectious. Collective emotions were powerful. Kane was taught a single person's beliefs could leave an impression on the world. The dead could leave fingerprints or ideas, but it was the living that gave them that power, that life. And it was that very life he needed when he was around Devan.

Devan sat on a bench in front of him. The air around him tingled and weighed down the very life surrounding them. A malicious and snappy aura wrapped him like a cloud and to an exorcist like Kane, it was suffocating.

The demon’s red eyes gleamed with a wisdom that befitted an old man dying away in hospice. Yet he seemed all too full of energy as he threw duck-feed into the pond.

“Your son has awakened?” Devan asked, tossing a handful at a duck who stared at the demon expectantly.

“You sensed it?”

Devan chuckled.

“Of course. It’s always the same sensation.” Devan’s eyes softened, shaking his head. “It is like a hunter on the prowl. I felt those familiar pair of eyes upon me and I knew your son would set his sights on me next.”

 Kane’s frown deepened. He glanced over at the man, and he hesitantly sat on the bench beside him.

To any unsuspecting passerby, it would look like Devan and Kane were old friends. They both had stress written over their faces and they both had a matching hardiness most fathers earned after years of patience, even though they looked no older than forty. They even wore similar clothes. Plain button-up shirts and simple jeans, a style meant to blend them in with the masses. Funnily enough, these articles of clothes looked awkward on them.

Kane wiped his hand over his mouth and stared across the lake. “And what of your… heir?”

Devan’s eye glinted mischievously, saying, “My child has been found. He hoped to make a meal out of a few of your retired exorcists, but my son should not have trusted his informants. All information comes from somewhere. And all sources are influence by my hand.”

The exorcist couldn’t help but shiver when Devan chucked another handful of food toward the ducks. There was no warmth in Devan’s eyes as he watched the little birds, almost the same indifference in his tone when speaking of his heir.

The water splashed and rippled under the ferocious beaks pecking at the surface.

“How did you manage to take him down? Isn't he already awakened?” Kane asked.

“I shot him, of course. He is still young and inexperienced with possessions. He forgets his vessels can’t function with a bullet through the head.” Devan smiled. “Then again, he probably didn't think his vessel would receive any harm. He cares very little about them and barely spares a thought.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Devan shot Kane a playful look.

“He was out in the open too. Just like these ducks. Eating out of my hand.”

Kane frowned. He expected no less from Devan. Shooting his children as a hobby wouldn't be off the mark of what the old demon did on his spare time. On top of that, Kane knew that demons did not bond with each other like humans did. So, who knows? Maybe Devan showed his affection by hunting his children for sport.

“So without a vessel, that should keep him at bay until Svet arrives?” Kane asked.

“Is your son even ready?”

“He was trained his whole life for this. He is more than ready.”

“… Does he know what the plan is?”

Nearby trees swayed against the wind.

“More or less.”