“I can still bring you food. You must be tired after this long walk”. He brought a pot from the right corner and opened the lid. Inside, there were weird purple looped fruits, like donuts. Felix took one of them, “I’ve never saw such a thing”;

“The ones who came before you eat an entire pot of them. They aren’t that rare, and I’m happy to help all of you”. Felix took a bite, “It’s a bit sour”, but juicy. He didn’t like it much, but he took another bite, then another and at last he fitted the rest inside his mouth.

“Do you want some?”, said the Keeper to Alice;

“I’m not hungry”, she said without looking at the old man.

It was time to discuss what to do. Felix raised himself from the stool and grabbed the old man’s shoulder. His lips got near his ear, “We need to talk”. He nodded, and turned toward the two, “I’m going to show him the lab, excuse me”.

They moved out the tent and found shelter under the shade of one of the palm trees.

“What’s going to happen to him?”.

The old man grinned, “A wonderful thing”, he said, “He’s going to be a Demon”;

“Demons don’t exist, you fool”;

“They do now. Many would believe that it’s just a desert fever, but not me”, he cackled, “They can’t fool me. No, my eyes had saw many of them”;

“You’ve gone nuts”, he didn’t understand anything of what he said, maybe he was just saying a load of bullshit.

“You would too if you spent your whole life alone, but you’ve got to trust me, young boy”;

“Don’t call me that. I’m a thir-”. The jolt stopped him from saying this, and he moved to the next question, “How could have this happened?”;

“It’s the Wooden Worm, a parasite. Nasty creatures, if he can control it, one day he’ll wipe an entire army”.

Felix’s eyes widened, “You must be joking”;

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“Your only chance is to stab him in the heart, or set him on fire, but you must be quick, or it’ll be too late”;

“How can I be sure that you’re not fooling me into killing him?”;

“Why would I? It’d be only be more work for me. Now, excuse me, but I’ve some work to do”.

The Keeper moved toward around a pile of dark wood planks. He beat the ground with his stick, and kicked the sand with his sandals, uncovering a hatch. Felix had to follow because the old man’s answers didn’t satisfy him enough.

“My lab is here”;

“Lab?”;

“The place in which I find shelter from the storms and lay the fallen to be prepared. I don’t think you’ll like it”. He didn’t trust him enough to go there, and the thought of going in a place full of dead bodies was enough to fuel his nightmares.

“I think I’ll pass”. But as he opened it, he found another thing to ask him.

“Why do you this job?”.

“Because they told me so”;

“But have you ever asked why it happens? Why people come out of nowhere, and why all of them are young?”. This didn’t make much sense.

“Young boy, I don’t ask myself such questions, it’s impossible to understand the scheme of God; if it’s his will, then it means there’s a reason we aren’t meant to grasp”. There were too many things Felix didn’t understand, and the time to ask wasn’t much.

“I’ll be back soon”, said the Keeper, and he disappeared inside the manhole.

Felix moved again under the shade, and pulled his knife, testing its sharpness against the tree’s bark. He took a breath as he tried to keep his nerves under control. He wasn’t accustomed to killing people: his enemies were only aliens or monsters that might have been once humans. The only thing he was worried about when he fought them was how to kill them more quickly.

He already tried to kill him without thinking much about the consequences, and it was his soldier side that took hold of him. Thinking clearly, he regretted doing that. This time he’ll think more as the normal person he was before his Academy was destroyed. And the right thing to do was to talk about it with Alice, even if it meant making her angry, or not believe him.

He’ll tell her because it was what he would have wanted when it happened to his wife, and not being given explanations after the fact. He raised himself from the sand and walked towards the tent.

He was going to tell everything from the start with a friendly but respectful tone. It was a difficult decision, but he shouldn't be the only one taking that. Maybe he’ll fetch the Keeper and he’ll explain what the problem was. Then they’ll make out a plan on how to kill him without making him suffer. He stopped as he neared the flap.

What if she refused? Could he allow a demon to go free? Or maybe he was making a great mistake.

“Alice”, he said, as he entered.

They were under the sheets, hidden by the statue. They must be both sleeping.

“Alice”, he said, “I need to talk with you”. As he moved past the statue, he pulled up the sheet and uncovered a bundle of rags made to resemble a human being.

A shiver ran through his spine. He wasted too much time.