Nick fell flat on his back and skidded a few inches. It knocked the air out of him, blurring his vision.
“You’re…mad!” Nick gasped in pain, struggling to get up.
Nick knew he didn’t stand a chance. He was hopelessly outnumbered.
“Nick, there’s a hell reserved especially for idiots, because that’s where I’m sending you.”
Eurynomos appeared in front of him, raising his knife.
In that split second, Nick’s eyes focused on a red lever glinting on the wall opposite him. He
instinctively knew its purpose. His heartbeat sped up. He had a chance, an unbelievably tiny
chance, to free the caged children. If he had to die, he would die fighting.
For Brooklyn, he thought. He was filled with adrenaline. The pain dulled.
Just as the knife came down, Nick rolled to the side. Somehow, he had managed to escape.
It struck hard on the stone, centimeters from Nick’s body. The impact sent shockwaves into
Eurynomos’ hands, forcing him to drop the knife.
Nick rushed forward with all his might, and slammed down on the red lever. The level stick
broke at the root, making it almost impossible to be used again. All glass doors slid up. Children,
each with luminous eyes, poured out of their cages, howling viciously.
“Stop him!” shouted the hooded man.
Nick felt a sharp pain in his neck and immediately felt himself turning cold. He collapsed onto
the ground.
Somewhere in the crown, a small figure came towards him.
Nick closed his eyes. He felt soft fingers grabbing his shoulders.
In the distance, he could hear the sound of the ghostly howls of the hundreds of children as
they surrounded the Devourer and his scientists.
He knew he had done well.
After that, only darkness.
Present
“That’s the end,” Parker says. Snoring is heard. Mason and Tyler are already asleep.
“But what happened to Nick? And the children?” asks Cooper quietly.
“You see, that’s the point. Some say he was turned back into a snow leopard, while others say
the girl saved him and they escaped.” Parker’s eyes twinkle under the starry night.
“I hope he escaped,” says Cooper.
After a moment, Parker starts again.
“You know, snow leopards used to roam the Gobi desert.”
But he can hear the slow breathing of his son, asleep.
He smiles and looks up at the sky, which seems to be infinite with imagination. He can’t
refrain from searching the constellations, dreaming, letting himself explore the vast vault of sky
and space.
An icy breeze blows sharply on Parker’s face. He shivers and curls up tighter. The wind is
suddenly picking up.
“I’m the devil...”
Parker freezes.
It cannot be. It must be the wind.
“Devil...”
This time, the faint whisper seems to be right beside him. A shadow of movement passes by.
Parker looks up.
And stares into those luminous pair of eyes.
