Right hand. Prince of Darkness. Dmitry Nazarov

Arafel! Enough!

      I tower over Eitan, ready to tear him apart.

      – Never! I growl, breathing into his face. – Never come between a demon and its prey!

      I say the last words in a human voice. And, only when I heard myself, I understand that I have regained my human form. I move back to the wall, away from the others, and wearily sit down on the floor.

      Apparently I’ve been off for a while. She didn’t fall asleep, didn’t lose consciousness, namely, she disconnected from reality, frozen in place, looking at one point, hearing and not seeing anything. When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was muffled voices.

      – I’m not even sure my husband will believe me, – the woman said quietly. Apparently, she managed to recover a little, but emotionally still remained on edge. – I wouldn’t believe it myself, someone tell me!

      She ran her hand through the hair of a sleeping child, whose childish organism apparently found the best way out of this situation: as soon as the threat passed, fall asleep soundly in her mother’s arms and thus move away from the recent fright.

      – And if he believes, it is also not clear what to do. Would he want to take care of his father’s funeral after everything that had happened here? Prince of Light, I can’t imagine this funeral!

      – Now you just need to go home and calm down, at least a little. Sit in a comfortable environment. Drink something stronger than usual. Get some sleep. And keep the boy with you, he will be calmer that way. And then all the questions will be solved by themselves. Can I help you?

      – No, no, thanks! Thank you for everything!

      – Can you get home on your own? Eitan asked with some hesitation.

      – Oh sure. I’m fine, but it’s not far from here.

      I heard footsteps, saw people approaching with peripheral vision. Tobias’ daughter-in-law and Eitan carrying a sleeping boy. The woman suddenly stopped.

      – You shouldn’t be afraid of her, – Eitan began to explain quietly. She doesn’t wish you harm. And never wanted to. She was forced to obey this man, but now he is gone.

      Interrupted breath. The memory of the last seconds of Tobias’s life did nothing to increase his confidence in the creature sitting near the door. I cast an indifferent glance at the people and turned away, showing with my posture and facial expressions that I was not going to stop anyone and generally interfere in their actions in any way. But instead of reaching the exit, the woman, on the contrary, retreated into the depths of the temple. It seems that only the bloody body of a recent father-in-law did not allow her to go too far.

      – I’ve seen what she’s capable of, – she said in a barely audible voice.

      But demons have very keen hearing.

      – I saw it too, – Eitan did not give up, – but take my word for it, she is not at all the personification of evil, as one might think.

      Are you saying she’s kind? the woman whispered incredulously, even sarcastically.

      – Not exactly, but she is much more human than you might think. She, of course, is incredibly strong and dangerous, but she is not alien to a sense of justice. It is she who directs her actions in most cases. So you have nothing to be afraid of. Let’s go.

      I calmly sat still until the throwing was finally over, and the woman with the child went to her place, probably to the same house from which I pulled them out half an hour ago.