"We'll be waiting for you with after we win the battle, so don't die out there"

Noah remembered Flora's words.

Once again he was out of the fight. He should have gotten used to ending up surrounded by Bertram and Miles on a side mission instead of being with the others, and in some ways he was no longer bothered by the new company, but he still couldn't get used to the worry that followed him when he couldn't be together with his friends in such important battle.

The situation warranted the group separating in order to save the children. Noah understood the importance of attacking the hellhounds using the chaos that would be created in the village as a distraction, it was a smart move, and the most reasonable thing was to send those who already knew the cave to do the job. And despite all that he continued to think about a battle in which he would not be a part.

Even his father was going to be fighting without having experience in facing demons.

Stop whining and think about the children.

He knew better than that. His job as a Protector was to help those in need and no one needed more help than those poor kids.

The disappointed look on Bertram and Miles' faces showed Noah that he wasn't the only one who wanted to be with the others.

"The kids need us more than the Protectors, let's focus on that," he told them after crossing the portal to the outside of the cave.

"I know, but that doesn't make me worry any less about my father," Bertram replied.

"Your dad is a beast, he can take care of demons with no problem," Miles commented, giving Bertram a pat on the back. "He kicked my ass more than twenty times during practice."

"You're not a very difficult opponent to defeat, especially for the captain of the firefighters," Noah said.

"I bet Gellert would kick your ass too," Miles muttered.

"Alright, we shouldn't deviate from the mission," Noah commented. "Bertram, you go first, once we hear the explosion Miles and I go in."

"Why can't I set the explosives? I've always wanted to do something like that," Miles asked.

Bertram began to open a portal to the other end of the cave. "Because your power is more useful than mine in disabling the hellhounds. Plus I'm the one who memorized the cave map."

"Next time I'll be the one blowing things up," Miles commented. "Why are you still here? Stop talking and go to work."

"You're the one who keeps talking to me." Bertram went through the portal and before closing it he said a few last words. "Be careful when you enter the cave, the explosion may cause some tremors."

"We'll be fine," answered Noah. "Let us know if you need some distraction."

Waiting always seemed like torture to Noah. He was a man of action, sitting around and doing nothing rot his brain. His muscles begged him to move, to do something productive.

Who stays behind is a coward, his father used to say every time Noah wanted to stay out of the risky excursions that his parents called "family activities." Over time he learned to act before thinking, if he didn't ask himself too many questions it was easier to move.

"Dude, stop pacing, you're going to make a hole in the floor," Miles said. "Plus it makes me nervous."

"Many things make you nervous."

"We are about to enter the lair of fire-breathing infernal beasts, of course I'm nervous."

"Fair enough." Noah stood still.

"How long do you think Bertram will take? I don't think I'll be able to wait much longer. I just want to do something."

"It depends on whether the hellhounds get in their way, if we're lucky I don't think it will take more than fifteen minutes. There aren't that many explosives, we just want to get the attention of the hellhounds, not destroy the entire cave."

"What if he miscalculated and destroys the cave?" Miles asked, tapping his foot against the floor. "All the kids are going to be crushed to death, what if the kids are no longer alive?"

"You need to calm your thoughts before your mental scenarios become catastrophic. Bertram knows what he's doing, he's an architecture student."

"Really? Why didn't you start there when you explained to me why he was going to do the job?"

"I thought you knew." Noah shrugged.

"You guys don't tell me anything about your personal life, how is he supposed to know?"

"Why would you want to know about my personal life?"

"Because we're risking our life together, that makes us like brothers. Once all of this is over we should drink some beers together and get to know each other."

"I'm not your brother, you already have one. Isn't that enough?"

Miles' response was covered by the sound of an explosion followed by a string of howls. The ground beneath Noah's feet vibrated and the small jump Miles gave told him the young man had felt it too.

"The talk is over, it's time to work." Noah took his cell phone out of his pants pocket and read Bertram's message. "He says everything went well, he's going to try to trap the hellhounds heading towards the explosion."

"That was faster than I expected," Miles commented, following in the other young man's footsteps.

The two entered the cave, despite the small tremor there was no damage done in the first section. The walled hallway looked identical to the first time they entered, the only difference was that they already knew where they were going and they had a mission to complete.

They didn't expect hellhounds to leave children unsupervised and they were right. When they were a few steps away from reaching the cells, they encountered one of the beasts. Before the animal saw them, Noah lunged at him and plunged his knife into his throat.

Blood covered the young man's hand as the hellhound took his last breath. Having practiced to increase his speed gave him good results.

"The area is clear," Noah said and motioned for Miles to go first with his hand.

"There are too many of them," the younger one commented, paying attention to the cells. "I didn't realize that before."

"We need to start opening the cells, can you take care of that until Bertram arrives?" Noah asked.

"I think so, but the kids need to move back."

Noah stood in the middle of the circular room. "Kids, can you hear me? If you can, come a little closer to the bars," he spoke loudly. The children began to peek their heads through the cell bars. "We are here to help you get out, we are going to take you to a safe place but for us to get you out you have to collaborate with us. We are going to start opening the cells, you have to move back, against the wall. Once the cell is open, don't run away, it's dangerous, you have to stay with us until everyone is free. Do you understand?"

A chorus of yeses responded. Soon the little ones moved away from the bars.

"This is going to get some attention from the hellhounds," Miles commented, standing some meters away from the first cell.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

Miles opened his mouth and shouted slowly in the direction of the cell. A wave of energy slammed into the bars and destroyed most of them.

"Are you okay kid?" Miles asked.

A boy no more than seven years old walked uncertainty out of the cell.

"It's alright, we're going to get you out of here. Just wait there for now, okay?" Miles said sweetly.

The boy nodded, everything was fine until the howl of a hellhound burst into the room, making the little boy start to shake.

Noah moved his head towards the sound of the beast and took out his knives.

A hellhound ran towards him, but Noah was faster. The young man jumped on the animal's back and clung to it by its hair. He could feel the heat of the hellhound on his hand, almost on the verge of burning. Without wasting any time, he stabbed his knife into the back of the beast's neck and made a horizontal slash. The animal fell to the ground.

Another howl came towards them, but it didn't stop at just one. A group of hellhounds were approaching them. How was Noah going to defeat them all?

"Sorry I'm late." Bertram appeared behind Miles and immediately began creating portals to get the children out of the cells. "We have to hurry. There are too many of them, I was able to knock down a cave wall and lock in a group but many more are approaching."

"Miles, I'm going to need your help here," Noah said as more than ten hellhounds appeared in the hallway.

"I got this," Miles said and stood in front of Noah. "Maybe you should cover your ears."

The young man shouted in the direction of the animals that were running towards them. More than half of the hellhounds fell to the ground in a daze.

Noah managed to defeat one of the remaining ones by taking advantage of his confusion thanks to Miles' power. Another hellhound attacked him from behind, Noah couldn't react before it slammed him against the stone wall. A flame flew towards him, Noah rolled to the side to avoid it but it still hit his left arm.

"Fuck," he screamed. The pain from the burn began to spread from his hand to his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Bertram asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You focus on getting the kids out," Noah responded.

"I know, I only have one left," Bertram replied. He helped the last girl out and then opened a large portal to the beach. "Kids, I need you all to come over there and wait for me on the other side. Can you do that?"

Noah rose to his feet and looked around the room. Miles had managed to defeat most of the hellhounds but more and more appeared. The number of them seemed to be endless.

"I guess it's time to speed up," Noah murmured.

Until that moment he had not used his maximum speed. Using his power to the limit made him tire much faster and he didn't want to wear himself out before they could save the children.

Noah focused on the remaining eight hellhounds and started running. The rest of the world froze, even the flames stopped in the air. He approached his enemies and cut their throats one by one.

Once he finished, he stood next to Miles. The world returned to normal speed and the hellhounds fell lifeless.

"What the hell just happened?" Miles asked. "They were all alive a second ago, weren't you on the other side of the room?"

"We're done!" shouted Bertram. He was standing next to the doorway with no one next to him.

Noah tried to walk towards Bertram but his legs shook preventing him from moving.

"I have no energy left," he explained to Miles after seeing the questioning look on his face.

"I'll give you a hand," Miles said. He grabbed Noah's right arm and wrapped it around his neck.

Together they moved towards the portal. A new group of hellhounds ran in the direction of the young men and Bertram opened another portal to deflect them.

Finally they crossed to the beach. They had achieved it, all the kids were out of prison.

"Let's go to the bunker before someone finds us," Noah said.

There was nothing left to do but wait for the outcome of the final battle.