Running with the Demon - Terry Brooks [190]
Nest stayed silent, stunned. It was difficult for her to imagine her grandmother doing what Pick had described. But Gran had been her fearless champion, and Nest knew the sylvan was right. Gran had given up her magic and thereby her life for her granddaughter.
She set Pick upon the ground then and bent over John Ross. He was stirring at last, trying to right himself. His pale green eyes fixed on her, and for an instant she saw a mix of despair and resolve that frightened her. He asked what had happened, and she told him. When she was finished, he reached for his staff and levered himself slowly and gingerly to his feet.
“You saved us, Nest,” he said. He brushed at his clothing, a muddied and rumpled scarecrow in the rain-drenched gloom.
“I was worried about you,” she replied softly. “I thought the maentwrog might have...”
She trailed off, unable to finish, and he put his arm around her and held her against him. “I’m sorry this had to happen to you, Nest. I wish it could have been otherwise. But life chooses for us sometimes, and all we can do is accept what happens and try to get through it the best way we can.”
She nodded into his shirt. “It never felt as if he was my father,” she whispered. “It never felt as if he was any part of me.”
“He was part of what’s bad about the world, but a part that happened to be closer to you than most.” Ross stroked her damp hair. “Put it behind you, Nest. It won’t happen all at once, but if you give it a chance, it will go away.”
“I know. I’ll try.” She hugged him gratefully. “I’m just glad you were here to help me.”
There was an uneasy pause. His hand stopped moving in her hair.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He seemed to be thinking it over. “What do you think would have happened, Nest, if your father had touched you?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know.”
She heard him sigh. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve kept secret until now. I’m going to tell you because you need to know. Because someday the knowledge might save your life.”
His face lowered into her hair. “I dream about the future, Nest. I dream about it every night of my life. I dream about the way things will be if everything breaks down and the feeders consume us. I dream about the end of civilization, the end of the world. The dreams are real, not pretend. It is the price I pay for being a Knight of the Word. It is a reminder of what will happen if I fail. More importantly, it is a window into time that lets me discover exactly what it is I must try to prevent.”
He stepped away from her, keeping his hands on her shoulders. Rain glistened on his lean face and in his mud-streaked hair. “I found out about you through my dreams. I found out that the demon was your father. But most important of all, I saw what you became because he touched you here tonight, in this place, in this park. I came to Hopewell to stop that from happening.”
“What did I become?” she asked, her voice shaking.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It can’t happen now. The window of opportunity is past. The demon is gone. The events can’t re-create themselves. You won’t become what I saw in my dream. You will become what you make of yourself, but it won’t be a bad thing. Not after what you did tonight. Not after you’ve heard what I have to say.”.
His smile was tight and bitter. “Some of what I do as a Knight of the Word is difficult for me to live with. I can’t always change the future with words and knowledge. The demons I hunt are elusive and clever, and I don’t always find them. Sometimes they accomplish what they intend, and I am left to deal with the results. Because I know from my dreams what those results signify, I must change them any way I can.”
His brow furrowed with hidden pain. “It was necessary for you to face your father and reject him. I came to Hopewell to see if you could do