[right][h2][color=8493ca]Caught in a Snare[/color][/h2][@DaftJive][@Tlazolteotl][@Stanifly][/right]

[color=8493ca]Damien shrunk in the shadow of the larger demon, his hooves quaking in his boots. The flame in his hand dimmed and dissipated, leaving no trace of smoke. His eyes darted around the wilting garden. His breath quickened. The ringing was like a swarm of bees in his ears. Damien knew it would soon sting.

He couldn’t escape his commander and secure his peace. How did he ever think he could? It was naive. He couldn’t give up, for he had to fulfill his duty to support his mom. He couldn’t abandon his friends, because they supported him even while he had been secretly aiding their demise against his will. But looking at the garden, there was also no way for him to truly have all of this and all it represented. 

The candle atop his head flickered from Viné’s breath. He had not been this close to the demon himself in months. Would he be more dangerous up close?

Damien looked from the demon to the moth and back. To return to Hell, he would need to shut himself off. At least temporarily, anyway, so he could endure more labor and pain. But maybe, somehow, he would have strength against the great lion. Damien couldn’t think of a time he could face him without being stricken with fear. Maybe his horns would end up mounted on the wall the moment he retaliated. But would it be worth it? To die trying, rather than die giving up?

The thought was anxiety-inducing.

Damien considered the moth. It stood there patiently. Calm. What would he be choosing by taking its hand? Would he stay? Might he…die? Did he want to die? Or would he find refuge, even for a short while?

Damien couldn’t think of a time when he could choose. Not since childhood. He wasn’t sure that he trusted himself to choose. He stood between the moth and the lion, frozen by the magnitude of it all.

For the first time, he envied the humans. So many of them had a god to call upon. In Hell, you had no one. No higher power to lean on, no deity to have faith in. [I]What do I do?[/I] he thought desperately.[/color]