"You've both cracked, completely lost it. You know that, right?"

"Shadow, I think we're both thinking the same thing here. SHUT UP!"

That was me telling our pessimistic friend over there to button it or be thrown over the wall, a threat both I, Sheira and half of the guards had warned him over. After a quick hour-long powernap and a quick bite of lunch, Sheira and I had got to work, walking the length of the wall, asking where we would be most required, what to expect and how to not die. Simple really. Shadow had made an appearance a little while later but not to pull his weight, rather to try (Emphasis on the word try) to convince us to make a quick getaway stage right.

For the most part we'd ignored him and had simply continued to fit the giant cannons that lined the battlements with firestones, tiny balls of burning death that could fire a blast of solid fire every minute or so when rigged up to the machines, ignoring mister whiny over there or simply threatening him with death by zombie when he wouldn't shut up. Just your average Sunday night, right? Although, to be fair, even this was on the weirder end of our little journey and we've been attacked by a robot with bloodlust.

Shadow wasn't deterred by the general consensus of 'button it' and with some feet of agility that made me feel just a little bit queasy, jumped round one of the enormous ballista by swinging himself round the outside of the wall to land in front of us. "You are aware what you're doing here. You are helping a group of random strangers fight off an army of the undead without needing to, we could just get some shut eye and leave first thing tomorrow or, better yet, get the hell out of dodge now."

Sheira scoffed as she loaded up the second to last stone into the projectile launcher. Golden flames flared down the frame of the weapon, leaving it smouldering in a very cool way. "That's rich coming from mister 'let's go away from our destination to Anglesey'. You brought us here, so technically its your fault we're in this mess," she snapped as she started explaining to the operator of the ballista how to use it and not set himself on fire.

Shadow fumed, "that was before I knew that there was an army of the undead knocking on the door every night. What are you looking at me like that for?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, maybe you can't use that argument, but you know its complete bull."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that even though Tulip and Zach told you about the Night of the Living Dead situation, you only changed your tune when you arrived in Truespear Hollow. You're fine with the zombies, but not with this town. Why?"

Surprising literally no one, Shadow narrowed his eyes, turned on his heel and left without another word. He was obviously hiding something, blind people could figure that out, but the guy had walls as impenetrable as Alcatraz but for the briefest moment, and I mean the briefest, he looked like he was about to say something. Well we were making progress, albeit not very much but hey, it was progress. Sheira and I finished loading up the final ballista (For those that are wondering the Vulcan Star was remaining very firmly inserted into Incaendium. While using that as a power source would probably kill everything in sight that would also include the guy on the cannon and half the population of Truespear Hollow) and made our way back down to solid ground and met up with Lillian at the base.

"All loaded up and ready for tonight," Sheira said as a couple of guys hoisted some sort of giant fan up onto the wall.

Lillian smiled gratefully. "I cannot thank you two enough for this, even if it's just for one night we might be able to cut the numbers back and that could be everything."

"It's no problem," I said, "but it would be more helpful if he was pulling his weight." Shadow was busy arguing with Crash on the other side of the village last time I saw him, but it was still very obvious who I was referring to.

"There's no rule saying he has to help."

"But he's literally stronger than half the village put together," Sheira argued. "I've seen him taking on twenty opponents at once and win. This isn't him being scared, he's being a coward. He's a soldier and yet he refuses to help those in need."

"Its his decision, and only his decision. Besides, he may have a reason for it that you two don't know about. How well do you know him anyway?" Lillian asked curiously.

That was a good question actually. I shrugged, "not very well to be completely honest. We've only known him since...what, the ninth?"

"Not even a week," Sheira added. "Six days."

"God it feels like longer," I muttered. That wasn't just concerning Shadow either. I'd only figured out who I was on the sixth which meant that I'd only known about the whole Elemental thing for less than ten days, and yet it felt like an eternity since I'd been at home in my crappy, uncomfortable bed waiting for the summer holidays to finally kick in. Maybe the lack of sleep had something to do with it, but it definitely felt like a million years ago.

Lillian's brow furrowed, "what do you know about him then?"

Sheira shrugged, "we know he served with the Army but not under his own volition. He was probably under hypnosis or something like that because he has a certain...err..."

"Murdery vendetta against them?"

"That's one way to describe it. Yeah, that. Other than that, we know he's extremely powerful, has a vault that would but Fort Knox to shame and says a lot of things that can't possibly exist in the same timeline."

"Why's he helping you then," the mayor asked. "If you don't know him and he doesn't you, what convinced him to come with you?"

We didn't actually answer because we didn't know how to answer. We didn't know why Shadow changed his mind, well we knew what had made him change his tune, but we didn't know why, if you get what I mean. "He wants access to the London Base library, we promised him that we'd get him it. We don't know why though."

"It is a big collection," Lillian suggested.

"But its nothing special. You could get it anywhere. Although...he could be after our history department."

"Why history?" I asked.

"We've got the largest collection of history books in the world," she explained. "Every event that's ever happened to our kind both minor and major is in that library. We've even got the really dark stuff down in the archives, only veterans can go down there though and if you're not you need written permission of two Vets and the Harpy to even go downstairs. Maybe that's what he wants."

"Your guess is as good as mine Sheir," I said. "Even if its not what our miserable friend wants I might plan a look down there myself, sounds like the restricted section from Harry Potter. Are there any screaming books?"

Sheira smirked, "oh don't worry about that. When we get back I'll be personally teaching you every piece of history and knowledge you'll need to be a passable elemental."

"But I've literally just finished school," I whined.

You know you're in trouble when she laughs like that. "Oh Nick, you don't know what's going to hit you."

Lillian smiled at this threatening of death by studying on my end but that smile faded as a guard rushed up to her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and he raced off towards the gate house. "Well whatever the reason is, it can wait. The gates are closing up, the sun will be down in about an hour, I highly advise you two get yourselves kitted up."

As the sun cast a golden orange glow over the world, warping its shadows into towering, twisted giants as the two of us raced downstairs into the village itself. People were starting to bunker down now, barricading doors, getting children inside and gazing fearfully at their only line of defence that also happened to be pockmarked with holes and cracks. Not exactly something you could put your faith in one hundred percent. Sheira and I branched off towards two separate ends of the village, she was going to try and find Shadow as no matter how much he was annoying us we kind of needed him, to get ready for the battle ahead.

I was making my way downtown (walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound) towards what once had been the church. I say once because a service hadn't been held there for six months and as it was literally the only fortified building in the whole town it had been converted into a giant bunker/barracks, filled to the brim with weapons, armour and enough stored food to last the island through a nuclear winter. Or Brexit. Take your pick, they're pretty much the same.

Anyways where was I? Oh yes, I ran into Tulip and had a creepy conversation with an old lady. I was weaving through the houses towards St Fortress when I saw a familiar blonde helping an elderly woman into her home to bunker down for the night. She was small, hunched over and wearing a, hand knitted by the looks of it, shawl round her frail shoulders but she still seemed to be getting around alright considering the fact that she looked about a hundred. As I walked up I saw something on the ground, a purple beaded purse that matched the little handbag that the woman was carrying. I scooped it up and darted forwards towards the two of them.

"Excuse me ma'am," I said as I caught up to them. "Is this yours?"

She fumbled through her handbag and a wide smile broke out over her wrinkled old face. "Bless your heart dear, I didn't realise I'd dropped it."

"It not a problem madam." I like old people, but I can't say I know many. All my grandparents either died before I was born or like my grandad on my mums side died before I was three, so I don't really remember him. But I do remember some of the war tales he told me about how he'd been in the navy on the big warships. I'd loved those stories and it was probably him who inspired my love of history, so thanks for that Grandad.

Tulip placed a gentle hand on the old woman's shoulder, "lets get you inside grandma, don't want you getting too cold out here."

"Only if I get a cup of tea."

A smile lit up the younger girl's face, "of course. Hey, how you holding up?"

It took me a second to realise that she was talking to me. "Huh? Oh yeah im fine, just about to horde of the undead, no big deal. In fact, it's just my average Sunday night."

She rolled her eyes spectacularly, "you are incredibly annoying."

"In a good way?"

"I suppose so. Most people would run screaming for the hills just knowing about our situation, let alone help like you are. You guys don't know what this means for us, just having this support, this friend in our time of need it means more than you can imagine. We owe you so much than just a boat ride at this point. Well, maybe excluding your dark-haired friend."

"He's not exactly an easy man to read. You'd have more luck trying to decode the Zodiac Cyphers than try and work out what going on in his hea– Hey!"

It was exact moment that Tulip's beloved grandmama went from sweet old lady to creepy old hag with a grip like iron. That vice like clutch was now wrapped around my wrist, dragging my whole body downwards until I was eye level with her. I'm not going to lie, she looked positively deranged. That wrinkly old face now had a pair of wide white eyes, the pupils constricted to a point that I couldn't even see them, her lips had gone so thin they were just a pencilled line, another wrinkle in a sea of time and her breath was pulsing at a rate that was very similar to my own panic attacks.

I was just about to get a fully frozen Tulip to run and find a doctor when, along with the strong scent of lavender perfume, the old lady began to talk and spoiler alert it wasn't pleasant.

"Where is he? Where's my son? Where is he? He promised us he'd bring him back, promised me, his mother! Lily isn't here. She's with Alder in London. They're safe, but Will's gone, and he said he wouldn't let him die. He promised!"

How are you supposed to process that? The only thing my befuddled brain could come up with in that moment was, "who promised you that?"

"The red eyed one. The one with darkness flowing through his blood. The one who tries to prove that he can resist the evil in his veins."

"Shadow?"

She didn't nod or shake her head, she only started muttering, "he let my boy die, he let him die. Its his fault they're all gone. All the children who weren't snatched away, gone! Gone forever... He's back, the liar, the deceiver. He's pretending to be a hero, but he couldn't save them... He can't save anyone, not even himself."

Cheery stuff, eh?

Her hand clamped down harder on my arm as her eyes, wide and shaking with fear, looked deep into my own, enough to send a shiver running down my spine. "Stay away from him, we all needed to, and we didn't, so they died. He's not what you think he is, he's not who he says he is. He's not like us... he's not like us."

My arm had gone so numb I didn't feel her hand retracting from me, in fact I was only aware that that glorious sermon of death was over when I saw her turn around and shuffle inside her house cheerily smiling to her granddaughter like she'd just shared her recipe for the perfect Victoria sponge and not that my apparent ally in this adventure had the blood of children on his hands. I, shocked and horrified, wordlessly gestured towards the church, received a white-faced nod from Tulip and quickly ran off in that direction avoiding any pensioners along the way in case of another 'The end is nigh!' lecture.

I would have given anything to talk to Sheira in that moment but either she was already outside, or I couldn't find her within the vast stone interior of the church. This left me alone in my own head, which I can safely assure you isn't a fun place to be. What the actual Hell!? That had to be Shadow who she was talking about, but it couldn't be. Could it? No, no way could it be the same person. That lady had lost her kid and she was at least seventy so unless she had been popping them out into her fifties the events that she'd been talking about had to be what...Thirty, forty years ago? That was impossible...wasn't it?

I pulled on my loaned black armour as I played all the possibly scenarios over in my head. What they'd given me to wear and not get eaten was actually pretty cool. On the surface they seemed to be slightly slimmer biker leathers, but they weren't made from any material I'd ever seen. The shiny black material was as soft and as pliable as cotton but apparently if you hit it, as some helpful soul demonstrated for me (It would have been cool if I hadn't been in the thing), it turned as hard as steel. Zombie proof. Hopefully.

My outfit was nearly finished off with a flaming sword dangling at my hip when Tulip resurfaced again. I heard her asking for me as she forced her way through the crowd, locked me in her sights and dragged me off to a small storage room out of sight.

"What was that all about?" I asked as soon as the door was shut behind us.

She looked panicked in the dim light, pale and sickly. "I don't know...That's never happened before. She has dementia, but she's never had an episode like that before."

"That wasn't a dementia episode," I argued. "I've seen what those look like and that wasn't one of them. Yeah they relive the past and all that jazz, but they don't give out warnings that Shadow may or may not have got a bunch of kids killed."

"But that did happen, about thirty years ago."

"Did your gran lose a kid?"

Tulip nodded sadly, "my uncle Willow, he was eleven I think. My Mum was in London with my other uncle and they got this phone call saying that something had happened. I don't really know the details."

"What do you know?" I asked. "Please do not skimp out on the information, I am travelling with a guy who was apparently there and the life of Sheira and I could depend on it."

"I don't really know. All I know is that a lot of the kids were getting killed by something and this little group, kind of like you guys now, came along and said they could help fix it. Instead they made it worse and it resulted in something attacking the village and pretty much wiping out anyone under the age of nineteen, it was a massacre. The earth and stone is stained red forever."

I didn't need a mirror to know that all the colour had drained from my cheeks. "Wh...where did they go? The people that tried to help?"

"Three of them were killed in the process, the two that were left were chased out of town by the parents. But what I don't get is why she recognised Shadow, he's not much older than I am. Right?"

"That's the thing," I said quietly, "I don't know."

The silence was punched through by something that could have only been described as a cross between an air raid siren and the roar of Godzilla. It wailed manically, piercing the stone walls of the church like they were made of tissue paper, while on a lower layer I could hear the sound of metal grinding in a fashion that was way too similar to the automaton for my liking.

With my ears covered I yelled out to Tulip, "what the hell! Is that the Purge starting?"

"Close-a-bloody-nough," she yelled back. "Come on, we need to get up to the wall. They're closing the gates."

***

"There you are!" Sheira said as the climb up Everest had been done. "I need to ask you something."

"Where's Shadow?" I blurted.

I watch as her shoulders slumped, and a look of utter disappointment flooded over her face. "Well that makes my question obsolete."

"You mean he's not up here?"

"No. I searched the entire village for him, I had Ice trying to sniff him out and everything. He's gone, or hiding, one of the two."

"I have an idea why," and I filled her in on everything sweet, dear grandma had told me as well as what Tulip had said as well. To say she looked stunned was the understatement of the century.

"That's...that's not possible."

"But it makes sense, just look around you. There's an age gap of about twenty years between everyone here."

She thought for a moment. "I mean, he could be that old. He'd be in his forties but it's not impossible."

"If Shadow is that old then obviously he's found the fountain of youth and he's not sharing."

Another siren wailed, then another, and then another, all from different directions and distances. It really wasn't just Truespear, it was every town that was suffering and right now the island was on lockdown like a British Alcatraz. The sun was almost below the horizon now, the last blades cutting through the sky and before long we'd be under complete darkness and joy of joys the Zombies would be close behind.

Lillian darted along the battlements, yelling orders and taking names. She ran up to us two, looking behind us for someone who wasn't there. "Where's your friend?"

"Haven't the foggiest, but if we live through this I'm going to kill him myself."

She sighed, "its his own choice, but we still could have needed him...No matter. You two are needed on the west wall, bunker down and prepare yourselves, its going to be a long night."

"Yes ma'am."

The west side of the wall was the most heavily fortified which really didn't fill me with confidence at all. It had more ballistae, more soldiers and the majority of the firepower was armed and ready to barbecue anything either alive or undead in this case. We found ourselves a position and while Sheira was readying our ballista I was trying to convince myself that I really could do this. My powers were not that strong, they looked it, but they wore out so quickly and now I had to somehow find a way to, literally, go all night. Deep calming breaths, I thought to myself, somehow you're going to do this and not get eaten.

The gates locked in place, fires were lit, beacons to the other villages that they were shut off for the night, and the sun sank, vanishing into the nothingness. One less day to get to Scotland but we still had time, five days was enough. Right? I hoped it was enough. A few minutes later it was pitch black, all the lights in the village were turned off, the moon was hidden behind the clouds and the faint stars were like holes in the fabric of a great black blanket. If it was any other situation it would have been beautiful, a perfect night for stargazing and all that, but right now the only purpose it served was to be terrifying.

Then there was the silence. There was nothing to be heard. No animals rustled around in the undergrowth, no nighttime birds soared through the sky, even the wind was flat and left the trees still and unmoving, kind of like the people on the battlements. Everyone was primed and ready, armed and dangerous. Ballistae were loaded, weapons were prepared and yet there wasn't a single word uttered from anyone, not a footstep, not even a sneeze. It was really weird and to be honest it made me wish for a few sounds of the city, hell, I'd even go for traffic at this point. It was just too damn quiet.

I suppose the silence served a point though as when something did snap a twig in the treeline below everyone heard it. Sheira trained her enormous cannon on the sound and I scanned for any sign of life, or un-life in this case. Another twig snapped, then another, then the bushes started to tremor as something walked through it and pushed its way out into the open space. Then something else followed it, then another and then another and suddenly there were at least fifty and counting, all pushing their way out of the trees.

No one moved on the wall. They were waiting for orders.

Someone whistled and a few arrows of fire were let loose, lighting up the braziers to let us see what the hell was going on. I kind of wish they hadn't. They were zombies alright, just plain and simple reanimated corpses. Some were missing limbs, some didn't have legs and were just crawling along on their torso's, others had heads missing. You know, the usual.

Here's the thing about zombies that I've never understood. It's a proven fact that when you die your squishy bits are the first to go. I mean seriously, watch any program about surgery and they'll tell you that a transplant organ starts to disintegrate as soon as its removed from the body, right? So, let me point this out, why the hell do zombies make sounds? If your organs really do start to turn to mush that quickly then surely your voice box must turn to soup within a week or so. And you need to breathe in order to make noises. They're dead! How can you breathe when you're dead! It doesn't make any sense and I blame the filmmakers.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Anyways, I think they're more terrifying when they're silent. Imagine a horde of zombies but you can hear them coming a mile off and then imagine that same horde, but they could be right behind you and you'd never hear a thing. What's more terrifying? Exactly. They seemed to pour out from all directions, the only sounds were of thousands of marching footsteps integrated with the occasional sound of dragging as they came closer and closer to the wall. I needed them to be as close as possible, I'll be honest my range wasn't that great, but with every step they took I was one step closer to losing my nerve. Sheira was looking around herself fearfully but everyone else held fast, waiting for the command.

I watched Lillian prowl the length of the wall, watching the horde, seemingly calm and in control of the situation, everyone waiting on her word. Now that was a leader. My heart pounded in my chest, the heat retracting and expanding like a balloon, sending butterflies racing though my body. In for five, out for seven, I thought to myself as I tried to keep my anxiety and fear locked away.

They were about halfway to the wall now, maybe five, four hundred meters away from the only line of defence this place had. Hundreds of people were counting on us, depending on us to keep them and their families safe. We couldn't let them down, no way. Lillian whistled once and raised her arm above her head. Warriors readied their attacks, bows were drawn, cannons were loaded, ballistae were primed.

For one moment afterwards the world fell silent. Hundreds of people were holding their breath and not even the shambling mass below could break the silence. You could have heard a pin drop in the void of noise.

And then, like an atomic bomb, the silence was shattered.

"FIRE!" Lillian yelled, the one command we'd all been waiting for.

And fire we did.