Bughuul watched his son sleep, thinking of just how hard it would be to spend years apart from him, especially given their bond. He wasn't sure how Morgan will take being apart from him either.

Lora entered the room carrying sleeping Lilly, placed her on the bed next to Morgan and turned her gaze to Bughuul.

-When are you planning on leaving?- she asked.

-We'll be leaving soon. I just can't… I can't leave Morgan.

-You don't trust me to take good care of him?

-You know that I do. I just hate that I have to leave him like this. I never thought that I'd care for him so much after what had happened, but I do.

Lora took Bughuul's hand into hers.

-You're a good dad. I know you're doing your best, just like you did with me. I see that now.

-It looks like my best isn't good enough. As I recall, before you left me you said that you hate me.

-I was a stupid kid.

-I get why you wanted all those things but the only way I knew how to protect you was to keep you away from everyone, especially after we'd left Moloch's realm.

Lora laid her head on Bughuul's shoulder and her eyes began to fill with tears.

-You were right though.- her voice broke- I should've stayed with you. Ned and his family would still be alive…

-You couldn't have known… Those men paid for what they'd done to you.

Lora looked at Bughuul.

-What do you mean by that?- she asked quietly through tears.

Bughuul touched Lora's cheek.

-I murdered them.- he said- All of them.

-So that's how you found me. You've been watching me all these years…

-I had to make sure that you were alright.

-Why didn't you come for me after what had happened?

-I thought you'd be better off without me, that you didn't want me in your life.

-But you were still there, weren't you? Those dreams that I'd had of you holding me when I cried, they weren't dreams.

-No. I was with you every night until you recovered. After that I'd visit you every once in a while. It seemed like you were doing better.

-I'd tried living a normal life but I knew that those men were Moloch's followers and I thought that it would only be a matter of time before they got to me. And I couldn't look for you because I thought you'd grown to resent me after I'd left you. I even thought you'd want me dead.

-I'll never stop caring for you like you're my own, I want you to know that. No matter what.

-This seems strange. It's like I'm seeing a whole new side of you.

-Maybe that's because you're not a child anymore.

-It could be… You still haven't told me how you met your wife. What made you fall in love after so many decades of not needing anyone by your side?

Bughuul sighed. He'd been avoiding to look back on the past, even the happier times, as it would've only made him feel worse, given the circumstances, but there seemed to be a glow of curiosity in Lora's eyes, just like when she was child and he couldn't resist telling her the story, given that they won't be seeing each other in a while.

-We'd met in a strange way, I suppose. I was always the one seeking out knew victims and she was, although the youngest in her family, still on the brink of turning twenty, making her too old for me to take. We wouldn't have even met if she hadn't made the offering herself and summoned me.

-That must've felt great for you.

-I'd be lying if I said that it hadn't. After my banishment, people seemed to have forgotten about me and hearing her calling out to me, praying to me, it made me feel like a God again.

-So, what happened when you heard her call for you?

-I presented myself to her, wanting to be commanding and threatening, making her regret that she'd tried to contact me in the first place, but the first thing she did was kneel before me and beg me to save her from the Gods, since they were supposed to be coming for her that night, because of the deal her parents had made for the benefit of her older sister. I couldn't pass on the opportunity to take away another gift from the Gods so I took her with me. For years she'd helped me get the children to make their offerings and she'd taken care of me as well, probably much better than I'd taken care of myself before. She lit up whenever she looked at me, and the more I found out about her, the more I became mesmerized with her as well. She was nearly as broken and miserable as I was, before she came to me.

-It's nice that you found each other.

-Except that she's gone now, all because I wasn't careful. I should've taken care of her like she had of me.

-It's not your fault. You can't control everything.

-I know I can't. If I could, Moloch would be nothing but dust now.

-I've found out what can destroy him for good, I just need to find it.

-Tell me what it is, maybe I can look for it too.

-You can't. I'm the only one who can move around freely without being suspicious…

-I'd still like to know what it is.

-It's a dagger carved from the very first tree that grew on Earth. It contains poison that can kill any evil being, no matter how powerful it may be.

-That sounds like something that's impossible to find in this day and age.

-It will be hard to find, but not impossible. There are demon enthusiasts all over the world who collect strange things, one of them could have one of the daggers.

-Wait, you said dagger not daggers before.

-There are more, but we only require one.

-Be careful.

-Don't worry, I will be.

About an hour later, Bughuul was getting ready to leave the house with Lilly. Holding her in his arms as she was still asleep, he said goodbye to Lora and told her that they'll still be in touch but only communicate the way he'd taught her when she was a child so Moloch wouldn't know that they're still in touch.

Soon after Bughuul had left the house, Lora packed up the necessary things she'll need for Morgan as well as herself and left the house, knowing that she wouldn't be safe there alone with Morgan.

She drove to a motel that was hours away from her house, planning to spend the next few days there and plan out what to do next.

Lora knew that she wouldn't be able to afford going from place to place and that she'd have to find a safe place to settle in, at least for a year which wasn't going to be easy since she didn't know what Moloch could be capable of and just how far he'd be able to go when it came to hurting her and Morgan. She figured that he may still have some followers around and that she'd have to watch her back as well as practice her powers until she reaches her full potential.

There was so much she had to do and she wasn't sure that she could do it, but she swore to herself that night, that she'd protect Morgan, no matter what the cost.

TO BE CONTINUED IN BROKEN PIECES PART 2

I'd like to thank all of you who'd stuck with the story until the end. I'm choosing to end it here and make a part two because I want to write what happens to the characters a a year or two after the end of this chapter. Hopefully you guys will read that once I publish it!