"Because we must, William," Tamara said. "This is our time. Somewhere there is another little girl running across a field. It's for her that we fight, so she will never know what we know."

"And if you ever surrendered the fight," Bodicea added, "then one day morning might not follow evening, and the darkness would prevail."

William stood a bit straighter. "Right, then. Well, I don't want that on my head. So we'll keep on, of course. But it would be nice if the ghouls and Faeries and demons let us alone for a while."

Tamara and Bodicea said nothing, but William had expected no reply. He knew that any reassurance they might offer would be hollow. As his sister had said, the struggle was eternal. There was no way to know when the Protectors of Albion would next be needed.