They say demon hunters are supposed to be graceful,
cautious and deadly.
And then, ther's me…
I tripped over my own shoelace three minutes into my
patrol.
"Who ahhh", I landed face flat hard on the ground. My
demon slaying blade bouncing out of its sheath and skidding across the cold
asphalt like it had somewhere better to be.
The low ranked demon snarled, purple skin, one
bulging eye and two protruding teeth and
hunched back. It watched me from the shadows of the alley. Smoke hissed from
its horned head, "Pathetic Hunter", it growled, eyes growing crimson.
Yeah. I know you can say that.
I blew my thick red hair out of my face, "I'm still
learning okay"
With an exaggerated sigh, I scrambled to my feet,
reached for my weapon, yanked at the demon but missed.
The demon took a step forward, claws gleaming under
the moon,ight, "You were saying?"
My fingers curled around the blade hilt. I spun on
instint, clumsy yeah right but with descent aim, the blade sliced across the creature's chest
in a flash of white blue fire.
The demon stepped back, eyes growing with horror..
My lips curved, "Still learning huh?", I tsked.
The demon
shrieked in pain and disintegrated into ash.
I stood panting, with my blade raised abd chest
heaving, then I looked down and realized my boots were on the wrong foot. With
hasting up just to catch this demon, I have left the house without properly dressing myself.
"ugh Elia", I groned, "Get it together"
Demon hunting wasn't supposed to be this chaotic. I
mean sure, I hadn't exactly gone to celestial Academy like the top agents. I
was what you might call…a…field recruit. I woke up one day with the burning
wrist a glowing tattoo, and next thing I knew, I had a blade forged from
angelic silver and a talking wristwatch.
Speaking of which…
'BZZ. BZZ'
Oh yeah, that's the talking wristwatch. It lit up and
vibrated against my wrist.
"Please. Don't be another emergency", I muttered,
tapping the blue slide, "I just got the ash out of the hoodie"
A soft chime followed and the holographic face of
Guardian Myrr flickered into view. White long straight hair and beard, a white
long robe, light blue glowing eyes and the personality of a sleep deprived
professor.
"Elia Crimson", he said, voice stern as ever, face as
cold as the storm. One might think an angelic being would have a welcoming
face. Wel;, that's what I thought until I met Myrr.
"We have a situation", he added.
"Hi Guardian Myrr!", I said cheering, wiping scot off
my sleeve. "Don't worry. I got the demon. There were minor complications here
and there…you know, involving gravity, but overall…success", I gave him a
thumbs up, my teeth flashing.
His glowing eyebrows didn't move, but that's not my
problem, he never smiles really, but then he said, "This is not about that
minor fry. We have a …runner"
My stomach tightened, "A runner?'
"Yes. One of the top-tier demon has escaped the
seventh ring. We believe he crossed into earth's realm approximately two hours
ago. Your presence is required"
Okay, you gat to be hookie pookie kidding me. Look
minor demons are my thing, coupled with the fact that in not even a high
ranking Hunter, neither will I be. So… getting this information from Myrr was
kinda…
Dammit. This better be some prank, college student
play.
But Myrr's face was stern. A little smile could have
eased the pang.
I tried to
swallow my nerves, "So…you're assigning me?"
Guardian Myrr gave me a look, the one that said, you
don't want me to repeat myself because initially, When he give a command, it doesn't need to be repeated, "You've
been..unconventional, but effective. And frankly, most of our elite hunters are
either in purgatory or recovering from your last friendly fire' incident"
"That was one time!"
He cleared his throat, "Regardless. We need you,
being the only one available and …you are close to the disturbance site"
I nodded, gripping my blade. Myrr is giving me a task
only elite hunters can handle, I must not fail him, "I'll get him"
It didn't take long to reach the cordiantates. The
sky had turned dusky, painted in tired gray and rusted oranges. The air stench
of blood and metal, and the wind carried a faint burn in it.. like scorched
feathers.
The town was nearly empty, and old and was somewhere
near the riverbanks.
I walked slowly down the lone road, alert. The sound
of my boot..btw on the correst feet now,} tapping the pavement is filled with
silence, only the cricket of the niht made a sound.
I crossed through an abandoned train yard, keeping my
hand on my blade, my gaze narrowed, ready to strike this creature that dare…hmm.. well, if it wasn't
for him I would have been in my room, fresh cloth and hoodie with my popcorn
and Netflix on, probably watching the New Squid game arrival.
Sigh… this better be quick.
I walked further down bushes before I saw It.
Or rather.. him.
A figure sat slumped against a wall of an old shed.
His shirt was torn at the shoulder, blood seeping through fabric and
running down his side.
He looked human. Like too human, tousled dark hair, a
sharp jawline, skin a little too pale under the moonlight but his eyes…
They flickered the moment I approached, golden,
glowing faintly and not entirely…right.
I froze midstep, my fingers tightening around my
hilt.
It was the first time I have ever seen a human
looking demon, I mean, there these guys and Myrr tend to assign me to uglky
looking creatures with odd skin color…sucks being a recuit.
He suddenly raised his trembling hand.
"Please", he rasped, but im drawn to the melody of
his trebor, "I..Im not here to hurt anyone. Im just…", coughs blood, "I…need
shelter. Just for tonight"
"Awwnnn, how sweet", I pace in front of him, my gaze
fixed on nothinless, "Listen, Mr Human looking demon, this is my biggest task,
and I don't know for you but if I get rid of you, it will give me a higher rank
and a chance to be at crescent academy"
"Please", he coghed again and I turned to him, to
those gorgoues eyes on me.
My instint screamed, demon. My orders screamed, Kill
on sight.
But something else…whispered different.
Unlike the other demons, his voice wasn't evil. It
was filled with agony and pain. I took a step forward, lowering my blade just a
fraction.
"Who are you?", I asked cautiously.
"Just someone running from the wrong side of hell",
he said, his voice dry, "But I suppose that makes me your target doesn't it?'
I didn't answer. I didn't move either.
I looked into his eyes, and instead of seeing a
monster… I saw a boy trying not to bleed out on the floor.
"Damn it", I muttered, sliding my blade back into its
sheath.
"What are you doing?', he asked, clearly shocked.
"Probably something stupid", I said, "But you're
hurt. And now you're talking which means you are not trying to eat me. That
earns you…like, two points'
He blinked at me. "Two Points?"
'"Yup. Out of a thousand". I said, holding out my
hand, "Name's Elia. You gonna stand or pass out again?"
He stared like me like I was insane. I know, my
middle name was Medusa, like made red head girl…yeah yeah.
Well, maybe I was, but I had already made my choice.