Demon Hunters

Wartime IV

Jean nodded, though he did not seem too keen on the prospect. He placed some weight on his broken leg, and immediately, yelped in pain. Jonah had used dressing and some branches to improvise a splint, but it did little to help with the pain.

"Use this," Jonah said, handing Jean a crutch he had quickly whipped up yesterday. "Also, lose the uniform. We don't want to be stopped again. You can use some of my clothes."

As Jonah was notably taller than the young man, the end result was quite amusing, with each article of clothing on him looking to be a size too large. Still, it was better than walking around with what was essentially a target on your back, and after Jonah gave Jean some medicine to dull the pain, the two set off. The rain had eased up during the night, and though the ground was still soggy, the sun felt warm on the demon hunter's back. Though he had no clue about the precise location of their destination, Jonah surmised that if they followed the road in the direction the losing army had retreated in, they would eventually reach the camp. The amount of hurriedly discarded equipment lying off the side of the road supported this hypothesis.

"How are you holding up?" Jonah asked.

"Is... good," Jean replied, though his slow limping didn't exactly support this claim.

Jonah shook his head. At this speed, it would take them ages to reach anywhere – not that there was really anything he could do about it. At best, they could hope to come across a wagon of refugees they could ask for a ride from, but as the frontline had already moved on, this seemed unlikely.

"So, are you a country boy?" Jonah asked.

The demon hunter was used to travelling alone, so he didn't really need to have a conversation. However, he felt that distracting the boy from the pain in his leg was a good idea – despite the fact that he was once again violating the rule about getting close with people.

I think there's no turning back now... I'm already in too deep, so might as well keep going, he thought to himself, trying to shake a feeling of impending doom.

"Country... boy?" Jean repeated.

"As in, are you from the country? I take it you don't live in a city."

The soldier seemed to understand.

"Yes! I live in farm."

"With your family?"

"Yes," Jean said, his expression drooping ever so slightly. "Hope I can return."

"I see," Jonah croaked.

The two carried on in silence. If military equipment didn't litter the ditch next to the road, it would have been almost impossible to tell that there was a war going on: the birds were singing, and the leaves on the trees were quietly rustling in the wind. Jonah shook his head. He couldn't really understand war – why would one risk their life for some nebulous goal they would never benefit from themselves? Of course, perhaps such musings were hypocritical for Jonah – after all, it was his job to risk his life for the benefit of others. That said, he had been groomed for this vocation for as far as he could remember without really having a say in the matter.

"Say... Why did you join the military?" he finally asked.

Jean stared at the ground as he limped onward. Finally, after a considerable moment of silence, he answered.

"Last crop bad. Lose lot of money. We brothers set out, look to make money – they know many skills, I not. So, I find recruiter who promise money."

"I see," Jonah repeated.

Really, it wasn't that much of a surprise. Jean didn't really strike him as someone who goes out to seek glory for himself, and his story seemed all too familiar. Though the church tried to keep it quiet, it was a well-known fact that they would often buy children from impoverished families to make them a part of the church's own army, demon hunters, or other agency, so it was unsurprising to see a similar approach from army recruiters. It seemed that, unsurprisingly, those who needed manpower preferred to pray on the hopeless.

"Was there really nothing else? There must have been something else you could have done."

Jean shook his head.

"Was robbed. No money left. No choice."

Jonah shook his head. It would appear that the boy had encountered a most unfortunate series of events. Of course, Jonah couldn't really help him in any way: as it stood, the wage paid to most demon hunters was little more than a pittance, and they lived on rations handed to them at local churches and anywhere else they could beg for them. Indeed, Jonah might have engaged in some scavenging at the battlefield, had he not found Jean. Something told him that suggesting that the boy should try to rob the bodies of his former comrades wouldn't go over too well. Seeking to change the subject, Jonah glanced at a nearby tree where a couple of songbirds were perched, filling the air with their melodies.

"You have these birds where you are from?" he asked.

Jean nodded and seemed to perk up somewhat.

"Yes!" he said. "They live in trees next to field! I like them."

Thankful that his ploy had worked, the two engaged in a mundane chat about the wildlife and forest surrounding Jean's home. This conversation lasted for hours, and Jonah was surprised to see that even he was enjoying talking to the boy. Though the language barrier made it difficult to pick up on, Jean seemed to be quite an intelligent and observant lad, and Jonah found that his enthusiasm was quite contagious. However, his mood was soon soured as he felt a mild sting on his tongue. Immediately, Jean noticed that Jonah's expression had soured.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, tilting his head.

Jonah shook his head.

"Hopefully not. Let's just keep going."

For whatever reason, battlefields seemed to attract demons like flowers did bees, and so it was not surprising that he would run into a second one so soon. However, the two were currently on a well-travelled road, and the demon hunter hoped that this was enough to ward off the monster that lurked somewhere nearby. Still, he covertly prepared his equipment for a fight. He didn't have to wait long. The pain in his tongue seemed to grow more intense with each step he took, and soon the duo came across an overturned wagon. A large demon, this one bearing a distant resemblance to a badger, was currently occupied by trying to devour the soldiers that had been unlucky enough to have been escorting this transport. Immediately, Jonah grabbed Jean and pulled him behind a tree by the side of the road.