Demon Hunters

Casus Belli X

Gabriel slumped on the cold floor of his jail cell. He was on his knees, leaning against the grey wall of the cell with his back to the entrance, and his gaze was empty. Gabriel had barely registered the fact that he had been escorted back into the depths of the fortress by his warden, as his mind was solely occupied by the dreadful revelations he had witnessed. He let his horns recede back into his forehead and let out a deep quivering sigh. What was a man to do when he was stripped of everything: his family, his values, his purpose in life? All Gabriel had ever wanted to do was to be an instrument of truth and justice, someone who would protect the church's subjects from those who sought to mislead and pervert them – even if that required him to spill blood. But now that he knew that his father had betrayed the church, he had to wonder: how many of those he had killed had actually deserved their sordid fate? Gabriel spent an indeterminate amount of time absorbed in his thoughts. He was roused when he heard footsteps somewhere in the distance: someone new had entered the basement. Initially, Gabriel paid this no mind. However, he recoiled when he heard his father's voice.

"I want to be alone with him. I will come and find you when I'm done."

The guard grunted and got up. The legs of the chair let out a screech as Bruno moved it closer to the bars and sat down.

"I presume that you would like some answers."

Gabriel didn't answer. Truthfully, he didn't know what he should've said - after all, what could answers possibly change at this point? Gabriel was so overcome by apathy that he couldn't even muster the strength to hate this man who had betrayed him and shattered his world in one fell swoop. Bruno huffed.

"I have to admit, I'm quite disappointed by your state. To think that the man I raised to be a warrior could look so pathetic."

Gabriel gritted his teeth. He felt anger sparking inside him, a feeling as strong as it was painful. Like poison, it consumed his mind.

"That makes two of us, then. I, too, am quite disappointed by you," Gabriel growled. "I would've never thought that the man I used to look up to would abandon everything he once stood for! Or, perhaps, that man never existed in the first place."

Gabriel refused to face his father. He felt that seeing Bruno's familiar face now would irreversibly break something inside him and turn all of his memories into ash. Deep down, he wanted all of this to be a dream, a horrific nightmare he could awaken from.

"I assure you, I have never abandoned my principles. I have always stayed true to myself, and that is still the truth," Bruno said.

"Even after you have whored yourself out to these secessionists?"

While Gabriel's father's tone was calm and restrained, the same couldn't be said about himself. All the anger and rage within him was starting to bubble through. All throughout his life, Gabriel had sought to emulate his father's composed demeanour, but now he no longer saw a reason for it.

"Tell me, what did they offer you? What could have possibly possessed you to throw away your pride?" Gabriel continued.

There was a brief silence, during which Gabriel tried to determine if he could kill his father before the mechanism in his prayer cage activated. Before he could reach a conclusion, however, his father replied.

"Gabriel, I know a sinking ship when I see one. The church is done for. It has made far too many enemies, and no amount of blackmail can possibly help it through the storm that has been brewing for centuries."

"So you're just going to give up and abandon the righteous path?"

Much to Gabriel's surprise, Bruno laughed. For the taciturn man, this was a most unusual outburst. For a brief moment, Gabriel wondered if this act was meant to mock him, but he quickly came to realize that this was, in fact, genuine laughter – something he had never heard from his father before.