The Demon Wolf (Book 1 of The Devil and the Huntsman)

Chapter 77

He spoke to them to make them all think about what they did and what they have become. The way he said to them made only a few of them change their minds about how they view him.

Julius continued speaking with them, saying, "I grew up with many of you. You were my neighbors. My friends. We played together when we were children. I am not your enemy! The demons are your enemies!"

Balvu stood up and covered his nose as he noticed himself losing some blood from his nose; he could hardly speak because of how hard Julius punched him. He could not do much in terms of action because his silver blade did little to no damage.

"Do not forget all the things I've done for both you and the people of Midland. You believe you're alive because you can fight?! You're alive because of me! Because of what I did to save you!" Julius said. Before he could say anything else, Lucy escapes the grasp of the knights and runs to her husband to calm him down.

Lucy runs up to him and places her hand on his chest and forces him to relax before doing something rash. Julius knew he would never lay his hands on his wife; he would never allow herself to suffer in the hands of his foes. His demonic eye color was slowly turning back into his standard eye color as he stared at his wife. It was too late to change anything since his wife already knows the man he has become.

"This isn't you. Julius, this is not who you are!" Lucy said. She continued having her hand placed on his chest, and she saw him turn his head away from her.

He had no idea what else to say about the terrifying creature that stays inside his soul as long as he lives. Having a dark creature as a man's friend and making that man's family think twice about him gave the demon hunter lots of agonies. Then Julius places his right hand on Lucy's wrist as she tries cooling down his body. Lagertha already knew the creature that Mephiles is, but she refused to tell her mother what's inside her father. Then Julius walks away from his wife and walks to the knights who laid their hands on his family.

"If you value your lives, stay away from my family," Julius said. He then walks ahead of them to be by himself again as the afternoon sun shines down upon Loftain.

Then, Lucy and Lagertha followed Julius to where he is going as he waits for the perfect time to come for him to take his family and leave Midland. The amount of darkness and pain that Julius could have brought to his family was staggering and intense in both nature and reality. Julius walked out of the city and allowed the knights to let him pass as not all of them saw him threaten the other knights. He had to quickly think of a plan that would let him and his family leave the city and either bond with Erica and Brant or go their way elsewhere. Lucy and Lagertha found their father walk about a mile away from the city's walls, and they watched him look at the clouds in the sky.

The knights were told to guard the walls with their lives and were forced never to allow any outsider from a faraway land to set foot in Midland's last city. Of course, there will be other cities around Midland's extensive region; the country will thrive again on the earth. Then, Lucy and Lagertha slowly walk to Julius to see if they can talk to him and wonder if there is anything inside him that is human. It was quite confident that Julius's humanity would soon leave him one day, and he did not know the day nor the hour when that would happen. He noticed his daughter strolling to him to see if she could be beside him until the night came.

"Father, what are your intentions? What are you planning to do while we're here?" Lagertha asked.

"You've seen me, haven't you? You've seen this... dark wolf inside of me, haven't you? The darkness that clouds my body will now be known to you forever," Julius said.

"I won't tell anyone. I will tell no one around here. But... is it true what they say about you? That you are not human?" She asked.

"I still have my humanity, Lagertha. What I did, I have done for the good of this city. To ensure that, I saved your life and your mother's. The demons have gathered around me because I have power. This power is what all men fear in their hearts. I will not let it corrupt you as long as you're around me."

"I've heard you back there... back at the house, what the earl did to you yesterday. I've heard all about what you plan to do to him. They were right all along. You have become something you swore to drive away. I should've known since the beginning that you are plotting against them."

"You will stay out of it, Lagertha. Harald is no longer my earl, and he is not our king. He is a coward... a fool—a man whose treachery and betrayal led him to be against me. And I know what you did that night. Yes... you were with his son when I was away."

Lagertha stood there and had her eyes wholly opened as she looked down at herself in front of her father. She had no idea how much she had done to be with Brant, but she did not know how much her father would know about her. Julius had plenty of power to look into her mind and see what she had done with Harald's son as he fought against the demons. She became filled with anger and frustration as she looked away from her father. She did not have the words to describe everything about her mind as she stood before Julius during the afternoon.

"You... you knew?" Lagertha asked.

"I have the power to know all, daughter. I know every spell, every sorcery, every dark corner that shrouds this cold earth. You will never speak to me of these things again," Julius answered.

"You have gone mad, Father. Your visions... your power. Nothing but delusions from an addled mind," she said.

"You will not speak to me in that tone, Lagertha. Harald is my enemy now... but her wife and son are still standing with me. They will also be dealt with before I go up to the king and end his life. I will lead us out of this wretched nightmare. You will follow orders until the day comes when I set you free into the world. But for now... betrayers deserve death!"

"Spare me your madness! I shall have none of it! You are not the father I've known all these years! The man who raised me would never have gone back on his word! He never would've doubted the loyalty of his kin!"

"King Harald is a traitor. I... will have... his head!"

Suddenly, Lagertha shoves Julius forward and makes him stumble back a little as Lucy watched on with shock. Without hesitation, Lagertha uses her right hand and back-slaps Julius in the face, and he covers his bright red cheek. He then slowly turned to his daughter and stared at her with all kinds of shock and surprise. He could already see the anger and rage which burned deep inside Lagertha's eyes; she is already planning to do something horrible to him. Then Julius watched Lagertha walk away from him as Lucy started chasing after her and felt as if her world was crumbling around her.

"Lagertha! Lagertha, get over here!" Lucy shouted. As she runs over to her daughter to yell at her, Julius looks down at the ground and gets on his knees.

He stopped covering his cheek and continued feeling the sting that Lagertha gave him after she slapped him. Julius felt nothing but anguish and tragedy spin around his mind, and he could not believe all the things his daughter said to him. He swore to protect both his wife and daughter from the darkness, but he has broken his promise. The time was soon coming for him when everything left for him to defend will just be a memory in his eyes. Then, he grabbed a chunk of the grass and began holding onto it; he felt desperate and guilty as he continued having the Demon Wolf inside his soul.

"What have I done? What have I become? What on earth am I becoming?" Julius asked. He had way too much anger and sorrow, which corrupts his mind and change how he thinks about his people.