Demon Hunters

The Demon at the Inn IV

Even in his injured state, it was not difficult for Florian to disarm and knock the young man to the ground. The innkeeper's son briefly had a stunned look on his face before his head hit the ground, knocking him out. Florian stood over his unconscious body and held the sword to the man's throat.

"Now, then. Get on your knees, unless you want me to perforate your brother's throat," Florian barked.

By now, the girl was absolutely terrified, but finally, she realized that Florian was talking to her. Slowly, she complied, a fearful and confused look on her face. Florian caught a reflection of himself from one of the pools of water now on the floor. There he was, with his grotesque mouth, standing over an innocent man. In a way, he looked more like a demon than Laura. And he hated himself for having to do this. But he knew what hybrids were capable of. He was also aware that even in his peak condition, he would've stood no chance. But as he stared down at the sobbing girl before him, he started to question himself.

"Why do you have to do this? She has done nothing wrong!" Solomon insisted, looking helpless.

"It is exceedingly simple. She is a demon and I'm a demon hunter. There's nothing personal about it, it's just my job."

"Still! Didn't she save your life before?"

Florian's eyes squinted in fury, and Solomon shrank back. That being said, the hunter knew that he was speaking the truth. The girl had saved his life by showing back the horse-faced demon. This fact confused Florian. Demons were purely driven by instinct and only sought pleasure, whether it be through violence, sex, or other means. They didn't possess a shred of humanity in them; however, this wasn't really true of hybrids. After all, they were a result of a demon copulating with a female human, and by that virtue, they were at least half-human. Florian looked at the sobbing wreck kneeling on the floor. Fear. That was something the hunter had never seen in a demon's eyes.

"That is not relevant. Besides, we're only in this mess because I saved her from the demon's grasp, against my better judgement. So, I owe her nothing," Florian grunted, walking over to the hybrid. "Don't even think about doing anything. I assure you, I'm still very much capable of killing your 'brother' if you attempt something stupid."

The girl really wasn't in a state to try anything. She only stared at Florian with a vacant look in her eyes. Her lips were quivering, and despite the fact that horns were protruding from her forehead and that her eyes were pitch black, the hunter couldn't help but feel a twinge of empathy.

"Why?" the girl sobbed.

Her voice was still that of a demon's, but the tone was unmistakably sorrowful. Florian weighed the sword in his hand. When had it happened? When had he last fought a hybrid? It must have been five years ago already. Back then, he and a number of other hunters had seen to the dismantling of a heretical witch coven at the heart of a certain duchy. Evidently, the head witch had attained her position largely due to the fact that her son had been a hybrid. Florian could still remember the fight: it all had gone wrong from the start. As hybrids were part human, they weren't stupid as normal demons were. As a result, the usual strategies hadn't worked, and over half of the hunters had been killed during the battle. Florian, himself, had been grievously wounded back then, and he could still remember the look in the hybrid's eyes. One of fury, hatred and... sadness. Florian had always denied the last emotion, but now there was no denying it. Perhaps hybrids were just like humans? Perhaps it was the upbringing they received that mattered?

"Really, you're lucky that it was me that came across you. A stricter demon hunter would have killed your entire family. Harbouring a demon is a severe sin, after all. But I'll be merciful. I'll be content with just exterminating this demon and then reporting you," he said, raising his sword, ready to strike. "However, there's still a chance for you to repent. Denounce this creature, and I'll report that you were being deceived by it. So, what will it be?"

"There is no way I can do that. She is, and will always be, my daughter," Solomon said, without pausing to think for a second.

"If that is your decision."

Laura let out a cry of despair while Florian merely shook his head. Then he swung his sword. Laura cried out in pain, and then two banging sounds could be heard. Florian knelt down to pick up the horns he had cut off and grunted. The act had been very painful, and it was clear that the medicine was starting to wear out. As he threw the horns at the other demon's corpse, he decided that he needed to leave as soon as possible.

"There you have it. The rest of her horns should recede soon enough, but she needs to learn how to contain her powers. If she doesn't, she will be found out, and the whole lot of you will end up dead," Florian said, starting to gather his equipment, his gait unsteady.

"What... is going on?" Laura muttered, touching the stumps where her horns had sprouted from earlier. Her eyes were already starting to return to their original, blue colour.

"I took care of the demon, as per my job."

He paused, looking at the sobbing woman before her.

"And now that she is just a human... I feel no need to report you, either," he sighed. 

"Thank you... Thank you!" Solomon cried out.

"Do not thank me. For all you know, I might have just made your deaths a whole lot more painful. Remember what I said about demon hunters? Just make sure you will never be found out, and if you do, don't dare to mention my name!" he said, almost at the entrance. "Also, you should burn the demon's corpse and the horns as soon as possible. It's going to attract carrion eaters."

With that, the demon hunter put on his bandanna and stepped out of the ruined doorway. After taking a few steps from the inn he stopped and grimaced, as the pain was now truly starting to make its comeback.

I wonder if I'm going to be able to get out of sight before I collapse, he pondered, biting his tooth. Haven't felt this much pain in some time.

Before he could continue his journey, he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He spun around and saw that Laura had, for whatever reason, ran after him. Immediately, he felt regret for not killing her. He had spared her because he had assumed that, having been reared by a loving man, she would have turned out a good person. But had he made an error? Was she now here to finish the weakened demon hunter off to safeguard her secret?

"Why are you going away? I can see that you are in pain, surely you should rest?" she said, with a genuinely worried look on her face.

Florian stared at the girl, evaluating her expression. For what it was worth, she didn't seem to mean the hunter any harm. Nevertheless, he felt uncomfortable with her proposition.

"Perhaps so. But I can hardly stay here, now can I? After all, I did nearly burn down the inn, not to mention the fact that I threatened to kill you and report your father. Something I'm still prepared to do, mind you, if I sense something is off."

Laura shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye.

"No, you don't understand! Those things don't matter. What matters is the fact that you saved the lot of us and decided to spare me, even if you had no reason to do so!"

Suddenly, Florian got caught in a fit of coughing. He doubled over, as the pain was unbearable. When it was finally over, he saw that quite a bit of blood bow littered the ground. He was hurt badly. He could still recover from this, what with his medicines, but it was going to be a long and painful process.

"See? You really need to come inside! You'll be able to stay here until you're healed back up. It's the least we can do!" Laura insisted, squeezing Florian's shoulder.

Florian moved his hand around his chest and groaned. It was clear that he had broken ribs at the very least. He wasn't really in any condition to walk. He looked at Laura. Perhaps a family empathetic enough to tolerate a hybrid could also accommodate him?

"I... Very well. Lead on," he said.

Florian had already made a slew of bad decisions today. One more couldn't hurt – or perhaps it very much could, but he was far too tired to care. Laura smiled warmly and supported the demon hunter as the two entered the wrecked inn.