They called us monsters part 4

Warning for gore, violence, profanity and adult situations. For 18+ audience.

CTK

Chapter 4: Get them between the eyes

Yaju tried to turn to the side a bit, feeling discomfort in his restrained position. The soft snores of the farmer’s son, was the only sound heard in the room. The hunter was glad that the child was able to sleep after all, even after being informed about his position as bait for the demon. The farmer who had greeted Yaju had lost his youngest son a few days ago to the monster and was definitely too scared of losing the rest of the children. Most of the parents and elder kids took guard, but it was still too dangerous and exhausting. The monster had to die.

In order to lure him in though, the farmer of this house had to stand down and pretend to sleep, otherwise the monster wouldn’t get close enough for Yaju to capture him. It had been a few hours now, and the larger than average male, had been stuffed into a closet, the discomfort making him grit his teeth. Suddenly, much to the hunter’s relief, the rustling of the grass outside was heard through the slightly open window. Yaju prepared himself and jumped out of the trunk, hearing a gasp of surprise before he even drew his sword. The boy woke up and screamed, as he took in the situation between the two men. The demon was pressed up against the wooden wall, the silver blade belonging to the hunter had gone through his head, between the eyes, the only place a demon could get hit and never heal.

‘’Get out, boy.’’, Yaju grunted, wanting to spare the child from realizing the gore in front of its eyes. The boy run out, yelling for his father and the hunter stared into the demon’s red eyes, as they rolled to the back of his head, before taking a step back, removing the sword. The dead body fell on the floor with a thud and immediately began to wither, turning into a decomposing, grey and dry corpse.

‘’Thank you…’’, words of relief were heard behind him, and the male turned around to face the farmer. His expression showed disgust at the sight, but also relief that the monster was gone.

‘’My pleasure.’’

Yaju left the village as soon as he got the bounty and a few hours of sleep. He was eager to get to the next demon, who was going to prove way tougher than the first one. This one was supposedly a lady, going about a lake, bathing under the full moon. The sightings of her were very few, but they were insanely accurate of her actions. She devoured the hearts of people approaching the lake at night and the locals avoided the area at all costs, even during daylight. That meant that the place was left utterly useless and the vegetation around it had grown wild, just like in the forest, since human activity rarely affected it. It would take him nearly a day to get there and the trip made him nervous and excited at the same time. According to the bounty details, this one had been placed a few years back, but every time someone got it, they either were unable to find the woman, or died in her hands. It was the highest paid one he had in his collection and felt glad that the guard had finally given him such a valuable hunt.

When he entered the forest that the lake was in, the hunter felt very much on edge, preparing himself for an attack at any given time. The details of the bounty did mention that the attacks happened around the lake, but Yaju could not trust those details alone. Demons were as clever as humans, and the ones who had managed to keep their wits through their long life, were definitely smarter and more cunning than any human Yaju had ever met.

The sound of the leaves and sticks breaking beneath his boots was the only sound echoing in the woods and as soon as his eyes caught a glimpse of the moons reflection on a water surface, he ducked behind the tree in front of him, in order to approach the lake more carefully. The hunter had hoped to meet the female demon, but his eyes were met by two cloaked figures instead, standing close to one another, discussing softly. Yaju hadn’t realized their voices until his grey eyes landed on them. His lips pressed in a thin line, in his effort to make out some of the words. He only wished he could heighten his senses at that point, just to feel more secure.

‘’… good idea?’’, Yaju managed to hear the end on one’s sentence as he kneeled closer to the edge, hiding between a tree bark and stone, a few meters away from the lake shore.

‘’Ketsu won’t be coming back for a few days at least. She said that she was going to Tereen, that stupid woman.’’, the other one spoke and the hunter’s mind was overwhelmed by questions. Who were these two males, who was this Ketsu person who had visited Tereen and why the name sounded that familiar. The first one left a chuckle.

‘’Ketsu eats well though. This place feels so homey from her ceremonies.’’, he commented and his back turned to the hunter in order to face the lake’s waters. ‘’How many had she even killed?’’

‘’Thousants, I am sure.’’

Yaju felt his breath catch into his throat as his mind connected the pieces of the puzzle in front of him. The men were speaking of the demon who lived near the lake, making them demons as well. The image of the impressive lady with the raven hair and black eyes flashed in his head as the name Joah had called her by echoed in his ears. He refused to believe the coincidence, but still felt like someone gripped on his heart. He had to return to Tereen and make sure the woman hadn’t harmed anyone, that she wasn’t the one these people talked about.

‘’You think she will help?’’, the first male spoke and approached the waters, kneeling down and dipping his hand in the water. A sigh, nearly turning into a moan, escaped his lungs. ‘’This feels so refreshing...’’, he mumbled before turning to the other male who was still standing.

‘’I doubt it. Ketsu has no connections to any one, human or demon, as far as I am concerned. But if she gets caught in the fire, we won’t hesitate to burn her. Tereen will return to us.’’

The hunter’s fists tightened at the sound of those words. If those demons were plotting to attack Tereen, he was fortunate that he had been there to hear about it. He really had to return now, help barricade the town, fight for the humans’ safety. In his mind, two choices fought one another. He could either try to kill these demons, or flee immediately and prepare the town’s defenses.

‘’It seems we have a rat eavesdropping.’’, a voice was heard behind him, and Yaju’s heart bounced in his chest.

He turned his head and ducked to the side to avoid a thin blade, aiming for his head. Barely able to realize what had happened, he unsheathed his own sword and swung it against the male who had approached him from behind. He took a step back, avoiding Yaju’s sword, knocking his hood down in the process. Revealing pale skin and glowing yellow eyes. The demon grunted and went for another attack, finally giving the hunter a challenge. The human ducked down to avoid the demon’s attack and turned his sword upwards, going for a clean cut into the head, from below the chin. The male demon let an abrupt grunt, as if chocking with his own tongue and Yaju removed the blade, and jumped to the back as the body of his enemy withered and fell on the grass with a thud. He had to refocus his attention to the other two demons, who had realized the battle and run up to him with superhuman speed.

Yaju barely managed to see their yellow eyes, as he desperately tried to avoid their drawn blades and clenched fingers, that counted as weapons too. He felt worried, but excited at the same time, since the rush of battle was what kept him alive during these past years. The demons were very skilled, meaning that they had lived a long time, long enough to hone their abilities in battle. Yaju gritted his teeth and despite his best efforts, sharp pain shot from his leg as he run to the side to avoid an attack that still managed to graze his thigh. His move though, gave him an advantage as he managed to grab on the right wrist of the other demon, pulling him near and in front of the other, before cutting his head off with a swift motion. The hunter pushed the lifeless body upfront, surprising the demon behind and forcing him on the ground, his partner’s corpse on top of him.

That fraction of time was all Yaju needed, as he brought his blade down, going through the second demon’s skull, killing him instantly. He wasted no time at all, his eyes searching for the decapitated head. A frown clouded his characteristics when he noticed the body part still moving, the eyes traveling around frantically, the mouth open but unable to speak or breathe. Yet the hunter knew that should he leave the head unscathed, in a few hours’ time it would have located the body next to it and attach. With a disgusted expression pasted on his face, Yaju brought final punishment upon the demon, shoving the blade through the skull.

A ragged breath escaped him and he tried to relax himself. Fighting a demon was no easy task and it was nothing like fighting a human being. It was the reason hunters existed. Yaju knew it down to his bastard core, that if his mother hadn’t taken a demon, he would have been unable to battle these beasts. As soon as he regained his composure, he turned to Tereen, pacing as fast as possible to get to his hidden horse outside the forest, hoping to reach town in less than a day. It did not matter how tired he got, he had to warn them about the demons and their plan.