Julius is already a broken man without a wife and a daughter who turned her back on him. She would not want to be a part of his quest because of the dark outcome that might fall upon her. Julius looks up at the sky and never desires to turn towards Lenora to speak with her as the afternoon sun shines above them. If there was anything about the afternoon that Julius hated doing is wasting his time and breath on something that may not seem necessary. Lenora sat down and waited for the demon hunter to speak his mind about his life and his new life as an earthly ruler.
Julius looked up and spoke to Lenora, saying, "Listen to me. I come from a city called Romania. I made a promise to the king of Midland that cost me my soul. That I will tirelessly defend the kingdom against the demons. I became a professional demon slayer. I killed many monsters and hunted many animals ripe for eating. But then, I met a powerful night creature named Helvegen. He gave his magic to me because he was convinced that I am a slayer of the night and that I will hunt him down. But then, I met a more powerful entity. I met a creature often known as the Demon Wolf.
"That creature gave me his blood, and he is now bound to me as my servant. I have the power to dominate and the will to use this power to do good. I cannot escape this power, and I can't just throw it away for someone else to have it. That power... it's not completely awful. But with this power, everyone I've ever known and loved has either died or turned their backs on me. Harald stole a quarter of my blood and transferred it into himself. He does not know how to correctly use it, other than to dominate the minds of the people he swore to protect. Midland is no longer my home, and he is no longer the man I once knew. I have to do it. I have to defend whatever is left of Midland and be its ruler for eternity."
Lenora listened to Julius's words and kept them all in her mind if she ever forgets what he just told her. She knew he was hesitant about telling her about his own life and that nobody should know about it. Anyone else who would question him about the things he does would be silenced because he could not trust himself. Then Julius turns around, and he looks at Lenora as she sat down and had everything he said already go into her mind. She was brilliant and attractive even by vampire standards; she even remembered the day she became a vampire.
"Do you still wish to follow me? Even with my icy heart, do you still think you have what it takes to be with me? You're not human, so maybe I won't lead you to your demise," Julius said.
"Julius, I have enough power to turn my foes inside-out. I've never really got along with humans, so that's a first. Maybe if I don't slow you down and if I don't stand in your way, I'll gladly be with you and see that you're on that throne," Lenora said.
Then he said to her, "You differ from most nonhumans I've ever come across. The difference between them all is I believe you have a soul. Inside all that vampiric blood, I believe there is still good inside of you. Tell me, what will you do to know that my family is gone? Will you turn away when I need you the most, or will there be a day when I need you more than anything, you will come?"
Lenora understood that the demon hunter is more striving towards the path to a darkness that will never be destroyed. Julius knew that power would most definitely consume anything left inside him that is human and become something no human body can conjure. Then, Lenora gets up from the ground and walks to Julius to see if she can answer him without needing to shout. She then puts her hands on his cheeks to prove that she will be by his side until the end. She was now becoming someone whom Julius will have as a lady showing him love in this cursed world.
"I will go with you to the end, into the gates of your great kingdom. I know there is still good inside of you. Even if you abandon your humanity, I'll still know you for who you are," Lenora said. As she told him that, Julius held onto her left arm and kept it there for a long while.
Although he is a demon hunter at heart, all he ever wanted was someone to love in a world of death and evil. Even the most powerful demon slayers deserve love in their lives, and the desire to have that since most of them had tragic backstories. Lenora became exhausted, and Julius needed a bit of rest. He carried her to the tree they were standing in front of, and he lay her down beside him. Julius felt her cold body and had a satisfaction that he never thought he would have during his journey.
A few minutes later, Lenora's head rested on Julius's legs, and she placed her hand on his right thigh. She never felt a human's body before, let alone a human with demon-blood inside his veins. Julius did not move from that spot and refused to ruin Lenora's nap in the afternoon because that was usually a time he would sleep. Normally, Julius slept in the morning, but because he met Lenora in the afternoon, he needed this time to rest himself. But then, he felt this strange shift in the wind that made him feel good and have the strength to remember a song he once sang to himself.
And so, Julius sang, softly:
Comfort ye
Comfort ye my people,
Comfort ye
Comfort ye my people,
Saith your God
Saith your God
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
And cry unto her
That her warfare
Her warfare is accomplished
That her iniquity is pardoned
That her iniquity is pardoned
The voice of Him
That crieth in the wilderness
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
And so, Julius finished singing as the afternoon went on and fully paved the way for him to achieve what he will do in the night. Luckily, Lenora did not open her eyes and tell the demon hunter to stop singing because she has heard of music. Like Julius, Lenora used to go to theatres and listen to operas and symphonies, but she could no longer do any of that as a vampire. She slept with Julius until the night came for both of them; the sleep made them feel energetic and prepared. Instead of three hours, Julius and Lenora slept for five hours until they could hear the sounds of the crows and ravens.
They both got up and felt the cold air rush through their bodies, and they looked at the full moon already being available in the sky. A wise choice for them to do is lie low and be wary of any hunters that might try to hunt them down. They should also be cautious about the knights of Midland and their strong capabilities against the night creatures. Julius and Lenora walked south on the long road and go to one of the southern regions. The demon hunter concluded they should stay on the border between Midland and the area below the great kingdom.
"Do you feel that, Lenora? There is a substantial shift in the wind. Can you hear it?" Julius asked.
"I can hear it, but I can't feel it. It sounds like the sound of over a thousand demons marching towards us. I can only assume that this wind shows that a powerful mortal is leading these creatures," Lenora answered.
"Yes, Lenora. My time has come. I am now prepared for this big moment in my life to take action," he said. As he spoke with Lenora, he could see two massive demonic beasts walking from the shadows with an army of so many dominated creatures.
The two creatures were none other than Helvegen and King Stonethorn leading such a great army. All the dominated demons had swords, axes, and spears that have recently been sharpened to pierce the flesh of its enemies. The demons began chanting the name of their new leader and their original intentions while being under Julius's might. Julius's power to dominate forced the demon king to use that dark magic to have this army fight under his command.
YOU ARE READING
The Demon Wolf (Book 1 of The Devil and the Huntsman)
FantasyAN ERA OF DEATH AND FIRE A great darkness is coming, and in the frozen wastes to the north, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the far reaches of the earth. At the center of the conflict lie two men. One who is destined to be the ne...
