[color=gold]Hidden in the darkness near an alley, a lovers' tryst fled the floating torchlight as it reached out to confess their sins, only to fade once its bearers passed. Hearts racing, Fabien took Beatrice's leg in one arm and cusped her face with the other, breathing in deeply within the kiss and smiling as she moaned. After a pause, she broke the kiss and pressed him back.

“We should be in a home. Not out here where our families may catch us!” She said. The gorgeous young man's wolf-like smile only widened like barren fangs and he drove himself against her, gazing into her eyes with hunger.
“No, my petit agneau, this is where we belong.” He kissed her again and she simply melted into him, arms fully embracing his barreling chest and wide shoulders. There was no reason to resist, even as she saw her husband's face in her mind and soon forgot it as this beautiful boy sinned again and again. She struggled to arrest her voice from telling the whole world of her crime, at times holding her mouth closed when it was too much.

Feeling so close, she tilted her head back to see the moon peek its light from behind the nearest roof. It was as if it accepted their vice in its beauty, a gift from the stars. And yet her heart skipped as she saw a flash of movement slip down the wall, its shadow slithering forward like a beast following the path of a dying fire. It vanished as they both erupted into ecstasy and she collapsed into his powerful arms. 

He lowered his head and brought his lips to her ear whispering, “My sweet Agneau, I ask you again to run with me to my Chateau.” Her cheeks burned pink as she tried to catch the wind he had stolen from her, eyes staring into his as if enspelled. Breathing in deeply, she placed both of her hands across his face. 
“What choice do I have, my sweet Fabien?” 

She embraced him once again, lips and tongues intertwined with the taste of flesh and pheromones. Suddenly, he yelped and drew away, blood dripping down his lip. He wiped it with his thumb, seeing a strange yet playful look in her eyes.

“What was the meaning of that?” He asked. She smiled and and leaned forward.
“To remind you that we shall forever be bound together by our blood...in the inferno.” 

Without warning, she clasped her teeth into his neck while at the same time driving a dagger she took from his belt into his belly. As he pushed her away, skin ripped from his neck and blood began pouring onto the wet streets. He gripped the wound on his neck and looked up noticing that her face had shifted into something sinister, eyes glowing like embers. The smile had turned into something more predatory.

“I wonder what Ariel, or Colette, or maybe even Rosalie would think of our love, ye Handsome devil.” Beatrice said, her voice deep and guttural. As he turned to flee, he felt the blade bite into his thigh and he dropped to the ground with a loud grunt. “Shall we go to them?” She asked.

A block away, a patrolling soldier stopped and turned back. His eyes scanned back and forth quickly, ears strained.

“Did you hear that, George?” The other soldier gave him an irritated look, pausing to be polite. 
“No, Adam. Let's finish our bloody shift and go home. My wife can only wait so long.” George stood still for a moment to be sure it was nothing. Satisfied, he sighed and and they began walking again. “Why do you always have to act like something is happening in this place, you idgi—...“ A woman's scream cried out in the night. They stopped and looked at each other, then ran towards the sound. 

Once there, they found a man lying face down in the street with a dagger in his back and a frantic woman sitting over him crying. George rushed to the girl and pulled her away, trying to calm her down without staring at her cleavage. Adam walked over and sat on one knee, pushing the man's shoulder aside to get a good look at his face with his torch. He gasped and stood up immediately. 

“It's the diplomat's son!”

[center][h2]‡‡‡[/h2][/center]

A sudden pain in his back awoke Tobias as he reached for his dagger and rolled off his sleeping sack, eyes jumping from side to side. With nothing but the song of the night chanting its chorus, he dropped to one knee and lowered his head down to think about what he just felt. For a moment, he tasted blood, but it shifted into sulfur and he quickly grabbed his gourd of water to wash the taste out of his mouth. 

“Ack! Damnit!” A guttural laugh rose above the cicadas, startling Tobias to stand up and whirl around. A cold sensation began to seep into his skin and he knew he was not alone. He noticed that the forest had become silent enough that he could hear the gnashing of his own teeth as well. Even after a decade of hunting, such fear never went away. 

At the same time, Tobias noticed that his fire had lost much of its passion. He grabbed two small branches and threw them on top of the flame. Sparks flew from the crash and suddenly in his periphery he saw a flash of fur as it rushed him. Just at the edge of the light it slammed into an invisible wall with a yelp. The wolf quickly rolled back up and sneezed, snapping at Tobias. 

“You fucking Nazarites and you're fucking circles!” It spoke deeply, eyes glowing crimson. Tobias grinned.
“I'm always lucky enough to be attacked by...simpleminded demons. Don't know why you all don't just become the fallen one's jester,” he said. The wolf snorted and pissed on the edge of Tobias's dug enclave. 
“In that case, boy, how about I give you a riddle, and if you answer correctly, I'll make certain neither I nor any other demon bother you for a full week.” 
“Can't say I would do the same for you, but hell, go for it. Can't be any worse than watching you lick your testicles.” The demon growled for a moment, then sat down. Something was strangely calm about it. It cleared its throat before beginning.
“Riddle me this, human. I can be created by humans, but they cannot control me. I suck on wood, paper and flesh alike. I can be more of a hindrance than help at times. To my creators, I seem to be everywhere at once. What am I?” Tobias looked away in thought, then smirked.
“A baby.”
“Exactly.” The wolf turned around and rushed back into the forest. Tobias stood there, dumbfounded. His eyes widened as he realized that it wasn't a riddle.
“Shit!” He rolled his stuff together and ran off after the wolf, pulling out a dagger to hold in front of him. It gave off a high pitched sound allowing Tobias to get an idea of where the demon was going. 

Through a ravine and the natural halls of aspen trees, he was finally led to a clearing with a small and plain Tudor home at the center. Light from a fire lit the windows, though he wasn't sure he could see smoke from the chimney with such darkness surrounding the place. 

Putting the knife in the other hand, he unsheathed his Longsword and walked to main door. He tapped it with its point once, then twice with no answer. Angry that he might be too late, he was about to kick in the door when the knob turned and it creaked open. A handsome woman around his age looked at him guardedly. Seeing his weapons, she gasped and shut the door, locking it. 

“Please leave! If you don't, I'll wake my husband!” The sense of dread in his heart lifted knowing there was someone alive. However, he needed to be sure the demon wasn't inside, or outside for that matter as he was no longer under the protection of his circle. He closed his eyes and prayed to God for what he was about to do. With a deep breath, he turned around with his eyes toward the forest and knocked the knife's pummel into the door urgently. 
“Maam! Please! I'm being hunted by wolves. Tis why I'm armed. Please, give me shelter for the night.” Silence. He pounded harder on the door. “I promise you in the name of God I will not harm you or your family. Please, don't leave me out here!” Another pause, but then she spoke.
“If you wish to enter, put away your weapons. You will not come into this home until then.” Tobias thanked God and sighed, doing as she requested.
“They are sheathed, mam.” The door unlocked and slowly opened, her eyes skimming Tobias from toe to head. Once satisfied, the woman stepped back and allowed him to enter. Finally, she shut the door again and locked it. 

Immediately, Tobias scanned every shadow within the home, few there were. Besides the gear on the wall, a table, and some cooking utensils by the back wall there was few places something could hide. That is until he noticed small separate rooms across from him on the left wall. He was about to go check them when the woman's hand pressed against his shoulder, making him turn.

“Stranger, what is your name?” She asked. There was a longing in her eyes that made him feel uncomfortable.
“Hawkings, mam.” She smiled.
“Mam? Do I look that old? Please, call me Elise.” She brushed off some debris off his jerkin and walked over to the cauldron on the fireplace. It smelled of roast with a sweet seasoning and reminded him that all he had to eat today was jerky. She already had filled a bowl by the time he walked over to her, expressing that he sit as she brought it to him. Placing his pack down, he took one more glance around the room and sat. The feel of furniture elevated his spirit from the knots in his back that he got from sleeping on the ground. 

“Thank you.” He said.
“Quite welcome, Mr. Hawkings.” She sat down in a chair next to the fire and appeared to continue knitting what looked like an infants attire. “I apologize for the rudeness. I've been expecting my husband to return for the past two days.” He nodded at her while blowing into the broth, his eyes still lingering from place to place. After he ate a handful, he decided to question her.
“So Mrs...um, Elise, rather, have you seen any wolves recently?” She sat the needles down and looked out the window. 
“Not seen, no, but I did hear one howl a few days ago. In fact, it was right after the night my husband left.” Tobias's brow frowned. His senses were brewing with something dark sitting along its precipice. 

As his eyes refocused he noticed a shadow in front of him and looked up, Elise standing before him and with that same look. The beating of his heart rose as she brought a hand up to his cheek. He took it and stood up. 
“Mam...I mean, Elise, this is not proper.” She smiled gently and shook her head.
“No, but for many months now since I gave birth, my husband has put me away. Even when I was with child, I could smell the lovely fragrances of his lovers every time he came home.”
“That is unfortunate, but I must insist this goes no further. I am a man of God.” Elise paused, yet as quickly as a fleeting thought she made up her mind and pulled his hand over her breast. The scent of her sex was strong and no amount of his training at the monastery could fight such a natural reaction, if not prove to fatally enflame it. He closed his eyes and breathed, held it, and released. He continued to breathe as she pressed up against him and kissed his neck. And then, a thought came to mind.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he stepped back.
“Elise, may I ask a question?” She looked back confused.
“Yes?”
“You have a child, correct?” She nodded. “Alright, well, since I've entered your home, I have not heard it make as much as a coo. Can you check on him?” She tilted her head and thought about it for a moment.
“Actually, he should have woken by now to feed.” A look of worry crossed her face and she walked over to one of the small rooms. Tobias followed. 

Lighting a candle, she placed it onto a small table next to the child's cradle and knelt over him. She gasped.
“He's so cold!” She said. Tobias felt something strange about the boy. There was life, and yet there was not. “What's wrong with my son?!” Tobias knelt on the other side of him and stopped her from grabbing the boy.
“Let me see him.” She looked at him in pain, but let go. 

Pulling down his cover, he untied the top of his nightwear and revealed the infant's chest. Elise shrieked as along the boy's torso were seven burnt brand marks in the group of a star. Tobias sat there stunned as tears burst forth. He knew what this was, not just the pattern but what the symbols in each brand meant. The boy's soul was gone. 

A wrath not entirely his own swelled within his chest as he bared his teeth. He could feel himself growl with each breath as he tried to maintain his calm. 

“What have you done to my–...!” Before Elise could finished, there came a knock on the door. They both turned and stood, still reeling from the discovery.
“Elise! Elise, I have returned! Open the door!” A man's deep voice came through with a slur, followed by harsh bangs. Before he could stop her, however, she was almost to the door and with her dead son in her arms.
“Roger! Oh, Roger!” 
“No, don't open that door!” Tobias ordered. 

Just as a crack of the door opened he slung one of his daggers with practiced timing, as Roger's head unnaturally weaved aside though it sliced open his cheek. The door burst aside at the same time as a wolf jumped towards Elise. Within that moment, Tobias charged forward screaming and unsheathed his longsword at an angle that sheared the beast in half with a great spill of blood and guts splattering across the front wall. He maintained his momentum and came flying at the possessed man, kicking his boot into it's sternum with a loud crack. Finally, he turned and slammed the door shut.

Lying on the ground, the thing let out a guttural chuckle in mock as if it had already won.

“How did you like my gift for you, Tobias?” It said. He didn't flinch at the sound of his name. He simply stared. “Oh, has a jester got your tongue?” The demon stood and wiped himself off, ignoring the bloody bone sticking out of its belly. “I guess you just want to get straight to the point, huh? Pity.” Roger snapped its fingers and the presence of four other wolves surrounded Tobias. “Now, anything you want to say before we drag you to our master?” 
Tobias slowly slid his boots into a proper stance and pulled another dagger into his left hand, buckler shield covering its wrist. 
“The Abyss.” The wolves growled at the mention of that place, that prison within a prison. “En garde.”

All five demons rush him with inhuman speed, each aiming for a limb as they enclose. Just a second before, however, Tobias slams the dagger into the ground beneath them all and turns it into mud, throwing them all off-balance and sliding around. Tobias then uses the dagger as an anchor while slashing his sword at their veins as they pass, fatally wounding two and injuring one, yet missing the third wolf as it had jumped. The lead demon unfortunately fell short and crawled back to dry land.

Carefully maneuvering, Tobias ran toward Roger and threw his second dagger, though this time the demon turns and catches it. As he looks back with a mocking grin, a splash of mud covers his face just before the sing of metal chops through his neck. The fight is over as quickly as it had begun. 

In the silence of the aftermath, Tobias hears the woman crying. He looks back and finds her sitting in the open doorway, having watched it all. He tries to walk to her but she screams at him.

“No! Stay back! Murderer!” The judgment makes him shake as he realized what he just did. Dead child in her arms; husband's head lying for five yards from her home. He lowers his head in shame, even though he knew it had to be done. Finally, no longer being able to sense the demons, he sheathes his weapons and picks up the ones he threw. 

Lights suddenly flicker through the woods to the west, voices following soon after. A few minutes later, four soldiers following the forest path come into the clearing and stop at the sight before them. They point at Tobias and whisper to one another before noticing the dead body. The ring of swords echo and they come running.

“Dear God, it's Roger!” The first soldier says looking at the dismembered head. “He killed Roger!” Shocked, three of them surround Tobias swords raised while the fourth goes to Elise.
“Elise, what the bloody hell happened?” She didn't even look at him, but then pointed at Tobias.
“He killed my son! My husband! He's a witch!” The accusation instills fear immediately and the three soldiers take a step back. Tobias remains silent.
“Um, he doesn't quite look like a witch, Alex.” The second soldier says to the third. 
“Look at them braids, Bernie. Tied back together into some rings, they are. You think a Christian would do that?” Alex replied to Bernie. 

The fourth soldier then comes out with Tobias's pack and starts rummaging through it. Eventually, he pulls out a pendant in the shape of Thor's hammer.  
“Oi, the hell is this?” Tobias swallows as he remembers its history.
“It was my father's.” 
“So your father was a heathen, now was he?” The fourth soldier asks. Tobias nods. “What does that make you?” He can't answer and shrugs. “Alright, well possession of such pagan artifacts is a crime. I'm afraid I'll have to arrest ya.” 

Tobias doesn't resist as they arrest him and take his weapons. Part of him wants this, to be judged and convicted. And even as he watches the morning light of dawn shine across the horizon, its warmth fades as quickly as it kisses his face. He awaits his prison.[/color]