It had been in a tavern when the rumour reached him, come to him by way of an informant who went under the guise of a tavern owner that couldn't help but gossip. The perfect cover, a person that always kept her ears to the ground and every time he passed by would offer him information for a bit of coin on the side. And because of the business she was in, all kinds of news came to her, and she was the type of woman that was sharper than most and could discern a massive pile of bullshit from something that actually had merit. And when he heard that she'd gotten the story from multiple sources, his curiosity was almost instantly piqued.

A demon had appeared and terrorized the sisters in a Temple of the Moon to the south and nearly killed the High Priestess of the establishment. The moment the story reached his ears, his mind was already racing, trying to draw up possible conclusions as to why a demon would appear in such a place to begin with. Possibly someone had summoned it by accident, or it had come to pay its dues to a foolish priestess that had made a deal. Humans were, in the end, incredibly prone to do just about [i]anything[/i] to get ahead. Someone perhaps sought to take the High Priestess' position but couldn't do so without a bit of help. And eventually lost control of the demon.

It was a theory, but it made sense for the moment. He'd have to do further investigations to confirm or deny, but one thing was certain. Demons were never fun to deal with. It was only luck that they all had a common weakness, but that was just about as common as they were to each other. Every demon was almost completely unique from another, coming in all shapes and sizes, from child looking monstrosities, to beasts that would scare any poor civilian that had the misfortune of seeing them into death. 

Rake took a couple days to collect all the gear he would need, and a couple more to plan out how he would trap the thing. That was the problem with demons. Because of their extreme variety, anything and everything was possible. Usually, he'd have an idea of what the demon looked like before he even planned out anything like this, but all the stories he got from his informant were inconsistent on its appearance, meaning no one knew. And that was trouble waiting to happen. He'd prepared as best he could, nearly spending all his coin on gear alone. A massive amount of iron crossbow bolts, rope and traps, holy water to fill an entire fucking river, and more salt than the Queen needed in a month. 

And now he rode through the thick forest, approaching the Temple from the north, behind him a pack mule that carried all sorts of items that he would possibly need. He just hoped the priestesses knew what it looked like.

As he rode he noticed the trees around him were dying, few evergreens dotted the forest with the rest having golden and brown leaves fall before him in showers. And as darkness approached, the cold was biting sharper through his coat. A couple of hours later, as the moon rose over the Temple he handed the reins of his horse to a stable-hand and was led through the temple and into the High Priestess' office.

"Please, sit," The Priestess said, signalling to a simple chair in front of her desk.

"Thank you, Mother," said Rake as he walked in and took a seat.

"How may the Temple of the Moon help you, my child?"

"I've come investigating rumours of a demon that attacked the Temple. Do you know if there's any truth to it."

He noticed something cross her face, whether it was worry or fear he could not exactly tell, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "There is," she said with a sigh, "unfortunately. But, far more concerning than the attack is the demon took with it a girl. Young, barely an adult and we fear it may do her great physical and mental harm if we don't get her back."

He never heard that part of the story. That just made everything far more complicated didn't it just. "How long ago was this?"

"A couple weeks at most."

Best he assume she was dead then, the poor girl. Or too fucking addled from the horrors the demon forced upon her. He hoped she was gone, for her sake. "Unfortunate. I'm terribly sorry, Mother. Do you know where the demon took her, and what it looked like? Any details at all will help me destroy this thing and get the girl back to the Temple."

"I can't say for what it looked other than it was... humanoid? As for where it went, south into the forest. Beyond that, I'm afraid I cannot say."

Humanoid. That narrowed things down a little, and it was a start. "Do you know how it appeared?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Demons rarely appear where they're not wanted... so to speak. Someone must have required its aide."

"Are you suggesting a ritual was cast to summon such a creature in our Temple?" 

"I don't mean to offed, Mother. I've been doing this for a long time, and one eventually notices a pattern. I simply want to get to the end of this, all I ask is your cooperation."

"No such ritual was made here, hunter, I can assure you of that."

A ritual was definitely fucking cast. "Very well. Thank you for your time, Mother. I'll see myself out."

"May the moon guide your way, my son."

He nodded his head reverently then stood and walked out. Minutes later, he was on his horse with all the materials he would need to catch a humanoid demon, the pack mule left behind.