-Prologue-

The forest was dark, leaves dripping wet from the recently broken storm. A group of eight Hunters ran along the stone road that cut through the trees, heavy cloaks fluttering slightly in the breeze they created. The road turned a corner, and a large gate, set within an even larger stone wall came into view. The man under the singular white cloak amongst a group of several black cloaks and two navy blue cloaks spoke, breaking the relative silence amongst the party.

“New guy, you’re with me,” his gruff voice commanded as he gestured to the young boy in a navy blue coat next to him. The boy mumbled his agreement with a nod.

“The rest of you,” the man in white continued, “split into your groups, and remember, two men to a gate. Do not let the target into the city.”

“Yes, sir!” The remainder of the group affirmed.

As the group neared the large city gate, the members broke off from the group, keeping to the trees, but following the curvature of the wall. Two black cloaks ran to the right, and the other navy cloaked Hunter followed the other three to the left.

The man in the white cloak turned to his much younger companion. “We’ll hide up in the trees,” he began, “we don’t know where they’ll come from, but there’s only four entrances into the city.” The young man nodded, and responded in a small, nervous sounding voice.

The two jumped into the trees nearest the gate on either side of the road, using wind magic to boost their jumps, and there, they waited.

-----

A little under an hour later, and there was still no sight of their target, and no word from the other groups. A drop of rain fell on the young man’s hood, followed by another, and within a few seconds it was pouring again.

A long, drawn out groan came from under his navy hood, “When’re they gonna show up?”

A heavy sigh came from the senior Hunter, “I’m right there with ya kid,” he responded in a similar tone of discontent.

After a few more moments of silence, the senior Hunter spoke again. “Let’s review our information shall we?” The kid seemed to perk up at this question, “Sure, never a bad idea.”

“Alright, who is our target tonight?”

“A Human man, suspected to be part of a group looking to start a war between Human and Demon, right?” The boy said after a moment of thought.

“Correct. How do we know he’s going to be here tonight?”

“He publicly announced his threat to destroy this town anonymously, even saying when he’d do it.”

“Very good, do we know how he plans to accomplish his goal?” This question stumped the young man. After a few minutes he replied, “I don’t know, do we?” The older hunter shook his head, “Unfortunately, we have no idea what exactly he’s planning to do, or what he’s capable of. More or less, we’re going in blind,” his voice layered with a sense of defeat. “What are we going to--”

The boy was interrupted by a loud boom. The man held up a finger as he brought his hand to his ear. Sir, a young woman’s voice rang through the man’s head, we don’t know how, but the target got in the city. “Crap,” he responded, his voice echoing into the ether, “Are we sure it’s him?”

Not positive sir, the woman began again, but I don’t see who else it could be, that loud boom sounded too close to have been lightning.

“Very well,” he grumbled, then, after a pause, commanded “Attention everyone! The target is thought to be inside the city! Everybody give chase, don’t give him a chance to do anything!”

After that, he turned his gaze back down to the boy, “Come on, let’s get this bastard.” The two cloaked figures dropped down from the trees and immediately charged through the gate. The rain also seemed to pick up some more, lightning crackling high above them.

From the gate you could see all the way to the exit on the other side of the city, where the other navy coat and their partner chased towards the center as well. The street was lined with houses and shops, occasionally breaking to reveal a smaller street branching off from the main road.

Suddenly three figures entered the center plaza from the left, two figures in black cloaks and one in a regal-looking white robe. Red sparks flashed from every Hunters’ hands, and suddenly various weapons appeared. The robed man pulled a sword from inside his robe. The two Hunters nearest to him began to attack, one wielding a scythe and the other a long sword that curved at the tip.

The man effortlessly blocked both of their attacks. Instead of retaliating with his own swings, he stomped the ground with his left foot, and pillars of stone shot up from the plaza floor, slamming into the Hunters and sending them flying. The two Hunters across from the boy and the white cloaked man were both wielding spears, but before they could even attack the robed man he waved his free hand, shooting small bolts of lightning at them. The group from the right didn’t even get to the plaza before a wall of stone appeared in front of them.

The young boy and the older man both wielded scythes as they made their approach. The young man spun his scythe, the cutting edge moving upwards towards the enemy. Eager to prove his abilities, he augmented his swing with wind, blowing it forward faster than his small body could handle on its own. The man in the robe didn’t even hesitate, he put his blade inside the small whirlwind the scythe was creating, fully, and effortlessly, stopping it. He then proceeded to punch the kid’s face, knocking him to the ground.

The man kicked him out of the way, the kid forced to watch as the menace approached the man in the white cloak. “If you come peacefully, I will let you leave with your life,” the senior Hunter offered sincerely. The robed man merely spat in response, before charging him with his sword. Their weapons clashed several times, and they even threw out several spells in an earnest attempt to kill each other.

After several traded blows, the Hunter made a shallow cut across the robed man’s chest. “PISS… OFF!” the robed man screamed, blowing a gust of wind strong enough to throw the Hunter off the ground and backwards several feet, followed by a bolt of lightning.

All the Hunters had been defeated. “Finally,” the man cackled with laughter, celebrating his victory, “The lot of you will die with this town.”

He returned to the approximate center of town, and held out his hand above his head, palm stretched out. And in his palm, a ball of pure, white light shone in stark contrast with the night sky. The ball grew in size rapidly, within only a couple seconds, it had reached the man’s elbow. “My death will not be in vain…” he mumbled to himself as it began to swallow his head, wincing in pain as he closed his eyes..

As the ball grew past his feet, there was a sudden burst of wind, followed by a strike of lightning near the young boy in navy. The boy stood up, and for him, time slowed down, the rain drops almost completely stopped. Red and blue light flashed in the palm of his hand, and was quickly replaced by a lare, elegant, white scythe. Without thinking, he charged at the robed man, and swung. Had someone else witnessed the event, it would have looked like the boy turned into a flash of light and split the robed man in half.

-----

After an hour or so had passed, the other Hunters began to regain consciousness. The white orb had almost completely dissipated. The man in the white cloak walked over to a small crater that had formed where the man had been standing. In this crater, he found two bodies. The young boy in navy, whose skin seemed to be singed red. And the robed man, whose body was cut in two and featured a similar, but more intense burnt look. Next to them was the scythe the boy had summoned.

“How in the world did he summon that…?” The senior Hunter questioned, mind still dazed from the earlier fight, “Either way… the chief ain’t gonna be happy about this.”