Loud conversations, uproarious laughter, and constant noise were typical in the Protectors' headquarters. Stefan didn't expect less when he created the group, especially considering that the majority of the members were in their twenties.

During the last five months, he gathered an impressive amount of people willing to learn to control their powers and use them to protect the inhabitants of Umbra.

In the beginning, Stefan's goal hadn't been to form a resistance. He focused on teaching others about control, to avoid chaos. After some time, his first students brought in more people, and they had decided it would be best for the villagers to form a resistance against the demon army.

As a former marine, Stefan had enough experience to be a leader to the ones who wanted to fight for their home. It was a hard decision to make but with the support of his old friend and his wife he accepted the responsibility.

Everyone inside the group had a job to do, when someone joins the Protectors they know they'll have to compromise. That doesn't mean people had to join to learn how to use their powers, it was possible to learn control and decide to not be a part of them. The resistance was based on freedom and mutual respect.

The concept of the Protectors sounded amazing and it was true that all the members considered one another as family, even with their differences, but it also had its cruel side. Demons were vicious creatures, prepared to torture human beings, they were more than ready to add another soul to their collection. It takes time, effort, and sacrifice to be part of the group, and unfortunately, they knew that joining meant putting their lives in constant danger.

As he did every afternoon, Stefan was doing his daily round on the headquarters to check that everything was running smoothly. It was a task he enjoyed as it allowed him to talk with the members.

He chose to visit the training. That day Gellert was in charge after finishing his firefighter duty. The headquarters had a special room that all the members could use to train. The large space consisted of two separated areas. To the left was the gym equipment and to the right the fighting arena.

The leader approached his friend watching the sparring that took place at the moment.

"I can see they're doing better," Stefan commented with pride.

"They're trying very hard," answered Gellert without taking his blue eyes away from his students. "Momotaro made them train their physical strength. Now the poor children can't even hear the word boxing without trembling."

"I'm glad I put him in charge then," commented the leader. "Momotaro knows it's tough out there and these kids tend to think they can overpower a demon in their first watch."

Stefan learned the hard way that it is better to be tougher with the recruits, than to lose one for not being ready enough.

As Gellert was about to speak an intense pain spread through Stefan's right arm. Not a good sign, it meant that a member was in trouble.

Stefan could control ink. Each member had a tattoo of a sword attached to a crescent moon. The moon was the symbol of Umbra. According to an old legend, she will always shine over the villagers when they need protection.

The ink was inserted by Stefan himself once they became an official member of the Protectors. The tattoo connected each who bore the symbol to Stefan, enabling him to find their location and communicate in case of need.

"Team two is under attack, they need reinforcement," The leader ordered without hesitation.

"I guess you're taking team three, Lorcan and Momotaro."

"Only team three and Momotaro, I'm letting Lorcan rest a bit, he already worked too much last week and he's on watch duty tonight."

Gellert nodded and patted his friend in the shoulder before returning to the training. The leader looked at the group one more time, then he ran to meet with the teams.

It took around ten minutes for the reinforcement to arrive at the place of the battle, still, for Stefan, it felt like an eternity.  No matter how many attacks they suffered, he couldn't get used to them.  Inside his mind thousands of plans appeared, the intervention had to be perfect if he wanted to save the members.

The speed of the car decreased, the driver was preparing to park. Something flew towards them and crashed against the front glass.

"God! It's Jensen,” the young woman in the passenger seat yelled.

Stefan got out of the vehicle. He ran in the direction of the front hood. The young man's body lay motionless, he had a deep cut on his right thigh and part of his left ear was missing. The last thing the leader checked was his chest, just as all the demon's victims, he had his heart ripped out.

"I'm sorry. You did a great job. We'll take care of the rest,” Stefan told him before closing his eyes.

The moment Stefan got near team two, a dozen knives flew in his direction, he activated his power in time to create a shield to protect himself. With a movement from his right hand, he expanded the shield to cover the injured members. This action seemed to amuse the demon who started laughing.

"You're stupid if you think you'll be able to defeat me while wasting your power on those lowlifes."

"Believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing." Stefan made sure to keep the demon's attention while Momotaro sneaked behind him. 

The young Asian man didn't need to get too close, using his enhanced eyesight he calculated the right position and shot the demon in the center of his head.

Without losing focus on the shield Stefan looked at the status of the battle. Team three made an excellent job at neutralizing their enemies. Only one demon survived and it took less than a minute for Momotaro to kill him, his body disintegrating to ashes like all demons do when they die.

The shield made of ink disappeared. The injured people were taken to a vehicle and two of the members drove them as fast as they could to the headquarters.

Two bodies lay on the floor. The view was heartbreaking for Stefan. It happened again, those young boys trusted him and ended up dying.

"It isn't your fault." Momotaro tried to comfort the man.

The leader averted his gaze in the direction of the one talking to him with the intention of looking for any wound. He couldn't find anything. Momotaro's black hair came out of his bun falling all the way to his shoulders. His small, brown eyes didn't show their usual brightness, and his typical playful smile was gone. He wasn't injured but he wasn't in his usual state.

"Jensen was on watch duty with Lorcan tonight," informed Stefan, looking at the boy's lifeless body.

"I'll take his turn. I don't think I'll be able to rest tonight either way."

"Thank you. I'll talk with their families and prepare for their funerals." Sadness tainted the leader's voice. "Don't push yourself too much, we need you in your best conditions."

Stefan took care of everything he promised and made a visit to the infirmary to get a report on the status of the injured. Genevive, his wife and head doctor of the Protectors, confirmed they had minor injuries that were already treated.

He already knew the next step. With the plan in mind, Stefan went to his office after giving an order to one of the members: " Bring Flora, tell her it's  important."

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I hope you can be happy today!