It looked like a quarrel, but minor details suggested there was more to it. One was that these two loved each other dearly, and they never had a big fight like the one that was unfolding before his eyes. He should know, they were regulars in his church, often chatting with him. The rabbit woman from time to time brought him her famous pear pie. The other was a sinister gleam in their eyes.

Shadow silently growled. He still didn't know what was causing this, but he had a way to stop it. His fingers touched a silver cross shining a faint light coming from a street lamp around his neck. He gently grasped it, feeling the cool metal through his white gloves and silently recited the holy words.

After a few moments, the couple stopped fighting, their eyes changed, and a light purple smoke left their bodies, completely dissipating into the air. Their eyes were big, and a sense of waking up from a vivid dream washed over them.

"I..." The woman was terrified, covering her mouth. Realizing what she had been shouting, tears started to flow from her eyes.

"No, it's my fault. I'm sorry!" her husband gasped, pulling her into a hug.

A slight smile appeared on the ebony hedgehog's face before he disappeared into the night. However, it didn't last for long.

'That's the seventh case in the last four days.'

He had already encountered numerous cases like this one, but never in such large number. Instead of declining, as in the past, they seemed to be escalating. This case was still pretty easy. Just the other day, he barely stopped a possessed person from committing a murder.

Since that event, he knew someone, something big was near, causing trouble.

'I will find the unholy creature responsible for this, and I shall eliminate it without fail. I swear, in the name of the Lord.'

Such was the second face of Father Shadow. During the day, he was a loving and caring person, but at night he turned into a deadly hunter of evildoers. He turned the corner, continuing his patrol.

In a forest around the town, there was a nicely shaped cave hidden in the deepest part, providing shelter for a strange creature.

"Another one failed, huh?"

The voice was soaked with a sinister undertone. The creature wasn't part of this world. Someone might consider it was a hedgehog because of the three longer quills on its head, but that was the only similarity.

Its yellow eyes with thunder-like pupils were already scary on their own. They had a sharp look, reacting to the smallest movements. The combination with black sclera made them glow. They seemed to be child-like, but there was barely any sense of innocence in them.

A clawed foot scratched the stone, as the creature lifted it to rub an itchy spot. It was covered by scales of red and black. The red ones formed lines around its constantly frowning eyes, continuing over its top-most quills. The outer ones had only red tips, and its limbs were covered by them only on their lower halves. Not even its tail with a small hook was an exception for this unwritten rule of its skin.

The clawed fingers tapped at the demon's muzzle. "I thought planting some negative energy in mortals would make harvesting easier," the creature spoke more clearly, suggesting it was male.

He wasn't equipped with just claws, spikes grew on his forearms, and yellow bear-trap teeth decorated his wide mouth. Just one glance could tell his toothy smile was top notch. There was no doubt they were perfect for ripping meat off bones.

'What now, Eclipse?' he asked himself. 'There must be somebody quite skilled,' he kept pondering about it and flapped with his dragon wings in a frustrated manner. He didn't have such trouble in the previous area.

Gathering negative energy was his daily work. He always collected it ahead of schedule. That earned him a few enemies in Hell, but Eclipse wasn't scared of his older peers.

He looked back into the cave, glancing at a big hourglass. It needed just a bit more to be full.

A strong snort left his nose. "Whoever it is, they are making a mess of my handy work," he mumbled.

From the shadows behind Eclipse emerged four flying dark-purple balls. They kept hovering near him like big balls of dust. However, he didn't try to shoo them.

The energy he planted in mortals magnified negative emotions. It was something he thought out when he was bored. However, guessing the right amount was the tricky part. Inserting too much made the victim explode right in front of his eyes. When it first happened, he got a full dose of a bloody mess right smack to the face.

Well, he was a messy eater, so the dining customs were never his forte, but in this case, he quickly went to clean himself up. This lesson taught him to be more careful and have an escape route close by. If he didn't insert enough, it either had no effect, or it took too long for his taste to do anything.

Both types of failures motivated, and now it was easy to do it. He only needed to pick the right mortal, pour some of his inner energy, and wait for the next night when the harvest would be at its best quality.

Eclipse always killed his victims to get extra energy in the form of a soul or, in rare cases, he would watch them cause pain to others before he would join the fray.

"Damn," he cursed slightly. "I work on a tight schedule here, you know." He clashed his small fists. "Well, guess it means I'll have to step in and do some early harvesting," he snorted with a silent growl, "if any of my seeds remain, that is," he noted with a click of his forked tongue.

Despite his mood sinking a bit, the excitement began to rise inside of him. It was some time since he went on a good, old-fashioned hunt. From the time he developed this method, his work was much easier, and he might have turned a bit lazy.

"Time for some dirty work." He grinned, displaying his sharp teeth.

The dark balls around him danced and started to make joyful sounds. These things were alive!

"Ah, no worries, my darlings." He patted them with a gentle smile. "I'll let you eat more, so you can grow big and strong, then you will be able to hunt these pathetic creatures with me." His wide smile was in contradiction with his words; it was one that would give any person goosebumps.

The four dust balls made eights in the air and circled around him while producing whistling sounds of different pitches. It almost seemed they begged for something.

Eclipse's expression constantly changed as his eyebrows knitted, lifted, or his left eye closed; the other looking suspiciously at the four balls with crossed arms. After a few minutes, he pouted and scratched his cheek.

"Fine, I'll let you accompany me..." he slowly started.

The dust balls pressed their bodies against his chest, expressing their delight with many high-pitched notes.

"... but you will only deliver the souls here! No hunting! That's my job," he reminded them since they were too weak to protect themselves.

They calmed down and freed him from their group hug, and he gestured them to follow him towards the town.

Big thanks for LigerCat editing this chapter :-)

Dedicated to iloojin for taking her time to BadAss Critique my book <3