"So, what's your name?" 

The woman gave Lucas a look that was not short on annoyance. "The more pressing question is why are you following me around?"

They had left the hotel around thirty minutes ago, with the woman commenting that she had picked up the demon's scent. She'd left without another word but Lucas had followed behind. "Don't flatter yourself," he said, though internally he had to admit she was physically stunning, "We're just on the same route. The council employed me to take out this baddie..." he paused, shooting a curious look in the woman's direction. If she was employed by the council the job wouldn't have been available. "Who are you employed by?"

"I'm employed by myself. I have personal business with the magic signature used for this ritual," the woman replied. She had an accent that made her words seem joined together and quick, much like her rapid walking stride that Lucas found annoying to keep up with.

"Employed by yourself," Lucas repeated with plain distaste. Markus materialized floating right above the woman and made a circular 'she's crazy' sign next to her head which caused Lucas to chuckle.

The woman turned her head slightly, revealing a scowl. "Something funny?"

"Working for yourself is. Hilarious even. What is your plan; save the world while asking for nothing in return? Newsflash: you'll be acknowledged for a few months at most before they move on to the next thing that grabs their attention. That fact alone makes it pointless."

The woman seemed taken aback by Lucas' sudden passion. "It's not pointless if recognition is not the goal."

It was Lucas' turn to scowl and he added an eye roll to the mix, though he didn't press the issue. She was the worst type of person, in his opinion. Self-sacrificing to a fault. It brought up some memories that he would rather keep under a blanket.

After a few moments of silent walking, she spoke again. "The name is Tamara."

Lucas grinned, wondering what brought on her sudden change of mind. "I'm Lucas...Tamara," he repeated the name, tasting its syllables, "can I call you Tam?"

"Absolutely not."

Lucas chuckled. His mind hadn't strayed from trying to figure out her sudden change of heart, though. He studied her from behind, taking in her military wannabe and her hair ending in a tight bun. Looking past her physical shell, Lucas noticed that her magical aura wasn't quite like the standard wizard's. The standard wizard had a magical affinity, or if they were lucky, multiple affinities like Lucas had, but they were wizards which didn't fit this mold. Their magical core was less potent, which meant they couldn't handle the full output of a magical affinity and thus subspecies of wizards were made.

"What type of wizard are you?" Lucas asked. Tamara shot him a venomous look, which prompted him to quickly add, "If we're going to be working together it's important that I know your abilities."

Tamara scoffed as if the very idea was insulting, but Lucas could now tell it was an act. "I'm a banshee."

That explained it, thought Lucas. Banshees were wizards predominantly known for their ability to infuse sound waves with magical essence, causing a deafening blast that could be rather disorienting and with enough power, life-threatening. However, they had strict limitations - such as the durability of their vocal cords. It now made sense why she was grudgingly accepting his help; a banshee against an arch demon was not a favorable matchup, to say the least. There were rumors that banshees could tap into an inner wild side which provided great benefits at the risk of losing control of their mind, but even then, an arch demon would likely dispose of one easily.

Arch demons were demons who were just a promotion away from having the power of a demon lord. They used earthly avatars to start cult-like religions in order to eventually be summoned to earth, where they would feast on human souls to power their promotion. 

Basically, they were immensely powerful, which meant this job had taken a turn for the worst - in terms of survival rate, anyway. Lucas was more focused on the hefty bonus for defeating an arch demon.

"So that's why you use a gun," Lucas said thoughtfully.

Tamara stopped suddenly, almost causing Lucas to crash into her back. "Let's get something straight right now. Do not think that I am lesser than you because you have some fancy magical affinity. I've been trained my whole life to handle the supernatural and you...you clearly have not been."

Lucas had to consciously stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Sure, sergeant," he said with a lacking military salute. "Lucas reporting for duty!"

"You need to get serious," Tamara commanded with an unamused frown. "There are more lives at stake than just your own."

"Get a load of Ms. Righteous over here," Markus cooed mockingly.

"Right," Lucas responded with a nod in her direction. "Sorry." And he actually was for the slightest of seconds, perhaps egged on by the dreary landscape that enveloped them. 

Night had the downtown area grasped fully in its ominous palm now. Despite the fact they traveled down a series of sidewalks, they neither heard or encountered any vehicles on the road. Even during the day, traffic was scarce, due to the very real possibility of being robbed at gunpoint. Usually, vehicles were a sign of wealth and only those equipped to defend them from the masses dared to brave the roads of the downtown area.

The absence of vehicles and largely people added to the eerie chill of the night, as if the stars and night alike were waiting in anticipation for the two to find their target. 

Tamara slowed her brisk stride and her steps became less confident as she paused often, looking around warily with her gun drawn. Lucas assumed that this meant they were close, not that he could tell. Demons gave off an acrid scent, like a badly burnt dish - and archdemons were especially pungent once you caught their trail. Unfortunately, Lucas wasn't able to smell their trail at all, which is why he had committed to following the banshee.

"We're close?" Lucas asked after another couple beats, becoming unsettled by the tense silence of the night.

Tamara regarded him with a slither of curiosity. "You can't tell?"

"No, I missed that particular page in the wizard's manual."

Tamara gave an unamused grunt. Lucas was beginning to realize she lacked a funny bone. Perhaps that was why her soft features seemed artificially hardened. "We are close, yes," she said, "it's hard to pinpoint exactly where the trail leads when you're within a few feet."

"So you're saying that the archdemon could be watching us right now, planning an ambush?"

"Hypothetically."

Lucas studied the surrounding darkness with a newfound alertness. "Fantastic."

"I think the trail leads there," Tamara commented, her eyes latching on to an alleyway between two buildings. 

"Are you positive?" Lucas asked with a note of apprehension. One didn't venture into the alleyways of the downtown area unless they were lured away. In a way, the alleyways housed their own demons - only of the human variety.

Without responding, Tamara advanced into the alleyway, gun pointing chest-high. Seeing her advance, Lucas had a moment of calm. There was no way the archdemon would go through the trouble of setting up an ambush for them. Seeing someone point a normal gun at him would probably be like a baby pointing its bottle at a grown adult. 

More insulting than threatening.

Lucas followed the woman slowly, making sure to give her a wide berth so that if the archdemon decided to incinerate her he wouldn't get caught in the blast. Standard wizards had a higher tolerance to pain, but he could still feel his abdomen groaning with every step.

After a few more steps, Lucas noticed that Tamara came to an abrupt stop and stiffened up. Lucas paused, making sure that she wasn't under immediate attack before walking up to her side where he could see what had caused such a reaction.

His stomach immediately clenched as he reached, the contents of the day shooting out of his mouth as he emptied out his stomach in the alleyway. 

Lucas had seen death - closer than most were comfortable - on frequent occasions, but nothing could prepare him for the sheer brutality that assaulted his vision. They were two bodies that were now unidentifiable by even the closest relative or friend. They appeared to have been mauled by thirty bears one after the other.

The bloody scene was so bad that a doctor could probably teach an intern what organs looked like from the littered display on the floor. Lucas stiffly walked away as the accompanying stench of a fresh death made his eyes water. Tamara joined him a second later, her demeanor slightly shaken, although her calculating gaze was still in effect.

"You see scenes like that often?" Lucas asked with a small quaver in his voice.

She took a moment to study him before responding. "No, it's rare for me to come across an archdemon at all, much less one of their victims. I've heard that their methods of slaughter were brutal but...this is my first actual sighting of one."

Lucas noticed that her voice was softer than before and he noticed that she was just as unnerved, but she was trained to keep her head in such situations. This realization prompted Lucas to try to control his emotions, but that was easier said than done. The image of two persons shredded beyond recognition in the muted illumination provided by an old lamppost was bound to haunt him for a while.

"What now?" Lucas asked, feeling more unsure than he'd felt in a long time.

Tamara sighed deeply, massaging her forehead with a rough palm. "After an archdemon devours souls he loses his scent for a couple hours. Thankfully, he also can't go on a binge eating spree at this time, but it means that we also have no way to track him."

Lucas felt even more uncertain after her explanation and it must've shown on his face, because Tamara continued, "The only thing we can do now is go and get some rest and try to pick back up the trail tomorrow night."

Lucas tried to shift back to his normal self, forcing a smile that he hoped was close enough to his self-proclaimed trillion-dollar smile that it would pass as charming. "Which reminds me; my place is pretty far from here and as we saw the area is pretty dangerous at night, maybe it's best we-"

"No. This is goodbye for now."

"How will you even reach me," Lucas protested. Despite his earlier jab, his worries were truly on not ending up against the archdemon alone, rather than companionship. Sure, the woman was aesthetically pleasing to look at, despite her military get-up, but working in a strip-club and frequenting casinos had taught him those were usually the most dangerous type of women.

"Fine," Tamara said, "Give me your number."

"Yeah, give her your number, hotshot," Markus announced with a guffaw. Lucas noticed that the guardian angel seemed unbothered by the murder scene. Lucas chose to believe that becoming a guardian angel numbed his emotions.

"Well, actually, I don't have a phone at the moment," Lucas replied with a mental facepalm. 

"Some demon hunter you are," Tamara grunted. "Well, I can track you the same way I did the demon." Lucas raised an eyebrow, he didn't remember that being in the banshee textbook. Not that he knew a lot about them. "But you can humor me with your location."

"What?"

"Where are you staying," she clarified with a sigh.

"Oh! Erm..." he had heavily implied that he wasn't homeless, so such a response wouldn't do. Markus materialized behind her, giving Lucas his best judging stare (which was quite judging), for getting caught in a web of lies. "Well, I planned to book a room back at Hell Hotel in case I had to wait longer to...make contact."

Tamara nodded. "Makes sense. I'll see you when I see you then." She turned before Lucas could even respond and walked away at her usual brisk pace, soon disappearing into the dark. 

Lucas didn't loiter for a second, retreating in the opposite direction at a half-jog. He was trying to get as far away from the scene and out of the wretched dark streets as fast as possible, but he was also trying to outrun the guilt that chased him.

It felt inhumane to just leave the two victims unattended in the alleyway as they had. When he had glanced at the scene, Lucas noticed a fairly clean bikini bottom set a few feet away from the carnage, which indicated it had been removed before the archdemon got his hands on them. This led Lucas to believe that it was a prostitute and a customer, which explained why they had been in the alleyway in the first place.

Lucas didn't particularly care for prostitutes, but it took a certain amount of desperation to work the late nights downtown that Lucas could pity. Either way, no one was deserving of such a death.

The discovery had sobered him up, so that the walk back to the hotel was a glaring contrast to the walk from when Tamara had accompanied him. Now, there was a weight on his shoulders that hadn't been there before.

Uncertainty

He'd been so high off their one-sided victory against the lesser demons and the euphoria that came as a result of finally using his wizard abilities that the reality of facing off against an insanely powerful demon didn't seem to dawn on him fully. In a way he'd been cocky, thinking that being gifted with a rare magical affinity meant that he could take on anyone or anything, even with his minuscule training and experience, but now he wasn't so sure.

Now, fear clung to his back as much as uncertainty, as the twisting shadows no longer only held the threat of human threats, but of something much more sinister. He didn't have the training to steel himself like Tamara had and he felt completely naked out int he open.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"