"I'd wondered where you'd gotten to," Halone's mother said warmly, a friendly smile illuminating her face as she looked at her daughter, who had come back to her after catching a rabbit to cook and eat.

Yet still there was a definite awkwardness and uncomfortableness to her mother. Like she was ashamed of her daughter, scared of her. The smile was fake, the warm ness was artificial and the mother-daughter bond was irreplaceably broken.

"Yeah I just wanted to say thank you with a nice meal," Halone reflected her tense smile, "it's the least I could do." She just wanted to be loved.

"You could've reopened a wound," her mother said, not with worry but with judgment. The condescending expression hardened her feature. This was her real mother. The bitch.

Halone grimaced awkwardly-feeling bad about doing something she thought was good always left her confused and at a loss of what to say.

But, then again, it's always the mother's place to tell their child off. At least this time it didn't involve a drunken beating.

"It's been over a month since I got those wounds, I think I'm in the clear," she explained, "but thanks for the concern I guess?" she laughed a wispy, breathless laugh that was more of a wheeze. She knew it wasn't concern, but it was nice to pretend.

"Speaking of time I think it's time I got back to camp, my kids'll be missing me," Halone said, this time it was her mother who awkwardly grimaced-for she knew returning to the camp might mean Leiden will finish what he started by killing her for good this time.

"I don't think so, they're being looked after by Mother, and what if Leiden tries to kill you again?"

"I don't think he was trying to kill me, I think he was just angry and he took it out on me," Halone explained, as she talked she heard how ridiculous she sounded and a laugh snorted from her.

Her mother only wordlessly nodded, unconvinced.

But then, suddenly, an idea sprung to mind.

"Are you sure that'll work?" Halone questioned the idea, quirking a curious brow.

"It's not like we've got any better ideas," her mum shrugged, "if there's any chance it might work you'll have to take it."

"Alright," Halone said, "I'll take it."

Later on, long after the sun had fallen and the moon risen, under the cover of darkness Nikolai and Leiden were on another night assault in the demon colony-scaling the dividing wall as usual, and silently breaking into another of the demon elite's grand residences.

They systematically tore out every throat in the place before they entered the final room, where a female demon lay peacefully sleeping in her bed.

Nikolai circled round to the other side of the bed, where he noticed a large bump on her stomach.

She was pregnant, most likely with one of the demons they had just killed. Suddenly the blood dripping off of his wet muzzle felt heavy with apprehension-he knew Leiden, there was no way this pregnant demon was getting out of this alive.

For the first time ever he wished the demons would capture them, hold them as prisoners, torture them even. It's what they deserved, with all the blood on his hands. He'd spent his life trying to wash away the blood with more blood, and finally he felt ready to atone.

So when Leiden instructed him to kill the demon he refused in a quick, gruff response. Masquerading his apprehension as courage.

As soon as the words reached Leiden's ears the demon stirred, a blood red eye framed by long lashes peeking open to see blurry and shadowy figures standing over her bed.

"Daemon?" she muttered sleepily, hoisting herself up on the points of her elbows as slowly her vision began to focus-focusing specifically on the crimson dripping off of bared fangs. Her love's blood.

"Oh my-" she spluttered, suddenly attempting to scramble frantically out of bed before Leiden covered her mouth with his large hand and put a knife to he throat.

"Child, p-please," her words were muffled behind his palm.

Then suddenly he felt a sharp pain as her serrated fangs punctured deep into his hand, screaming from the pain he threw the woman to the floor and clutched shakily at the blood flowing from the open gash.

"Kill her Nikolai!" he screamed, Nikolai stood stoic and absolutely silent.

He knew Leiden could lash out like he did with Tick and Halone. Poor bastards didn't deserve what they didn't see coming. The past six months the rebel was falling to pieces at the seams, it had gone from a noble cause to a bloodthirsty cult.

Alexis was right. Too fucking right. How could he not of seen it sooner?

His guilt had to catch up to him eventually. He had been the perfect soldier, never questioning orders and executing them with pinpoint precision. But there's only so long his past could gnaw away at his mind before he had to listen.

To think freely, what a burden.

If Leiden chose to kill him right here right now he was fine with it. He'd end up in Hell-where he belonged.

"Nikolai! Do it!" Leiden screeched as the demon struggled to her feet, her face had taken the brunt of the impact on the floor-her nose was busted, contorted and gushing blood like a geyser.

"Pathetic," Leiden snapped, snarling at a defiant Nikolai before he quickly jumped atop the demon, grabbing their face tightly and twisted till there was a sickening crack and the demon's body convulsed for a moment before settling.

Then he let go, her body dropping to the floor with a heavy bang, before he slowly slunk over to Nikolai.

Without warning he struck Nikolai across the face, leaving deep gashes. Nikolai barely flinched. The pain felt nice, as he felt he was worthy of nothing but suffering. He began to understand what Halone got out of self harming.

Leiden took out his knife, he pressed in into Nikolai's throat and looked menacing into his eyes, smouldering and feral and almost rabid.

"You wanna die too?" Leiden hissed, his forked tongue flickered out to lick the wounds on his face, "coward, you can join them for all I care," he spat as he retracted his tongue, savouring the sweet with hints of old copper taste of his blood.

He pressed the blade deeper into Nikolai's throat, the pressure was threatening to spilt the skin.

Then he slowly removed the knife, letting it hang by his side in his hand.

"Disobey me again and I won't hesitate to waste your sorry ass," he snarled in a vicious snap.

Moving back over to the dead demon he slit her throat, blood poured out of the severed jugular and he dipped his finger in the still warm crimson pool before he began to scrawl in dripping, messy, spidery lettering in full capitals: 'WE DECLARE WAR.'

And with that done Leiden fled the colony, Nikolai following behind him.

When they arrived at the camp they realised the crops had been burned and the water supply cut off. Demon work no doubt, trying to starve them to lower morale.

Leiden let out a loud howl to tell the camp to gather before him, as a crowd formed he stood on a high ledge, scanning the hungry faces.

"I see that you are hungry, I am too, but what we shall quench our thirst on is demon blood. We need to make them pay, make them suffer. They don't know what pain is-we'll skin every man of them alive, we'll behead every woman and we'll slit the throats of every child. We will bring them to true justice and punish them all-we will kill them all, we'll sink our teeth into their flesh and no longer shall we go hungry, for their blood spilled will satisfy our hunger for revenge!".

The crowd hollered and howled and cheered and whooped, driven into ravenous ecstasy by his rousing words.

"I promise you blood and I promise you glory!".

War was coming.