“How long?” Marie shouted as she followed Armas out the hospital doors.

“Ten years. But don’t worry, we’ll pass through Taelum plenty times for you to become pregnant for sure.”

Marie sped up and grabbed his sleeve, stopping him from continuing and forcing him to look at her. “Don’t kid about stuff like that ever again, Armas.”

“There’s nothing you can do even if I do.”

“I could leave,” she threatened.

“No, you couldn’t. You’re tied to me as much as I’m tied to you. You said you’d do anything to get free of those three men yesterday, so I was sent to you to fulfill your plea. Now shut up and come with me.” He tugged away his sleeve and continued walking. Marie didn’t follow, but after a certain distance her feet began to move on their own.

“What?” she shouted, surprised at what she was doing.

“I told you. We can’t be too far from one another until I say your duty as my slave is done!” he called back. Marie crossed her arms and willingly caught up with Armas.

“So, Armas, how old are you?”

“Twenty-nine. I’ll be thirty in a few months.”

“Oh, really? I’m sixteen, and I’ll be seventeen in a few months, too! Topi is already twenty this year...”

“Don’t bring up that man, Topi, please.”

“Why? He’s my fiancé, I have a right to talk about that man.”

“As a person and citizen of Altena, you do, but as my slave, you don’t. So shut your trap, lady.”

She sighed as she noticed his mean demeanour had come back. “So where are we going?”

“To Taelum.”

“Why?”

Armas laughed. “Don’t you have to get packed? Or do you really want to go on with only those clothes for ten years?” He turned his head to glance down at Marie, wearing only the shorts and sash from the previous night.

“You have a point, but can’t we travel during daylight?” Marie whined.

“No.”

“Why?” she cried.

“Because there are demons at night.”

“Exactly why we should go during the day!” Armas laughed.

“No. I’m a demon slayer; I’m supposed to go around and hunt all the demons I can find. That is my duty.”

“Fuck your duty for a moment! Can’t you think about yourself for a while?”

Armas stopped and looked at Marie. His face was cold and showed no emotion. Marie became scared. With a loud smack, he slapped her.

Marie clenched her hand to her now throbbing cheek. “When I fight, I only think about surviving just so I could live to fight another day,” he said and left. After a while Marie began to walk on her own again. At that moment, she hated Armas.

It took them eight hours, but they walked to Taelum City; a whole ten mile walk. Armas wouldn’t allow Marie to take a break, so when they reached town she fell in a heap on the floor. Her anger had died down over the night and now she only thought unkindly of Armas.

“Let’s go to your home. I want us to leave for Brunswick as quick as possible,” he said.

“Don’t tell me we’re going to be walking there, too!” she cried and began to take slow, exaggerated steps towards her Victorian home in the middle of the town.

“Hey, is that Topi guy going to be at your house?” Armas suddenly asked.

Marie shook her head. “No, he’s not. Topi told me he had some business to take care of in Bruno before he comes back to Taelum.” She walked up the steps and knocked on the door. “Marko! You home?”

The door swung slowly open to reveal a man with red hair and green eyes. “Where’ve you been, Marie? The whole town’s been out lookin’ for you!”

She laughed. “Oh, I was just abducted... But Armas here saved me from being raped! Isn’t that good news?” Marko glanced behind Marie at Armas, then at Marie’s swollen cheek.

“Did he hit you? Or was that the kidnappers?” he asked seriously.

Marie was speechless. If she told Marko, he’d probably wouldn’t allow her to leave, even if Topi gave the OK. If she said it was the kidnappers, she still wouldn’t be allowed to leave because Marko would want to check up on her for a while before allowing her to do anything. She stuttered. “W-well... um.”

“I did it.” Marko stared coldly at Armas and Marie elbowed him in the stomach. She pulled on his hair to bring him to her mouth.

“You didn’t have to tell him. He’s not going to allow me out now, you know.”

He turned to her. “Is he your guardian?” Marie nodded. Armas coughed and stood upright. “I’ll handle this, Marie. You go inside and pack your stuff.”

“Don’t say I didn’t tell you,” she pestered and walked off inside the home, leaving the two men alone.

“Go away and never come back,” Marko said and was about to slam the door but Armas shoved his foot in the doorway. “Fuck off, you bastard!”

A mocking smile inched its way onto Armas’ face and he shoved his way in, overpowering the twenty-six year old. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without Marie, at least.”

“What the fuck’s your problem? Can’t you leave her alone? Can’t you tell she’s—”

“She’s worried about me? Over the past day I’ve known her, I’ve observed that she’s a very caring person who get’s frightened easily. Timid, is a good word, too.”

“So you helped her? So you saved her from some fuckin’ creeps the other day. That doesn’t automatically make her yours. For your information, she’s Topi’s.”

Armas flinched. “I know she’s Topi’s. He proposed to her yesterday evening and she said yes.” Marko’s eyes lightened.

“She said yes? That’s wonderful! I’d better get all the arrangements ready! I’d better call Ren to help me with the setting up!”

Armas grabbed Marko’s arm before he had the chance to move. “That won’t be necessary just yet. Marie and I will be traveling for ten years before returning to our homes.

Marko flung his arm away. “Don’t touch me!” he shouted and dusted off his sleeve. The words Armas spoke sunk in. “What? You can’t take her away like that! She has school, and now she’s engaged to a man she loves! A proper man! Now you’re telling me she has to go off for ten years with someone she just met yesterday?” he shouted.

Marie came flying down the stairs wearing different clothes and ran into Armas, falling to the floor. “Ack! Sorry, Armas!” She helped herself up and set her bag upright; it was only a small suitcase, but it held enough to sustain ten years.

“It’s okay,” Armas mumbled.

“Put your clothes away, Marie. You’re not going.”

“But Marko! I want to go!” Marie whined.

“Well, I said no. Now go back up those stairs and unpack.”

“Why can’t I leave with Armas?” Marko flinched at the name.

“Because I said so. Now go.”

Marie crossed her arms and pouted. “No.” Armas laughed. She reminded him of a child. “What are you laughing at, Armas?”

“Nothing.” He restructured himself.

“Go put your bags away now, Marie, or else you’re grounded.”

“That wouldn’t matter. By the time I come back you’re going to be thirty-six and not remember a thing.”

“And how old is this guy going to be? Forty?”

“You’re absolutely on spot. After ten years I’ll be forty,” Armas interjected. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. Thanatos the Hunter is forty and is still Hunting.”

“What’s Thanatos have to do with this? He’s just some old geezer who’s wandering this torn up world chasing imaginary things he calls demons. What a lunatic. I can’t believe he—” Armas grabbed Marko by the shoulders and shoved him up against the nearest wall.

“Don’t you ever talk about Thanatos that way. He was like a father to me when no one else was.” Armas’ voice became dark and gloomy. It made Marie think of how he spoke to her when she was held up against the incubus. She shivered.

“So you were taught by the old mad man? That would explain a few things about you.”

“Shut up! We’re not much different in—”

“Stop, Armas,” Marie said and tugged lightly on his sleeve. An all-knowing smirk grew on Marko’s face. “Let’s just leave.” The smirk fell, and so did Marko.

Armas turned and picked up the giant wooden cross he dropped. Marie kissed Marko on the cheek and whispered, “I’m sorry, cousin. But this is something I have to do.” She walked to her suitcase and followed Armas out the door, the two proceeding across the sundried grass south-west towards Brunswick.

“Tell me, how are we going to get to Brunswick, exactly?” Marie asked. It was an hour after sunset and the two had been wondering for six hours now.

“We walk to a nearby port and fly.”

“How far is the nearest port?”

“Around five miles from here. That isn’t too bad.”

“That isn’t too bad? Compared to what I usually walk, that’s a marathon!” she shouted.

“Hmm. You did very well last night,” Armas said, eyeing Marie superiorly.

“Ha! I did very well last night? That’s only because my legs were being involuntarily moved all night long I couldn’t sleep a wink!”

“When you’re a Hunter, you sometimes don’t have sleep for days. Especially when you’re a very well known Hunter.”

“Face it, Armas, Hunters aren’t really looked up to, yet.” She crossed her arms.

“That’s true, but some day in the future, they will be. And I say not too far.”

“How far? Our children?” she said sarcastically.

“That seems right, yes.”

“How are you ever going to get a girl to fall in love with you when you’re always running around Hunting demons? They’re going to get fed up and leave, you know.” Marie now kept pace with Armas, trying to get a clear glimpse of his face.

He laughed. “Ha! Do you really think settling down is what I want?”

“Um, no?”

He laughed again. “Tell me what you think I want.”

“Well, um, lots of money?”

“Wrong!”

Marie thought harder. “Tons of women falling for you? Because, you know, because of your shaggy appearance, you’re a bit attractive.”

“Wrong!”

“Okay, fine. I give up. What do you want?” There was a small pause where Marie became worried the question had made Armas upset some way.

“I want all the demons to be gone. But to do that, all the incubus and succubus will have to disappear forever.” There was another steady silence where Marie felt uncomfortable, the memory of Armas’ wounds surfacing.

She decided to take the chance. “Armas? How did you get those deep gashes?”

He looked at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

“I, um, heard from Nancy that you came in with minor wounds and a few deep gashes. I’m just wondering where’d you get them. From a fight with a demon, perhaps?” Her voice inched up in pitch by the end of the sentence, making an annoyance to Armas. There was more silence. “Can you please tell me?”

Armas shook his head and sighed. “I was in a fight with a demon, yes. One pesky one in particular. Her name is Juniper and she’s a Terrestrial type demon. That’s the type that hides as humans, only to betray them later on.”

“How do know Juniper?” Marie questioned. Was Juniper perhaps Armas’ old lover? Or maybe a really close friend?

“We were lovers, at one point. It only turns out she was a Terrestrial demon and I had to kill her. She was born from an incubus and a human mother. She was taken by her father and forced to kill her mother.”

Marie felt a deep pressure suddenly on her chest. She felt her eye twitch and her legs become soft, wanting to rest and rekindle anything she had left. Her eyes burned and tears began to fountain out. “I’m s-so sorry, Armas. I can know how you feel, and I’m so sorry.” She fell to her knees and imagined herself in Armas’ position; nothing left except demons. It was no wonder all he seemed to care about was Hunting them, they took away his love. His father-like teacher had supposedly left him a while ago, and then so did his lover. Marie had no idea what she’d do in his position that was an alternative to suicide.

Armas stopped walking but refused to look at the girl. “There’s no need for you to feel sorry, Marie. It was all my fault for falling for the demon woman in the first place. If only Lucifer would die and rest in Hell forever with his precious sexy women and dog Cerberus, we’d all be happy and living with children.”

Marie was sobbing now, unable to control the tears as she let the deep feeling of loss fill and wash over her again and again. “Armas, how did you not kill yourself?” she stuttered. He chuckled.

“Easy, girl. I chose to get my revenge on the demons. I stopped using the safe ways Thanatos taught me in favour of getting through the walls of demons so I could perform my task of getting to Lucifer.” He turned and walked back to Marie. Bending down, he rested his hand on her head like before. “I think your feelings get in the way of how you do your work.” Marie sobbed a few more times. “But,” he paused, “I think it’s cute of you to care so much about someone you barely know. Especially when you’re not good at observing, so can’t learn much about the person.”

“I’m so sorry, Armas. I can’t believe you’ve gone through so much.”

“Shh, shh.” He rubbed her head and hugged the girl. “You don’t have to cry. It’s just me. You don’t have to cry for me.”

“But if I don’t, then who will?” Armas froze and looked down at the girl, she looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “You won’t, Juniper won’t, and neither will Thanatos. You’re all alone, right?”

Armas chuckled and continued to hug and pat the girl. “Yeah,” he managed to say.

Her arms wrapped around him and he was surprised. “You’re not alone anymore, Armas. You have me, Topi, and even Marko, okay? I’m sure we’ll meet many more people along the way, too. I hope so.”

The two stayed like the for a while, even when Marie had stopped crying. She was only left with sobs and Armas knew enough about women to know that they liked being held when they’re sad, so he didn’t stop.

A while after midnight Marie had fallen asleep and Armas had laid her down on a patch of unburned grass, using his jacket as her blanket. Armas, himself, was sitting several yards away from Marie on a hill overlooking the short scene ahead of them. He then turned back to look at the girl. He knew she was holding him back, knowing he could have been at the port by midnight.

“Then again, having a Zinger is nice... I finally understand some Hunters.” Armas looked up at the waxing moon and laughed lightly. “I think I’ll give her that dress Remy said I should.”

As the morning sun shone through the far away trees, Marie’s eyes began to open. She felt something laying loosely on her, acting as like a blanket. She sat up and saw it was Armas’ jacket.

“What?” she mumbled and lifted the jacket to see her legs. She looked around. “Where’s Armas?” Marie stood up and folded Armas’ jacket, setting it down on her suitcase before going in search of him. “Armas?” she called.

“Just wait!” Quickly, Marie climbed a hill and saw Armas washing his bloody dress shirt in a river. She could clearly see the bandages the Nurses in Bruno had wrapped him in, dry with caked on blood, dark red in color.

“How is it possible that you get hurt, while your shirt doesn’t get ripped?”

Not surprised at all that Marie was standing there, he smiled and answered. “It’s magic.”

Marie crossed her arms and walked up behind Armas. “No, really. How?” He stood and started ringing the shirt.

“It’s magic. That’s the truth. Hunters bewitch their clothes to not get torn. How else do Hunters keep all their clothes on account of what they do?” He laughed lightly and slung the shirt over his shoulder. “Let’s start moving,” he ordered and began to walk back up the hill.

“Hey! You’re telling me now that Hunters can use magic?” she exclaimed, following him hurriedly.

“Of course. We’d just be stupid people going around killing random people without the Sight and the ability to execute magic spells. I figured it was obvious.”

“No, it was not obvious! But what was is the fact that I’m very poorly educated in this subject!”

“Which is why I’ll be teaching you for ten years.”

“That’s unfair! Why couldn’t you have chosen someone else to serve you?” she shouted.

“You worded that wrong,” he said as he searched through his numerous jacket pockets for something. “You mean, why couldn’t I have just left you there to get raped? Or do you mean, why couldn’t I have saved someone else?” Marie was about to go on another rant but stopped when Armas spoke.

“Do you understand the circumstances of your current situation?” He pulled out a small red box and opened it. Instantly, little red sparks flew and danced around his damp shirt, drying it with their heat. Marie shook her head and the sparks flew back in the small box, the shirt dry. “You’re my Zinger.”

“I’m your what? I thought I was just your slave or apprentice person.”

Armas put the dry shirt on, then swung the suspender straps over his shoulders. He grabbed his gun holster and slipped it on, the jacket soon following. “While Hunters are supposed to kill, they can save, as well. When this happens, the person they save becomes the Hunter’s Zinger, or a minion, you could say. The magical limit is one Zinger per Hunter, but there have been cases where the Hunter changed the magical boundaries to have two or three Zingers.

“The Zinger’s job is to serve and fight for or alongside their Hunter, as a sort of gratitude given back for saving the Zinger’s life. On some occasions the Zinger could be someone with the Sight and see demons naturally, this means the Zinger can be a Hunter on his or her own when they’re released. Usually, then the Zinger is released all the memories they had with their Hunter are erased to ensure the security of the demons’ power and the Hunter’s power are kept. The Zinger can be any age, and must stay by the Hunter’s side until they say it can leave. This means you are mine until I say so.”

The thought frightened Marie and she shivered. “Does that scare you, Marie?”

She nodded and said, “Yes.”

There was silence until Armas slung the wooden cross over his back. “Let’s get to the port. You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Marie nodded. Arms picked up Marie’s suitcase and handed it to her. She took it reluctantly. The two began to walk towards the rising smoke over the trees westward.