As the sun slowly began to creep behind the distant Elven Mountains, a blood-curdling scream rang out through the chapel and echoed through the village streets, then, as soon as it begun, the scream was covered with silence, like a baby in its crib.

            The chief minister lay dead, drowned in his own blood, still frothing at his mouth, his eyes in a cataleptic state. What unearthly force could have caused this scene of macabre horror?

            A call went out across the land for the one known only to the village as… The stalker of shadows, the demon hunter, Kuryuki.

Three days later, darkness fell over the now quiet yet confused and concerned village of Aliamor when a tall, cloaked figure slowly made its way to the village gates and awaited the guards.

            “Halt stranger, declare your title and purpose!” shouted a guard from the watch tower, “My name is of no concern to you…” This person, now clearly defined as male by the subtle depth in his voice, too low to be female yet, too high to be of any age above twenty… The cloaked man tilted his head up, revealing his mouth in the guard’s lamp light, a slightly mocking grin formed on the, again, youthful looking face, “And I am here to see your lord, he has sent for me.”

            The guard’s face fell into a contorted look of confusion, “Well, if you are sure that out lord has requested your presence, then please, enter.” With this, the gates slowly creaked open, countless decades of rust making them seem jerky and tired. The cloaked man entered and made his way slowly through the streets, the darkness of the night seeming to follow him like a blanket, enveloping the city, many of the villagers who were in the streets watched him with a careful mixture of intrigue and a slight hint of fear and uncertainty.

            As the man finally arrived at the palace gates, he was greeted in a rather cold manner considering his alleged invite, a rather tall, well built man, clad from head to toe in ornate, blood red armour with the finest golden trim placed his pike across the palace gates, “None may pass without proof of possession of the royal seal!” The cloaked man simply looked at him from under his concealing hood, his barely visible mouth twists itself into a frowning form and the man mutters, “I was sent no seal when I was summoned, but I do have this, to prove my identity true.” With this, he removes his cloak, his appearance hidden no longer, a person of about eighteen years of age, barely a man, his smooth face and dazzling eyes of a greyish green and reasonably short, black hair seem to glow in the moonlight, his clothes seem tattered yet still smart, a loose black tee shirt over a tight mesh shirt with a slightly bulgy chest, perhaps due to a concealed breastplate under his clothes, baggy black jeans and a pair of black boots with the shiniest buckles imaginable, a very pleasing person to behold indeed, he places his hand on the hilt of a rather large sword and pulls it from its scabbard situated on his back, “May I present, Niamu, sword of the demon hunter, Kuryuki… Me.” The sword itself is perhaps even more of a sight to behold than it’s owner, at least five feet in length, almost as tall as Kuryuki himself, a shining gold hilt inset with rubies and other precious gems of power, the blade, a shimmering silver, cast with runes of great magical energy, it seems to shift in the moonlight, within the confines of the blade, the metal seems to move like a gas, then solid again, and then another stream of fluid movement… a wonder for the human eye to see, yet, the very sight of it both astounds and confuses greatly, the guard, in obvious awe at this sight, pulls back his pike and opens the door “Y-y-y-you may enter great Sir, I… I… I apologise for my ignorance.” Stutters the guard

            A contented smirk on Kuryuki’s face, he sheathes Niamu again and looks to the guard, his eyes glinting with deep and spiritual power, he pulls his cloak around him again, yet leaves his hood down, he nods and says “Ignorance is nothing to apologise for my friend… If used correctly.” With this, he enters, leaving the guard in an even greater state of confusion.