Clouds hung overhead, making the grassy ground below seem covered in an endless shadow. The grass swayed from the faint breeze and from the movement of the two travelers passing through it.

Donovan had been going in the direction that Anita had pointed out to him for the past two days. The demon hunter was starting to have little doubts in his mind. He feared Anita might be more prone to the Dark side of herself. If that was true, then she could be playing a trick on him.

It's only been two days. He tried to calm his inner worries. I've gone months without a Darkstalker encounter before. There's no reason to doubt her this soon. Time will tell. Anita followed closely behind. The child kept an alert eye on Donovan. She heard what he thought about her, thinking that she was showing him the wrong way. She thought about telling him the error of his way of thinking, but that thought lasted only a second.

Let him think what he wants. Anita thought to herself. He asked for my help. If we get lost, then it's his fault for asking.

Donovan stopped in the middle of the field and sat down. They had been walking since the early morning, and it was almost noon. He figured that Anita needed a bit of a rest. She probably wasn't used to traveling.

I haven't stayed anywhere for more than a week in the last three months, and I don't travel much? She directed her thoughts towards her companion. That's a very "human" way of thinking, Donovan.

Donovan smiled a little. "I know that you've done a lot of moving, and I have no doubt that you can keep up with me. Still, it's no easy task to be on the move for almost four hours straight."

Anita couldn't bother with his logic, and she really didn't want to. She stayed standing, waiting for Donovan to get up and start walking again.

The dark hunter, however, was viewing his surroundings. He looked at the grassy plains and the cloudy sky with certain calmness. Donovan had lost track of their location awhile ago, but he tried to remember every area they passed by. Even though the day looked visually dark, he still appreciated the simple beauty of Mother Nature. While he was still looking around, he was reminded of his mission. He thought of what the world would look like once the Darkstalkers had invaded it. They would destroy all the beauty of earth; the clear seas, blue skies, and the serene wilderness would be all gone. They would take it all away from the people of this world.

He could not allow that to happen.

He slowly rose. "How close are we to the dark ones?"

Anita pointed out to a hill in the distance. With out another word, Donovan started towards the hill, and the child followed close behind.

Humans tend to fear things that they do not understand, but they deal with it differently. Some run from it, refusing to stay and find out more about the situation. Others ignore it, trying to make it seem like it doesn't bother them, so that they aren't labeled by society. Then there are those that see something that scares them and are moved to destroy it. They try to kill it with weapons, or gather a force to drive it away. It is the job of a light hunter to silence the humans that fall into the last category.

Damien was a self-appointed light hunter; not that anybody really appointed them anyway, but he liked to think of himself as a rebel. He truly believed in his cause.

Long ago, a dark hunter once found his way into Mikai, trying to find a "monster" to kill. He came upon Damien's household and tried to attack his father, but, since the journey itself had weakened the hunter so much, he was easily defeated. Damien's father warned him of the cruelty of humans and told him to never trust one. It was that day that the young demon wanted to become a protector of his kind. His father trained him and a group of others on basic fighting and helped them to condition themselves properly by jogging and various endurance exercises.

Once he felt that his son was ready to follow his ambitions, he gave him a thin sword that was from one of their ancestors. The blade was extremely durable and very light.

"As long as you have that sword," Damien's father told him, "no human will be able stand against you."

It was then that Damien left home to start his quest. Since then, he had slain ten dark hunters and injured a few people that had made fun of creatures or monsters that they had seen in movies or television. Even though humans always misrepresented demons, it was still an insult to him when people who knew nothing of his world mocked his entire race.

Now it was time for him spread his message: stop the hunting of Darkstalkers. Welcome them to the light. All that disagreed would be slain. If humans won't live with Darkstalkers, then humans won't live at all.

"It's too late for peace." Damien would tell himself and others. "My war has already started. Besides, humans won't accept it. They never change."

It was this thought, among others, that kept the light hunter going. He was now traveling to destroy then opposition. Currently, he was resting at the bottom of a grassy hill, collecting his thoughts and planning his next move. It had been awhile since his last encounter with a hunter from the human world. For some reason, he was hoping to find some hapless person to test himself against.

Donovan and Anita had begun the walk up the hill they had set out for. The dark hunter had made the decision to rest on top of the hill so that he could get a better idea of their surroundings. Anita really didn't care where they were. They never stayed anywhere for very long, so it really didn't matter much to her. They'd just leave again.

It took only a few minutes for the pair to reach the pinnacle of the hill. Anita immediately sat down in the grass. While still holding Amanda in her arms, she kept her eyes on Donovan. She was starting to get that bizarre feeling of darkness again, but this time it was stronger. They were close.

Donovan was looking across the grassy landscape. It seemed almost empty, just the never-ending plains. Then, something caught his eye. There was smoke! That meant somebody was living out there! It wasn't too far away, maybe a twenty or fifteen minutes. He had to move quickly. If Darkstalkers are in this direction, they could be terrorizing the people living around here.

"Come on, Anita." He spoke sternly but held his kind tone. "We have to go now."

Anita got up and started walking towards Donovan, who was already on the move. With every step, the feeling of darkness got stronger. She knew exactly where it was. She stopped shortly. There was no point in her walking now. She was going to have to stop anyway.

Donovan was moving down the hill at a brisk pace. He didn't want to leave Anita behind, but he couldn't afford to waste time. He was nearly at the bottom of the hill when a figure came into view in the grass nearby. The person was sitting on the ground with his back to the hunter; he was facing the direction of the dwelling Donovan saw a moment ago.

He was an oddly formed man, clad completely in black. The cuff around his neck was silver as was the sword strapped to his back. His short hair was also an impressive shining color of silver, but it had some black mixed in with it, giving it a sort of metallic look. This was a very strange-looking man indeed.

"Excuse me..." He said to the man. "I don't think you should be staying around this area."

The man did not move. "Who are you?"

"My name is Donovan." His tone carried severity. "You have to leave here!"

The man got up and turned to face Donovan. His face was a pale white and two small, white horns parted his hair on both sides. "My name is Damien, and you can't tell me where I can and cannot stay."

Donovan could tell from the horns that something was seriously wrong. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he was starting to get an idea. "Demons are about. You must leave before the heartless creatures find you."

"What are you going to do about them?" Damien's tone was harsh and seemed to shake a bit.

"It is my job to kill every one of them." Donovan finally knew what was going on. "No Darkstalker can escape the wrath of my blade."

"Nor can any human escape mine!" Damien had his sword out in a flash and drove it towards Donovan's stomach.

The dark hunter barely dodged the stab, and brought Dhylec out just when Damien started to follow up. The two locked blades together in a sideways slash. To Donovan's surprise, his adversary's thinner sword held firm; it didn't even bend. Both were using all of their strength to overpower each other, but neither was prevailing.

Damien quickly released himself from the embrace by pulling his sword in a downwards motion, ducking under Donovan's slash, and punching him in chest with an uppercut. The punch surprised Donovan more than it hurt him, but it was enough of a chance for the light hunter to take a sideswipe at his opponent's head. Again, Donovan's quick reflexes saved him from serious injury, but he still received a deep gash along the side of his face. He could feel the blood run down his cheek.

No Darkstalker had ever injured the dark hunter and lived to tell about. Donovan wasn't about to let this demon be the first. With a growl of hatred and pure rage, he launched himself at the creature before him.

His sword moved like lightning, striking at every opportunity. Damien parried every strike, but before he could counter, another barrage of blows was reigning upon him, forcing him backwards. He kept trying to look for a break in the pattern, but could find none.

Donovan was aware that he was being predictable. It was exactly what he wanted. Damien has getting used to the direction of the attacks: down-right, down-left, down-right, down-left, on and on. It was simple to recognize and block. Damien quickly got used to the pattern and was barely paying attention anymore. Now was the time to strike.

Donovan drove his sword in a quick downward arc. Damien was a little unprepared for the attack, but was still able to block it. The light hunter's slight stall was all Donovan needed. Almost immediately after Dhylec connected, a flaming sword appeared out of nowhere and slashed upwards underneath and nearly through Damien. The force of the unexpected attack sent the light hunter flying backwards onto the grassy field.

Slowly but surely, Damien rose from the ground. The burning cut across his chest increased in pain every second. He saw Donovan walking towards him. He drew back his sword. He had a few tricks up his sleeve too.

It was then that he noticed movement on the hillside. He looked and saw Anita coming down. When he took a closer look, his heart stopped and he stood still in shock. He had heard the tale of a child that would change the lives of all creatures. He was sure that this was she, for his blood ran cold just gazing at her. He didn't know what the little girl would truly do, but he had been told to stay away from her nonetheless, by a higher power. The light hunter didn't intend to disobey.

Damien stabbed the point of his sword into the ground and held the hilt with both hands. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. "Another time, human!"

Donovan started running, but he wasn't quick enough. Damien seemed to disintegrate into dust as the wind carried him off. When the demon hunter reached the spot where his enemy had stood a moment ago; there wasn't a single trace of him left. Donovan knelt down and ran his fingers through the grass for anything that could have remained, but it was pointless.

Anita walked up behind her friend. He was hanging his head and still had his hand on the spot where Damien had left.

Where did he go?

Donovan rose to his feet. "I think he was driven off by something. He saw something that bothered him."

What do you think it was?

"I couldn't begin to guess." He turned around to face her. "It doesn't matter what drove him off. What matters is that there is now a dark one that I've failed to kill. He's still free to hurt others."

Anita sighed heavily. You don't care why he left, but you still want to kill him? If you knew what they were afraid of, wouldn't you be able to use it against them? How can you want to kill something so bad, but know nothing about them? She decided to keep her thoughts to herself. It wasn't her job to fix Donovan's mistakes, but she still had a nagging feeling to tell him.

Donovan looked up at the sun, which was showing itself through a break in the clouds. A calm smile came across his face. He looked towards the direction of the dwelling he saw earlier, and began the walk there. Anita silently followed him. Both of them wanted to rest but continued on in the breaking sunshine of the ending day.