Prologue
A scratchy voice called down from a dark throne,"I asked that you find the orb, why have you failed me?"
"It's.. it's…. not that simple my liege, it's been lost since just after it was made, and there's no conceivable way to track it!" The scrawny imp in tattered robes said from the foot of the throne.
"How am I supposed to raise an army without it?"
A shadowy figure entered the room. "Maybe with your winning personality," said the figure.
"This is no time for jokes Azazel! The spell is nearly complete and we need the orb!" yelled the man on his throne.
Shadows crept out from the dark throne, crawling about the floor toward the imp. The shadows peeled off of the floor, turning into a churning black smoke. The smoke surrounded the imp and when the smoke cleared the imp was gone, leaving behind was a pile of smouldering ash.
"Now, now, Ruhlux. Take care of your toys. If you break them all of them, what will you have left?" chided the demon, "I'll put some other demons on the search, I doubt it'll be found soon though…"
Chapter 1:Odd Company
On the edge of a small town, not far from the city of Lawernce, Kansas, in a cottage on a hill, lived a lone boy. Not a young, destructive, naive boy, but an intelligent, thoughtful boy. Aged seven and ten years, he was already a gifted apprentice to a silversmith. His parents had passed while he was just an infant. His father at the hands of a raiding indian before he was born, and his mother in childbirth. His uncle Tomas raised him good and right, and when he was 13, Tom sent him to the silversmith, Jace, to learn his craft. A man passed through the shop one day, a man by the name of Samuel Colt, everyone knew Colt, but few knew what Colt did. He was a hunter.
"Jace! my old friend!" Samuel started, "… I need help with a project…"
"You stop right there Colt! I'm not helping you make another gun, last time I nearly blew off my own hand engraving it!" Jace yelled.
"It's not my fault you didn't check to see if it was loaded, anyway, it's not another gun. It's something much larger than anything before, something big is going down, not now, but maybe in a hundred or so years".
"So?" asked Jace.
"It's starting now, and while there's little we can do about that, we need to slow it down."
"What's all this about Colt?"
Samuel noticed the boy sweeping in the back, "Com'ere boy!"
"Yes, Mr. Colt?" the boy asked.
"Grab a chair and sit over here, or go home" Colt ordered.
The boy grabbed a chair and sat as directed, "what's your name, boy?"
"Abraham" he answered.
"And your last name? You got one, don't ya?" Colt insisted.
"...N…" Abe started
"He's a bastard Sam, he don't got one."
"I told you! I'm not a bastard! My parents died, my father didn't want to leave me!" Abe yelled. "My last name is Nathons, my uncle told me, he knew my dad!"
"Well Mr. Nathons, quite the fire in your belly! I could use a man like you in my line of work."
Abe confused, asked, "firearms?"
Looking to Jace, Colt asked, "He doesn't know the truth?"
"I hadn't told him yet, didn't want to", stated Jace
If Abraham was confused earlier, it was far more apparent, "What truth?!"
Jace started into the spiel, "Colt here is more than a firearms producer, he's the best damn hunter in the country, and not like those guys who go out with a rifle and bring back a buffalo, he hunts monsters..."
"I thought monsters weren't real" said Abe.
"Oh you'd be surprised by the kinds of things that do lurk in the dark" Colt interrupted.
"Nearly anything you've ever heard of and more" Jace continued, "So when something causes a commotion, it's Colt's job to find out if it's supernatural or not, then if it is, he fixes it".
"Sounds dangerous... And fun!" Said Abe.
Colt looked upset, "it's not a game kid, people die doing what I do, and once you start, you're in for life"