Chapter 1
My name is Thorn. I am a hunter.
My whole sixteen years of life has been dedicated to hunting down the many abominations taking residence in our world.
You hear legends of us even today, although the story has been so twisted and changed by humans that it is almost unrecognisable.
I can tell you that the stories have it all wrong.
No, there was no cunning wolf in disguise. There was no weak, naïve child in search of her sweet grandmother. Or even a basket full of salivating food, for that matter. And as the danger subsided, the truth was lost and forgotten, or else cast aside as an old wives' tale created to arouse fear, dread and terror.
So what really happened on that fateful summer's day, you ask? Certainly not a woodcutter brandishing a useless axe.
Seriously, an axe?
Fat lot of damage an axe could do.
Okay, okay, okay. Yes, axes can inflict a lot of pain, but we're talking about terrifying, forbidding monsters only your worst nightmares could conjure. Try dismembering something that can just as easily grow it back before you've even attempted to remove your weapon.
I mean, talk about getting the job done.
Fortunately, my bloodline, along with many others globally, had been specially chosen by Witches of the Light to defend humanity against Darkness. These creatures were once humans with certain affinities. That was until they had abused their powers in order to gain for themselves, usually for selfish reasons fuelled with greed. In order to give us a winning chance against such enemies, our kind was blessed with enhanced speed, agility, vision, hearing and improved instincts.
My great grandmother was the first to slay a man suffering from lupine syndrome. Today, they are known as werewolves. He was once a man cursed into a harmless beast before he fell in love with a librarian, breaking the curse. Unfortunately, after their betrothal, he began showing signs of excessive anger and aggressiveness. Out of fear and trepidation, his wife, Bell, had contacted the well-known hunter, Red for help. Her husband was nowhere to be found.
After weeks of tracking him down, Red eventually reached an abandoned fortress. As a God-Almighty roar ricocheted of the castle walls, she released her Seraph daggers from their sheaths.
Footsteps pounded down and the ground shook violently until a gargantuan wolf-like monster stood before her.
The last of Bell's husband had diminished and all traces of humanity were gone.
What stood before her was a monster.
After a series of battling moves, Red had plunged her Seraphs into the sides of the Lupine's neck as it let out an inhumane scream. Unlike most weapons, her blades were blessed by Angelic beings, those who witches had descended from and gained their powers.
That, my friends, was what really happened. What is it they say these days? Right, don't always believe what you hear.
Now it's my turn. To protect humans and to abolish the evil lurking in the shadows.
My name is Thorn Bloodward.
I am the great granddaughter of Red Bloodward, kick-ass legend.
I am a Night Hunter.
And I will slay the Dark until there is nothing left.