Hello everyone! I got the idea about this one-shot sometime around three a.m. when I couldn't sleep. It is based on the originally planned spin-off game 'Demon Hunter' with Kurtis Trent. I was thinking about what the game's atmosphere could be like, and this is what I came up with. If this game existed, I would really want creators to include some hints connected to TR. :D I think that maybe you will be able to find something similar in the following text. ;)
If you feel like it, let me know if you like this short story attempt of mine. I hope you'll enjoy it.
The story's setting was influenced by the fifth chapter of Lilith's Scepter written by Meldelen.

My huge thanks goes to a very talented writer gyikhu for beta reading, advice and encouragement. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Tomb Raider or the character of Kurtis Trent.

Demon Hunter

He opened his eyes, now awake and fully aware that another tough day was ahead of him.

Another of those hunt-and-kill-a-damn-demon days, Kurtis Trent thought.

The last living member of the Lux Veritatis order sighed and sat up in the bed, tiredly rubbing his face. After a minute, he tossed away the blanket and got up to prepare for the task awaiting him at night. Before Trent disappeared into the bathroom, he threw a glance at the single envelope lying on the hotel table.

He shook his head. Work first. No distractions.

With that in mind, he started fully focusing on preparations of his following fight.

Kurtis Trent was walking on the lonely night street. The moon was hidden behind the dark clouds. He could hear a police siren in the distance. Many people would certainly not enjoy the gloomy atmosphere and find it very unsettling, but he didn't mind it. The Demon Hunter was used to similar settings. It was a firm part of his life.

A somehow heart-warming feeling for him was that he knew at least one adventurous person who didn't mind the atmosphere connected to his way of life, and thus to himself, either. Putting thoughts about that certain person aside, for several time he checked if he was not being followed by someone or something.

When the former mercenary got to the end of the dead-end street, for the last time he looked around and made sure that he was alone. Then he pulled aside the lid of the sewer.

Trent took off his short black coat, which was covering his holster with a fully loaded gun, and put it down on the low wall beside to keep it clean.

"Here we go..."

Then he started proceeding down and after a moment the Lux Veritatis warrior disappeared in the darkness of the narrow space.

When he jumped down from the ladder, his heavy-duty military boots splashed the water on the stone surface.

Some other day he might have been annoyed by the uninviting smell of sewers and the wetness, but now his senses were on the highest alert. Kurtis knew very well that the demon he went after wasn't any easy opponent. It fact, it was very dangerous. He knew it very well because two demons of similar kind had died by his hand, or better said by the Chirugai in his hand, in two previous encounters. And it was never an easy matter. Even for someone like him, with all his special abilities connected to the order of which he was the last living member. Several scars on his well-trained body were reminding him of it every day.

He prepared his Boran X and reassuringly touched the Chirugai hanging from his belt.

I will probably need your assistance again, he inwardly said more to himself that to the ancient enigmatic disc.

Instead of grabbing the bladed weapon, the American pulled out a torch from his pouch on the back and lit it up. Then he fearlessly set out into the deep darkness.

After several turns, he reached his goal. When the Lux Veritatis warrior spotted a movement, he stopped some meters away from the demonic being. The big creature noticed him at the same moment. It curiously lifted its head and straightened up, emphasizing the difference in their sizes.

The being had an elongated slimy body, reminding Kurtis of some kind of an eel. But the same couldn't be said about the rest of its physique. It had two limbs, resembling hands, equipped with three, about twenty centimeters long sharp, bent claws. The demon had a head with two similar-looking, only bigger horns, which were partly covered by the unkempt long black hair. All the time there were two red glowing eyes piercing into him.

This kind of demon looks like some twisted death metal version of a mermaid, he thought drily.

"How dare you disturb my peace, Lux Veritatisss?" the demon hissed, its eyes fixed on him all the time.

"Well, killing people, sucking out their souls and then eating their bodies don't really sound as a matter of an ordinary relaxation to me," he replied in a calm voice. "Haven't you ever heard of a sunny beach or something?"

"How dare you come here and tell me what I can or cannot do, the last of your order?" it asked, as if it didn't hear him before. "Don't you cherish your life, even as the last carrier of your order?"

"I guess that you just don't stop misbehaving if I ask you nicely, right? Then we will have to do it the hard way."

"The hard way you say?"

The creature started slowly closing the distance between them with narrowed eyes.

"You are the last." The words sounded more sinister now. "Your order is already dead!"

The being seemed to be ready to attack, but then its eyes fell on the Chirugai hanging from its enemy's waist. The red eyes narrowed even more, and the being slightly withdrew. The self-confidence of the demon suddenly seemed to vanish.

Kurtis noticed the sudden change of demon's behaviour, as well as its trail of look.

You recognize it, don't you? he thought, but didn't say anything.

From experience, he knew about existing strange links between demons by which they could effectively share thoughts and information.

Some of its sisters had to warn it before they left this world for good. That probably won't make my work easier. Perfect, he inwardly rolled his eyes.

"Your order is gone, it continued, but together, with your power of the Light and us, mighty demons, the whole world can belong to us," the creature started temptingly. "We both, you and me, are beings on a much higher level than those poor mere humans inhabiting this world. You must be aware of that, Lux Veritatis warrior. Just one single word is enough and you could become our leader, and take everything this world offers. Together with everything what our world of demons can give to you—"

"Blah, Blah," he cut the demon off. "Sorry, but I have a date tomorrow and I don't want to miss it. And on top of that, you're not my type. Shall we end it already?"

"You should rethink my generous offer once again, Warrior. Think again about everything you could gain..." it paused. "And what you can lose."

"Go to heaven," he said annoyed, the irony of the statement towards the demonic being apparent in his voice.

The creature suddenly hissed and swung at him, but he managed to evade the hit and shot it into its eyes. A terrible ear-splitting yell echoed through the stone walls. But instead of backing away as Kurtis expected, the creature set out against him and slammed him hard against the wall, making him let go of his flashlight.

He gasped, slid down the wall and from his now kneeled position he lifted up his Boran X again and shoot the demon several times. The being backed away this time.

Now with his only light source being lost and leaving him in the complete dark, the last of the Lux Veritatis was forced to rely just on his enhanced sight which his bloodline granted him.

"Let's end this unsightly little dance," Kurtis said as he stood up and made several steps towards the demon.

Then he started reaching for his Chirugai, but paused in surprise when he noticed that his trusty and proved weapon wasn't in its usual place. The Demon Hunter realized that he must have lost it when he had been thrown against the wall, and now it was most likely hidden under the surface of dirty, non-transparent water.

"Shit!"

The demon noticed this fact too and a terrible grin revealing its long, sharp and bloodied teeth appeared on its face. The creature managed to knock out the Boran X from Trent's hand and hurled him against the wall again with much more force than before, making him groan loudly.

"You've missed your chance, Warrior of Light!"

Now the being was prepared to stab him with the claws on its hand, but Kurtis managed to evade the hit in the last second, getting away with only a scratch on his arm.

When the Lux Veritatis warrior caught his breath, he briefly looked at the gash with his blood dripping from it.

"I liked this shirt, you bitch," he growled.

"Your order is gone now for good, Lux Veritatis!"

Suddenly Kurtis could hear some people's laugh from the distance, which echoed through the walls somewhere from the outside up to him. He didn't have time to think about what the group was doing in the street at this late hour. Instead, the laughter reminded him why he was doing what he was doing and why he had chosen this uneasy way of life in the end. For the name of his order and because of his family. For the people outside. Even those many kilometers away from him. It wasn't a lost and useless fight. It had sense.

The demon hesitated for a fraction of a second when it saw that the Demon Hunter was now just passively standing there with his eyes closed.

The creature interpreted the gesture as a sign of resignation, and was ready to land the fatal blow. But in the last minute the glowing Chirugai flew from the dirty water and cut the demon's limb off. Another scream pierced the air.

Then the ancient weapon of the Lux Veritatis order flew one circle around and finally buried itself deep into the demon's chest. The body reared up for a moment with a last terrible yell, and then lifelessly fell down with a splash into the shallow water on the hard stone ground.

The ex-mercenary called his beloved Chirugai back into his hand, still catching his breath. Another look on the gash on his arm told him that the injury was not serious, but he noted that he should at least treat it with antiseptic as soon as possible.

"It went quite good," he said to himself quietly.

A thought about the woman who he knew would surely call him cocky for that comment flashed through his mind. He shortly wondered for how many times she had already come to his mind only today.

For the first time it that day, the American appreciated that he was in the sewers, which meant that the duty of disposing the dead body of the defeated demon — so the world could stay in its sweet unawareness about the ongoing war with the worlds of shadows — would be much easier. He concluded that only setting it on fire right in the place should be fully sufficient.

XXX

Trent swiftly worked his way up back onto the street and put the lid back. In the distance ahead of him, he could see a group of people pass, who he had likely heard earlier, coming back probably from some celebration or a simple drinking session. Of course, all of them were oblivious to the fierce fight that had been taking place only several meters under their feet.

Finding it exactly where he had left it, Trent put on his black coat back, put up his hood and disappeared into the night, with the moon fully shining on the dark sky down on his path.

After a short rest, with his wound treated, all things already packed and fully ready to leave the hotel, he stepped to the table and finally took the envelope in his hands. The Demon Hunter opened it and pulled out an airline ticket stating: 'Destination: London Heathrow, England, UK'.

A sincere smile appeared on his face. "Here I come, my well-deserved holidays."

Then he grabbed his bag, left the room and the door closed behind him with a click.