A high pitched shriek broke the night silence. It was partially akin to that of a petulant child screaming and a wolf howling.

From his shack outside the temple, Martinez glanced out and sniffed the air for signs of his prey. When satisfied that it had not emerged, he then stared down at the morose boy next to him with both disgust and pity.

"I've restrung and rebalanced your crossbow," said the master demon hunter as he tossed the weapon to his apprentice. Jimmy didn't even raise a hand as the weapon landed hard next to his chair. "Get your kit ready, the demon escaped us once, we won't let it get away again."

Jimmy avoided eye contact with Martinez. He knew his inattentiveness allowed the Nabasu to slip out of their grasp last night. Martinez had flushed out the winged demon, and he had the monster in his sights but he was too distracted to finish it off.

After a hesitant delay, Jimmy finally grabbed the crossbow, but by the sluggishness of his movements Martinez knew his mind was still not there.

"Jimmy, we need to talk," said the master demon hunter as he placed a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. Martinez then guided the boy back to his chair.

"I'm fine now Martinez. We should stake out that temple now before the demon stalks another victim," protested Jimmy.

Martinez shook his head. "Not until you get your head on straight."

"Eh? My head is on straight. I just missed okay. Everyone misses once in a while…"

Martinez frowned. "You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me Jimmy. So Sammy dumped you, hurt your feelings, and made you question your own worth in the world. Boo hoo, now you're like the rest of us. Life is rough, it doesn't treat you like a fairy tale. I know how you feel, I've romanced a princess or two in my day, and of course it went badly, but it doesn't really matter what their social status is. A woman is a woman, and they can hurt you bad if you don't watch yourself. One minute you're flying in the clouds, and the next you come crashing back down to earth. It happens, get over it. Life goes on, and we have demons to kill."

Jimmy stared at Martinez in confusion.

"Sampada is just a girl, princess or not. She left you for a prince. It's sad but did you expect something different? It's over. let's just move on."

Jimmy just stared blankly at his master's truths.

"Look, I admit I'm not the best at consoling and I'm definitely horrible at advice, " sighed Martinez. " but we have a demon to kill. Push aside your feelings, and let's get the job done…. And then I'll buy you a pint and you can drown your sorrow then."

Jimmy forced himself to crack a smile and nodded. "So I get to give you this same speech when you realize the baroness is out of your league?"

"You mean when she realizes that I'm out of hers," winked Martinez as the two demon hunters set out to slay the Nabasu. "C'mon lets get to work Jimmez."

As Jimmy watched Rina attend to Martinez at the bottom of the stairs, he was filled with both disgust and pity.

How could his master fall so low and why would he endanger these townsfolk with his reckless actions? It was obvious now that these shadow demons had been released by Martinez from his sanctum in his drunken stupor, but that seemed uncharacteristic of him. Despite everything he hated about his old master, his vanity, his lecherous habits, his drinking, his over the top drug binges, and of course his lack of anything resembling loyalty, Martinez was dead serious when it came to hunting demons. He had a rare dedication in his belief that it was humanity versus the endless hordes of evil outsiders that wanted to drag the world into the abyss. That was his code, his foundation that he built his prized skill set, his one notable feature. Despite how much of an idiot he was, his services were always in demand. Jimmy recalled his old master fighting toe to toe with a Rakshasa chieftain and remembered how he saved his home town from a rampaging Greater Succubus. Sure he was well compensated for his acts, but he didn't need to risk his neck. There were other more lucrative ways to make coin than risking your life and soul fighting demons, as Jimmy found out. Drunk or not, he couldn't see his master releasing a pack of demons.

"Martin, Martin, are you all right? " asked Rina as she gently shook the unconscious man.

"Uggh," said Chloe as she took a step back. "He smells worse than an Otyugh that just lost a fight with a skunk in a leather tanning pit."

Jimmy nodded in agreement. Besides the obvious stench of liquor, there was also the pungent aroma of unattended sweat, grime, and piss on his old master.

"Uhmm…Rina. I think you picked the wrong horse on this race," said Chloe as she shook her head. "This guy ain't hero or even boyfriend material, and he's definitely not taking you anyhere. He can't even take himself to the outhouse."

Rina looked up. Her eyes were sad but defiant. She knew that Chloe was right but either didn't want to admit it or was blinded to it. "Martin has a good, kind heart. He's just in a bit of a bad stretch right now."

"Bad stench is more like it," snickered Chloe under her breath.

Jimmy sighed and waved Chloe back. "This place has an illusory ward on it, but I don't want any nosy villagers wandering in. Keep a look out."

"Anything to get away from that smell," nodded Chloe as she slipped away.

As the dryad druid mob princess, or whatever she was left, Jimmy turned his attention to Martinez. He walked down the steps and gently pulled Rina away from his drunken master.

"You aren't going to hurt him are you?" asked the militia girl as she struggled again his grip.

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "Believe it or not, I know this guy. And believe me, I can't hurt him more than he's already hurt himself. I need you to step back, and let me handle this. Join Chloe for a minute or two…"

Rina seemed unsure, but relented to Jimmy's request. She gave Martinez a lingering look before go up the stairs to join Chloe. Jimmy in turn dug out his water flask, unstoppered it, and then rudely poured the contents on his master's head in a slow but steady stream.

"Wha..?! Pffft….Ack…Ack…," coughed Martinez as he thrashed feebly from the water dribbling into his nostrils. "Where am I? Jimmy…is that you ? or are you a demon that took his face?"

"It's me …Jim….Jimmez…," sighed Jimmy. He referred to himself with an embarrassing old nickname that he once coined for himself when he was younger and more naïve. Few people outside a small group knew that name. " Don't ask me how I got here, but you've got a lot of explaining to do," he said as he waved around to the Sanctum around them.

Martinez blinked away the water puddling around his eyes and looked around. "I'm..I'm at one of my sanctums….I've made it…I don't believe it, I've made it…..," He said with a weird mix of sadness and joy. The weathered old man then began to pat his clothing down and grinned madly as he pulled out a small black metal flask.

At first Jimmy thought it might have been a potion, or perhaps some type of demon hunting cordial, but when Martinez opened it and began to chug down its contents, he knew at once what it was. Lichen liquor, or some derivative of it. Jimmy easily yanked the bottle out of his master's frantic but weak hands and threw it across the room.

"Oh no, no more of this. You drank enough of that swill and caused enough trouble," said Jimmy crossly.

Martinez watched his flask drain into the ground. He squirmed helplessly but was either too disorientated or too weak to get up after the ground. "That…that was my last bit of booze….. I'm too weak to finish this by myself."

"Excellent, then you are too weak to cause any more trouble."

Martinez shook his head. "No…no…no…you don't understand. The alcohol is the key to defeat the demon…it can't…it's the only way I can be in control."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. One of his less savory tasks under Hoaglie was the collection of 'overdue debts'. Loan sharking, predatory lines of credit, or payday extensions were some of the more commonly terms for it. Seldom did the debtor give up his gold, often Jimmy had to apply some pressure first. While a few attempted to physically resist him, often they would assault his ears with excuses of starving children, unfortunate turns of events, poor life choices, and of course….the need to drown their own personal demons in booze. It was something that Jimmy way heard too often.

"Okay, you stay put. I'll get some neutralize poison potions from your cache. We'll get you sobered up in no time. Then we'll lock this place up good and proper so you can't release any more demons on those poor villagers and get you far away from this place so you can't cause any more trouble for you, the villagers or Rina," sighed Jimmy.

"Rina? Who's Rina?" asked Martinez with a blank look.

Jimmy shook his head. He was glad he sent Rina away. The last thing he wanted was the girl to find out her 'white knight' not only forgot who she was but was responsible for her village's troubles. From his brief talk with her, it seemed she was well smitten with this drunken bastard.

Not that it was unusual; Jimmy always admired Martinez's almost uncanny ability to charm women. While he though it amusing when he was younger, he wished he picked up some of his master's charisma during their time together. Even if he was a disheveled slob, it didn't seem too farfetched for him to seduce some naïve girl from a mining town.

As Jimmy mused over the fact that the drunk behind him was currently enjoying a better love life than himself, he surveyed the trapped demons that they had captured together so long ago. A curious lot, consisting of a rabbit, a ferret, a pair of imps, a small tortoise, and of course a piglet. Jimmy though their current incarnations were quite amusing.

While Martinez's sanctum was a grand sounding name, it really was nothing more than a single long corridor linked to several rooms at the end. Along the corridor were alcoves where the evil outsiders they had captured were kept. While it might have been simple just to kill the bastards, Jimmy knew it didn't work that way. The lesser demons could be simply dispatched, but the greater ones would simply be sent back to their respective planes, ready to continue their mischief another day. The only proper way to defeat such fiends was to trap them in magic circles , bind their powers with wards, and lock them away , in this case, an illusion protected mountain sanctum.

When Martinez first told him about his sanctums, Jimmy thought it akin to a human prison, complete with bars and chains, but it was much simpler than that. The alcoves themselves were small side rooms, no bigger than five by five feet. Inside was a small protective circle and pentagram keeping the fiend at bay. It wasn't some sloppy magic made with dust and candles that a mere rat or big cockroach could disrupt by simply scurrying about, but hand carved runes set in enchanted granite. While most fiends were too big to fit in such relatively cramp circles, Martinez either forced them to use their shape shifting ability, or more amusingly, cursed them into small harmless forms.

None of this was ground breaking of course. Martinez did not invent the magic circle or demonic curses to bind fiends, but he was quite inventive and most importantly thorough. If he caught a demon, chances are it won't escape. Of course. this was all the more remarkable because he was not a wizard or trained in divine magic. Jimmy's master could not directly use magic, but had been around them long enough to know the theory, master their rituals, and use their devices and tools.

Confronted by the fiendish prisoners, Jimmy sniffed the air. While he could detect a strong demonic taint emanating from the alcoves, there was nothing hidden or out of the ordinary from the scents. Still, he couldn't be too careful, and he stalked down the passage, ready for anything while six pairs of eyes glared at him.

Jimmy was pleasantly relieved when he reached the end of the corridor and was not attacked by any more of those shadow demons, or better yet, none of the trapped demons broke their bounds and attacked him. Perhaps the ones in town were the only ones released. Although he didn't recall capturing or binding any shadow demons, it did occur to him that his Master might have done so since they separated.

With the gauntlet cleared, Jimmy reached the supply caches he had prepared so long ago. He dreaded sorting through a mess to find the neutralize potion , but they were still neatly arranged by himself many years ago, and it seemed no one had been here since then to mess things up. He quickly retrieved a cure for his master as well as the supplies that he and Chloe originally came here for.

As Jimmy restocked, something struck him as odd. Everything was untouched. Even the spirits that his master had a weakness for were all accounted for. While there were no cobwebs, there was still a light layer of dust on everything, something that only comes after years of neglect. Though Martinez had a reputation of being light of step, there was no way he could have entered here without leaving some sign, especially when he was as drunk as a skunk.

As Jimmy pondered this, he also counted the 'prisoners' of the place. While they were in harmless forms, Jimmy recalled clearly their original terrible forms. Kjyuma the Nabasu, Stronkah the Cambion, Te'l'ell'ah'hl the deceiver, Fire lord Ashenblood, Iron Lasher, and even Baboonlor the risen. There were two empty alcoves, but there were no signs that anything had been placed, let alone released from them. Martinez would often carve the circles individually for the demons to be trapped inside to make them more effective, but there was no markings on the ground on either of the alcoves.

"Come to torment us after so many years?" asked the tortoise once called Baboonlor as Jimmy studied the empty alcoves.

Jimmy was surprised it could talk. One of the reasons Martinez chose their forms was so they wouldn't scream and bellow like fiends were so apt to do. Even the little imps were silenced by simple muzzles. While to most it might meant that Martinez's magic was slipping, Baboonlor was once power personified, a demon of darkest shadow and corrupted flame, it wasn't unreasonable that it could will itself to speak, even when trapped and polymorphed into a small tortoise.

"My companion and I need to resupply. I'm just taking a small shopping trip," replied Jimmy. He was curious about what if anything transpired here, and was willing to humor the tortoise with some conversation in case any details slipped.

"…is that another way of saying you are robbing from your master," snorted the tortoise.

"Oh, have you seen him?"

"No, but you can rest assure that I'll be telling him of your theft," said the tortoise. "Unless of course we could come to an arrangement. No, no, I don't want to be released, you'll never agree to that. But perhaps you can ease my imprisonment with some books….I have a reading list I would…"

Jimmy ignored the creature as he walked back to Martinez at double speed. He had gained enough information. Those demons had not been released from the Sanctum, they came from another source. Which meant their could still be some out there. While he knew any information from a demon was suspect, Baboonlor wasn't the most silver tongued of fiends. Regardless of how powerful physically and magically he was, this particular fiend was known for its ineptness in subterfuge.

As he arrived back, he found that his master was gone. Jimmy panicked at first, his worst fears realized, but his sharp nose picked up his drunken scent up the stairs. Drawing his crossbow, he hastened his way up.

He wasn't sure what to expect when he reached the top, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Chloe at the edge of the illusion with Martinez chatting with Rina behind her.

As he approached, he noticed something off. Chloe was being her usual bratty confident self, from what little he knew of Rina, she was fawning over Martinez, and speaking of which his master still stunk of cheap booze and unwashed sweat. While he still appeared inebriated and slovenly, there was a bit of his old swagger back in his step and demeanor as he made small talk with Rina, causing her to giggle and smile.

"Shush," warned Chloe as she stared past the illusion. "I see two more of those demons. Hiding in the shadows. They were trailing us, but they can't seem to pierce this veil. We stay quiet enough and they'll wander off. Or...Jimmy shows his ugly face and we can kick their shadow assess..."

Jimmy was pretty sure that sound couldn't travel past the illusion, but he wasn't sure. As he began to ascend to properly access the situation, Martinez calmly walked behind Chloe and took a look around behind the illusion.

"It seems you are correct girl," said his old master. The old demon hunter then placed both hands behind her back and gave her a forceful push through the illusion.

"No! " shouted Jimmy as Chloe tumbled through the veil. From his position on the stairs, he couldn't see what happened, but he heard a startled yelp and unholy hissing from outside.

"Why?" asked a stunned Rina, as Martinez's long arms grabbed her and shoved her to the ground.

"I'll keep you about, since you are useful," said the old demon hunter in a hollow voice as he confronted Jimmy from the top of the stairs. "I know you. You're my apprentice aren't you?"

Jimmy couldn't believe his eyes. From his stance and his voice, Martinez was showing all the signs of a late stage 'possession' but that was impossible. He'd seen his master fight off the possession attempts of a greater Yugoloth and he was perfectly fine a minutes ago. He couldn't succumb so quickly, unless it had all been a ruse. If that was the case, he should have attacked him when they were alone. It made no sense.

Regardless of what was going on, Jimmy knew what he had to do. He charged up the remaining stairs towards his master, attempting to shoulder or bayonet him out of the way. He could sort out the injuries later. While Martinez had height and reach, Jimmy was more importantly armed. As he neared the top of the stairs, with his crossbow knife held like a short spear, Martinez slipped to the side with unearthly speed and connected hard with a kick to Jimmy's chest.

Jimmy wasn't sure what happened next, as he found himself on the bottom of the stairs aching all over and seeing stars. He flicked his wrists, drawing two daggers, but a sharp boot stomped on his right hand, while another kicked his other hand's dagger away.

"I don't know how I got here, but I should thank you …James or Jimmy is it? " said Martinez as he towered above him.

Jimmy twisted his whole body, coiling his hand out from Martinez's foot in the process. Freed, he flung his legs up before reversing his momentum and catapulting himself back on his feet. He barely ducked a jab, but realized too late it was a feint as a palm smashed him in the face, sending him falling on his back.

"As I was saying…I should thank you. I don't know where Martinez dragged me to, but I suspect he was up to no good. Only that fool girl Rina kept me grounded, but he still managed to drag me into this magical dungeon of his. I suspect he was going to…"

Jimmy rolled to his side and sprang at his Master once again. He dismissed any attempt for a finesse attack, and simply went for a plain schoolyard tackle, sending Martinez crashing into the ground with him. Instead of knocking the old man down, Jimmy found hands guiding him around in a circle before sending him crashing into the stairs on his side.

"That looked painful," chuckled Martinez as Jimmy writhed on the stairs.

"as I was saying. I ..."

Jimmy's foot shot out from his prone position and hooked his master's leg. His master stumbled a second, but that was all the time Jimmy needed to twist himself up and backhand Martinez in the face with a single fluid motion. Martinez fell back, but with a move that somewhat mirrored Jimmy's own, he twisted himself several times to regain his balance and footing. Before he could fully recover, Jimmy sprang at him with a rapier that shot into his hand. Fast as lightning, he was going to skewer Martinez, but some how his master was faster. Jimmy wasn't sure how, but Martinez shuffled left or right, or perhaps both at once and had slipped past his weapon's blade. After that, the old demon hunter simply grabbed Jimmy's arm and yanked it downwards, causing him to flip over and land hard on his back onto the cold floor.

"please, may I continue? " asked Martinez as Jimmy struggled to catch his breath. "...I suspect Martinez was going to imprison himself and of course myself in one of those pens of his, but then you showed up, and separated him from that nasty concoction of his. Without his foul brew, it was only a matter of time when I assumed…."

Suddenly Martinez stopped in mid motion as his body began to shake terribly. Jimmy watched in confusion as Martinez convulsed and then fell to his knees.

"…Jimmy…I can't …I can't hold him…finish me off…." Begged Martinez as his face was covered in sweat and contorted with pain.

Jimmy wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but suspected his master was still fighting with whatever entity that was possessing him. He readied his rapier and was about to slay him with a quick coup de grâce through the throat, when he heard a shout from a top of the stairs.

"Here catch," shouted Chloe as she tossed him a black flask. She was beaten and bloodied, and oddly covered in coarse brown hair and sporting long black claws. Not sure what was going on, Jimmy instinctively reached for it, but Martinez's hands were faster as he snatched the bottle away from him. Before he could react, Martinez unstoppered it, threw back his head, and quickly guzzled the foul smelling contents down, aligning his mouth and throat straight up so he consumed the forty ounce bottle as fast as he could poured it. With the bottle drained, Martinez's eyes glazed over as he scanned the room.

"Jimmy? Is that you?" Martinez asked before he crashed into the ground in a drunken stupor.