22.

  “Second hunt,” Cole said, “You use that whetstone I got for you?” he asked Benny, “It’s special made for hunters, made for Damascus, nothing is going to do a better job.”

  “I think I could perform surgery with this thing,” Benny said, flipping his weapon to the blade side, “So what’s on deck, what are we fighting? Greg, any suggestions, you’re the guy with the know, I’m sure you’ve been thinking about what we should go after for the second hunt since we sold our loot from the first,” he asked, turning to Gregor.

  Gregor was taking one last inspection of his rapier, as well as checking his bag for various vigors and potions that the group of upstart hunters may need if things went south in the hunt. “I’ve done extensive research on potential demons unleashed for the second hunt, in my professional opinion the demon with the greatest glory indexed to the least risk would be the Bralgan,” he said.

  “Wait I remember hearing about these in one of my classes,” Benny said, “There the ones with the claws, right?” he asked.

  Gregor raised an eyebrow, “The ones with the claws? My friend you’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that,” he said.

  “The ones with the poison claws, yeah Bralgan, we take a slice from one of those and we’re toast, right?” he asked.

  “You would be if you weren’t with me,” Gregor reached into his bag, “Knowing there was a potential of facing such a species of demon, I went ahead and brewed and antidote tonic in preparation for a worst-case scenario. If you’re struck, you’ll be down, but not out,” Gregor said.

  “They’re not going to let us fight anything actually dangerous,” Cole said, “At least I don’t think they would,” he thought for a second about his brother Christopher’s regaling of his second hunt in the academy. One of his friends damn near lost an arm facing a Maggaro. The Professor was able to step in and wrestle the creature’s fangs from the boy’s wrist, but he was out of commission for the rest of the year when it came to hunts at least.

  “Don’t let the promised safety of the academy fool you, the danger is very real,” Gregor said, “What education could we possibly obtain were there to be a completely safe environment,” he took a deep breath, “You two are lucky that you have someone with my talents acting as your support,” Gregor looked into his bag, “I’ve potions, supplies in an amount and variation that could prepare us for any scenario,” he said.

  Cole smiled, “You know when we graduate, you’re probably going to get a job faster than anyone else in our class, good to have you,” he said, giving Gregor a pat on the shoulder.

  “The Bralgan, while dangerous, is somewhat slow, what with only needing to land one blow, it puts all its weight into a wide swinging attack, one dodge and we’ll find ourselves in the perfect position to strike. By attacking it from three different angles at least one of us should find an opening to drive our blades in,” Gregor said.

  “Let me through, let me through,” Tav said, shoving her way to the front of the crowd, she saw Cole bit her lip and asked him, “Are you going after a Bralgan?”

  “Yeah, it’s going fast, we got one spot left. Why, are you interested?” he asked.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Give me that!” Tav said, grabbing the signup sheet from Cole, “Give me the pen,” she said.

  “Okay,” Cole handed her the pen, “What’s the rush, you’re good, you could prove yourself against any demon,” he said.

  “I need this one, I need its claw,” she said, scribbling her name on the entry form.

  “Is this for that weapon you’re getting made? How many ingredients do you need, You got a heart, a fang, a claw, I mean, I know custom jobs usually use one kind of regent to up their performance, but this many? I told you, you got to introduce me to this guy. Anyone who needs this much material to make a weapon has got to be building something fierce, is this guy in the market? Why are you keeping him secret?” he said.

  “It’s a friend of my mothers,” Tav said, “He’s very exclusive, and he doesn’t take that many orders, so don’t think I can just introduce you to him, he’s very…particular about the clients he takes on,” she lied. It was no weapon maker she was gathering these ingredients for. She was gathering them for the Demon in the basement of the academy, that awful Ichor that was hidden away and kept safe from the students who may feel they could be bold enough to challenge it to a losing battle. Cole had no idea that Tav was in cahoots with it and had only heard of that demon in passing overhearing discussions the academy faculty had about the problem in the basement. Cole thought that there was some great monster the academy was saving for the final hunt of the year. A demon he could take down that would finally prove he could live up to the legend his family branded him with.

  “You know, If I’m going to be your ‘Not-Boyfriend’, I’m going to have to keep asking about him, I bet if I got a sword from him, I could do some wild stuff with it, what’s he charging you? For this custom job I mean,” he asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” Tav said.

  “Forms to the front,” Professor Marcus said, walking through the students and collecting the clipboards, he came to Cole and Tav, and she handed him the form.

  “The Bralgan, I see that Longdren and Cosgrove are up for it,” Professor Marcus smiled, “I’ve heard stories you two are the students to beat this year,” he smiled, “Tell me, are you sure you’re ready for such a foe?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Tav said, “It’s like the last hunt, right? I kill it, I get first dibs on the loot,” Tav said.

  “Already think you’re going to make the killing blow, quite bold of you,” he said.

  “You might as well strike every other name from this hunt, I’m going to kill it, and I’m going to take the loot,” Tav said, she turned to Cole, “I don’t care if you’re my ‘Not Boyfriend’ this demon is mine to kill,” she said.

  “I’ll help you,” Cole said, “I think I should. Tell you what, I help you kill this demon, and I get your weapon smith’s number. You can have all the loot you want, I’m sure I can find enough reward on my own when I start my career. I’ll be able to bring this guy some great stuff,” Cole smiled.

  “Just let me get the kill,” Tav said, “I need these claws,” she looked down, “You let me get the kill, and I’ll tell you all about it,” she said, gulping. She had already shared one great secret with Cole. And he seemed to be okay with keeping it, maybe she could tell him another secret, share another bit of personal information with him, and maybe he would understand.

  Then, Tav had another thought, if this worked, if somehow her plan worked. If she could complete her deal with the Ichor, and somehow keep him from gathering enough power to escape. If she could get what she was after and leave all other factors the same. She would be a human, she would purge her blood of the evil baked inside of it. Cole, the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, maybe the greatest demon hunter born in the past ten generations, wouldn’t have to lie for her anymore. She would just be a human girl, a normal girl, and they could be together. She could be more than his ‘Not-Girlfriend’ and he could be more than her ‘Not-boyfriend’ when she was normal, what they had could be normal. They could just be a man and a woman, no more lies, no more secrets. If Cole for some reason liked her despite the demonic nature of her birth, she couldn’t imagine how happy he would be when she was a real human girl.

  “Benny and Gregor are hungry for glory, and so am I,” Cole smiled, “But you’re really good with your weapon, I might slip up,” Cole said, “I might make a mistake, and if I do, I could really use you jumping out to save my ass again,” he said, “Best of luck in the hunt,” Cole said, offering his hand to her.

  “Best of luck,” she said, returning the handshake.