HELLSPAWN HUNTER

Chapter 2

# HELLSPAWN HUNTER

## Chapter 2: First Hunt

The thing that had been terrorizing the survivors in the basement of Murphy's Diner looked like a cross between a praying mantis and a bad fever dream. It had too many arms, all of them ending in scythe-like claws, and its head kept rotating 360 degrees while it sniffed for prey.

Kael crouched on the diner's roof, watching it through the skylight.

*Just drop down and tear its head off,* Vex'thul suggested helpfully. *Quick, efficient, satisfying.*

"And loud," Kael whispered. "There are people down there."

*Exactly. Fresh meat. We should—*

"We should save them."

*Why?*

"Because that's what heroes do."

*We're not heroes, boy. We're predators wearing a human face.*

Kael gritted his teeth. It had been like this for the past two hours—a constant stream of commentary from his new demonic roommate. Vex'thul had opinions about everything, and most of those opinions involved violence, chaos, or creative interpretations of the phrase "acceptable casualties."

"Look," Kael muttered, "I didn't sign up to become a monster."

*You literally made a deal with a demon. What did you think would happen?*

"I thought you'd be more... I don't know. Wise? Mystical? Maybe offer cryptic advice about my destiny?"

*I'm not your mentor, child. I'm a war criminal hiding in your spine.*

"Great. Just great."

The mantis-thing below let out a chittering screech and began tearing through the diner's floor with its claws. Kael could hear muffled screams from the basement.

"Okay, new plan," he said. "I go down, you shut up and let me work."

*That's not how this partnership functions. I am bound to your nervous system. Every thought you have, I experience. Every sensation you feel, I feel. And right now, you're feeling very stupid.*

"Thanks for the pep talk."

Kael dropped through the skylight.

The mantis-thing's head snapped up the moment he landed, all six eyes focusing on him with predatory interest. Up close, it was even more disgusting—its exoskeleton was the color of old blood, and some kind of acidic drool was eating holes in the linoleum.

"Hey there, ugly," Kael said, trying to project confidence he didn't feel. "Picking on civilians? That's pretty low, even for a hellspawn."

The thing chittered and lunged at him with all four arms extended.

*Duck left, roll right, come up swinging,* Vex'thul commanded.

Kael ducked right and rolled left, immediately slamming into a overturned table. The mantis-thing's claws whistled through the air where his head had been.

*I said LEFT, you fool!*

"I'm not good at following directions!" Kael scrambled away as the creature's claws shredded the table into splinters.

*Then don't follow them! Use the instincts I gave you!*

"What instincts?"

*The ones that are screaming at you to MOVE RIGHT NOW!*

Kael threw himself sideways as the mantis-thing's head came down like a hammer, its mandibles clicking inches from his ear. He rolled to his feet and grabbed a broken chair leg, wielding it like a club.

"This is pathetic," he panted.

*Agreed. Stop thinking like a human.*

"I am human!"

*You're a hybrid. Act like it.*

The mantis-thing circled him, its head rotating to keep all six eyes locked on target. Kael could feel something stirring in his chest—not fear, but something else. Something that made his vision sharpen and his muscles coil with inhuman strength.

*There,* Vex'thul said with satisfaction. *Feel that? That's power. That's what you traded your mortality for.*

The mantis-thing lunged again, but this time Kael was ready. He moved faster than any human should be able to, ducking under the creature's guard and driving the chair leg up into its thorax. The improvised weapon punched through the exoskeleton like it was made of cardboard.

The creature shrieked and backpedaled, green ichor spraying from the wound. But instead of falling, it just got angrier.

*Amateurs,* Vex'thul sighed. *You went for the center mass. That's where humans keep their vital organs. This thing's brain is in its head, and its heart is in its abdomen.*

"Could have mentioned that earlier!"

*I tried! You were too busy panicking to listen!*

The mantis-thing charged again, this time leading with its head. Kael sidestepped and brought the chair leg down on the creature's skull. There was a wet crack, and the thing collapsed in a twitching heap.

"Hah!" Kael pumped his fist. "Take that, you—"

The creature's tail, which Kael definitely hadn't noticed before, whipped around and caught him in the ribs. He went flying across the diner, crashing through the front window and landing in a heap on the sidewalk.

*Never celebrate until you're sure it's dead,* Vex'thul observed.

"Now you tell me," Kael groaned, spitting glass and blood.

The mantis-thing came skittering through the broken window, apparently not as dead as it had looked. Its skull was cracked, leaking more green ichor, but it was still moving.

*This is taking too long,* Vex'thul said. *Let me handle this.*

"What? No! I can—"

*You can barely stand. Step aside, boy. Let me show you how it's done.*

Kael felt something shift inside him, like a gear clicking into place. His vision went silver at the edges, and when he looked down at his hands, he saw that his fingernails had extended into claws.

The mantis-thing hesitated, sensing the change.

Kael—or something wearing Kael's face—smiled. When he spoke, his voice carried harmonics that made the broken glass sing.

"My turn."

He moved like liquid lightning, closing the distance between himself and the creature in a heartbeat. His claws raked across the mantis-thing's face, shredding through exoskeleton and flesh with equal ease. The creature tried to counter-attack, but Kael was already gone, circling behind it to tear through the joints of its rear legs.

The mantis-thing toppled, chittering in panic. Kael landed on its back and drove his claws through the base of its skull. There was a sound like breaking pottery, and the creature went still.

*There,* Vex'thul said with satisfaction. *Efficient. Professional. No wasted motion.*

Kael stood up, breathing hard. His claws retracted back into normal fingernails, and his vision returned to normal. But he could still feel the demon's presence, coiled around his spine like a satisfied cat.

"I didn't want to do it that way," he said.

*Why not? It worked.*

"Because that wasn't me. That was you."

*We're the same person now, boy. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be.*

"I'm not you!"

*No,* Vex'thul agreed. *You're worse. You have a conscience. It's going to get us both killed.*

A noise from the diner's basement reminded Kael that there were still people to save. He climbed back through the broken window, ignoring the demon's running commentary about property damage and the pointlessness of human sentiment.

The basement door was locked, but a single punch from Kael's enhanced strength reduced it to splinters. He found six survivors huddled in the corner—three adults and three kids, all looking at him with a mixture of hope and terror.

"It's okay," Kael said, trying to sound reassuring. "The monster's dead. You're safe now."

*Tell them about the seventeen other hellspawn within a six-block radius,* Vex'thul suggested. *Really put their minds at ease.*

"Are you really going to do this for the next however long?" Kael muttered under his breath.

*Do what?*

"Be a sarcastic asshole about everything."

*I prefer 'sardonic observer of human folly,' but sure.*

One of the adults, a middle-aged woman with a teacher's demeanor, stepped forward. "Thank you," she said. "We heard the fighting and thought... well, we thought we were done for."

"Not today," Kael said. "But you can't stay here. The building's not secure, and there are more of those things out there."

*Much more diplomatic than 'run or die,' I'll give you that.*

"Where can we go?" one of the kids asked. "Our parents—"

"The evacuation center at the high school," Kael said, though he had no idea if it was any safer than here. "Stay together, move fast, and don't stop for anything."

*Except the pack of shadow-hounds that's been tracking us for the past ten minutes.*

Kael's head snapped up. "What?"

*Oh, did I forget to mention? We have company.*

Through the broken window, Kael could see shapes moving in the shadows between buildings. They looked like dogs, if dogs were made of living darkness and had too many teeth.

"Change of plans," he said. "Everyone stay down here. Lock the door behind me."

*Where are you going?*

"To have a conversation with some puppies."

*They're not puppies. They're apex predators from the Ninth Circle. They hunt in packs, they can phase through solid matter, and they consider human suffering a delicacy.*

"Then I guess I'll just have to be ruder to them than usual."

Kael headed for the stairs, and for the first time since their partnership began, Vex'thul was actually quiet.

*You know,* the demon said finally, *this might actually be interesting.*

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

*Don't mention it. Try not to die too quickly. I'd hate to have to find a new host.*

"I love you too, Vex."

*Don't call me that. It's undignified.*

Kael grinned as he climbed the stairs. Maybe having a demonic roommate wouldn't be so bad after all.

The shadow-hounds were waiting for him in the street, their eyes glowing like red coals in the darkness. There were at least a dozen of them, and they were already spreading out to surround him.

"Okay," Kael said, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see what else you taught me."

*Rule number one,* Vex'thul said, *never fight fair.*

"I can work with that."