Gathering her wits about her as best she could, Hood made her way towards the adjacent room. With a few barked commands and ample display of her silver badge she managed to disperse the crowd that had gathered, and shut herself into the victim’s room. She noted briefly that the ward around the room was still active, and that the holy energies in the air were starting to disperse now that the door was shut. She studied the victim with a practiced eye. It wasn’t a pretty sight to behold. The woman, who looked to be in her late forties, though one could never be sure with witches, had not only been murdered, but also cut to shreds and partially eaten. The scent of demon hung in the air, and again it was only present right around the body. Although in this case it was spread out a bit further than at the other murder sites, and some of the blood splatters were too vividly red to be human blood, suggesting that this victim had put up a fight before being killed. Of course, none of this changed the fact that she still had no idea how the demon had entered the room in the first place. Again, she could find no trail of demon scent leading out of the room, despite the freshness of the site and the ward keeping the cloying holy energies out of the room… Except that it didn’t, not entirely. Despite the ward, there was still a holy presence brushing unpleasantly against her skin. Something or someone holy had been in here, and recently. Carefully running her hand through the air, she found the holy energy to be strongest near the door, and extending from there in a straight line that ended near the bed. In fact, it ended at almost exactly the same place the demon scent began. Feeling a sense of terrible foreboding, Hood hurriedly left the room and grabbed one of the nearby onlookers. She dearly hoped she was mistaken, but she honestly doubted it. “Has there been a priest or priestess in this room since the murder was discovered? Or anyone carrying a powerful holy symbol?” “No miss, I don’t think so. The priests have been called, but they haven’t arrived yet.” Hood swore loudly, startling the onlookers. Sometimes being right was a terrible thing. In her mind a memory she had long sought to bury was resurfacing. The memory of an old sickly woman lying in bed, her face ever so slightly wrong, her eyes stained with red, her teeth just a little too sharp… Hood shook herself, trying to clear the image from her mind even as a number of guards came tromping up the stairs. The guards quickly surrounded her, and demanded that she report to the magistrate’s office. Hood weighed her option for a moment, and then relented as twin stabs of pain from her head and hand reminded her of her current state. The magistrate looked even worse than Hood herself, which was quite an achievement, and the red-caped hunter felt a certain sympathy for the tired official. The magistrate looked up from her desk with a deep sigh. “I hope you realize how suspicious this looks, Hood. A mysterious visitor to the city with an air of demonic corruption about her, and the next day the woman next door to your room is found murdered.” “I swore before the gods.” “That you were a demon hunter, not that you weren’t responsible for the murders in the city. The captain of the guard and the head of the Traders’ Guild are both calling for a full trial in the temple of justice, and there is more than enough evidence to justify one, circumstantial though it may be.” “I’d rather avoid that, if possible.” Hood replied, keeping her voice carefully neutral. Not only was she far from certain she’d survive such an event, she also had a long and sometimes spotty past which would do her no favours in a trial. Even a simple question like “Are you a murderer?” would be enough to get her jailed. “Then bring me the culprit!” the magistrate spat. “Today, before anyone else gets killed.” “I will do my best.” “See that you do. If I don’t have my murderer by sunset, you’ll be hauled in for the trial whether you want one or not.” Taking that as her cue to leave, Hood beat a hasty retreat. After eating as hearty a breakfast as she could stomach and cleaning and redressing her wounded hand, Hood set out towards the temple districts. It wasn’t a place she’d normally visit, but it was an unfortunate necessity at this point. Her skin itched and burned and she took fast, shallow breaths to ease the pain in her lungs, but despite her discomfort she kept a sharp eye out for her quarry. All around her priests and priestesses were scurrying about their business, but none seemed to hold what she was looking for. Gritting her teeth, she started searching the temples themselves, journeying as deep inside as she could before the pain drove her back out. Unfortunately temple after temple failed to turn up what she was looking for. It wasn’t until late in the evening that she finally found what she sought. Ignoring the protests of her singed and weakened body she entered a small shrine devoted to Heimgard, god of watchmen and shepherds. Inside she found a young cleric with a number of poorly bound wounds on his arms. As the sun set the young man rose from his prayers, took the iron shepherd’s crook that marked him as a junior cleric and set off through the streets of the fearful city. Hood followed silently behind, and after tailing him for over twenty minutes she saw him duck into an alley. As she turned the corner herself, she found no-one inside. Realizing she was being ambushed, Hood attempted to leap back out of the alley, but she was just a moment too late as the heavy iron crook hit her atop her head and she blacked out. She woke up feeling weaker than she could ever remember being. She could barely move her arms, and her legs didn’t respond at all. As if that wasn’t enough, a strange, gnawing pain permeated her body all the way to the bone, absent only from her head where it was replaced by a rather sharper pain from a lazily bleeding wound. Finally mustering the strength to open her eyes, she found herself in some sort of poorly lit basement. The cleric from before was looking down on her with a rather vicious grin. “To think that I warranted a visit from Hood herself. I am very nearly honoured.” “Don’t flatter yourself, demon. I was just passing by.” “And yet here you are, defeated. Lying powerless atop a holy symbol made to ward away demons. The irony is quite delicious, don’t you agree?” Marshalling her sluggish thoughts, Hood managed to lift her hand to her head, wetting it with the blood that still flowed from the wound in her scalp. She kept talking, hoping that her words would distract the man from her actions. “You must have felt so proud of yourself when you learned you could shield yourself from holy wards.” “One of my finer moments, yes. Although I am curious as to what finally gave me away.” Hood dragged her hand against the metal surface of the holy emblem on which she lay, hoping fervently that the demon wouldn’t notice the roughly circular shape she was smearing in blood across the metal. “I saw your blood at the murder site this morning. Once I realized how you were getting about, I just had to find a priest with unhealed wounds. After all, it would be a poor god who could not take care of some cuts, but you couldn’t get your wounds healed. Healing spells go much further than skin deep.” “Oh, well spotted.” the demon said with a sharp-toothed grin. He threw down his shepherd’s crook, and then grabbed his hair and pulled. With a sickening noise the skin on his face came off like a mask, revealing lupine features underneath. In less than a minute, the wolf had pulled off the whole skin, tossing it into a pile like a discarded suit. The greyback, still standing upright, spoke with triumph in his voice. “You really are as good as they say, Hood. Even among demons, few know of the spells to wear the skin of another.” “I have seen it done before.” Hood replied with a grimace, the image of her grandmother’s empty skin flashing before her eyes. It was so long ago now, yet the memory was still as vivid as ever. “But alas, skilled or not, this is where it ends. Farewell, Hood.” As the wolf raised a paw to strike, Hood finally managed to complete the wonky circle of blood and hastily spoke the words to create a ward. In an instant the holy power that had been draining her started to fade, and she only just managed to roll out of the way as the demon lunged at her. Marshalling what little strength she could, she grabbed the discarded shepherd’s crook from the floor. Ignoring the way the holy weapon burned her hands, she brought it down hard upon the wolf demon’s back, causing him to fall flat against the holy symbol. Before he had time to rise, she dove down and rubbed out a portion of the circle of blood, breaking the ward and letting the holy power flow once more. The wolf howled pitifully as the divine aura of the metal burned him from the inside out, boiling his blood and frying his flesh until death finally claimed him. Tired and hurting, Hood barely had the energy to drag herself as far from the symbol as the small basement would allow before she collapsed onto the floor. Unable to keep her heavy eyes open, she fell into a deep slumber, dreaming dark dreams of lost friends and empty skins. It took hours for her to be found in that basement, and over a week for her to grow well enough to walk again. The fact that the city was still suffocatingly blessed didn’t help matters. As such, Hood was quick to arrange a meeting with the magistrate the moment she felt she could manage the trip to her office. The magistrate looked upon the charred corpse of the wolf demon with equal parts disgust and relief. She also very pointedly did not look at the empty skin that was all that remained of one of the city’s priests. The mere sight of it was enough to make her stomach turn. “You have done this city a great service, huntress Hood, and you will be duly rewarded for your efforts.” “Right now the only reward I particularly care for is few days of sleep, good food and strong drink somewhere far away from here.” Hood replied in a tired drawl. It took a certain amount of concentration not to let her weary tongue slur her words. “There is a roadside inn just half a day’s journey from here. I could have one of the city guard escort you there. I’m sure old Hodgen, the innkeeper, will give you his best service if you tell him you took care of the murderer. I hear his business has been suffering lately.” “That sounds like a lovely idea.” she said with a slight smile. The thought of getting away from this painfully oversanctified city was enough to make her entire day brighter. “And of course there’s the matter of your bounty for the wolf. 400 crowns is the going rate, I believe.” The magistrate tossed her a heavy coin-purse, which she just barely managed to catch. “Now, if there is nothing else you want, I will not take any more of your time.” She waved one of her guards over as she spoke. “Jan, take the huntress to her horse, and then escort her to the Broken Wagon.” The guard nodded an affirmative, and led Hood out of the building. She followed without further comment. The sooner she got out of this town the better, in her opinion. Lumpy stood bound in the guard stable by the town gates, and greeted her with a happy whinny. She checked him over, and found him to be well cared for. Although he did seem even heavier than when she last saw him. A quick sniff of his breath confirmed her suspicions, and with a put-upon sigh she turned towards the handlers. “So, which one of you idiots gave him oats?”