Our story starts on a cold and dreary night in the EverGleam woods. The bright stars shone down upon a pathway snaking through the vast woods, and walking down the pathway was a tall young Kitsunese man, who wore a gruff and tired face. His harsh jade green eyes focused forward as his kitsune ears drooped low. His long heavy coat trailed behind him as the wind gently pulled upon it, while the moon shone down upon the golden crest on its shoulder. This golden crest bore a platinum coat of arms displaying a cross in the center. This crest is the symbol of an Exorcist, men and women who chose to show their devotion to the Creator by fighting the demons that plague the world and those who live upon it. As the man walked, his ears twitched from hearing a commotion coming from deeper in the woods. He stopped as his right ear perked up to concentrate and make out the sounds he's hearing. To his displeasure he could make out the sounds of a woman struggling and what sounds like three large animals. The man let out a sigh as he knew his moment of peace was over. He began to make his way towards the sounds as carefully as he could, despite his large size. When he finally got to where the noise was coming from, he realized the severity of what was going on. There was a large clearing of trees illuminated by the bright moonlight, and in the center of it was a Kitsunese woman trying to fend off three large fox-like demons. She had long flowing snow white hair that had streaks of blood staining it, and wore an expensive silk kimono covered in a now unrecognizable pattern due to how torn and bloody it was. The woman began stumbling as she stood there, the blood loss being too much for her, which caused the three demons to bear unnaturally wide grins across their faces. She used her magic to launch a spear made of shadows from the ground right at one of the demons, and collapsed as she did. The demon jumped to the side, easily dodging the spear and let out a wicked laugh. It began to charge the girl laying on the ground. When it was mere inches from her a large square pillar of earth shot up from the ground, surprising the demon and colliding directly with its face, sending it a few feet backwards towards the other two demons. Before they could react the large man was quickly rushing them, ready to fight. One of the fox demons, which seemed to bear a blue coloring, gave an unearthly cackle and opened its mouth wide. A ball of water began to form in it's mouth and shoot out a beam of water at the man, who quickly dodged it by dropping to the ground, using his momentum to keep sliding forward underneath the water. As he slid he lifted his hand up to touch the stream of water, and as soon as the tips of his fingers made contact, the water began to rapidly freeze. The ice quickly made its way to the demon's head before it could react and froze its head solid. The man used the rest of his momentum to get himself up onto the frozen pillar of ice, and quickly ran on top of it to the frozen demon. He jumped up in the air and brought down his heavy foot directly onto the demon's head. The moment the back of his heel made contact with the frozen head, there was a loud crack that rang through the forest as the ice shattered and the demon's head slammed into the ground below it. It laid there unmoving as the man stood above it. The other two let out a heinous growl then charged at the man. One demon with a fiery tint to it ran at the man with great speeds, fire beginning to spread around its body as it ran. It was covered in flames by the time it reached him and looked like a raging ball of fire. It leaped directly at him,but the man's arm shot up and struck the beast before it could hit him. The momentum of the demon sent a wave of force forward, but the man stood his ground and remained unfazed. He held the demon by the neck, with the fire raging around his arm and the demon struggling to get out of his grasp, but the man remained unbothered by it. The other demon that faintly glowed white began to charge him as well, and as it did three bright swords made of light appeared in the air above it. It let out an inhuman scream and the three swords launched themselves at the man. He quickly used the demon in his grasp as a shield and blocked them with it. The swords plunged deep into the beast as it howled in anger and pain. He lifted the beast up high and brought it down with immense force to the ground, slamming it head first into the dirt, making the earth beneath it crack. He quickly made his way towards the glowing demon as it screamed again, creating four more swords and launching them at the man. He quickly brought up his hand and closed his fist, shattering the blades of light. The demon was stunned by this display, but was not given much time to process what it had witnessed, as the man was upon it. Before it could react, he brought his leg up to kick it, landing the hit to it's jaw. The kick sent the beast up into the air above the man. He then brought his foot down on the ground with force, cracking the earth and sending a pillar of stone into the beast side. The demon let out a pained scream as it came crashing back down to the ground. A viscous black fluid began to flow from its mouth as the beast lay in the ground, unmoving. The liquid sizzled as it made contact with the air around it, with a dark green smoke being produced. The man walked over to the beast and kicked it in the side, sending it into the air and landing next to the other demons who lay motionless on the ground. He put his hand together to form a steeple and began to pray.
"Oh Creo, who grants us the blessed privilege to live upon this ground, give unto me the power to erase these stains from the world. These stains who taint and defile the world you made. Oh Demolior, grant these demons a painful death for what they have done to this world, and make sure they are mercilessly destroyed so that they may never come back." He chanted, like he had done thousands of times before, not missing a beat and said with confidence. The demons all woke up and began to scream and struggle violently in pain. They all began to sizzle like the black liquid, releasing that repulsive green gas. Then as suddenly as they began screaming, they stopped and turned to a white ash before the man. This left a troubled expression on the man's face, for when a demon is exorcised, they leave behind a pile of black ash, not white. White ash means they were summoned and controlled by someone, but no one else was in sight other than the women. But they couldn't have been her summons, for they would have been trying to possess her rather than kill her. He kept his guard up and he hurried over to the woman. He turned her over to inspect her injuries, and was shocked by what he saw. She had multiple large bit marks across her body and had a broken arm. There were large claw marks running down her back and her leg, as well as multiple burns across her body. Her face remained largely untouched but there was an injury on the back of her head that split it open. He grimaced at the sight knowing she had to be in extreme pain, and knowing that he could not do much for her out in the open. He took another look around before gently picking the woman up, not realizing until now how much taller she was compared to the average Kitsunese woman. He began to quickly make a way back onto the path, keeping his eyes peeled every step of the way. Every rustle of leaves and every snap of a twig made the man's ear twitch and he would turn his attention towards it. He knew he could take another three demons if they showed up, but he was more curious about the person able to summon them and if they would show themselves to him. After making his way out of the clearing and through the trees, being as careful as he could not to bump this girl against any of the trees, he finally made his way back to the path. He knew this path led to a small hunting village in the woods, and he knew the inn there would be his best shot at getting her to safety. The man quickened his pace to a jog as he continued forward, knowing that if he ran while holding this girl, it could do more harm than good. He looked down at the woman to see she was still profusely bleeding on him, and that they were leaving a trail of blood. Thinking quickly, he used his magic to form tight black of shadows over her wounds, stopping the bleeding and accelerating her healing process. He continued down the dirt path under the tree canopy until he saw the faint glow of a light further down the path, spreading a small smile across his face. They had made it to the village, and to a safe space where he could treat this woman. After a few more minutes of jogging he came to the entrance of the modest village, two large wooden pillars with four oil lanterns on each side of them. There was a small sign posted on one of them that read, Leheath. Leheath is a small village in the north eastern part of Terran right next to where the Human, Kitsunese, and Ursus territories meet. It is made up of mostly humans, but its mayor is an eccentric Ursus named Aleriu Dratusius Ostelsus, who is known for his peculiar interest in ancient ruins. The man slowed his pace from a jog to a fast walk as he made his way towards the tavern on the eastern part of the village. There were not many villagers out due to the late hour, but the few that were glared at the man holding an injured woman. He paid no mind to their stares and glares as he could see the tavern's sign that read, The Drunken Bear. He quickly made his way up to the door and pushed his way inside. There was a young Kitsunese boy working at the counter, who was writing in a ledger, and when he looked up to see the large man holding the woman, he dropped his pen in fear.
"Now hold on, I think you have the wrong building, the village doctor is three buildings down that way." The boy stuttered while pointing to his left.
"No, I'm at the right place, I can heal her myself, I just need a room." The gruff man said while turning his shoulder to the frightened innkeeper, showing him the crest on his shoulder. "I can't get the crest out of my pocket so this will have to do for now." The frightened boy leaned in a little closer to look at the crest, but making sure to still keep his distance from them both. He studied the crest long and hard realizing something was off about it.
"I don't think I can rent you a room sir." The boy stuttered as he leaned back away while looking up at the man who towered over him. "I think the owner would frown upon getting b-blood on the sheets and well," he hesitated for a second, thinking about what could happen if he brought up the crest, "your crest is wrong. I've seen a few come through here since I've started working and they are all made of solid gold, but yours has a different metal than theirs. And Exorcists wear black and gold coats, not green." The man stood there for a second looking at the boy, while he was cowering. The boy felt like the man's jade green eyes were piercing into his soul.
"Thats because he's no normal Exorcist." came a voice from a door behind the boy. Both of them looked at the door as it opened to see an old Ursus make his way out. He looked the man up and down and frowned when he saw the girl in his hands.
"Avus," The Exorcist said while looking at the Ursus with a small smile, "it's been awhile. You wouldn't mind if I used one of your rooms to help this woman, would you?" He asked.
"If it were any other Exorcist, I would tell you to get lost." Avus stated bluntly as he made his way to the ledger, and began to write in it. "But for what you did that last time you were here, you can." The old Ursus took a key from under the counter and handed it to the exorcist. "It's the same room as last time. Just know if her blood stains anything, it's getting added to the bill."
"Of course Avus, I'll make sure to keep the mess to a minimum" The Exorcist told him with a small grin. "I'll bring my actual crest out once I'm done for proof." He turned and made his way up the stairs of the tavern to the 3rd door on the right, where he had stayed last time. He carefully put the key in the door, making sure not to drop the woman, and opened it. The room was exactly the same as it was the last time he was in the village. There was a large full sized bed centered against the back wall, with a small and simple wooden nightstand on each side and a window covered by curtains overlooking the top of it. There was a simple table in the corner with a chair and a little rung in the wall for a coat. There was a simple oil lantern hanging from the center of the room that would be hard to reach for most patrons, but the Exorcist easily could. He set the woman gently on the bed so he could take a better look at her injuries. He turned to the window and opened it, letting the moonlight shine in. He always preferred the natural light of the moon or the soft steady glow of a crystal over the flickering inconsistent light from a lantern. When he looked back down at the woman his breath caught in his throat. He was utterly stunned for the first time in his life. He had not noticed till now how beautiful this woman was, even with the dried blood on her face. The way the moon light almost illuminated her pure snow white hair, and her white skin underneath the dirt seemed to be surreal and perfect. And through all the pain she had been through, her lips seemed to form a peaceful smile. Her beauty caught him off guard and his face had turned red. He had torn his gaze away from her face and towards her injuries, especially her arm and the gashes on her chest and back. Once again he was left confused and amazed, for her wounds had already begun healing themselves, and much faster than the magic he used. He could tell the bone in her arm was already straightening out and the gnarly deep gashes were beginning to close up. It was as if a miracle had befallen upon her and the Creator himself chose to grant her good health. He gathered himself and began to pray and use his healing magic on her to help her body heal the rest of the way. By the time the Exorcist was done, she looked like all she needed was a nice warm bath. He was content with his work and wiped the sweat from his brow with his upper forearm, making sure not to smear any more blood on himself. He looked down at the sheets and for a second he almost felt bad, but knew it had to be done. He wiped his bloody arms off with his coat knowing he could wash it at the well in the morning. He hung his coat up on the rung and fished an insignia out of its pocket, one that looked identical to the crest on his shoulder, but had his name, rank, and number engraved on the back of it. He turned to leave the room and quietly made his way out of the doorway, his long tail trailing behind him. He turned to close the door behind him, and when he did, he took one more look at the beautiful woman as she laid there smiling. A small smile of his own spread across his face as he gently closed the door.