On a quiet midsummer night, like any other, where the full moon stood beautiful and high in the sky, the world ended as we knew it.

Everyone had gone to bed, to gather strength for another day, only the shepherd was still up and watching, as always, over his sheep.

No one would think that something terrible would happen on this night, but suddenly everything became quiet, not a sound was heard, even the grasshoppers and the wind were silent.

The shepherd looked up wondering as all the sound disappeared. The previously beautiful night had suddenly become dim, and a strange light spread over the valley.

The moon, which was usually so beautiful and bright, was anything but that. Red as the earth after the day of slaughter was the moon now, and a deep fear ran through the shepherd.

A figure came wandering from the mountains, illuminated only by the red light from the moon.

The stranger was way too tall, way too pretty and sickly slender. If he had not moved with a grace, as if the darkness of night did not touch him, the shepherd would think he had been ill.

Each step was meaningful and controlled. This figure from the mountain was too perfect. Even with the soft light of the blood moon, he was far too pale.

The shepherd went with trembling legs to meet the stranger. No word was shared between the two men as they stood a few feet apart. .

Hungry red eyes met the shepherd's terrified brown.

Suddenly the shepherd fell to his knees and prayed with all his heart to all who would listen. "Our Lord and Creator, what have I done to deserve this punishment?" Cried the shepherd to heaven.

"Your god has forsaken you, and it has cost you your life." Whispered, the man from the mountain, scornfully.

"Get up and meet your creator like a man" laughed the stranger as he pulled the shepherd up by the collar of his sweater.

A mysterious red mist seeped out of the shepherd before falling lifeless to the ground, now drained from all life force.

As soon as the energy disappeared completely into the stranger, his eyes shone for a moment, so that the night was illuminated, with the same mysterious light as the moon.

Such is the first encounter between man and the demon written in the first book of the Paladins, about the war between God's elect and the demons. Legend has it that the text is written by the shepherd son, who went out into the world and became the first paladin.

All children learn this story, but only the children of the paladins learn the truth that it is not pure imagination and that the demon from the mountain really wanders among us. There are many descriptions of how the demon has come down from his mountain, but the last and worst time is only briefly described in a letter from the 8th Paladin General to the Pope.

We have now besieged the mountain for 6 months and last night it happened. The moon rose and at the stroke of twelve, it switched over to the legendary blood moon.

I have read many stories about its appearance in our books, but everything fades in its light. We have searched the whole mountain but have not been able to find his hiding place.

But on this night he stood with one in front of our barricade. No descriptions of him make him right. His face is like the old adonism models. his body is built like a runner's. No fat is there to look at him, but at the same time he looks like one I could crack in the middle without any problems. Despite this, he oozes power. None of our people could touch him in open combat. It quickly became clear that we could not do anything against him.

We were 500 men here that night, but only 10 of us are still alive today. The worst thing was that he did not fight himself anymore. He had built his own little army.

I recognized, from my time in training, old armor worn by the first paladins, in the demon army. His army was a terrible sight, old paladins stood pale, just like the monster they had sworn to hunt, and the same red glow was to be found in their eyes. Even though he only had 10 men with him, they gnawed their way through our forces as if they were nothing.

In all the stories of battles from this mountain against the monster, he has always disappeared back into the mountain at dawn, but he did not last night. Unlike all previous confrontations, he went quietly down from his mountain and took the life force from the few who survived his henchmen.

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The last thing we few survivors saw was the demon standing and smiling while he gave us a simple message.

"You have invaded my home for one last time, now I want to wander out into the world and see everything there is and see" he laughed with a big smile and the red eyes shone ferociously. "While I'm out to see the world, I can taste a little of the local dishes," it sounded from him as he sucked the life out of my most trusted officer.

I do not know what we have done, but I fear we have released a monster without equal free.

Paladin children become aware of this letter early in their lives. There are two things that they are meant to get out of this tale, the demon is as strong as 50 men and he can convert his victims if he gets enough time.

Anna had learned all this from an early age from her father. She had found it ridiculous until the night her father took her on her first hunt when she was 15. He told about how they had been paladins for 6 generations including him and she would be the 7th. ”Try looking here darling ”he said quietly as he knelt under the foot of a tree. Anna had hurried over to him to see what had caught his attention. At the foot of the tree was an imprint of a pair of feet in the mud, but they turned away from the tree, as if some had jumped down from the tree and walked from there.

"Try to see how deep the imprint is, no normal human being would be able to make such a deep imprint and just walk away." explained her father as he began to find his rifle. "Do you remember what can kill the demons?" he asked as he checked his sight.

"Of course I can that father," she began annoyed, "the only thing that can kill them is if you destroy both their eyes and remove the ruby that sits in their brain, if only one of them remains in the body they regenerate in in a few hours. ” She truly did not understand why her father had insisted that she memorize these strange things. "I do not understand why I should be dragged out here. I have never seen or heard anyone but you talk about these 'Demons,'" she grumbled.

"Shhh, he's not far away from him here," her father whispered. That would turn out to be the last thing he came to say. 5 seconds later, Anna was hit in the chest by her father's hand as he pushed her down between a few trees. All she could see there, from her hiding place between branches, was the sight of her father being drained for life by a dark figure.

In her shock at what she saw, she came to step on a branch, which cracked with a loud bang. The figure moved with a set and turned his head in the direction of Anna's hideout. He stood there for a while, searching the forest with his blood-red eyes. When he found nothing, he turned his back on Anna, and disappeared with one out into the night again.

It was now many years since her father had been killed and she no longer thought about it. Right now she was on a city trip with a couple of her girlfriends. They had gone to high school together, and had planned to start their own little place. They had not figured out what to do, but together they wanted to drive it to something big.Right now she was just sitting and having to recover, after too long a time on the dance floor. How the other two could go on, she could not understand.

"Hello," was a muffled voice right next to her. "What do I have to offer to lend your attention for just 5 minutes," the voice continued as Anna turned to speak. "Sex on the beach has always been my drink," she laughed half-heartedly as she studied her new suitor.

Jackpot! He looked good, not that she saw much more than the coal-black eyes. It was definitely a guy she could see herself going home with. "Then you'd better get one," he laughed, waving to one of the many servants winding among people. "A sex on the beach for the beauty here, and I probably have to settle for water, alcohol and driving is not a good idea either," he half shouted to make sure the waiter could hear him. Upon his comment on her appearance, Anna blushed so she looked like a tomato. He was also sensible and would not drive and drink at the same time? Where had he been until now? she asked herself, while the sweater was discreetly pulled down a little more to show her breasts more forward.

Their evening flowed easily from drinks to dancing back to drinks before finding themselves out on the street on their way down to his car. "What are you driving in?" she asked as she stood swaying. "You should not worry about beautiful," he laughed as he gently lifted her face up so she looked him in the eyes. “Funny your eyes change color. They were black just before and now they are starting to turn red, ”she laughed faintly as it all began to turn black. "Thank you for the food," he laughed scornfully as Anna fell lifeless to the ground. The only thing that ruined a bit of his joy was that it had taken him so long to find the little girl he missed so many years before. But now that witness had been removed.

It would take 4 hours before some found her lying cold and dead in the parking lot. A major investigation was launched, but as they could not find any signs of violence and there was nothing to be found in her blood, the conclusion had to be that she died of a spontaneous cardiac arrest. it was advertised as a tragic accident in the local newspaper, under the title "young, beautiful and died prematurely"

3 days after Anna's death, 3 men stormed into the local police station. "Hi! You can not come in here, ”shouted the guard as the newcomers waded into the office. One of the men took a piece of paper out of his inside pocket and handed it to the guard, while the other two continued inside and began to peel things out of their suitcases.

"What does this mean?" The guard asked as he struck the paper in his hand in frustration. "It is a letter from the pope himself letting us take over the investigation of Anna Jørgensen," hissed one of the men as he fished a PC out of the suitcase. "I can see that," the guard began, "but since when has the pope had that kind of power," he asked as he curled the paper in one hand and put the other on his pistol. "Since always, what is in front of you is a special force which is sent out for special tasks when the pope thinks that the 'demon' has been at play again, just leave them alone, then they will move quickly again," the tired voice of the chief of police from his door frame. "I have been arguing with their boss for the last many hours, they call themselves paladins, and have greater authority than I have," he said resignedly.

“Uh ok .okay?” expelled the officer confused before sitting down on his chair again, and working on his report.