Spoiler: Memory 1

A black demon covered in an armor of scales that looked like the shells of insects walked through the dark forest. He could hear the sounds of fighting, coming closer and closer. Just as he hid behind a tree, demons of various shapes and sizes appeared. They were battling a single human woman. Despite their superior numbers, she fought back fearlessly and eliminated them one by one. In the end, the last demon, who tried to escape, was taken out and she emerged victorious, but with a body covered in wounds. Exhausted, she fell to the ground and lost consciousness, never having noticed the black demon who witnessed her fight.

Spoiler: Memory 2

A horde of demons assaulted the walled city. However, they couldn’t get very close as canons set on top of the walls blew them to pieces. The weak ones such as man-headed dogs died upon being hit. Chunks of meat flew around as explosions rang through the air and smoking craters were dug up. The bigger, stronger and sturdier demons took some damage upon being hit by the heavy cannonballs, but continued their advanced. Still, waiting for them near the city walls were humans specialized in hunting them.

Wielding weapons made of demon parts as material, they fought off the bloodthirsty creatures that desired the cursed treasure they were protecting. Among them was a woman with red hair that battled with ferocity. She cut down one demon after another using her large sword and was soon covered in their blood. When the attack was repelled, she observed her surroundings. No other demons came out of the forest. As she gazed at the dark sea of trees, she caught sight of a shadow figure.

The strange creature was covered in a sturdy black shell like armor. Its eyes were shining like two crimson and white orbs from the shade of the trees. It turned around and left while dragging its wings and tail on the ground. She took off. Ignoring the shouts of her comrades, she chased after its back without thinking.

Spoiler: Memory 3

Ryner looked at the little girl that was shaking in front of him. Her eyes were full of tears and she was understandably scared since he was a menacing-looking demon covered in a black scale-like shell. Whimpers escaped her lips and she called for her mother. Although she appeared pitiful, he didn’t have the time to soothe her. That was why, ignoring her pleas and cries, he wrapped his long tail around her waist and lifted her up.

Walking through the sea of trees, he took her with him as he made his way towards the city. The forest was crawling with demons. Already, a couple of them were peeking from a distance. If he didn’t get to her before they did, she would have turned into their snack. Caught by his tail, the wailing little girl was considered his prey and none of them tried to snatch her from him.

However, one of the demons, a bipedal with a tall stature and wide frame, hesitated before launching itself towards the child in Ryner's tail with it jaws wide open. Perhaps it did not fear Ryner, or it was merely driven to desperation by hunger. The girl's eyes went wide before she closed them and covered her head with her small arms. But, the blow never arrived. Instead, what she heard was a short sharp cry of pain or alarm.

Opening her eyes in confusion, she noticed that now she was held by the back of her shirt like a cat. As she dared to peek at her surroundings, she noticed that most of the demons around her were now much further away, trembling as they distanced themselves from Ryner. She did not notice the black mess of flesh behind her that was the unrecognizable corpse of the demon that attacked earlier.

After a while of walking, when the girl finally stopped crying, Ryner heard multiple voices coming closer. Then, from behind the trees, several armed humans emerged. They saw him, they saw the girl and they got ready for a fight. Ryner, in response to their hostility, moved the girl in front of him like a hostage. As a result, they hesitated to attack and glared at him in frustration and anger.

From among them, a woman with red hair stepped forward. Carrying a sword in her hand, she cautiously approached the black demon. They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. The tension was palpable. Then, without warning, Ryner slowly passed the hostage over. His tail stretched out towards the woman with the girl wrapped up in it. For a moment, she stared at him with wide eyes. Still, although she was suspicious, she held out her one free hand and grabbed the girl.

The moment she was safely passed over, the demon dashed away. Most of the other humans chased after him, leaving behind the red-haired woman who was holding the frightened and whimpering girl.

Spoiler: Memory 4

After ripping out a blanket of grass and sticking some leaves and branches on it, Ryner finished making a makeshift disguise. He flung it over his head and crawled on the ground. It worked as camouflaged and hid his dark figure.

He slowly crawled towards the walled city, making sure that he wouldn’t be noticed.

But, an arrow flew towards him and pierced one of the branches on his back. He stopped in place. No other attack came.

After a moment, Ryner turned around and went back into the forest.

He tried it again from a different direction, but another arrow was stuck into his disguise, which resulted in him retreating under the cover of the trees.

He attempted a third time, but the result was the same. In fact, three arrows were shot and buried themselves in the grass blanket.

Fed up, Ryner crawled back to the forest with his tail sloppily sticking out behind him. He didn’t bother curling it up to hide it anymore.

Those standing up top of the wall watched the retreating mound that had a black tail following it. They wondered what sort of demon it was. In all their years of fighting off demons, this was the first time they had to deal with something like that. Normally, their attackers would charge aggressively while roaring and oozing bone-chilling bloodlust, so the weird stealth approach was rather peaceful, even refreshing and comedic.

There was no bloodshed. No violent confrontation. The demon left after someone tried shooting him with arrows a few times.

As the demon retreated into the forest, he left everyone with question marks over their head and a few smiling wryly.

Spoiler: Memory 5

Shackled within a cell was Ryner in his demon form. His massive physique bound by multiple thick chains. With arms dangling on each side of his head, he couldn’t raise his knees from the ground. The tail and tendrils were tightly strapped to the concrete interior surrounding him, denying them the slightest movement.

Far from the solitary cell that housed him was a group of people arguing. Some firmly demanded that they should kill it without further hesitation, while others reasoned that they should study it due to its eccentric behavior. Eventually, since they couldn’t come to a decision, they left to discuss the dilemma in further detail.

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However, after they had departed, footsteps echoed along the corridor as a lone figure approached the steel bars. In the dimly lit dungeon, Ryner could clearly make out her long red hair, simply because his eyes were well suited for the dark.

Her silver pupils, illuminated by a ray of moonlight that shone through the bars above the oubliette, stared silently at the prisoner that they had captured. The familiar and distinct urge to kill that she harbored towards his kind wasn’t there. He wasn’t just another demon. Somewhere in her heart, that was how things had become.

Complicated.

She saw him as more than just a creature to hate, to fight and to kill.

Why?

That one word, that one question, escaped her lips. It was something that she wanted to ask from the moment she first saw him.

Why did you save me?

Her question, unfortunately, was offered silence. Ryner could only stare at her and clicked his mandibles.

After all, he had no idea what she was saying.

Spoiler: Memory 6

As the bird flew towards the tree, it noticed two figures sitting on the soft grass and next to one another beneath the shade of the tree. The one sitting next to the tree trunk on the left was a human while the other was a pitch-black demon. The human, who was a red-haired woman, kept her distance and warily watched the demon, clenching her sword that rested on her left hand. The demon on the right, who was a lazy Ryner, fixedly stared at the blue sky without sparing so much as a glance towards the human.

Of course, he didn’t forget to keep an eye on the grim-looking woman in case she decided to attack him. But, frankly, he was beginning to wonder why she hadn’t left him yet. For some reason, she stayed seated, hugging her leg with her right hand, wordlessly glaring at him like an angry cat. As their silent battle continued, the bird atop the tree branch flew down and landed on Ryner’s left horn. Before he could react, it began pecking curiously with its beak and chirped while the other birds in the tree observed them.

Surprised, Ryner shook his head to shoo it away, but the frightened bird only flew to the tree branch momentarily before placing itself on his horn once he stopped moving. He repeated the same pattern several times until his shoulders slumped down in surrender, and soon a handful of birds were on his horns and head. Seeing this, the woman’s grim expression changed to one of bemusement. She slowly approached him while holding her sword. But as she stretched her hand out, the birds hastily flew off as if scared of her.

Ryner slightly raised his head up and looked towards her, which put her on guard. But, before the blink of an eye, he looked away and continued to stare at the sky. For some reason, his attitude annoyed her and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his horn. With a jerk, the red-haired woman forced him to turn his head and look at her.

Afterwards, she opened her mouth and got ready to speak to the demon once again.

Spoiler: memory 7

When the merchant glanced back, his eyes widened as he saw several black minuscular figures closing in, leaving sand clouds in their wake. Kucanis, man-faced dogs, a common species of carnivorous demons infamous for hunting in packs. They relentlessly chased after him, their sunken glowing red demon eyes fixed upon his being.

Hastily, the merchant once again whipped the Nghe’fleis pulling his wagon for more speed. However, in his panic, he had failed to notice a large boulder in his path. With a cry, the six-legged horses neighed loudly as the left wheels of the wagon collided against the boulder, jolting the left portion of the vehicle airborne from the impact’s recoil. With an overturning twist, the entire wagon fell off balance, crashing heavily unto the dry, hard ground.

The merchant, now bruised with his ears ringing, staggered into his fortified wooden wagon, shutting the metal edged doors firmly behind him. Clutching his shield and spear with trembling fingers, he hugged his weapons tightly, seeking a sense a security as the howls finally reached his wagon in five heartbeats. He could hear the pitiful struggles of his mounts as the Nghe’fleis neighed helplessly. But the cries soon died, accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing and the pungent smell of spilled hot blood.

The wagon shook in the next moment when they started clawing and smashing against his reinforced walls. As one head broke through, the merchant clumsily thrust his spear and pierced the human headed demon. But, in fiery retaliation, it bit down on the spear tip hard and ripped the steel free from the wood with great force. Now weaponless, the merchant gave up all resistance, hugging his knees and whispering prayers to his gods for deliverance.

Suddenly, he heard the unmistakable yelps of Kucanis being attacked. As the sounds of dying demons struggling increased, the merchant’s heart hammered against his chest as he contemplated if his plea to the gods rang true, that he was going to be saved. But, even that slither of hope was robbed from him when he peeked through the hole of his wagon.

He saw it.

A large humanoid demon, covered in glossy pitch-black scales and easily twice the height of a man. It swiftly killed the remaining demons as it swung the carcass of a kucanis around like a club, effortlessly crushing the skull of another beneath its right heel while swatting away others with its massive left fist. As the clouds of dusts settled, the merchant’s heart was in his mouth as large footsteps drew closer.

Like a cargo box, his wagon was turned upwards and the merchant’s wet eyes were greeted with the sight of the demon’s face. Its glowing left red eye and right white eye stared back at him. As it reached its blood-stained claws towards him, he shut his eyes while begging for mercy. Strangely, the touch never came. It merely took two boxes of his goods that were behind him and departed, leaving the confused but unharmed merchant with an unbelievable tale to tell at the city tavern.

A tale about a demon that saved him from Kucanis, all for fruit.

Elsewhere, Ryner and Frey were enjoying a meal of exotic fresh Topango fruit.

Spoiler: memory 8

Standing motionlessly atop a stone cliff under the cover of vegetation, a lone hooded figure silently observed an uncommon pair of travellers a far distant away under the hot sun. Lying below to his knees, two large wolves with mismatching eyes followed his line of sight.

Even now, the appearance of a large humanoid demon traveling peacefully with a human huntress is impossible to fathom. The tall demon, Ryner, was covered from horn-to-claw in mismatching rags stitched together to cover any aspects that might give himself away as a demon instead of a demi-human freak. He was bickering endlessly with Frey as she was saddled atop a Ngheflei while he had to travel to their destination on foot.

After observing a few moments longer, the hooded figure then turned away and slipped into the cliffs, with the wolves immediately following suit. With each step, his drab cloak swiftly blends into the surrounding vegetation, becoming unseen. Half a day’s journey ahead of Ryner and Frey’s location was a small but lively settlement, centred on its largest building, the local saloon. Within its wooden walls was a rowdy atmosphere as the crowd talked, drank, shout, sang, gambled and fought amongst themselves.

However, the liveliness abruptly died as the screech of the broken door turned. It wasn’t the familiar sound that had caught everyone’s attention, it was the one that opened it.

A hooded figure, covered completely in drab tattered robes, his arms wrapped every inch in bandages yellow from time and face covered by a discoloured scarf. Judging from the wear-and-tear of his garb and boots heavily caked with soil, one could only assume him for a wandering nomad. Nevertheless, that knowledge failed to sate the suspicion as to why his appearance was still concealed. Although the establishment tolerated those of his ilk to a certain degree, others might not. As such, tension and unease steadily brew and filled the air as many eyes trailed the stranger, measuring him.

The stranger, almost nonchalant, completely ignored the scrutiny and hostile gazes directed towards him as he walked boldly to the eye-patched bartender. As the stranger stood face-to-face towards him, the calm steward merely paused his cleaning and raised his good eye, arching his brow in a questioning manner.

In a husky voice, the stranger bartered for a refill of alcohol and water in exchange for several demon hide and trinkets as he placed two empty bottles upon the counter. Faced with such a mundane sight, the atmosphere slowly subsided and most of the crowd lost interest. But one group seated just across the right side of the counter continued to eye the stranger. One of them had caught a brief glimpse of a cylindrical object with the shine that hinted of precious metal beneath the stranger’s robe.

Just as he reached out to reclaim his refilled containers from the bartender, the stranger’s hand suddenly paused in mid-air as he overheard members of the crowd discussing recent local rumours spreading among the neighbouring settlements regarding an odd pair of travellers, namely the red-haired high-ranking huntress with her huge companion the “Dark Wanderer”. Shrugging off his hesitation, the stranger firmly clasps his bottles and exited the saloon with hasty steps.

On cue, the ill-intent gang immediately followed suit and exited the saloon to tail him, but the hooded figure was nowhere to be found, as though he vanished into the wind.