The air was cold, soft flakes of snow drifted gently towards the ground, adding to the thick layer of soft powder already covering the ground. Twilight was upon the abandoned city beyond the Wall and although most still slept one walked the streets, surrounded by crumbling building and reminders of the past. Some of it was caused by natural deterioration of the stone; a lot of it was caused by fights between the inhabitants. For life to the south was hard; especially during the winter when food was so scarce. Feet padded silently through the snow when the sudden sent of fresh meat hit the dark creature full on in the face. Listening to the sounds around it he knew something living had entered his domain. It was still early in the night. There was still a chance. Instantly he began moving with an incredible speed, one that would easily outpace even a sprinting horse. For daemons were up amongst the highest of apex predators. The same as the sharks installed fear in sea-farers and crocodiles and alligators terrorised the swamps and waterways the daemon was the fear of the south. There was no creature on land that they feared. Daylight was swiftly disappearing and the darkness was taking hold. Spotting the small figure up ahead the creature came to a sudden stop. He was unsure if he’d be seen in this light, as their skin blended perfectly with the darkness. However it also contrasted drastically to the white snow. It was not fear of being spotted that made him stop, however. It was what stood before him. A human. He should have realised from the smell. Within the darkness screeches and cries began echoing through the night and he knew it was too late. The others had smelt her too. Rushing forward Cade knew this would probably frighten the human, which was the point. Stopping about ten metres from her he hissed, the dry noise causing fog the air from the heat of his breath. “Go! Get out of here! Run!” Although to her human ears it would just sound like terrifying shrieks. It was already too late, however, another daemon, much larger than his adolescent one, appeared on the other side of her, blocking her path back to the Wall. A low growl echoed from the enemy and Cade began walking forward slowly in response, showing he was laying claim to the girl as well.

May had just emerged from the fence, to the forbidden area where she was never supposed to go. The girl who was only 19 loved to go on adventures and she loved exploring the 'forbidden' places. She had walked a few yards from the fence when suddenly she got a strange feeling, like she was being watched. May turned towards Cade, not seeing him at first but suddenly something rushed at her. The girl screamed a but and took a few steps back, looking at the thing that was ten meters in front as it made a blood chilling screeching sound. Without needing to understand what was being said she began turning around so that she could run, but before she could she saw the second monster and she froze in her tracks. "This is why you don't go to forbidden places May." She hissed to herself. Sense May was could walk, she had always loved exploring new places and getting herself into trouble and the more you told her not to do something, the more she wanted to do it and all her life everyone had always told her "Do not cross the fence and go to the South." Up until today she had listened to him, but for a few weeks now she had been hearing strange noises so she decided to investigate, and learned that she did not like what she found.

Both daemons walked closer to the girl; both hissing, snarling, growling and making all manner of unpleasant noises. Cade knew he was outsized, even though she was a female his opponent was a lot bigger than he was. Still, he didn’t back down. Suddenly the female leapt at the human and he sprinted forward, the burst of speed beyond what seemed possible for an animal their size, even a small daemon like Cade was about as big as a horse, the top of his body sitting at about the same height as the human’s face. Intercepting the attacker he knocked to the side, causing her to screech; a noise that could be compared to tearing metal. Tails thrashed about and snow flew into the air as the pair scuffled in the snow. Cade screeched at the female and, taking advantage of the superior spot he was in, bit into a notoriously soft spot just behind her front leg, earning another screech from her. Her tail thrash, whipping at his side, which stung but didn’t draw blood. Her claws scratched at him, slicing down his side before she kicked at him with her back feet, easily pushing him off her before she turned her attention back to the human prey.

When the larger of the two monsters launched itself at her, May screamed and tried to scramble away from it but ended up falling backwards, onto her back just as the first demon intercepted the second's attack and pinned the monster to the ground. Unable to move May watched the fight happening, unsure of what was going on. If she didn't know better she would say that the first monster was trying to protect her. Shaking the silly thought from her head she sprung up ready to run. Before May could run to the fence to safety, she realized that she would need to run past the two fighting monsters, and with how much they were thrashing and fighting she would surly get hurt, if not killed if she got to close so she just gulped and stayed where she was and tried to wait for the perfect time to run. Then she saw that the female had pushed the smaller monster off her, and turned her attention to May. "Oh God." She said as she tried to run past the demon and towards the fence.

The female moved to intercept the human, once again blocking off her path back to safety. However Cade quickly took her attention again, running at her, all four legs powerfully propelling his body as he launched himself into the female, sending her sprawling into the snow once more before he turned his attention to the human. Quickly leaping at her he moved behind her, showing her back towards the direction of the wall, growling menacingly as the female righted herself and ran at the pair. With a quick movement Cade shoved the girl out of the way and braced against the impact, crying out in pain as her claws found the scratches she’d made before. The pair were now locked in a shoving match, both clawing and snapping at the other as they tried to gain leverage. It seemed neither was willing to back down and give up the prize. Despite the female’s larger size Cade was faster and he used that to avoid the attacks he felt would do him the most damage. Breaking away from her he now had her undivided attention. She had realised she wasn’t going to get the human unless she beat him first. The snow and wind had picked up considerably and it was now almost a full blown blizzard raging as the pair of dark entities fought.

When Cade attacked the female then came back to May and showed her the way to the wall she realized that he was trying to fight for her and protect her. She smiled slightly, but was suddenly pushed out of the way by Cade which caused her to stumble back a few feet and fall to the ground with a small "oof" before she picked herself up and heard Cade cry out in pain. "Oh gosh, please me okay." She said as she slowly began trying to ease herself closer to the wall. She didn't want to leave him, afraid that he would get hurt though she wasn't sure why she was so concerned but she knew that she needed to get away of she would be okay. When the female was no longer paying attention, May stood still watching the fight for a few more moments before she began running for the wall again, lifting an arm to shield her face from the snow. She began to shiver, the cold beginning to affect her. She continued moving until she finally got to the wall, but at a different part so she had to go looking for the spot where she entered from as quick as she can before she was caught in the blizzard and died from the cold unable to get home.

The two continued to fight even after the prey had gone. Eventually Cade fell to the ground, a think, dark blue liquid dripping from the holes in his side. The female hissed at him, a warning that should she fight him again she wouldn’t let him win. Once she was gone the younger daemon struggled to his feet, turning to look towards the wall. There was a stretch of wilderness between where the city ended and the wall stood. A stream, now frozen in the winter cold marked the official end to their territory, unlike most believed the wall to be. Still he could not tell where the human had gone. Her scent was gone with the wind and snow and her footprints covered over. He began making his way towards the wall, slowly, limping on every forth step and leaving a trail of blue blood behind him. She may have made it. She may have not. He was determined to find out. Leaving the stone of the city behind him he entered a maze of dead trees, which offered no real protection from the cold, wind or snow. Eventually he made it to the river, now snowed over too he could still tell where it lay beneath the white powder; the territory ingrained in his mind as deeply as breathing.

After a bit of looking May finally found the spot she entered from and slipped out and began to quickly walk towards her village, but as she walked the blizzard got worse and she realized that she probably wasn't going to make it though she kept walking for what seemed like forever until she tripped and fell not to far from the river. She tried to stand up again, but was finding it difficult to move as the snow began soaking through her clothes. With a groan she crawled over to a tree and gripped it as she used that to pull herself up to her feet before she looked back at the wall hoping that the monster who had been trying to protect her was alright. "Why am I so concerned about it?" She asked herself with a shake of her head before she before she began to walk away again but fell down again. "What's going on?" She groaned to herself, finding that she wasn't able to stand up anymore. May continued trying to get up until she heard something moving in the snow. Right away she saw that it was a monster, but didn't realized it had been the one trying to help her. May whimpered softly, probably attracting attention to herself even though she was trying to remain silent.

Despite the howl of the wind and his own heavy breathing, Cade heard the small whimper close by. The girl had made it past the wall, but not yet the river. Somehow he’d managed to get in front of her. Walking over to her he began sniffing around her. She felt cold to the touch, and he knew she was slowly freezing out in the cold. Looking up he walked around her a few times. The village was beyond his boarders, so he could not venture there. So it seemed she would have to remain here for the night. Walking up to the girl he hissed again and moved to the nearby tree. After a few minutes he’d managed to dig out a sizable hole beneath the roots and walked back over to the girl, taking hold of her coat in his mouth the daemon began dragging her towards the hole, pushing her inside before following suit. He pressed his body up against the hole, blocking out a lot of the wind and the snow. Despite everything, the earth around them radiated with its own slight warmth and his skin felt warm to the touch, though blood still dripped from the wound in his side. He didn’t expect the human to sleep, not with a natural predator so close. But at least she wouldn’t freeze.

Astra had no idea that it was the demon from before, she she whimpered again when he began sniffing her and hissed at her before moving to the near by tree. She watched him dig the whole, wondering what he was doing the entire time until he bit her coat and dragged her into the whole then using his body to warm her up. She realized then that it was the demon from before and despite the slight fear he naturally made her feel with being a predator, she also felt safer. "Thank you." She said softly, wondering if he could understand her. After a while of being curled up in the warmth, she began to feel warmer, and that was when he was hurt. She quickly sat herself up and placed her hand near his wound. "You're hurt. Let me help you, its the least I can do." She said as she made a motion to help him, but still waited to see if he would stop her from helping.

As the girl placed her hand on his hide, she’d feel the strong skin also had a smooth feel to it. However Cade flinched visibly at the touch and hissed at her, his tail snapping near her hand swatting it away. He was not about to take help from a human. He didn’t need it and he didn’t want it. The wound was deep, but not life threatening. Even so, there was nothing she could have done to help him. A growl rumbled deep within his chest and he pressed himself further away from her. Watching the girl again for a few moments he stood suddenly and turned so that he was facing the other way, the wound now exposed to the cold as he settled back into the tree. After a long wait Cade settled his head onto the ground, letting his eyes close. She may not want to get any sleep, but he needed rest. He was hungry, and she smelt good and he hoped that sleep would help curb the temptation to eat her. Being small for his kind he found the winters were harsh when food was low. Fights often broke out over it and more often than not the smaller would lose out. The big got bigger and the smaller eventually died off. Survival of the fittest. It was the way of their kind.

May jumped back when he hissed at her and used his tail to swat her hand away, she looked a bit startled, but not as afraid as she should be. She settled back down in the whole he made to keep her warm, if he didn't want her help she couldn't hep him. He wasn't a human that she could tell to shut up and help anyway. She knew if she tried to help him, even if he didn't want it he could and maybe would help her. "I'm sorry." She said gently before curling up with a small sigh. She closed her eyes, resting her head on her arm for some comfort as she let out a deep breath as she tried t settle herself for sleep. She knew that this was going to be a long night and if she wanted to be able to make it back to her village alive she needed her strength. May managed to fall into a light doze, but as heard him suddenly stand up she bolted awake and looked at him as he turned his wounded side away from her. She wondered if it was because he didn't trust her to try not to help him, or if he didn't want to worry her.

Despite everything, Cade fell asleep fairly quickly after eventually settling down near the girl. One would think that a creature like him, who usually viewed humans as prey, would have trouble being so calm around one. But maybe it was just that he didn’t view her as a threat. The storm continued to rage outside and the night passed slowly before, eventually the daemon woke and rose, pushing aside the powdery snow, revealing the early morning sun shining outside and a blue sky as he walked off back towards the wall and the daemon city, his feet leaving large and deep prints within the snow. The creature travelled through the now quiet and deserted city, daemons were nocturnal hunters by nature as their dark colouring helped to hide them during the night, so they retreated to their dens to sleep during the day. Even though he had slept already during most of last night he knew more wouldn’t hurt to help his recovery. Cade’s den in particular was to the forest south of the city, even further from the town and the wall. It was similar to the makeshift one he had made last night, but larger and better built, lined with furs from kills over the years to make it comfortable. As the daemon entered the den, however he disturbed the one already in it, which he didn’t seem to care about too much as he settled in, curling up amongst the furs. “Get off me!” The other occupant demanded as he shoved the larger creature off him. “You’re heavy!” Stretching after a long and restful sleep the boy stood, making his way past the daemon and out into the light he looked around for a few moments before taking off into the city and heading for the wall. Cade hadn’t had any luck hunting last night obviously, so he was hoping to find something to tide the creature over.

A while after Cade left, May woke up and yawned looking around until she remembered everything that happened the night before and how she had almost died, twice and monster had saved her life both times. With a second yawn May stood up and brushed left over snow and dirt of her clothes before she shivered a bit, feeling the cold now that she wasn't warmed up my Cade or the whole, but she wasn't in danger anymore. With a sigh she began walking back to her village, pausing for a moment before turning to the wall. "Thank you." She said softly. After a long trek, she had finally reached her village and the first thing she did was strip off her cold, wet clothing and changed into something warm. With a sigh she put a pot of soup on the stove to heat up so that she could get something warm into her before possibly taking a warm bath and sleeping for a few more hours. She had kind of slept last night, but it wasn't exactly a restful sleep because she was next to something that could kill her in a heart beat.

A strange fact most people did not know about the daemon territory, was that it did not actually extend to the wall. The wall was in the middle of a small forest, which acted as a kind of ‘neutral zone’ where either party was entitled to enter should they chose to. On each side of the forest there was a river now frozen in the cold of winter and partially covered by snow, twinned on the other side of the wall that acted as the barriers to each side’s respective territory. Ethan knew well of this law and often used the unvisited space to hunt and scavenge. It was around midday by the time he eventually settled and allowed himself to take a break. He sat on the wall side of the stream on the human side of the wall, looking out to the town curiously. Without doubt he wasn’t a resident of the village, no one would recognise him if they saw him but he wasn’t the kind of person you’d forget seeing either. Messy and dirty sandy blonde hair shaded dark blue eyes. His body was lean and fit, though there were signs of hunger in his slim frame. Perhaps the oddest aspect was the fact that he wore only fur.

When midday rolled around May woke up again from her nap and yawned. She rolled out of bed with a sigh and began to stretch before she pulled on a jacket and her boots before she walked out of her house to go for a walk, without realizing it May had began walking in the direction of the wall without thinking about it, though it was probably because she was remembering how the monster had saved her life.

He saw her coming long before she got close to him, and Ethan stood quickly, taking a few steps backwards before he turned and sprinted back into the forest, though the dark, dead trees did very little to hide his form. He didn’t go very far anyway, just enough that she wouldn’t try to approach him. Hopefully she was smart enough to stay away from the wall and didn’t try to follow. The further away from the town he got the thicker the trees began getting, making seeing too far ahead of yourself difficult. However it also made it harder for other things to see you. A fairly large winter rabbit came racing around the corner, Ethan realised quickly something must have been chasing it. However that thought occupied his mind for only a fraction of a second before he pounced, a long blade of some strange dark material flashing as he pounced on the creature. Listening he could hear more noises as the rabbits pursuer followed the creature’s trail. He quickly picked up the rabbit, backing away from where he’d killed it. It could have been a human hunter… though it was more likely a wolf or fox. Either way he wasn’t sharing.