"I was once told a story as a child that a Demon fell in love with an Angel. The story ended with the Demon's soul becoming purified by the Angel's love and the two were able to live together as one... I know it was just a tale of fantasy, a children's bedtime story... but could such a concept truly become a reality?"
"Let's do this." Mar'ko said with a smirk.
Linde smiled at him and followed as he led the way out of the city towards their destination. The sun was already beginning to rise as they began their trek towards the Demon's marked location, and they both realized that they had to hurry along or miss their opportunity. The Demon had said be there "when the sun rises" or else they'd miss their chance. The two of them began a run to reach the destination faster, and as the Demon promised the closer they got the more danger they saw or encountered.
At first it was mild, just being a few predatory animals in the forest area once they were about a mile away from the city, but then things began to get more intense. What were once just a small handful of predatory beasts turned into much larger and more dangerous predatory animals, or at least very territorial ones. One such example that almost charged the two of them as they jogged through the forest was a Northwoods Bear, a nasty creature standing about nine feet tall when on its hind legs and about five feet at the shoulder when on all fours. It was a very aggressive predator, and it drove the two of them away very quickly when they accidentally ventured too close. Another creature which actively attacked them and had to be killed via their combined efforts was a Black Tiger, a massive predatory cat species over twelve feet long from nose to tail. During its initial attack the creature managed to separate them and get in between them which prevented them from attacking together.
Linde and Mar'ko had great difficulty bringing it down, as the creature was much larger and heavier than either of them and resisted many of their attempts to strike it down. Even the blades that they carried yielded little affect against its thick muscular structure, but a critical strike from Mar'ko finally brought it down. The two of them continued on immediately despite their winded state, but again it seemed nature had other plans for them. As they came within about one mile of their destination, they ran across a herd of Northwoods Stags. While normally passive, the Stags, being the males of the species, were highly territorial. The two of them were forced to take a longer route around so as not to disturb or spark an attack or aggressive response, and as a result they lost some time. They made it back soon though, but once again the world seemed to conspire against them. Not more than a few hundred meters from the marked zone they encountered a gang of bandits who were prowling the area. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but in their winded and exhausted states the bandits put up quite a fight. Linde sustained a few rather frustrating wounds, one of them being having her left breast grabbed and squeezed incredibly hard before the one responsible was dealt with.
Being a woman had its clear disadvantages as most men knew that if you needed to restrain a woman, grabbing and pulling on her hair or grabbing her breasts were great ways to immobilize her while inflicting a fairly good amount of pain. Linde's chest throbbed as she and Mar'ko made their way to the marked point, and they found it to be at the foot of a mountain whose face was nearly a perfect 90 degree angle straight up. There would be absolutely no way to scale the mountain as it was almost entirely smooth without any place for footing and it was far too tall to use a grappling hook of any kind no matter how strong you were to throw it. The two of them waited for about ten minutes, and then began to look around to see if perhaps they had mistaken the location. However, Mar'ko's double check of the map confirmed they were correct, and so they sat down to wait. Quietly, they waited for about ten more minutes before the Demon finally showed himself.
When he did, it was not as Linde was expecting. Despite the fact that his outfit was black, she could see clearly that it was covered in blood. A few drops of red liquid dripped from the sleeves on his arms, but from what she could see as a doctor none of the blood was his own. Had he encountered bandits or wild beasts as well and been forced to tangle with them? Had he encountered those Roda Ah K'mht Assassins he warned them about? She had no answer to his bloodied state, but somehow found herself glad that the blood was not his own. Why she cared? Even she didn't know. Something about the Demon, despite his previous behavior and words, provided her with a strange sense of trust and respect. Perhaps she was just sentimental, being a doctor and having it in her nature to care about everyone.
The Demon came forward and spoke at last.
"I see the two of you had your fair share of trouble as well." He remarked.
Linde looked at Mar'ko for a moment, and then back to the Demon.
"So what happened to you?" She asked.
The Demon looked at her, but said nothing. Instead, he looked back to Mar'ko.
"Before anything else, I must confirm your dedication to this path you have chosen. The enemies you have set your sights on are by far the most dangerous you've ever encountered, and more so than you will likely ever encounter again at any point in your life. If you have any doubts about this intended course, speak now." He said.