Another cold and nearly sleepless night in a foxhole, watching my breath frost. I never thought France was this cold, but I guess with it being close to winter, it was expected. Maybe.

Grex brought coffee as soon as the first sliver of the sun rose over the horizon, as I had ordered him too. A full thermos of coffee from home this time, one I could share with the troops.

The twins were nowhere to be found, yet. Worrying was inappropriate for the situation; at least, worrying about them. Worrying about the damage they could cause is still fair game.

I munched my mostly flavorless protein bar down as Grex packed up for me. My loyal troops were already ready of course, and at least some were actually drinking the coffee provided. They had waited until after I'd sampled the thermos, but it was still a step in the right direction.

I finished up as Grex did. "Right, time to go. Lewd, you're on point. Santa, left wing, Musad, right wing. Fifteen foot spacing, arrow."

A perfect formation for sweeps; I didn't want anything getting by us and I hated single file. Anyone lining up was just asking for it, as far as I was concerned.

"Grex, keep an eye out."

I wanted Grex invisible and in the air, but the forest was still too thick. I'd have to settle for him helping out with his eyes and other senses, which I already knew were better than human. That and trust that since he knew I wanted my soldiers alive, he'd at least warn us rather than watch the fireworks.

Another day of walking. At least I was going to stay in shape.

I couldn't believe I was already bored to tears. I should be very happy to be bored to tears, but I couldn't even read!

It was nearly lunch when the I heard flapping. I felt them before I saw them. "The twins are back."

Then they crashed through the trees like little bombs, right on top of us. Branches rained down, and despite my warning, weapons were raised and safeties clicked off. It was luck alone that no one fired.

They had a very shaken human between them, and Abnex had a ratty looking rifle slung on his shoulder.

"We found your human."

"He looked up to no good."

"So we detained him." The twins finished together, pushing the old guy forward.

The man himself was very old, very dirty, and dressed in ragged clothes that had seen better days - right around the industrial revolution. The plain shirt alone was more holes than cloth, and the pants were stiff with what I hoped was dirt.

At least he didn't stink too badly, which was a wonder in itself.

The old man was a little roughed up too, which was to be expected from a long flight and a powerdive like that one. It was a wonder both his arms hadn't been dislocated. He wasn't cowed at all though, stepping right up to me.

"You in charge here?" His English was heavily accented, but it was good.

"For now." I was interested to see where he'd take this.

"So the military is arresting honest hunters now? Honest men?"

Golem face palmed. "Renny, you know damn well you aren't allowed in here, for your own safety. Why are you back again?"

"You know this guy?" I asked my Sargeant.

"That's Renoir, or Renny. He's a crotchety old bastard that's lived here longer than the demons. He's one of those holdouts I mentioned, he lives a few miles away, and hunts in the woods sometimes. Somehow the demons haven't gotten him yet, but he's harmless."

The old man's eyes crinkled and I realized he was smiling. It was hard to tell when his mouth jowls wouldn't move. "I've even been tried as a spy, twice. Set free both times."

"I see. Well I found your track and wanted to make sure you weren't a sniper."

"Can't hit anything farther than fifty feet away any more," the man replied readily. "My eyes ain't what they used to be."

Looking at him, I could believe it.

"You probably won't catch anything then," I told him.

He snorted. "I have my ways. Besides, catching critters isn't the point. The point is to hunt, and no jumped up demons are going to stop me from doing what I want."

Technically I was within my rights to detain this man. But if he had already been given due process twice, and come through, it was probably a waste of time.

"Fine. Just don't shoot us with that thing. Abnex give him his rifle back. Release him."

"No apology?" He asked, eyes bright.

"Don't press your luck," I replied with my best scowl.

He touched his forelock and bowed with a flourish, then walked back the direction we'd come without another word.

It was interesting that he knew enough about us to mark me out as new. Then again it could just be an educated guess, since turnover and casualties both were high in the armies of the world. I didn't think so though; he was too easy with us, too used to interacting with uniforms, and too blase about getting caught by demons.

The wild demons probably didn't consider him worth the effort; too old and stringy.

Golem nodded to himself. "You handled that well, Renny tends to break in most of the newbies. Most don't handle it as well."

"I'm not really happy about letting him go; anyone working that long in this area without death obviously has a thing going on; some advantage somewhere."

Golem nodded again. "We aren't sure what it is, but we've had him tested before. He's not a summoner or demon marked, just an ordinary human. He likely has a variety of well made boltholes across the forest, or the demons just dont think he's worth killing."

I turned to Grex, my resident expert on demon thoughts. "What do you think?"

"I certainly wouldn't bother," Grex answered. "Too old, too frail, and barely a soul left. As long as he did nothing to me, and bowed his head as I walked by. But the weaker among us might kill him out of spite. Still, he is human, without any of the usual protections. A mild curiosity but no more."

I turned to the other resident demons in the house; they glanced at Grex in unison, then nodded.

"You sure? Nothing at all demonic about him? Tell me the truth, now."

A good warning should be all it took for them. Grex couldn't tell a lie when I ordered him not to, so...."

"There is something odd about the situation, certainly, but nothing demonic about the man." Grex stated clearly.

Well that was that then. "Alright Twins, you did your job, you're off the hook. Go home."

The twins vanished in a puff of flame, their identical smirks disappearing last, and flames licking the damp leaves.

Golem shook his head. "I'm beginning to think you have too much power. Your answer to potential problems seems... remarkably straightforward.

"I'm a simple kind of girl," I answered, marveling over the fact that the gender word came easily anymore.

"Yeah, you're the hammer, seeing nails everywhere. It's a bad rut to get into."

It was probably too late for me, but I couldn't deny he had a point. When had I started to trust this power so recklessly? It was pure evil after all, there was no other way to describe it, no way to mitigate it. The source was the same as that trying to kill us all.

No, trusting the power was a bad move, even if it was mine for the next nine years. And reliance on it was definitely going to be an issue once I no longer had it. I'd seen what that did to Mom, after all. At least, I was pretty sure that was part of her problem.

"Maybe so, but while I'm here I don't think that's going to change. So far, my hammer has come in quite handy. Feel free to tell me I'm using it too much, but don't expect me to stop making things easier for us."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Golem told me, even though he clearly just tried to.

"Let's just go before we gather dust and the demons take over the planet."

Grex sighed longingly, and showed teeth when we all turned his way. Just to be a dick, I knew.

It was too bad I couldn't order him to take point while staying safe. I never wanted anything more in this moment.

I'd have to settle. "Grex, shut up unless it's to warn me of danger to myself and mine."

He nodded and mimed zipping his lips, still with that smirk. Well i couldn't really tell him to stop smiling - could I?

Without further ado we started off, with Grex sticking close and everyone else spreading out. Then we walked, and I realized we probably could have stopped for lunch. Too late now, best to just grin and bear it.

Soon I was ready to call a lunch break just to break the monotony. It was crazy how something so outwardly boring could be so tense. It was even more crazy that I found myself missing my days as a cop; sure it was sometimes dull, but it was never like this. Or maybe I just didn't feel it at the time. Maybe my glasses were rose colored; I didn't know.

But this almost felt ridiculous; there were more shoes to drop, I was sure of it.

But no shoes to drop today, it seemed. Night fell with a thump, signalling the end of another day's progress. I checked where we were against my map, both my own senses and compass showing us to be right on schedule.

The next major obstacle tomorrow would be a gulch I wanted to swing around rather than go through; it looked like prime ambush territory.

Grex was standing around staring at me. "Grex, dig my foxhole," I ordered.

I'd done it the last couple nights, he could do it once.

"As you command, my Mistress," Was his response, and just as suddenly there was a hole there. The hole looked more like a grave than a foxhole, but at least Grex had included steps to get out with.

Where he'd gotten the perfectly stone for it was beyond me, but it was the thought that counted, right? At least I had enough room to stretch out in to sleep, right?

"Thank you Grex." It was best not to acknowledge the weirdness; to give credit to it was to encourage more of it.

My loyal troops shot me more than one glance, ranging from jealousy to pity filled. I took note of the ones with pity in them, and where they were from - those were probably the old timers. Not that I would encourage such behavior, I wasn't a crazy summoner like almost every other summoner out there. Never you mind how many other summoners no doubt say the same thing, traitorous mind; I've got this covered.

"So, how close are we?" Golem asked, pointing to the map I was putting away.

"Right on target, best as I can tell. We might be a hundred feet off either way."

"Excellent," was the response. "I'd hate to be lost."

I doubted that he could ever get lost. I doubted that very much; he probably knew better than I did where we were.

The plan for tonight was to circle up, fortify up as best as possible, and ride out the night. So far everyone was on the same page, and you cold almost draw perfect lines from hole to hole. The latrine would be in the center, because no one would be wandering off to get picked off, horror movie style. We'd just deal with the stink.

I broke out some reading material while the camp started taking shape. Knowledge was power, and I didn't know nearly enough yet.

"My Mistress."

Huh? I was totally awake; Ancient Hebrew in no way put me to sleep faster than a fist full of Lunesta.

"Yes?"

"Do you still desire me?"

I choked on my spit, and he grinned his insufferable grin.

"My presence, I mean. My duties here are complete, unless you have more for me to do."

Right, the troops don't like the demon standing over them while they try to sleep. The sun was down and I could see from here the traps were set, and set correctly.

I shook my head and went back to my book; my eyes were pretty good with low amounts of light, so I still had time. "Bring me another thermos of coffee, the way I normally like it and with no unusual additives, and then you can knock off for the night Grex."

My demon sighed. I knew it pissed him off to be relegated to basically a gopher, I could feel it through our bond. It didn't matter either way, for the next nine years I wore the pants in this family. Not that I considered Grex family ever, but that was the expression.

A thermos was soon in my hands, and Grex did his fire poofing thing. I then took the excess and made a small fire in one corner of my nightly home. I couldn't think of a use for it right now, but a flame was always useful. Not to mention cheering.

Perhaps I'd use it for boiling water, or warming rocks for sleeping on. Assuming I could find any of the latter, that is. No. No weakness, as cheering as this was, it had to go out, if only to protect my night-vision. Not to mention the smell could lure things here. I stamped it out.

That did give me an idea, however. A dangerous and very stupid idea... one that would have to be shelved for now.

"Golem, you can set the watch. At least two and two shifts. Anything more than that is fine but extra."

"Understood, Snow."

I tuned Golem out as he went to work; it was hard enough reading this crap without splitting my attention. Seriously, this was like what not to do with a language. It was very odd that between the "shalt not suffer a witch to live" comments was enough magic spells to start Hogwart's, but what did I know?

The name of my Sargeant was the hint for this excursion into yester-year. Maybe I could make actual Golems to save the troops; I had fewer limits on my magic than most. That is, if I could find the actual recipe, and not just the cautionary tale.

It was funny. The whispered conversations going on around me I could ignore; ditto with the assorted groans and light snores. But a single twig snapping in the forest beyond my foxhole? That got my attention before I even realized what it was.

It was good to be in the company of like-minded people. In an instant, the light snores and other assorted sounds stopped, and I could hear all of us straining our ears to the utmost.

Another crack, isolated from all other sounds, quite clearly done deliberately, and just as clearly done right on the outskirts of our ring of traps.

Something was messing with us, and with that act, it was unlikely to be human. Still, it was best to make sure. I popped a flare.

I didn't pop it by hand, of course, it was popped remotely; there were several of them placed around the camp, hidden with the traps on the line. Each was set to pop if the traps were set off or tampered with, but they could also be set off remotely. Number seven was probably the closest, so I keyed that one up.

The flares were mixed with some alchemical odds and ends to make them very irritating to certain things that went bump in the night. This had the side effect of making them too short-lived to be more than an annoyance. But in this case, where something intelligent clearly knew we were here and could likely see us better than we could it, the flares had a real purpose.

This one popped and we all squinted at the lone growl, or rather the source of it.

I knew what this was. I'd seen one in action before; a hellhound. I'd seen one rip apart a fast food place, forever ago. This one was in its natural element, sniffing for us and pawing at the side of its face the flare had burned by going off.

It certainly knew who and were we all were though.One baleful eye zeroed in on me far more quickly than it had any right to.

I was almost insulted. THIS was what interrupt my reading with smug twig cracks? This thing thought it had what it took to give me fear? I mean, all demons were dangerous, sure, but after what I've already been through, this little puppy thought it could walk up to me, growl a little, and I'd crack? Please.

I slowed time's hold upon me, drawing lightly on my true power; the world slowed down. The hellhound was almost frozen in mid-bark, and my troops were even worse, barely beginning to react to the threat.

I had all the time in the world, it seemed, to stride up casually and stab the canine in the hindquarters. I wasn't going near those teeth, that was just stupid. The head was turning to follow me, but it was far too slow; the athame penetrated easily, the runes lighting up in response to the contact with unsanctified flesh, or whatever demons were really made of.

A simple trickle of power channeled into the blade, and the demon was no more. Thankfully it wasn't one of the explodey kinds of demon, instead choosing to vanish like a heat haze with a pitiful whine. Better for my clothes at least; I let go and time resumed its normal flow.

"What the fuck was that?" Golem all but yelled in a hoarse whisper.

I almost stopped, but remembered I made a hell of a target. "What did you mean, what was that? You've never seen a hellhound before?"

"Not the hellhound, you." Golem clarified. "You were in your hole, then you were out, and the hellhound was gone."

"An application of slowing time. Same ability I can use to save lives, I can use to stab demons."

There was muttering. Some of it even sounded complimentary.

"I thought I saw a blur, but...."

"I'm glad I didn't fire."

As if they would hit me if they all shot. I could totally do some asian movie crap with bullets now. "Enough already, go back to sleep and the watch."

Standard protocol was to move after a demon encounter. Basically to run like hell, even if you won; but I really didn't want to take down the traps, move all the crap, and move at all at night. We were still fine, here.

But just to be sure. "Grex, veni huc!"

He held a hand out as I started down the steps he'd made earlier, looking impeccable as usual. "You bellowed, my Mistress?"

"You're slacking. We had a visit from a bad dog."

Grex artfully raised an eyebrow. "Yet, you were in no danger."

Bullcrap. I'd come a long way, but not that long. Or something. "Whatever. You're now on watch, and I'm going to bed. Sorry guys, but you're just going to have to put up with him. Now Grex, no pranks, lethal or otherwise, no mind games, just watch and respond to threats. And that means threats to any of us, not just me."

Grex bowed low. "As you command, my Mistress. Sleep well."

I knew my loyal troops would not be happy, and still be watching, but I wanted them paranoid and alive rather than happy and dead. Or however that would work. I'd sleep better at least.