Don woke up midway through the morning.
It was his day off, and he was planning to make the most of it.
First was the late breakfast. He only got out of bed because Bobby was whimpering and scratching his bedroom door like a puppy. The 200-year-old beast liked to pretend to be a pup, even though Don knew it quite frequently went on its own adventures through the shadow realm, and frequently hunted on its own.
"Fine! Fine, I'm coming." The hellhound could travel through shadows, and the simple barriers and reinforcements on the door wouldn't be able to keep it out. Yet it liked to act as if that were the case.
He took a slow shower, enjoying the warm water wash over him and absorbing the soft heat into his muscles, before using essences water. It was 20 minutes before he stepped out and threw on a blue bathrobe and a pair of crocs.
He made for the kitchen and roasted some ribs for the hellhound and made himself a sandwich and coffee, before going to his library.
"Henriette, why's there dust on my reading desk?" he asked, feet up in the recliner. An air pixie appeared, dressed in its pyjamas. "Today is my day off," it responded in a sleepy tone.
"Like heck it is," responded the hunter, grabbing hold of the lazy house servant and giving it a good shake before throwing it at the desk, "You don't get to call every day, your day off."
He took out a book, "Theories of War: Control Principles, Volume III, 845th edition" by Hephe Nyasinta, edited and revised by Raphael Nyasinta.
Lord Hephe Nyasinta was one of The Transmigrators, and one of the founders of both the royal mage academy and the City in the Sky; and Patriarch to the Osprey famiglia. He put a vinyl record on the replica player and as the soft orchestral music filled the apartment he sunk into the couch.
He quickly lost himself. The book documented examples of historical battles recorded and analysed by the great battle mage over his extensive life, and from existing records from the history of the continent and the Empire. The accomplished battlemage had lived for several hundred thousand years, during which time he revised his books hundreds of times.
His grandson had taken his hobby and continued the family tradition of milking the cash cow, revising and breaking down the large books into smaller volumes, which had proven popular reading and became standard military academy literature. Though they went in and out of vogue every several decades. However, like all military and strategy books, they gained popularity in times preceding demon wars.
Don knew the demon wars were coming. He could feel the increasing strength of the blood moon at the edge of the horizon, like all magical and accursed beings, and he wanted to prepare himself. It would be his first demon war, and the older hunters and knights had advised him to do his best to prepare himself as best he could.
The coming demon war was predicted to be bigger and badder and longer than its predecessors. The wax in a recurring loop of waxing and waning. The coming war could be expected to be measured in decades, rather than mere years.
It was said that in the early days, demon wars lasted centuries, and whole generations lived and died under the accursed light of the blood moon.
He lost himself in the book, and time passed by silently.