For an eternity, I've been meaning to write the story about a world in which Demons are hunted and contained. Ideas for this story crop up at random moments. During work. While eating dinner. Laying down for a quiet evening. Driving down the highway. Rarely at a time I have the tools at hand to put words on the page. Now I think it's time to try to advance the tale a little further.
It's been a decade since the first hole to Hell opened in the farmer's field. Other portals have appeared in other locations. All of them on the ground, but not all of them in areas as open as the first. School children celebrated as their school fell into a chasm, then ran in fear as beasts began to emerge. City traffic, an entire freeway, had to be diverted when a support for an overpass fell below the surface of the Earth.
In all, 182 gaping portals opened between the Earth and whatever world the Demons came from. 13 gigantic chasms in various locations around the world with 13 smaller holes around each one. From constant monitoring it was revealed that size did matter. Smaller demonic imps and figures crawled from the smaller holes, while titanic, horrific, monstrous beasts erupted from the larger holes.
Over the decade that passed, many technologies were lost. The Demons tore down cell towers in their rampages. Power plants were irreparably damaged. Corporate headquarters fell to the ground as the office buildings that housed them were toppled by demonic claws and extreme strength. Humanity was pushed back nearly to the Iron Age of civilization.
However, at the same time a new "technology" was developed. It was discovered by accident that the Demons were susceptible to certain minerals placed in a specific lattice structure. Crystals. The Demons could be fought and trapped in crystals. In this aspect, size didn't matter. A demon of any size could be captured in a crystal small enough to fit in the palm of a person's hand. All that was required was someone brave and strong enough to get close enough to a Demon to touch them with the crystal. This was easily accomplished where the smaller imps were concerned. Trapping one of the larger Demons was much more difficult. This is how the Hunters came to be.
What do you think a side effect of approaching the Demons could be? Should the Hunters have extra abilities or just be gutsier than an average person? Comment and let me know.
