To Love a Daemon Queen

More empty traps. No matter how many he set, where he placed them, or when he set and collected the traps were always empty. Well, most of the time anyway. Occasionally their would be a hare or some other fauna tangled in the snares and fresh for collecting. Those were always small victories. Wins over a much more brutal and savage race of beings that prowled the lands. Monsters, called daemons by the locals, were fiends and beasts that terrorized the human population. Normally they did not stray outside their given territories. The more noble, yet patronizing angelic race kept them within their bounds. However, over the last couple of years, the deamons had been wondering outside their territories more often. Expanding their claim little by little and now it threatened to overtake the small, human community.  The hunter, returning empty handed this day, was walking along the well beaten road path towards his home. A small log cabin he had built with his father many years ago. Their two hands had laid each piece and then when his parents died the hunter had inherited the home. The hunter was a man named Cade. He was young, fit and honestly? Worn out. This was his third day returning empty handed, frustrated and a bit hungry. He had finished his trail rations a bit early in the day and was now suffering the consequences of his actions.  Cade was wrapped in his own thoughts of food, his warm hearth and a comfortable bed when he noticed something laying on the side of the road. A pile of what looked like rags laying in the dirt. Cade paused as he approached and saw a slender hand protruding from the rags and realized that a woman lay buried beneath the shabby coverings. Concern struck him as he realized that she might be injured. Moving the cloth off of her to get a better look, and check if she were still alive, Cade was struck by what he saw.  The most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on lay before him. The woman was pale as if her skin had been guarded from the sun all her life, and her long dark, raven colored hair had an almost feather-like shine to it. Her face was smooth, serene and flawless. Her body was covered in more shabby clothing and looked out of place upon her sculpted features. Cade noticed that her chest rose and fell with soft breaths, which told him she was indeed alive.  Without a second thought Cade leaned down and slipped his arms underneath her body and lifted then leaned her against his chest. He then continued his way down the road to his home. She would surely die out here in the elements, or be killed by something else, and he couldn't allow that. Stealing another glance down at her gentle features as he cradled her against his chest he couldn't help but smile. No, he'd keep her safe.