Cold was the night, colder than it had been for weeks. Regular people and other creatures had sought shelter so the coldness wouldn't steal their lives, or cause other harm. But even though the freezing temperatures were tormenting the beings of that area, the night was quite beautiful. The great moon, a source of inspirations to many artists and storytellers, had taken sun's place in the sky. Tonight, it was full and blessed everyone in the world below with its bright pale light. In fact, it felt like the grand Luna was even brighter than usual, making it easy for the earth dwellers to see almost as well as during daytime. Such an exceptional night it was. And under the divine moon's guidance, a special occurrence was getting performed.

Lunije wasn't an ordinary human being. Coldness had no effect on him and thus, he could wander in the outside world without the fear of freezing. His steps were light, so light that he was practically gliding over the snow. It was a handy thing indeed, and gave him a great advantage in nights like this one. For this night was the night of a devil hunt.

Even though he wasn't like others, he too had human weaknesses. Falling in love being one of them. Love, that strong emotion that fills your heart and soul with such affection that it blurs your mind and ability to think straight. It makes you feel warm and you wish to be in the presence of the one you love more than anything. Being separated feels painful and you just want to embrace them again. Yes, Lunije had been having these kinds of feelings as well. It was because of her… Rilnina. The beautiful maiden, like an angel. When Lunije's eyes had met Rilnina's for the first time, he was already trapped. Embracing her was the worst mistake of his life.

Of course, he didn't suspect anything at first. You don't think when your heart beats for someone else. There was a flood of bliss in his life, love made him blind. They had been a happy couple, enjoying each other's company, spending time together. For many months, they lived a happy life, Lunije feeling happier than ever before. He hadn't been forlorn or anything, but meeting Rilnina had opened a new kind of world to him. He hadn't experienced anything like that earlier in his life. He had learned what true love felt like.

Or so he thought.

Then everything came crashing down. Lunije's perfect little world shattered into thousands of pieces. The woman he had loved more than anything betrayed him. She transformed from a beauty into monster, revealing her true self. Everything between them had been a lie, a bittersweet lie. Rilnina had just used him for her own gain. She had a delicacy for broken hearts – and so Lunije lost his one. Forever. Rilnina had left him to dwell in a deepest kind of distress possible, alone and broken.

Perhaps it was her objective to break him down completely, but he was stronger than what she could imagine. He would rise again.

Time heals wounds, they say. But Lunije's wound was way too deep. However, that didn't stop him from regaining his strength back. He didn't let himself wallow in misery. His life would continue, even without a heart.

And then he slipped into the path of revenge.

Perhaps he wouldn't have done it if it was just because of his personal pain. But he learned that he wasn't the only victim of Rilnina. There were countless of others, all deceived by this devil lady – and all their hearts had been taken. These people were ordinary humans and none of them had been strong enough to endure the state of anguish which Rilnina had left behind. After learning this, Lunije was enraged. And thus, he decided to take it as his mission to let the devil face the consequences for toying with hearts and lives of innocent human beings.

Somehow Rilnina had got aware of his intentions. So, she had attempted to escape on that night of the full moon, hoping to get away. Lunije sensed that she had already ran to the wilderness before he had managed to step away from the village. It didn't matter, though. Let her have some distance, to increase her despair. He vowed that she wouldn't get away. And thus, he began the hunt.

Lunije wasn't alone, however. He had taken a visit to the village and collected the spirits of those who had fallen victim to Rilnina's vile schemes. For together, they were stronger. The spirits were crowded in his shadow, like a dark cape, retaining this form until Lunije walked to the outskirts of the village. Then he stopped his going. The spirits rose from the ground, getting higher, now being just a mass of darkness. For a moment they were searching for a new form to take, until they finally found what they were looking for. A bang was heard and then, few black wolves, risen from the shadow, spread out next to Lunije. The man reached out his hand as a gesture for the wolves to go and hunt down their target. The creatures dashed away right at that moment, growling and yearning to bring justice. In their trail, Lunije followed, gliding above the snow.

The wolves knew exactly where Rilnina was going. They wouldn't let her escape. Lunije could feel their thrill, causing it to course through his veins as well. It was just a matter of time before they would catch a glimpse of their target.

Eventually, their prey was in sight. Oh, that beautiful, angelic, so delicate figure that had caused so many heart-breaks… Even now seeing her stirred emotions deep within Lunije – though mostly hatred, for he didn't have a heart anymore. Rilnina's movements had used to be graceful, but now, as she was attempting to escape her fate, she was just an animal trying to run away from a predator. Seeing this, it made Lunije feel some sort of sadistic satisfaction.

“Run, little angel, run.”

And she ran. But, from the distance, Lunije could tell that she was desperately trying to get away by summoning her wings to aid her and carry her away. Clumsily she attempted to take off, but her pretty angel wings couldn't support her body for whatever reason. Lunije had no explanation for this, but he felt like that it was the amount of sorrow she had brought that weighed her down now. He was pleased to see the struggle of the maiden and couldn't help but smile a little. Eventually he saw that the wings disappeared, but they were useless anyway. Now she had no other option but to run through the snow with wolves on her trail.

Rilnina wasn't the kind to give up easily. That trait had been seen before as she had lured the hearts of young men so effectively, stalking them, taking her sweet time before striking. And now, even though it was most likely futile to try to escape from the shadow wolves and her judgement, she still kept going on, although exhaustion started to show in the end, naturally – she wasn't a machine, just a being with flesh and blood. So even she had to admit her defeat finally. Her speed started to slow down, her movements became sluggish as her body ached. She was panting heavily, gasping for breath so intensively. Tears of desperation were rolling down her rosy cheeks. Eventually she fell on her knees, sinking a bit into the layer of snow.

This was the endpoint. It was time for her to receive her punishment.

Rilnina hid her face behind her hands as she cried uncontrollably. The shadow wolves surrounded her, forming a circle around her, judging her with their white eyes, for this was the moment they had been waiting for. Lunije followed a bit later, gliding gracefully and finding his place in the ring. For a short moment he just watched at the miserable sight of the crying angel he had once loved. And he felt no pity at all. Now it was her turn to be weak and alone. Everyone, the man and the wolves, knew that she deserved to suffer for all the bad deeds she had done.

While watching Rilnina's weeping, a tiny bit of disgust and hatred sparked in Lunije's soul. He took a few steps closer to the maiden. When he was standing right in front of her, she looked up at him. She looked so innocent, as if she had never done anything wrong in her life. But the truth was that she was vile. Seeing her cry like this disgusted him even more.

Without a warning, Lunije thrusted his hand in Rilnina's chest with a great force. So great was the strength of this move that it penetrated her rib cage and his hand sunk into her upper body. Lunije grabbed her heart, crushing it with his fist and tore it out of her chest. He raised his hand a little, observing the bloody organ that now rested on his palm. It was still beating. Its color was red, as expected, but it then started to gradually turn darker. In a short moment it had darkened so much it was now black. Lunije sneered a little as this happened. How fitting for her to have a black heart. And then, the organ turned to dust, its remains snatched away by a gentle wind.

Lunije shifted his gaze at Rilnina.

“How does it feel to be heartless?” he muttered with a low voice, his eyes reflecting hate.

Rilnina didn't answer anything. Her hand got drawn to her bleeding chest, her eyes fixated on the white ground. Tears of utter defeat stained her cheeks. She had lost the fight. She could run or hide no more. Even she knew that it was time for her punishment. She could only brace herself for what was coming.

The wolves howled ominously in unison, indicating that the time was ripe. One by one they prepared themselves, each one of them being ready to strike. Then, one after another, they leaped against Rilnina, their fangs gleaming in white, biting her very soul before disappearing. Each one of them left a permanent scar on her soul – now she wouldn't be able to forget any of them and how much she had hurt them. In a short moment, the shadow beasts were gone, but their fangs had left marks that would never heal, and she was condemned to carry this burden forever.

Lunije sneered as he looked at the weeping wretch in front of him.

“Now you can't hurt anyone anymore”, he spoke rather sternly. “Go. Get away from this place.”

Slowly Rilnina got to her groggy feet, her hair hiding her face like a mask. Without speaking a word, she turned her back to Lunije, and started to take feeble steps forward. Where would she go, she didn't know. For a little while she felt Lunije's eyes on her back, and she paused for a moment. Should she take one last glance at him? However, she chose not to and just kept going.

Eventually Lunije turned his back to the woman. He began to glide above the snow gracefully, returning back to the village where all of this had started from. Bit by bit, Lunije and Rilnina gained more and more distance between each other, perhaps not crossing their paths ever again.