Canmore was born in 1031. In 1032, Prince Duncan brought him to the wedding of Gillecomgain and Gruoch at Castle Moray, proudly presenting his firstborn son. During the celebration, the Weird Sisters posed as servants and frequently attended to the young prince, though Seline took a particular and more direct interest in him. After the death of Gillecomgain and the subsequent marriage of Macbeth and Gruoch, Duncan vowed that there would always be a Hunter and always the hunted. As he spoke these words, Seline cradled the child.

In 1040, Duncan and Canmore visited Castle Moray, where Canmore and Luach played together along the cliffs. Macbeth encouraged their companionship, while Duncan regarded it with suspicion. As they prepared to depart, they encountered the Weird Sisters in the guise of three aged crones, who prophesied that each of the four present would, in turn, become King of Scotland. Macbeth dismissed the prophecy, urging Duncan not to take it seriously, yet Canmore watched Luach with the same suspicion Duncan directed toward Macbeth.

After Macbeth slew Duncan and seized the throne, Canmore was banished to England and taken in by his relatives there. In his grief and anger, the young prince lashed out at Angel with a knife, blaming her for his father’s death. She disarmed him with ease and warned him not to squander his life, reminding him that Macbeth had spared it. Nevertheless, Canmore stole the Hunter’s mask from Demona’s belt and vowed revenge against both Macbeth and Demona for killing his father and denying him his inheritance. During his exile in England, he became a protégé of Edward the Confessor.

In 1057, Canmore returned to Scotland with English support, wearing the mask of the Hunter as he pursued his vengeance. Demona, acting for reasons of her own, betrayed Macbeth and allied herself with Canmore. Macbeth was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Lunfanan, aided by Demona and her clan abandoning Castle Moray during the assault. Canmore then turned on Demona as well. After ordering the slaughter of the gargoyles of her clan, he intercepted Macbeth and Gruoch as they fled Castle Moray and stabbed Macbeth in the back while he berated Demona for her betrayal, temporarily killing them both. When Canmore learned that Luach was approaching with reinforcements, he withdrew. The following year, he overthrew Luach and finally claimed the throne as King of Scotland, reigning as Malcolm III.

In the years that followed, Malcolm III married the widowed Ingibjorg, becoming stepfather to her sons Paul and Erlend Thorfinnson and fathering three sons of his own with her: Donnchad, Domnall, and Malcolm. After Ingibjorg’s death, he married Margaret and fathered eight more children: Edward, Edmund, Edelred, Edgar, Alexandair, Edith, Mary, and Dauid. He also welcomed his younger brother Donalbain, previously exiled to Ireland, back into his court.

As Malcolm raised his children, he told them tales of the usurper who murdered Duncan through black magic after bargaining with the forces of darkness, and of the demon summoned from Hell who commanded her gargoyle servants. He boasted of having destroyed the usurper and sent the demon back to Hell, yet warned his children that her gargoyle minions still lurked in the shadows and that her return was inevitable. He later bypassed his sons by Ingibjorg and named Edward as his heir.

In 1093, Malcolm led his sons into England to aid the reigning monarch, William Rufus. They journeyed into Northumbria to Bamburgh Castle, where Malcolm intended to reprimand Robert de Mowbray for failing to show proper loyalty to the English crown. Malcolm claimed he would teach Robert a lesson while inflicting no real harm, limiting his actions to attacks on local peasants. He was unsettled to glimpse gargoyles in the distance, but Robert assured him they kept to themselves and posed no threat, even as he secretly plotted his own scheme.

On November 13, Malcolm razed the Northumbrian village of Alnwick, slaughtering all its inhabitants before turning his attention to the sleeping Northumbria Clan. Donning the mask of the Hunter, he destroyed the slumbering gargoyles and entered their rookery to shatter their eggs. Donalbain briefly tried to stop him, but failed. As the sun set, Robert de Mowbray seized upon Malcolm’s atrocities as justification to ambush him and his sons during the Battle of Alnwick, part of a larger plan to destabilize Scotland. Edward intercepted an arrow meant for his father and died, allowing Malcolm to escape.

Soon afterward, Malcolm encountered a vengeful Demona. Taunting her with the Hunter’s mask, he sought to prolong the confrontation, but Demona had no such interest. She swiftly ran him through with her sword, killing Malcolm III at last.