Chapter 1 Chapter one
The night was cold, the moon full as Briar stalked through the woods, bow drawn taut. It unnaturally was quiet. Not even the insects made their usual incessant noise. It was as if they knew something else walked through the woods with her. She had been on the hunt for three days in search of the vampire that had terrorized the village of Creekwood for months. She wouldn't normally come this remote but the pay was good , business had been slow and she needed the money.
According to the chief, every other hunter had been killed by the vampire. So much so that no other person would agree to help them. Not her though. Briar wasn't any other hunter. She liked those odds. A twig snapped to her left. She turned sharply. Vampires were masters of stealth. They could remain silent as death if they wanted. A sound like that meant one thing:
It was here and it wanted her to know.
“ Why don't you come out nicely and I'll make your death less painful for you.” She said loudly, the wind carrying her voice.
Another snap of a twig to her right. Briar's heart began to beat faster from the anticipation. She channelled everything she had into that one arrow because from her experience with Vampires, you almost always had one shot.
A blur of shadow ahead and she moved in that direction. She was grateful for the moonlight because this Vampire already had the advantage of seeing in the dark. This forest was filled with numerous traps she had set but the it had managed to evade every single one of them to her frustration.
She moved silently not wanting to make a sound. Briar had learned the art over the years. If you wanted to succeed as a hunter, you must become the predator you want to catch. Think like them. Act like them. Being human was already a disadvantage.
Another blur at superhuman speed but she could see a streak of red. Strange. The first one was entirely black.
Two?
She waited, her attention a sharp pointed thing. Then, the two blurs went in opposite directions. Her assumptions were right. The Chief didn't say she was dealing with two vampires. Not that it mattered. She would take them down and charge him double. She heard chuckling. They were taunting her. She growled. On impulse she wanted to bring out her wolfsbane bomb but she restrained herself. She needed something that would bring them to her not repel them.
Briar unsheathed her blade.It gleamed in the moonlight. In one smooth quick motion, she slashed her left forearm through her protective clothing. Blood ran in rivulets down her arm. She knew Vampires couldn't resist the smell of blood. Since they were two she strapped her bow and arrow to her back not wanting it to slow her down.
She felt an otherworldly chill in the air. Even after five years of hunting vampires it never seemed to unnerve her. The cold death-like feeling that you felt when one of the undead was nearby. The stakes at her hips and the knife in her hand reassured her as she stalked through the forest. She was hunter and they were prey.
Briar felt it before she saw it. One of the Vampire's bore down on her and bit on her bloody arm. Pain tore through her but she didn't let that slow her. The vampire hissed in pain as she slashed it quickly with her blade. By the time she turned fully it was gone. But she had already established something–it was male. Her hand was bleeding profusely now where the Vampire bit her as its venom wouldn't allow the blood to clot. A small price to pay for the little victory she had just had.
Briar drank wolfsbane every morning and night so her blood was laced with it. That vampire was probably hacking his guts right now. There was a circular clearing ahead illuminated by the moonlight. Perfect. She ran towards the centre of it,waiting.
Then she saw it.
The vampire entered the clearing walking slowly, emerging from the darkness. It seemed to part ways for him. He was tall. Taller than any man she had ever seen; six foot five if she could fathom a guess. Long dark shoulder length hair framed a face that was too beautiful to be human. It never got old–the allure of their beauty. Even now she was struck by it but she forced herself to focus. His red eyes were a stark contrast to the pale skin of his face. Clad in all black, he had a lean muscled build.His lips pulled back into a smile his fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
“Your days of terrorizing this village are over.” She said.
He chuckled, a low condescending thing that made her feel uneasy. He kept walking towards her and Briar had the urge to run but she held her ground.
“Stay back.” She said but he just kept sauntering towards her. She started to feel a surge of panic. She threw her silver laced knife at him. It lodged in his thigh causing him to stumble and fall to his knees. She then threw her wolfsbane bomb and it exploded, the mist filling the air causing him to choke and retch.
She unsheathed one of the stakes strapped to her hips walking towards him cautiously, her senses alert. She still had to be wary of the second vampire as this could be a trap. She kicked the vampire to the ground and drove the stake through his stomach. He grunted in pain as she drove it deeper.
There was a rustle of leaves in the woods then a blur of shadow flying up into the sky. Briar wasted no time. She extracted her bow from her back, took an arrow, aimed and let it fly. The vampire flailed in the air but managed to fly away. She stomped her foot in annoyance.
Briar turned back to see the other vampire at her feet already unconscious. The wolfsbane would keep him out for a few hours. She wouldn't kill him just yet. She searched him carefully for any weapons though she doubted there would be any. He was already a weapon on his own. Reaching into his pocket she felt something and pulled it out. It was a small piece of paper. Opening it, it read in scrawled rushed handwriting:
Find the hunter.
