Breathing out softly a soft wind caused my long-flowing silver hair to flow out of my hood slightly. Catching my hood to hide my feminine features and my long elvish ears.
Looking at the enemy camp of vampires beneath me, I fingered the string of my bow. I shook my head,' They think just because I am young and a female, I should just be a toy. Yet I am the best mage and archer in the army in current times.'
Drawn from my thoughts two seemingly high-ranked vampires walked towards a tent. My eyes widened in shock; I recognized both of them. Members of two of the three noble families. Aramastus from the first-night family is arguably one of the strongest families. The other was from the Second night, Iona, a heiress of the night. Both of them are much older and stronger than myself. Last I heard, Aramastus was nearing five hundred years old, and Iona was close to two hundred fifty. I was only sixteen, yet I was regarded as a powerful enemy even to the Royal Family.
I began to draw my boy preparing to end one of them as I whispered," Burning sun, channel your power through my arrow. Allow it to wipe the darkness out of this world!"
The arrow nocked in my bow caught silver fire; a unique and strange thing of my magic allows me to grow stronger at night.
With me being a couple hundred yards away, I knew if they looked at me, I would be easy to see. Their sense of smell would be able to pick up the smell of smoke up almost immediately. Luckily, the wind was on my side and blowing away from me. Releasing my arrow at Iona's head as in an amazing show of grace and skill, she had sensed it and managed to catch it despite the flames. Shocked, I knew I was caught as she smiled lightly," Come on out, elf."
Knowing I had no chance to escape or getaway, at least not right now, I jumped down from the tree I was in as both Noble heirs walked towards me I couldn't help but feel nervous.
In a deep voice, Aramastus grumbled," Who are you, I can tell from your scent you are a young woman. Take off the hood."
Breathing out, I took it down as both looked slightly surprised. Iona smiled, and now that she was closer, I could see her fangs," Selena, the moon huntress, what a surprise. One of the most feared elven warriors of the war."
The gazes of both noble vampires pierced into me, making me very nervous. Placing my bow on my back, I prepared to grab my combat knives, two silver blades nearly two feet long.
Iona questioned," You can't be very old, I would guess between fifteen to twenty? How old are you?"
I answered, my hand on the hilt of one of the knives," Sixteen. Or rather, I just turned sixteen."
She stepped closer to me, her gaze cold as another guard spoke," Heiress Iona, please don't go near her; she can still kill you."
Iona waved her hand," No, she can't; she just tried to and failed. She is extremely smart; she already knew the moment she fired that arrow that I would easily figure out where she was and much faster than her due to my experience. Did I hit the nail right on the head, Selena?"
I nodded without a word as Aramastus spoke," Surrender, Selena. you are outmatched, and I do not wish to hurt you."
I responded," I wish I had a choice."
Aramastus and Iona sighed as the soldiers came towards me, weapons raised as I narrowed my eyes," You lower rank vampires are not my targets."
The target I was assigned by the queen, the Vampire General, stepped forward," Lady Iona, Sir Aramastus, please allow me to handle the elf here."
Iona replied," Sorry, General, something tells me you are her target."
The General responded," That is exactly why, if I am to die, I would rather it be by the hands of a skilled warrior, even one who should not be in this war."
Confused, Aramastus answered," Very well."
The General drew a sword from his waist and looked at me," Selena, would you duel me to the death on my part? I refuse to kill someone so young and gifted in both the art of magic and battle."
I nodded, accepting his duel, drawing both blades as the General lunged forward with startling speeds. Swinging his sword down towards my head, I flipped both knives into a reverse grip. I crossed them overhead, blocking the strike barely. The man immediately kicked me in the stomach, sending me into a tree. I winced before standing up and disappearing in a blur of silver. Swinging one of my blades at his hip as he parried the blow while swinging the other knife at his arm, delivering a minor cut. He managed to use his sword to block most of the strike as I jumped back, watching him with narrowed eyes as he spun his sword," You are indeed skilled in combat, Selena. For that, you have my respect. To be able to nick me is nothing short of a feat. Most of my soldiers do not even manage to leave a bruise on me."
Breathing out, I sheathed my blades and drew something I rarely used unless the fighter was skilled and highly experienced. A thin, lightweight sword was shown while I moved in for another pass against the General. Both of us were probably moving at speeds most cannot follow. The only visible aspects were sparks flying and blurs. Skidding to a stop, I leaned backward, dodging a horizontal strike, and slashed my sword across his waist before spinning around, dodging a spray of blood and piercing through his chest in a fluid motion. He immediately coughed up blood as I withdrew my blades, spinning them and sheathing them in the strap on my back.
The General turned towards me," At last, I can die with pride; I have been bested by Selena the moonlight hunter. Thank you for this final dance."
I looked at the man I had just killed and spoke for the first time since we began, a voice tinged with respect," You're welcome. I will remember how you fought and the courage you displayed."
He collapsed dead the next moment before turning to ashes as Iona clapped," I'm impressed to think a young elf such as yourself could kill someone of his caliber. However, you are not going to escape here today."
Massive amounts of power erupted from the female vampire as my eyes widened in fear. I contemplated releasing the seals on my own magic power, but I feared that my magic would attack me. I stepped back as Aramastus spoke," Last chance, Selena, surrender. You stand no chance against Iona or myself."
I knew they were right as I whispered," I don't wish to be punished, so again, I must decline. I truly wish I could."
Nervously reaching towards the silver bands around my wrists, I took one off as my own magical power became known. Dense silver energy flared from me as Iona clapped," I am truly impressed. One thing is different from your magic to other elves and even vampires. It is very dense and seemingly ancient."
Iona seemingly disappeared, so even my trained eyes couldn't follow her, but my instincts did; spinning around, I blocked a powerful sword strike that would have slashed my back. Nearly losing my balance, I was tripped by a foot and fell to the ground hard as she stated," Surrender child, I can see you are a kind soul and have no love for fighting or killing."
I whispered," Your right, but I must so I am not punished by Her Majesty."
Her eyes widened while her gaze softened slightly.
Aramastus questioned," Your power jumped when you took that bracelet off. What happens when the second is taken off?"
My eyes were wide with fear as I kicked upwards and backflipped away as I whispered," P-please don't try to remove them."
Their eyes widened as Iona insisted," Selena, take them off."
Knowing I stood no chance against them, I nervously took a step back and glanced back as Iona stepped forward while I sheath my sword and drew my hunting knives. Iona smiled sadly," So young and so scared. I will not allow you to go back to her.``
Holding both blades in a ready position, Iona smiled," Too slow, however."
I realized what she meant as I felt the lack of cold metal on my wrists. I was shocked as my magic immediately flared up and turned into silver flames, attacking me immediately as I cried out in pain, falling to the ground. Holding back screams of pain, I felt something metal close around my neck while I succumbed to the burns.