Hunter
I: Friction

Her high-heeled boots clicked against the stony pavement and under the red hood her eyes shone a light green. "Stay back, Leah," she commanded in a completely calm voice. However, beneath all the coolness, Leah knew there was hate. It was what fueled her, what fueled Shae. The huntress unfurled a crossbow from her back and loaded it with an explosive arrow. "These are mine."

Even in the thin moonlight, Leah could see that under the shadowy hood, Shae was smiling. Granted, it was a wild, derisive smile, filled with mad and deep loathing, but it was the only smile Leah had ever seen on Shae's lips.

Leah took a step back, making way for the huntress. The inn had been attacked by a group of fallen, two large overseers among them. Shae threw an arrow at them and it landed straight on the chest of one of the smaller demons. A few moments later, it exploded, sending demon parts flying across the air.

Shae had already moved on to another target, not even paying attention to the ones she'd attacked before. She drew a knife from her boot and threw it at an overseer while numbly dodging the rest.

Leah blinked. The way Shae moved in the midst of battle… it was intoxicating to watch. There was a beauty to it, a desperate, enthralling quality to the huntress's fighting that Leah could not quite put her finger on. She had seen many people slaying demons—it was a part of her exploits with her now late uncle,—but no one had done it the way Shae did. In front of her there was a massacre, dismembered demons and charred corpses everywhere, but Leah could not draw her eyes away from the Demon Hunter battling all alone.

"Shouldn't we be helping her?" asked a deep voice behind her. Tyrael.

Leah didn't look at the angel. The way Shae fought was like poetry and she desperately wanted to see the poem to an end. "She can handle them," she whispered and wondered why she sounded as though she was out of breath. "She likes killing demons all by herself."

Tyrael grunted and the young girl noticed a certain disapproval to it. "What is it?" she asked.

"She irradiates hatred," the angel said. "And one day, it will consume her."

Leah glanced at Tyrael for a moment, then turned her attention back to the fight. There was only one single fallen left. Demons weren't very smart, Leah reckoned. If they were, there was no way that little thing would have run straight towards Shae. It would have run far, far away, to a place where she could not find it.

Well, Shae would inevitably find it. She never let any demon who crossed paths with her live, but it could have lived for a couple more days. Instead, it met its end at the point of one of Shae's arrows—shot straight into its skull and exploding its head.

When Shae returned, there was no blood on her, not even a single drop. "That was fun," she said. Her hood had fallen slightly and there was more of her face showing than normal. Shae seemed to notice as much, because she yanked the hood off her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Is something troubling you, Leah? You're awfully quiet," she said, her voice deep and steady.

Leah's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, nothing. It's just… the way you move… You were good before, but you've somehow gotten better."

Shae gave her a one-shouldered shrug. "I've had a lot of training as of late." She holstered her crossbow behind her back and counted the knives she had left on her boot. "I absolutely loathe those things."

The huntress had spat out that last sentence and it reflected the hatred she felt towards demons. Leah felt Tyrael tense beside her and she looked up at his massive frame. The way he was looking at Shae… it didn't bode well. "Let's go back inside, shall we?" said Leah, hoping to dissolve the tension between the angel and the huntress.

Tyrael nodded, curtly. Shae didn't even grace them with an expression; she just walked right inside without uttering a word. Leah followed her with Tyrael close behind. "Problem's taken care of," she heard Shae say. "But you really should hire better guards."

The innkeeper, a stocky man with brown hair streaked with white, bowed and thanked Shae for her work, offering her and her companions the night and dinner for free.

"That is unnecessary," said the huntress. She narrowed her eyes then, and in her eyes was the same pure, undiluted hatred that was in her voice. "All demons have to be killed."

Leah had to admire Shae's relentlessness and the abandon with which she threw herself in her hunt. The huntress's determination was never-ending. She blushed slightly when Shae caught her gaze, embarrassed that she'd been caught looking at the other woman. "Come, Leah," said Shae, beckoning her to step forward. "We haven't eaten yet."

Leah followed the huntress to a table and sat beside her. Tyrael sat across from Shae, his eyes keen on her. The young girl felt a palpable tension forming between the other two. Shae was as taut as a bowstring and Tyrael's jaw was tightly shut. A servant girl brought them mead and Shae leaned back on her chair, glass in hand, eyes never leaving Tyrael's.

"You are filled with hatred, Hunter," Tyrael stated. Those were the first words he'd uttered to Shae ever since they'd put her uncle to rest. Leah thought she'd heard a note of contempt in his voice. It was so… unlike an angel.

"Hate is what drives me to kill demons and eradicate evil," Shae retorted, her voice smooth, like velvet. A corner of her full mouth lifted in defiance. "Is that not your goal? To eradicate evil?"

"Not if it means becoming evil itself," the angel spat.

"I am not becoming such," said the huntress.

"How can you be so sure?"

She leaned forward across the table, gloved hands stopping a mere inch from Tyrael's body. Her face was close to his, so close that Leah was sure they could feel each other's breath on their skin. They stood motionless, as they often did, for a while. Then, somehow, a dagger popped up between Shae and the angel, and she held it at her chest, pointy end digging into her chest armor. "The day I succumb to evil," she hissed, "is the day I drive this knife through my heart."

Leah believed her. Shae's hatred was so deep, so true, that she would indeed kill herself before she let any demonic force consume her. Tyrael, however, did not ease. He just kept staring at Shae, her face still close to his. Then, expressionless, Shae sat back on her chair and drank from her mug.

The friction between huntress and angel was still there, however. Leah sighed. This was going to be a very long journey to Caldeum.