"I trusted you! I let my guard down thinking you were different than the other humans! How could you be such a heartless monster?" She screamed at him in pure anguish as tears poured down her face, the woman tugging heavily against the chains restraining her to the solid pole in the center of a large viewing area. Onlookers merely jeered at her outcry and hurled insults to the captive from their seats.
The man before her stared down impassively at the captive vampire before him. Those normally soft blue eyes were now glowing blindingly bright, nearly white from the violent surge of emotions flickering through them. He had never meant for things to reach this extent yet as the truth had been recently revealed to him, the hunter felt very little remorse for the punishment she was about to receive. "The only monster here is the one sitting pathetically before me in chains. If you hadn't committed your greatest sin all of those years ago then maybe things would've turned out differently. But it seems in the end a vampire is still a cruel, uncaring, killing machine despite the sweet words spewing from your lips."
"I wish I had never run into you and maybe then I wouldn't have been strung along like a hapless idiot. Your damned puppet master was controlling you all along, wasn't he? Teaching you how to track, fight, where to travel, how to kill innocent vampires who wanted nothing more than to disappear into the shadows away from humankind. I wanted to live in peace after having my entire family taken from me in the blink of an eye yet I ran into you. You who has done nothing but lead me along in thinking you cared, that you actually—"
A shing of a blade filled the air and the audience fell silent in anticipation. The tip of the blade rested mere centimeters from the vampires throat and she glared up at him with the fury of a thousand suns, the tears no longer flowing as she received his true answer. His uncaring expression turned cold and dark as he tried to maintain control of his emotions. "Vampires and humans can never be together, we were made respectively to fight to the death in order to cleanse the world of your kinds darkness."
The vampire couldn't help it as a chuckle brushed past her lips, the very tips of her fangs slipping out. The hunter tensed and tightened his grip on the hilt. "Made respectively? Vampires have been around thousands of years yet you say we are the ones spreading darkness across the lands? It wasn't us who spread the rumors that vampires were out for human blood or that we kidnapped children in the middle of the night to turn them into servants. It was your kind, your kind alone has labeled us as monsters who want nothing more than to eradicate those weaker than us. I've told you this before so I'll say it again for the sake of the audience; Ask me when the last time I drank human blood was."
The hunter fell silent as his jaw clenched. He couldn't deny she was right, the vampire having never tasted the forbidden wine of humans, yet as he stood there with all eyes on him the pressure of remaining composed nearly suffocated him. "I don't care—"
"Ask!" She snapped violently, yanking her wrists hard against the chains. The smell of burning flesh began filling the air as the silver eroded away her skin.
"For entertainment purposes I will. When was the last time you had human blood, vampire?"
"Never and I never intend to do such a heinous thing to living creatures so close to myself." The vampire shouted so all could hear in the room. "My father taught me to never take the blood of creatures who were close to ourselves, I only drank blood from animals who were promptly healed after I was finished. Do you still think we are all inhumane monsters? Humans are the ones who have created those rogues by upsetting the natural balance vampires worked so hard to maintain. The real reason why vampires are attacking humans? Because you all hunted down the purebloods who kept the lower ranking ones in order! You are to blame for this state of the world!"
"Enough of this, Dragon's Wrath, finish what we've all eagerly waited for." A voice boomed over the auditorium and they both looked up towards a balcony overhanging from the wall. A man was mostly concealed in the darkness but the vampire could easily see his features, especially the knowing smile twitching his lips upwards.
"Of course." He replied monotonously, lifting the blade away from the vampires throat. The brightness of her eyes began to dim and with one last pained look at him, promptly hung her head down in defeat, silver locks framing and concealing her face.
"I have no regrets in this world, hunter, so do what you must." She said tiredly to the floor. "All I ask is you return my body to my home so I may reunite with my family in the afterlife."
"…I'll consider your request." The hunter spoke lowly as he steadied his stance, the blade trembling the slightest bit. He tightened his grip and raised the blade above his head, staring down at the defeated woman.
With a deep breath in, he swung the blade down and connected with flesh.
Crimson flowed freely down her porcelain skin as she sprinted through the darkened woods, angry cries and the ambient glow of torches not far behind. Branches snagged and tore at exposed skin though they were nothing compared to the arrow that whirled through the air and struck the woman in the shoulder, an agonized scream ripping from her throat. Her footsteps faltered and she stumbled into the dirt with a thud. They would kill her, no doubt about it, for a crime she didn't even commit thanks to her insatiable curiosity. The world was spinning wildly yet she needed to move, needed to get as far from them as possible so with a heavy breath in she swayed to her feet and continued staggering along, a hand holding her bleeding shoulder. Blood trickled down into her eye and she hastily swiped at it. If the villagers didn't kill her then the blood loss, ironically, would.
Vampires very rarely messed with human settlements over the past few hundred years seeing as many had fallen to their weapons, so an attack like this was uncommon though not unheard of. She was merely studying them, their way of life, high up in a tree at dusk when a small, weak child collapsed not too far from her spot. It was a risky move but she couldn't leave without making sure the poor thing was okay. As soon as she laid a hand on his back to heal him another villager came around and screamed that a vampire was about to drain the blood from a child. Despite her protests that she was there to see if the child was okay, the entirety of the settlement was soon chasing after her with silver crosses, crossbows, garlic and holy water.
Elizabeth jerked to a stop as the ground beneath her suddenly dropped off into the basin of a waterfall. It was too late to find another exit and the woman swallowed hard when the villagers finally began catching up to her, raising their weapons at her. Instinctively her fangs slipped over her lips in warning and they all jumbled to a stop, eyes going wide. She quickly clamped her mouth shut, glancing from person to person in distress. They were all terrified, some clinging to one another while others gripped their weapons tighter. She wasn't a threat to them by any means but humans tended to be afraid of anything they deemed unnatural.
"B-beast! Kill the blood sucker!" One man shouted as he began throwing holy water towards her. It hit her skin and she looked down at the spot in confusion before looking up at him. Apparently it wasn't pure blessed water and he seemed to realize that as he threw the rest of the water on her in an attempt to make it work, only accomplishing in giving her a light shower.
"Please, I was merely trying to help the child! I do not drink human blood!" Elizabeth pleaded as she slowly shifted back with her palms up, feeling as her heel slipped over the edge. It was a long ways down if she fell, something that edged apprehension into her chest as she glanced down.
"Why would we listen to a monster like you? You are all the same; murderers!" A stout woman screamed as she picked up a rock and hurtled it at Elizabeth, smirking triumphantly when it struck her in the shoulder.
"I do not kill humans!" Elizabeth snarled as the fear trembled throughout her body. Her blood was pumping with adrenaline and she could feel her powers flaring up as her emotions began losing control. "If you would just listen—"
"Kill her before she takes another life!" Some of the men shouted before rushing forward.
Elizabeth quickly glanced behind her once more before turning back to the villagers and stepping backwards. A torch grazed her arm as she fell into the dark abyss of the basin, the light growing dimmer and dimmer until she hit the water with a thunderous splash. The fast flow of the river began tossing her around beneath the surface and the vampire couldn't get a sense of which way was up so she kicked forcefully in hopes of breaking the surface. Luck was on her side as cold air hit her and she sucked in a ragged breath. Even with enhanced vision it was difficult to make anything out so she looked for the closest shore to swim to. With some heavily modified swimming she managed to reach a slower section of the river and latched onto a rock for support. Exhaustion was dragging at her mind, telling her to take a nice, warm, nap to forget about the blood loss and excruciating pain. As much as she wanted to listen to the voice in her mind, she couldn't.
Death wouldn't come so easily to her, not with the powerful Liones' blood flowing through her veins, but nerves still existed in her body and pain was a very real thing for the near immortal. For centuries they were known as the greatest healers of all vampire-kind and even some humans had trekked dangerous terrains in search of their powers. But a few decades ago tragedy struck when a group of expert vampire hunters broke down the castle door in the dead of night and launched an attack on her family. Her father helped her escape before returning to defend his people, ultimately falling along with Castle Liones.
Elizabeth Liones had been alone ever since, avoiding both vampires and humans alike for years after the attack as she struggled with the traumatic experience. On occasion there were skirmishes with both parties though she came out on top mainly due to her pure lineage. Fighting wasn't her forte but she had been trained early on how to at least defend herself and use her powers to their full potential. Currently though…
With a grunt she found her footing on the silt floor of the river and began walking up the shallows to the rocky shore in heavy soaked clothing. A fire would need to be started soon to dry her clothes and help cover her tracks in case the villagers would come after her. Shelter would be another item to check from the list and food, though the latter was quickly becoming the more important objective as she needed to replace the blood she had lost. Add to the fact that she hadn't consumed any blood in the past few days made her more feral than normal. Small animals usually sufficed for in between meals yet with her level of hunger it would need to be something the size of a boar or larger. A grimace graced her lips at the thought while she removed her sopping wet corset and top, carefully working around the arrow protruding from her shoulder before tossing them on the ground while she worked on her layers of skirts. Feasting on animals wasn't something she enjoyed doing yet it was a necessity since her food source collapsed with her home.
There were some stray logs lying around so she began picking them up and tossing the wood into a pile a bit from the shoreline. The arrow in her shoulder needed to be removed but with how wedged it was in there was she couldn't reach it well enough to yank it straight out, meaning someone would need to help her out. Obviously, the village wouldn't help her and any nearby rogue vampires would just try to finish to job in order to drink her blood in hopes of heightening their own strength and power.
"I am never going to help a human again, ungrateful creatures." Elizabeth grumbled to herself as she crouched down by the logs and began striking two rocks together. "Probably best if I leave the area after eating in case they come searching for me."
Satisfied with the slowly roaring fire, Elizabeth rung her clothes out the best she could before setting them by the fire and standing. She still had on some flexible leather pants along with a sleeveless leather corset-style top; they were her sparring apparel, one of the few things she had managed to snag before fleeing from her home, and she always wore them beneath her multiple layers of clothing for hunting. With a deep breath in through her nose, the vampire began searching for sources of food in the nearby vicinity. It didn't seem like there was much close to her but further down the river smelt like a herd of deer were resting for the evening. Blue eyes lidded as her mouth watered. She was hungrier than she thought. Walking along the rocky shore Elizabeth kept her eyes and ears peeled for any rogue's maybe straggling around. Rogue's were known for being the vampires who attacked villages in the dead of night in search of human blood, their minds corrupted from drinking tainted, sick, and diseased bodies. They attacked anyone and anything, other vampires included, and whenever she came across one Elizabeth quickly ended their life to prevent prolonging their suffering.
With no scent of any close, Elizabeth began picking up her pace into a run. Surprising the animals with speed was the quickest and least painful way of taking them down before she sank her teeth into their necks. Normally the animal would rest for a few minutes before returning to normal thanks to her leaving trace amounts of her saliva over the wound. With little effort she leapt from the shore and began hopping from boulder to boulder, quickly making her way towards the unsuspecting herd. Cerulean eyes began dimly glowing in anticipation of blood, fangs elongating past her lips as she envisioned biting down into flesh and reaching that sweet nectar of life. The moonlight above revealed the plain, the glistening river flowing into a small lake surrounded by dense woods. Sharp eyes caught the small herd of deer resting beneath the cover of foliage and she slowed her pace down to avoid alerting them.
They seemed peaceful as they slept, the buck watching over his does and young contently. He seemed the best target to tackle considering he was the current threat with his large antlers that could do a good amount of damage to her. Not like she wasn't already suffering enough from the arrow and other injuries from the villagers, she just didn't want to become a shish kebab. Elizabeth stopped a little ways away from the buck, eyeing him hungrily while stalking him silently. His ears were swiveling about though he seemed to be oblivious to the predator stalking him through the trees. Once she got close enough to take him down, she waited until his head was turned away from her direction before taking a step forward, muscles coiling as she prepared to launch.
The bucks ears suddenly swiveled upward and he looked sharply to his right, the other direction from where she was residing. Not wanting to miss the chance for an easy meal Elizabeth launched from the tree line with her fangs at the ready as adrenaline propelled her through the air. By the time the buck had picked up her presence she was already sinking her teeth into his neck. Sweet nectar poured into her mouth and she moaned as she began draining the creature who struggled wildly, alerting the others of the nearby danger and the does jerked awake, panicking as they scrambled away with their young, crying out into the once silent night. The buck staggered to his feet with Elizabeth still attached and started bucking wildly to get her off. She latched her arms around his neck and stood her ground while her strength began flowing back to her with every gulp of blood she took.
A noise caught her attention and she jerked her gaze up in time to see an arrow whiz past her face, the feathered end tickling her cheek as it passed. With a low growl she took one last large gulp before releasing the deer and standing tall, wiping the dripping blood with the back of her hand. The buck took off after a few staggered steps and called out to his herd while running into the woods. Elizabeth kept her eyes in the direction the arrow had come from, slowly licking the crimson liquid from her hand. Vampires didn't use regular arrows like that so it had to have been a human who fired it but they didn't generally hunt in the dark due to their limited ability to see in the dark.
"Show yourself, human." Elizabeth called out calmly, the blood having quenched enough of her feral side to control her emotions.
She detected no movement from the person hiding behind the trees and a sigh escaped her reddened lips. All she wanted was a decent meal and some rest yet for some reason the heavens above didn't feel like letting her off so easily. Just as she made to leave another arrow whizzed through the air and she grabbed it with two fingers, stopping the point of the head a mere inch from her eye. Blue orbs began glowing brightly as the power welled up within her body. This was an intentional act to harm her and Elizabeth had had enough for one day. With a quick flex of her hand the arrow exploded into wooden shrapnel, the splintered weapon carelessly tossed aside as the vampire lunged forward with a snarl. More arrows began firing in succession and she dodged them all with ease, even once they switched to heavier, silver laced tips aimed lower towards her heart. Their aim was impeccable and she knew she was dealing with a vampire hunter, probably one of the deadliest ones there was.
A shadow darted out from the side of trees and Elizabeth immediately changed course and began trailing after them. They were fast, passing from tree to tree with light movements but not fast enough to keep out of her grasp for much longer. With a strong kick off the base of a tree the vampire locked onto the target and slammed into them from the side, tightly wrapping her arms around their body as they crashed through the forest. The trees thinned out and they rolled into an open plain covered in dirt and leaves.
"Who are you and why are you trying to kill me?" The vampire demanded as she pinned the person down by the shoulders while straddling them, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I do not harm humans, I was trying to enjoy a meal that would not have killed the deer yet you decided to try and harm me. Why?"
The figure below her glared coldly at her as they remained still, knowing it was useless to fight such a powerful vampire. Elizabeth studied their features and eased the pressure on their shoulders the slightest bit. It was a young man judging by his boyish face and wild locks yet his hardened eyes showed a deeply troubled past. His piercing green eyes seemed to burn with a sated hatred that had her the slightest bit unnerved, even for a being as powerful as she was.
"Will you answer the question or will you remain silent?" Elizabeth demanded, the man beneath her just pressing his lips tighter together than before. "Fine. I do not have the patience to deal with this so I am going to release you and leave. If you attack me again then I will kill you, understood?"
"Behind." The words slipped suddenly from his mouth and she blinked in confusion. Behind? Behind what?
"What are you—"
The arrow lodged into her shoulder was yanked back forcefully and she let out an agonized cry of pain, her body being flung backwards with immense strength. It wasn't until she was about to hit the ground a good distance away that she realized it was a rogue who was coming after her, their eyes glowing a deep red as they bared fangs. Elizabeth rotated her body to land feet down and used her palms to slow herself against the ground. The rogue closed the distance and began swiping at her with elongated claws, rapidly attacking the pureblood with blind anger. She had been so preoccupied with the man that she had failed to notice the vampire nearby who was no doubt drawn by the cries of the animals and their skirmish. A rotting hand reached over her shoulder, latching onto the shaft of the arrow once more. Elizabeth bit down hard on his arm and instantly recoiled. He had been diseased for a long time, the taste of death and decay filling the purebloods mouth. She spit to clear the poisoned skin.
"Pureblood…give it to me…give me your blood!" The rogue screamed as it lashed out with its free hand. Elizabeth threw her body to the side, rolling them so he was on the bottom and wrapped her hands around his neck tightly as she used her legs to pin him to the ground.
"You have suffered enough, time for you to rest." She spoke quietly as she clenched her hands tighter and tighter, the vampire's oxygen now completely cut off. He struggled against her wildly, clawing at any part of her until the energy in his body began depleting. Breathing was still an essential function that every creature on the planet required, diseased vampire or not.
"Move, that won't kill him."
Elizabeth glanced up to see the man she had just chased down pointing a silver laced arrow at his head. So he was a vampire hunter like she suspected. "No."
"Then I'll kill you too. I won't ask again." He threatened lowly as he slightly shifted the arrow towards her, a low growl forming in her throat as her fangs slipped over her lips. The man slightly tensed up, pulling the bowstring tighter.
"I know what I am doing so how about you move before I kill you too." Elizabeth warned sharply, feeling the vampire beneath her go limp.
"Are you threatening me? In your position?" He laughed harshly and fully positioned the arrow towards her head, eyes narrowed dangerously as a deep fire burned within them. "If what that diseased blood sucker says is true and you are a pureblood then the bounty on your head is mine for the taking."
"You damn humans care about nothing more than your own greed and selfishness hence why most good vampires have disappeared from this world. Your people are responsible for the death of my family." Elizabeth snarled, quickly moving her hands up to grasp the rogues head and snapping his neck with ease. Without even taking her gaze from the man standing above her the vampire aligned her fingers and sliced completely through the crushed neck of the rogue with her nails, ensuring it would never come back alive.
"The same could be said for humans. How many have your kind attacked and drained the blood from? Hundreds? Thousands? You're sick monsters who prey on the weaker race to survive."
Everything happened in the flash of an eye. Elizabeth disappeared from his sight and he whirled around, blade drawn as she reappeared behind him mid-kick. With practiced ease he deflected her attack with the flat edge of his blade before twisting and lashing out with it, feeling the blade hit nothing but air. Emerald eyes darted around, watching and searching for her nearly untraceable movements through the air. The pureblood was definitely stealthy and strong, something he knew very well from past encounters with one, but something was off. She wasn't actively trying to kill him, merely dancing around him and avoiding close contact.
"What's the matter, scared of the sword?" He taunted as he slowly spun in a circle, taking note of any grass movements or subtle increases in air pressure. "Did you know that this sword is forged from blessed silver by the Holy Priest himself? You can sense that, can't you, that's why you won't get close to me."
Elizabeth stopped abruptly a good fifteen feet away from him, staring hard into his eyes. So that's why she had the urge to dodge the sword, her natural instinct screaming at her to avoid it at any cost. Regardless of being a high-ranking vampire blessed silver was still deadly, even the slightest of cuts could send poison into her bloodstream and burn her from the inside out. "If all you are going to do is harass me in such a manner then I am going to leave and return to my camp."
"You can go but I'll just track you wherever you go from now on," The man smirked as he lowered the blade until the tip touched the ground. "I want to see the face of my boss when I bring him the head of a pureblood vampire who has been wanted for decades. It's a pretty decent payout too, enough for me to retire from the hunting business and open a bar somewhere."
"You humans…" Elizabeth started quietly as she looked at him with tormented eyes, tears prickling cerulean orbs. He looked taken aback at the sudden change and his eyebrows hiked up the slightest bit. "Have no idea what it is like to be constantly hunted down, tormented, beaten, attacked, threatened with a stake through your heart. I have not been able to stay in one place more than a few days before someone is hunting me down just because I am a vampire. I have no family left, no one to turn to for help and the past few decades have been torture as I wander the lands in search of a place to call home. Yet your people treat us as emotionless, uncaring, monsters who want nothing more than to suck the blood from your body. Ask me when the last time I drank human blood was."
"Fine, I'll bite. How long?" The man sighed in annoyance as he sheathed his blade, the battle regrettably over for now.
"Never. Never in my life have I taken the blood of another person, vampire or not. My father believed it was immoral to take the blood of creatures similar to us." The vampire wrapped her arms loosely around her waist, wincing as her shoulder shifted the arrow. "I only drink the blood of creatures and never enough to kill them. Do you still think we are all monsters?"
"Look, it's a nice sob story but you won't sway my mind on this. I've seen enough vampires in my short lifetime to know there aren't any good ones out there." Elizabeth pursed her lips and looked away with a bit of melancholy. Of course he wouldn't understand, he was human after all.
"Believe what you want but we are not the monsters, you are." She turned to walk away, a hand sliding up to grasp her wounded shoulder. The puncture was burning terribly and she knew the rogue grabbing onto it had caused further damage. Fresh blood slicked down her back causing the vampire to pull her hand away as she felt warmth against her fingers. Even with the deer blood it wouldn't heal and she was beginning to suspect it was silver laced, meaning she couldn't try to remove it on her own without burning herself or releasing more silver into her body. The rogue had no problem since his body was already decaying, pain receptors completely dissolved at that point in the transition. To test the theory Elizabeth stopped and reached back to grab the shaft of the arrow. As soon as her hand latched around it, her palms began burning and she quickly retracted the appendage with a frown. A human would have to be the one to remove it yet every single one she met had tried to kill her, including the hunter somewhere behind her.
"It's silver laced, isn't it?"
Elizabeth's eyes widened and she looked to her right to see the man who threatened to kill her not even a few minutes ago standing there examining the arrow with mild interest, a hand to his chin as he studied it. Her fangs slipped over her lips in warning as she took a few steps backwards, feeling the blade attached to his back radiating in response. He didn't seem too bothered with her response as he shifted forward and reached for the shaft. She took another step back as the blade responded more violently this time, sending out a small shockwave that had her hair standing on end. The silver within the arrow pulsed heavily and Elizabeth gasped in pain before falling to her knees, hand clutching her shoulder tightly as the pain worsened to a nearly unbearable level. The blessed silver was reacting to any similar metal nearby and the vampire pressed her forehead to the ground as she gasped for breath. It would poison her at this rate but she couldn't touch it and she certainly didn't want the vampire hunter to lay a hand on her.
"Get…away…the sword…" Elizabeth rasped as the man drew close once more, sending fiery pain throughout her body. A scream slipped from her throat and she fell to her side, curling up in agony. "Leave…"
"I'm interested in the arrow, I could care less about your suffering," He scoffed as he moved around her to reach for the arrow again, the vampire only watching through watery eyes as she laid helplessly against the ground. Elizabeth began coughing once he leaned down closer, hand wrapping around the shaft of the arrow, and blood spewed from her mouth as the silver flooded her body. It would take less than a minute for her organs to completely liquify and kill her. The only comfort was that she would see her father and sisters once more, blood now freely flowing from mouth and soaking into the grass. Blue eyes fluttered shut, her body slumping as the vampire accepted her fate while she died a fairly quick death. A sharp pain radiated through her shoulder as darkness began blanketing her mind and the last thing she felt was the arrow being pulled from her body before succumbing to the warm embrace.
The hunter yanked the arrow from her body, watching as the vampire fell unconscious due to silver poisoning before taking a few steps away. The blade resting against his back had been vibrating violently the closer he got to her and he looked down at the arrow in his hand with interest. It appeared to be a normal shaft yet as he looked at the arrowhead he noticed it had a glossy sheen on it that was unusual for the type of arrow. He had seen quite a few bolts in his hunting days but none like this one. Sliding it into the nearly empty quiver on his back, the hunter slowly removed the sword and tossed it even further away, feeling the vibrations finally die down. Whoever she was, the vampire lying before him wasn't like the others he had met and slain. She didn't seem to want to fight needlessly and even drank from a deer, something he witnessed firsthand, but trusting those minor details went against everything he had trained for, believed in. The hunter crouched down in front of her, staring at her face intently. Soft features partially concealed by silver bangs, dark bags beneath her eyes. Signs of living rough for sure yet if she was truly a pureblood, then why wasn't she living with other vampires? It didn't make any sense and he wanted to know, curiosity growing the more he stared at her. The last time he had gotten close to a pureblood was when it had him pinned by the throat years ago as he was a hairs breath from death.
"If you are a pureblood, then why aren't you alliancing yourself with other vampires?" The hunter mumbled as he watched blood continuously seep from her shoulder, the crimson liquid sliding down her leather top.
The man stood and planted his hands on his hips as he debated what to do. He could just leave her to fend for herself but more rogues would surely be drawn by the scent of blood and once they got a hold of her blood then they turned into something far deadlier than a normal rogue. The bounty for any pureblood was continuously rising in reward so he could do that and be done with the whole hunting business, go off and start the bar he always wanted to. Technically he was supposed to bring her back to the head of the vampire hunting branch…
"Damnit, I can't just leave it here, it'll cause a lot more work down the road." He groaned, swiping a hand down his face as he concluded. "How the hell am I supposed to carry her and that sword? It'll probably just kill her if I carry it like normal. Could set up camp towards the base of the nearby waterfall, should be pretty secured from attacks."
After some sword finagling and vampire juggling he finally figured out how to carry them both with only minor to no repercussions. He attached a rope around his waist and attached the sword to the other end, about five feet from the vampire currently resting over his shoulder and began trekking towards the waterfall with easy movements. He was absolutely nuts for carrying a deadly vampire in his arms in order to help save her and his boss would be furious with him though he couldn't leave her down there in the open since she was now a target of rogue vampires who could turn into advanced rogues, ones who ingested the blood of pureblooded vampires. Their strength increased by five-fold and they were almost as hard to kill as pureblooded ones. Having encountered a few in his time, the hunter knew it was too much of a risk to take especially with a nearby village. The moon was nearly directly above by the time they reached the base of the waterfall, the hunter trudging through the frigid river waters after tossing the sword across first. A fire caught his eye and he searched the area for any other person yet they were the only ones around.
"This is where she was hiding…"
Ensuring the sword was far enough away for the time being, he readjusted the woman into his arms before heading to the fire. Clothes were scattered around and he noticed they were still fairly wet, emerald eyes glancing up at the cliffs. Did she fall from there and land in the river? Scooching some of the articles of clothing aside, he carelessly dropped her onto the ground by the fire. The wound on her shoulder seemed to have stopped actively bleeding, indicating that her body was beginning to heal itself. The man dragged his sword close enough to remove the rope before settling at least ten feet away from the vampire, warily eying her unconscious form. There was no telling if she would wake up and attack him out of the blue and he needed to be prepared for that possibility. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.
Elizabeth inhaled deeply as sunlight reached her closed eyes, stirring her from the deep slumber she was enjoying. Cracking her eyes open she noticed her surroundings had changed and the vampire was immediately wide awake and alert. The last thing she remembered was being in the field with the hunter and the blessed sword causing the arrow to release silver into her body—
"You're awake."
The vampire twisted around to see the hunter staring intently at her, the accursed sword resting loosely in his grasp. She jumped up in panic and glanced around for an escape, hands clenching together tightly against her chest. How did she get back here? It wasn't a dream if the man who threatened to kill her was sitting not too far with a hard look on his face. "H-how did I get back here?"
"Carried you." He stated simply. "Pulled the arrow out too. You're welcome."
"You…why? Why would you help me when you threatened to kill me?" Elizabeth demanded as she watched him stand and slowly walk towards her, the sword dragging against the dirt softly. The memory of the pain felt fresh in her mind and for every step he took towards her, she took a larger one backwards. "Keep that thing away from me!"
"I've never seen a powerful vampire so afraid of a sword, it's kind of amusing actually." He smirked as he flicked the sword upwards, noting how she physically flinched back from the motion. "Don't get me wrong, vampire, the only reason I kept you alive is because I want that bounty on your head. You're worth more alive than dead so…" He flicked his free hand as if he didn't need to explain the rest.
"I just want to live in peace, is that too much to ask for?" Elizabeth pleaded as her back hit the conclave wall, trapping her against the slimy rock. "I will not ever bother another human again, I promise!"
Meliodas stopped a few feet away, propping the sword up in the dirt and leaning on it with a wide grin. "You don't remember what I told you? No matter where you go, I'll track you down and get that nice payday—"
"You are a demon!" She screamed suddenly, throwing him off and wiping the smirk clean off his face. "I already have to deal with humans, rogues and other vampires, now I have to run from you as well? If that is to be the case then just strike me down now and get it over with. Maybe then I can be at peace and see my family again! I hate you humans, all of you!"
The hunter stared in stunned silence as the vampire before him broke down in tears, sliding down against the wall as she swiped at them furiously with the backs of her hands. Honestly, he was utterly thrown off on what was happening right now and he scratched his head, unsure of what to do next. Threatening obviously didn't work considering she didn't even try to fight back, instead trying to run away, and now she was having a complete emotional breakdown. His mouth opened and closed a few times but nothing came out. Elizabeth curled herself into a ball, tightly wrapping her arms around her legs as she hid her face against them. She didn't even want to look at the cruel man standing before her, threatening her with a dangerous sword and harsh words. Humans were all arrogant, greedy animals and she would rather be slain than deal with them.
"Just…if you are going to kill me then just do it so I can see my family again." The vampire mumbled with a hiccup.
"Get up, now." She jolted in surprise and looked up through teary eyes, noting the hard expression on his face had softened the slightest bit. He tossed her clothes at her before turning and walking away, sheathing the sword. "I'm giving you a head start to leave before I change my mind, so go."
Elizabeth furrowed her brows in confusion before quickly dressing once more. As she was tightening the corset from the back a noise caught her sensitive hearing and she looked up to see a pair of frightened eyes looking down at her through the darkness. They quickly disappeared and she pulled the strings tightly before standing back from the cavern walls. Climbing from here would be a breeze yet someone had seen her down there and was most likely headed back to the nearby village for reinforcements. "A child, up on the cliffside."
"A child?" The hunter glanced up to where she was pointing. "There's no one up there."
"It was the child I tried to save last night but…" She trailed off uncertainly, glancing between him and the closest cliff wall. If he were to make a move she would make sure to end him quickly before he used the blessed blade on her.
"They saw you and attacked." The vampire nodded quickly. It would only be a matter of minutes before they swarmed the area and she needed to leave.
"I…thank you, for saving me. I know you could have easily killed me though you chose to spare me instead." Elizabeth looked at him earnestly, giving the briefest of uncertain smiles before moving towards the wall of the cliff. Her hands grasped an edge and she scrambled up the slick wall, only slipping a few times on the slimy rock. She fell a bit short of tossing herself up and over the top so she grasped onto the grassy edge and pulled herself up with ease, standing and dusting the grass from her skirts. He was standing down there, watching her with unreadable eyes and she gave him one more uneasy look as she quickly headed away from the area. The man stared a few moments longer before scratching his head as he looked around at the now empty conclave.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
Elizabeth settled into her new temporary home a few days' worth away from the village and the vampire hunter, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. It was tiring to constantly move around avoiding humans and rogue vampires alike. She had run into a few rogues during her recent travels, easily dispatching them but her concern was growing. More and more were appearing as of late when a few decades ago there were maybe a few here and there. But six in the last few days was becoming alarming to the pureblood and she needed to find the source of them soon. She stretched her arms above her head, watching as the sun began to set over the horizon. It was time to feed again since her last meal had been cut short thanks to the hunter. She had played the scenario over and over in her head since then but she couldn't figure out why he had spared her that night after he repeatedly mentioned turning her into his boss for the reward. Deep loathing definitely showed in his eyes, maybe from a past trauma with a vampire, yet he didn't try to full-on kill her and even removed the arrow from her shoulder.
Pushing aside the thoughts for now the vampire began searching for tonight's meal, raising her head as she sniffed the air. She used to feel embarrassed by the action, reminiscent of a dog smelling the air, though having done it for a few hundred years turned it into an instinctual habit. A rotten smell caught her attention and she turned her head in the direction it was coming from. Rogues, at least a small handful of them gathered together in one area. Something was wrong, they never gathered in multiples unless…unless they were raiding a village. Elizabeth took off without a second thought, ripping her outer layers off in the process as she ran. Was it the village she had passed through earlier in the day? From what she had witnessed they weren't prepared to handle vampire attacks and especially rogue attacks. Panicked screams reached her ears and she saw flames towering high above the village, villagers running from their homes in terror. They were everywhere, jumping onto humans as they exited their houses, chasing them down the streets, even brutally plunging their hands through their chests and ripping the beating hearts from their body.
Elizabeth let out a loud snarl, fangs already slipping past her lip as she alerted the rogues to her location. Drawing them out and away from the humans would be the easiest option and she watched as the chaos suddenly died down, feeling a handful of eyes lock onto her. "Over here! I know you want this blood!"
Angry snarls ripped through the air as she spun around and began running in the opposite direction, drawing them out and away from the village with ease. Rogues loved nothing more than the scent of pureblood vampires so with a quick scratch across the back of her hand, Elizabeth let the scent of her blood known to them. The further she ran the more decaying scents she picked up, the number far greater than she had expected. An open area would be best and an idea struck her, blue eyes darting up to the jagged rock formations rapidly approaching her. If she could get to the top then she could send them flying from there, the fall would be too much for their rotten bodies and they would die from impalement or the impact. Glancing back, at least a dozen rogues were following her with glowing red eyes and snarling jaws, the distance between them steadily closing. The fighting would need to be kept fairly short since she was beginning to feel the drain of energy within her body, having not drank blood in a few days. If she absolutely had to, Elizabeth could push her body to the limit to unleash an energy reserve but the side effects lasted longer each time she used it; she would lose control and become more feral, attacking anything that got in her way. It had only happened a few times prior, after Liones castle had fallen, and though the memories of it were fuzzy, the pureblood was sure she had slaughtered some humans after losing control. Therefore she vowed to only use it during emergencies and judging by the growing crowd of rogues behind her, it was going to be one of those times.
With little effort she scaled the face of the cliff, looking back to see the horde of diseased vampires right on her heels, jaws snapping together in anticipation. Bit by bit Elizabeth began releasing her reserve power, feeling the strength pump through her veins like a crashing ocean wave. Azure eyes started glowing brightly, tongue tracing over her canines eagerly as the urge to fight blanketed over her mind and the pureblood let the power control her entirely. She eased herself up to the top and waited, observing as they began climbing around the sides to encircle her on all sides, an obvious tactic that rarely worked.
"Pure…blood…give it to us…so we may become unstoppable…" A rogue hissed as she clambered up the edge, twitching eagerly while looking up at Elizabeth.
"Sorry, unavailable for the rest of time." The vampire cooed and whipped her foot out, feeling the vampires face crush instantaneously before her body went soaring through the air. "Next in line!"
More and more began scrambling up and over the top only to be sent flying backwards with powerful kicks and punches, Elizabeth feeling elated with their anguished cries and growls. After the first ten or so the numbers dwindled down to nothing, the fun seemingly coming to an end when something tingled in the back of her mind and she whirled around with a heavy snarl. A projectile was headed straight towards her, the power unfamiliar yet she knew immediately it was another pureblood just by the strength radiating from them. Her reserves still had enough juice to get her through a short battle but fighting a pureblood…it was a high risk fighting them without the proper strength. Elizabeth braced herself as the distance rapidly closed, crossing her arms over her chest to block the incoming attack. Within half a second the vampire struck, sending her flying backwards through the air. She could see the enemy launch themselves from the rock she had been on moments ago, soaring after her with an outstretched hand. With bloodlust scream Elizabeth lowered her arms and dodged the attack, latching onto the vampire with every ounce of strength in her body. She wrapped her legs around them tightly to immobilize them while attempting to pin their other arm down. The man looked at her with a grin and elbowed her hard in the stomach, the wind knocked instantly from her lungs and her grip loosened just enough for him to escape. He turned the tables quickly, grabbing her by the throat and aiming her downwards towards the ground.
"Lady Elizabeth, lovely to see you once more. How have you been these past few decades?" The pureblood casually asked as she clawed violently at his skin, sharp claws shredding him to pieces.
"Go to hell!" Elizabeth rasped while struggling. He was too strong, there was no way she could escape his grasp with just reserve powers. There was a slim chance of gaining a massive amount of power instantaneously though it required being able to drink another pureblood's blood, something extremely difficult to do given the current circumstances and she had vowed to never take the blood of another vampire or human.
"Such a filthy mouth, surely your father taught you better than that?"
The thin line keeping the last of her consciousness snapped and she thrust her hips upwards, snaking her legs around his waist while twisting violently. He flipped to the bottom as the ground approached, his expression remaining calm as though he expected her to do such a thing. The earth shook violently as they collided into it causing nearby trees to shoot from the ground and go tumbling away. Large, deep cracks zigzagged across the area as a thick dust exploded from the impact. Elizabeth panted heavily as she glared down at the vampire holding her hand tightly, the bones crushing from the tight grasp.
"Is that any way to greet your fellow kin? Surely you would be ecstatic to see me. You seem to be running on reserves, dear, have you not eaten recently?" The vampire snapped his wrist out and sent her tumbling off of him with a grunt.
"How about you mind your own business?" Elizabeth snapped back, holding her broken wrist lightly. It would take only a few moments to fix itself but she needed to keep it aligned or else it could take longer to heal. The other pureblood slowly stood, dusting himself off lightly before turning his attention back to her. She didn't recognize who he was but at the moment she didn't care. All she had to do was survive more than five seconds against him.
"Really now, the first time seeing another pureblood in years and this is how you act? Your father would be disappointed in you, Lady Elizabeth."
"You shut your damned mouth about my father! He sacrificed his life to save mine! How dare you spit on his name!" Elizabeth screamed as she flexed her wrist experimentally, noting it had mostly healed. "I do not even know who you are, how dare you disrespect my family name and insult me."
He merely raised a brow in questioning, noting she was becoming extremely agitated. It was a downside of using ones reserves, power meant for life or death situations such as now. Moments before his arrival the vampire had noticed the disappearing scents of rogues and he assumed the woman before him was the one fending them off. "Forgive me, Lady Elizabeth, I did not mean to be so callous with you. I am Lord Eion Dregan of Clan Dregan. My family reigns over these lands and when I felt your power flare-up I got a bit too excited. My deepest apologies."
"You know where you can shove those apologies, Lord Dregan," Elizabeth spat angrily, making miniscule movements away from him. She could sense he wanted to continue to the fight, the urge clawing at his mind to battle someone on his level. "I will take my departure now if you do not mind."
She turned to go when he abruptly appeared in front of her, a dark look in his eyes. Anger radiated from his tense posture and Elizabeth braced herself for the impact about to come. Eion lashed out faster than she could process and his fist curled up into her abdomen. Blood sprayed from her mouth, blue eyes going wide. She was prepared for the strike just not to the extent of practically obliterating her inner organs to mush. Before she could even fall to the ground in pain he was grabbing her by the throat, lifting her high into the air as he looked at her with condescending eyes.
"I do believe our business is not done here, Lady Elizabeth, because once another pureblood enters another vampires territory they need to be put into their place. You should have known this from a young age. Do not worry, I will try to end this as slowly as possible." Eion gave her a sharp grin before hurtling her across the ground like a ragdoll.
Elizabeth bounced a few times before she managed to right herself, digging her heels into the dirt. Hastily swiping the blood from her mouth, the vampire snarled viciously and launched herself at him with unrivaled fury. Eion blocked her blows with ease, countering each and every punch and kick with a strike of his own. Blood poured down over her body as cuts littered her skin, a particularly nasty one forming on her forehead that spilled red into her eyes. There was no time to wipe her vision clean so Elizabeth ignored it, using her other senses to make up for the temporary handicap.
"Oh, you have a bit of something on your face there, Lady Elizabeth. Here, let me get that for you." Lord Dregan barked as Elizabeth landed a particularly hard punch to his jaw, the bone cracking from the force. His fist collided with the side of her head and she went tumbling across the plain before flopping to a stop, dust kicking up from the impact. Despite her being on reserves the Liones vampire was still a fierce opponent. She had broken a few of his bones in the process and it just excited Eion even more to continue the battle. Killing her was frowned up in vampire society but there was nothing wrong against beating her close to death.
Elizabeth gasped for air as she laid in the dirt, body unable to move anymore. Her reserves had run out faster than she had anticipated, leaving her without the slightest bit of energy to move as Eion moved in for the kill. Honestly, at least it would be a quick death coming from another vampire. Everything hurt like hell, even just breathing made her ribs feel like shattering glass with every breath in. Most of her bones felt at least fractured if not completely broken and the vampire mentally grimaced, they wouldn't heal properly until she had swallowed enough blood to kickstart her system once more. The pureblood stood above her with an almost disappointed look, shaking his head slowly before slamming his fist down on her chest and creating a shallow crater beneath her. When she didn't fight it he shook his fist out lightly and pursed his lips. Eion had been hoping for a better fight than that.
"Out of the game already? Disappointing. Shall I help you revive a bit?" Eion crouched down beside her head and pulled his sleeve back, offering fresh blood for the downed vampire. When she glared weakly at him he merely looked at her with knowing eyes. "King Baltra taught you not to drink the blood of others who are similar, did he not? Shame, we could continue this fight if you would just accept my offering."
"I will not drink the blood of those who are similar to myself." Elizabeth wheezed in pain, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back to the ground. "I will not fall so low and be lumped into the same name as those who kill humans needlessly."
"Hmm, interesting. Seeing as you are down and out for the count, I shall leave you here to suffer since you are rejecting my offer. I will overlook your insolence this time but the next incident of you entering my territory without proper permission, your head will hang on my castles door as a warning to others. Farewell, Lady Elizabeth. Hopefully, next time you will be more willing to have a spar with me." Eion gave her a pat on the face before disappearing from sight, leaving the broken and critically injured vampire alone beneath the darkening skies.
Elizabeth cracked open her eyes, staring blankly at the brightening stars above. She had messed up big time. Running would have been the best option but her stupid reserves had to go and make her lose full consciousness then doom her in a fight against a fully strengthened pureblood. Had she known this was his territory she would have redirected her path and gone elsewhere but she was tired of running, tired of hiding all the time and had wandered in a random direction. At least if that vampire hunter showed up again she would be an easy target for him to behead and reap the reward. Fatigue dragged over her and she let herself slip into the black.
~B~
"Captain, some villagers claim there was a woman who showed up and drew the rogues away from them. Thanks to that the fatalities were down to just a handful." A young vampire hunter called out to his captain who was crouched down examining a rogue corpse. It was mangled beyond recognition and his eyes traced out the completely powdered facial bones.
"A woman? Did they give a description?" He glanced up at the young hunter.
"Uh, some sort of weird sleeveless outfit. That's all they got though since she took off fairly quickly." The hunter shrugged and the captain immediately stood. "Captain Meliodas?"
"Keep investigating the area, I'm going to check further outside of town. I'll be back in a bit," Meliodas strolled away with his hands in his pockets as he left the young man to continue searching the destroyed bodies. He knew immediately it was the pureblood he had been tracking for the past week, following her tracks across the lands with a small team. They had been assigned to the village after news of a vampire attack reached them and his boss sent him specifically to handle the rogues, leaving him to clean up the mess and to teach the newest initiates the ropes. More bodies began appearing in random spots; some dangling from trees, others completely squashed into the ground, one had even managed to be torn to bits after getting caught in between two rocks. As gruesome as it was, Meliodas could care less about them as he searched for the pureblood. There was no chance he was going to let her slip through his fingers again after their first meeting.
The vampire hunter stopped at the edge of a hill, surveying the open plain below and immediately noticed it was a battleground. Trees uprooted and thrown back, deep gouges in the ground. No ordinary vampire could've done that so it had to have been two purebloods fighting. But why? Why would two of the most powerful vampires fight it out? Surely they were all allies? All these unanswered questions just increased his yearning to know more about vampires in hopes of finding out their weaknesses to bring them down for good. For now finding out where the pureblood he had met a week ago was priority since he had some questions for her regarding the investigation. Scanning the area once more, a shallow crater barely caught his eye and his body began moving down the hill to get a closer look. There was always the chance she had fled the area as the villagers claimed the attack happened about four nights ago, just before dusk, yet something in him hinted that she was still in the area. It took a bit to get down the hill and he set his eyes on the crater as he walked. The impact had been massive, the hole spanning a good thirty paces height wise and similarly widthwise by his guess with at least a few feet of depth.
"Holy shit…" Meliodas breathed as he looked down into the crater, eyes widening. There in the center laid the pureblood from a week ago, motionless and completely mangled with her eyes closed. Discarding his blessed blade the hunter slid down the side of the hole and jogged over to her, noting the copious amount of blood that had soaked into the dirt around her. He slowed just a few feet from her, crouching down in case she tried to lunge upwards as he unsheathed a smaller blade. Despite his lapse in judgement in helping her last time she was still a dangerous pureblood that had to be approached with every precaution. "Hey, are you alive?"
With no response he scooted closer, carefully reaching over to touch her seemingly crushed hand. Just as he was about to check for a pulse the appendage twitched and he stilled, glancing back to her face warily. Dull blue eyes stared at him with a hint of distrust and a low growl rumbled in her throat.
"You look like shit, you know that?" Meliodas pointed out with a breath out as he sat down in the dirt, crossing his legs as he stared at her with his chin against his palm. At least she wasn't dead, making his investigation a bit easier. Overall though she looked like she had been chewed up and spit out more than a few times. Obvious broken bones, lacerations, dried blood coating her body. She was no threat to him at the moment but that didn't mean he would lower his guard completely.
"You…" Elizabeth muttered weakly, tilting her head to look at him better. "Doing here…?"
"Got word that a village had been attacked by rogues," The hunter noticed she could only make small movements and wondered how badly she had been injured. "Did you lure them away?"
"Yes…saw them attacking…they needed help…" The vampire briefly closed her eyes and the hunter thought for sure she had passed until they opened once more a minute later.
"How did you get so beat up? Can you even move anymore?" She shook her head slowly. "Did you fight another pureblood?"
"I…entered his territory…did not know…used reserve power…cannot move…" Elizabeth mumbled out as she stared up at him with lidded eyes. His suspicions were confirmed then, there was another pureblood in the area.
"Reserve power? Is that used for emergencies like when you haven't eaten for a while?" She lightly nodded and the hunter reminded himself to keep that fact in the forefront of his mind. "Do you…need blood?"
"I will not take yours…" Elizabeth snapped up at him with what energy she could muster though he merely scoffed.
"Not like I was offering mine to begin with. Have you been out here long?"
"Four days…I think…" Meliodas looked at her in surprise. She had been in this crater for four days and was still alive? No wonder purebloods were ridiculously hard to kill, they were built like fortresses.
"Four days and you're still alive. Impressive. While I don't have any animal blood on me currently I can see what the village has and bring you some tonight. Kinda pathetic to see such a strong vampire lying in a miserable heap." The hunter laughed as she bared her fangs to him before turning her head away. "Any particular type you want?"
"Why…help me? You said yourself…you want the bounty for my head…so take it…" He hummed, not denying he had said that.
"Because you interest me. I've never met a pureblooded bloodsucker who doesn't suck the blood of other humans. And seeing as you haven't tried to actually kill me yet I believe we can form a partnership of sorts. You give me information on your kind while I help you kill the rogues and track down the other purebloods. Any attempt on my life will result with a swift death just so you know. Deal?"
Elizabeth turned her head back to look at him with wary eyes, studying his face for his true intentions but the longer she looked the more she realized that his words were the full truth, emerald eyes boring into hers unwaveringly. Hoping she wasn't about to make a decision she was going to regret the vampire nodded tightly and he smiled as he stood, dusting his pants off. Panic gripped her heart and she tried to move her body to escape albeit she was paralyzed from the lack of blood pumping through her body.
"Easy, I'm just going to climb back out of the hole. I even left the blessed blade a good ways away. I won't lay a hand on you…I never got your name from last time." He assured as he kept his hands where she could see them, watching as her guard shot up and her fangs elongated.
"…Elizabeth…" The vampire finally muttered as she eased back on her guard, feeling her fangs grazing over her bottom lip.
"Nice to meet you, Elizabeth, I'm Meliodas. I've got to get back to my team but I'll be sure to bring you some blood after it gets dark. See you later." Meliodas gave her a reassuring grin before clambering out of the hole and disappearing.
Elizabeth stared at the wall he had disappeared over. What had she gotten herself into now? Lately it had just been a string of one bad thing after another and now she was teaming up with a human who had pointed a silver-laced arrow at her head and threatened to kill her barely a week ago? This was all beginning to sound like a sick joke brought on by the goddesses above. She sighed and looked up at the blue sky, watching the little tuffs of clouds slowly passing by. It would still be at least another few hours before dusk and then another few after that before it became fully dark. Apprehension filled her chest at the thought of Meliodas never coming back for her. While purebloods were a whole other classification of vampire it didn't mean they were immortal to critical wounds. She could maybe last another day before she fell into a catatonic state of coma and by that point she would have to drink human blood in order to revert from the deep state. Since it was going to be a few hours before he returned Elizabeth decided to get some more sleep, not like she could move anyways, and let herself relax into the warm darkness.
A noise stirred her from her slumber and the vampire blinked a few times, becoming fully alert when a shadow moved next to her in the darkness. A warning growl emitted from her throat but the shadow kept moving towards her, seemingly unafraid. The clouds floating in front of the moon gently drifted away and the bright moonlight revealed Meliodas holding a canteen of blood for her. Elizabeth relaxed a bit and let out a sigh. Even if it was a rogue or a human she couldn't defend herself like normal anyways so there was no point in getting defensive.
"Didn't mean to startle you but I have dinner." Meliodas shook the canteen, blue eyes watching every movement of the bottle as the contents sloshed around. "Hope you like cows blood, it was all they had. Got some weird looks for getting it though they didn't seem to mind when I told them it was to draw out any remaining rogues."
"Thanks…" She whispered as he sat down beside her and unscrewed the lid, the enticing scent of blood making her mouth water.
"I need to lift your head so you don't choke, is it injured at all?" The vampire nodded and he grimaced. This was going to be harder than it looked.
"Blood will heal it…most of my organs…got crushed anyways…" Elizabeth laughed dryly then winced, eyes twitching from the pain. "Go ahead…I will not bite…"
"I'd hope not, don't really feel like lopping your head off after going through the effort of feeding you." He snorted with a small grimace, carefully sliding his left hand under her head to lift it. It felt sticky from dried blood and he felt a bit bad for the woman. Vampires, though rumored for being emotionless and cruel beings, still felt pain and had emotions though not many cared about that part of them as they focused more on the bloodsucking. The canteen pressed against her lips and he slowly tilted it up, watching for signs to ease up on the substance. He had to admit he was a bit grossed out as he watched her swallow the blood but perhaps she thought the same about what humans like himself ate. A bit trickled from the corners of her mouth and he made to wipe it up when her hand beat him to it, thumb swiping it up as he pulled the canteen back. She licked at the substance eagerly, oblivious to the slightly disturbed look the hunter was giving her.
Elizabeth licked her lips and took in a deep breath before holding it, cerulean eyes glowing brightly as her body worked its magic. Meliodas sat back and watched in awe as broken bones seemed to mend themselves like magic, snapping back into position with small pops, open wounds sewing themselves shut seamlessly; even the gash on her forehead disappeared within seconds without a trace. Her eyes dimmed when she sat up, experimentally flexing her fingers and toes to ensure everything was working properly.
"What in the hell…can all purebloods do that?" Meliodas asked incredulously as she held out her hand to him and he took it, examining every inch of the once shattered appendage for signs of damage, eyes widening as he didn't see even a speck of dirt on her.
"Most do not have abilities like I do, I come from a lineage of powerful healers who can even sometimes bring the recently deceased back. I have not seen it happen though I have heard stories from my…father…" Elizabeth trailed off, averting her gaze from the hunter as she felt him look at her quizzically.
"Well," Meliodas started and she glanced back at him. "I'm sure you want to go find a better dinner than this so I'll leave it to you, I have to get back before the rest of hunters realize there's a vampire in the area."
"Thank you, Meliodas," Elizabeth blurted out as he prepared the climb back out of the hole, the hunter turning his head to look at her. "For…saving me once more. I probably would have died within a day if you had not found me."
"No problem, Elizabeth. I'll try to catch you in the morning when I do another sweep. Edge of the forest work for you? I've got some questions about what happened that I want to ask." She nodded quickly and he turned back to the wall, scrambling up it with ease. "See you in the morning."
Elizabeth jumped from the crater, watching the hunter swiftly make his way back towards the village with her hands clenched against her chest. As much as she tried to avoid humans she couldn't seem to stop crossing paths with the mysterious hunter. Glancing up at the moon, she noted it was nearly high in the sky, giving her plenty of time to hunt to fully replenish her power. While the blood was enough to heal the most critical of wounds she needed more to fill her reserves and restore her full powers. As she sniffed out the closest meal she couldn't help but wonder why Meliodas wanted to track down the other purebloods. To be fair…she didn't really know a lot about the man to begin with though she sensed a deep hostility towards vampires but here he was alliancing with a pureblood. A herd of cattle caught her attention and she glanced once more at the retreating man before taking off towards her dinner, licking her lips in anticipation. If he wanted to ask her questions then maybe she would sneak in a few of her own.
That was, of course, if he didn't try to kill her first.