10-22-2013, 03:48 AM
Chapter One
Gasping, she ran through the town, feet slapping on the cold rocky earth as she fled from her assailant. She knew the Hunter was behind her, but she had an advantage; she was agile. Twisting on the spot, she turned back the other way and dived into a tall lanky building in front of her. Her head filled with strong emotions of fear and anger, she tried to put them at peace in her mind if only for a minute or so in an attempt to regain her waning strength. Resting her head against the back of the rundown church door she had closed behind her, her eyes flickered shut.
Once her eyes were closed, she was bombarded with horrific memories; ones best left locked in the back of the mind forever. Towns burning, the roar of the fires heard along with the deathly screams of the inhabitants of the village as they drew their last living breaths. Kiakate falling out of the sky, traces of their last calling lingering in their destroyed forms, a bright red star sending tendrils of fire flickering towards a magnificent castle; obliterating anything in their way. A silvery flash of light as a huge beam of energy is sent hurtling to the star, colliding with it and…
Boom! She woke, snapping to attention and jumping to her feet, her exhausted limbs unconsciously moving her body into a defensive position. Bewildered, she turned to the left and saw what had made the crashing boom sound. The left wall of the church had bent inwards, the bricks only just holding together as the wall was smashed in. She vaguely heard someone shouting on the other side of the wall when it exploded. Screaming, she leapt to the right of the building, rolling behind a row of stone chairs to shield herself from the explosion. Bits of debris sailed over her head, narrowly missing it as the chairs were so low. After the loud thumps of the debris hitting the ground subsided, she slowly stood up, peering into the cloud of dust in front of her. The outline of a human could be seen, its dark shadow just visible in the brown mist. The dust slowly dissipated, allowing Alice to peer into the cloud with more visibility. The outline became more defined; defiantly showing it was a human shape. Once the cloud had disappeared, she saw her assailant. His brilliant red hair was like a blazing inferno atop his head the moonlight shining through the hole in the wall, hitting it and illuminating his face. His face was twisted into a dark smile, his amber eyes were staring straight at her. His dull red jacket resting on his shoulders as he casually walked towards her; his brown clothing hugging tight around his body, defining all the wiry muscles under the clothes.
As soon as he saw her, he knew she was in a terribly poor state. Her leg muscles were straining to keep the body of this woman upright, leaving her unsteadily swaying back and forth. Face veiled with exhaustion, grime and cuts; curly brown hair tangled and messy, falling below her shoulders. A once elegant dress now torn and ruined; red stains of blood against the white and black fabric where each cut along the dress, showing the smouldering wounds she has thus far received. He had been chasing her for the past four hours, throwing daggers of fire at her whenever she stumbled or slowed down and drew close to him. He had to admit that he was beginning to feel the weariness and fatigue that came with calling on the elements, but for the entirety of his life so far he had been training to push himself to the limits and forget all pain. Now, determined to end this little game of chase, he stepped forward and drew himself in for the kill.
Screaming at her limbs to move, Alice attempted to throw a barrage of wind at him and hurtle past him; put all her tired body was able to accomplish was make him stumble backwards with wind and make Alice trip over her feet. Her head collided with the ground, causing her to cry out in pain. With her head feeling like someone just thrust a knife through it, she looked up; only to get flipped over with a boot to the face.
“It looks like running away isn’t really an option for you anymore is it girly? I think it is about time you just hand it over; for I am sure we have both had enough of this game of chase, don’t you agree?” The Hunter stalked over to her grinning; throwing all caution to the wind. "I just wish I didn't have to spoil this pretty little face, don't you agree?"
Alice glanced upwards to look at the Hunter. Her vision veiled in red, she tried to roll over onto her legs. Changing tactics, she rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding another boot to the face. Grunting, Alice jumped to her feet, ready to properly face her assailant. He leapt forward, throwing a punch towards her left thigh. Stepping back, she easily avoided the punch and lashed out with a kick of her own and her foot connected to the side of the man’s face. Spinning Alice brought her other foot up to connect with his side, flipping him over. Alice grabbed hold of the man’s shoulders and flipped herself over him. Turning in the flip, she drove her knee into the small of his back, causing him to cry out in pain and crumple to the ground. Landing, Alice stared at the crumpled body for a moment, and then turned and walked away.
“Kind of Anticlimactic,” Alice thought as she walked off. As she stepped through the debris littered across the church floor, she heard a loud snap carry through the small space the church provided. Twisting back around to where she left her assailant, she saw it was ready for round two.
“I am a Hunter girly, and I am sure you know what I am capable of. You must also know now it will take a lot more to take me down.” Surrounding the Hunter were what seemed to be dogs. They had no flesh but where made of what seemed to be just shadows. Strings of blood lapped around each dog-like shadow, snapping back and forth from the shapes. “I might be easy to take down for you girly, but try these on for size.”
Gritting through her teeth, Alice hissed “Hell Binding!”
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