Fighter

Her mother had to learn about this, as soon as possible. She sped through the woods, ducking branches, skipping over shrubs and fallen tree barks, twisting in the forest. Her concealment spell was still working fine as she couldn't see the hooded man after her. At this rate, she would reach her mother and tell her to check out everyone as he may have accomplices.

Swoosh!!

The sound of an arrow echoed in a distance and she was just fast enough to shift her head, having the arrow scrape her cheek. She froze on the spot, having the unnerving feeling of being the prey watched by it's predator.

A gutteral laugh echoed in the once silent forest and she pulled out her blade, readying for a fight. The man came out from the shadows his hood lowered and then she could recognize his features, her eyes widening.

He placed the vial he had in his hand back in its box, before picking the arrow he made from a dried branch, the same that had narrowly missed her, burning it into crisps.

"Then bastard princess in all her glory" He said sarcastically and before she could utter a word, she loosed her grip on her dagger as it clattered on the stone, her knees joining it.

What was going on with her?

"The poison, I have to admit works quite quickly, I'm elated" He chuckled walking towards her and crouching to her level.

She was poisoned by that arrow? But it had just scratched her!

"Poor princess. You would have been a lovely wife in a few years, why did you have to be here today?"

"Mo-mother w-will ke-el ye" She stuttered out of breath and he grinned wickedly.

"The queen adores me. And how would she know huh? You are the only witness who will soon die despite it being a total shame. On the bright side, you'll die pretty" He said and she bit her tongue, forcing herself to stay conscious as she casted a spell at herself, which made him roar into laughter again.

"You are wasting your energy fighting it, it is the most lethal poison this world has ever known." He kissed her sweaty forehead and stood up. "I'll leave and later come pick you. Your body will still be hot when showed to your mother don't worry" He smiled smugly and winked at her before leaving.

She kept on fighting the poison, throwing all the self healing spells she knew. Her heart throbbed like a snake was suddenly wrapping around it, squeezing it to stop it's activities. Air seemed to get rarer and rarer and to top it all, she felt her magic depleting at an insane speed without changing anything to her situation. On the contrary, it seemed she was speeding the effects of the poison.

Her eyes filled with tears. Was she going to die just like this? Without even been able to prove her worth. To show the people who had looked down on her for being a bastard that she could make a change. And her sweet mother...

'No, I refuse to die!' But nothing could be done. Her magic was depleting too fast and she knew that a a soon as it would finish, it would be game over.

'Fight it!' She chanted repeatedly in her mind but her vision was getting blurrier by the second. Was she really going to loose? She was among the ten most powerful beings in the whole of Luxia and she was just going to die? She was too young to die. Pouring all her magic, she felt the pressure around her heart tightening and the next thing she knew, her magical reserve had been totally depleted.

Then the pain crashed in. Agonizing make her release a blood curdling scream. She felt her nose bleed, then her eyes and ears. Surely a side effect of fighting the venom as he told her she would die pretty, but at the same time he could be lying.

Unable to fight it anymore, her magic reaching it's breaking point, a tear rolled down her cheek

'I'm sorry mother, I couldn't fight it' She had closed her eyes, desperately, waiting for death to take her away.

****

"Wake up bitch!" A bucket of cold water splashed on her face. She jolted awake and shivered at the menacing black eyes starting at her. Her heart skipped a beat and she took a minute to try regain her bearings.

She was in a dark room, or maybe cell, seeing the bars ahead of her. She was bound to a chair, her hands bloodied and nails missing. Her face was sore as every single part of her body. She didn't doubt her toenails missed as well.

"I plucked all your nails and you didn't even flinch. You're quite the stubborn one, right bitch?!" Asked the vampire before her, and he was the very first vampire who looked so menacing. He had dark hair, difficult to figure out with the dimly lit environment, but she could clearly see his pitch black eyes and unnaturally protruding fangs, his acceptable features twisted in an intimidating scowl.

Trying to remember what happened for her to find herself in such a situation, she remembered encountering a man, only half visible due the darkness of the night, who made the absurd proposition of making her a slave. She declined of course and was dragged to the dungeons with a cold statement spoken over his shoulder.

'Do notify me in case you change you mind' which she'd answered by a gracious 'f*ck you son of a b*tch'

She snickered at the man standing before her, startling him for a slight second. Then she burst into laughter, making him wonder if she had some loose screws.

Just when her laughter had died down, the door to the cell slid open and a tall figure walked in and despite the fear in her heart, her smile widened recognizing the frame of the man who tried to enslave her.

He strode gracefully towards her and the vampire who was high and mighty a minute ago, bowed reverently towards him making her arch a brow in amusement.

"See how you were quick to hide your tail between your legs" And she giggled hysterically, making the earlier grit his teeth. But the one before her ignored her earlier statement and said with an indifferent tone.

"You have been here for more than a week and yet, you are still resisting" He said and she lowered her head, giggling to herself.

"Well what do you want? Weeds are the hardest plants to get rid of" She said and he chuckled.

"Indeed. I think you have had enough time to think about my proposal"

"Yeah and the answer is still a no. Now hurry up and kill me" She said with a small smile. Now the vampire at the back was a hundred percent sure this woman was totally crazy.

'She had to die!' He thought, aggrieved.

On the other hand, the man before her chuckled, his expression showing pure amusement.

"Forgive me for being rude. My name Kerian. Kerian Hawthorne, Third Prince of Aragorn." He said leaning back letting the information sink in her mind.

She gritted her teeth. The word Prince resounded in her mind like an echo, the rage she had had managed to bury soaring to new heights. Simply because a little over eight years earlier, three Princes of Aragorn actively participated in the decimation of her race.

"I might have a proposition you might like, but before that I think you need a good clean up."