As night fell over the town of Harper Rock, young families tucked their little ones into bed while those that had yet to make to make it into the comfort of their abodes rushed across the dark unforgiving streets, afraid to stay out too late having heard rumors of the many horrifying incidents that have happened in this town. On the other hand, young rebellious teens sneaked out of their homes despite their parents’ warnings, ignorant to the dangers the night brought or simply did not care for them. That is, until it happens to them. Meeting up with their cliques, the ignorant thrill seekers filter into clubs and bars across the districts, hoping for a good time.
As the night activities of Harper Rock began, beneath them in the intricate network of sewage tunnels, a figure dressed in a sleeveless hoodie and a comfy pair of sweats traversed in a rather foul mood. Leather clad clenched fists dug into the pockets of the sweats while Nike black trainers lifted and fell gently onto shallow water leaving a trail of rippling puddles and wet footprints.
Xylia had just barely recovered from a number of critical injuries given by the creatures of the wilderness. Faes they were called. She had been caught unawares, passed out in the wilderness when a pair of them had pounced on her like savages. It had been quite an experience, waking up to the faces of monstrous creatures trying or appearing to be eating her alive. When she had been summoned that ill-fated day, she was revealed to be losing blood the way dense fog came out of a bucket filled to the brim with dry ice under running water. No closer inspection was needed to see where the fledgeling had been wounded. It was as clear as daylight that she had a sloppily severed arm, a cleanly pierced heart, as well as a couple of bullet wounds in her torso, courtesy of hunters with a vengeance for her kind. Thanks to that, it’d been a week of staying indoors and relying on others for blood heals, make sure she did not starve like a babe. Not that she was ungrateful for their help , Xylia simply disliked relying on others and preferred avoiding doing so at all cost if possible. It made her feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, exposed. With the history she had, it was understandable.
The little time out had only given the few weeks old fledgeling time to replay the scene of the attack over and over. The more she thought about it the more frustration build up, frustration with herself for making such an amateur mistake. No blame would be laid on the Hunters for doing their job. Each had their personal reasons for hunting her kind, some of which she could even relate to. Neither would she blame the faes for they too had they’re reasons for doing so, just like her kind did them. The blame laid within herself. The thought of making such an amateur mistake had Xylia’s fists itching for something to vent her frustrations on. Unfortunately, with the knowledge that she would be unable to do so until she recovered at least, she opted for murdering a nightmare from her childhood and cursing them. The mind murderings successfully took up most of her time during her stay indoors while other times were spent reading and the occasional paranoia and restlessness. Xylia was one who was constantly on the move, therefore not used to staying in one place for too long. It was a miracle she even stayed at the hotel for more than a day, needless to say a week.
Nevertheless, her indoor stay was finally over. She had survived, and that meant ensuring the same mistake did not occur a second time.
Xylia’s train of thoughts dispersed as she shifted her focus to finding out where her feet had brought her while she had been busy pondering. She recalled taking the fadeportal to the caverns, crossing a small patch of the wilderness before plunging into the sewers at Moss End, and upon briefly remembering her need to feed headed for the nearest lesser monitored area she knew of... Peering out of the sewers, she found herself at the edge of Gullsborough district, Thornside Park just a short walk away. Perfect.
Just as she was about to exit, the distinctive sound of metal soaring through the air towards her caught her attention and forced Xylia to leap back Westwards, just in time to see a throwing dagger soar pass a centimeter in front of her nose. Had she realized any later the weapon would have hit her in the head. With her currently translucent right hand, trouble was the last thing on her mind. Though seeing as it always found her, might as well make the best of it. She could use some help with putting her senses back on edge.
Noting the soaring weapon had come from the north, she briskly continued down the tunnel she had took cover in checking for signs of traps before coming to an intersection. Continue straight? There was a high risk of running into another nuisance if she went straight, so now it was a matter of selecting North or South. The fledgeling decided to turn North and found herself regretting the decision a moment later. She had just effectively trapped herself at a dead end with nothing but a useless altar, similar to the one in Pandemonium if memory served her right, she noted briefly. Seeing no better options for the moment, Xylia waits for her assailant, face schooled into a stoic expression.
Faint squelching footsteps and the rustling of clothes with every squelching step were the telltale signs of her approaching assailant. Peering round the corner with one eye, Xylia caught the silhouette of a figure emerging from the shadows of the tunnel where she had walked through not a minute ago. Broad shoulders and a muscular build, a dead giveaway that her assailant was most likely male. As her male assailant drew closer, she caught sight of the hint of a symbol or pattern of sorts tattooed on the back of his left hand, peeking out beneath the dark long sleeves of his jacket. The name of a recently learned supernatural came into mind, Paladin. She had skimmed through some records on them back at Pandemonium. If she remembered correctly, tattoos of runes and symbols are imprinted into their skin by sorcerers and the powers they harness are especially harmful to vampires. Some even had the powers of faes? Great. Of all times it had to find her right after her recovery. Furthermore she was not fully recovered yet. The thought of having to stay indoors for another week sent chills down her spine. Maybe she should have just stayed at Pandemonium for a day longer.
Looking around for an idea, a small silver ring by the altar caught her eye. A few seconds before the Paladin would see her, Xylia grabbed the ring and threw it South into the tunnel across from her effectively distracting the paladin. A second was all she needed to slip out of her tunnel and make her way behind him with barely a sound made. Calling upon the shadows, the Paladin found himself embraced by darkness before he felt a weight on his back. Xylia had pounced on him, and now as he struggled to get her off, he elbows her in the stomach a number of times which evoked no reaction from her until he elbowed her chest where her still healing heart was. Black dots spotted her vision and her one-handed grip on him slackened. The Paladin was quick to free himself and before she could recover, he was behind her, holding her in a chokehold. It was a second after he had a grip on her neck that Xylia felt a huge drain on her blood levels. Was he stealing blood from her? Wasn’t that what blood thieves did? No, blood thieves consumed vampire blood, this was most probably one of the powers a Paladin had, she gathered. Desperate to keep what little amount of blood she had left, she elbowed him in the ribs with a considerable amount of strength which forced him to loosen his grip on her neck before she grabbed one of his arm and swung him over her head with the help of her other arm jabbing his side. Now with his back facing her, she kicks his legs out from under him bringing his knees to the ground before she appeared in front of him and gave him a blow to his temple sending him into the wall of the tunnel just a foot away with the force behind her blow.
The fledgeling was noticeably paler than before due to low blood levels. She had left the hotel feeling rather empty and now that he had drained some of what little pints of blood she had, she was left with an estimate of three pints. If he had been trying to weaken her, it was not working. In fact, nothing had changed besides her increasing appetite to see blood.
Eyes glowed silver in hunger as they stared down at their prey who was currently in the process of trying to gather his wits to find his balance.