An Unlikely Alliance

Chapter 3: Revenge

Artemis paced back and forth across her cabin with her arms crossed behind her back, the wooden floorboards creaking and shifting underneath her feet. "Why the hell did I say that to him?! Now I'm going to look cocky as a first impression." She took a deep breath, "I knew that demon booked it out of the woods when it sensed me coming that way, but I never actually fought the thing face-to-face. I just made it sound like I did so I could start off on good terms with those werewolves."

Artemis paused, one of her sharpened nails jabbing into her palm. A drop of blood beaded on the spot, and she used her thumb to wipe it off. Then she had an idea.

"I might just know how to solve this dilema." she said with a gleam in her eye.

She opened a birchwood cabinet by the door of the cabin, taking out a polished bronze crossbow with a golden bridge. Then she opened a drawer below it and pulled out a waist-quiver of bolts for the gilded weapon. She took a minute to dip each one of them in a fresh bottle of Holy Water just for good measure. And yes, she boiled the 'hell' out of it first.

Artemis grinned and dusted off her clothes, "Time to go kick some demon ass." She clipped the quiver to her belt as she walked over to the door, strapping the crossbow to her arm. She lifted a dark emerald cloak off a rack on the wall and fastened it around her shoulders with a golden arrow pin. After she locked up the weapons cabinet, she headed out the door and towards the lake.

"Where are you going so early in the morning, Lady Bloodfang? You should be resting." Artemis turned to face the old man, "I encountered a demon during yesterday's hunt that decidedly pissed me off a bit. I didn't get the chance to finish it off, so I'm going to hunt it down and get it out of the way before noon." He went to say something else, but she stopped him, "It's personal, Barach. Please, don't bother with me today." She threw up the hood of her cloak and jogged into the woods.

She walked along the canopied paths until she reached the spot where she'd found the Alpha the day before. Dried blood still coated the leaves under the pine tree, now with a dull grey luster. Just as she had expected, when she looked over to the right, she saw the trail of black blood leading West. Artemis slowly walked towards it, now realizing that she had never really explored into that half of the woods despite the many years she had lived in the forest.

Artemis followed the trail through trampled underbrush and toppled trees, wood splinters littering the ground. It sure was in a hurry to escape, she thought to herself as she examined the wreckage. She felt a chill down her spine and sped up slightly, the tips of her cloak seeming to snag on almost every broken twig.

After a few minutes of walking, a thick mist had settled over the ground and the sky had darkened. Artemis' skin crawled and her hairs stood on end. "How did it so gloomy and quiet so fast..." she muttered, "It's still morning." And of course, it only got worse the further she went.

Artemis soon found herself in a sort of marshland. She was surrounded by purplish mud and barren black trees with one or two purple leaves on them. Purple tinted grass covered sparse patches of land here and there, murky black water separating the patches.

Artemis heard the loud snap of a tree branch and whipped out her crossbow, slightly on edge. Her body froze on the spot, nearly stopping her breathing and heartbeat as she listened for movement. Her eyes flitted around, but she kept her calm composure as she was trained to do during a hunt. A crow cawed from the tree above her, seemingly the only other living creature in the swamp. Of course, she knew better than to overlook that.

Artemis loaded her crossbow, swirling her free arm around her. Almost immediately, she felt a cold spot in the air, devoid of all warmth and life. And what would you know, a demonic aura followed it, straight from where the crow was perched. She sighed, keeping her crossbow under her cloak, "How long are you going to hide behind that vulgar beast of an animal? You're not fooling anyone, hellspawn."

The crow dissolved into shadows and Artemis heard a voice hiss in her ear, "Who are you that you would dare to venture near the Dark Kingdom, mortal?" She smiled, "Oh, I can assure you, I'm not venturing. I'm hunting. And for your information, I was not aware that border of the Demon Realm was this close." The shadow solidified into a somewhat discernable shape, a large smokey figure that wavered from time to time, "You are rather brash for a mortal. Tell me, just what would someone like you be hunting here?"

Her crossbow was aimed at its chest in seconds, "Judging by the blood trail that leads directly to this spot, you of course. You must be the demon archer that interfered with my hunt yesterday. In fact, you tainted my prey." The demon sneered, "You spout nonsense, mortal. The only beings I crossed paths with were vampires and werewolves, and the vampires never even caught me. I doubt they were even aware of my presence."

Her fang protruded past her lip, "Which is why I've been letting you call me mortal this whole time, just to see when you would realize. Really, it's nothing personal." She pulled off her hood, revealing her face. She watched delightfully as the fear dawned on the demon's face. But he was a split second too late.

A sliver bolt tore through the shadow, holy water spinning off of the tip in every direction. The demon roared in pain and anger, dispersing into the dense fog. All that was left was a pair of curled black horns from the demon's real body. Artemis smiled and blew off the tip of her crossbow, "Problem solved."

She picked up the horns and headed back the way she'd came. Halfway back, she found herself on the edge of a clearing, a field of wildflowers spread before her. Surely it wouldn't hurt to rest a bit before she went home. With a sigh, she walked out of the trees and sat in the grass, laying aside her weapons and the horns. The sweet smell of the flowers filled her nose and she curled up on the bed of grass, letting the soft breeze lull her to sleep.