Sylphia walked along the dark forest back-road, a saunter in her step emphasising the confidence she had in her enviable physique. Her long hair was tied back in a mid-height ponytail, its colour the lightest blonde to match her paled skin. She wore a blouse covered by a bodice, looking somewhat like a tavern whench, the white of the blouse making her skin seem more vibrant while the dark bodice highlighting her fair sized cleavage. Her dark red skirt bore an undone zipper up the side of it, revealing tight black shorts underneath, the skirt stopping just above the knee, mirroring the boots most way up her calves, several silver clasps adorning them. Topping her outfit was her most precious, technically borrowed, belonging; a dark black jacket that seemed to defy the wind, moving in its own fluidly surreal way.

As she walked, waiting, she pondered her life, as usual. She was a young vampiress and something of a former protégé to Gabriel, who was renowned amongst Hunters. Ever since he'd left, she'd donned his jacket and continued the task in his place. She had quickly learned why there weren't many vampire-hunting vampires left: rogues vastly outnumbered them, their strength growing each decade and every other supernatural being seemed to be out to get you. She soon became a much stronger vampire, having no-one to depend on she often had to save herself, or rely on Baal. Her hand touched the tip of Baal's handle, its lusting hiss burning into her mind, her hand flinching away. Its hunger and blood thirst were almost painful, even to a vampire like herself. She remembered when Gabriel had first explained what Baal was...

"Baal is more than just a weapon" he'd said, "It has a spirit, known as an artifact spirit. When an object is used over a long period of time, it may start to grow a spirit of its own. Baal has been used by Elder vampires to slay rogues for millennia, crafted more of will and conviction than steel. Centuries of being bathed in blood, exposed to vampiric hunger and wielded with bloodlust caused it to grow its own hunger, and as it continued to be bathed in blood, it grew to relish it, becoming stronger and thirstier. No-one knows what Baal's original form was, if it ever had one, as it is now beyond physical limitations of a set "form". It now assumes the form most suited to the fighting style and personality of its wielder, much like my jacket, but that is if Baal accepts you at all. Baal could simply devour you, either tearing your mind asunder to use you as vessel of its appetite, or tearing your body apart and absorbing you. The more control you have over your hunger, the less control Baal has over you when you wield it. This fact also makes Baal an effective training weapon, forcing you to steel your mind and control your blood thirst whilst drawing out your inner strength"

"Does that mean I can use it?" Sylphia had asked, if a little excitedly,

"Of course not, you're too young, it'd crush your mind in an instant" he'd spat "I keep it hidden within my jacket, you need to call it out to draw it; and when you do that, it will lash out at your mind, tearing it down if it finds weakness...".

After he'd left her, she'd taken his jacket, knowing it would help keep her safe, entirely saving her life at times. It was many years before she dared to attempt wielding Baal, and Gabriel had been right; it very nearly claimed her the first time she used it. She'd been imprisoned by a rogue Elder vampire at the time and desperately needed some extra strength to escape. She'd been left with the jacket after being patted down and left in a dark room somewhere in their hideout, deciding a better fate lay with risking the use of Baal; she drew it from the jacket. The strength it granted her was massive, allowing her to break out of the building, but her mind had nearly caved under the weight. She'd been a barely conscious killing-machine, slaughtering anything that came upon her, even felling the Elder rogue in combat. It wasn't until she came about after passing out from exhaustion that Sylphia's mind was fully hers again, only managing to regain it because of Baal's long slumber...

Sylphia had since learnt to control Baal vastly better now, but she still felt overcome by a blood-thirsty urge every time she used the weapon, no matter how hard she tried. She had quickly come to detest its hideous nature, even though she had once been possessed of a similar nature. She had been a very different person then, but her time with Gabriel had made her a better person, even if he wasn't always the best company or role-model.

As she started to dwell on her emotions regarding Gabriel's absence, she felt a sudden presence behind her. She cursed inwardly; she'd been daydreaming on the job, yet again. She quickly stretched out her senses, regaining her bearings. She sensed someone walking along close behind her in plain sight, their young, reckless hunger barely hidden. Sylphia was curious; their hunger was strong, yet they were not attempting to hide it in the slightest, a very poor hunting tactic. She knew she was the target, she could almost feeltheir hunger caressing her. It took her a moment to sense the other presences moving silently, hidden amongst the trees along the roadside, their hungers barely noticeable through the use of a technique requiring much skill.

She realised she was in the centre of a trap. She quickly ran the details of the mission through her head. She'd heard there'd been a series of disappearances along this back-road, circumstances reeking of a rogue vampire's tactics. Sylphia had been confident that she was strong enough to handle the task herself, but now she was beginning to regret her arrogance.

"Hey girl, whatchu doin' walking down a dark road like this all by your cute little lonesome?" called the reckless rogue vampire, an evil smirk upon his lips.

Sylphia ignored him, picking up her pace, trying her best to mimic the way most of their victims would behave. The rogue kept pace easily, starting to move closer, his unseen accomplices moving in closer as well. The rogue reached out his hand to grab Sylphia's shoulder.

She grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm over her shoulder and sharply downward with a dull wet crunch, her other hand reaching over her head to grab the back of his neck, throwing him over her shoulder and onto his face, landing with another sickening sound. She leapt back from the body, her hunger and power lashing out, no longer restrained. A vampire flew out from the forest at a break-neck speed, Sylphia's reactions proved faster as she spun around with a kick, her boot catching under the vampire's chin, heel slamming down onto its throat, a spray of blood flying out of the rogue's mouth as it disintegrated into ash. A powerful blow landed square in Sylphia's back, sending her flying forward, the jacket absorbing most of the impact. She landed on her hand, pivoting on it and shifting onto her feet, looking up just in time to dodge a hand flying at her face, Sylphia's hand knocked the attackers arm wide and striking at their torso her open palm, memories of fighting lessons with Gabriel flickering on the edge of her focus. The vampire caught Sylphia's hand, their foot lashing up at her vulnerable side, Sylphia's hand snapping out and catching the foot. With a lightning quick flourish, using a manoeuvre she'd developed from techniques Gabriel had taught her, Sylphia flipped them under her as she used the momentum to leap into the air, bringing them back over her as she spun, throwing them down hard with their combined weight and velocity, her boot crashing down onto their chest as they collided with the ground, blood, ash and bits of road flying from the impact.

Sylphia stood back, taking a moment to assess her situation. She'd dispatched three rogue vampires already, and she'd sensed few concealed hungers, her ability to detect other hungers wasn't the best, but there was still something nagging at her.

Then it hit her, literally...

Heh, was going to be a short to introduce Sylphia by herself and to showcase her combat abilities, but I've changed my mind and plan on doing a running story instead.

Just a bit of backstory: Sylphia and Gabriel meet, get along, he runs around with her following, training her, their relationship part lovers, part mentor/student. An incident took Gabriel out of the picture and to cope with her loss and out of respect for him she took his place as a Hunter. He eventually returns, but his life story will hopefully become a novel (I'm making a start, and it's my life dream), but until he returns, Sylphia lives an interesting life, so I'll put the stuff that happens to her on here.