Chapter 263Swords to Flight

The woman made another attack with her sword. The length of it made it very hard to judge and dodge. But there was little other choice, was there? I certainly didn't presume to be able to stop a sword with my hands.

Now that I saw her movements up front, I noticed something else.

Vampire.

At first I was afraid that it might be a vampire hunter or something. But now that I saw she was a vampire herself, there must be another reason for her to hunt me. Could I reason with her? A small part of me was still gazing at her beautiful long hair, flowing through the air a she attacked.

"Stop! Who are you?"

She blinked once and moved her sword slightly, as if to think about the next strike. "I am the one that kills you."

She struck again with her sword, but I dodged. She appeared quite surprised by my own speed.

"Wait! Why?"

She scowled. "You're a collaborator with a follower of Baal! A traitor!"

Was she talking about... "Isabel?"

She growled, a feral noise in the back of her throat, and attacked again. This time a forward thrust that I could only awkwardly avoid by sidestepping and turning. Not good, she was getting way too close for comfort.

There were two things I could do, try and avoid her completely, not fighting and hoping she would come to reason enough to talk to, or attack her. But if I attacked her, she would have more reason to try and hit me. The easiest way out would be to go up.

So I did...

I rose up in the air before she could make another strike and the expression on her face soon changed. She rose up as well, but slowly, holding her sword pointing downwards. There was curiosity on her face instead of the anger from before. She hovered up to my height but kept a polite distance, looking into my eyes.

"You're too young to be able to do this, so an old one must have given you blood. You're no fighter and you would never be strong enough to fool an old one." She sniffed the air. "If I had to guess, I'd say Afentis is your patron, but he would never deal with a traitor. So... Explain."

I blinked, almost losing my concentration and falling. "Wait... what?"

She gripped her sword a little. "I don't have much patience with supposed traitors, start talking; Who are you, who is your patron, what is your bond with... Isabel?"

I shook my head. "I am Amy and Afentis is the one who turned me and gave me the blood so I could fly." I looked around but I realized that she was probably a lot faster, more experienced in the air, than I was. "And Isabel...I'm not sure what to say about her. I'm not sure I trust her anymore, she's caused quite a bit of grief. But always in ways that can't really be traced."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You're speaking the truth. You may live, for now." She turned around, ready to leave.

"No, wait. Who are you?"

She turned around and glared, she was so beautiful. I didn't even notice before that her eyes were the deepest emerald green I'd ever seen in someones eyes. It was almost clashing with her hair but somehow... somehow it worked. I completely forgot to look at her clothing before as well, but she was wearing something that looked very out of place in this age.

It looked like something from a hundred years ago, but not girls' clothing. It was a very tomboy-ish look, that would have made her look male if it wasn't for her obvious beauty.

"I am Muriel."

She headed away, ignoring me again and flying off over the city. Why was this woman hunting for me, or rather for Isabel? She appeared not to hunt for fun, but with a strong sense of purpose. She spoke Isabel's name as if it meant pure evil, one that must be killed.

Still confused, I hung in the air, wondering what to do.

What a strange woman...