Axel smiled as the forest wolf ran straight at him, jaws open and slavering, the intent to kill mercilessly burning in its dirty red eyes. Paws thudding on the ground in a rhythmic motion, the obscene monstrosity lowered its head, bringing its two demonic horns down to bear, and then charged.

[Blood Strings]

From Axel's hands flew thin filaments of crimson, lashing themselves to the trees right and left of the charging dog. More strings leapt from the anchored tendrils, creating a crisscrossed web of blood in front of the wolf.

By the time the cocky whelp had realised something was wrong, it was too late.

It plowed into the trip-strings with a yapping bark, or, to be more accurate, the trap plowed into it. Ib a few seconds the threads, thin as a blade and possessing all of their metal cousin's cutting strength, had sliced deep through flesh and sinew, whipping bones into pieces and rending muscle deeply. The forest wolf slammed into the ground and let out a pathetic, agonised whimper, then lay still. Axel walked over and started ripping the skin from the carcass, which he stowed in a pile to be washed in the nearby river, ready for tanning.

"Time to eat."

Bending his head, Axel silently thanked the wolf for his food, then started to drink with loud, bestial slurps.

"Hey!"

Axel turned his head to see a hooded man standing behind him, no more than twenty-five years old. "You're vampire. I saw it. I saw the blood. And," He grinned, "I'm going to kill you."

Axel snorted. "You won't be the first." Throughout his hike through the Greenmaw, the Dhampyre had met many young fools, ardent for some desperate glory to impress friends or a date, or perhaps hunters tricked by his young age. Either way, none of them were a match for him, and had provided some delicious blood. "Who are you?"

"Simplysomeone who wants to right wrongs."

I'm wrong? Who the fuck does this pup think he is? Axel licked his lips. "Well, Mr. Righting-Wrongs, you look delicious."

He charged, claws stabbing out through his knuckles, and slashed down. The man wasn't there. As the sharp edges embedded deeply into the ground, the man blurred sideways to the left. Axel snapped his neck to the side, shocked.

The fuck?

Axel snarled and charged towards the offending figure, claws poised to rip him in half. Instead of tearing into flesh, however, Axel cut only thin air as his opponent jumped up. A sharp pain blossomed in the Dhampyre's side and he crashed to the ground. Axel lay there, stunned and in pain.

How? Only silver weapons can harm Dhampyres. The Man told me that.

Idiot.

The voice rammed into his head. "H-how..." Axel felt the robe-clad figure staring at him from under the hood, a bloody metal claw in his hand. "Telepathy, huh...Just who are you?"

The figure pulled back the hood to reveal a young woman, no older than him in age. "Christine Adelfrost, at your service. I'm a C-Rank Vampire Hunter."

"The hell?" In the Eagle Consortium, D-Ranked warriors were rare, let alone C-Ranked ones. They were practically heroes. "A pipsqueak like you..."

"Yep. A pipsqueak like me." Christine pointed her claw at Axel's face. "A lesson before you die. Don't underestimate people."

Axel moved with snakelike vigour, spinning on the ground and kicking Christine into a nearby tree. "What are you, some wannabe hero that kills vampires for kicks?" The Dhampyre advanced on the hunter, whose eyes widened in fear for a reflexive moment, but quickly hardened.

"Why, you little..."

"Go to hell!" The little hunter's voice was shot through with anguish and rage. Axel drew back. Courage in the face of death was something he respected. He decided to probe a little rather than continue fighting.

"What did we do that merits you the right to hunt us like wolves?"

"What did my father and mother do that merited you guys the right to kill them?"

"Uh..."

"We were just farmers!" she spat. "We did nothing to you! Why did you have to try to kill us? They didn't even drink from them, just threw people aside like trash...how can you say you have the right to live when you don't give it to others?"

"..."

The girl closed her eyes. "Kill me, then, hellspawn. Show the world what a monster you are." Axel raised his hands angrily, scowling. She shrunk back, but gazed defiantly back all the more.

"... I won't." Axel lowered his hands.

"Huh?"

"I'm not...a monster. I won't be lumped in with those that kill for fun. I'm not that kind of person."

"Prove it then. You might just be afraid."

Axel returned her stare, refusing to back down.

Axel thought for a moment. "If I don't kill you, you'll just go back and bring more hunter friends."

"Damn right."

"But if I kill you, your friends will come looking for you anyway."

The girl smiled. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

Axel scowled. "I've really gotten myself into a situation."

"Yes, you have."

"Shut up."

Axel turned around, grinning. "Then I'll just bring you along."

The girl started to back away, then remembered she was against a tree. "W-wait! No!"

"Or I can kill you!"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows, then stared at him angrily. "Fine. But three rules. First, you don't touch me. Second, you don't talk to me unless absolutely necessary. Third, you stay away from me. At least three feet."

"What gives you the right to make the rules?" But Axel didn't contest, and as he stood up and walked away, beckoning to the girl, he failed to notice the glint of mischief dancing in her eyes.