Hear now the story of the American Huntress. a story of a family of royal descent moving across the oceans to become a powerful family in the new world.
Geri was born in a farming community in the southern part of the USA. Her family was a powerful source of all that was good in the world of those who have magic. a spell had been cast that the eldest girl would always have the ability to be the huntress. a lady who would fight those who walk at night
She was a slender lady with red hair that was long. She was the first daughter born since coming to America. Even though she was slender she had a strength that was not seen by looking. Both body and mind were strong.
Destiny for the family was that the eldest daughter would inherit the abilities of magic to assist with removing the evil taint of the undead.
During her earlier years Geri had felt a growing unease and could sense the evil around her. The undead has a decaying scent to them that she would feel as a smell. She was faster and stronger and she was hidden away be trained by her father in the combative techniques.
She was not a natural at fighting. It took long years for her to be able to hold her own. Her fathers family were the huntress line. Her mother’s family had been a minor nobility that was in disrepute and had fled to come to America. Through her mother’s side of the family is where she got her powers from that had nothing to do with hunting.
Geri was unique as she had the ability to shoot fire daggers that are thrown weapons. She was deadly accurate with thrown weapons.
The year was 1798 and Geri was 18 years of age. Due to her status her parents had kept her secluded especially from men. They had kept her pure of heart and body.
She had always trained but she didn’t know that as she reached the age of 18 her attributes came upon her. Speed had increased as had her stamina. Running was now much easier and she could run at full speed for 30 minutes. Her sight had become perfect and she was able to focus on the smallest details.
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Ger was wearing a puffy dress that was long down to her ankles and around her throat she had a choker on that had a cameo. The cameo also had a cross hidden in it that would help protect her from the undead. She wasn’t sure she believed in undead but her parents were insistent upon it.
She was walking back home after a party and she had refused to take her family away from the day to drive her back home in the horse and buggy. The days had become almost unbearable as she wanted the normal for girls her age. She had contemplated marriage and children but she had always been protected by her family and no male had been around her.
She was lost in her thoughts thinking of how her life was nothing like what she had wanted when she got an odd feeling.
A scent reached her nose that was part like stagnant marshwater mixed with decaying meat left out in the sun too long. She started to gag at the scent and felt extremely sick. She hadn’t spent that much time around anything that would have had the smell. She wasn’t around water ever so it wasn’t anything she would have anticipated.
Instantly a man seemed to appear out of shadows that would be impossible to hide in. He had long dark hair that touched his shoulders but looked matted and he had red eyes that seemed to glow evilly. The face and the expressions he made was not that of a normal person but was very angry and there was a power emanating around him that felt dark, unnatural and hungry.
He glared at her with something not quite angry but an inner hunger that was very predatory. “Hello young lady. Welcome to the last day of your mortal life”. He lunged at her and as he did she could see claws starting to grow from his fingers. He swung a blackened clawed hand at her. Geri pulled away at the last second and the claw grazed her cheek opening up a small cut.
A blood curdling scream erupted from her lips. Monsters were not supposed to exist. Her instincts took over and she managed to redirect the attack and pivoted away from the monster.
The cameo around her neck started to glow and she could feel a warmth that emanated from a white light. She could hear voices whispering encouragement from deep in her own mind. Her mind was making things up because of the attack. The mind voices were telling her to not panic and to use her given abilities as The Huntress.
The light quickly enveloped Ger, giving her a boost of energy and her mind became clear and her vision tightened in on what was happening. The light was minor and as it calmed down to a gentle glow she felt her veins begin to pulsate and turn red, her heart began to beat faster and she felt a new vigour deep down in her body that something has fundamentally changed.
She could feel the holy light encompass her and
could feel that something was changing in herself. The power of the huntress was activating, she had always assumed it was just a story that her father told about the family.
Attacking with ferocious punches, however her training in defence was good and her muscle memory took over. The speed of his attacks was so quickly that she could barely keep up. He blurred as his punches got close to her just missing slightly and snapping the tree with his strength.
She blocked each punch that came at her. After a few moments of this she swept his legs out from under the man. He crumpled to the ground and she felt a power in her hands and a dagger of pure flame erupted into existence. She threw the dagger on instinct. The first time she threw it too much to the right it struck a beautiful older tree exploding it into an orange ball with soot flying around.
Geri was shocked but another fire dagger emerged from her hands and this time she slashed it at the creature. The vampires speed was too much and he avoided the slash with ease. He smiled baring fangs that looked greyish and had specks of red as if something had bled into them recently.
He approached her slowly allowing the fear to intensify. He reached out and Geri whimpered but her instincts took over. The knife of fire appeared again. This time she moved back through rolling and heard in her mind instructions of when to throw. She listened and threw the dagger with the aim of an expert marksman. The dagger pierced the heart and immediately he burst into orange flames. He disappeared in the off of soot as if he never had existed.
She had always heard that fire would kill vampires and many of the undead minions. She had never seen it in practice. She thought of all the history of the magical undead and remembered Fire, garlic , holy symbols, and holy water could all be deadly to the less than living.
She watched the soot flying around in a mini whirlwind. Her eyes were fixated and she didn’t hear the person who walked carefully towards her. She felt the air around her drop in temperature as she was in the icebox.
Slow clapping from behind her interrupted her thoughts and watched what the fire had just done to another being. “So it’s true the Huntress has awakened. At last…the Huntress walks this earth once more. Your blood has eluded mine for centuries.It won’t be now but beware the power of Balor. Grow in strength as we are each other’s destiny. You will soon join me in immortal life. Ivor was smart to run to this place.”. he ran quickly away.
As she listened, her eyes darted around to anyplace she could escape. Strange what your mind thinks when you are in danger. There was no bugs or animals even moving, there was no wind and the stars seemed to be diminished by the very air around Balor.
Balor looked and smiled and slowed the dark fans to protrude from before his lips. They were stark white compared to the other. Almost too white to bare and the points of the fangs seemed to glisten and shine. He took one step closer to her looking as menacing as possible glaring directly to her soul.
She ran as fast as she could, which was faster than she had ever run before. She got home and went and hid in her closet. Speed was something new to her; she couldn’t believe that she was able to run faster than her father’s swiftest horse.
Hiding in the large dark closet is where here mother found her. Ger was shivering and it was not from cold but from the removal of the adrenaline that pushed through her veins.
Her mother took one look at her face which must have had a look of pure fear and knelt down beside her eldest daughter. “Geri what happened?” she said in a soothing voice.
Geri was crying now as finally she was able to let out all her emotions. “After I killed someone they told me about Ivor and I don’t know who Ivor is. He also said his name was Balor”
The look on her mother’s face now had her even more scared. Her eyes held nothing but shock and this was not something she has ever seen before.
Her mother sat down beside her “It’s time to learn about your past.” The voice sounded very different and has a thick accent which had finished to a gentle one normally.
“Balor has a vendetta against our family. Two fold in fact as he says he has a destiny to kill The Huntress line. That is on your father’s side but with my side we were minor nobles back in the old country. Many generations ago we were at war with other clans and one of them was Balor and his clan. In fact we ended up destroying that clan killing his father and all able bodied men. It was not something we are proud of but war is harsh.”
Geri was shocked she knew about the wars that happened in Ireland. She knew there had to be more to the story as why would the ancient vampire known as Balor want her family gone. “There has to be more to this story”
The mother nodded “There is, and it’s a tale that is much sadder. Balor was married at one point before he became part of the undead legions. His wife and unborn child perished in a fire that my family set using fire. He swore vengeance on my ancestors. He was locked away in an asylum for many years before an ancient vampire decided he needed a servant.”
Bile rose in Geri’s throat. No wonder she was going to be destined to die to Balor. She sat there to feel sympathy for him after losing his wife and unborn child and then being locked away for who knows how long. She felt her family had done this thing wrong. She stuttered as she asked a question “Mama when did this happen?”
Her mother looked at with pitty in her eyes as she dabbed away the tears from her cheek. “Darling it was over 200 years ago. He was not what you would call good even back then. He did much damage and the ancients of that time found a willing servant to help them create the darkness they desire. Rest my brave one in the morning your father will tell you his story.”.
Geri got it out of her hiding spot and went and looked at herself in the mirror. The scratch on her cheek was healed, what kind of dark magic was this that made her fight like a possessed lady and then heal her quickly. Her hair that was bright red she could see a tiny speck of gray to it now. Was her magical nature stealing her own life energy to power her Huntress ways.
She began to breathe hard and almost fainted at the sight of what she looked like. She was tired and felt that she would fall into a deep slumber that she would never awaken from.
Did the vampire cause her age to fluctuate where she now looked older than her 18 years. Magic she wasn’t as familiar and hasn’t really paid much attention to what she had been told but now she worried that this would cause her a lot more issues.
Geri went and took a bath that was so hot that her skin was starting to turn slightly red. Her muscles started to relax and she could feel the stress starting to slowly wash away. She needed some sleep and maybe in the morning she would be able to feel better.
Dreams or Nightmares will probably be the norm. She has broken one of the top rules of her faith. Thou shalt not kill. She had definitely killed and it made her think would she go to heaven when she died or would God make her go to Hell because she had broken his biggest law.
She snuggled down into the goose down feather bed that had the canopy and blinds going all around it. She fell asleep fitfully knowing that her family had caused this issue and she was being hunted just because she was from a noble family.
Her mind drifted to what had transpired when she slept. Seeing the red eyes, feeling his breath and the speed of his attacks. She also could remember the smell before he attacked as well as the smell of burning flesh and the metallic scent of the blood as the vampire burned.
Her stomach lurched as she slept and her dream self felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach.
Her dreams started to turn and she saw women who were holding swords, and had bows and stakes strapped to their bodies. They looked very young, most looked like they couldn’t be over the age of 20. They all had scars and some even looked like they had the fangs of a vampire.
Could these be the voices that she had heard in her head during the fight, helping her defeat a vampire. She saw the darkness appear around them and it slowly started to swallow them up one by one. She started to shiver as the darkness started to make ice surround her.
She sensed fear all around her, was this what the ice surrounding her really meant? Was it expected that her heart would harden and she would lose the very thing that made her human?
The dream shifted again and she saw graves with huge stones carved with names and dates of death. Her siblings’ names and her parents were all there. This must mean she was destined to fight alone and not have the support of the family that she had always loved despite how over protective they were of her.
She reached for her belly area and felt an emptiness inside her. Something was off with her body that she had never thought of. This magic that had her would mean she would never have a child. So few of those she has seen in her dream even looked old enough to have had a chance to make a child. What would the huntress magic even do to her.
Geri jerked awake sitting up with cold sweat drenching her nightgown. That was some vivid dream that she had. There was no way she would have been able to find the answers in herself. She knew the library might have some information.
She got up slowly, took a fluffy towel and dried herself off. She put on a pair of soft shoes and walked to the library. As she tried to open it the door wouldn’t budge at all. She kept trying to push it but no matter what she did it wouldn’t open. She snuck back to her bedroom and she would have to try again later to get in. There was information that she required.
As she turned to walk away she heard a ghostly voice “You are not ready!”. She thought at first she imagined it but as she approached again the voice sounded harsher and said again “You are not ready!”
Geri froze as the voice gave her chills down her spine. This was not normal, could the Huntress power and killing have driven her insane. She rushed back to her bedroom and closed the door.
She jumped under the blankets and pulled it up over her head and shivered as she tried to remain calm.
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Geri had spent a restless night where she barely slept. The act of violence has her thinking too much about what would happen when she died.
She jumped and made a squeak as a knock on the door suddenly happened. She gulped audibly, taking in a deep breath. “Enter”
The door opened slowly creaking which only made her nerves act more wonky. A large man with muscles and hair that touched his shoulder. She knew him very well-known this was her Papa.
He looked at her “Your first fight and you don’t look like you have a single wound on you. “
She looked at her dad “You aren’t looking in the right places. My ribs are bruised and I had a sprained ankle. I had a cut across my face and I felt like my heart was going to explode from all the exertion I was doing.”
He shook his head “You are part of a rich heritage and all our training was meant to prepare you to take on the evil that is the undead. You aren’t having an easy time of it. Tell me what you are feeling?”
She shook her head. “I can’t”. she stuttered and could feel her stomach drop as the fear of what she did had opened.
Her father left her and she allowed her tears to start to fall. What had she become, she was becoming more like the monsters that she was supposed to fight.
This was not what she expected and not what she ever wanted. This was part of the issue she wanted what normal girls had which was a husband and a family with a beautiful home.
In the next installment she will find out more about the Huntress calling and find out more about the family she never met.
Crazy Canadian Writing 