Fantasy

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS JUST A BEGINNING - I WANTED TO GET SOME FEEDBACK BEFORE DIVING HEAD FIRST INTO IT.
She crouches, watching the woods for her prey.  Her breathing slows, almost stopping, as her eyes focus on the distant trees at the other edge of the clearing.  There, just stepping out from behind the dense trees about 300 yards away she can clearly see the large hulking shape she has been waiting for.  It lumbers toward the bleating goat she has placed as bait, 50 yards to her right.
Slowly, she rises.  Her muscles are tense and her olive skin glistens with the morning dew.  Silently, she raises the light flexible bow, cocks her head slightly to the left, closes her right eye and aligns the point of her deadly arrow with her target’s heart, 70 yards away.  She draws back the soft yet unbreakable spider-silk and waits for the perfect shot.
The creature lunges for the goat, but her arrow strikes first, throwing the beast back with a spray of blood.  It howls in pain as it struggles to get back on its feet.  Before it can gain purchase, the huntress is atop it, dagger poised for the kill.
“Care to die as a beast or as a human?” she asks.
The creature issues a low guttural noise from its throat.  It swipes at her with a huge paw of sharp claws, but she is too quick and deftly dodges the blow. 
“You prefer to fight?  It will only prolong your inevitable death”, the huntress mocks the beast. 
It growls in response and lunges at her.  Again, she evades the attack, spinning to the left and sinking her dagger into its massive thigh.  Another howl rings through the clearing, sending the watching birds in the trees overhead scattering into the morning sky.  A laugh escapes the huntress.  It sounds like the tinkling of shattered glass, both beautiful and frightening.  The beast backs away and straightens itself.  Standing about ten feet tall, with thick dark fur covering its long strappy muscles, the werewolf lets a menacing smile play across its muzzled face.  Its long sharp teeth glisten with saliva as it circles the huntress to the right.  She stands perfectly still, eyes closed, with no fear.  Death, if it were to ever come, would be welcome to her.  But it won’t come, not here, not now.  The werewolf lunges at her back.  It seems she never moves, but the beast falls to the ground were she had been standing.  She turns and pulls the dagger from the monster’s throat and wipes the blood on its fur.  The beast begins to shrink and shimmer back into its human form as the huntress turns to leave.  She thanks the goat for his help.  Anything for you huntress, he responds and then disappears into the woods.
Her bare feet are silent as she speeds through the forest.  She listens to the animals chatter around her, hoping for her next victim, but it is early day, not the usual time for evil to be lurking.  She decides to go to her favorite river to freshen up. 
She steps into the cool water of the Nile River, feeling the smooth stones beneath her feet.  At the water’s edge, the crocodiles great her warmly. 
Good morning young huntress.  How was the kill?  Did you bring some back for us?
It was swift, boring. She replies. 
More than six decades of hunting the evil in the world and yet the emptiness and pain are still with her.  She sighs and sinks below the water.  As she swims beneath the surface, she lets her mind wander.  How much longer must she endure this?  How horrible were the acts she committed that she must suffer to this extent?  Her first memory slips into her mind…
Her eyes flutter open as bright light pierces through her eyelids.  She looks up into a brilliant blue sky with dark green leaves at the edges of her vision.  She hears a high-pitched voice in her head greet her, Hello huntress. She sits up and looks around her.  A large bird is sitting on a branch just a few feet from her, its head tilted as it studies her.  “Did you just say something”, she asks out loud.  The exotic bird spreads its gigantic wings and takes flight.  Its feathers are a crimson red that sparkle like rubies in the sunlight.  It circles high above her, and then dips and plunges back toward the ground.  The beautiful bird lands on the forest floor by her feet, which are sprawled out in front of her.  Do you remember how you got here? The bird asks.  “No”, she responds out loud.  The bird chuckles. 
You don’t have to speak out loud you know.  I can hear your responses in my head.  That’s how you can communicate with us.
Us? She asks.
Animals, silly huntress.  The bird chuckles again.
I don’t understand...why am I here?  How can I be speaking with you?  Where am I?
Relax. The bird replies.  I know it’s confusing.  Let me explain.  I am a Phoenix.  You were dying, and I returned you to life by sacrificing my own immortality.  You have the Mark of the Hunter.
The Mark of the Hunter?  She asks.  Dying?
The Phoenix sighs.  Yes.  I don’t know how you came to be in my forest, or why you were dying, but the mark on your arm – the Mark of the Hunter – called out to me.  I gave you my immortality so that you may become a Hunter of Evil.
The huntress looked down at her arm at the funny birthmark shaped like a crescent moon.  How? Why?  The young huntress questioned.
Well, the bird began, I saved you by giving you my golden blood.  This makes you immortal.  Your immortality is vital to becoming a Hunter.  As a Hunter, or rather Huntress, it is your responsibility to rid the world of evil…no matter the cost.  This is your destiny.  You will remain a Huntress until you find true love, if you can manage to get close enough to someone to accomplish that.  Once you find this love, you will be returned to your human self and live out the rest of your life normally.  The more evil you destroy the more pure your heart will become, which will allow you to get closer to other humans.  This is the only way to find your true love… with the purest heart.  Good luck young huntress.
The bird took flight again, but the huntress yelled out, “What is my name?” 
You have none, the Pheonix responded, you shall remain a nameless threat to anything that terrorizes the human race until your heart is pure.  This is your destiny and your penance for the unspeakable evils you have committed in your previous life. 
And with that the bird was gone.  What could I have possibly done?, she thought to herself. 

She surfaced from the river far below where she had first submerged.  She estimated she had gone almost 100 miles in the short swim.  The huntress swam to shore and stepped out of the water into the blistering heat.  The sun sparkled like diamonds off the water dripping from her long dark hair.  She shook herself like a cat, splattering water on the young elephant that had been standing and staring at her in awe.  The elephant let out a loud blast from its trunk, startling its herd that was grazing further down the river. 
Get over hear and leave the Huntress alone!, its mother scolded.
The tiny elephant slowly ambled back to the herd, glancing back only when he thought his mother was looking the other way.
But she’s so SMALL mama, the little elephant thought back.
The huntress laughed at this, the sound of tinkling glass again.  That is the reaction she got from most animals at the sight of her.  Apparently she was the first female Hunter to have been created and thus also the smallest.  This was an advantage to her though.  At only 5 foot, her small size gave her opponents a false sense of security.  Every muscle in her body was as lean and defined as a cat’s.  She had the speed of a cheetah while on land, swam as fast as a killer whale in water, was as strong as a bear, cunning as a wolf, stealthy and quiet as a fox, and could see as sharply as an eagle.  Her “enhancements”, as she liked to think of them, aided her when she was hunting the unnatural evil creatures she was bound to destroy.