Speaking of Life and Death

This is the opening scene of another novel idea I've got lurking around in my brain.  I won't get into details (mainly because I really haven't worked them out) but here is what I pushed out of my feverish little brain.  I'd love to know what you think!

In the dimly-lit alley, a woman hunched over a smoking withered husk of what used to be a human being. A faint violet aura surrounded her body as she gasped for breath. Her shoulders shook with silent throes of anger and sadness. Why did the man attack her? Didn’t he see the emblem on her cloak? Did he think it was a forgery?

Slowly, she straightened and fought to slow her breathing. The shimmering glow faded from around her until the only traces of light shone in her eyes which she closed while inhaling deeply. She pushed the air from her lungs and when she opened her eyes again, they were tiny circles of dull black that stood in sharp contrast to the whites. Her skin was pale and flushed, covered with a light sheen of sweat. Shaking back jet black hair down around her shoulders, she looked around for any other threat.

The cobblestone streets were dark and silent with an unnatural stillness. Such was the after-effects of an attack by a Lifetaker. The woman’s pale gray cloak was unadorned except for a black flame rising from a disk of gold done in fine embroidery over her left breast. The thick fabric did little to hide her slim athletic.

Footsteps echoed in the eerie silence and she turned to see another man in the entrance to the alleyway. To her sensitive eyes, his aura blazed with heat and life, so bright it forced her to squint and shield her gaze. The light of the living was always so much harder to see after she had taken a life.

"Are you okay miss?" He held a lantern aloft but to her it was like holding a candle next to the sun. He hissed a sharp breath as his light spilled over the smoldering corpse and he fumbled for the short sword at his waist. His hand paused as his eyes fell on the emblem on her cloak. He dropped suddenly to one knee and bowed his head. "I am sorry, Life-taker. I did not realize..." His voice trailed off with a slight tremor of fear.

The woman looked down on the man as her eyes adjusted to the glare of his aura. She noted the shield embroidered on his cloak which matched the emblem on his leather scabbard. "No apology is needed, constable. I was attacked but as you can see, the criminal has been dealt with."

"Would you care for an escort, my Lady? Are you going to the temple?"

Was she going there? She wrestled with the urge to flee the city with all of its unbearable vitality. The sheer amount of Life surrounding her was like floundering in an ocean, but she knew she had no choice. The Temple of Darkness was an island of peace in the middle of the sea, a refuge. If she did not go there soon, she would likely drown.

"Yes, Constable. Thank you for your assistance. Lead on."