The Cost of Peace

[Emora Deen]

His grip was hard on her ankle, and when Vlad kicked his arm, it only served in allowing him to drag Tenele a bit more towards him. "Vlad!" Tenele called, as she realized he was trying to drag them towards that darkness. The brute registered that Vlad was trying to attack him, so he swung his spike low several times to keep Vlad from sitting up as he stepped backwards, taking Tenele's form with him. When his spike had passed the third time. Tenele sat up quickly to try and reach towards her ankle and pray his hand off. Then, his spike was coming back around for a fourth swoop. She rolled to the side, pressing her chest flat to the cold stone as it passed over her back. Her free leg began kicking at the hand, but the spikes across his knuckles made it impossible for her to do any damage.

The large man made a menacing growl, and even it range with a metal tone, as he swooped down to hit them with the blunt edge of that metal spike.

[Soran Nightblade]

As soon as he had the option, Vlad scrambled forward - oh...dizziness, not good - and managed to catch the blunt blow that was descending toward them. It was like catching a giant boulder. How much did this guy weigh, anyway? He threw the blow wide and didn't try to stop its full force, instead using the opening to try to free Tenele's ankle. His claws extended on both hands and he drove them with his full strength into the sides of the man's arm.

[Emora Deen]

The brute screamed when the nails drove through his arm, but his grip only tightened to the point Tenele thought he'd snap her leg like a twig. But, Vlad didn't seem to relinquish his claws. Irritated, he unwrapped his long fingers from about her and jerked his arm back. He yanked the claws from his flesh, but brought his hand quickly back around to wrap his fingers about Vlad's face, covering it in its entirity with his palm. He shoved back hard to smash Vlad's head into the stone. Not enough to kill him, but enough to attempt to knock him out.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad reeled as his head felt like it was splintering into a hundred pieces. A metallic taste in his mouth registered as a combination of blood and the strange man's palm blocking his nose and mouth. Perhaps the most alarming thing was that he couldn't see or hear Tenele to know if she was alright. His hands scrambled over the man's arm, trying to pull the offending grip away from his face. His legs moved, but didn't seem to find purchase on the ground. They seemed sort of dreamy and detached, and the vampire hoped they would still obey his pounding head when he got this brute away from him. He gripped the man's arm and used his claws again, driving them directly into the skin and pulling to both sides, as if to rip his arm open.

[Emora Deen]

It screamed again, as Vlad's claws tried to mutilate his arm. Holding Vlad's face head to the ground, digging his fingers into the vampire's skull, he brought his spike about to beat the blunt end against the vampire's side and ribs repeatedly, in the hopes of getting the Vampire to let go.

"Stop it!" Tenele screamed, getting to her knees and beating at him with her fists. It was like a fly attacking a a fly trap. "Stop!!" He reared back to swing at Vlad again, and Tenele through herself over the vampire's lap. She cried out when she felt the metal rod crack across her shoulder blade and back. She couldn't regain her breath, and as he reared back she struggled to reposition herself. She'd slid forward and now her back was in line wit his strike. He'd break her spine if he hit her there. She quickly rolled on her back to avoid the hit, and then realized that now her stomach would take the blow. She thought of the baby, and that this could very well be the end of it. But, it was Vlad's life at stake. This thing could kill him. It was about to hit her, he froze. The rod was inches from her abdomen. He slowly pulled away, removing his hand from Vlad's face, and he took several steps back. Tenele rolled off of Vlad, to lie flat on her stomach against the cold stone. Still having not managed to gain a single breath of air. The beast of a being had backed away to stand in the shadows, the glow in his eyes dull. Like a the power had been switched off.

[Soran Nightblade]

Finally able to see again, Vlad forced himself onto his side and pushed up on one arm. Blood was trickling into his left ear, adding to his disorientation as he rushed to gain a hold on the situation. Tenele was lying hurt next to him, he wasn't sure yet how hurt. The hulking thing that had attacked them was standing inert several yards away, apparently out of the picture for the moment, though he couldn't imagine why. Thanks to the element of surprise, it had been winning. Vlad didn't intend to give it such an opportunity again.

He didn't bother trying to breathe, and he didn't speak either. He knew a pierced lung when he felt it, and aside from probably horrifying Tenele, pretending otherwise wouldn't achieve anything. He could feel his body trying to repair its battered insides, and the wounds on his head were probably nearly closed already. He kept his eyes sharply on their mysterious enemy as he pushed up into a crouch and leaned slowly to inspect Tenele. He touched the side of her head lightly with a cold hand. He tracked the man with his ears while he turned his eyes toward her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele cringed as she lay face down on the dirty stone flooring. Her back protested harshly with any slight movement. Her stunned lungs refused to wrok all together for the first couple of seconds after the heavy blow she'd received with the side of his long metal spear. What little air she was able to obtain came through slow long pulls, which sent pain shooting through her ribs and shoulder blade.

She tilted her head more to the side when she flet Vlad's touch. "Are you alright?" she asked him through strained lungs, wanting to regain her own composure fast so he wouldn't worry. Vlad was om far worst condition, she knew. He'd had his head pumled into the ground, and his ribs beat to mush. Neither one of them would survive if there was any more tricks to this maze.

Her eyes watched the giant as he remained motionless like a doll. His arm heavily mutliated dripped blood so dark red it was almost black. He had stopped his attack when he'd almost struck her abdomen, as if he knew that she was carrying something precious.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded to her question. It felt unnatural to use such a human gesture. He narrowed his eyes questioningly and ran his fingers lightly down the upper half of her spine.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele cringed away from his fingers when they trailed over the already bruising bone and muscle, as well as the jagged gash from the spike they'd narrowly missed. "I'll be fine," she breathed out, answering his question though he didn't ask it. "Just need a moment." She drew in her arms to be up under her slightly, for it felt more comfortable that way. The scrapes on her left arm and leg were crying out for aid, but she could handle them. She could handle all this, if it meant getting out alive.

"He just stopped..." she muttered. It was utterly terrifying how still the creature was. He wasn't even breathing, or if he was, it never made a sound. What was it waiting on?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad removed his touch as her reaction confirmed his suspicions. He wanted to give her the time she needed to come to terms with her injuries, if he could. In the meantime, if the thing wasn't attacking, there were other things to take care of. The wound on her back was bleeding more than he was comfortable with, on several levels. He controlled his expression carefully as he ripped off what remained of his shirt. He kept his eyes once again on the still creature as he shredded the cloth and fastened the ends together until he had a long enough piece to wrap around her torso. In the meantime, he wadded the left over cloth and applied pressure to her cut, flashing her an apologetic look. His other hand moved to her ankle and touched lightly against the bones to be sure nothing had been broken in the giant's grip.

[Emora Deen]

She bit her bottom lip when he applied pressure to her cut, glancing away from him to the giant as if she were seeing things. Had he moved? No, she was just expecting him too lung at them any moment. "Ah.." she hissed , and Tenele winced as he touched her ankle. Great. It wasn't broken, but it wasn't in perfect condition.

This was one of the many times she hated being human. Vlad could bounce back from his injuries in a matter of moments. Tenele one the other hand took days, sometimes months depending on how injured she was.

"Sorry," she muttered, as if she needed to apologise for how injured she was. "I'll be alright in a minute, promise." She wondered if Vlad ever got irritated with her, since she was so easy to hurt.

Her eyes glanced to the giant again, his form looming in the distance eerily. She could have sworn she saw his fingers twitch. The shadows about him rippled and moved, as if they too were alive. Other than that, he remained still.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad didn't think she had anything to apologize for. If anything, he regretted being caught off guard when she was being attacked. But he just ran his fingers lightly against her hair, biding their time as he kept watch.

He stiffened as he felt a sharp twang of flesh as one of his healing ribs pulled itself free of his lung. He had a strong urge to cough, but it was a human urge, and he was able to come above it. Anger was finding its way into him as he watched the taunting stillness of their attacker. He felt he was being mocked, and it made him want to tear the giant man limb from limb. However, he knew better than to pick a fight at the moment. Whatever Verin's purpose for this guy was, if that purpose was done, Vlad wasn't going to prolong the encounter. They had to move on. He looked down at his wrist. His whole hand was slick with half-dried blood. They had to find a way out of this, before he started to lose it.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele groaned as she slid to where her knees were under her. She used her hands to wobbily push herself into a kneeling position. She swayed a bit, feeling dizzy at first as her back raged and begged for her to lie still. "Ugh," she groaned, leaning forward on her hands a bit more. It was almost nauseating. Her silver hair hung over her shoulder and down in front of her face as she stared at the dirty ground, controlling the need to throw up. She moved a hand to cup her abdomen.

There was a soft his, and the dull burgandy glow in his eyes suddenly errupted to a more bright and vivid tone. The brute's head tilted ever so slowly at them, until it was almost unnaturally sideways. Tenele glanced up, peering through silver strands of hair at him as he gaze down at them.

"Vlad..." she whispered, almost afraid to speak any louder, afraid to set it off.

Too late, it needed nothing to set it off. It moved foward, long lumbering strides towards them, his arm pulling back and readying the deadly spike attatched to his forearm.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's eyes flashed a murderous red as the beast dared to approach them a second time. He cast Tenele a look that promised violence before bursting to his feet. His damaged body was responsive, and knew it would offer him the strength he asked of it. He could deal with the repercussions later. The chain between he and Tenele gave him very little room, but he didn't expect that to stop him. Not this time.

The moment the thing was close enough to attack, Vlad reached out and caught the giant spike. This time, he wasn't going to let go. He used the thing's weapon like a jungle gym, pulling up on it to swing his legs up over his head. Before the brute could bring its other arm around, Vlad kicked it in the head hard enough to break the neck of a water buffalo. It seemed to stun the man, but it didn't stop him. Gripping onto the man's upper arm with both legs, Vlad held one arm back to avoid tugging Tenele and used the other to plunge his claws fiercely into the flesh of the man's unprotected neck. Blood that didn't even smell edible sprayed out into the vampire's face. Before the giant man could attempt to swing at him with the other arm, Vlad dropped quickly back to the ground in a crouch.

[Emora Deen]

The giant stopped in surprise, as if he were just then registering the wound in his neck. He reached up with his large hand to grasp at it, as if he were trying to peice it back together. The blood gushed out, splatting down onto the stone at Tenele's hands and knees. She choked on a gag, not normally sickened by the sight of blood. But, she was already a little queazy to begin with.

He stumbled back, fighting to take a breath, and the color in his eyes flickered like the life of a candle fighting to stay a flame. Then, the light in his eyes died to a coal black. He dropped to his knees, still nearly as tall as Tenele if she were standing, and began to fall forward towards them. Tenele just knew that if that thing fell on them, they'd be crushed. He had to weigh a ton.