Ruach was away and she faced her spear-wielding opponent. It felt odd, she suspected something a bit more… Evil? Until now she had never seen a Vampire in light, just a shadow in the dark. Nor had she known of the word “Vampire” until recently, only introduced to it through The Sun League. Her knowledge of what a Vampire was ended with the name and that single shadow. She wasn’t sure what to think of this Vampire; the man while large was normal looking, he was ugly in a mundane “I was born this way” sort of way, mean looking but not particularly monstrous. Carrie picked up her voice.
“S-So… You’re a Vampire?”
He grunted, “Yes.”
Both paused, neither throwing any questions or insults or comments. Seconds of vacant air would pass, neither speaking or moving. They each tightened the grip around their respective weapons, entering a slow dance-like shuffle. A step to the left. Two to the right. A half step forth, a whole step back. Feet feeling around divots in the earth. Carrie kept her axe close to her bosom. The Vampire raised his spear into the air-
She threw herself to the side- Letting the spear's graceless head slash across the side of one of the tents. Both pulled away to recuperate and restance- The Vampire took the entire side of the tent with his spear, dragging the head against the ground to dislodge it. She simply stood and circled in the half minute it took for him to clean his weapon… He saw a girl, nothing more. She saw something of a bored glare. Lazy eyes hanging under bushy eyebrows. She felt her blood warm and took a brave step forward. He had finished freeing his weapon-
Two short jabs he took, both aimed vaguely for the chest. Each piercing strike came increasingly close to flesh- She was able to swipe herself away from both. Up she ran with a swinging axe, throwing her body into the strike. The twirl of the blade caught the fiber of his shirt, the smallest tuft being struck from it. No blood was drawn. Her axes head was spun into the mud, its weight forcing her to bow with it. She pulled on it- Not unlike pulling an axe caught in a tree- Yet the mud was easily giving, it was her body that was yielding. The Vampire took his spear, whipping it about like a reed, bringing the pole down across her head. She stumbled onto her axes handle, spinning, pulling it free. Both reversed and regathered space.
A bloody streak ran down the side of her face. She felt a whiteness of the flesh. The axe felt like great weight- Why was it like this? It always seemed so easy to carry? She took a half step forward and he pointed and feigned strikes. She jumped back and felt her feet clumsily catching on stones. Her heart was racing and her breath became increasingly heavy, she was exhausting- Like fire running through its tinder. The Vampire had a steadily stagnant chest- He was not rushed to draw any breath, it was seemingly without beat- How could he keep so calm, unphased? He wasn’t even sweating- A trickle of blood and sweat drained freely down her face, across the corner of her both a stream diverged, she could taste the salt… She felt thirsty.
The Vampire jabbed and she threw herself into the tent's open side. Her leg caught one of the supports and the entire thing caved in. The Vampire withdrew and watched as she rolled herself into the canvas. She twisted and ripped and kicked and rolled until it was off- She got on her knees and searched about throwing around clothes and canvas. He waited. She grabbed a satchel, pulling out a bottle. It was a thick piece, the night-ish green glass weighed nicely in her hand, half full by her assessment.
The Vampire cracked, “Ya trying to buy me off with a drink?”
Carrie flipped the bottle, taking it by the neck, winding her hand back, “Fuck right off!”
The butt of the bottle quickly met with the forehead of the Vampire. Droplets of glass and blood rained to the ground. With a hefty shaky step he took the backfoot, pressing his hand to an aching forehead. Carrie jumped forth, almost envisioning the mark she needed to make in his side. Heft feet lagged and the axe head still weighed close to the ground, yet she wound it back- A row of knuckles graced her open wound. She fell back to the ground, the wound widened. Her back was flat against the ground- Hands glued to her axe- She had no time to breath. The Vampire dropped his pole arm, stepping and taking a knee to her axe-covered stomach, weighing his arm on her neck.