It was that damn vampire again. She might have been pretty much unrecognizable with the blood dripping from her body and clinging to her hair but her voice gave her away. It was a voice I would have recognized everywhere. Her eyes should have been blue but for some reason they were glowing red and it was not just the flickering light of the fires that was reflected by them. The others were out of commission, at least for now. I was the only one left standing and even I wasn't exactly unfazed. That wail had been something else.

I tightened my grip on my weapon and moved to attack while keeping my defense up at the same time. I thrust at the blood drinker, again and again but she danced around the tip of my weapon with ease and a nasty laugh. It felt like I was moving through molasses as she evaded each of my attacks.

Finally the monster in human guise grabbed the shaft of my weapon just behind the blade, to pull herself close as she pounced at me. Her feet hit my shield and for a moment she hung there, bracing herself against it while she kept herself suspended, bracing herself against the shaft of my weapon. “Is that all? I'm disappointed. I expected more after our last encounter.” As she finished spitting these words at me she pushed off my shield again, landing a good dozen paces from me, crouching in the mushy snow. “Come on, try again!”

Her words were like knives stabbing in my brain. They weren't as bad as the initial wail but still bad enough. I stumbled back half a step as she launched herself away from me again. She had changed. That much was for sure. She had been bad news before but she was much worse now. If I had to guess I'd say it was due to whatever ritual she had performed here.

She cackled as she started to circle me and my downed comrades. Of them only Gash'zur had managed to work herself halfway upright so far and even she was still too wobbly on her feet to lend me a helping hand. Blood was seeping from her ears as well. I was on my own.

I had to fight harder! And I had to fight smarter! I hadn't used a single one of my spells so far! How could I have forgotten? That wail must have rattled me harder than I initially thought. Her laugh was still rattling me! That was it!

I built the spell matrix for Lion's Roar and channeled Mana into it, similar to the way I had done when fighting the Pale King. Finally I unleashed the spell upon us. It was aimed not to stagger the vampire but to deafen me and my comrades. It was a gamble. I could only hope that her voice couldn't influence us if we couldn't hear it. It simply was the best I could come up with right now.

My shout rang out and it was the last thing I heard. It must have echoed several times and been audible all the way to the encircling army but a fuzzy noise and the hammering beat of my own heart were the only things I still heard as my mind finally started to clear again. I could feel more blood drip from my ears but that was the price I had to pay. It was the same for the others. Kaele would give me a piece of her mind for doing something reckless again but as long as I lived to hear it I would gladly let her berate me day and night.

Finally my fuzzy mind cleared again. At least a little. I still head a terrible headache. I could focus past that though. The damned woman must have realized what I had done. She held her own head as well and shrieked again. Or at least I guessed she did as I couldn't actually hear anything except my own heartbeat right now. Instead of dwelling on it though, I focused on my spells instead.

The first one I cast was Cat's Grace to enhance my speed and reflexes. That was what had been missing through our initial exchange. That was the reason she had been able to dance around my attacks. Well, I would have no more of that. I didn't bother with Blur or Chameleon Skin. We were up close and personal after all. Neither spell would grant me an advantage in melee.

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I did cast Mage Armor though, just in case. Let her break her fangs on that should she try to sink her fangs into me! Ha, that would serve her right! Last but not least I channeled some more Mana into Bull's Strength to make sure she wouldn't stagger me again. That vampire was unnaturally strong after all. A normal human of her size shouldn't have been able to stagger me in the first place. She wasn't normal by far though.

Then it was on again. I went on the offensive once more. This time the cursed bloodsucker had to dodge in earnest. No longer was she able to dance around my attacks. Blood splattered everywhere, painting red patterns in the still falling snow, as she weaved left and right as I kept up the pressure.

This time she didn't get away unscathed either. Several times the blade of my glaive bit into her flesh. Not once though I was able to land a critical blow. Worse though was that the weapon's poison didn't seem to affect her. Not like it would any mortal anyway. The wounds sizzled and steamed. They probably hissed as well, but I was still pretty much deaf. There was no rot spreading from the cuts though. Instead they closed again all too quickly.

I already knew that she could heal wounds dealt by mundane weapons easily but I really had hoped that my glaive would have a greater impact. Apparently it wasn't enough.

Then I slipped. The ground had turned into a bloody, muddy mess as we danced around each other and the others who only now started to regain their senses, or at least most of them. For a moment only there was a gaping hole in my defense as I fought to stay on my feet. That was enough.

The vampire was upon me in the blink of an eye. She weaved past my glaive as my shield was out of position. Once again she pounced me and used one of my horns like a handhold. I screamed as the horn was not meant to be handled roughly like that. Then she bit down on my exposed neck.

I would have laughed at her befuddled expression, as one of her fangs did actually break as she bit down on my Mage Armor, if I hadn't still been in too much pain from the way she had grabbed my horn. Instead I let go of my glaive to place my hand against her chest, right in between her ample breast. I didn't need to focus very hard as I quickly built the spell matrix for a Magic Missile spell. I couldn't channel as much Mana into it as I would have liked though. I still had to maintain my other spells after all.

It was enough to get her off of me though as I fired the Magic Missile into her at point blank range. There was a flash and a wave of heat washed over me, as the vampire was sent flying with a gaping hole in her chest.

She smashed into the cliff face beyond the cauldron of blood and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. This wound didn't close like the others. Sure, it was visibly healing as well, but at a much slower rate. It would take some time to close.

I fumbled around in the bloody mud, trying to get back up while at the same time grabbing the weapon I had dropped. Before I got anywhere though the creature of the Devourer turned her baleful gaze upon me again. Instead of attacking again it started melting away again, to seep into the bloody mud.

I screamed, although I was barely able to hear my own voice. “No! She is getting away again!” I threw my glaive but it clattered against the rock of the cliff face. I had been too late. I had been too slow. Then the last of my strength gave way and I would have dropped face first into the bloody mess at my feet if Gash'zur hadn't caught me at the last moment.