The oil lamps lining the walkways of the village left a faint smell in the air. And the firelight flickered in the wind.

Xena took a deep breath. Before she had even made her decision to help or not, she was sprinting.

She abruptly came to a halt as she turned a corner into an unlit alleyway.

"Hey!" She yelled as if she was telling a horse to halt. She could see the vampires and the girl. The vampire who had rebelled earlier that day had pinned the human up against the wall of a building. The two others flanked either side of him. She was sure that the alleyway was dark enough for the human girl to not be able to see very well. Xena noticed that the girl must've only been in her teen years.

"A feisty one too? It looks like we will get to have some entertainment tonight!" The brown-haired vampire chuckled. He looked at his two lackeys and commanded them to, "deal with her."

They slinked away from his sides. Slowly approaching Xena with hungry looks on their faces.

"Looks like we get to feed tonight as well after all." One said with a growing smile on his face. The other copied him. Making a show of their fangs in an attempt to scare her.

The young girl looked over at Xena desperately. Unaware of that her attacker took a step closer to her.

"Watch yourself," Xena growled out. Her eyes practically glowing with anger.

The two lackeys glanced at each other. Recognizing she was not human, but unsure of what she was.

The brown-haired leader spared a glance at Xena. He smiled and spoke as if he had just been given an unexpected bonus, "you must be one of those wolf shifters. Strong in number, weak as an individual. But your blood is said to be able to heal. You would make the perfect blood bank to keep around. Tonight really is the perfect night!"

The blood of wolf shifters does not have healing properties. It was a misconception because werewolf blood does have healing properties.

His lackeys' eyes lit up in excitement. They did not waste a single second before lunging at her.

But Xena did not waste a single second either. Before any of the three vampires had noticed she had moved; she had grabbed both the vampires lunging at her and thrown them against the wall, next to their leader.

"This is your last chance to leave. Swear to never harm the living again. Return to your old clan. If you do not I will kill you."

The leader and one of his lackeys hissed in response. Xena simply narrowed her eyes at the other vampire. He looked directly at her and gulped. He had good instincts; he did not know what she was. But he understood that she was more than capable.

He nodded at her before bolting, running towards the direction of the vampire clan from earlier. Xena let him pass.

"That gutless simpleton," the leader spat out. He looked at Xena, reevaluating her. "You make one more movement," he stuck his hand out to grasp the teenage girl's throat, "and I'll rip her throat out."

The young girl started to desperately try to gasp for air. Fat, salty tears dripping down her face. She was no longer looking at Xena for help. Instead, she pleadingly looked at her assaulter. Begging for him to release her.

Xena disdainfully blew air out of her nose. She lowly growled, "you have made your choice."

There was not even enough time to blink before Tacoma's dark and furry body stood in place of Xena's human one.

The vampire's now singular lackey charged at her. His fingernails sharpened just like his teeth.

Xena lunged at him in response. Dodging his clawed hands as he swiped at her body.

Before he could continue his attack Xena had dug her teeth into his arm.

He screamed in pain as her saliva-covered teeth penetrated his skin. His blood never soaked her mouth. It bubbled and evaporated the second her salvia touched it.

It created a chain reaction. He continued to scream louder and louder, waking up sleeping villagers. His entire body appeared to be steaming as his skin started to bubble. It had only been seconds, but his life had already left his eyes. And his body turned to ash.

The first of the villagers that made it to the scene stared in horror at the pile of ash on the ground. They were speechless.

Werewolf salvia was venomous to vampires. The stronger the werewolf and the weaker the vampire the faster it acted.

The leader was alone now. He narrowed his eyes at Xena as he tightened his grip. The girl was turning blue from asphyxiation.

"You take one more step and she is dead."

The villagers gasped and quickly started to chatter amongst themselves as more and more started to show up.

Xenas' ears flicked in response to the noisy chatter. The large audience making her nervous.

"We're doomed. It will not take long for someone to realize that a werewolf is still alive after this. I should have stayed out of it! We will never stop being hunted!" Xena announced her worries to the wolf soul she shared a body with.

"You want that girl to die? Or worse, be taken advantage of her entire life like the vampire was planning to do?" Tacoma reasoned with her.

"No, but if we had been quicker, or had gone for his throat instead, he would not have screamed. If he was not so loud there would not be as much attention. If there was less attention-"

Tacoma growled in her mind, "Stop. The more you worry, the more time you waste! She is dying Xena!"

Xena growled and snapped her attention back to the last vampire. His eyes stabbing her with daggers.

His grip tightens again. Xena realized if she did not act, the girl would die of asphyxiation regardless.

She lunged forward. He snapped his grip shut and collapsed the girl's throat as soon as he registered it. Sealing her fate.

But it was too late for him. Xena dug her teeth into him. Causing him to instantly start screaming. She shook her head to fling him against the wall. He turned was turning to ash before he even landed.

"Please... help," the teenage girl's mouth moved as she stared blankly. Only moments from death. She had collapsed onto the ground as soon as the vampire had released her.

Xena shifted back into her human form. She did not waste a single moment before biting her own wrist. She forced her blood into the girl's mouth. Before her wrist had a chance to heal and seal up.

The crowd was whispering as they watched her.

Xena sat back, watching the girl. Slowly, her eyes started to refocus. Her throat visibly healing at record speed. Not even bruises remained.

She sat up and the crowd gasped.

She looked directly at Xena and started bawling. "Thank you!" she cried out, hugging her.

Xena stiffened at the close contact. Unused to any physical contact from strangers. Slowly she wrapped her arms back around the girl in response.

She flinched as the crowd started cheering. Her sensitive ears were on overdrive as the adrenaline died down. Quickly she released the girl and jumped backwards.

She looked between the crowd, the girl, and the ash piles.

Xena looked at the crowd and growled, "If any of you so much as even consider telling a single soul about this: I will come back and rip all of your throats out! And then I'll burn your village down. Before hunting down every single soul who had heard of it!"

The crowd immediately silenced itself. Their eyes racing around at each other.

Xena quickly blew a quick spurt of air out of her nose. And then, she was gone. Having fled the village before anyone could even process what had happened.