IZEL

I slowly dropped Jaeger's hand from my mouth but remained silent, knowing he had heard something.

I glanced around as well, waiting for something to leap out. I made a reach for my sword only to realise I was still tied up. I nudged Jaeger and held out my arms. If there was something out there, then I wanted to be ready. He quickly took out his blade and brought it to the ropes, but a vampire suddenly leapt out from among the trees and tackled me before he could cut them.

It wasn't just any vampire, it was a ravenous vampire, and its only focus was getting its fangs to my neck. I held my arms out above me to prevent it from getting any closer to my skin, but it was relentless. It was throwing its weight against me and its skin was ice cold. Its breath was revolting, getting stronger and stronger the closer it got to my face.

Finally, Jaeger stabbed its heart and then hauled it off of me, throwing it away from us.

"Are you okay?" He asked, helping me up. His eyes roved over my body, searching for any injury.

"Yeah," I exhaled and held out my arms again. "The ropes."

This time Jaeger was tackled before he could cut the ropes, but it wasn't a ravenous vampire this time, just a normal one, a Vamp. Suddenly another vampire appeared from the forest, completely ignoring me and going for Jaeger, then another, then another. 

It was four to one. They all left me to attack him.

I unsheathed my sword and took a second to think of how I could cut the ropes without cutting myself, but just as I figured out what to do I was suddenly grabbed and shoved against a tree. 

My ears rang from the impact and my feet were no longer on the ground. My tied hands were held above my head and before me stood a Quearus. The Quearus from the cabin. 

"We meet again," she said with a vengeful grin on her face. "You weren't expecting to see me again this soon, were you?"

I tried to extend my legs to kick her but she perceived the attack and stepped to the side. 

I was dead. I knew that for a fact. I had dropped my sword so I had no weapon, no way of hitting her and no form of defence. So I did the only thing I knew I could, no matter how much it pained me.

"Jaeger!" I screamed. "Help! It's the Quearus from—"

The Quearus shoved a hand against my mouth. "Can't you see he's occupied? You're just making noise."

I bit her hand and she released me. She sneered wickedly before punching me in the gut, winding me. Then she punched me again. And again. And again.

It was every time I tried to take in a breath that she punched me, making the air leave my lungs and bringing me back to square one. The gut-wrenching pain got overwhelming and a warm bubble formed in my throat. I thought it was only saliva until I coughed it out and saw the colour.

It was red.

The warm blood rose up my throat and simply coughing it out brought me pain. The Quearus wasn't stopping, and I was failing to draw in a single breath at this point. I felt light-headed and everything around me began to blur.

"This is fun," she exclaimed. "This is what you get, little Vanquisher. This is what you get for messing with someone like me—"

Jaeger suddenly tackled the Quearus off of me and I fell to the ground but it took me a second for my lungs to recover before I drew in a proper breath. I was gasping and coughing, desperate and greedy for more air but too pained to take in deeper breaths. 

My breathing was raspy but I was getting the oxygen my lungs desperately needed. My freedom was short-lived when the two remaining vampires sped for Jaeger, tackling him off the Quearus before he could do any damage to her.

The Quearus immediately sped to me as soon as Jaeger was off of her, and the smirk was still on her face and she lifted me again from my bound hands and held me against the tree. She took out a small dagger and held it up for me to see.

"A sword was too much of a hassle to carry around, so I brought this instead." She spun the dagger around in her fingers. "This right here is going to go through your stomach and into the bark of the tree. It's not as long as the sword, so I'll have to push it in deep. Are you ready?" She asked with a fiendish smile. Such a bloodthirsty female vampire. "Three... two... one."

She brought her hand back with force, directing the point towards my stomach. My eyes fell shut and my body tensed, waiting to feel the pain take a hold of me. But the pain never came. And when I opened my eyes I saw Jaeger. 

The dagger met his flesh rather than mine. He had caught the dagger before it reached me, enclosing his hand around the blade. Blood dripped from his palm but he tightened his grip around it, refusing to let the Quearus pierce my flesh.

She suddenly released her hold on me and I crumbled to the ground again. I couldn't focus enough to register the rapid movements as she battled Jaeger, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a silver glint on the ground.

My sword.

I immediately began crawling, slowly making my way towards it while the Quearus was still occupied with Jaeger. I had to climb over one of the dead vampires in my way, gritting my teeth against the aching pain that came as I did so. I was inches away from the sword when I was suddenly lifted from the ground. Again. 

This time I wasn't held up against a tree. I was tossed like I weighed nothing more than a couple of pounds and I let out a pained yelp when my body thumped against the ground. A sharp pain shot from my head to my toes, and for a long moment, I didn't move. I didn't think I could, what with the splitting stabs I felt in my limbs.

Eventually, I managed to roll onto my back but I didn't move further, waiting for the pain to dull. Waiting for my body to recover from the Quearus' blows. When I was sure I could get up without collapsing or crying out in pain, I forced myself to my feet.

"Izzy!" I heard Jaeger call, still occupied with the Quearus, "run!"

Run? He wanted me to flee? Sure, the Quearus was beating the life out of me, but I was a Vanquisher, and Vanquishers never ran. And also, I didn't think I could. It hurt so much to move.

"You're going to have to trust me!" He called.

Trust him? 

The Quearus managed to get a hard blow on him, taking him down and she instantly focused her attention on me. She sped toward me but Jaeger had recovered quickly and managed to pull her back just before she could grab me.

"I know you're against it, but just trust me and run. Can you do that? Can you trust me?" He demanded.

"I kind of have no choice right now, do I?" My voice was rough, but with that, I began running.

It was more of a jog than a run. More of a limp than a jog. More of a half-crawl than a limp because that was all I could manage at that moment. I didn't know where I was going but just kept going straight and eventually, I heard the sound of water rushing, and the further I ran, the louder the sound got. There must be a—

I came to a sudden halt right at the edge of a cliff, the sound of the rushing water coming from below.

Had this been Jaeger's plan? Had he been trying to kill me? To get me to run and fall right off of the cliff? Did he think falling to my death was better death being killed at the hands of the Quearus? He was probably right, but he had no right to decide my fate.

Did he think I was that weak? That vulnerable? Sure, the Quearus had been beating me to a pulp but that was only because he had tied up my hands. 

I felt a burning sensation within my chest. If he thought I was weak, I was going to prove him wrong. Before I could see sense and change my mind, I turned around and began running—half-crawling—back. I knew what I needed to do. I was going to get to my sword, cut my hands loose then show Jaeger what I was truly made of. I was going to puncture the Quearus' heart with the sword, and then Jaeger's. 

I was a Vanquisher, I didn't run away, I ran towards.

I barely made it five steps before Jaeger's figure suddenly appeared. He was probably coming to check if I had fallen to my death, but when he saw I hadn't, he came charging at me. I just managed to sidestep him and, as if knowing I would do that, he reached out and grabbed my arm and then threw me.

He threw me off the cliff.