Darkness fogged around her vision, misty death ready to claim her.

For a moment, she was tempted to close her eyes, and surrender into that sweet oblivion. With death quite literally tightening its grip, sending pain shooting through her neck as she struggled to breath, she readied herself...

The music dropped.

There was a sound of metal through flesh.

Amdraste's eyes widened, and she fell to the floor, releasing Eliza.

Eliza fell to the ground as well, gasping for air. At that moment the single most important thing in the world to her was dragging air into her lungs.

She only got a glimpse of Bleidd, standing in his human form, holding a thin blade bright with scarlet before he fell to his knees. The blade fell from his hand and clattered to the ground, and the child stared at his work in horror.

That was when she saw the blood welling on Amdraste's back through the hole in the black cloak, staining the fabric.

For a heartbeat, she thought that the vampire was dead.

That was, until she whipped out a shredded arm and grasped the bloody handle of her blade.

Bleiddwyn collapsed backwards in an attempt to get away, but Eliza was not as fast as she tried to crawl— and so Amdraste pushed herself up with one arm and raised her dagger with another, and impaled it into the closest thing there was.

Eliza's right thigh.

She let out a cry of pain as she collapsed again, and Amdraste pulled out the dagger in another flash of pain. Blue blood gleamed on the silver blade, blending with the scarlet.

"You're not getting rid of me so easily!" The vampire growled, inelegantly scrambling to try and reach Eliza again.

It was all Eliza could do to try and haul herself away with her arms. Tears welled in her eyes as pain shot through her leg with every movement, but the vampire was far faster, and Eliza turned her head to catch a glimpse as Amdraste rose back to her feet with only a wince of pain.

Eliza was transfixed now. There was no way to run now. So she watched.

Amdraste grinned, peering down at the cobalt blood on her blade. "I must say... I've never tried blue blood before. I do wonder what it's like..." Just as she finished speaking, the vampire lifted the blade to her mouth... And dragged her tongue along it, licking the blood from the blade.

The vampire first raised a brow, looking ready to make some sort of retort— then suddenly tilted her head back as her breathing came in heaves. "Ahhh..." She breathed, sounding relaxed. "Sweet. Almost too sweet. But that's pure magic for you." Her grip tightened around her dagger. "Your blood is powerful. I'd become the most powerful vampire in this whole tournament if I drained you."

The music in the tunnel returned, this time an ethereal chorus.

Eliza wasn't sure what to make of Amdraste's words regarding the blood, except that it had something to do with her blood coloration having to do with magic. That didn't matter to her. What did was the fact that she had come close to death mere moments ago, and she didn't want to get that close again. Slowly she inched into a position that might allow her to stand, partially leaning against the wall. Her shield lay in the ground a little ways away— too far away to reach now.

Slowly, deliberately, Amdraste lowered her head to look back down at Eliza.

What Eliza saw surprised her enough to make her halt her moving attempts.

The vampire's face had changed.

Amdraste's iris' had gained scarlet around the pupil, bleeding into the orange like a bloodstained sunset. Her ears had become long, thin and concave curved— almost like that of a deer's but minus the fur— with a point at the end.

Eliza noticed that the vampire's arm had completely healed as well, and she suspected that the situation was similar for her back.

Amdraste fixed Eliza in her gaze, watching Eliza with eyes that looked startlingly more animalistic. "I can see... Your warmth... Hear... Your pulse..." The very way she moved had adjusted— Amdraste walked towards her like a gliding shade. Elegant, silent, deadly. "Now... Where was I? Ah yes, becoming the most powerful vampire ever."

With that, Amdraste started towards her, reaching out a hand to grab her throat—

Eliza lashed out, more as a last-ditch attempt, and grabbed Amdraste's wrist in her hand. She surprised even herself that she was able to do so— and that she was able to maintain the grip. Pain pumped through her leg, powering her with adrenaline, and her lungs burned with each breath she took. But she was determined to fight. She wanted to live, and she wasn't going to give up now.

That's when she noticed the particles.

The same ones that had formed around her hand during the dragon attack. Now they floated around her, little motes of darkness suspended like snowflakes in zero gravity.

The ethereal chorus of the cave slowly began to heighten.

Eliza felt energy start to return to her, the pain in her leg easing, her breathing evening out.

Amdraste seemed to be feeling the opposite.

The vampire slowly sank to her knees as Eliza rose to her feet. The very glow of her eyes began to dim, and her pale face took on a grayish hue. Her veins began to grow dark, spreading under her skin like a growing web. Eliza realized that her own veins had gone dark, and with them she felt energy pumping through her. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, or how, but she had a feeling...

She was sucking the life force right out of Amdraste.

Amdraste's eyes grew darker as she began to gasp for air as if she struggled to breath.

Eliza released the vampire's arm with a start, backing up, stumbling over her own feet as 

Amdraste fell to the ground. The dark veins receded and faded away on both of them, but Eliza retained the feeling of exhilaration that she had gained.

She sucked air into her lungs, the sudden rush leaving her feeling slightly winded, but she reveled in the lack of pain when she breathed. Yet there was no time to waste, she realized, as 

Amdraste was already stirring. "What... Did you... Do!" The vampire croaked, struggling to push herself up.

Eliza ignored her, noticing Bleiddwyn sitting down the tunnel, pressing himself against the wall while clutching his chest with an arm. She raced over to him, grabbing her shield from the ground along the way, and extended a hand for the werewolf to take. "Can you walk?"

He looked up at her and have her a meek nod. "I think so," he answered, taking her hand. The boy grimaced as he was pulled to his feet, but he remained stoic. He glanced back to Amdraste. "What was that? Are we safe?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but we aren't safe yet. I think I've just bought us some time. Let's not waste it." With that, she started down the tunnel. Behind her she saw in the corner of her vision as Bleidd shifted back into his wolven form then chased after her at her heels.

Trusting that the child would stay with her, she blindly ran down the tunnels, hoping that they would lead her to Nox. Here and there she came across a crossroads where the tunnel would branch out into several others, but the occasional splatter of scarlet on the ground told her which way to go.

The silken strands waved around her, reaching out and flowing as if they were underwater. The music had settled on something low and dramatic, and if anything it reminded her of the danger she was still in, urging her on even as she felt a sting in her thigh again. The energy that she had stolen made her feel faster, stronger, but she was burning through it faster than she would have liked.

Finally, the tunnel around her began to widen, and up ahead she could see a pale glow.

Daylight.

"Come on," she panted to Bleidd. "Just a little further."

The tunnel grew wider and wider around her... And then...

It completely opened up.

She stumbled to her knees, and Bleidd collapsed beside her. As she focused on regaining her breath, she glanced around, her eyes still adjusting to the sudden light even as she lay in the shade of a massive cliff.

In fact, she was surrounded by cliffs on all sides. All around her she was surrounded by earth, sitting in the bottom of a massive crater in the ground— as if a giant scoop had been taken out of the gray earth. Long, pure white strands went from the rim of the crater to its center, like the strings of some great instrument. A few dozen feet from where she lay the shade broke into sunlight, where two familiar figure were, one of then prone on the ground.

Nox and Zola.

But what really caught her attention was the fat, giant spider sitting on the strings.

It just sat there, unmoving, staring right down at them.

"Nox," she croaked to catch the vampire's attention.

He turned upon hearing his name, and dashes over towards them. "You're alive!" he exclaimed. 

"I thought... I was so worried..."

Eliza didn't bother getting up from the ground. "How's Zola?" She asked between heaving breaths.

The vampire cast a glance back to the knight. "Awake. Breathing. Still not in great shape though. Keeps muttering about cabbages. And her spear. I think she left it in the tunnel." He shook his head. "Are you alright? What happened to Amdraste?"

"Bleidd might've broken something, and my leg's tasted steel, but we're okay for now." She glanced to the spider. "Okay. You get to make sure that that thing won't kill us when we try and sing to the dragon."

His eyes widened. "What? Why me? That thing tried to kill me last time! And I don't like spiders!"

She glared up at him. "I've just dealt with a murderous vampire, nearly had my throat crushed and gotten stabbed in the thigh. You get to deal with the spider."

He groaned. "Okay..." He murmured, turning away and stalking back towards Zola. Carefully he skirted her, then tentatively headed towards the strings. "Ehhhhh, hey spidy! How ya doing there? Feel like eating us? Hopefully not?" He called out to the creature.

The spider made no response, other than shifting a hairy leg from one set of strings to another.

Nox looked over his shoulder at them. "I think it hopefully won't kill us."

She was too tired to roll her eyes. "Thanks for being so reassuring."

The vampire looked ready to ask her a question, when suddenly he was looking past her with alarm in his eyes. "Eliza, Bleidd— run!"

Eliza turned to look behind her.

Amdraste had found them.

She stood at the mouth of the tunnel, carelessly stumbling her way over towards them. The vampiress was clearly still drained, for she wasn't moving at the astonishing speed she usually would, but she would still reach them easily.

"Get up," Eliza sputtered to Bleidd as she struggled back to her feet, her legs burning with the effort as the effects of her sudden energy surge began to wear off. The wolf looked at her with tired, scarlet eyes, but he pushed himself to his paws and started dashing over towards Nox.

Eliza followed as swiftly as she could, warm sunlight soon bathing her, but she quickly became aware of a problem.

There was no where else to run.

The walls of the cliff were far too high to climb, and the way back into the tunnel was blocked by Amdraste.

They were trapped.

~~~~~

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, I suppose? Or, more like, a giant spider and a murderous vampire. What do you all think will happen? What would you do? Please tell me these things and your other thoughts in the comments, and please remember to vote if you liked!