Jack grunted as the vampire died, his weight falling on Jack as he struggled to pull his sword free of the body. Jack shoved the vampire off of him, yanking his sword out in time to raise it again as another vampire attacked him. He parried the attack at the last second and thrusted his sword out, the blade piercing the vampire's neck and being pulled out again before it could be seen, the vampire watching his blood spray out with confusion as he tried to stop the flow of his crimson life and failed, falling to the ground and slowly growing still.
He didn't get anytime to think as another soldier charged him, letting his reflexes and instincts take over as chaos stormed around him. He knew that the army of vampires was getting close, but even he didn't think they would get the main bulk of the army to the city of Silvith in around one week. The day had started like usual, Jack having gotten Elaine to teach him Falvelen while he helped her with her magic. Midnight had been spending time with the queen, getting to know Noelle and asking the queen question after question. He normally lost track of Drake, who would spend his time challenging the warriors to a fist fight and stomping them into the ground.
Things went from quiet and peaceful one second, to flames surrounding them as screams of agony filled the air and the peaceful city was turned into the next battleground. The soldiers flooded the city in seconds, and they attacked anyone in sight, not caring if they had a weapon or not. Jack saw that the warriors were caught off guard, and rushed to assist the evacuation, his sword flashing out left and right, his armor once again covered in blood as he killed soldier after soldier after soldier. His mind faded away in the middle of a large battle, and he would have stood there, killing every vampire that crossed his path as the corpses would slowly pile up round him.
Elaine grabbed his shoulder, breaking him out of his battle stance and surprising him. He whipped around, baring his fangs behind his helmet until he saw who it was. She grabbed his free hand and dragged him away, Jack seeing warriors being cut down all around him. A vampire went to block their path but was quickly dealt with, an arrow hitting him in the eye and dropping him as he screamed in pain.
Elaine pulled him to the others, Noelle seeing them and yanking her spear out of a soldier before turning to them and yelling.
"We need to leave! If we wait any longer, there will be too many soldiers to fight through!"
Drake grunted in agreement, evading a spear and grabbing the vampire that attacked him with it. Jack saw Elaine's eyes grow wide then she saw Drake grab the vampires head with both hands and crush it with a crunching sound, helmet and all, his brains and bits of skull squeezed out between Drake's fingers. Jack looked back, his heart sinking at the sight.
Half of the city was on fire, the raging storm of flames devouring everything in its path and cutting an escape route for the elves. The ground and trees were covered in blood as the vampires slaughtered everyone, the bodies of warriors and citizens alike thrown onto the ground like trash with their throats torn open. He remembered his promise to the queen and forced himself to look away, following Noelle as she lead them towards the south side of the city.
They did not get far, as a new group of vampires approached from the south. Jack saw that they were covered in blood, and it was clear that any elves that attempted to flee that way did not make it. Jack felt his anger surge forth and used it as fuel, activating his second ability and covering the ground in his black liquid. It kept spreading out, and the soldiers saw them and charged their way, eyes glowing red as they were eager to drink more blood.
When Jack felt he had spread it as far as he could, the vampires so blood thirsty that they had no idea that they were running on top of their death, he pointed up, willing his ability to go to work. The soldiers were stopped as the black liquid suddenly shot up, turning into large spikes and piercing the vampires from below. Their screams filled the air, making his head vibrate as they joined together into a song of pain and agony. Making sure to end their suffering, he willed the black liquid to keep spreading, branching out like roots in the dirt and exiting the vampires from their chest and heads. It was not long until they were all dead, the black spikes that stuck out of them looking like the branches of a evil tree.
"What a lovely forest of misery." he said to himself, his lust for battle almost taking over him as his eyes glowed and a grin spread across his face, hidden beneath his helmet. Elaine, who had stared at the entire event with her jaw on the floor, recovered and yanked him along, all of them running past the bodies as the black liquid began turning back into a liquid and fading away, leaving corpses that were sure to confuse anyone that found them.
He thought the dark elf would lead them out of the southern gate, but she turned and took them somewhere else, stopping at the wooden wall that wrapped around the city. She felt along the wall, the rest of them watching as she found what she was looking for, pushing the wood back and rushing them through.
He saw why she picked this path instead of the gate; a large number of vampires were waiting on the other side of the gate, spears pointed at the city behind large shields, allowing no one to escape alive. He glared at them, hidden behind some trees, wanting to go and kill them all; they were preventing the women, children, and elderly from fleeing, and he saw no reason for such cowardice and cruelty.
He felt another hand on his shoulder, turning to see Midnight shaking her head and looking past him with sadness in her eyes.
"We have to keep the princess safe, and we can't do that if we fight every vampire we see. They have nearly taken the city, and we promised we would be gone before that happened."
He said nothing, angry at the entire situation and his lack of ability to do anything about it. He promised he would flee with the princess and keep her safe, but that did not make him feel any less like a coward, running while the city burned to the ground behind them and its people killed or worse.
The group was silent as they followed Noelle, the dark elf seeming to know her way despite how dark the forest was at this time. The flames of the city slowly grew faint behind them, only making the forest darker as they kept moving, the sounds of the battle slowly fading and going silent. As it grew almost too dark to see, the group not using a light and risking discovery, he felt Elaine blindly reach out towards him, fumbling with his cloak before finding his hand and squeezing it tightly.
He said nothing as he squeezed it back, knowing that the poor elf was going through a lot right now. He thought they would escape the battle, but in the distance, he spotted three soldiers in their path. He drew his estoc, making out their armor as he got closer and knowing who it was that waited for them. They reached the vampires and stopped, Jack walking forward as he prepared to greet his former pupils, Ethan, Twilight, and Rebecca.