He cursed out loud when he saw the light, glaring in that direction as the elf peered round him to see what he was looking at. She no longer had the chance to flee, and the other vampires would not be as sympathetic as he was; they would simply see another elf and kill her. He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, debating on how far he was willing to go to help her; he could simply kill the vampires that came, getting rid of the problem. But that might end up complicating things, and they were already plenty complicated.
He made up his mind quickly, not having much time to think things over. He turned and approached her in less than a second, the elf gasping at how quickly he reached her; he was used to his speed by now, and had forgotten how shocking it was to others at first, to see someone suddenly go from one place to right in front of you in the blink of an eye. He wasted no time, snatching the cloak from her and throwing it around her shoulders, clasping it and yanking the hood over her head to hide her ears. She barely had time to protest before he leaned down and scooped her up, the elf squeaking and turning red as she began to struggle until he growled.
"Close your eyes, keep your head down, and pretend you are unconscious."
Despite his tone demanding obedience, he was still slightly surprised when she nodded and did as he asked. He held her close, trying to hide as much of her as possible, before turning around, the vampires slowly coming into view and heading his direction. He felt his heart beat faster, glad that his face was hidden underneath his helmet. He could face down an army without hesitation, but he was not a good liar, and now he had to talk his way out of this without raising suspicion. He was already feeling like he was in over his head, and he had not even really done anything yet.
Jack recognized Cole as they got closer, two soldiers at his back. Jack walked forward to meet them, trying to appear as casual as he could. Cole stopped to salute, the other two vampires following his lead, and after Jack told them to be at ease, he could see Cole examine the corpses on the ground before turning to look at the elf.
"Captain, you were taking a long time, so I decided to check on you. There was clearly a battle here, although it is unclear who won. Is everything alright? Is the vampire you are holding injured?"
He nodded, glad that Cole had instantly assumed the person he was holding was a vampire.
"Yes, she is injured, and she appears to be the only survivor. Her clothes were torn, so I wrapped her up in my cloak; I do not know what happened, but it looks like the elves were going to have their way with her, and she took a blow to the shoulder defending herself. I will take her back to camp to be treated."
He did his best not to hold his breath as Cole pondered his words, hoping that it was enough to fool the vamp. He faintly remembered someone telling him that the best way to lie was to add some truth to it, so that is what he did.
Cole finally nodded, looking at the elf with pity. "Poor thing, it is good that you made it in time. These elves can be savage at times, and I hope she is not to traumatized by the experience."
The irony of his words was not lost on Jack, and it took all his effort to simply nod and walk past, the other vampires gathering the corpses of their fallen. Just as Jack was about to head out, Cole yelled out to him.
"Captain, try not to go too fast on your way back; you do not want to make her wounds worse."
Jack said nothing, irked at his words; he was not stupid, although she was no longer injured. He simply set off at a light jog, his mind racing as he tried to think of what to do next, and what he was getting himself into. He decided to head back to camp, find his tent, and try to figure this all out from there. The sun would be rising in less than an hour, and the army would retreat into their tents and either celebrate their victory or go to sleep. He hoped that he thought of something by the time that happened.
He passed the battlefield, wrinkling his nose as the scent of the bodies assaulted him, and kept going past it, seeing the main camp in the distance, the surrounding trees having been cut down so that the elves could not hide among them and wait in ambush. He slowed to a fast walk as he approached the camp, heart beating like a drum in his chest; he was really sneaking an elf into the main camp of the vampires, and was beginning to wonder if he had gone mad and just did not know it yet.
He walked past some sentries, seeing them avert their eyes when they saw his helmet, and continued to walk into the camp like nothing was wrong. It was a large camp, littered with more tents than he could count, with a wagon left here or there. He was once again grateful for his helmet, feeling himself begin to sweat as he walked past multiple soldiers, most of them too busy with celebrating and gorging themselves on blood to notice him. The ones that did either went in the opposite direction or looked away, one of the perks of being a Night Stalker; most vampires wanted nothing to do with him, as he was like a guard watching their actions to see if they messed up.
He sighed in relief when he saw his tent, entering it quickly and allowing himself to breath and relax. He looked around his tent, only containing a few chairs, a small table, and a bed with his supplies stacked up against the side of the tent. He placed the elf on his bed, the girl sitting up and throwing the hood back to let her hair out as he slowly pulled a chair up and lifted his helmet off, glad to be free of it no matter how useful it had been. He set it aside, frowning as he saw that it was covered in blood, his training screaming at him to clean it.
He turned back to the elf, raising an eyebrow when he saw her staring at him. She quickly looked away, turning red and playing with her hair.
"What is it?"
She shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze.
"Nothing, Mr. Vampire...I just expected...I don't know, you to look more...scary?"
He frowned, not understanding her reasoning. Sure, he had blood red eyes, fangs, and multiple scars on his face and body. But besides that, he thought he looked pretty normal. He had a normal sized nose, pale white skin like any vampire, with long black hair that he liked to slick back and keep out of his face. Thinking about it made it realize that his helmet had messed up his hair, pushing it back out of pure habit and looking back to the elf.
"My name is Jack, Jack Benson; Mr. Vampire makes me sound old."
She finally met his eyes, seeming to finally relax for the first time since their odd meeting.
"Well, Jack Benson, I am still confused as to what you are going to do with me. But it seems you are not going to kill me...so I might as well tell you my name. Elaine Skyfurst."
He nodded before groaning and rubbing his forehead, Elaine looking at him with confusion on her face. He had successfully slipped her into the tent without being discovered, but he was no closer to figuring out what to do with her than he was before. Now she was in the middle of a camp full of vampires, sitting on his bed, and he did not have the faintest idea what to do with her from here. He looked up at her, the elf looking away from his gaze again, and he could tell that this was going to be tedious.