All three of the vampires sighed in relief when Jack finished the last enemy, the soldier falling to the ground and dying quickly, his blood joining the others on the ground with him. Midnight simply sat where she was, panting and placing her bow across her knees. Drake fell against a nearby tree and slowly slid down it, the large vamp breathing heavily with his chest heaving. Jack stood where he was, his entire body hot as he tried to catch his breath, cleaning off his sword and going to sheath it. He growled with frustration as he missed the sheath, taking his time and getting it right. Elaine looked at the three of them, panting and sweating while they were surrounded by dead bodies on all sides, the elf having concern for their condition in her large emerald eyes.
The day was just now coming to an end, and Jack was realizing that they underestimated how badly the vampires would come after them. He started the previous night taking part in a battle, sneaking an elf into camp, sneaking her back out again, and now they had spent the day running while trying to avoid any scouts and the random groups of vampires sent in after them. Jack did not think they would be pursued this intensely during the day, and had been very wrong. They had been hunted the entire day, killing when they had to and fleeing when they could. He had been up for nearly twenty four hours now, and that combined with all of the fighting and running was catching up to him, and his friends did not seem to be faring any better.
"Will you three...be alright?" Elaine asked, looking at each of them one by one, the poor elf probably feeling guilty from not being able to help much. Drake and Jack said nothing, concentrating on breathing and trying not to die, while Midnight looked up at Elaine and responded.
"We will be fine; we are soldiers, remember? What I am wondering is, why are you able to use magic to heal yourself, but not to kill?"
Drake looked up, wondering the same thing. Jack did not care either way, but admitted it was a good question. Elaine looked away from them, playing with her hair and her face growing red.
"I'm...not v-very good at it yet. I need a lot of t-time and concentration to do anything."
"That sucks, we sure could use it right now." Drake said, his breathing almost back to normal. "The sun feels like it is draining any energy I have, and I never got to get any sleep."
"Your mother's magic is supposed to be terrifyingly powerful." Midnight said, slowly getting back to her feet before kneeling over one of the bodies, grabbing an arrow and yanking it out of the body before cleaning it off and finishing. "I see no reason why you should not be able to defend yourself with it. Is it a lack of teaching from your mother, or is it just that difficult to control?"
The elf did not respond, looking uncomfortable about the subject. Jack decided to help her out, turning to Midnight, his armor nearly hot enough to burn his skin through his gambeson.
"Save questions like that for the queen herself. We need to get moving again, before someone else happens across us."
Both of his friends groaned loudly, Drake slowly standing to join them and pulling out a water skin with blood and passing it around. Jack took a sip of it, having grown used to the taste of elven blood and grateful that Elaine had not questioned where it came from, before handing it back and kneeling down, nodding for the elf to hurry up. She blushed red but nodded, climbing onto his back and being carried as they continued running through the forest, Elaine pointing or speaking up whenever they got off track. While Jack was much faster than a normal vampire, even Midnight and Drake were faster than Elaine, and it was quickly made clear that they would never escape if someone didn't carry her.
He felt her tighten her grip around his neck, getting his attention as she spoke in her quiet voice.
"I'm s-sorry you have to d-d-do this. I feel so useless."
He shook his head, making sure to keep his guard up while he responded.
"I have done many things since becoming a soldier and a Night Stalker. This has to be the easiest thing I have done since I was a boy, and you are very small and light."
The elf nodded, her face only growing more red as he heard Drake laughing from his right.
"We are running for our lives, and he finds time to shower Elaine in compliments. That's my boy."
Midnight scoffed from his left, shooting both of them a dirty look.
"Now is not the time for jokes, and you should never mention a ladies weight. You two have learned nothing from being my friend all this time, and that is why you are both still single."
Jack said nothing, unable to disagree with her, while Drake pointed in Midnight's direction, an amused look on his face.
"You talk shit about us, but you are still a pure maiden yourself if I remember correctly."
Jack noticed more bodies ahead of them, suddenly skidding to a stop and hearing Elaine gasp in his ear as dirt and grass went flying. Drake and Midnight stopped as well, all of them observing the ground before them. There was a small group of vampire soldiers, at least eight of them, all dead on the ground and filled with arrows. The arrows were of elven make, and Jack sighed in relief as Midnight stopped to collect their arrows while she talked, never being picky about where the arrows came from, looking back and speaking more to herself than them.
"Seems luck is finally on our side. I was wondering how long it would take until the elves started ambushing them. This is their forest, and the vampires are charging through it with large groups, making as much noise and commotion as possible. Hopefully, they will cover us and attract the elves attention, so that we will not be bothered by either group for the rest of this trip."
Elaine looked at the bodies, turning away at the sight.
"They know what I l-look like, and should refrain from shooting arrows at us as long as I am here."
Jack looked up in the trees, his eyes scanning every branch for any sign of life. Midnight was right, this was their forest, and they were sprinting through it with their princess on his back. They were just as likely to shoot him in the face, and he did not like the thought of walking blindly into an ambush.
They all turned as the sounds of battle came from behind them, screams of pain and the clashing of weapons reaching their ears and getting their attention. Jack turned to the other two, knowing that they had to cover him while he was carrying Elaine.
"Drake, take point. We should slow our pace down a bit, try to make less noise and pay more attention to our surroundings. The elves might be shooting first and asking questions second, and we should try to avoid them as long as possible."
They nodded, heading out. Jack took one last look at the bodies, some of their faces still frozen in terror and panic, before following his tall friend, feeling Elaine brace as he jumped over some of the bodies and they continued on their way, the sounds of death slowly fading away behind them. He remembered thinking that any vampire that chased an elf into the forest was an idiot, and as he looked at the trees, any of them capable of hiding the slender elves of the forest, he felt like the idiot vampire in the forest, hoping that he didn't catch an arrow between the eyes before this was all over.