Noelle screamed out in pain, grasping at her bleeding stump and writhing on the ground. Jerry was still unconscious, Drake and Elaine ran over to her, and Midnight returned an arrow as Jack looked over, seeing Sarah fire another arrow in his direction as she turned to flee. He frowned, evading the arrow and hearing it hit the ground like a little explosion; he had known Sarah, as she was one of the few elite vampires he had asked to be a Night Stalker personally, seeing her talent. She refused him, apparently bearing a grudge against anyone with Benson blood, but this was not like her; she would never attack if she didn't have a very high chance of killing her target and escaping. She was a very logical vampire, similar to Midnight without the attitude, and her attacking when they were all together, when she was unable to kill them all, and with nothing to stop them from chasing her doesn't make any logical sense.
He took a deep breath, looking past her and activating his new ability for the first time. He regretted killing his three pupils, and this was another way of making sure he never forgot their deaths. Teleporting was different than he had imagined, and one second he was standing there, the next he was slightly in front of Sarah, the sudden shift in environment disorienting. Sarah turned, her eyes dead with no emotion, and he swung his fist, hitting her square in the jaw so fast that it lifted her off of her feet, the sound of her jaw snapping hitting his ears as she flew back and hit the ground hard, passing out from the blow.
He panted, seeing how easy things had been for Ethan; he could have chased her down, but he was already tired from his earlier fight, and suddenly appearing where he wanted to go was much easier. He grabbed her arm, looking back at the others and activating the ability again, appearing next to Midnight with Sarah and dropping her on the ground.
Midnight looked at him, surprise and concern filling her eyes.
"That...is Ethan's ability. Then you must have..."
He slowly nodded, feeling a pang of regret and suppressing it; he had already shed tears over it, and he refused to do so in front of the others.
"As you asked...I didn't hold back this time."
She said nothing, knowing how he felt about it and placing a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and made his way to the others, seeing that Elaine was panicking while Drake had lifted Noelle's arm up and was using his large hand to apply pressure, squeezing her arm and cutting off most of the blood, which covered him and the ground; there was so much blood here that it might as well have been the grounds of a massive battle.
Elaine looked over at Jack, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked lost.
"I-I-I don't k-know how to regenerate a l-l-limb. I need her a-arm, can you find it?"
He nodded, Midnight and he searching the grass until she found it, or what was left of it; her arm was missing from just above the elbow, but they only found half of her forearm, the rest completely destroyed from Sarah's ability. He came back, seeing Noelle pant and sweat as Elaine looked up and covered her mouth, never liking gore much.
"That...is not enough...I don't k-know if I can-"
Noelle suddenly grabbed Elaine's arm, her eyelids flickering open and looking at the elf with pain and pride.
"Just...heal the stump...I will be fine."
Elaine hesitated, tears falling freely as she was probably frustrated at her inability. Jack knelt next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked at him he nodded, seeing no reason to keep the dark elf in pain any longer. Elaine took a deep breath, wiping her tears away and healing what was left of Noelle's arm. It did not take long, and Elaine sat back when she was finished, looking tired as Noelle's breathing finally began to slow, Drake helping her sit up and propping her against his large knee.
"I'm...sorry." Elaine said, hanging her head in defeat.
"You have no reason to be." Noelle replied, still covered in sweat but already looking better, examining her stump with a frown. "It was my fault; the instant the werewolf was dead, I let my guard down, forgetting that the vampire escaped us. it was a while ago, and I hoped that she had returned to the others."
"We all let our guard down." Jack said, looking around, wondering if any more random enemies would suddenly appear. "The werewolf appeared to be a frightening enemy, and I had to deal with three Night Stalkers before reaching you all. We were tired, and if it were any other vampire, it would make sense to attack us at that moment."
Midnight raised an eyebrow, catching the meaning behind his words quickly. "Any other vampire? What are you thinking?"
Jack frowned, looking over at Sarah's unconscious body.
"I knew Sarah somewhat, and we served in a few battles together. She is too logical to attack us alone without support. And when I hit her, her eyes were devoid of any emotion, like she wasn't all there. Something else is going on with her, but I do not know what."
He was going to continue when multiple patches of the grass around them shot up, warriors hopping up and surrounding them in seconds, aiming spears at them. The others tensed up instantly, but Jack sighed, tired and wanting to just take a nap. He looked at the warriors, seeing that they weren't vampires; it was a mix of different races, with humans and some dark elves. They all wore matching armor, appearing to be made of leather with the sigil of what looked like multiple hands joined together, all gripping the others arms. It looked like a symbol of unity, and after seeing the mix of races, he guessed that they were warriors of the Hidden Sanctuary.
He held his hands up, seeing the others slowly follow their lead, and he hoped that they did not assume that they were the ones that attacked Noelle or Jerry, or things could go sour very quickly.