SO SORRY for the incredibly long wait! hits head against wall Blame my Chemistry Honors class! Thank you all for your patience and reviews. Here's the next chapter!

Chapter 10: Attack

"I know it's probably none of my business, but if Eve bothers you so much, why don't you just kill her?" Ravyn asked Nacht who was still staring furiously at the door, as if daring Eve to come back in.

Nacht glanced at her, "If only it were that simple," she murmured. Nacht turned and began to pace, "As much as I'd love my sister to die, I cannot kill her. First of all, she has the same potential powers as me, being we were created at the same time, by the same vampire. I am only a day older. She may be a fool, but she's a strong one. Those vampires you've slain are all weaklings. You have never truly battled a powerful vampire."

"And second, Eve is an asset; expendable yes, but she has her uses. She is quite the puzzle solver as it is. And I always seem to find a use for her. As annoying as she is, she is useful. Once she outlives her uses," Nacht smiled, "she will not be around much longer."

"Now, as for you…" Nacht trailed off as a loud, explosion like sound echo through the house."

"What in hell?" Nacht snarled, shutting her eyes and communicating with the vampires outside.

"It seems my "weak little hunter friends" have arrived. And with explosives it sounds like," Ravyn said, grinning in Nacht's face.

Nacht hissed, "First, I'll kill you friends. Then, it'll be your turn." Nacht vanished, leaving Ravyn alone in the room.

Tarn'se lopped off one vampire head and speared another in the heart. These vampires were more of a challenge; all the better for him.

They had easily found the building the vampires resided in. Apparently, it was the only large structure in the entire area. It was well guarded and had high stone walls surrounding the entire place. Fortunately, the hunters were prepared with explosives to blow apart the wall

Once inside, Tarn'se split from the human group and entered the main structure, killing all vampires that crossed his path. Besides some minor scratches, he had yet to be injured. The human leader said that the Master vampire would most likely be in the center of the compound, commanding her subordinates and directing the battle. Tarn'se had every intension of finding her.

He heard a soft thump behind him and he spun lashing out with his spear. The vampire caught the spear by the shaft and twisted it, wrenching the weapon out of Tarn'se's hand. He let it go, only to bring up his shrunken, flicking his wrist and sending it flying.

The vampire dodged the weapon once, twice. Tarn'se moved to throw it again, when the vampire used it's teleporting to launch itself at him. He hit the ground hard but shouldered the impact well, and even managed to somersault backwards throwing the vampire off him. This time, when he threw his shrunken, the vampire did not dodge in time.

Holding out his hand to catch the shrunken, Tarn'se felt a presence at his back too late; he spun with his wrist blades extended, jabbing at where he guessed the vampire would be. He was slightly off, the blades skimming the vampire's ribcage, but not puncturing it. The vampire grabbed his neck and slammed his head into the ground. Tarn'se kicked at the vampire's leg, but it didn't stumble. Instead, it wrenched his head back, and bit into the flesh of his neck.

At first, searing pain entered his system and Tarn'se fought as hard as he could, but the burning quickly subsided to a pleasant numbness that spread throughout his body. Some part of his mind told him to give in, to let himself die. But his honor would not allow it. With a growl of rage Tarn'se slammed his left fist into the vampire's head. The vampire released its' bite and hold on him. Tarn'se felt the pain rush back, but ignored it; he was far too pissed off to be bothered by something as primitive as pain.

The vampire teleported away from him and Tarn'se remained in a ready pose, so when the vampire appeared behind him, as he guessed it would; it was stabbed straight through the head with his two wrist blades. Tarn'se ripped them out, gore and blood spattering on the ground. But the vampire still lived, screaming its' agony. With a snarl of frustration, Tarn'se lopped its head off, the vampire tumbling into ash.

He placed his hand on the bite at his neck. Two tiny puncture wounds were there and they slowly dripped his fluorescent blood. Pulling out his medical kit, he took out a small vial of a ready-made healing salve. His grimaced as the solution sterilized and healed over his wounds. Gathering his spear and shrunken, Tarn'se headed off, ready to face whatever came at him.

Nacht watched the tall alien march through her halls as if he owned the place. Part of her wanted to rip his head off for such arrogance, but she held her rage in check. This was too much of an opportunity.

Dropping down about ten yards in front of the alien, Nacht held up one hand and commanded, "Halt." The word contained her mind's strength behind it; any human would freeze in place upon hearing her. Vampire hunters trained themselves against such powers though, so it did not always work on them. It seemed to have some small effect on the alien, for he seemed to stumble but quickly regained himself.

"My greetings, fellow predator," Nacht said with a cold smile.

The alien growling at her and pulled out a spear, "You are a vampire," he stated.

Nacht gave a small nod, "Yes that I am. I am also the Master of these vampires."

The alien seemed to perk up at her words and got into a battle ready stance. Nacht interrupted him, "Before you strike out at me, I have an offer for you." The alien stayed where he was so Nacht continued, "I have more power here than any other being. I am the queen of this city. Whatever you would want, I could give you with a wave of my hand. Do you wish to rule part of this world, I can give you that. Information or knowledge do you desire? It is mine to give. No other can say that truthfully. Yet, the only thing I require from you is the annihilation of those humans that harm my kind." Nacht gestured to a human skull that hung on the being's belt, "You already seem to enjoy killing humans. Why not kill those outside? Be my ally and anything you wish will be yours."

Nacht smiled, but did not bare her fangs. She had no intention of giving this creature anything. But if she could get it to attack and kill the hunters, perhaps she could still salvage the night.

The alien began to make a strange clicking noise that Nacht soon recognized as laughter. He spoke, still laughing, "You can keep your offer. There is only one thing a warrior such as I could want, and only you can give it."

Nacht glared, "And that would be?"

"A challenge." With that, he whipped out a sharp bladed shrunken and threw it at Nacht. Nacht quickly dodged to the side and caught the flying weapon. She looked it over for a moment, and then hurled it back at the alien. It moved too fast for him to catch and almost too fast for him to move out of the way, but he managed.

Nacht jumped at the creature but he dodged out of the way and slashed at her back. Two blades mounted on his wrist cut though her armor and into her back, but her skin healed before she even bled.

She spun around with a high kick which knocked the mask he wore away. Nacht paused only a moment to gaze at his wicked face. She jumped back as he swatted at her. His stance now was much more cautious. Nacht teleported behind him, kicking him in the back. He fell forward on his knees, but managed to spin and counter with a sharp kick at her gut. It made contact but Nacht quickly teleported away, unwinded; vampires had no need to breathe.

As she watched the alien carefully Nacht smiled in success; he didn't seem to be able to see very well at all! Teleporting sporadically, Nacht eventually got behind him and latched on to his neck, holding his hands with on of her own and his head with the other; she could not get a good grip on his slick dreadlock-like hair.

Unfortunately for Nacht, Tarn'se was equipped with sharp teeth as well. As a last ditch attempt to get the vampire off himself, Tarn'se bit deeply into her exposed wrist. The skin broke in a burst of blood, a good bit of which ended up going down Tarn'se's throat. He was thoroughly disgusted at the feeling but if this was what he had to do to live, so be it.

Nacht shrieked and released him. Tarn'se fell to the floor, dragging Nacht down with him, and managed to slam Nacht's head into the hardwood floor before she got away. Fluorescent green blood ran down at the corners of her mouth and her wrist dribbled blood slowly. Nacht stared at her bloody wrist in shock, rage building. Forcefully taking any vampire's blood was the equivalent of rape to a vampire, and it was a sign of weakness; the one thing Nacht loathed above all other things. She watched the alien stand wiping his neck and spitting out what blood was still in his mouth. Nacht grinned wickedly at the sight; if he wished for her blood, he would gain full advantage of its mutagenic powers.

"May my blood turn you," Nacht said sweetly as she teleported away.

Ravyn grunted as she pulled at the binds which held her to the chair. They were too tight. There was no way she could get out of them. It her feet weren't tied she could probably try to walk over to one of the candles and burn the roped off. The idea sounded stupid in her head a second after she thought it; she would probably burn her hands off in the process.

Her head snapped up as she heard the familiar sound of a body hitting the ground. She prayed silently that it wasn't one of her guild. Suddenly, the large doors exploded in splinters as a vampire was thrown through them. The vampire landed on the table, one of the candles toppling over and setting her chestnut brown hair ablaze. The vampire gave one last shriek as, in a gout of blood, her chest exploded.

Ravyn had pressed herself so hard into the back of the chair she was surprised it didn't snap in half. She breathed a sigh of relief when the killer of the vampire entered the room. It was her alien friend; she couldn't believe that she was actually happy to see him. He looked a bit scratched up and she could see puncture marks on his neck. She was impressed; if he was able to get a vampire off him as it bit him, he was good.

Mustering up as much dignity as she could in her situation, she called in an annoyed voice, "It took you long enough."

Tarn'se's head snapped up, but he visibly relaxed upon seeing her, "Ravyn; you are alive."

"What made you think otherwise?"

Tarn'se gestured to the few ashes that was left of her most recent vampire kill, "They don't seem to be the kind that take prisoners."

Ravyn laughed hollowly, "They aren't, though Nacht killing me probably would have been a blessing if you guys didn't come."

"Nacht; is that the vampire leader's name?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We have met," Tarn'se replied, inclining his head in a proud pose, "However, she vanished before I could finish her. Do you know where she is?"

"She teleported away last time I saw her. I'd guess she'd probably be in her hidden quarters; vampires tend to head to their sanctuaries if threatened or injured."

Tarn'se nodded and turned as if to leave when Ravyn shouted, "Hey! A little help would be nice!" Tarn'se turned and seemed to finally notice that Ravyn was not just sitting on her ass for the fun of it. He quickly strode over and cut the bonds tying Ravyn to the chair. Ravyn rubbed the red marks on her wrists trying to coax her circulation back into her arms.

"Curious, but would you mind if I tagged along with your hunt for Nacht?"

Tarn'se seemed to gain a reproachful posture, "Why do wish to follow me?"

"Nacht and I have a bit of a score to settle…"

Outside, the battle raged on. Ivy and Nathan had taken cover behind a large pile of rubble from the explosion that had taken a huge chunk out of the walls around the compound. They had taken the vampires completely by surprise. Obviously Nacht had not known that a vampire had given her hideout away; another point for the hunters.

By Ivy's counting, they had already lost a dozen hunters out of the sixty that had come with them. There was at least a hundred vampires in residence in this place; it was undoubtedly one of the biggest vampire sanctuaries that she had ever seen, or attacked for that matter. Luckily, her vampire poison was working wonderfully, and Nathan had gotten off some amazing shots.

Glancing worriedly up at the main building, Ivy hoped that they hadn't been too late.

Ivy saw two vampires eye her and Nathan and start forward. Nathan saw them coming as well and sent an arrow into the heart of the closest. The second hissed and teleported, reappearing and knocking Nathan to the ground. Ivy spun and sent poisoned crossbow bolt into the vampire's cheek.

The vampire shrieked as its' face began to blacken, eventually falling away as bits of ash. He gave one final cry as the poison ate through his neck, severing his head and killing him.

Ivy grabbed Nathan's hand and pulled him to his feet, "You ok?"

Nathan nodded and with amazingly quick reflexes brought up his bow. Ivy dropped as he sent an arrow into the vampire's chest that had almost gotten its' hands around her neck.

Ivy watched the vampire turn to ash and smiled at Nathan, "Thanks."

Nathan beamed at the praise, but soon turned to send off a few more shots at other vampires. Ivy ducked behind a particularly large block of stone and did a quick mental shout for the hunters, "Vampires are still coming out of the building so be sharp if you go in. Our big friend is after Nacht and I'm pretty sure he'll keep her busy, if he can find her. Don't forget to keep an eye out for Ravyn."

Ravyn led Tarn'se through the maze that was Nacht's home. In their search Ravyn had found the weapons that had been stripped from her when she was unconscious: her sword, two daggers, and a crossbow with a pouch containing a dozen bolts, without any of Ivy's sunlight serum on them. Ravyn wished that she had a bottle of the lethal mixture, but she would have to make due with what she had.

If Ravyn calculated correctly, Nacht's room would be high up and out in the open; no vampire hunter would suspect such a powerful Master vampire to keep their room so easily accessible and that was the genius of it. If Ravyn could compliment Nacht on one thing, it would be her intelligence, and that made her a hell lot more dangerous than any extremely powerful, but stupid vampire. Ravyn would rather fight an incredibly strong vampire than a smart one any day.

Ravyn stopped in front of one of the rooms. She was sure she heard something. Gesturing to Tarn'se, Ravyn crept quietly to the door. Pulling her crossbow out and loading it with a bolt, Ravyn grabbed the handle wrenched the door open and fired.

The blot struck a large mirror above a dresser and shattered it, gaining a surprised yelp from the vampire that was digging in the object in front of it, "What in the hell are you doing? Don't you people know how to knock?"

Tarn'se snarled and went to charge when Ravyn grabbed his forearm, "Don't bother; it isn't her. It's her twin." Indeed, it was Eve standing with her hands on her hips, pouting at them. And by the look of it, she had been raiding Nacht's jewelry boxes. A few dozen necklaces dangled about her neck along with at least another dozen bracelets on each wrist. Her fingers had at least one ring on each; some had two.

"Dressing for the prom?" Ravyn asked looking her up and down.

Eve sighed, "If only; but no, I am personally getting out of here with all that I can."

"Getting out of here?" Ravyn asked, confused.

Eve teleported and reappeared in front of Ravyn. She grabbed Ravyn's hand and shook it heartily, "Congratulations! You are the first group of vampire hunters to ever chase off my sister! Well done! Well done, indeed!"

"Chase her off?" Ravyn was lost.

Eve sighed and began to elaborate as if she were explaining to a child, "My sister has been around the world at least twice, with me in tow. Whenever she chooses to move, she chooses on her own accord. This time though, you guys have forced her out. You've kicked her out of the bar. You chucked her overboard. You pushed her off the wagon, so to speak. You've won."

Another explosion punctured Eve's words, "The battle is still raging. How can we have won?" Ravyn questioned.

Eve smiled evilly, "Nacht never expected an attack; she knew that your friends would come after you, but she also felt that she would be able to gather and organize her forces in time. That would have only taken a day. But somehow you found this place; how you did, I don't know and I really don't care. You caught her off guard. And as for the vampires residing here, they weren't expecting the attack either! Once your friends came inside, I knew this place would fall. The vampires now feel that Nacht cannot offer them relative safety, so they no longer ally to her. Hell, if word of this gets out and far enough, Nacht may be considered a Fallen Master; a Master vampire who has lost power over time rather than gained it. And I thank you for that. Now I finally have a good excuse to be rid of her. She's had too many threats hanging over my head for me to leave before, but now… I think I can make it on my own." Eve walked over to the dresser and grabbed her hat, brushing a few shards of glass off of it and fitting it on her head, "Now, I do think you deserve a reward; your big friend too. I watched his little rampage through this place; not bad at all."

Eve reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, black velvet pouch and dropped it into Ravyn's hand, "Don't open it until you get out of here. Now, what would your friend like?"

"Where is your sister?" Tarn'se asked simply.

Eve's brows rose, but she didn't comment, "She's out on the balcony on the roof. Go down this hall, take a left, go up the stairs 'till you get to the top, and you're there."

Ravyn and Tarn'se gave Eve a nod. Eve glanced at Tarn'se and Ravyn could see her nose twitch slightly; a vampire's sense of smell was about the same as a bloodhound's, probably where the garlic myth came from. Eve's eyes widened but she said nothing. She then met Ravyn's eyes and grinned once more, flashing her fangs, "I think we'll all be meeting again soon." Tipping her hat, Eve disappeared.

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