Thar Shaddin

'What?!' Kaven was so shocked he couldn't move, 'this doesn't happen, a Vampire defending a Human!!' Kaven was breathing heavily, trying to regain his calm, he slowly put back the three throwing stars in his left hand. 'At least now there's only one person to fight'.

He slowly withdrew his Katana, trying to be as silent as possible. Using everything he had he called as many of the biggest creatures he could to him, about fifteen came. They looked harmless on a glance but they would have no qualms about ripping someone to shreds. Their fur was silver white and they had retractable claws sharp enough to tear through any kind of physical defense an opponent used. Using so much energy to call them had Kaven on his knees panting for breath. He stood up very slowly, knees shaking, it was an effort just standing. 'Follow me' he called to the animals. He slowly walked towards the group of three, having to use his sword as a walking stick certainly didn't help. However his cloak was completely covering his body and the only thing visible to the three was a pair of glaring red eyes, meaning they couldn't see how weak he was. "Anyone harms the human and I'll cut you up faster than you can say Nymph" Kaven said this with no emotion in his voice what so ever, trying to look calm. 'Just have to stall them 'till I get my strength back'. The animals followed behind him like a minature army; all growling, claws extended, it was a scary sight to some.

Well that left no questions about whether the woman was a nymph. Of course when she turned to Jenica and asked if she could have him, a devilish thought occurred to him that, perhaps he should let the woman drain him to death. He discarded the idea on the grounds that death wasn't a particularly desirable thing. So far he had been having a decent time of all this, but that all changed fast with Jenica's reactions to the nymph's intentions towards him.

As he had been quite contently (or at least partly) been human for so long without extensive supernatural contact, Myx entertained the thought that it wasn't a great situation to be in, as far as being surrounded by three pairs of glowing eyes and being the only one without. It had been quite an enchanted night but he felt the need to take his exit soon.

So it is that Myx with a wary eye positioned his hand on top of his sheathed knife, making maximum contact with it without actually seeming to grasp the handle. He then leaned slightly forward and whispered his dwelling place in the Residential District, and a short good-bye to Jenica. Immediately after so he would leave no time for predictions of any sort, the blade glowed so that the multicolored light emitted could be seen however dulled, through the leather sheathe--and simultaneously a globe of very bright light screamed into existence in the middle of the three glowing pairs of eyes and burned brightly for a long full second before blinking out in to oblivion, as if it was never there in the first place. Myx having known this would happen, was already taking off in full speed, taking a shortcut he knew would take him straight to the tavern where he meant to have some more ale and perhaps a bit of food to calm himself. His cat had taken its own way around and he paid it little mind knowing it would find its way to him, sometime very soon.

[[Laz, you should know that Amaia is a NAIAD. She smells like pure WATER. Animals DO NOT attack water. Most are AFRAID of water. Who takes on a Lake? NO ONE. Just so you know. *smile*]]

"I'd never hurt what you protect."

Nami's statement was sincere, but quiet, clear pain in her voice as she turned teary eyes away from the man and what she had thought as her friend. How could Jenica have done that? Choose him over her? Like when she'd exchanged blood with that man, but wouldn't accept the nymph's...

Then Myx pulled his little trick, and the group's eyesight was obscured for a short while.

Being a creature of mainly daylight, and having had turned her face away, Amaia probably had the fastest recovery to the bright light, since Jenica was a vampire, and Kaven had sensitive eyes. Noting within a splitsecond that the human was gone, she actually laughed at the elf's threat. An ELF? Harm HER? With ANIMALS? He had to be kidding. Or on some serious drugs. Without Myx to divide Jenica's loyalties, it was no longer a fair fight for the impudent man. Kaven was definately in trouble. The question was, did he realize it?

Her body glowed a bright blue as she forced her hand into herself, removing her reforged blade and smiling fondly at it before licking at the blue blood coating it as her chest healed. Would Jenica notice the change? It'd been remade, and looked rather like the vampire's original weapon.

A deaf fool could have heard the pain in Amaia's voice, and Jenica felt the tension leave her as she allowed a vague sort of relief to enter her mind. She'd forgotten the nymph's loyalties; she'd forgotten the separation. Nami would never attack what Jenica asked her not to. Jenica no longer shared this conviction, but she could work it to her advantage.

Her nostrils flared as she straightened into a more relaxed stance, still keeping eye contact with Amaia, but Myx's whispered comment distracted her for a moment, and she turned to look at him. Her lazy expression rarely changed, but for this, she managed to raise a startled eyebrow. Then she remembered - he didn't know what she was. All for the better.

Then the sun exploded.

The vampire shrieked and covered her eyes, stumbling back. She reeled in pain, her eyes stinging from the sudden blinding flash which hurt her sensitive eyes more than any human's. Tears streamed down her face as she began blinking out the stars flashing before her vision, but the large white hole in the center of her sight wasn't going away as quickly as she'd like it to.

Of course, a voice piped in then, calling threats. She growled, even more bestial than before. She felt like a cornered predator, with some fleshy mass standing between herself and her nearest exit. But she couldn't see the exit.

She could smell the lack of nearby male, and knew her discovery had fled with the sun. This left herself, Nami, and some unknown, who sounded to have the pitter patter of animals about him. The animals were an easy kill, but she couldn't be sure of the male. And with her vision still blurry, she couldn't make out his size or decide whether he was a threat or not.

Jenica looked from the nymph to the blurry shadows, where a threat approached, ever closer to attacking the two women. Her vision would not heal fast enough for a fight; she hadn't had a meal in days, and the little blood she had left would only service on more trick.

Leave? Or try to fight? Nami could handle herself, and Jenica had a house call to make. But to betray the nymph, and then desert her? Even Jenica's dulled loyalty screamed in protest.

So, a compromise. She would leave, after helping the nymph. One last trick, and then a meal.

She crouched and squinted her eyes, trying to decide where to strike. Not a direct blow - too easy to dodge. She needed something impressive, perhaps to give Nami time to run or come up with a decent death blow. She placed one hand on the ground and sang to the earth shadows, asking them where they were, how many could they gather, come play with me, I have a tremendous game for you to play...

Before the two women, a thin line of shadow started to form. It quivered, then grew and spread, thickening and rising from the ground like a demented sheet of inky water. Jenica shuttered her glowing red eyes as it rose even further, rising, rising, ten feet high, a mass of shadows, writhing and swaying. It built, ever more, and she continued a quiet plea, come, come my friends, one great trick to play, just to buy the time, come and show this one how my games run...

There was a moment of dead silence, as the wall of shadow, five feet deep, fifteen feet high and ten across, blocked the attacker's view of the women. The landscape, bare and decrepit, looked even more disconcerting for a fifty foot circumferance, as she'd called upon every shadow available, and they had all come for the promised game. Despite the night, no shadows remained on the ground. Instead, they swayed between the women and man, waiting to play and then return to their nightly homes.

Jenica whispered, very quietly, her voice grating painfully.

"Splash."

The shadows, in her mind, roared with laughter. A truly exciting trick!

The vampire looked at Nami then, weariness in every line of her body. The nymph would understand her need, would know that she'd used every last drop of strength for this one last trick. She stood, still watching Nami, then turned and ran, wanting to catch the curious one, and wanting to catch a meal. As she melted into the night wind, the wall wavered, more and more, and when the vampire was gone, it played the game through.

It collapsed forward in a black tidalwave of night ink.

"Umm, I was actually kind of hoping that you would run away in fear rather than kick the shit out of me" Kavens strength had slowly returned. He picked his sword out of the ground and sheathed it in one instant, but keeping a hold of his throwing stars.

When the Vampire began building up the huge wall of shadows he guessed that talking was out of the question. The pure size of it had Kaven frozen in fear, nothing he could possibly do compared to this. His shadows were just for show, but hers, now hers looked like they could do some serious damage. 'Move! Come on and move!' His entire body was shaking in fear and his legs just wouldn't run. Kaven could only think of one option. He brought his throwing star to his hand, took a deep breath and forced it in. Blood spilled onto the ground and Kaven gritted his teeth in pain. It brought his senses back, his ability to move, being able to see nothing he threw his stars in the last known direction of the Nymph and began to transform. his hands began to expand to make way for the claws, the immense pain that transforming caused Kaven forced him to scream out in unimaginable agony, falling on his knees his claws began to extend from his enlarged hands, the muscles in his arms and legs tore, and re-grew larger and his reflexes would become more agile.

Transformation complete, Kaven just knelt there panting for a second, before remembering the dire situation he was in. He looked up, the wall was about to fall on him. Looking around for a way out, he saw a tree. He pegged it as fast as he could before taking a Giant leap, digging his claws into the bark he quickly climbed to the top of the tree, leaving huge holes. He reached the top and leapt over the falling wall of shadows to the other side, to where the Nymph and the Vampire was, except, the Vampire was gone. He landed silently, behind the Nymph and let out a deafening bestial like roar, all he tried to do was defend the human, like what the vampire did, yet she still tried to kill him. Now he was angry and he was going to make the Nymph pay the price.

Amaia understood, not angry when the other woman departed. She needed to feed, and pursue her own interests. The nymph could handle this… Thing. The wall of shadows was impressive, and easily intercepted the throwing stars. To a human, perhaps, he was incredibly fast, but the naiad was used to watching vampires move, and her own motions had to be faster. She was, after all, an embodiment of water, and what did water do? It flowed. Just as she did, in a surprisingly elegant turn, moving out of Kaven’s range and facing him in the same fluid movement, blade like an extension of her arm.

She was no longer amused.

It’d taken her ages to find Jenica again, and because of idiotic, meddlesome men, her companion had left her once more, and had been weakened due to this elf’s interference. Briefly wondering if he knew there was no way he could win a fight against her, she spoke, voice low, husky… Lethal.

“You should not have pursued this battle.”

Amaia had spent all day in the water, and had fed more than once in the past twenty hours. Power was rolling off her like waves. Exactly like waves, terrifying the animals around them that weren’t used to forces of nature becoming offensive.

There were ways to die by the nymph’s hand. In pain, and in pleasure. She was partial to the latter, but the wicked creature certainly took satisfaction in the first.

“I only stepped in because you were trying to kill the human, looks like I didn’t need to though with that blinding orb he had!” Kaven circled round the Nymph, every bit aware that a head on fight would prove deadly. His bestial like reflexes might make it easy to dodge direct attacks from that sword of hers, but with a Nymph, it was never that simple. “Look, I just don’t like it when people needlessly spill blood, but I also don’t like needlessly fighting”.

Kaven was searching for a way out, weather it came through negotiations, fleeing or death he did not know. He hoped to god that she would listen and let him go, fleeing would not result in much, and she would catch him. Death would work, but Kaven rather liked being alive. That left either fighting like a bitch or talking his way out of it. Sweat was dripping from his every pore, ‘What was I thinking, getting my self into such a dumb ass situation!’ Kaven had never been in so dangerous a fight and was it not for his bestial like instincts telling him to rip her apart he would be long gone, and probably dead.

It was like his mind had been spit into three sections, one screaming fight, another screaming run and the final part calmly telling him to talk his way out of it. “How about we just drop this and go our separate ways, we have no reason to fight, my motivation left along with that human. I no longer have a need to fight, and if we do this, you can go find your vampire friend, what do you say?”

Kaven was still pacing around the Nymph. Very aware that if this failed he would need to be ready for an attack, his knees were bent, arms out and claws extended. While not speaking he let out a constant, but quiet growl, making him seem more bestial than human.