Mortal weapons broke before his strength. Lifeblood flowed into him from his victims, empowering the soon-to-be vampire lord Dusk. It was a name the elf chose for himself, the opposite of the kind of name royals chose, like dawn, cinder, or ash. He was to be a new line after he dealt with the blood sacs that irritated his mistress.

Screams echoed through his enhanced ears, and he could feel the hearts of his prey ready to burst with blood. Fabric from the tent behind him rippled in the cold night wind. Four had fallen to his claws already, and after he finished off the six scared soldiers, he would terrorize the camp. Then, he would rise from the blood of hundreds of elf men and women. Their magical blood would be his feast.

A red light blinked in his vision as a human walked up, adjusting a device on its head. No threat; human mud men were weaker than elves in every way. The mud man would be another meal, nothing more.

Terrible pain rippled up through his leg, and the vampire fell on his ass. Pieces of meat were all that held his left leg together. Bone and joint were cut cleanly. Some lucky warrior must have crawled behind him; he gazed up at the human standing over him. When had the mud man gotten close?

Dusk shot off his back and lunged to drain the human and regenerate.

As the human in front of him calmly backhanded Dusk’s charge, a dull musical voice hit his ears. Fangs shattered, and tendons snapped, rolling the muscle up his jaw. The vampire stared at the monster standing over him.

“Is this thing even worth a poll?” The human held out a hand. “Spear,” an elf gave up their spear willingly.

Dusk realized he wasn’t dealing with the average human. Faster than Dusk thought possible, the human moved, burying the spear into the vampire’s heart. He felt the organ split in two under the spear thrust. His only solace was that the human had sloppy form; a 4-year-old was better than him.

“Captain, do you think he’s behind the sickness?” The monster freed the spear, and Dusk tried to play dead while his heart healed slowly. It was obvious the human didn’t know how to kill his kind. “I think it's healing.”

“I thought as much.” Dread gripped his undead heart; it was over. “Maybe they need a wooden steak through the heart.” The spear stabbed him until he felt wood splinters in his chest.

“It killed at least 4 of us, Captain.” The soldier said.

“Get some of the quick-drying concrete from the supply shed, mark its use under miscellaneous, dig a hole, and put an 8ft stake pointed straight up inside.” A heavy boot fell down on the vampire’s other leg. Dusk felt the bones shatter and the flesh split. The monster had its cruel fun. It wasn’t a mud man that led the men; it was a demon. “Better make a row of them. I don’t think this is the only one.” The monster said.

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