Regine Von Carstein

The vampire drew back the drawstring on her bow, aiming down the length of the arrow, picking a target among the circle of Norscans gathered around the central-fire of the hidden camp, and loosed.

The arrow knifed through the night air, its hissing whistle ending with a slicing Thud! through the side of a Norscans neck. Not through the centre, not penetrating the vertebrate or jugular, but through the side, blood immediately running from both wounds as the raider roared in pain and shot his hand up to his neck out of reflex.

The others reacted slowly, mead having slowed their wits, but they gathered themselves soon enough; standing up, eyes scanning the tree's and shouts to alert the others as weapons and shields were picked up. The one with the arrow through his neck toppled over onto his side, before another arrow whistled from the dark bed of tree's and thudded into another Norscans chest. Another bellow of pain and fury, the reavers quickly coming together and bringing their shields up to form a protective wall as others emerged from their tents, dazed and confused by gathering their wits and joining the others.

Shouts and yells filled the camp, eyes scanning the trees, before a third arrow hissed in its entry and slammed against one of their shields, embedding into the black-painted wood.

"Från åsen - där uppe! Ni två huvuden till vänster, vi kommer fram i centrum och distraherar, det är bara en!" the biggest among them shouted in his harsh language, gesturing with his axe as the main group started to run toward Regine's hidden position, shields up, while a couple broke off from the body to wrap around the flank.

They were going to pin her down then flank her against the river, Regine could tell, her bow coming up one more time and loosing an arrow - but all it found was another shield-front into which it dully buried itself into with a Thud!

"Där är dem! Cormac, Asavar, runt till höger, klipp av dem från andra sidan!"

Once again, two men broke off from the main group and headed to their right, crossing the barrier between the woods and the camp and joining Regine in the forest. Meanwhile, the other two roughly fifty yards from her, had disappeared from sight into their section of the forest, but the vampire could hear their heavy footsteps crushing grass and twig underfoot; the main body would hold her in position while the two smaller groups would flank her. Time to move.

Regine pulled back from the tree and retreated ten or so yards deeper up the ravine hill, shouts coming from below as her figure was completely spotted and tracked. Making it behind the next trunk, the vampire reached down and picked up one of the javelins she had planted earlier, drew it up ready to throw, then rounded the other side of the tree, spotted the main group, drew her hand back and hurled it towards them with all of her strength. The short-spear missile knifed through the air, propelled by the vampires inhuman strength as it was sliced down like a thunderbolt and struck one of the Norscans in the shoulder, where his pectoral moved towards his trap muscle, the length of the weapon puncturing clean through and evoke a roar of pain as the man toppled backwards, struggling on the ground as blood seeped from his wound. The rest surged forward, their momentum only broken briefly by entering the thickets of the forest, but their shields remained forward and blocking most blows - as Regine learned when she hurled her next javelin, only for it to embed itself deeply into another shield.

The vampire retreated again, breaking from her cover and darting further up the ravine hillside, leaping over a fallen log, landing on her feet, dashing towards - a bolt of hot pain spread out from her back as she felt a penetrating spearhead lodge itself in a shoulder blade. Hissing loudly, getting behind cover, Regine felt the awkward weight swaying behind her, the steel head half-embedded into her body as she had to pivot her whole centre and 'whack' the spear from her flesh by catching it with the rough bark of a tree. The hot sensation of pain was rescinding, but the action had cost her precious seconds and distracted her, as a warcry and heavy footsteps thundered in from her left - the two that had split off from earlier had found her.

The first to come at her was big, but then again, they all were. Regine was herself a tall figure, but this one was half a foot again above her, his big shoulders carrying his battleaxe in one hand and shield in the other, the bearded, ferocious face staring hate at her as his weapon came down for what would have been a head-splitting killing blow. The vampire sidestepped at the last moment, drawing her own sword out, stabbing out towards his arm, but the warrior brought his shield up and angled it, causing her to deflect, then shoved that same shoulder at her to push her off balance, which she only avoided by stepping backwards. That was when his partner arrived, spear in hand, the weapons length granting him a skewering charge that the vampire was only able to turn aside with her sword at the last moment, but now the axe-and-shield was on her again, roaring ferociously as he beat at her with his axe, swinging down-wards chops, side-ways cleaves, forcing her backwards while his companion with the spear stabbed at her from behind his companion. The two offered a mixture of defense and relentless offensive that Regine struggled to protect herself from, let alone overcome.

Knowing she did not have the experience for this, the vampire stepped turned and jumped, taking a diving somersault and coming up near another one of her trees, pivoting around it, drawing up one of the javelins and turning around the other side, hurling the short-spear with a vicious force that planted it right into the spearman's chest; the man shouting loudly in death-pain as he was taken off his feet and stumbled backwards. The axe-and-shield bellowed as he surged forward again, axe up to strike - but Regine was quicker. She darted in as close as she could go, her dagger coming up to block his swing near the hilt, while her fangs went straight into his neck and drank deep. The Norscan's eyes went wide, his axe falling from his grip as all strength and life fled his body, pushed out by the vampires hunger as Regine sheathed her dagger and used that hand to grab the raiders shield instead, using it for her own purposes as the remaining central group of three raiders finally caught up - their shock quickly transforming into anger as all three charged forward with shouts of bloody murder.

The two in the centre surged up the hill towards her, while the third in the group broke off and came at Regine from the side, a spear in his hands stabbing out at her from a distance. Outnumbered three to one, Regine kept was constantly on the back foot. Her sword turned aside the spear-thrusts, while her shield and cat-like grace deflected or side-stepped from those before her. The sound of steel deflected from wood and the grunts and shouts of Norscan raiders echoed off the surrounding trees and into the starry night. As before, Regine was too much on the defensive to mount an offense; the three men before her stabbing, swinging and thrusting with their weapons while the two occupying her centre made good use of her shields. Even more seriously, she could detect further heavy foot-falls incoming from her left - the other two sent around to help flank the main group. They couldn't be more than forty yards away and closing fast.

Regine side-stepped to the left ducking beneath a powerful swing. Deliberately putting the two before her between herself and the spearman, she bought herself precious seconds. Shooting her sword up and catching the axe-wielder upon the shoulder, his scream gargled as her weapon passed through the tissue and join and into his neck, flashing a red spray as she swiftly withdrew it and kicked the Norscan forward with enough strength to crash him into his compatriot - and she stabbed him again in the back with her sword, the tip sliding through the tissue of one Norscan and into the chest of the one behind him.

But the spearman came on swiftly. Having rounded his now two-dead compatriots, his longer reach weapon in hand, he stabbed out towards the vampire, shortening his weapons longer-reach quickly to easily reposition it whenever Regine used her agility to side-step, or extending it when she backtracked. The armored Norscan knew what he was doing, the vampire could tell much, and she could hear the rapid approach of his final two companions and a sharp, sudden whistle...

Ducking just too late by half a second, Regine felt the red-hot puncture of a javelin pierce her back and penetrate through her body to protrude above her right breast, the spearhead slick with streaks of her dark blood. Hissing in pain and gritting her fangs, the vampire drew her left hand back and hurled her new-found shield against the spearman before her, the warrior's clear lack of experience in such an unorthodox maneuver as it struck him hard in his chest, blood coughing out form his lips as he stumbled backwards with shattered ribs and punctured lungs.

That bought her time. Quickly, the vampire reached up and grabbed the javelin sticking out of her body and, with a pained whined, yanked it through the rest of her torso, turning around just in time as the other two were barely half a dozen yards away - the javelin being hurled back in gratitude and striking one in the stomach. He garbled blood and spun about on the spot from the force of the impact, before the vampire lunged forward to meet the remaining Norscan bellowing hot fury and swinging his enormous axe. He swung, she stepped backwards. He came forward again, momentum and power in a broad stroke. She ducked then sprung forward, gaining entrance to his personal space and within his weapon, driving her sword through his chest and latching her fangs onto his neck from which she drank and drank, and drank. All strength and vigour draining away, the mans ferocity bleeding into the maw of a voracious predator, the Norscan paled and lost composure, slipping down and going limp, only to be held up long enough by the vampire for her to finish feeding, before she tossed him back onto the bloodied earth, gasping in deeply as the moon cash its silvery light over her pale features and blood-slick, fanged maw.