He could only sense one vampire presence now, a little ways out into the desert from the road train, on the far side of it from him Given its strength, it was most likely both of the vampires he had sensed earlier, now together. I hate to hope that the one venturing in got what he came for, he thought to himself as he ran towards them, but I do. I just also hope that if they have a human, they don't just kill him first thing.

He circled wide around the caravan and slowed to a rapid trot as he approached the vampires he had sensed. Sure enough, there were two of them, a male and a female. And the female held a struggling man close, already feeding. Ah crap. I've got to separate them, or I'll end up killing her victim along with her. Formulating a quick plan, he strode confidently up to the pair, and gave the feeding vampire a hard mental shove. She stopped and lifted her head from the shivering human's neck, to give David a snarl. "What do you want?"

"I want a turn before you kill it," he said, and shoved again, not quite trying to actually take over, just asserting his strength.

"Hey!" The male vampire stepped in a little closer. "I'm going next."

David rounded on him and pushed hard with his mind. "No, I don't think you are." The other vampire was fairly weak-minded, and with a petulant expression he backed down.

"Oh fine. But save some for me."

David grinned. "I will, don't worry." He turned to the female again and stepped closer. She glared at him, but then shoved the man at him. The human stumbled and fell at David's feet, but David paid him no attention, for the instant he was clear of the vampire, David had drawn his sword and struck at her. The blade tore through her neck in a spray of blood as the male vampire let out a shocked cry... but her head remained attached, he'd managed only to cut her throat. David swore.

She clutched at her bleeding neck and stumbled back. David leaped forward over the prone human, striking at her again, but this time she raised one arm to block the blow. He cut a deep gouge in her forearm, but did no other damage. David growled in frustration as he heard rapid steps heading away from the battle. The male vampire was running for it. And this early on David was not at all ready to have the vampire community at large know he existed. He reached out mentally and grabbed at the female vampire's mind. Concentrating on the physical fight, she wasn't prepared for the mental attack, though her mind was strong, and she fought back hard. But David had her, and he held her just long enough to force her to lower her arms. One quick slice later it was over, and not even pausing to watch her body fall, he sprinted after the other vampire.

And then he heard another set of footsteps, slower but still at a running pace. The human had gotten to his feet and was making a break for the caravan's lights. He swore again.

David ran faster, reaching out ahead with his mind. He gave the fleeing vampire a mental shove, and the creature tripped, falling face first in the sand. That was enough to let David catch up. The vampire scrambled to his feet to run again, but with a growl David swung his sword, slicing through the back of the vampire's leg, effectively ham-stringing him. The vampire rounded on David, but David reached out with his mind again and held the weak-minded creature easily. He wasted no time, but with one full-force swing he cut the vampire's head off. Then he spun around and ran back the way he came, after the fleeing human.

The man was running flat-out, but no human could out-run a vampire, and David caught up with him while he was still short of the road train's lights. He dropped his sword and grabbed the man with both hands. He held the struggling human by his wrists, easily keeping the man captive. And then he sighed heavily. "I am very sorry," he said. "If I didn't need to do this, I wouldn't, but I must. Forgive me."

He brought the man's wrist up to his lips and bit down. The man let out a whimper, and David felt another pang of regret, but what he was doing was nothing compared to the fate he'd likely saved this man from. And the whimper was easy enough to ignore as the incredible taste of human blood flooded into him. Prepared for the sensation, he was better able to keep his head, and this time he took just the one sip, before releasing the human and stepping back. The man stood for a moment, trembling, looking incredulously at David.

"Well, go on!"

The man twitched, then spun around and ran for it, as though he expected David to chase him again. Which he probably does expect, thought David with another sigh. Oh well. Still... there are three less vampires in the world today. Not a bad night's work!