David looked out into the desert. The vampire, or possibly vampires, who had been trailing him were moving up, no longer directly behind, he could now sense them from slightly to the side, moving closer. He drew his sword. "You should stay out of the way," he said.

"Yeah," said Mack, and retreated down the road a little.

David soon saw two shapes approaching from the desert. They ran fast, side by side. He glanced behind him, to make sure Mack was well out of the way, then ran to meet them. As he drew near his stomach sank. They must have passed by the corpse of the vampire he had fought earlier, because one of them was holding his sword. Damn it, I should have broken it! They were both female, but that didn't mean they'd be any less strong or fast. Still, there was nothing for it, and David dove into the fight.

They were both fairly strong-minded, though he could have taken either of them easily alone, and the one with the sword was thankfully not practiced at all, but she was very quick and every time he had to block her, he left openings for the other one, who hit, kicked, and even grabbed at him, throwing him off balance before being driven back by his blade, which in turn allowed the one with the sword to get through his defenses. He used his mental combat to full effect, and only the way they tended to pause physically in order to fight back mentally kept them from getting the upper hand. If he'd just been able to mentally go after one, he might have accomplished something, but turning his attention to one of them just left him open to mental and physical attacks from the other. And they were managing to not halt completely when they countered his mental blows, so he was rapidly picking up a collection of cuts and bruises, and was aware of the way blood loss was weakening him.

I can't fight them both, I have to somehow take one at a time, he thought. The idea came to him quickly, and he put it into action just as quickly. He turned and ran back towards the road, giving him a few yards space before the pair ran after him. Then he spun around, and with all his strength he threw his sword, point first. It wasn't really an aerodynamic missile, but it didn't have to go very far, and it hit its target dead on, taking the sword-wielder in the throat. She dropped, probably not dead, but out of the combat for just a few minutes, and that was all David needed. He hit the other vampire with everything he had, his mind overwhelming hers, and held her still and helpless as he approached. She snarled at him, but he didn't back down, and as soon as he was within reach he grabbed her head. He hesitated just a heartbeat, not really liking what he needed to do, but then he twisted as hard as he could, and her neck snapped with a sickening crunch. He kept twisting, needing to be sure the spinal cord was destroyed, and when her head faced backwards, he let her go. He felt a little sick, but he couldn't stop and think about it.

The other vampire, still down on the desert floor, was struggling to pull his sword from her throat. He grabbed the hilt and pulled it out for her. She looked up at him and her expression was almost pleading, but he hardened himself against it. He knew she would have killed him, and Mack too, without any remorse, so he had little for her as he struck down and cut off her head.