Lina and Bai exited into the hall. The last of the humans were trickling out of the caves, trying to catch up with the crowds that were ahead of them.
Lina walked to the door with the galloping horse carved into its surface and, finding it unlocked, slowly opened it. The daylight that she permitted into the room as she opened the door was the only illumination. It revealed the supine vampire there, tied to his own bed, covered in clotted blood and endless wounds.
Lina ran forward to help, grabbing his head and speaking directly at him: “We'll get you out of here. You're going to be alright.” Her words had a certain tender quality, a certain faltering and weakness to them as she spoke.
Her attention was diverted by a dark shadow emerging from the toilet compartment, who simply spoke her name in a whisper, “Lina.” Suddenly Lina was blind-sided by Uta who leapt at her from behind the bed. Uta pushed Lina out of the room, gripping her neck and pushing her backwards. Uta tried to bit Lina’s neck, but Lina pushed her away, knocking her to the side.
Bai pulled Uta off the ground and began to grapple with her, when suddenly Asha emerged from the room and grabbed Lina by the neck. Asha lifted Lina up by the neck, squeezing the breath out of her with her crushing grip.
“It really wasn't fair that Sim should have had to die in your place. What type of vile thing are you that you should make others be punished for your transgressions? What type of monster are you?” Asha hissed and screeched.
Bai was able to knock Uta to the ground, where she collapsed, motionless and apparently unconscious. Then he sprang to Lina’s aid. He grabbed Asha off of Lina and shoved Asha into the room, while Lina took a gasping breath. Bai then grabbed Lina and pulled her down the hall out of he way of Asha's retaliatory attack. Asha emerged into the hall, turning towards Lina and Bai who fled towards the Great Hall.
Asha was ready to arrest their escape when a crossbow bolt lodged itself into the back of her thigh. Her step faltered and she turned to see Anton raising his second crossbow and aiming. Before she could lunge, he planted another bolt in her side, below the rib cage. The bolt stuck through her, emerging out the other side and she screamed with pain.
She then ran for Anton, shouting, “You don’t shoot at me,” while Anton frantically scrambled to reload one of his crossbows. She was upon Anton within a moment, toppling him over and opening her mouth to bite, but she was knocked from on top of him by Lina. Asha rolled across the ground, quickly springing to her feet, but Lina was already on her feet, standing between her and Anton.
“You’re not going to survive,” Asha told Lina, like one cautioning a friend, “Even with their help, you’re not going to survive. You were never meant to survive. Sim was supposed to bring you as food and as the mother of another generation of food. If only he’d done what he was supposed to, we wouldn’t have to be here.”
Asha attacked Lina, charging at her and trying to pin her to the ground. But Asha had seriously underestimated Lina. Lina was able to dodge, leaping out of the way and pushing Asha aside.
As she turned back and looked at Lina she could see what she had noticed before without really thinking through its meaning: Lina’s face was gorgeous, as beautiful as a vampire approaching their first century, and she had the strength to match. Asha thus approached more slowly this time, waiting for just the right moment to attack, eyeing her options; keeping an ear open for Bai, who lingered behind her trying to sneak up on her; trying to keep Lina between her and Anton, who had one crossbow loaded and was trying to fire a shot.
Uta, who’d recovered by now from Bai’s attack was now back on her feet and ready to attack Lina again. She stood up and darted at Lina from behind. Lina heard her before the attack arrived and turned to grab Uta and push her away. She reacted so swiftly that she was able to lift Uta and throw her directly at Asha. Asha ducked out of the way and Uta landed at Bai’s feet. Bai was quick to react and he tossed Uta out into the Great Hall, into the daylight. Uta was only lightly dressed and she felt the piercing burn of the sunlight as her skin began to burn. Her suffering didn’t last, since as soon as the soldiers above caught sight of her, they launched several shots and arrows at her, killing her in moments.
Asha used this momentary distraction as an opportunity to attack, her body on top of Lina in a flash. Bai was instantly there to try and rescue Lina, but Asha was now ready for him. She kicked Bai off of her, still maintaining her hold on Lina, who she held by the neck with one hand. When Anton shot, she ducked to avoid it, the bolt flying over her head and rattling to the ground, where it skidded away. And she continued to hold onto Lina, who vainly struggled to free herself.
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