Beating hooves echoed the thunder that crackled above the canopy of the forest. A single set ran ahead of a pack, running from pursuers, none sparing their horses. Branches whipped past and tugged at the vampire’s clothes, threatening to tear him from the saddle, leaving him to fall victim to those who now tirelessly hunted him. He pressed against his grey mare’s neck, desperately trying to keep himself in the saddle. If he could reach Caed Myrkvid, the druid’s grove, he would be safe. Those who hunted him surely wouldn’t dare enter the forest.
The roars for the vampire’s blood sounded closer with each passing moment but the trees grew thick, closer together. Even with keen senses it was becoming difficult to navigate a path between the twisted branches and trunks. Surely his pursuers would abandon their chase...
A chorus of whines and snorts of protest came from behind, the dissonance drawing dark eyes to look toward them. Their horses refused to obey, some humans themselves yelling a warning of the dangers the forest held to a single man that still rode on. The man was closing the gap between them quickly, Regis’s horse almost at it’s end.
Attention drew forward, but too late. The branch threw the vampire from the saddle, body landing with a thud. It left him stunned for far too long, the man quickly setting upon Regis and dismounting his horse. Regis tried to scramble away from the other’s raised studded mace but the weapon found it’s mark on the arm he’d desperately brought up to protect his head, earning a cry of pain from him.
The mace rose again and came down hard on his head, the vampire’s movements coming to a sudden stop, the hit hard enough to throw him into unconscious darkness. He now lay victim to whatever plans his attacker held for him, unable to heal quick enough to escape.