The hybrid raised its hands high. Like a child who won a game. Joy filled his smile.
"I'm the fastest! I'm the fastest!" laughed. High-pitched. Giggling. Hopping on its one good leg, the shattered one dragging behind. "Fastest fastest fastest!"
Kínitos lay in a heap. Blood dripped from his forehead. His chest rose and fell—shallow. The blue string inside him was almost half black now. Red string tied around his arms and legs. The hybrid hopped over. Reached down. Long fingers wrapped around Kínitos's collar.
Sarah moved.
She grabbed the hybrid's string. The red one. Dark red. Attached to its chest. She pulled. The hybrid froze. Twitched. Its head snapped toward her. Eyes wide.
"Ahh... urrr... next," it said. Words broken. Thick tongue. Like it forgot how to speak.
Sarah held the string tight. Then give it a tug. The hybrid stumbled. Its grip on Kínitos loosened.
Then she heard footsteps.
Slow. Heavy.
She looked to her right. The big vampire was walking toward her. Arms still crossed. Then he whistled. Yellow eyes locked on her. No rush. Just… patient. She looked to her left.
The tunnel. Dark. But something else was moving there. Shapes. Smaller vampires. Crawling out of the walls.
Pinned, she realized. Both sides.
"Okay," she whispered to herself. "I gave Kínitos energy, but nothing. He looks like his ability is hurting him."
She looked at the hybrid. Its string was still in her hand. Still pulsing.
Energy. I can take it.
She pulled.
Purple energy flowed from the hybrid's string—into her. Cold. Wrong. It tasted like rot. But it was power.
The hybrid shuddered. Stumbled. Its red eyes dimmed.
"No... no... no..." whimpered.
Then it swung its good arm. Fast. Wild. Aiming for her head. Fingers twisted and broken reach out to her. Sarah let go of the string. Dropped low. The arm whistled past her ear—close. Too close.
She jumped left. Rolled. Came up behind a pillar. The hybrid's fist smashed into the wall where her head had been. Concrete cracked.Falling into dust.
Sarah breathed. Fast. Her hands sparked purple—stronger now. The hybrid's energy burned inside her. But Kínitos was still on the ground. Still not moving.
And the big vampire was still walking toward her. Sarah's back pressed against the pillar. Her hands were pale. Empty. She'd given Kínitos everything.
But the hybrid was still there. Hopping. Its shattered leg already starting to knit back together. Dark red string pulsing.
I can't fight him head-on, she thought. But I can weaken him.
She reached out. Grabbed the hybrid's string again.
Okay. He's got... maybe 40 units left. I take 30% — that's 12 units. I keep 20% of that — 2.4. Not much. But enough to make him stumble.
She pulled.
The hybrid jerked. Its red eyes flickered. "No... no... no..." it groaned.
But it didn't fall.
It swung its good arm. Fast. Wild.
Sarah dropped. Rolled left. The claws scraped the pillar behind her.
She came up running. Circled around the hybrid — staying low, staying fast. Its head tracked her, but its legs were slow. One shattered, one barely holding.
The other leg, she realized. The one that's still good.
She coated her pipe. Purple energy flickered — weak, but there. The hybrid's stolen energy burned inside her.
The hybrid swung again. Sarah jumped back. Then forward. Slipped under its arm.
Brought the pipe down on its knee.
CRACK.
The hybrid screamed. Its good leg buckled. Bone splintered. It crashed to the ground, both legs useless now. Flailing. Twitching. Sarah stumbled back. Breathing hard. The pipe was still coated, but barely.
Then she heard movement behind her.
Kínitos.
He was pushing himself up. Slow. Shaking. The blue string in his chest was still dark at the edges — but the black wasn't spreading anymore.
He looked at his hands. Cracked his knuckles. Then he coated his body. Blue energy washed over him — chest, arms, legs. Not flickering. Steady. He stood tall.
"I'm not done yet," he said.
Sarah smiled. Weak. "Good. 'Cause he's not either."
The hybrid was already trying to crawl. Dragging its broken legs. Red eyes locked on them. From down the tunnel — footsteps. The big vampire was still coming.
And somewhere far away — wind. Getting closer. Sarah stared at the hybrid. Both legs shattered. Crawling. Still twitching.
"I could take more energy," she thought. " But how much?"
She ran the numbers again.
Hybrid's remaining: maybe 30 units. If I take 40% — 12 units. I keep 25% — 3 units. Not a lot. But if I give that to Kínitos...
She looked at him. His blue coating was steady, but the black in his core hadn't gone away. He was running on fumes.
"Kínitos," she said. "We need to clear the left side. Those small vampires are closing in."
He nodded. Then he raised his hand. A small ball of blue energy formed in his palm. Flickering. Growing.
Sarah's eyes widened. "Last time you did that at the stack—"
"I know," he cut her off. "I blew it up."
"Exactly!"
He smiled. Thin. Tired. "Underground has much more area. I'll make it smaller. Better range." He focused on the ball. It shrank. Denser. Brighter. "Just need to aim."
Sarah looked at the left tunnel. At least a dozen small vampires crawling out of the walls. The big vampire was still walking toward them from the right. The hybrid was on the ground between them.
"We need to move them," Sarah said. "Get all the little ones in front of us."
Kínitos glanced at the hybrid. Its long legs dragged uselessly.
"Or we move the long legs over here," he said. "Use it."
Sarah understood. The hybrid was still alive. Still connected to the others? Maybe. Its string pulsed.
"Can you push it?" she asked.
Kínitos lowered his fireball hand. Walked over to the hybrid. The creature hissed, tried to claw at him. Kínitos planted his foot on its chest. Unstoppable energy pushed through his leg weaker this time.
The hybrid slid across the floor. Toward the left tunnel. Toward the small vampires. They saw it. Paused. Then swarmed toward it.
"Now," Kínitos said.
He raised his hand. The fireball glowed. Sarah backed away. Covered her face. Kínitos held the fireball in his palm. Small. Dense. Bright blue. He didn't just throw it. He shaped it first.
Ping pong ball, he thought. The equation for a sphere — surface area, volume, radius. Easy. Then he changed it. Cone. Wide at the far end. Narrow here.
The numbers shifted in his head. The sphere stretched. The energy inside reoriented. Instead of expanding in all directions, it would push forward — spreading horizontally, hugging the tunnel floor.
He opened his eyes.
"Down," he said.
Sarah dropped.
Kínitos released the cone.
Blue energy erupted from his palm — not a ball, but a wave. A fan. It swept down the left tunnel, widening as it traveled. The small vampires didn't have time to scream. The energy passed through them — not exploding, just erasing. Turning them to ash.
The wave reached the far end of the tunnel. Then dissipated.
Silence.
Sarah looked up. The left side was empty. No vampires. Just scorch marks on the walls and a pile of gray dust. Kínitos lowered his hand. Breathing hard. The black in his core flickered but didn't grow.
"One down," he said.
He turned to the right.
The big vampire was still walking toward them. Slow. Unhurried. He'd stopped when the wave passed — but only for a second. Now he was moving again. Arms still crossed.
"Just him left," Sarah said.
"And the hybrid," Kínitos nodded at the creature on the ground. Both legs shattered, but still twitching. Its red eyes watched them.
Sarah looked at the hybrid's string. Dark red. Pulsing.
I can take more, she thought. Weaken it. Maybe kill it.
She reached out. Grabbed the string.
30 units left. Take 50% — 15 units. Keep 30% of that — 4.5. Give to Kínitos.
She pulled.
The hybrid shuddered. Its eyes dimmed. Its body went limp. It screamed out in pain, loud and horrific, the smell of blood and flesh filled the air.
Sarah felt the energy flow into her — cold, wrong, but usable. She turned to Kínitos. Touched his blue string.
Transfer 80% of what I have — 3.6 units. He accepts 60% — 2.1.
His core brightened. Just a little. The black receded by a fraction.
"Thanks," he whispered.
The big vampire was fifty feet away now.
"Now what?" Sarah asked.
Kínitos cracked his knuckles. "Now we go cut the head."