The silence from her was immutable… not even a grunt from the exertion of our struggle passed her lips. She was on her feet a fraction before me and I followed her gaze… drawing me to the single bolt… she flicked at it and caught it with her fingers drove forwards… I knew that to try and run would present her with an easy target, I had but one choice, to go for her and hope I could reach her before she loaded..

I sprang to my feet, the blade gripped tightly as I charged at her… my defiant cry ringing in my ears… I drew back the blade as she spun about…the crossbow bought to bear, my eyes fell wide as the weapon clicked and the bolt was ejected towards me… I tried to twist away but I was too close and a sudden pain like fire sliced across my abdomen, I gasped hard, my hand raised to meet the thin bloody trail carved through my skin, a flesh wound perhaps… but these could be fatal in the current climate.

My eyes flared as highly charged mix of pain and anger flooded through me, she suddenly started off to run and I launched myself at her and drove her off balance… she spilled across the glass strewn sodden floor towards the great rent in the wall. The force of the impact had caused me to stumble and for a moment I watched as she tried to regain her footing as she teetered on the edge… a fall like that on to the flooded rubble strewn streets would have surely been fatal, and if by some chance she would survive the impact then it wouldn’t be long before the hordes would circle her and descend on her… the last image that would burn into her brain wouldn’t be pleasant.

I rose quickly and skittered across the treacherous ground, I lunged for her the moment it seemed that her balance had tipped… my hand wrapped tightly about her ponytail and I pulled her sharply backwards dragging her across the floor, she turned slowly and our eyes met… I tried to suppress a thin smile on my face… had she been what I had been seeking all this time? I felt my shoulder wrench as suddenly started to put up a struggle, the day had taken its toll on my own body and I was unsure as to how much I could resist her, I drove my foot round and felt it bury hard against her side... her body buckled under the strike, but no sound escaped her lips… just the reflection of pain that coursed over her face and then her wild eyes locked deeply with me again… I felt some deep emotion grip me; it was as though her expression mocked me more than anything she might say… rage flashed across my face and I slammed my foot hard against her again…

I hissed with frustration and dragged her further into the shattered room then lower to my haunches next to her… it was clear we were both spent from the struggle and neither of us made a move in aggression to the other… the wind tore about the room, my long coat caught in its grip as my eyes just stared at her… there was something so captivating about her… she looked so delicate and yet carried such an air about her… deep within I felt something stir, thoughts that I had long since cast aside… it took a moment or too more to shake my gaze free… a thin smile played on my lips…

I reached into my coat and felt the cooling brush of the syringes… my fingers counting along each one until I reached the one I sought and pulled it free… her eyes danced with a primal panic as I raise it to regard the empty chamber… then my gaze dropped to hers… “I think you have something I want….” I whispered… but there were disquieting thoughts running through me, on one hand there was the very tangible possibility that this woman had the ‘holy grail’ pumping through her veins and she didn’t know it… but deeply I questioned if this was the priority that now guided my actions. I moved to sit astride her, as I did so she tried to struggle against me, reaching up and trying to smash the syringe from my hand, I pressed my weight across her and with my free hand clamped it against her throat… my intention wasn’t to cause her damage, rather to hold her still as I leaned over her… the thin needle pressed against her skin. Her eyes flickered through a field of emotions as I took her eyes to mine… the needle depressed against her until I suddenly felt her flesh give way and the steel punctured her, slowly I began to withdraw some of her blood, my eyes watching the richness of her fluid as it swirled in the chamber. Still she struggled and I tried to hold her down a little longer… finally withdrawing the needle and holding it between us… a single drip of blood caught at its end suddenly fell against her cheek… My gaze was drawn to it, the deep red against her pale skin.

I felt my heart pounding against my chest as I took in the sight of this woman beneath me… trying to understand the feelings that swelled within me… my attention was diverted as my mind sorted through a barrage of sensations… my mental distraction didn’t go unnoticed as I suddenly felt her strength swell beneath me as she sought to benefit from it.