Fight

With a flick of her wrist, Venus chopped off the zombie's arm at the elbow, even as her innate sixth sense told her another blow was coming from behind. Deftly sidestepping, she twisted, and made to lunge at that zombie, but instead found herself narrowly dodging a swipe from a third zombie.

Quickly realizing the zombies had surrounded her, she turned, attempting to find, or make, a way out. The fight quckly devolved into a melee, events happening almost too fast to see. A lunge, a twist. A hand grasping at her shirt front, as another came at her face. A duck and twist, the sound of fabric tearing, the other hand swiping uselessly at air above her.

Her opportunity suddenly arrived, as she caught sight of the first zombie, the one whose arm she had cut off. It was off-balance, her duck having dodged it's blow, too. As she stood again, her blade flashed, it's arc true, and split the zombie's head down through it's neck. A quick kick removed the zombie's carcass from her blade, rotten flesh and bone collapsing beneath her bare foot. Another hand swiped at her back, claws tearing at her pack, but she had already begun stepping forward. Grimacing as she stepped out of the ring of zombies, she thanked the gods for that small sign. These zombies were rather weak, more concerned with making her food than anything else.

Once free of the circle, she turned, the fight suddenly much more manageable now that the zombies didn't have her surrounded. Using her greater agility, she danced backwards down the road, blade flashing through arms, then necks. Moments later, she stood there, a trail of zombies disappearing almost immediately into the darkness before her.

A creaking sound behind her caught her attention, and she spun again, her blade instinctively rising into a guard position, catching the downward arc of a sword headed at her with a clang. Venus found herself face-to-face with a skeleton warrior, it's sword and iron shield rusted and battered. Tattered leather armor and rotted cloth hung from it's frame, and malevolent purple flames burned in it's eye sockets.

Venus took a quick step back, then feinted a blow towards it's legs. The skeleton, thinking it had an opportunity, brought it's sword up to strike, it's shield sliding down to intercept the blow. With a feral grin, Venus flicked her sword up, bringing it across the top of the shield, neatly decapitating the skeleton before it's blade could begin it's downward swing.

As it fell, Venus felt a gust of wind across the back of her neck, turning to her side even as she stepped towards the still-falling skeleton. Another skeleton glared at her, a massive greataxe in it's hands. It had swung the axe with such **** that when it missed, the axehead had buried itself in the ground beside her. Venus grinned again, and deftly decapitated that skeleton as well. The purple balefire in it's eye sockets flickered and died, as it fell next to the other one.

Panting, Venus took a quick glance around, confirming her surroundings were clear of undead. As the last sounds of battle faded, the forest returned to it's eerie, unnatural silence.

The battle had cost Venus precious time. If more forces were pursuing her, they would have gained a good bit of ground in the few minutes the battle had taken, and possibly have heard the battle. However, continuing at her current pace might cause her to stumble into another ambush. One thing was certain: she couldn't dally here any longer. Safety lie in movement.