The Vampire was prepared

The two women charged into the tomb, weapons held ready in front of them. Venus silently hoped that the resistance is light but she didn't see any resistance on the way to the vampire's lair, so she could only expect the worse.

The first room they swiftly passed by is empty of any undead horrors, only old coffins and cracked statues in relief. The old torches hung off the wall spreading a weak orange glow into pools. The light from the moon only went as far as the first room and rooms beyond were pitch black. Katherine reached up and grabbed a torch, pulling it off its sconce. She passed it over to Venus and then seized one for herself.

"Now comes the fun part." She said, grinning. The woman dashed off into the next chamber and Venus scrambled to keep up.

Venus could hear them now, lurking just beyond the flickering glow of their torches. The rasping breaths of ghouls and the clattering of bone against stone. Winding her arm back, Venus suddenly pitched her torch forward into the room ahead of them.

She watched the red flame arch forward and tumble into the center of the room. The new source of light illuminated the room and revealed more than a dozen ghouls and skeletons roaming around the expansive chamber.

Upon seeing them, Katherine roared in a deep voice and hurtled forward into the throng of enemies. The woman moved forward in a blur and threw herself into the undead, fighting with preternatural speed and strength. Her first swing hewed a skeleton cleanly from shoulder to pelvis, and a backhand fist sent another ghoul flying to the far corner of the room.

The woman's combat prowess was unnatural and mesmerizing. Venus wondered whether she needed help at all. Not wanting to look bad though, she came up from behind the crowd and cut down two unsuspecting ghouls as she entered the fray.

The shadow hunter nimbly evaded the grasping hands of ghouls and sliced the undead monsters, but in all the chaos of the battle she suddenly got herself all turned around and separated from Katherine DuBois. As her sword struck down the last of her opponents, silence seemed to swallow up everything, leaving only her panting gasps.

Faintly, Venus could hear the sound of steel and cries ringing through the tomb, but here she was alone. Or so she thought.

There was a soft pattering behind her, almost invisible if she hadn't been trained to pick up those sounds. Venus whirled around and brought her sword up to bear, and looked into a pair of crystal-blue eyes. The face they belonged to was youthful, but not exactly young, too many lines around the eyes and a jawline too sharp.

The mysterious man had platinum blond hair that was parted off-center and trimmed short and neat. Standing a few inches taller than her, he wore a finely made doublet and pantaloons made from silk, and it had been tailor-made to fit his shape. One of his hands was inside his pocket while the other hung at his side. Venus realized that she was staring right at the vampire she had been hunting.

"I didn't expect there would be two of you." The vampire said, remaining perfectly still. "My forces can handle the Dhampir, though. She's too powerful to subdue, so I'll have to kill her."

He shook his head slowly, a graceful, sublime movement that left Venus in awe. "Pity. She would have been wonderful to break." The vampire then turned his gaze back to Venus. His eyes narrowed like a wolf seeking its prey and said, "I suppose I'll have to content myself with you."