Your plan, attack at dawn

After sleeping on it you decide to finish the night at camp and attack at dawn. That thing with the spider shook your confidence in your partner. No matter how confident she is with slaying you need to take the lead as the more experienced adventurer. You argue about it in the dead of the night as you stoke the campfire. Elara insists she's better on offense than defense but you won't hear it. "If you're too cowardly to attack a spider how can you hope to kill a vampire Elara. Just watch my back." You know sunlight is the only way to kill this thing. You bait the vampire and lure it out into a trap and fry it with the sun. That 2500 gold is as good as yours. Elara dejectedly accepts your plan and goes to bed. You worry that you're being cruel but the stakes are just too high to put your faith in the rookie adventurer.

You wake at dawn to find that Elara has put away the camp and is sitting meditatively where she has some incenses laid out. Elara looks nervous and paler than normal. As you approach, she rouses, "I have prepared some spells that will will aid you during the fight as you asked. This one here is a minor Blessing that should keep us light on our feet and let you hit a little harder. This one here is a protective spell that will stop the vampire from charming us. During the fight I will stay near you and heal you when you are injured. I'm leaving this all up to you Ty." You nod as Elara finishes her spells and you are taken by surprise at how effective they are immediately. You test yourself noting that you are stronger and faster. You hope it will be enough.

You track down the vampire's hideout with relative ease, the whole cemetery is dilapidated with the exception of one looming mausoleum that is in pristine condition. Now to set up your brilliant trap. You brought 3 large mirrors with you knowing about the vampire's weakness and set them up to reflect the light of the sun down into the opening of the tomb, at which Elara nods impressed. You approach the door and muscle it open without much effort, making you more confident that this is the vampire's lair. You slowly walk in, letting your eyes adjust to the dim light provided by your sun trap behind you. The mausoleum isn't too large and you swiftly come to a large square room with a casket on a plinth in the center. You give Elara a nod as pull your dual shortswords from their scabbards and ready yourself as you start to push the casket lid open. As you peer inside expecting to see a sleeping vampire you instead find it empty. Whipping around you see your foe just in the knick of time as your blade catches four clawed fingers swiping down at your head. You get a good look at the vampire that has carefully positioned itself away from the sunlight streaming in. She is a tall beautiful blond woman with flowing blond hair and pale skin much like Elara with larger, bustier proportions. Except the vampire's hands have twisted themselves into claws and her open mouth is showing her her two long fangs. You catch yourself momentarily distracted by her beauty and impressive bust until you see a white sigil appear on the back of your hand. Your head suddenly clears as you slash forward with your other sword catching her squarely in the side. With a hiss she slashes back rendering your thigh bloody before she jumps to the entrance past Elara to slam shut a hidden door blocking the sun.

Elara gasps in horror as the vampire chuckles in the darkness, "You thought you were being clever didn't you? You thought you would catch me by surprise? That I wouldn't hear your plan with the commotion you made in MY cemetery? It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic." A sudden hush falls over the room as Elara rushes to your side. The light from Elara's healing spell on your thigh illuminates the vampire for a split second before it comes down with a final slashing attack that takes down Elara with a single stroke. Fearing she is passed out from the pain or worse you swing your swords wildly before you feel a sharp pain in your neck and a warm sensation overwhelms your body.