Zaine rolled, trying to shirk away the throbbing pain in her back.  She could feel a rib cracked, but her lust for bloodshed drowned it out.  The tree snapped and fell forward after her impact, missing her by mere centimetres.  She clambered away from her foe, drawing her silver knives.  They were her specialty.  Unlike the standard hunting knives, hers were hooked at the ends and once she sunk them into her enemy's flesh, it would be more painful for them to tear them out.  She loved to see them writhe.<br/><br/>She spat some blood from her mouth and vaulted over Jax, snaring her knives behind each of his shoulders.  They each hooked into his muscle and held fast as she mounted his back.  Jax was a strong one, however, and the force of her weight pulling against him couldn't quite bring him down.  She held tightly to her weapons as she rode the pissed off vampire like a tamping bull.<br/><br/>“Go on and struggle,” she growled in his ear, “You can't kill me.  You beasts are all the same, and I've got some bad news for you- your head will come off just as easily as the next.  You and your pretty little friend.”  She giggled maniacally, twisting the blades in his back as she ascended his body, this time coiling her legs around his neck tightly with every intention of snapping it.<br/><br/>-x-x-<br/><br/>Asher could feel his head spinning, and though he laid with both hands pressed into the cold ground, he couldn't tell which way was up.  One eye was gushing blood, almost numbed by agony, the other was shut tightly, uncertain where to look.  Zaine had performed a sort of mutiny, single-handedly stripping him of any authority he had within the Clan hierarchy.  If she weren't occupied chasing Seraphina and Jax, she would certainly go as far as killing him then and there.  As she vacated the barracks, Asher wasted no time pulling himself to the outskirts of the camp.<br/><br/>Trembling, his hands were his only guidance.  He'd felt his way through some thin foliage, finding a big tree root to settle on.  He lifted himself and fell back on it rather unceremoniously.  He could feel the blood on his face.  He didn't need to see to know that Zaine did a number on him.  Grunting and taking a series of forced breaths, he opened his good eye, and was surprised to see Seraphina at his side.  She brushed his hair aside and cleared away some of the blood, but he was still a mess and he knew it.<br/><br/>He wanted to shout and push her away.  She wasn't supposed to be here.  She should be running away.  If any of the hunters saw her, she would be killed in an instant.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">”Tell me what her weakness is and I can stop her. I need to kill her before she kills my family.”</span><br/><br/>Asher was quiet for a moment.  He knew she meant Zaine, and if he was being honest with himself, he was frankly very pissed at her in the present moment.  Asher thought back to their training.  Zaine was passionate about killing.  Nobody had ever bested her in a duel, and that was a fact.  The only reason he'd ever outranked her was his ability to perceive when a battle was lost.  He knew when to withdraw, to outlast his enemy.  While Asher was a patient hyena, Zaine was a kill and run lioness.<br/><br/>“She's injured,” he said, “Make her feel it.  She won't realise she's lost until its too damned late.”<br/><br/>His good eye peered up at her.  She looked so beautiful in the moonlight.  He raised an arm and tucked her hair behind her ear, managing a half-smile.<br/><br/>“I'm no good right now, but I'll survive.  Always do.  Just take care of yourself, your family will be proper lost without you.”