Breathe... breathe... but he couldn't. It wouldn't come. It was cut off... the hands. Those hands, it was those hands. They were strangling him. He was being strangled. As swiftly as the realization came, it was gone. People need air to think. That's why when they get cut of from it they die. Kichaa was dying. It came to that? Just that fast... he'd come to that. Death... was that the end? It was for now. He'd die. That'd be over. It would end, and he'd be dead. Spots began dancing before his eyes, swaying and dipping with the beat of his pulse. That, he noticed, hadn't stopped. He couldn't breathe, but he had blood pounding through his skull like some kind of massive inner race.

Wasn't that good? He could feel that, and hear it, so he must still be alive. He felt his eyes bugging out, as if the squeezing hands were forcing them out of his skull, and that was good as well. There was pain. That, also, was good. It meant he was alive. If you're in pain, you're alive. If you're dead, your nerves can't tell your brain that your body is in pain. That's a bad thing, technically, but in this case a good one. Breathe..., he thought... he could think again. Then it was gone.

His hand let go of the blade. How it had remained in his grip didn't matter, because it wasn't there anymore, but somehow his body was doing what his mind couldn't. He felt himself reached for the dropped weapon again. It was so far away... so far... but he could get it. He got it. He felt the cold blade– was it the blade or his skin that was cold?-- bite into his skin. It hurt. More pain, that was good, he was still alive. He tried to lift it, and found that his arm could still manage that. It lifted... and it got closer to the vampire.

So... cold...

...breathe...

...closer still. Was it too late, even if he did get the vampire off, the airflow back, if he was still alive, could he still make the difference or would he die a different way moments later? It didn't matter. Life had stopped, time had stopped, and all that mattered now was the sword. There was something about the sword that could save him, but Kichaa couldn't remember what it was... the spots were distracting him... but they were gone. Where had the spots... oh... the black had taken over now. He was going to die. It was too late.

It ended. He could breathe. His eyes felt normal, and his lungs were accepting gulps of breath. Harsh, quickly, too fast, he began to breathe again. The pounding in his ears had receded. He had a headache. The sword wasn't in his hand anymore, but he couldn't remember why. It had been knocked away, over to the tree... he took a faltering step before realizing, to his chagrine, that he was still on the ground. The sword fell to close for comfort, landing nearby, but just out of reach, as he fumbled into a standing position. Then there was movement. Something small was going past.

Adrenaline kicked in, way to fast, and Kichaa's arm shot out to grab ahold of the small being. He gripped onto the little man. It was him! That was what it was. Victory! Euphoria set in slowly as he stood holding the struggling little man, and he found himself grinning at the sputtering creature before, without so much as a second thought, hefting the little man over his shoulder and into a small group of bushes. Though it was a small victory, he felt the pain of a blow take that victory and rip it into small shreds. The vampire, who had vanished mysteriously, had struck him in the side– hard.

A small crack, then a larger one, echoed through the woods as Kichaa broke the branch of one tree, then smashed heavily into another no more than a foot apart, his spine making an audible announcement of what it thought of the situation. Not again, Kichaa thought, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid a the vampire's fist– which, coincidentally splintered the tree more than Kichaa hitting it had. Then it was gone again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Kichaa growled, reaching out to grab his sword. Perhaps he'd live a few more minutes with the cold titanium on hand with which to whack someone.

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[Graphics by Me.]

[The signature links to Aleksandr Sokoll.]
["I believe in sleeping." ~ Bruce Lee]