The arrow loosed from his bow, specks of blood falling in its wake as it cut its deadly path towards the swordsman’s unprotected back. That should have been it, game over, hunt complete…

Something subtle in the way Alphonse moved told Adrian that the impossible was about to happen just before it actually happened. He was used to animals doing something similar, their bodies stiffening as they caught the scent of the hunter just before the arrow was loosed, giving them that slim chance to survive. Alphonse was apparently embracing his inner hare, because he too had sensed the hunter and now with an impressive burst of speed and agility he was avoiding his death by a hairs-breadth. Adrian began to consider how this was possible, but further evaluation had to be put on hold briefly.

The arrow-head shattered as it hit the tree, one of the traits of obsidian tipped arrows, potentially splattering the swordsman with sharp shards of rock as a reminder of how close he had come to finding himself on the end of the arrow. Adrian snarled as he saw all this happen in quick-time, his reflexes far beyond any human, he stopped himself with a single over-step, leaving him perhaps eighteen feet from his now stationary foe. Simultaneous to stopping he reactively dropped his right hand to his hip-quiver and nimbly drew another two arrows, unfortunately without time to spare to poison the head. Adrian hadn’t had much time to evaluate his prey as of yet, but what he had quickly discerned was that he seemed to be using an eastern sword, probably a Katana though Adrian hadn’t seen one for a fairly long time. The assassin in him was keenly aware of his own limitations, and what fights to pick. Getting into close combat with a Katana was likely to get his head separated from his shoulders, considering the range disadvantage he faced with only a short-sword and dagger at hand. 

With all this in mind another arrow was once again nocked to the string, with another arrow held loose in his right hand, the Vampire more than happy to try and even the playing field by first inhibiting the swordsman’s ability to fight with an arrow wound. Alphonse was likely to rush him, considering there was still a clear line of sight between the two between three trees, through which Adrian had fired his first arrow. The swordsman would find himself in trouble this time though, Adrian knew his capabilities, and his limitations.

He fired again, at about the same time the swordsman had managed to enter a defensive stance, aiming for his foe’s right thigh a little off to his right hand side. It was an awkward position to block an arrow, even with a shield, though his opponent had already proved capable enough to actually reliably defend against arrows with his sword alone. This in itself was amazing to the Vampire, though he wasn’t one to show it.

However, Adrian wasn’t quite finished as he speedily nocked the second arrow as his first took flight, having it prepared at about the same moment his opponent would be forced to deal with the first attack. The second would come immediately after, exploiting the defence to increase the likelihood of a successful attack, this time launching an arrow at Alphonse’ chest, aiming to perforate his left lung. He would see if the swordsman could match the speed of a Vampiric Hunter’s arrows.