Sandabury Academy

Hidden in Plain Sight

"Jaheara!" I shout to make sure that she is up and ready. I don't have time to look back to make sure she's okay though since a sharp claw starts coming towards me and I barely jump back from it in time. The Doppelganger's hand smacks into the tree next to me, knocking it slightly off guard for a moment. I capitalize on the opportunity and launch my foot into it's stomach, eliciting a grunt. It hunches over, giving me enough time to duck the swing coming from the second Doppelganger to my right. It's fist slams directly above my head into the tree, making it shudder so hard a parade of leaves start dancing to the ground.

I focus my mind on the leaves to ensure the Doppelgangers can't foresee my next move. I pop back up from my crouch quickly and use the momentum to uppercut the second Doppelganger's chin with the butt of my dagger. It goes flying backwards several feet and falls on its back. I quickly turn back to my left to face the first Doppelganger again but I'm not fast enough. It grabs my left arm and slams it into the tree behind me while digging its claws into my skin. The sudden pain causes me to lose the grip on my dagger and it falls like a paperweight with a thud. Using my right hand that is still wielding my other dagger, I go to slice at the Doppelganger's arm but it ducks out of the way, letting go of my left arm in the process.

With both arms free now, I charge forward and swipe up at the creature's middle in a vertical fashion. As expected, it uses both its hands and catches my dagger between them. With both its hands distracted, I use my left hand to sneak under my dagger and in-between the creature's arms, giving me full reign to grasp the Doppelganger's windpipe. Letting go of the dagger entirely, I take my right arm and forcefully smack its left arm to the side. With my left arm gripping the Doppelganger's windpipe, I squeeze while turning my wrist so that its head moves to reveal its neck. Grabbing the creature's left hand with my right one, I pin its arm behind its back and lunge my fangs into its neck. I feel the "pop" of the skin being punctured followed by a gush of warm liquid pooling into my mouth. The Doppelganger's yelp was stifled by my hand on its throat.

The next few moments go by as if everything is moving in slow motion. This is probably due to the rush of drinking live blood for the first time in at least three years. With my eyes closed, I can still clearly sense everything that is going on around me. Terry is in the process of bashing a Doppelganger's face in with his quarterstaff while another lays at his feet, head twisted in a grotesque angle. Jaheara, on the other hand, isn't fairing quite as well. There are three Doppelgangers surrounding her as she stands by the campfire. Balls of fire engulf her hands as well as the body of one of the Doppelgangers. Its attempts at escaping the flames by flailing about are futile as its flesh continues to be eaten by fire.

Eyes open now, I look around me further and notice the group of about 10 or so more Doppelgangers that are closing in on us from out of the treeline. As if I had been smacked in the face, I am snapped out of my time-slowing state and brought back to reality as the realization that we are vastly outnumbered hits. Having drained the Doppelganger in front of me, I drop its body and let the surge of energy I feel course through me for another second before I launch into action. I quickly make my way over to Jaheara, dodging the swings of two Doppelgangers and picking up both my daggers in the process. As soon as I reach her, I position myself so that I am back to back with her and we slowly begin spinning in a circle, assessing the four Doppelgangers surrounding us.

"We are so screwed! How did they find us so fast?" Jaheara asks me in an exasperated tone.

Too busy to respond to her, I instead block the clawed swipe of a creature's arm with my right hand and use my left to slice it with my dagger. Instead of inflicting a deep gash like I had expected, however, the creature howls as we are both splattered by a spray of blood due to it's forearm being completely severed.