Run.

That old, all-too-familiar feeling bubbled up inside Strix as the six filth-encrusted vampires poured into the room, their burning crimson eyes fixed upon her. That overwhelming need to take flight and escape from whatever frightened her. And so many things frightened her.

Run.

Throughout the years, that need had turned from a strategy into a habit, and then into a way of life. Run, before they can insult you, attack you, hurt you. Kill you.

Run.

There it was, the tingle in her legs and tail, the pounding of her heart, the nausea climbing up her tightening throat; it would only get worse unless she got out of this room and got out now.

Run.

It didn't matter that her rational mind knew that running out of the room would only put her in different danger—the flaming skulls and amber golems that nearly destroyed the party earlier were still skulking the halls of this cursed temple. All that mattered in this moment was running. Cast Gaseous Form, cast Misty Step, cast something, just run.

But...

Evelyn, the goody-two-shoes paladin that drove Strix up the Lathander-loving wall, was fending off her foes for all she was worth, once more trying her hardest to draw the enemy's attention away from Strix. Diath, the kind-hearted rogue that helped her in Daggerford and in countless other occasions since, was writhing fruitlessly in the cruel grip of two vampires as they took turns drinking deep from his throat. And they both knew her all too well, shouting up at her newfound perch on the ledge, begging her not to flee.

Running might save her, but not her friends.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she realized what she had to do, and what it would ultimately cost her. With a force of will she didn't even know she possessed, Strix banished the tingling, the pounding, the sickness to a small corner of her mind. Her friends had never abandoned her; Strix would not abandon them now.

The fireball exploded from her hands with a dull roar, its flames engulfing one of the bloodsuckers trying to pull her down from the ledge, but more importantly, the three that were attacking Evelyn and Diath. It didn't kill them outright, but their shocked screams of pain told Strix that it had weakened them enough for her comrades to be able to finish what she started.

She wanted to shout her triumph aloud for her friends to hear, but she knew she would never have the chance, as the other vampire climbed back up beside her and fatally sank its fangs into her pale flesh.

See, guys? I saved you. I was brave. I didn't run. I didn't...run...