Allison motioned to her third in command who happened to be her Silwrath weapon’s officer.


    “You have the bridge.  I need to check on some things get us through the wormhole and docked please.”


    She stood up and nearly collapsed.  He caught her arm.


    “You should be in medical, Battlelord.”


    “That’s one of my stops.”


    Wesva spoke.


    “Battlelord, permission to leave my station.”


    Allison looked at the Yorleer.  Her medical scanner was telling her Wesva was barely standing.


    “Yes, report to medical immediately.”


    Wesva did a Silwrath salute before stumbling towards the lift.  Allison joined her.  Wesva was covered in green sap blood.


    “Wesva, you did an amazing job today.  Thank you for following my orders concerning the Cataclysm bombs.  A lot of officers wouldn’t have.  I will be submitting my recommendation you receive a special commendation when I speak to the Grand Eminence next.”


    The Yorleer bowed her head slightly.  Allison walked with her to medical but parted ways there.  She didn’t feel like being poked and prodded at that moment and she was pretty sure her weakness had nothing to do with her body and everything to do with the soul of the demi-god she had so recently devoured.  Allison headed to C&C.  Nutina saw her and engulfed her in a bear… well dragon? Hug.  Allison groaned.


    “Ouch.”


    Nutina released her.


    “My apologies, I thought we had lost you for a few minutes there.”


    Allison leaned heavily on the console as she fought against a wave of Lucifer’s memories.  They were fragmented and made no sense.  Overlapping timelines with different outcomes.  Nutina swiftly moved to support Allison before the teenager could collapse.  Her wings drooped, indicating her concern for the young Battlelord.


    “We need to get you medical attention.”


    Allison waved her hand dismissively as the flashbacks evaporated once again.   She had no clue what this was really caused by so she made something up.


    “It is not something a doctor can fix.  It’s a side effect of me drinking his blood.  Once it is out of my system it will be fine.  It will take time.”


    Nutina quirked her head to the side.


    “Whose blood?”


    Allison waved her hand in the direction of the hologram of the Dyson sphere remains.


    “The leader of the Bhirsa.  He was… he was a powerful psionic.  Drinking blood like that has strange side effects.  I’m just getting flashes of people’s thoughts or something.  It will pass.  Where is Zelda?”


    Nutina glanced at the main entrance to the makeshift C&C room.


    “With her parent’s I’d wager.  I had a couple of marines escort her to where the survivors were being triaged.  I thought it was best once you began sending survivors she was quite concerned about your safety, I knew things were going to get messy.  Your ground team was here, they left a few minutes ago, they were not happy with you leaving them behind.  My friend, you have a team for a reason, it was an unwise decision to leave them behind.”


    Allison shook her head.


    “I couldn’t risk them.  I was going to assassinate someone, not assault the command center.  They were injured and I was fresh.  Alone I was able to get close to the target and end the threat he posed.  They had their jobs, I had mine.  And time was running out, I had a transporter beacon, they did not.  It had to be me.”


    Nutina nodded but Allison could tell the elite special forces soldier disapproved of her choice then the Silwrath’s wings perked up.


    “I am sorry, you are the Battlelord and I am just a soldier.  From what I am told we see the world from very different perspectives.  If you say it is so, then it must be so.  It is hard for me to remember sometimes that the snarky teenager girl I know from our time together after your rescue is also the Battlelord.”


    Allison looked up at her Silwrath friend.


    “It is alright to question me.  Sometimes I do things, and I have no idea why, it just seems right in the moment call it intuition, whatever.  When you question me, it makes me think about why I did what I did.  It is why I chose you for this position.  You are one of the few LSR soldiers who will question me about what I am doing.  Please never stop.  You keep me honest.  I make mistakes.  Sometimes the blind faith the LSR military has in me is borderline fanaticism.”


    Nutina patted Allison’s back.


    “You are a victim of your own successes.  Time after time you have shown no task is insurmountable.  So long as you don’t start believing your own legend, you’ll be alright.”


    A signal came into the command console.  Nutina turned and her wings drooped.


    “The President, Primarch and Grand Eminence want a joint briefing now.  They are waiting for you in the SCIF.”


    Allison sighed.  She was probably a mess and covered with blood, both her own and her enemies, after her brutal no holds barred fight with Lucifer.  She nodded and walked into the secure comm room.  Holograms of all three leaders shimmered into existence in front of her.  She looked at each and simply said.


    “We were successful in both the rescue mission and destruction of our targets.  Only one casualty to report.  System’s Alliance Pilot, Lieutenant Wendy Rogers.  She died when her fighter took a second singularity hit meant for the Phoenix.   The Phoenix is currently without shields.  Her hull breaches are self-repairing as we speak.  The hydrogen storage leak self-repaired.  Once we reach Commonwealth space dock we will commence further repairs.  I expect to be battle ready in less than twenty-four hours.”


    The two LSR leaders seemed to defer to Maria to ask the question they all wanted answers too.


    “We are thankful for that.  Our question is: Why was there a rescue mission in the first place?  The Commonwealth declared the X’or lost with all hands.  What value did this mission have towards your primary goal of defeating the Sal’nash?”


    Allison took a deep breath and silently wished she had Bit for backup on this particular briefing.


    “I admit freely this had nothing to do with defeating the Sal’nash.  We, meaning the System’s Alliance and League of Sentient Races, I consider myself a member of both nations say we are peaceful, and humanitarian organizations.  We had the ability to help the Commonwealth crew.  Both of our governments have laws on the books that we must respond to a distress signal from a disabled ship once received no matter the allegiance with all possible speed because it is what we would want others to do for our people.  I responded to a distress signal and in so doing proved to the Commonwealth we take our own laws seriously and that we are just as benevolent as we try to appear.”


    Maria’s lips pursed.


    “Allison, you risked the lives of your crew and lost one of them.  Also, you attacked a vastly superior force, for what?”


    Allison’s eyes flashed and she felt a wave of defiance roiling up in her that was not her own.


    “I will not apologize or explain my actions!  I did the right thing!”


    Allison shook her head and pushed back against the petulant inner child that she had absorbed.  They all looked shocked at her words.


    “I apologize.  It has been a stressful day.  This was meant to be a rescue mission, but the situation evolved.  My pledge to both governments declared that I would defend them from all threats from within and from without.  The Bhiras were a threat to all life.  In many ways they were worse than the Sal’nash.  They were more technologically advanced, and they weren’t just devouring all life, they were devouring everything in their path.  Entire star systems and stars have been lost.  Perhaps a galaxy’s worth at this point.  The member of the Imperial council I had with me advised me we needed to stop this threat at all costs.  We had the means to disrupt their operations with the Cataclysm bombs we found on this ship.  Furthermore, my crew is untested in battle, as was this ship, they needed this.  Given the same options I would make the same choices again, without question.  Condemn me if you must but do not ignore the fact my crew and I were instrumental in ending a fundamental threat to the Commonwealth and other civilizations of this galaxy.  My pilot’s sacrifice has opened up diplomatic relationship options with all of them for both the System’s Alliance and League of Sentient Races.  I will not dishonor her sacrifice, or the heroics of my crew by telling you what you want to hear.  You call me Battlelord, you have entrusted me with the overall command of your forces.  Trust me now or find someone else to lead your crusade against the Sal’nash.”


    The Grand Eminence’s wings perked up and his sharp teeth showed as he saw the fiery passion in Allison’s eyes and her words.  Any lingering doubts he had about her ability to lead his forces evaporated in that moment.  Her talk of honor hit home to one of the beliefs dear to a Silwrath warrior’s heart.  The passion she showed rekindled something he had lost millennia ago.  He spoke up.


    “We have wasted enough of the Battlelord’s time with these inane questions.  She and her crew have a victory to celebrate, let us not rob them of their spoils.  We honor the sacrifice of your pilot, Battlelord and will engrave her name on the Wall of Glory with the rest of our heroes.  Glory to you and yours Battlelord.”


    The Primarch nodded in agreement with her brother.  Maria looked unconvinced but let it slide in service to keeping the LSR leadership happy.


    “We will expect a full report of the mission by the end of the week.  I will make allowances for your need to attend school.”


    Allison blinked a few times.


    “School? Still?”


    Maria nodded.


    “You’re still a high school student.  You will attend school.”


    Allison wanted to whine about it, but she didn’t, mostly because the Primarch and Grand Eminence were there.


    “I will be there bright and early tomorrow morning, Auntie Maria.”


    Allison left the SCIF once all of the leaders had disconnected their comms signals.  She rubbed her forehead again.  She needed to figure out how to deal with her not-so-silent passenger soon because his random outbursts using her mouth were going to become a real problem.  She was about to head to visit the Commonwealth crew when she ran into Futara who must have tracked her down.  The medical technician as nurse practitioners were referred to in the LSR blocked Allison’s path.  The blue scaled Silwrath put her arm and wing around Allison.


    “Ah, I see you’ve gotten lost on your way to medical bay, Battlelord.  Let’s just make sure you can find your way there.”


    Allison rolled her eyes.


    “I was on my way there, eventually, I figured the medical staff would be overwhelmed with the two hundred shipwreck victims we rescued.”


    Allison winced as Lucifer’s soul tried to exert control over her body again, he was very strong.  She held her head as the fight for control manifested as a brief but agonizing wave of pain.  Futara helped steady Allison.


    “We’re going to medical now.”


    Allison resisted.


    “No, I don’t need medical attention.  I need… something else.  This isn’t physical.  I’ll need some nanites to replace the ones I burnt out in my fight with their leader but otherwise I will be fine.  It’s just the blood I drank.  That’s all.  It’s a vampire thing.”


    Futara was still trying to guide Allison to the medical bay.


    “Are you a doctor?  Hmm?  Do you have a degree in advanced medicine?”


    Allison relented; It seemed Futara would not be dissuaded.  The pair arrived at medical.  It was fairly busy, between the critically injured Commonwealth crew members, and the members of Allison’s crew that had been injured when the hull was breached, and capacitors were overloaded from the shield damage, all of the beds were occupied.  There were only a few medical staff there.  Allison assumed the rest were in Cargo Bay Two.  Futara wasted no time scanning Allison from head to toe with a handheld wand.  She looked at the results and frowned.  Allison gave a half smile.


    “See?”


    Futara saved the results and ran it through again.  The frustrated look told Allison the results were the same.


    “You have elevated stress response hormones, and you are right you depleted your nanite supply… otherwise you appear healthy.”


    “Told you so.”


    Futara held up one clawed finger.


    “Wait here.”


    Futara came back with an injector.  It was marked with the LSR purple stamp and symbol that indicated it was carrying actively programmed nanites. Allison knew what that was for so she unsealed her armor and pulled it down past her arms.   Futara injected Allison with the nanites and motioned towards the hatch out of medical.


    “You’re healthy, I can’t keep you here, but get some sleep, please.”


    Allison nodded.


    “I told you so.”


    Futara rolled her eyes.


    “You’re still not a medical professional.”


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Allison smiled and wandered off towards her original destination.


    *****


    Maria was at home by the time Futara reached out to her.  She had installed an encrypted hyper-wave communication device at her apartment once the defense pact had been signed with the LSR.  Futara was in the SCIF on Allison’s ship.  The blue Silwrath looked concerned.


    “Hello, Madam President.  I have an update on Allison’s health.”


    Maria nodded.


    “Go ahead, please.”


    Futara’s wings flicked a few times.


    “Are you sure this is alright; It feels like a violation of my medical oath and patient confidentiality.”


    Maria nodded.


    “It is alright.  Under the laws of both our governments, as an active member of the military her condition needs to be reported to command.  I am her commander.”


    Futara nodded but she still looked hesitant.  She hadn’t made this report yet.


    “She is in perfect physical condition.  Doctor Leshy had some concerns about muscle strain and bone fractures after Allison injected ten times the maximum dose of a designer Dhampir combat enhancement drug and nanite super soldier package.  While I do see signs of freshly mended bone, tendon and muscle fiber any injuries she inflicted on herself have been healed fully.”


    Maria raised an eyebrow.


    “Leshy was able to reproduce that serum?”


    Futara nodded.


    “Yes, Madam president.  Allison ordered her too.  She also ordered Leshy to include a full dose of our strongest super soldier nanites for each dose of the serum.  Madam President, we don’t use those because they kill the host.  They give the soldier several minutes of vastly enhanced strength and healing then once they burn out the soldier dies because they cannot heal the damage to their muscle-skeletal structure.  The amount of the human adrenaline hormone in these doses is enough to make a normal healthy human suffer from cardiac arrest.  The fact that she survived this intact is a miracle.  Our biggest concern is she could become dependent on the chemicals and burst of strength the nanites give her.”


    Maria crossed her arms and nodded.  What Futara was describing wasn’t so much different than the burst of power a vampire would get from drinking an elder’s blood.  Even she had some of her father’s blood stored in blood crystals for a rainy day.  There was always the risk a vampire would find themselves addicted to that rush which was why they were forbidden to feed from elders.  It seemed Allison found her elder blood, worse though if combined with elder blood or wolf-born blood the serum would be ten times more potent for a dhampir.  Or perhaps better.  Allison would keep using the serum, Maria knew that, but she also knew what the tablet Enid had sent her had told her about this conversation.


    “Please ensure she has a supply of serum whenever she requires it.  There is a council representative and special forces reserve soldier on the Phoenix, her name is Widow.  You will get as much blood from her as you can and include that with the next batch.”


    Futara was confused.


    “Madam President? Are you sure?”


    “Yes, Widow is a wolf-born.  It will supercharge the serum, and Allison’s healing factor past the duration of the nanites and other effects.  It will ensure she will maintain consciousness after the serum wears off.  I assume when she is under the effects of the serum her nanites are working overtime and burn out due to the high energy nature of the sugars involved?”


    Futara nodded.


    “Yes… are you a pharmaceutical engineer?  A doctor?”


    Maria nodded.


    “All of the above.  I have several doctorates.  When you are immortal and cannot sleep you have a lot of time on your hands.”


    Maria waved her hand.


    “It does not matter.  You do not seem to have anything of concern to report.  You do not need to keep me updated constantly, just when there is a medical issue.”


    Futara’s tail swished back and forth, her wings twitched.


    “I am concerned.  While I have no medical proof, there is something wrong, I know it.  I have several reports and have witnessed it myself, she is suffering from random headaches, dizzy spells since her return and it has only been two hours.  She claims it was the blood she drank and that it is not a physical issue.  I understand that once she consumes blood, she drains it of any vitality but that is where my understanding ends.  As a vampire, can you shed some light on how I might assist her, even in a counselling capacity?”


    Maria was confused.


    “I did not believe the Silwrath believed in counselling?”


    Futara’s wings pulled in close to her body, the equivalent of a Silwrath blush.


    “Much to my mother’s disappointment, my first degree was in psychology/xeno-psychology.  I do not admit it often.  Silwrath do not… believe in mental illness, nor counseling as you say, but I am fascinated by it.  While I do not get to exercise those skills often within the League because everyone scoffs at the idea of a Silwrath counselor, I am licensed in the LSR and I have counseled Allison in the past and we have built up a rapport.”


    Maria smiled.


    “Oh, I appreciate that.  If you are ever interested in studying psychology in the System’s Alliance, I would be happy to sponsor you.  Any assistance you can give Allison in that department would be welcome.  She has suffered a lot of loss and is under an extreme amount of pressure for a girl her age.  She refuses to deal with her emotions and is resistant to anything myself, her sister or parents try to do to help her.  Don’t use the word counseling with her, whatever you do.”


    Futara bowed her head.


    “I will make an attempt.  However, I will not share the details of those sessions with you or anyone else.  If she does not think she can talk freely it would be a pointless exercise.  Now, about the effects of blood on vampires and dhampirs…”


    Maria tapped her chin.


    “It varies by… type or race.  There are physical effects which we notice most, in some cases enhanced speed, strength, durability and healing factor.  In others more detrimental drinking from an intoxicated individual whether by drug, or alcohol is really the only way a vampire can get intoxicated, and it lasts until that blood is out of our system.  Allison likely suffers from a similar affliction, the intoxicant can bypass the defensive nanites in her blood stream and are infused directly into her cells.”


    Futara held up a clawed hand.


    “Wait, if we have someone take a medication then have Allison consume their blood, she could benefit from said medication?”


    Maria nodded.


    “If it affects humans, that would be the case, but we do not consume the blood of sentients any longer.  It is against the law.  It can lead to accidental deaths or vampires.  Not even after it has been drawn from a sentient.  It is better if new vampires never taste the real thing.  We are somewhat lax with enforcement and it in no way applies to vampires in active combat roles, it is one of the perks of being in the military.  Join up, eat what you kill…”


    Futara’s wings drooped.


    “Allison has consumed the blood of sentients on several occasions, is she at risk of becoming addicted."


    Maria waved her hand dismissively.


    “I doubt it.  For dhampirs it is different.  But back to your original query, there is certain blood that, if consumed that can have detrimental mental effects.  The primary two being demonic and Fae.  Demonic will make most vampires violently ill, it makes us vulnerable to possession and weakens our willpower until it is out of our system.  I have seen it happen once with my sister when she was young.  She was vomiting blood for a week also pretty much did whatever she was told.  Fae blood causes hallucinations.”


    Futara’s wings and tail were all over the place Maria was referencing things she had no knowledge of.


    “Demonic?  Fae?”


    Maria nodded.


    “Sorry.  I forget sometimes others are not so well versed in alternate dimensions and magic as I am.  Demons, surely you have a devil in your mythos, the source of all evil?”


    Futara nodded.


    “Ah yes, the dishonored one and his endless army of cowards which he tortures if they do not fight for him.”


    Maria nodded.


    “Something like that.  On rare occasions, through accident or deliberate magic use, demons escape their dimension and invade ours.  We have not had a full incursion in… well since about two hundred years ago.  Fae are creatures of myth here; They are magical beings.  Some are said to steal children away and replace them with their own, others live in trees…  Whether they exist any longer is unknown.  They were capricious, secretive and rare even in my time.  I only know about the effects of their blood because an elder of my kind told me about them when I was young.  The only record I have of them is one of my sister’s journals detailing how one asked her to save their child from a demon.”


    Futara nodded again, adding notes to her tablet.


    “What effect might a powerful psychic have on one of your kind?”


    Maria raised her eyebrow again.


    “That is a good question.  Allison is a latent psionic because of the vampire blood she was exposed too.  Exposure to a truly powerful telepath or psionic’s blood could have activated all of those latent abilities temporarily, if powerful enough, maybe permanently.  From what I know of such things you Silwrath would have a better handle on how to help someone with those symptoms.  I assume when a silver scale hits puberty and develops their abilities there is a process?”


    Futara shook her head.


    “No, Madam President, they are trained from birth all of them are born with pure silver scales.  We know instantly.  I will consult a Silver Scale on how best to assist her.  That is what she claims she drank from according to my sources.”


    “Claims?  We do not know?”


    “Yes, that is correct Madam President.”


    Maria started to stroke her silver crucifix absently.  Something did not seem right about the story Allison was feeding everyone.


    “I will pull the holo-footage from her fight with whatever it was, I can get a better idea from there.  If I get more information, I will let you know.  I will go check now.”


    Futara bowed her head.  Maria ended the communication and used her presidential login to pull Allison’s recent holo-footage.  She had to watch anything that involved a fight to see if Allison bit anyone or anything.  That meant she could skip quite a bit of it.  She was rather impressed with her niece’s use of the terrain during their defense of the evacuation and with the absolute eradication of the forces they faced.  She paused when she saw the hell hounds and her hand went back to her crucifix which she started to stroke again.  She whispered.


    “She was right, there were demons.”


    She quickly went back over the holo-recordings and found the part where Widow was describing possession.  As she watched what had transpired, she started to feel guilty for the grilling she put her niece through.  The thought of the legions of hell unleashed into the physical world filled her with a deep sense of dread.  Enid had warned her about this, her sister had spent centuries fighting this battle.  She remembered Enid’s words: I am going to try and get them all, but I know some will get missed.  As long as I can kill Lucifer the real threat will be over but with no lord of hell the demons will be out of control be vigilant for everyone’s sake.  She couldn’t have seen these demons fifteen billion light years away.  This was the whole reason Allison was in the Commonwealth, attending school…  She glanced at the drawer where she kept the ancient tablet that never seemed to run out of charge.


    Maria shook it off and continued to watch the footage.  She stopped the fast forward when she reached the moment Allison was about to use the summoned magical spirit blade to assassinate her target.  When Maria caught full sight of the man her eyes went wide.  When he declared himself the Lightbringer her first response had been confirmed.  An angel.  She’d only seen three in her life, not including her sister.  Her niece had gone up against the fallen one and won… or had she?  Maria continued the playback.  Her hand went to her mouth when she saw Allison’s AR HUD indicating fatal injuries, including a severed spinal cord.  She watched as her niece injected herself with the designer combat drug and suddenly was going blow for blow with her attacker.  Then she lost track of the fight because her niece and her opponent were moving so fast that even she could not perceive it.  The blur stopped suddenly she saw Lucifer’s neck just before Allison sunk her teeth into his jugular.  She paused the holo-recording just trying to let what she was witnessing sink in.  Her niece had done something no one had ever done to her knowledge.  She’d fed on an angel.


    Maria hovered her hand over the play button.  Truthfully, after the conversation she had with Helen about the questions Allison asked she was now very concerned about the outcome.  One question burned in her mind: ‘Can a Dhampir drain someone’s soul too?’  She wasn’t sure they could but if her niece had done this thing.  If she had devoured an angel’s essence… the Lightbringer’s essence and being.  How could the child hope to withstand his mental assault?  It wasn’t a matter of whether she would win, it was a matter of how long before she lost herself to him and he was reborn in her immortal body, which had access to the firepower of two intergalactic powers?


    She continued the holo-recording but it de-rezzed before the fight finished.  She fast forwarded and the recording resumed being displayable after sixteen minutes and twelve seconds.  She quickly referenced the Phoenix’s most recent data logs she did a quick search and found the transporter logs.  The logs recorded a three minute period where the crew struggled to pull Allison out of the buffer.  Not having footage from that time would make sense, but sixteen minutes?  She rewound to the moment it shifted and matched it up with the logs recorded by the ship’s acting captain, Wesva where she had noted in the logs that while she regretted having to do it, she was enacting Allison’s final order to detonate the Cataclysm bombs when they received the burst transmissions the Battlelord had suffered fatal damage.  Maria leaned back and rubbed her face.  The math made no sense.  The Cataclysm bombs went off after five minutes as intended.  Transport was initiated after the bombs had already gone off.  She went over the logs and data again she was so confounded she spoke out loud.


    “There is no way Allison should be alive.”


    Maria went back to the holo-recording and tried every trick she knew to try and get something from the lost sixteen minutes.  She only managed to recover one image and it hurt her brain so much she had to look away and could not bring herself to look at it again.  All she could remember were two black eyes with flashes of stars in them.  She quickly erased the missing time footage.  She feared if any mortal viewed it and caught a glimpse of what she had they would go insane.   Had Enid saved Allison…  Had Allison devoured Lucifer’s soul?  She had to know the answer to at least one of those questions.  She quickly linked up to the secure wormhole comm network and raised the Phoenix.  Several minutes later she was looking at Master Sergent Georgia Lance who looked quite concerned to have been pulled into the secure comm room suddenly by someone from Earth.


    “Princess.  What have I done wrong?”


    Maria was stroking her silver crucifix.


    “Nothing.  I need your help with something, and I need you to tell no one of this conversation or what I am asking of you, do you understand, no one, not my niece, not the council, not your commanding officer, no one.  If you do this for me, I will provide you with my blood and training in one of my abilities, even the old magic.  Blood for Blood, favor for favor by the covenants.”


    Georgia’s eyes went wide.  Maria was widely known to be the most skilled and powerful vampire sorceress to have ever lived and died.  Old magic was the rarest of vampiric abilities and the most versatile and powerful.


    “I accept your trade, blood for blood, favor for favor by the covenants.”


    Maria sighed and leaned towards the holo-comm.


    “I need you to use aura sight on my niece.  I need to know if she has devoured a soul.”


    Georgia’s eyes went wide.  She was being asked to verify, then cover up one of the highest crimes a vampire could commit.  The kind of thing Reapers destroyed vampires for without trial.  No wonder the princess was so eager to give her something of such value.  Maria looked at Georgia expectantly.


    “You can do this, can you not?  Your file lists it as one of your vampiric abilities.”


    Georgia nodded slowly.


    “Princess… what you ask, it is grounds for execution if I do not report such a crime…  I would be complicit in her crime as would you, by the old covenants and the new.”


    Maria nodded.


    “I know, which is why I have offered you access to the old magic.  You would be the only vampire outside of the Aurelius family to be taught it.  I should remind you that even me mentioning such a suspicion and you not reporting it would also be grounds for destruction if they were proven true.  So you are already in a situation where if you say something I kill you, or if you say nothing and it comes out, the Reapers kill you…  The only difference is I know the spell my sister created to destroy any vampire connected to our bloodline no matter the distance… and since I am the direct creation of my father the first vampire that is all vampires…  I assure you my niece and I will survive.  My protection for you in this matter is dependent on your participation.”


    Georgia tugged her uniform collar.  She had been told elders were a dangerous lot the older they were the more devious they were.  Maria had just maneuvered her into a rock and hard place, and she’d barely tried.  She’d been so eager to get her hands on the old magic she hadn’t even thought first.  Even at almost three hundred years old she was an amateur compared to elders who were thousands of years old.  A lesson she would take to heart after this she responded in a resigned tone.


    “I will do as you ask, Princess.”


    Maria smiled.


    “Excellent no need to inform me in person, a simple yes or no is all that is required via normal channels.  I will reassure you that if she has done what I think she has, the crime was not against a vampire so in those cases there is a trial and most likely anyone involved gets a slap on the wrist at worst.”


    “I understand Princess.  May I ask one question?”


    Maria nodded.


    “Yes, of course, what is it?”


    Georgia paused for a few seconds to compose herself.


    “Princess, why would she do that to a non-vampire?  There is no benefit.”


    Maria sighed.


    “Some things in this universe need to die a final death.  That is not always possible through normal means.  In this case it was likely to ensure what she was fighting could never come back.”


    Georgia was still confused.  Maria motioned for her to continue.


    “What was this all about?  I have seen all manner of alien, but those things… they defied logic or reason.  They didn’t die they evaporated, even their blood evaporated once they were gone.  We had a priestess blessing our weapons?  The wolves were talking about demons and possession.”


    “I understand how confusing this was for you.  When you join me on Earth for your training in an ability, we will share a bottle of blood, and I will explain it all in detail.  I will say this; To ease your concerns, you were part of something that needed to be done and helped end a war that has been going on since the dawn of creation.  This is the kind of thing that makes the Imperial Council recognize your name.  The kind of thing a future Empress will remember when she is looking for loyal councilmembers and leadership positions.”


    Georgia’s eyes lit with realization she smiled and nodded.


    “I understand, thank you Princess.  I will find out the answer to your question as soon as possible.”


    Maria ended the communication there.  She didn’t have to wait long for her answer, but it wasn’t the answer she was expecting.  Georgia’s response simply read:  Blinding gold.  Maria understood immediately what the vampire had meant.  Blinding gold was the aura Enid had once she’d accepted her true identity and origins.  It was the aura only angels possessed, and the divine power would overwhelm anything else.  She’d never checked Allison’s aura, was it always like this, or was Lucifer now in full control of her niece’s body…  She responded to Georgia, Understood. I consider your part of the agreement completed.