Drakkon spotted Nightfang sauntering over towards him with a grin like a Cheshire cat. A grin that made him slightly uneasy.

“So did you deliver the ‘good news’ to Our Lord?”

With a very sigh, Drakkon nodded. “Yes. Indeed, I did.” He scowled deeply at his new Commander. “You better know what you doing, Nightfang. Or else you’ll get us all killed.”

Indeed, with the exception of myself, unknowing fool, Nightfang thought to himself. He patted the soldier on the back. “Aye, well done. Soon, my good vampire, you shall get a promotion.” He sneered inwardly at the excited look on the other’s face. “I’ll see to it, personally...”

All suspicions that Drakkon had at that point were forgotten, at the thought of getting his rank raised. “Why, thank you, Commander! How could I have doubted you?”

Nightfang mustered a half-hearted chuckle. “Oh, think nothing of it, Drakkon. Return to your barracks and get some rest. You have done well, for one day.”

With a respectful bow, Drakkon marched briskly down the hall and out of sight. Nightfang watched him go as he rubbed his hands together with glee.

“How do I do it? Hehehe...” With that said, he retreated to his chambers, as his happiest thoughts dwelled upon his brilliant plan—if all went well, Nightfang owed Drakkon nothing.

About a year later, Anna was getting dressed in her Paladin’s uniform to do some early morning scouting. She was always on the lookout for any of Kain’s brood to destroy. Any wanderers fell prey to her sword.

As soon as she was dressed she fastened her sword and scabbard to her belt, placed her holy relic around her neck, and was out the door.

“I’m off, Mother!,” she shouted over her shoulder.

“Have a good day, darling!” Mariel sighed as her only response was the closing of the cottage door. It tore her apart inside, every time Anna went out on her morning and evening hunts. In mostly frightened her, with the realization that there was always the chance that she may never come home. She already lost her once.

She shook her head as she returned to her dishes. “Why couldn’t she have just become a flower merchant? Or maybe a jeweler,” she mused aloud.

Anna took in a deep breath, enjoying the crisp clean air of early morning. The sun was still rising in the sky, all the clouds tinted with a radiant golden glow. It was moments like these that made Anna love what she did. It gave her a chance to be one with nature—she always did love the outdoors. She was on the careful lookout for any unusual sights, sounds, scents. During her training as a Paladin, she was taught how to tune in to each an every individual sense and how to pick out what it is she was looking for, among all other things she may come across.

Not finding anything vampiric for the time being, she decided to take a rest somewhere and have a seat. Lowering her defenses just enough to be able to relax and enjoy her surrounds, she put a bit of skip in her step and kept on going.

Today would be the day. Nightfang knew it. His waiting session had been complete and it was time to set the remainder of his plan into motion. He had requested a meeting with Lord Kain, himself, and he knew that his Grandsire and King was waiting for him. Soon enough, he arrived at the throne room, where Kain was seated at his throne. Unlike most lesser vampires would have been—even lieutenants—Nightfang was not intimidated by the presence of His Lord. Only that much more motivated to achieve his level of unsurpassed power.

Kain watched as Raziel’s second born, the new Chief Commander, strode before him and bowed gracefully. He knew that this vampire was a sly one—he had a reputation as a deceiver. He could only wonder what it was that he come here to say.

“What brings you before me, Chief Nightfang?”

Nightfang couldn’t help shudder at the sound of his title. It would soon change to Head of the Militia. “Sire, I brings grim news, of the soldiers have been given the curse of leading.”

Kain raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what makes you say that?”

Raziel was passing by when familiar voices in the audience chamber caught his attention. One of his children was having a private meeting with Kain. What would a lesser vampire need to tell their Master? His curiosity got the best of him as he leaned against a nearby pillar and listened intently.

“My ‘troops’ must think you credulous, Your Majesty, for they have lied to you,” Nightfang replied. “Anna was not slain—she lives!”

Raziel’s mouth gaped open in silent shock. How could she have possibly survived?!

Apparently, Kain was just as surprised as Raziel. “What?! You mean to tell me that a loyal soldier, such as Drakkon is, would stand before me to deliver mistruth?”

Nightfang nodded solemnly. “Yes, M’Lord. I overheard the sniveling dogs boasting about it just last night. Apparently, it was part of a plan to control the Militia themselves. They are greedy, Sire. And far too ambitious, if they would go as far as to lie to their own King.”

Kain stood from his throne and walked over to Nightfang, placing a heavy rough hand on his bare shoulder. “So right you are. Is there anything else those useless whelps have gotten away with?”

Nightfang was barely able to suppress a wide grin. By now, he knew that the soldiers’ punishment would be death. He decided to have a little fun with it, and dig them a deeper grave—that of the Abyss...

“There is one more thing, My Liege.”

“Oh?”

“’Twas the soldiers whom where responsible for Krull’s death. I turned my head for one moment, and they pushed Krull into the river, themselves! He never fell in, to begin with—he was murdered!” Nightfang pretended to very distraught, and it was obviously very convincing, by the way Kain was looking at him. “The assassination of my poor brother was merely another step in their horrid scheme to overthrow the Militia high officials.”

Kain’s eyes burned with seething hatred for the so-called “traitors”. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Raziel shook his head in surprise. How could so many of his own children be wretched enough to kill one of their own for power and lie to Lord Kain?

“Thank you for telling me, Commander. I’ll have Turel’s soldiers retrieve these backstabbers. Once this is all over, you will not have the dishonor of commanding ill-trained cowards. You, Nightfang, will lead the main army, itself, as Head of the Militia. I will make sure that Raziel does so, once he learns of this.”

Indeed, I shall, Raziel thought. He’s a honest lad, who most definitely deserves it.

Nightfang pretended to be completely amazed, though he had been anticipating this for the last year. “How generous of you, My Lord! How can I thank you enough?”

Kain smiled at him lightly. “Oh, you have no need, my boy—you have honored me enough by your service to me, just now.” With that, Kain brushed past him and left.

Nightfang watched the vampire king go with a smile from ear to ear. “Mission accomplished,” he whispered under his breath. The hardest part was over. The only other challenge was making sure that the other soldiers would be executed before they might reveal any portion of his plan. He was especially worried about Drakkon—he was far to suspicious of him, to begin with. He concluded that the safest way to approach the situation was to strike first, as he always did. He’d save the fate of the Abyss for the others. Drakkon was too dangerous to kill leisurely...

Having heard enough, Raziel silently slid away. Knowing she was alive, he had to find Anna.

After hours of traveling through the dense woods, Raziel thought he sensed another presence somewhere nearby. It appears to be coming from that clearing, he deduced. Wasting no time, he slunk off into the underbrush...

Anna was beginning to feel increasingly uneasy. She just could shrug off the feeling that she was being watched, though she was visibly alone. How odd, she thought. I feel another presence, strongly, but ... Hmm ... I just don’t know...

Suddenly, Raziel froze, his body rigid. He now knew whom he was sensing—his Anna! He knew it was her. There was no mistaking it. He ducked behind a thick old elm tree and looked around it. The breath immediately got trapped in his throat.

There sat Anna, seeming so different then how he remembered her. The first thing he noticed, of course, was her outfit. She was wearing armor with many odd symbols and figures engraved into the surface. Her dark mahogany hair was tied back with a red ribbon and she wore high black leather boots. The armor parted in a skirt-like manner below her hips and her legs were armored up to her knees—the boots covered everything below that. At her hip was a scabbard with the blade, itself tucked inside, its elegant jeweled hilt visible even from his far distance. Just from observing her, it was clear that she had taken on the profession of a holy warrior. He feared that she had become an avid Slayer, due to the incident with Kain a year ago.

He also noticed that she carried herself with a different air of nobility. He had always noticed that she was slightly egotistical (in his personal opinion, that had made her all the more endearing), but she seemed more humbled now, the way she looked this way and that, not wasting her time by fussing over herself. She had always had a habit of twirling a strand of her hair around her finger, while she was thinking by herself, but he did not observe her doing this at the moment. She also seemed very aware of her surroundings, poised for any and everything that should happen, and seemingly ready to react just as quickly.

Raziel sighed heavily, as he realized that Anna had changed so much, over the course of a year. He prayed that life had not made her bitter...

Anna suddenly felt an overwhelmingly strong presence—a vampiric presence. She bolted to her feet and quickly unsheathed her sword, displaying in it plain view. “Show yourself,” she called into the dense foliage. She knew someone was there. Whether or not an enemy, she had to be alert. Her command was responded to by the sound of rustling leaves and a man’s footsteps. She didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. She recognized the feeling she always had when he was near. Anna swallowed hard to fight the tears threatening to fall, as she slowly turned around. 

Sure enough, Raziel stood before her. Both of them stared at each other in an awkward moment of silence, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Anna spoke.

“So ... it actually took you a year to figure out that your little imps didn’t tear me to ribbons.” Her tone of voice was hard and completely flat. Raziel could tell she was upset, and she had the right to be.

He sighed heavily. “Anna ... forgive me ... I had absolutely no idea that Lord Kain would even consider doing something like this, over something as petty as a verbal argument. He took advantage of my absence, at it upsets me greatly. Mostly because I was led to believe, albeit false, that you were hunted down by the soldiers. I can never apologize enough for what happened to you.”

Anna gnashed her teeth. Now that she was confronted with him, she found herself more angry than hurt. She was positively livid. “Damn right, you can’t. Do you have any concept of what I went through?!” She finally had snapped, after all her emotions had been bottled up inside her for so long. Now those emotions flared. “Allow me to clue you in, since you obviously had more important things to do than save me. I was ambushed and grabbed so that I could have the ‘honor’ of being thrown at Kain’s feet. All he wanted me for was to goddamn humiliate me, which he succeeded in doing, just before he sent half an army of vampires after me!” She moved the collar of her white ruffled shirt to one side tilting her head to the right, revealing the two slash marks that had healed into two dark scars.

Raziel gasped in shock, his bright eyes widening—how could his Master do such a thing. “My goodness,” he finally said. “I’m so sorry..”

Sorry doesn’t take back everything that happened that day, she thought angrily. “Oh, no. Believe me—it gets better. I ran all through Kain’s stupid Sanctuary, broke my rib jumping out of a damn window, ran through the woods like a frightened mouse, and then I had to fight a raging river! That’s what happened! Make sense now?!” Anna finally took the chance to catch her breath. Her heart was beating fast and her head was pounding. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this angry. But at the same time, she actually felt a bit better to finally be able to get this off her chest. These were things she’d needed to say for a long time.

Raziel was starting to get a tad impatient with Anna’s temper, but he understood that her anger was not without cause. He took a deep breath before saying, in a soft tone, “I ... am deeply sorry for your troubles, and I accept my responsibility for it ... but I am afraid there was not much I could have done, either way. I would have surely been executed for insubordination. What good would have come out of both of us being dead?”

 Anna was about to snap at him again when she silenced herself with a sigh. She realized that he was right. What could he have possibly done? Attacked his own children? Voiced his contempt of the situation to his master’s face? All of these actions would have gotten Raziel killed in less than a heartbeat. She turned her gaze to the ground, unable to outright admit that Raziel held a good point.

Raziel gazed at her silently for a moment. He inwardly cursed his position, something he never thought he’d find himself doing. He’d always been proud to be Kain’s first born, chief of His Majesty’s lieutenants. But now ... his rank only proved to be a hindrance to his ability to protect the woman he loved. It made him feel powerless—how he loathed that feeling! He reached a clawed hand and stroked her jawline with his talon.

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting desperately against the tears brimming in her eyes.

“Anna...”

She refused to respond, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Raziel sensed her extreme pain and sighed lightly before taking her into his arms and holding her against him.

Anna could hold back her tears no longer. She sobbed openly against his strong chest. She cried for the humiliation that Kain subjected her to. She cried for feeling of complete abandonment that surged through her as she fled for a fleet of vampires. She cried for the expressions of worry and concern that lay upon her family’s faces that had caused her to burn with shame. Everything she had held at bay during that past year up till that moment broke free through her tears.

“Shhh ... it’s alright”, Raziel said soothingly, as he stroked the back of her head. “I’m here, now. No such thing will ever happen to you again. I promise you this.”

With a shaky sigh, Anna nodded lightly and whispered, “I believe you...”

After some time, they finally pulled away. Raziel’s glance turned to the sword in her gloved hand. “Erm...”

Anna looked at him curiously for a moment until she knew what he was staring at. “Oh, this.” She sheathed it, knowing that it was making him uneasy—she had had that weapon blessed by the bishop of a nearby chapel.

Though he wouldn’t sure he should ask, he felt he had to. “Does this mean that you still intend to ... remain a slayer?”

Anna sighed and thought that over carefully. She knew how highly Raziel thought of his Master, and how he was firmly connected to his kindred. It would be most upsetting for him if she pursued further quarrel with the vampire clans of Nosgoth. But deep inside her, the burning need for vengeance longed to be sated. How could she obtain such a thing...? Time shall bring an opportunity to avenge your grievances ... The chance shall come unto you, Anna ... with time ... The premonition echoed through her subconscious as though it had come from some unseen force. And deep within her soul, she knew this to be true. If he simply played at this waiting game, a shot at Kain would arise. Then, when fate handed her such a moment, she would seize it. Until then...

Turning her gaze to herself, she hesitated a moment before removing the sword and scabbard from her waist and dropping them both to the ground. She shook her head stoically. “No ... no longer shall your kind be hounded by me. But my hate for Kain ... shall remain as constant as the seasons that come each year. I am afraid that such a feeling cannot change.”

Raziel knew that what Kain had done was, indeed, uncalled for. Upon this matter, he was quite displeased, as well. But his loyalty to His Lord remained. Nodding lightly, he answered, “I understand.”

And so Anna gave up her task as a slayer of Kain’s kin, for the sake of Raziel. However badly she felt the urge to destroy them all, she realized that such glimpses into the future were rare. And yet, she had experienced one that day. Such a sign must certainly be true. Her fate had been written. Revenge would be hers, someday. She could wait...