I flew as fast as I could to Vorador's mansion.  Within an hour, I reached the place.  As I pushed back the large wooden doors, I started calling out for Natalia as loud as I could.  Where could she have been?  She was not in the waiting room, her bed area, or the dining hall.  I had to find her, the fate of my clan depended upon it.  
    "Raziel!  What is the meaning of this intrusion?"  Her voice came up behind me; it scared me half to death.  I started tugging on her arm, muttering phrases, trying to get her to help.  Finally she broke free of my grasp.  In my exhaustion I fell onto one knee.  She knelt in front of me,
    "Catch your breath and tell me what happened.  What are you doing here?"
    "I am in need of your help.  My clan….they were attacked by those damned staffs.  They are not looking very good right now.  They need your help.  You are the only one who can save them.  Please, help them"
    "I am not a cruel woman, I have some compassion.  We must hurry; they probably don't have much time.  I need to gather my healing items, I will be back shortly."  

It didn't take long for Natalia to gather her things, once she had what she needed, we returned to my home.  Natalia looked around for a moment at my half dead tribe, "Hmm, this is really bad.  Still, I've seen worse.  I can save them, maybe not all of them, but most of them will pull through."  A rush of relief filled my entire body.  Natalia prepared her medicines and quickly got to work.
    "Is there anything I can do, Natalia?"  
    "No, I can handle things.  You go and rest."  
That was a good idea.  I had been pushing myself too hard.  I pulled back the door to my inner chambers and collapsed in my coffin.  Oh the sweet feeling of sleep.

I awoke the next night to find that my kin were not improving.  I asked what was taking so long.
    "Your children are not as strong as you, Raziel.  It will take them much longer to recover."
    "Just how long would that be?"
    "About half a year."
    "What?  It took me two weeks to recover!"
    "Yes, but their wounds are more severe, and, like I said, they are not as strong as you or I.  Now, tonight I could use some help.  There are more vampires in your tribe than I thought."
    "All right.  What should I do?"
That night we worked side by side.  She treated each one of my children as if they were her own.  She was like a mother to them.  Her gentle touch, her beautiful, kind look that she gave them…there was no other that I would have trusted their care to more than her.  She was truly wonderful to them.  I too was finding myself growing fond of her company.  As we tended to the worst case that we had seen all evening, I asked her why she was breaking her back for the sake of my kin.

    "I am only doing what is humane, Raziel.  I enjoy this kind of work."
    "Oh, is that all?"  I looked at her and smiled.  I looked into her eyes, those deep green eyes for an answer.  She smiled at me, and then resumed her work.  This time, instead of the normal motherly look that she gave battered fledglings; her look was that of a worried one.  Her potions weren't helping.
    "I cannot save him, Raziel.  He has less than an hour left."  The weight of the news hit me very hard, like a ton of bricks.  This was one of my favored fledglings.  He was a priest of mine; just turned over.  He had been dying as a human, so I turned him into a vampire.  I don't know why, but I got on both knees, and held him in my arms as he lay 
dying.  
    "Master," he gurgled through bloody lips, "Hurts….it…hurts."
    "Shhh," I whispered, "Don't talk, save your strength."  
The young one rested his head against my chest.  In his agony, he could not even muster enough strength to hold his head up.  Less than an hour had past.  His life had expired.  I was then greeted by two new emotions that I had never felt before.  Sorrow and mourning.  I had lost fledglings before, but not like this.  Tears of blood filled my eyes; soon afterward, they were streaming down my cheeks.    Natalia sensed my pain, so she wrapped her arms around me.  Normally, I would have pushed her away, had she been someone else, but for some reason, I found solace and comfort in her.  What is this that I feel when I am near her?  This feeling of ease, this feeling of freedom and warmth.  This indescribable feeling.  I felt as though I would die for her.  I would travel to the Abyss and back for her.  Was I………falling for her?  Could it be that I possessed the ability to love?  "I want revenge for my clan," was all I could say at the time.
    "You shall have it.  There is a way."  Natalia and I retreated to my private chambers to talk.
    "You said that you know the way to defeat the staffs."
    "I do.  In the middle of a southern ocean, there is a spirit forge.   It requires a lot of blood.   My father went there twice.  It required so much blood that he had to make two trips to the place.  This forge allows entry to a blood fount that gives the resistance to holy magic.  If it wasn't for that fount, father would have fallen to Malek.  
    "Enough talk, lead the way.  No vampire will be safe unless we rid the world of these staffs."
    "Now?  Raziel, be sensible.  While I would be fine, you will not be.  Let us start tomorrow, besides we will need to be rested.  It is a long flight." 

The next night, we departed for the forge.  I have to admit, Natalia was right.  It took us nearly five hours to reach the island.  It was a small mountain island located in the heart of the vast sea.  I doubt it would reach a kilometer in diameter.  The entrance to the forge was at the very top.  Had we not our wings, it would have been a perilous journey to the top of the mountain.  I have no idea how Vorador managed to climb such a steep mountain.  As we entered the cave, we heard a familiar voice.
    "Shed your blood for me, and the gate to what you seek will be opened."  
We stepped up nervously to the altar and used Natalia's sword to cut our wrists to feed the forge.  It did take a lot of blood from us.  I grew very faint.  Natalia, due to her smaller size, passed out.  Suddenly, a stone moved revealing a blood fount.  
    "The blood of ages flows so sweet.  Come drink from us."
So enticing the words.  I picked up Natalia and dragged her to the fount.  By this time, she had recovered enough strength to drink.  And drink we did.  As I drank, I could feel myself growing more and more powerful.  When we had our fill, the voice spoke again.
    "Holy magic, spirits, and relics no longer have any effects on you, for our blood preserves."

Natalia smiled at me through her bloody fangs, "That is it, Raziel!  Let's go.  We don't know when the vampire hunters will strike again"

Once again, we started out five-hour flight across the sea.
 

Author's Note:  I know that I changed a lot of the story, but I had to do it in order to make the story flow better.  (Besides, the changes add a lot to the story to the story, I think, and also help it to make more sense.)