First a reminder to all, this is a crossover between underworld & Harry Potter, it will feature a female Harry (Hera), femslash (this means yuri or lesbians) and a female Harem (Hera will be in a relationship with Amelia, Sonja, possible Selene and a human servant from the Potter-world [each of them will have their own importance and a proper character, they won't be simply part of the decor]), it will also involve bloodshed and swearing.

If you dislike any of this you might decide to drop this story, but apart from the addition of Selene nothing will change (I might create a poll later on about her inclusion, but it will mostly depend upon me feeling if I can write her and if she'll actually add something extra to Hera's Harem)

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This story was written in answer upon Whitetigerwolf's Death Dealer-challenge. The conditions:

- Young Harry gets transported back in time Yes, but is Hera (fem-Harry) who will be a far descendant of Corvinus (she'll become a vampire, not a hybrid though but this in combination with her magic will grant her certain benefits).

She won't be an all powerfull goddess who owns the gold of half the world and is related to every important family, though!

- Harry can be no older than twelve when he is thrown back in time. No problem.

- Harry must somehow encounter the vampires, and eventually become a Death Dealer (though he is permitted to have dual roles such as Death Dealer/Council Member or other roles you wish to come up with) yup

- Harry must become romantically involved with Amelia, Sonja, or Selene Currently I am envisioning her as Amelia's lover, councillor, bodyguard, ... during most of their time before the capture of William and the division of power between the Elders but she becomes involved with Sonja during the two hundred years which Amelia slumbers from every three centuries (with Amelia's consent, although she had imagined Hera merely taking a newly turned vampire in as her own consort, not have Victor's daughter fall in love with her own lover).

Possibly I'll add Selene as well if I can give her her own reasons and way to fall in love with Hera (She won't be merely a copy of Sonja), otherwise they'll be having a mother-daughter or sister-relationship. I'm also leaning towards having Hera gain at least one human servant from the Potter-series. Whether she gets the "upgrade" to full vampire remains to be seen.

- Harry (Hera), now a grown vampire Death Dealer, must still have her name drawn from the Goblet of Fire and be forced to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. more or less, you'll see what I mean with that later

Recommended:

- Britain being a Lycan stronghold, with the lycans being led by Fenrir Greyback Yup, no real vampire presence in Britain, although the situation will be a bit more complicated than merely Lycans vs vampires

- FemHarry Made that one clear, I'd say

- Harry, along with several others, being sent to the British Isles, pre tournament, to eliminate the Lycans and establish another coven. I am afraid that's a partial no. Hera will be receiving help from Selene, Sonja, ... but due to the limits of day, wizard-bias and other threats they won't be able to help her actively. She will be mostly on her own, except for the aid of her (future) human servant and perhaps a few other characters. Furthermore Hera will be having reasons of her own to remain "incognito" for a while. Apart from that like I said lycans and vampires will be a bit more complicated. The establishment of a coven and the culling of Fenrir's pack will be end goals though. She will back in England before the first year though, although I am not certain how long before. (who knows what might happen if there is no Potter to steal, eerh protect the stone?)

- Harry going back in time pre-Hogwarts. Like I said, she'll be five or six years old

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About the story in itself: I am going for a mix of the canon-underworld movies and books, including the non-canon Blood Enemy (inspiration, extra characters, ... hated that depiction of Sonja by the way). This means vampires are cold blooded, cry blood and claw their way up walls rather than sticking to them, ...

The magical world will be mostly the same for now, but those chapters are still far off. First we get to enjoy the wars between vampires and werewolves and Hera's role in influencing the forming of the vampire-world.

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For those who wonder why I only post it now, whilst I had originally planned it in July. I wasn't happy with the result at the time, but university (AKA Real life) caught up with me and forced me to focus my attention from writing this and Daughter of Juno, Leader of Demigods to elsewere (hopefully I succeed in delivering you another chapter of DoJLoD in a week or so, not making promises though), but I am bit more pleased with the current result.

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Also this will be mostly a side-project, I am planning to update and hopefully finish this, but it won't be my main-project (that's DojLoF)

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lastly, I don't own either world

Six years old Hera Potter stared at the little bat which hid itself in the top corner of the broom closet.

The little girl carefully stretched her arm towards the little creature which seemed to shrink in itself when it tried to hide in a shadowed corner.

"Are you a vampire?" She asked with a soft, curious voice.

"There is no need to be afraid." Whispered Hera as sweet as she could whilst extending two fingers towards the bat as an invitation to sit upon. "I don't wanne hurt you."

The girl was smiling, speaking in a kind and gentle voice whilst keeping her green eyes fixed upon the bat.

It seemed to take a while but eventually, although much sooner than usually would be possible the little bat stopped shying away from the girl, somehow realising that she had no desire to hurt her.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" She asked the animal which now rested upon her fingers.

"I am too." She said with a soft voice. "I was bad today, I hit Dudley when he threw some of his toy-cars at me. Uncle won't be letting me out of the closet for a long time. I had no diner today and won't be having any lunch or other diner either until he decides to let me out."

As if to console her, the little bat pressed her head against the human's cheek, nudging it softly.

"You're nice." Hera whispered, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the bats affection. "I like you."

"Vampires drink blood, don't they?" Hera asked the animal. "She raised her left hand up, noticing some the crusts of blood upon the flat of her hand and pinkie where it had been opened yesterday when her cousin had "accidently" pushed her down the last stairs. For a moment her features darkened due to the memory, then remembering the bat, she brightened up and offered the animal her hand.

"You can drink it, I don't think it would hurt. That was yesterday."

The bat stared at her hand for a few moments before curiously licking it, making the small girl giggle.

"That tickles." Hera whispered before carefully reaching for the vampires head and began as gentle as she could to stroke the fur upon her head.

"You like that, don't you?" Hera whispered. "Most animals do, I hear. Do you think I would too?"

As in reply the bat brushed a wing against her cheek, beginning halfway her cheek before dragging it further to the back of her head through her ink black hair which had been clipped short by her aunt to keep it from getting messy.

Hera giggled again. "I like it, I like it lot." She whispered. Then her features brightened even more. "I like it almost as much as I like you." She whispered conspiratorially to the animal.

The bat made a soft cooing sound in return.

"Uncle won't be letting either of us out soon, so will you play with me until he does? I promise I won't be mean."

The bat brushed her head against the young girl's cheek again, but this time Hera felt something other than the animal's soft fur or leathery wings, something wet.

"Did you just lick me?" She asked the little animal, then she smiled mischievously. "Or was that a kiss?"

In reply she slowly raised the bat a bit higher.

"This is only because your my friend." She whispered conspiratorially to the animal, before pretending to look for someone spying upon them. Then she bowed a bit closer to the animal and pressed a kiss upon her head.

Remembering something some woman had been speaking about in the market, Hera kept her own head close to the bat's head.

"Now not bragging about that against your friends," she said with mock-severity whilst wagging her finger at the bat.

Then she smiled. "You won't be doing that, won't you?" She whispered. "I hear that is bad."

She had no idea why it would be bad though.

Hera spent the following hours with talking to the bat, watching her fly the few feet of space it had and occasionally pretending her hand was another bat who was flying with her newfound friend. It quickly became the best day she ever had, something she didn't fail to mention to the bat.

Finally, she became tired and laid herself down upon the mattress. The bat landed a few moments later upon her stomach and began crawling in the direction of her head, only stopping upon her chest.

"I am tired." She announced to her friend. "I need some sleep."

Hera gave her a sweet smile. "If you become hungry, you can take some of my blood. Friends always help another."

"Maybe you can turn me into a vampire as well." She whispered, "then we can leave the Dursleys and be friends forever."

She smiled at the thought, before closing her eyes. Still feeling the unfamiliar, but comfortable weight of the bat upon her chest when sleep took her thoughts away.

Hera woke up several hours later, shivering as if she was suffering from a high fever.

"What is going on?" She whispered surprised without opening her eyes.

She reached for her blanket in attempt to cover herself and remove the cold, but she found nothing. Slowly, still mostly asleep she opened her eyes and reached out with her arm again, searching for her blanket.

She blinked in surprise. Rather than the familiar semi-darkness of her broom closet, she felt a cold wind upon her face and whilst it remained dark, the light of the moon and stars allowed her to see clearly. She was laying in the remains of a hovel. A flimsy wooden shack, with no more than a single room and no bigger than a tent either. Through a wide crack in the wooden walls she saw several other huts, an entire village of them. It was an old place and unknown to her, since long abandoned by humans. With them, almost everything remotely valuable or usable had been taken away. What little furniture that had been there and that had been too old or too heavy to remove had been destroyed and obviously with a lot of violence. The same madness which had destroyed the furniture had neither spared the walls or doors. Almost all were heavily scratched, broken or even shattered. Hera was staring with halted breath at the visible traces of so much violence and rage.

"Where am I?" She whispered. A soft squeak from behind her made her turn around instantly, instantly scrambling up and bracing herself for the slap which she expected to come. Instead of receiving the expected pain, she saw a familiar little bat hang from the ceiling.

"Hey," she whispered gently, momentarily forgetting her fear. "You are here as well."

"Is this your home?" She asked the bat. As if it was replying, the bat shook itself from left to right.

"Oh." Hera replied, a bit disappointed. "You know where we are then?"

At this, the bat flew towards her and landed upon her shoulder.

"I take it you don't then." She whispered.

She brushed two fingers against the side of the animals head, making it rub its own head against her cheek in return.

"We'll go searching for someplace warm then," she said optimistically.

She rubbed her hands and stomped with her bare feet, which both had started to feel cold and walked out.

Wandering through the heap of hovels, she quickly discovered the village had been larger than she had initially anticipated. There were dozens if not over a hundred shacks and huts in numerous shapes and sizes and whilst most of them were small and rather paltry looking like the hut she had found herself in, others were larger and better looking, including one particularly large house, more like a mansion which had been situated upon a small hill at the edge of the village.

"You think someone is there?" Hera asked her bat. "Maybe he will help."

The bat stared at her for a moment. Hera smiled but when the bat proceeded to stare at her, she started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Is there something?" She asked the bat. "Something you want to tell me?"

In reply the bat brushed her head once more against her cheek before continuing to stare at at her.

"It is something that must be troubling you, otherwise you wouldn't stop us so close to the house." Hera said, more talking for her own benefit than the bats.

"What's troubling you little...bat." Hera said, pausing for a moment before blinking.

"I must be the worst friend, ever." Hera whispered disappointed with herself. "You've been with me for over a day and I still don't know your name.

The bat seemed to nod in reply.

"Sorry," Hera whispered bashfully, "Forgive me?"

Considering how the bat kept nudging her cheek, she made clear Hera was forgiven.

"You're a great friend." Hera whispered to the bat.

"I know what now, we'll turn it into another game whilst we go the house." Hera said, perking up. "I guess your name and you tell me if I am correct."

The bat nodded again.

"Is it...Dracula?" She asked. The bat shook his head a first time.

"Aleera... Verona...Mariska...Mirena...Serras...Allucard...Carmilla...Laura...Erzsébet..."

Name after name came and went, all were denied by a shake of the bat's head.

Hera pouted. "I bet I already said your name and you're simply denying."

The bat shook his head again, this time a bit faster than before.

"Than what could it be?" she asked the bat. "I have said every possible name already."

The headshake from the bat made clear she thought otherwise.

"Can't you give me a hint?" she asked the bat, whilst peering into her eyes. She brushed against the side of the bats head with her hand.

"You're such sweet little bat? You'll help me, won't you?"

A soft cooing sound came from the bat.

"It has something to do with vampires?" Hera asked her. A nod.

"A famous vampire?" Another nod.

"It means more than just a vampire's name?" A very enthusiastic nod.

"Errrh, am I allowed to understand that meaning?" Hera could recall the same women who for some reason believed that people weren't supposed to brag about kissing, talking in hushed whispers about other things.

Another nod and she felt the bat brush it's body against her cheek.

"You're happy." Hera said. "But not just that."

She snapped her fingers. "Your name has to do with your body?" She asked. Her friend gave another nod.

"Your coat is fluffy?" She began, prompting an unusually rapid shaking from the bat's little head.

"So it's not Fluffy?" Hera whispered with a teasing smile. A moment later she blinked. Had she just seen that little thing face-palming?

"Definitely a no than."

"Has it to do with the colour?" She asked. If the bat was now clapping with her wings, she...would need to do absolutely nothing because she simply nodded in return.

"So is it brown?... chocolate?... Hazel?...Moka?..." shake, shake, shake, nod.

"There is a vampire named Moka?" Hera asked her. Another nod and a silent warning that she better be watching her words.

"Bet you're more awesome though." Hera told her, making the bat brush itself against her cheek once more.

Then she felt the bat take off from her shoulder. Seeking the air far above her, Moka began circling around. As if she was looking for something.

"Something wrong, Moka?" Hera yelled out to her friend.

When a loud roar answered her call, she knew she had made a mistake.

Hera paused for a second, seemingly frozen by fear then she screamed and turned around.

"We got to get away!" She yelled at the bat whilst turning around. A moment later, she spotted the bat from the corner of her eye flying next to her.

Throwing a quick glance behind her, Hera saw a number of pieces of wood thrown into the air as if there had been an explosion, but despite the loud crack of breaking wood and another monstrous growl there was no trace of fire. What there was however, was a massive, snow-white figure which was moving rapidly through the ruins of the village, destroying everything in its pad... to her.

Hera might have been small, cold, hungry and tired, she had always been rather fast though. Still it didn't grant her more than twenty feet before she literally felt its hot breath upon her back. A massive gust, almost strong enough to make her fall. That was all she felt before it had overtaken her.

The creature in front of her was massive, at least a full head taller than a grown man and that was while it was walking hunched. Whilst it resembled a bipedal wolf, it had fingers which were definitely human-like but each of those was topped off with razor-sharp nails, like a bird of prey's talons. The creature had long pointed ears, almost elf-like, Hera thought for a fraction of a moment and a long muzzle which revealed many sharp and curved but yellow teeth. It had a thick, shaggy coat which was as white as the purest snow she had ever seen, but which was thick with splinters of wood. Despite the thickness of the fur, it gave none the less an indication of the Herculean muscles which lay underneath. Standing up on it's hind legs, Hera also caught a hint of his sex, half hidden as it was between the hair. At another occasion the child might have laughed at that, at a later age it might have made her blush, now she didn't even notice it.

Staring at her with his white eyes, a small amount of foam dropping from its mouth, the werewolf came closer. Hera saw him open his hand, revealing his talons and bring it backwards for a single swing which was bound to decapitate her.

Hera wanted to run, she wanted to run so very hard, but staring in those eyes, those pale hate-filled eyes which contained a madness like she had never seen before, she found herself momentarily unable to move. A cold feeling had spread from her stomach, over her spine through her entire body.

A high-pitched shriek woke her up from her trance.

Moka swooped down upon the werewolf, fluttering in front of his open maw, screeching loudly whilst exposing her own fangs in attempt to scare the massive beast off and when that failed, she tried to reach for his eyes with her own tiny claws. For a moment the beast blinked and stared at her, as if taken aback by so much stupidity, than the magical moment was over and a swipe of his claws slapped the animal away, making if fall upon the ground with a sad squeaking sound.

"Moka!" Whispered Hera aghast. Fear was replaced by anger, the ice in her stomach by a roaring fire.

Hera charged the one responsible for her only friend's suffering, reaching down for one of the pieces of wood which had been broken from the shack when the beast went through them whilst running at the monstrous creature. Grasping the plank with both hands and after swinging it as far back as she could, she struck the side of the werewolves ribs.

There was the sound of a loud crack and the werewolf took a step backwards in surprise. He stared for a moment at the remaining quarter of the piece of wood in Hera's hand. The rest lay at her feet, broken, but smeared with a bit of his blood and some of his hairs still sticking to it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, with his rationality momentarily overcoming the madness, he realised that the young girl should not have been able to strike him with such a strength.

A moment later the brief moment of lucidity was gone, once more overcome by the much more familiar madness and rage and he opened his mouth to roar before he would tear the small, impudent creature in front of him to shreds.

Before him, Hera moved to the side and placed herself protectively in front of the bat, the larger part of the broken plank in her hands.

She unveiled her teeth at the werewolf, hissing at him like a serpent. Despite her defiance, there were tears in the corners of her green eyes.

He roared loudly and raised both clawed hands.

Then his eyes widened for a moment, his ears recognised the sound of a metallic slap followed by a familiar, whistling sound.

Moving backwards he made a swiping motion with his left arm, slapping a bolt in mid-flight to pieces. A moment later more whistling began and he saw other quarrels fly towards him.

Pointing his head at the origin of the missiles, he noticed the movement between the buildings.

A single figure drew his attention. She was a woman and she stood a bit before the other crossbowmen, clearly intent upon exposing herself. ... and drawing his attention to her!

He recognised her instantly. Yellow eyed and dark haired, with a figure similar to a Grecian goddess and without single blemish upon her alabaster skin whether it was by marring blades or diseases, Amelia, the princess of the vampires.

He spotted the sadistic smile upon her pale lips when she pointed her weapon again at him. Almost painfully slowly placing another bolt in the slot of the stock from her weapon, before she pulled the trigger.

Then it was done and another silver tipped bolt was launched at him.

He felt pain, like a fire that seemed to coarse through his veins when the silver bolt struck, he stared at her hatefully for another moment, he couldn't smell any other vampires, then he did catch a whiff of numerous other scents. His eyebrows were raised for a fraction of a second before he ran off in the same direction he had come from.

He saw more vampires appear, each of them armed with a bow or a spear, with a sword by their side, dressed in black and protected by a cuirass made of steel.

One came too close to him and died, his head seemingly evaporating in a red mist when the First Werewolf's claw struck the man's unprotected head. Another seated high upon a horse tried to cut off his escape, he felt a sadistic glee before he jumped her, throwing her down with her back against the ground. Breaking the woman's back due to the smack of her fall and the weight of the werewolf's massive body. Without losing a second of his escape he stabbed his claw down, into her neck. Instantly decapitating the vampire. Then he was out of the village and back into the woods, he was gone.

"William!" he heard a loud male voice exclaim with obvious anger. He felt a wave of anger hearing the voice.

"Victor!" He knew. "Not Marcus, not his brother."

The tall man with thinning blond hair send his horse between the houses, steering it straight at the young girl who had now bowed herself over the bat.

The man was old, looking as if he was in his late forties or early fifties but despite his true age, he was still strong and healthy, with a powerful appearance which would have suited a giant of not even half his perceived age. He glared furiously at the girl and grasped the hilt of his sword with a enough force to make his fingers pale. Behind him more vampires, both horsed and on foot appeared, among them an attractive man with long red hair and a carefully groomed beard.

"Your brother escaped again, Marcus." The first man said, more like growled.

"I am aware, Victor."Marcus replied, likewise sounding angry but mostly tired. "We came so close."

"Another two of my men died." Victor continued, still half-growling. "It would have gone off without a hitch, if it weren't for that little cretin."

"Well!" He yelled whilst stomping towards Hera. "What have you to say for yourself?"

"Your men were late!" Exclaimed a calm, commanding female voice. "If they would have taken their position in time, he would have fled to me without even noticing her."

"There would have been enough time if she hadn't drawn his attention." Victor snarled angrily. "I lost two of my better hunters without so much as scratching him."

"We would have lost more, if they had succeeded in slowing him down and I am far from certain those dead would have stopped him from fleeing." Amelia replied, sounding far from impressed. "More importantly are you really going to blame a child for the failures of grown warriors. They knew the risks, we all knew. Some of us, perhaps most of us would die... permanently."

For a moment Victor stared at her with obvious anger, than he seemed to calm down.

"You are right, Amelia." He said. "Still, what is a human child doing in a village, years after William visited it?"

"I don't know. She appeared from one of the huts." Amelia replied whilst walking towards Hera who was now staring at the three vampire-leaders.

"It was rather curious." She thought. It had been years, almost over a century since she had been a human and yet even if her memory had been warped by time, the temperature was much too low for a girl to be dressed like that. In fact it wouldn't surprise her if snow started to fall in a matter of moments. Still, the girl seemed to wear little more than a shirt, not even shoes and the way she was shivering made clear that she wasn't used to these conditions. In fact, the only thing that seemed to make remotely sense was if she were an escaped slave, somehow escaped from traders or their own hunters. However even that seemed rather unlikely, whilst the girl had some scratches, there was no way she could have travelled through the forest for more than an hour without receiving at least twice as many or gaining the first signs of frostbite.

"What is your name, girl?" Amelia asked her, whilst kneeling down, employing a kinder voice whilst using two fingers to force the girl to look up, into her yellow eyes.

"Hera, miss." Whispered Hera in return.

"I see, Hera. My name is Amelia." Amelia continued whilst moving carefully to the right, trying to gain a better look at the bat. "What are you doing here, Hera. Where are your parents?"

"My parents are dead, miss Amelia, they died when I was very young." Hera replied, looking down. "I don't know why am I here." She paused for a moment. "Or where I am."

Amelia didn't miss how the girl likewise moved with her, trying to keep herself between the bat and herself, making the vampire Elder smile a bit. The vampire had to remind herself to keep her fangs from showing for now.

"I am sorry to hear of your parent's death, Hera." Amelia whispered, ignoring the irony of a six year old telling that something happened when she was very young to a centuries-old vampire. "Where do you think you are? And who has been raising you? Surely you haven't been living on your own?"

Hera seemed to shrink a bit upon hearing her question.

"I am still in England, am I?" She replied. "And I am living with my aunt and uncle."

She looked at Amelia with some fear in her eyes. "I didn't do anything bad didn't I, I don't want them mad again."

Amelia frowned for a moment, that was not an answer she had been expecting.

"I have never heard from a place called England." Amelia replied, "You're in Hungary, just beneath the Carpathian mountains, I am afraid I can't remember the name of this, errrh, village ."

She saw Hera's eye seemingly bulge out of her skull.

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage." Amelia continued. "You know where I am from, but I don't know where you're from. Is England very far from Hungary?"

Hera nodded.

"So are your aunt and uncle back in England or somewhere here as well?"

"I don't know, I went to sleep after playing with Moka, then I woke up in that hut." Hera replied while pointing at one of the ruins.

The vampire noted that the girl kept quiet about her aunt and uncle, which in combination with her earlier reactions was not exactly painting a pretty picture of those people.

"Moka?" Amelia decided to ask her instead, making Hera shove a bit to the side, exposing the little bat for a moment.

"Your pet?" Amelia replied. "He is a well trained animal. I don't think I have ever seen a tame bat before."

"My friend, not my pet!" Hera exclaimed with a bit of anger in her voice. "She is my bestest friend, she doesn't need training."

For a moment Amelia stared at her, obviously wondering about the truth in that statement.

"Then why did she land upon your shoulder, fly when you told her to or protect you when William attacked?"

"Because she wanted to, silly." Hera replied as if it was obvious, before seeming to sadden. "And she's a really good friend."

"Ooh," Amelia told her. "I think you must be a really good friend too if she was willing to attack a werewolf for you, besides the fact that you attacked a werewolf as well to protect her."

Hera looked away instantly, sporting a massive blush.

"You see my friend over there?" Amelia said, pointing at Marcus. "He knows more about bats than anyone else around here."

She smiled a bit at those words. Well, it wasn't as if she was lying.

"I'll ask him to take a look at our little heroine over here." She told the girl. "You wait here with her."

Hera nodded whilst Amelia stood up and seemed intent upon walking back to the two remaining Elder-Vampires. Than the Elder Princess paused for a moment and took her coat off, draping the dark textile around her shoulders. "It will keep you warm." Amelia told her before playfully pulling the hood down, covering Hera's eyes.

In the distance both Victor and Marcus were staring at her with some curiosity in their gaze.

"It is rather unusual for you to treat anyone with so much patience and kindness." Marcus told her when she reached them, obviously sporting a small smile. "Are you feeling motherly?"

Amelia rolled her eyes in return. "She intrigued me." She simply said as a matter of explanation.

"Her name is Hera, she comes from a place called England," at this she looked at both males with an asking expression.

"It might relate to the Angles," Victor suggested. "That was one of the tribes which migrated to Britannia a couple of centuries ago."

"Britannia" Amelia repeated, seemingly wondering than she shook her head. "It might matter little anyway."

"Her parents are dead and she lives with her aunt and uncle whom she's afraid off."Amelia continued.

"What made her so interesting to you?" Victor asked her.

"Apart from appearing out of nowhere and ending up in the middle of an ambush, without a single clue of her presence before she ran out of a hut and started shouting?"

Victor nodded. "It is true that we found no trace of her presence. A situation for which the responsible scouts will be punished."

"I doubt it is so easy, Victor." Amelia replied, making said Elder vampire look at her curiously.

"You've seen more of her then we did, Amelia. Tell us, what did you see that drew your attention?" Marcus asked her now actually sounding intrigued.

"I saw a girl who treated a bat as a friend, even talked to it like a person and in exchange I saw that bat behave in ways I have never seen before."

Both males were not exactly looking impressed at that.

"The bat, Moka attacked William, when he threatened Hera." Amelia told them. "And when he slapped the animal away, Hera attacked him with a piece of wood.

Victor smirked. "I can see why you're interested, the amount of luck required to survive that is baffling, if her presence grants you the same amount..."

Marcus looked disapproving at Victor for a moment, than he shook his head.

"She attacked my brother?" He whispered.

"Which brings me to the next mystery, the wood broke instantly. She struck William with enough force to make him step backwards!"

Now both stared at her in disbelief.

"She further claimed that the bat was never trained, simply that it is her friend."

"You think she is a vampire?" Marcus asked her now sounding almost demure. Whilst Victor simply stared at her with a mix of surprise and thoughtfulness.

Amelia felt rather torn in return. "I don't know." She whispered.

"She doesn't smell like one, nor does she seems to move like one, neither does she seem to have our immunity to all but the worst excesses of the cold nor does she have our eyes. In fact if it wasn't for that one strike I might have dismissed the bat as a nothing but a trained pet, despite her words." Amelia replied. "I did promise her you would take a look at the bat, though. She's named Moka. I suggest you use the opportunity to find out whether you two are somehow related."

"That is rather unlikely, Father keeps a sharp eye upon his remaining human descendants." Marcus reminded her.

"Perhaps, but nobody can remain vigilant without an occasional reminder especially in the course of many years." Amelia argued.

"True and it is not as if it would take more than an hour to create an unknown little bastard." Victor suggested.

"More like half a minute." Amelia remarked scathingly, making both males raise an eyebrow in her direction, neither spoke up though, making Amelia sigh.

"Fine, don't mind my remarks," She whispered. "if they're not polishing your egos."

"What would you suggest we do with her?" Victor asked her.

"If she's somehow related to Marcus, it would be a great opportunity to add her to our number." Amelia suggested. "And even if she isn't, her relation with the bats intrigues me, I feel myself inclined to turn her."

Amelia shot both males a small smirk. "Imagine the advantages we could gain by controlling bats like she does." She said. Despite the legends and the origin of their blessing or curse, turning into or even controlling bats had been no part of their gifts so far.

"And even if she is unable to pass it to others," Victor continued, "a single loyal vampire with the ability would remain a great boon."

"You mentioned strength as well?" Marcus reminded them.

"I did, however apart from that one strike I saw no other sign of this."

"Merely desperation?" Marcus suggested.

Amelia pointed at the plank and shook her head. "Not likely." She replied. "Still, she is waiting for you to check her bat."

Marcus sighed and then nodded, before walking towards Hera.

Absentmindedly the elder Vampire checked the bat's condition. Despite Amelia's words Marcus knew very little about the anatomy of the species but it took no great skill to ascertain that the animal merely suffered from a broken wing.

"She'll live." He muttered whilst staring at Hera. Intuitively he sensed a small connection with the girl.

Marcus shook his head for a moment, than he smiled rather gently, reminding himself that it was just a girl, somehow related to him who was staring at him. A lone and cold girl who was worried about the fate of her pet or friend, whatever the bat was to her.

"She was very lucky, your bat is only suffering from a broken wing." He continued upon a softer tone. "It will heal in couple of weeks."

He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking over something then he shrugged. "If you make certain she rests a lot and doesn't get hurt again, she'll be flying around as if nothing ever happened."

He reached slowly for the bat, shooting Hera a reassuring smile when she seemed to stiffen at the motion in Moka's direction, than he raised the bat carefully up, holding her against his armoured chest.

"You'll have to carry her like this." He told her. "Otherwise you might hurt her."

He waited for a moment so Hera could imitate his posture and then he gently handed the bat over again.

"I'll be talking with Amelia and Victor for a little while, if you don't mind."

"She's related." Marcus admitted to the other Elder Vampires. "I don't know how, but she's related. Once I recalled your suggestion, I could sense it instantly."

"She's what, your sixth cousin?" Amelia asked him, only half joking.

Marcus shook his head. "I don't know. But I'd guess it would be further down than you're actually thinking."

"What do you mean, Marcus? Explain yourself?" Victor asked him.

"My father's blood flows through her veins." Marcus told him. "But it is diluted, as if at least half a millennium has passed since my father gained immortality."

"A side-effect of your brother's mortality?" Victor suggested.

Marcus shook his head. "It is far too strong for that." He said.

"Can it have been caused by a different blessing?" Amelia asked him. "Perhaps related to her behaviour with the bat?"

"You suggest that another blessing overpowered my father's immortality?" Marcus asked her, obviously pondering about the question. "Until we discover more, that seems the most likely possibility."

"Would that blessing stop her from turning into vampire?" Amelia asked him.

"Are you still planning to turn her?" Marcus asked her.

"I am, what of it?" Amelia returned.

"Nothing, Amelia. Merely a question." Marcus sighed. "But to answer your question. I doubt it would. If it could withhold her from turning, it would have removed the traces of immortal blood in her veins.

"How are you going to raise her?" Victor asked her. "We can't afford your absence in this war!"

"Than what do you suggest?" Amelia asked him, obviously annoyed.

"Ilona." Victor told her. "My wife has been eager for a child for some time."

"We can afford the removal from one of our best Death-Dealers for more then a decade?" Amelia asked him in return.

"Better than the removal from one of the Elders." Victor reminded her.

Amelia stared into his eyes with thin lips giving her a severe appearance. Victor returned her gaze with a similar expression.

Over thinking the situation, Amelia went through the options.

Marcus might have been related to her but he had already a natural son and was obviously without any real interest in Hera, instead all his attention was focused upon the hunt for his brother. Considering how little interest Ilona showed for the hunt of William in comparison to her raids against William's descendants and increasing their influence over humans, it was very likely that Marcus would prefer her to raise the child, rather than any of them three. More importantly though, she knew Marcus's son, Nicolae and loathed him utterly. As unfair as it might be to the First Vampire who considered the youngling a disappointment as well, she refused to let Marcus raise a child after so blatantly failing his own.

Whilst she had erstwhile planned to raise Hera herself, she had to admit to herself that she could imagine herself many things but a good mother was unfortunately not one of them. She was no better than Victor in that regard, too cold and impatient for a role that would require so much of warmth, patience and gentleness. Just as important was the fact that serving in that role would rob her from at least a decade in the war during which she would lose warriors and influence to the other Elders and she refused to be left to their (non-)tender mercy. Still, she disliked the idea of abandoning the girl with a passion. She had liked the girl, shy as she was, Hera was obviously not bereft of courage and loyalty. Two traits she valued hugely. The girl had likewise seemed naive and without much learning or training, but what she had seen and heard made her doubt that Hera was left bereft of intelligence though. Furthermore she believed that underneath the shyness and innocence there was something else hidden, a power of which she had only caught a glimpse and which she found very intriguing. She was not merely talking about Hera's control over Moka, even if the girl did not see it like that or her strength when she hit William. It was a hint of something else, which set her apart from most people and which hinted at a greater destiny. She had seen it only a few time before, Victor and Marcus being two of the more well-known examples, but she could recognise the same in Hera, lacking better words, one might say Hera was destined for great and potentially terrible things, if she "lived" to see them done, of course. She suspected Victor saw the same, otherwise he wouldn't have suggested Ilona, even if she desired a child which Amelia had no reason to doubt.

Truth to be told, Ilona was not a bad choice, she was an intelligent and capable Death Dealer, who was well versed in many arts. She was also less cold than herself, with a much greater patience that would suit a mother much better than her own. She did not doubt that Hera would be well prepared for a "life" as a Death Dealer and whatever Fate held in store for her, by Ilona. She disliked the idea of Victor denying her access to the child which he doubtless would if her image of Hera was correct. Ilona was less likely to oppose her though and even Victor would back off if she had a good reason to keep her eyes upon the girl.

Amelia decided she could back down upon the issue of Hera's adoption, but she wouldn't upon the other issue though.

"Ilona will raise her," She said to Victor which made Marcus nod, obviously pleased.

Then she continued. "I will be her sire, though."

For a moment it looked like Victor would protest, then he stared at her and gave her a small cunning smile.

"As uncommon as such an arrangement is," he said still sporting that same, small smile, "I'll accept, I truthfully hope that this will lead to closer relations between us."

After this Victor exchanged a look with her which eventually ended up on Marcus, who was now looking away, Amelia couldn't help but feel that unnoticeable to anyone but the two of them, there had been a small, but important shift in the balance of power of their coven.

Giving one of the Death Dealers a wave of his hand, Victor ordered the man to bring Hera to them.

"We leave for Ördöghàz." Victor told Hera and Amelia. "I'll give word to Ilona."

He threw a last glance at Amelia, before throwing a quick look at the east. "You take care of yourself, the sun will be rising in another couple of hours."

Amelia nodded and kneeled again for Hera whilst placing a hand upon her shoulder.

"Do you know what we are?" Amelia asked her with a calm, reassuring voice.

Hera took a deep breath, stared down for a moment at the bat which she was cradling to her chest, then she nodded.

"Vampires." She whispered with a to Amelia curiously lack of fear.

Amelia smiled at her, this time broad enough to reveal her fangs and nodded.

"Indeed!" She said, pleased that the girl had realised that so easily. "Does that frighten you?"

"A bit?" Hera said or asked, neither she nor Amelia was certain about that.

Amelia chuckled in return. "I am not going to hurt you." Amelia told her.

"Are you going to turn me into a vampire as well?" Hera asked her curiously.

"I'd like to do that, does it bother you?" Amelia asked her in return.

Hera seemed torn at that point and instinctively clutched her bat a bit harder to her chest.

Moka gave a soft squeal which immediately made Hera look down and loosen her grip a bit.

"Will it make me more like Moka?" Hera asked her.

Amelia blinked for a moment. She had expected questions about darkness, immortality, the threat of sunlight, drinking blood, strength, ... not whether she would be more like a bat or not. She mentally shrugged, considering how close the girl appeared to be to the bat, perhaps she should have seen that question coming rather than those more mature (and the few a bit less mature) options.

"Your senses will grow much stronger," Amelia began, "just like a bat. Your eyes will become better, so will your nose and ears. You will become faster and stronger than any human ever could hope to be."

At that Amelia smiled and brushed a hand through Hera's hair. "You'll never have to be afraid of a human as long as you are a vampire." She said, rightly suspecting that Hera would be very susceptible to that offer.

"You will be capable of seeing in darkness, just as clear as you can now in broad daylight." Amelia continued, before admitting. "However the sun will harm and even kill you."

"You"ll be capable of climbing and clinging to many surfaces." She stopped for a moment to chuckle. "Or even hang upside-down with your nails, just like your little Moka."

"Lastly you will only be able to survive by drinking blood." She said. "Human blood is the best, although animal blood may quench your thirst and even give you strength for a while, it will weaken you if you don't drain a human from his every now and then."

There were more advantages and a few disadvantages to becoming a vampire, but Amelia suspected she had given Hera the most important ones.

Amelia smiled at her and removed her hand from Hera's shoulder whilst extending it to her.

"Will you accept this gift of immortality as I offer it to you, young fledgling as your sire?"

Hera's slightly tanned hand rested in Amelia's larger, seemingly unnatural pale and cold one.

Hera nodded. "I do." She whispered. "Will it hurt?"

Amelia smiled at her." Very little if you're not afraid." She said. "In fact if you trust me and don't resist I am told a crimson kiss can be a very nice experience."

Hera tilted her head a bit, exposing her neck to Amelia's fangs.

"When you called yourself my sire," Hera asked her, betraying an obvious hope in her voice. "does that mean you'll be my mother?"

Amelia hesitated for a moment, for that single second cursing Victor for his suggestion and herself for accepting it, then she reminded herself with some regret that she had thrown away her chance of becoming Hera's mother but that being her sire could make her just as important to the girl if not more.

"Not your mother, Hera." Amelia told her. "I am one of the three leaders of this Coven, with my position and duties I'd make a poor mother at best, but Victor's wife, Ilona has a desire for a child."

She saw the disappointed expression upon Hera's features.

"I'll be your friend instead," Amelia continued. She had almost said sister, but she decided that her position and tasks would make friend the better option, even if it might seem a bit outrageous for an Elder vampire and an infant fledgling to consider each other friends. "your mentor for everything Ilona can't or won't teach you, your protector when you need protecting, your patron when you need support."

At each of those words Hera seemed to perk up a little more whilst Amelia brushed one hand against Hera's cheek.

Amelia's face drew a bit closer. "Don't be upset if we're only friends." She whispered before giving the girl a wink. "sometimes friends become even closer than blood-kin."

"And we'll have all eternity to become closer." Hera whispered. "Haven't we?"

"Such a smart girl." Amelia whispered in return before placing a quick peck upon her cheek.

Hera looked a bit reddish, but she tilted her head again and closed her eyes, waiting for the fangs to pierce her skin.

"Relax Hera." Amelia whispered in the ear of the tense looking girl before wrapping her own arms around the girl.

The girl obeyed, she felt a short prick but then a soft, tickling sensation spread through her body instantly replacing the pain with a pleasant, tingling warmth which did make her sleepy though. Soon she was no longer able to open her eyes, but she felt a pair of lean arms withhold her from falling first and then raise her up and hold her like a cherished child or a princess in a fairy tale. A soft squealing betrayed that Moka still rested in her lap, but it lacked any sound which hinted at some discomfort from the little bat. A smile crept to Hera's lips, there was no pain, just a feeling of completeness. The last thing her mind vaguely registered before she sank away in the comfortable embrace of the dark was the neighing of a horse.

Castle Corvinus, ten years since the day of Hera's turning.

.

Amelia stared at the courtyard beneath her feet. Despite the heavy leather greatcoat which hid most of her armoured figure, the woman seemed unaffected by the oppressive warmth of the summer night. With a slow wave of her hand she beckoned a handmaiden, a young and rather attractive vampire who had been turned by one of her Death Dealers two decades ago to come closer. Scarcely a second later she recognised the sound of the girl's shoes when the soles scraped over the stones of the stairs to the wall upon which she rested. She didn't pay a lot of attention to her servant though, why would she when she could enjoy sight in the courtyard?

Her little smile became a rather cruel smirk when she heard a yell and noticed one of the warriors at the edge of the battlefield falling down whilst clutching his side. Twenty minutes ago, there had been fifty armoured warriors, each an aspiring Death Dealer. All warriors with plenty of training and usually ample experience which had been gained in the endless skirmishes between the vampires and upstart human nobles who held delusions about the difference between their own skills and the vampires. It was rare for a vampire to die in these battles, since even a young and inexperienced vampire could easily best a human due to his far greater strength and speed. Most lower-ranking warriors and even Death Dealers who died, had their second dead dealt by the fangs and claws of the werewolves, William's spawn, their own race's immortal enemies.

Unlike the Death Dealers who were specifically chosen among the best of their warriors to hunt these monsters, most lesser warriors would stand little chance against the bestial rage of the monsters. The latest batch of hopefuls was not overly impressive but there was a bit of potential. Still, it was only due to the presence of a single vampire amongst the hopefuls that she, one of the Elders had bothered to come from her own stronghold to watch the final test.

The rules of this test were simple: every vampire was forced to wear a weighed down version of the Death Dealer-armour: these were a long-sleeved mail hauberk, plate armour which would usually be handcrafted to fit its owner's figure like a glove, a gorget and forged metal plates which would protect their shoulders and knees. Lastly there was a black plumed helmet resembling the much older Corinthian helmet of the Greeks hoplites or if particularly favoured by at least one of the Elders, a menacing looking steel helmet which concealed most of the owner's features behind a skull-like mask. All of these pieces of equipment were made of hardy, ebony coloured steel. However both helmets were absent at the test. Instead each of the candidates had wrapped his or her head with black cloth to conceal their features. Whilst vampire-society was rife with favouritism and corruption, the corps of Death Dealers was one of the few institutions where a strict code of unprejudiced judgement and meritocracy was demanded. Then again, it was not as if it was hard to maintain. Werewolves had the good habit of sniffing out the weak first, someone incapable was unlikely to survive for longer than a week.

Whilst the heavier equipment would have been a severe burden for a human, it did little more than slow a vampire down. However, exhausting or even severely hindering the vampire was not the goal of the heavier equipment. The point of the equipment was mostly symbolic, it was meant to represent the much heavier weight they were taking upon their shoulders, being a Death Dealer was a honour but more importantly it was an important duty which was supposed to determine the "life" of the vampire after the initiation.

Qua weaponry there were no real rules except for a strict no crossbows or horses. This meant most vampires employed swords or maces, usually the weapons with which they were most experienced, even so there were plenty of exceptions among the fifty candidates.

The goal of the test was simple: there were fifty candidates which, depending upon the judgement of the most senior-officer, which was Amelia herself, were either forty or forty-five candidates to many. How this excessive amount of potential Death Dealers was taken out depended upon the candidates themselves, whether they fought a series of duels or tried to gang up upon a few mattered little for the Death Dealers, the weak would be weeded out any way. However whilst broken bones, cuts and thrusting wounds were common amongst the failed candidates, a second dead was not.

Lastly, among the small number of successful candidates, a single one would be further honoured by being granted a place in the retinue of one of the Elders. This was achieved by having the tiara upon your head at the end of the battle. This tiara had been placed at the centre of the courtyard and was always the centre of the battle, the spot where the battle was the fiercest and warriors ganged upon each other in brief alliances which fell apart with the same ease as with which they were formed.

Now she counted scarcely twenty three remaining candidates and another two of those would either be taken out in the next moments when one of the fitter, not wounded warriors would be released by defeating his own opponent or if they weren't that lucky simply faint due to the blood loss.

With a slow, eloquent motion she took the cup from her servant's tray and placed it against her lower lip. Amelia paused for a moment to enjoy the feeling of the warm liquid in her hand, to take in it's scent before taking a small sip of the red liquid. As if in answer upon the motion, a pained yell rose up to the sky when another warrior went down.

The victor, a rather small, lithe looking female with the natural pale skin of a vampire and a pair of stunning green eyes, immediately threw herself sideways, evading the scything slash of a sword. Not wasting a moment, she stabbed her weapon, a quarterstaff between her opponent's legs. A quick, circular motion of her wrist made the staff hit the inside of the other vampire's knee and the male stumbled back. A moment later the smaller female rose up from the ground. Her opponent raised his sword up as if he was a lumberjack, preparing to cleave a wood block. However she slammed her own forearm against his, momentary forming the figure of a cross. Her arm was shaking heavily due to his greater strength, but it withheld him from bringing his sword arm down for a single moment. The pause allowed her to whirl past him, making him stumble forward. A hard kick against the hollow of his knee robbed him from all the strength in his already impaired left leg and made him fall upon his knees. Now helpless against the opponent behind his vulnerable back, the male stiffened whilst the female raised her quarterstaff again.

A shudder went through the vampire's body and then he laid his head down whilst a small stream of blood trickled down from underneath the black wrappings which hid his face.

High above the fighters, Amelia smiled, obviously pleased with the female combatant.

"Keep your wits together, Hera." She thought, recognising the young vampire easily enough. Truthfully it wasn't that hard to recognise her fledgling vampire, Hera was easily amongst the smallest and physically least impressive looking candidates. However since strength was only partly related to the seize of their muscles for a vampire, this was hardly a severe disadvantage. And even more than her figure, her green eyes were a well known, even unique calling card amongst the usually blue or yellow eyed vampires.

Lastly though, Hera had an unique way of bearing herself which drew her attention easily. She moved with an even for a vampire remarkable light tread, whilst keeping almost constantly in motion, usually whirling around and taking small steps in every direction within a certain pattern like a dancer during a performance or like Amelia suspected a bat who has to keep in motion to stay in the air.

"Does this batch of candidates meet your approval, Amelia." Asked a cold, but polite voice.

Amelia chuckled for a moment.

"They're entertaining enough." She admitted, granting the fighting vampires a short smile which went unnoticed by them. "But far to imperious."

She turned her head for a second, staring upwards, into the blue eyes of her companion, Ilona.

Ilona held her gaze for a few moments, then the vampire nodded and followed Amelia example by leaning back against the wall.

"It is a common flaw amongst those who spend a few decades honing their skills and fighting the mortals." Ilona replied, with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "It is something best cured by the experience of William's Brood."

"Unfortunately." Amelia said, agreeing with Victor's wife. "Fortunately, your daughter shows no trace of that flaw."

"Indeed." Ilona said, showing the Elder a rather rare smile. "I have trained her well."

Amelia smiled herself when she returned her gaze to what had turned into an arena. She saw Hera take another Vampire down, finishing her off by smacking the woman's head against the wall with enough force to loosen a few stones.

"Whatever the name of the vampire was, she had been a fool." Amelia thought. "Hera's status as a legacy of Corvinus was an excellently kept secret, so was the fact that it had been her, an elder who had turned her into a vampire. That Ilona had raised her, was not. It had a reason they unleashed a vampire of barely a decade old amongst those who were at least five times her age as vampire. Even if they doubted that Victor was her patron, Ilona remained one of the oldest and most powerful among the ranks of the Death Dealers. They should have realised that Hera would have been much more dangerous than her age implied."

Down in the courtyard, the battle continued. Hera dove underneath another swipe of a sword, this time using her stave to hold the man's sword in place and a moment later placed a rapid, two-fingered jab in the man's armpit, making him drop his weapon whilst a loud scream of pain erupted from his mouth. Freed from the sword she had held back a mere moment ago, Hera continued her dive past the warrior and turned around before he could, planting a boot in his back which knocked him straight in another fighting pair of warriors at the edge of the courtyard. Amelia knew that underneath the black cloth which obscured her features, Hera was sporting a sadistic grin. The teen wasted not even a single moment with hesitating, she threw herself instantly behind her latest victim upon her newest pair of prey. Both vampires hesitated for a moment, each of them having been too involved in their own duel to focus upon the rest of the battle. After that moment, the vampires stepped back, more intent of getting out of the flailing vampires path than to use the other's unguarded moment in an attempt to finish his rival off.

Hera did not hesitate. The vampire used her staff to knock the first duellist's weapon aside and lunged, making him step back to regain his balance. Still using the momentum of her little charge, Hera spun around, now aiming a one-handed strike with her stave upon the last vampire's side. It was mostly out of surprise that man likewise took a step back whilst blocking the relative weak hit of her quarterstaff.

Hera resisted the urge to swear. She had hoped to force them closer together, making them hinder each other whilst fighting her, rather than force herself between two opponents at the greatest range their swords would allow.

"It mattered little." She thought, although still annoyed with the result, whilst ramming her knee in the face of her previous opponent when he foolishly tried to get up rather than crawling for safety.

She took another step to side, making the first duellist's lunge miss her with only a few inches of air between the sword and her armoured body.

"The two were good, most certainly more experienced than herself and possibly even capable of beating her in a fair fight." She admitted to herself whilst knocking the duellist's sword in the direction of her other opponent.

Given their skill, she guessed that like herself, the two were simply waiting at the edge of the arena until the vampires at the centre had exhausted themselves and dropped most of the fifty in their attempt to get the tiara, before they would try it themselves.

"Too bad for them." She thought whilst giving the stave one final push and twisting her body for the next attack.

Opening her right-hand, she turned her weapon towards the other duellist, aiming another one-handed swing of her weapon at the vampires ribs. The man blocked the swipe of her weapon again, but that mattered little. She smiled when she saw his eyes widen when he followed the direction of her right-hand. Her hand closed itself around the hilt of the whip which hung from her belt, mere leather, no silver like the weapons which were employed by the Death Dealers but still a painful, if difficult and uncommon weapon. She liked it, despite its connection with torture and slavery.

Wisely the vampire jumped back almost instantly, trying to stay out of the much longer range of both her stave and whip. He failed to notice how she brought her hands together as if she was trying to hold both her weapons with her right hand. Instead of attacking the man, she turned around again, aiming the weapons at the other duellist who having spend that moment staring at her back which had hidden her actions, was still unaware of the whip. Seeing the position of her hands, the man successfully blocked her strike but only noticed the whip when he felt the smack of the leather which coiled itself around his gauntlets.

Hera gave a hard pull, dragging the man forwards whilst she stepped towards him. The man was left nothing but to mentally brace himself whilst he noticed the way she turned around to add extra momentum to her stave before it crashed into his unprotected face, mercifully he was instantly robbed of his consciousness.

Noticing the way she tugged at the whip, the remaining duellist realised it was still wrapped around the wrists of the now unconscious vampire and charged his remaining opponent. Hera seemed to waste a single moment whilst trying to release the whip from around the fallen vampire's gauntlets. The duellist lunged at her, only missing because she threw herself down, next to her previous victim. With concealed, but triumphant grin upon his lips the man raised his sword again, the grin froze when his sword met her stave once more. A moment later every feeling of triumph disappeared in an explosion of pain and he stumbled back. Another wave of pain struck and he was still reaching for the side of his head from which the wave had struck when soothing darkness fell in, replacing the pain a feeling of tiredness like he hadn't felt before since he became a vampire.

In front of the newly unconscious vampire, Hera chuckled once more.

"Overconfident oaf," She whispered whilst aiming a quick glance upon the hilt of the sword of the previous duellist she bested and which she was now holding in her hand. She noticed a bit of blood running down from the cross guard and falling upon her fingers. She resisted to urge to taste the cold, crimson fluid, just like she had resisted every drop of blood since the beginning of the contest.

"It was almost sad." she thought. Those two idiots had been skilled, she doubted she would have been able to best them if they had used their brains.

Hera shook her head. Those idiots had treated her as if she was merely another opponent in competition between swordsmen. They should have prepared for an enemy who was faster, stronger and more cunning than they were. Even if they had been ten times the swordsmen they were, it wouldn't have taken a werewolf more than moments to break through their defence and tear their face off. She had prepared herself for such and opponent, those two like so many others hadn't. She couldn't feel bad for kicking them out of the competition, but perhaps one day they would realise she had just saved their undead hides.

"It mattered little," she suspected and pointed her head at the centre of the battle.

"Sixteen, no seventeen remaining candidates." She counted.

"A few more moments," she thought whilst dropping the sword in her hand and reaching for her whip, "until there are only fifteen remaining."

Hera doubted she could hold out for long if more than three of them focused their attention upon her, she had to pick her moment carefully.

"Sixteen," she whispered whilst running to the right, having found a suitable prey.

Her body tensed up like a snake who was preparing to launch itself forward.

The different battles were further heating up, but she kept her poison-green eyes focused upon the three warriors who were locked in a three-way battle. All three were tired, and two of them sported wounds, however only of them seemed actually hindered by it. She smirked, the other two likewise smelled weakness. The man deflected a first slash, he tried to step past a second but was forced to block this attack instead when he moved out too slow. The only reason he wasn't taken out the competition at that instant was that neither of his opponents trusted the other not to stab him in the back whilst finishing the wounded vampire off.

Hera noticed the way the second vampire moved to the right, lengthening the distance between the two unimpeded vampires. It would give the first a chance to finish the third off and whilst it was too short to allow the second the chance of finishing him off, it would at the very least give him the upper hand for a few slashes.

Hera waited for one more second, than she sprung forward.

The moment the first vampire slammed the heavy pommel of his sword against the third's temple, her whip lashed out grasping the blade of his sword. A hard pull and the steel weapon clattered down upon the cobblestone floor. The vampire wasted a moment to seek for the origin of the whip, Hera repaid his attempt with a rapid stab of her stave which struck his windpipe. A human would have died due to her attack, a vampire did not but even a vampire was unable to fight if couldn't breathe without half choking. The second vampire lunged at her that instant and failed to touch her when a slight motion of the rear-end of her staff made the blade slide past her. Hera took a quick step to her left and a quick pull released her whip. A swipe of her staff touched his sword, slapping it aside and she stepped forward, slamming the butt of her whip into his face. Tears sprung in the man's eyes when she broke his nose. He made a quick but blind stab in her direction, creating an opening which she rewarded by planting her knee into his belly. Supported by that much vampyric strength the older vampire fell back, defeated. Hera guessed that in addition to his nose, she had broken at least one of his ribs.

She jumped past another fighting pair, not wasting any time with engaging them and slid her stave past another vampire's mace, ramming the blunt end of her stave directly into her belly whilst employing enough force to dent the metal. Another vampire down, she sank on one knee and raised her stave up, clutching it with both hands. The sword struck against oak, reinforced with leather and steel and slid down again, making Hera open her left hand for a moment so that the sword slid harmlessly past her fingers. Then the stave flew forward, aimed at her opponents face. The sword deflected her weapon. Then the warrior felt sleek fingers clutching his ankle, he had just the time to blink before Hera used her vampyric might to pull him past her and launch him at a small cluster of warriors that seemed intent upon assaulting her from behind her.

Hera now actually laughed and sprang up, a wide one-handed swipe of her staff forced all who surrounded her back, a quick underhand swing of her whip wound itself around the thigh of another vampire. She laughed even louder when she pulled him towards her, making him stumble towards her. Once more she introduced the reinforced butt of her stave to the face of a vampire. Aiming the tip of her pole a bit lower, she turned the earlier swipe in a stab which threatened the next vampire, making him step backwards out of her reach.

For a single moment she stood alone. One vampire, the youngest of them all, amidst of numerous older, much more experienced vampires than herself. All of them fools, they might have been among the best when human and even as vampires they remembered their human limits. Old habits died hard. She on the other hand, was mostly raised as a vampire and she barely remembered the limits which had once impeded her as a human. Let them employ the greater strength of a vampire, let them use the greater speed of the midnight aristocracy, what did they matter when one neglected the much greater balance and agility of one who's immortality was blessed by the bat?

She launched herself forward and wrapped her whip around the wrist of the current tiara-wearer, then she dropped the weapon. The man was still stumbling when she wrapped both her hands around the end of her stave and smashed her weapon against the man's cuirass. She had no idea how many ribs she broke, but he would be healed in less than a day. It was the tiara which he dropped which attracted her attention. She kneeled down and another circular swipe of her main-weapon withheld the others of reaching for the jewel. She swept the headpiece up and placed it upon the black cloth which veiled her features.

Another swipe and she stood up again, a growl erupted from a nearby vampire and the man jumped at her, slashing his sword down as if he tried to separate her head from her shoulders. Hera raised her staff protectively with a distance of maybe two feet between her hands. She stepped back, confident that the ones behind her were too involved in their own battle to attack her. The centre of her staff splintered with a loud crack, turning both newborn ends in a mess of splintered wood and mangled steel. Hera paid little attention to the glimmer of triumph in his eyes, she whirled around, offering as little resistance as possible to the man's assault, forcing him to step forward, almost past her to regain his balance whilst she whirled around. She thrusted the splintered end of her left weapon in the vampires neck, trusting his armour and the layers of cloth would keep her from killing him.

She took a deep breath and pointed both stick at the enemies surrounding her whilst taking a silent headcount, ten vampires.

She swore softly, that meant eleven with her, and all of them had their eyes firmly fixed upon her due to the tiara upon her head. She disliked these odds.

For a moment both her and the circle surrounding her remained motionless, then a moment before she was about to launch herself forward, a horn sounded.

"Enough!" yelled Amelia from atop of the wall, "the battle is over."

Hera lowered the remains of her staff slowly, almost as if expecting Amelia to change her mind and the battle to restart. Likewise most other vampires seemed confused.

Then one of the vampire's head began to loll and slowly the vampire slumped down, revealing another vampire behind him, his hand still raised from the time when he had supported him, but the small amount of blood upon the hilt of his sword made clear it hadn't been out of any feeling of kinship or affection.

"Ten remain." Amelia told them. "No less are required."

Even if many wanted to object to the presence of the last vampire, none dared to refuse her order.

"I am surprised you let that one get away with his trick." Ilona remarked to Amelia.

"Rather craven, isn't it?" Amelia told her, half entertained. "One got to admire such ingenuity."

"I do." Ilona admitted. "What I am less impressed with is his ability to take no more out than that one."

Her remark prompted a small chuckle from the Elder vampire.

"Tell me Amelia?" Ilona asked her, "Would you be just as likely to condone his actions if Hera hadn't been in the centre of the battle?"

Amelia narrowed her eyes in return.

"She's capable of holding her own, as she proved by taking the tiara."

Ilona's lips creased into a small smirk.

"That is not what I asked you, and you're well aware of that." She said.

"Would you have preferred it, if I left Hera to face the remaining candidates as well?" Amelia asked her in reply. "And in the process, allowed our craven friend to face a few more opponents?"

"I raised her as my own daughter, Amelia." Ilona said, now adopting a far more annoyed tone of voice. "Don't assume that I would prefer to see her fail, rather than succeed."

"She wouldn't like you half as much as she does now if you did." Amelia replied, now once more regaining a more amused tone of voice. "Neither would I for what that matters."

Ilona chuckled for a moment.

"She took a huge risk when she reached for that tiara, I doubt she would have sought the opportunity if a place amidst your own Death Dealers wasn't the reward." She said, with a rather stern voice. "She was always a bit to rash for her own good."

Amelia shrugged. "Experience has a way of curing that flaw." She replied. "although I know her well enough to doubt it is her own cunning or intelligence which is flawed."

Amelia pointed her yellow eyes at Ilona.

"Would you have preferred it, if it wouldn't have been my retinue which she joined?" Amelia asked her with an obvious warning in her voice.

"Was it wrong of me to hope she would serve in my own band me or Victor's instead?" Ilona asked her in return.

Amelia stared at her for a few moments with narrowed eyes, than she conceded that woman had a point.

"I doubt you'd deny her her well-earned her place in my own retinue." Amelia remarked though.

Ilona chuckled once more. "I doubt she'd ever forgive me for doing so." She whispered.

"She thinks the world of you, Amelia." Ilona told her with a tired voice. "Despite what my husband might have hoped for, as much as she cares for me, she's loyal to you first and me and him are only a distant second."

Amelia smiled in return, making Ilona catch a glimpse of a softer emotion in Amelia's eyes.

"I know." Amelia told her before turning around and walking towards the stairs. "That's why I leave now to see her."

"I won't hurt her, Ilona." Amelia told her without turning her head to Victor's wife. "But whatever it is that will happen is up to me and her, neither you nor Victor matter when it comes to that decision!"

She halted after those words and then she did turn her head, pointing her yellow eyes at Ilona. "Do I make myself clear?" she whispered coldly, her features bereft of any emotion, but without trying to mask the threat in her words.

Ilona felt her hair bristle but stepped back, knowing better than challenging the Elder.

Mind telling me what you thought about it?