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King Yaros entered the minister's common chambers where they all sat at the long table waiting for him, stood up, and bowed to him. He smiled in satisfaction at the sight, and sat down at the head of the table. This was what he had been waiting for ever since he realised he did not necessarily have to wait for his father to die of natural causes, although murder might count as a kind of natural cause in royal circles. 'Is the army ready?'

The ministers sat down while Parthan, the former second commander, who was promoted to full commander due to the unfortunate death of the previous one, kept standing. 'The troops stand ready to cross the nearby border, although they still think they're there for regular exercises. Only the top officers know about the real plan, and so far word of the death of your father has not reached them. I can leave at any moment to begin the conquest of Mawan under the pretence of them sending an assassin.'

Yaros leaned forward on the table. 'Then I want you to leave. The time has come to use the strength of our country to take what we deserve.' He looked at the others. 'No longer will we be looked down upon. We will be the ones to dominate all the beast folk!'

The ministers cheered, and Yaros leaned back in his chair again, the image of his expanded kingdom of Tosk in front of his eyes.

***

The rough knock on the chamber door startled Arina, and the lock turned. Ever since she and her queen had been locked up in the closed off chambers at the top of one of the castle towers, she became sensitive of any sudden sounds. She took a breath to calm herself down, and opened the door. The guard on the other side handed her a basket of clean laundry, although it had been tossed about and underwear lay scattered on top. He grinned. 'We had to make sure no one tried to smuggle anything between the clothes, so we searched it all. Some items very thoroughly.'

She ignored the state of the laundry and kept her anger inside. 'Thank you for bringing it.' she said with a hint of ice in her voice, and calm but deliberately closed the door in front of the guard's nose. The door lock turned again while she went into the smallest chamber, which she confiscated as the one for household duties, and set the basket down. She grumbled as she put her and Palesa's underwear to the side. 'Of course you'd put your grubby fingers all over those.' She took the apron from the basket, turned the front pocket inside out, used a pin to pull a loose thread out of the seam at the bottom, and pulled out the thinly rolled up message.

Palesa looked up from the book she was reading to rest her mind for a short while, at the knock on her door, and noticed the distressed look on her maid's face. 'What is it, Arina?' she asked as she put her book aside.

Arina hurried over to her and held out the small piece of paper. 'This message just arrived,'

Palesa took it and read it. 'He's going to war with Mawan? They are our closest ally.'

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She had expected her son to try to gain more power, but to begin a full out war with the strongest neighbouring kingdom was madness. "His ambition has taken over his common sense." she thought, and looked up at Arina. 'Tell them to send word to Mawan as soon as possible. Maybe we can save a few lives that way because there's nothing more we can do right now.' Arina gave her a nod and went to write a new secret message, and Palesa's mind went over any possible method to stop her wayward son.

***

Valla inspected the latest set of silverware she had cast. She examined the fork in her hand so closely, she hadn't noticed the tat appearing in her workshop and flying above her until its message chirp startled her and she dropped the fork on the bench. Slightly annoyed at the sudden disruption, she snatched the bird, and read the message it turned into. 'What the?' she said and hesitated to do what was asked of her in case it was a bad practical joke, but she knew the sender would not do things like that. She couldn't afford delays if the message was real though, and stormed out of her workshop, heading for the small stable attached to her house and her nasr.

***

Gigacks snatched the tat above his head without looking up from his book, and read the message. 'Tarrence, that dwarf lord we used is riding out to invade the minotaurs' mountain range just outside his border.'

Tarrence's mind went over the implications and possible benefits it gave him. 'I don't see any problems with that for now. With some luck, the minotaurs will choose our side when the time comes to submit the dwarves.'

***

The guards at the royal castle of Mawan blocked the open gate with their halberds when they spotted the nasr running towards them. 'Halt! What do you want?'

Valla jumped from her mount. 'I have an urgent message for the king!'

'What message? You're not one of our messengers.'

Valla expected delays like this, but it still frustrated her. 'No, I'm not, but I still have a message I need to deliver to his majesty.'

'We can't let you in just like that.'

Valla clenched the reins in her hand. 'Then why don't you just escort me to him.'

'That might still pose a danger when we don't know what you're capable of. Give us the message, and we'll relay it to his majesty.'

She couldn't risk it being dismissed as a prank and had to make sure it was delivered. 'I have to do it myself, dammit!'

The captain of the guard stepped out of the guard quarters when he heard the commotion and a familiar voice. 'Valla? What's going on?'

She was glad to see the face of her long time customer. 'I have an urgent message for the king and can't afford to not have him receive it.'

Gerod knew her well enough to know she was very serious. He gestured for his subordinates to step back. 'I will escort you.'

Valla let out a breath, pushed the reins of the nasr into one of the guards' hands to his surprise, and followed Gerod to the main building and to the small hall where the king received visitors. 'Wait here.' he said, and left through one of the side doors.

He returned later with king Millias behind him, and when she noticed him, she bowed at once. 'Forgive my intrusion, Sire, but I received a message from someone I take seriously enough to know it's no joke.'

Millias stepped closer to her. 'Relax. Gerod tells me you're a capable smith that he trusts.'

She looked up at him and at Gerod. 'Thank you.'

'So, what is this message.'

She cleared her throat. 'I know it sounds ridiculous, and I didn't believe it at first either, but I can't imagine it to be a prank in any way.' she said, and took a breath. 'Tosk is coming to conquer our country.'

Millias laughed out loud, which didn't surprise Valla as Gerod stared at her with total disbelief written all over his face, but the king went silent and watched her gravely. 'Tell me all about how you received that message.'

A glimmer of hope sparked within her. 'I received it from a maid working at the royal castle. She's a distant relative whom I speak to frequently enough to know her well. She said prince Yaros has taken over the throne after his father was murdered, and queen Palesa has been confined to a tower. The queen is the one who wants this message to reach you and warn you of Yaros's intention to annex our country.'

Millias mulled over the chances of the situation being true or false. He judged Valla to not lie to him, and he trusted Gerod's insight in people as he knew him for a long time. Valla trusted her source, and he had heard enough about Yaros to know he was an ambitious young male. Ambitious enough to shed blood. Believing he would invade Mawan was difficult though.

He paced to the other side of the hall and back, and gazed at Gerod. 'I still find it difficult to believe, but there's a good chance of truth in this message. Gather my advisors and the commanders.'

Gerod saluted him quickly, and hurried out the door. Millias went over a priority list in his mind when he noticed Valla fidgeting. He raised an eyebrow at her. She gestured at the door. 'Should I leave now, or?'

There was something about her that made him like her instantly, and he chuckled. 'No, you stay. My advisors will have questions for you.'

She looked away uncomfortable at the possibility of them disbelieving her and putting her down, but he laid his hand on her shoulder. 'Don't worry, I believe you're telling the truth, and though I'd rather not believe it, we will prepare for a war.' She smiled and relaxed a little, and he guided her to the side door with a hand at her back. 'I guess you can use a drink. I sure can.'

***

Dwarf lord Thyros rode near the front of his army behind a small division. His nork, a large boar-like mount with curled horns, was clad in a gold and silver mixed armour, contrasting the black and dark grey armour made from zinest, a material made through high heat and compression from a specific kind of stone, worn by Thyros. His hand rested comfortably on Kraak, the war hammer given to him as a reward for delivering an old engraved stone to a collector of curiosities. Thyros was already known as a strong warrior under the nickname Ghost from the Deep thanks to his grey hair and beard, and his ability to navigate complete darkness, and he was convinced this weapon would make him into a legend. Especially when he gained control over the Ronder mountain ridge in Minotaur territory. It would cost lives, but the abundance of resources they could mine was worth the price. He knew because a few of his dwarves had visited the small mines in use by the minotaurs before, pretending to dig up a few gemstones.

A scout drove up to him from the front. 'There are only a few tens of minotaurs at the mines, my lord.'

'Good. Tell the division commander in front to attack the moment the mine is in sight.'

'Aye!' said the scout and rode quickly to the front.

***

Olmos inspected the amount of ore retrieved from the mine during the current shift, when he heard a cry from one of his workers. She pointed at the base of the shallow rock hill below, where the forest began, and he peered in that direction. The appearance of dwarves in full gear, riding their norks unnerved him. He strode quickly to the entrance of the mine and the barracks, and pointed at the closest of his workers. 'You! Run to the village and let them know armed dwarves are here. They might not have come to cause trouble, but we can't be sure.'

The minotaur ran off along the mountain edge at once, and Olmos turned to the others who had come out of the mine to see what was going on. 'All of you back into the mine, and stand ready to fight if it comes down to it. I'll stay here to see what they want.'

Dwarves had come before to purchase ores or dig themselves for a fee, sometimes with a couple of guards, but to see tens and more appearing was not normal. He kept observing them while they rode forward and changed to a wedge formation while they climbed the hill, but when they spurred on their norks to a quick jog, he didn't think they came here for some peaceful mining. He hurried to the mine. 'Damned dwarves.' he cursed under his breath. 'Grab your gear! It doesn't seem they come as friends, but we can still beat their numbers!'

The minotaurs retrieved their swords and bows from a chamber at the entrance where they stored them during work, and formed a broad line in front with Olmos at the centre. 'They might still have no ill intentions, so draw your bows but don't shoot them unless I say so!' The looks of the oncoming force didn't give him much hope of that. "I didn't grow old so I could die at the hands of a dwarf." he thought, and gripped his sword tight.

***

Valdys observed Handil. 'Any particular blood? Do you feel a strong need for animal blood, or one or more of us?'

Rachael moved quickly in front of Handil and balled her fists. 'If you dare to hurt her when she does, you'll have go through me.'

Valdys held up her hands. 'Relax, we're not going to hurt her in any way. This is about finding out what her new condition is, and how we can support her.'

'You two are members of this party,' said Ulric. 'which means we do anything to help one another, no matter the species or needs.'

Handil put her hand on Rachael's arm. 'I trust them, sweetheart.' Rachael sat down next to Handil again, although still a little weary, and Handil took her hand in hers. 'I don't know what exactly this need is. I only feel the need for blood, but it has to be fresh blood.'

Valdys nodded. 'Imagine a fresh kill from a hunt, like a hare. Will that do?'

Handil closed her eyes and imagined sinking her teeth into one and drinking its blood. A bad taste developed in her mouth. 'I could try, but I don't think so.' The thought of a living animal was more pleasant. 'If it's still alive it feels better.'

Valdys glanced at the other sitting around them. She didn't like it, but she had to ask. 'And when you imagine biting one of us?'

Handil squeezed Rachael's hand and looked down. 'I don't really want to.'

Rachael understood the need to know, although she didn't like it either. she kissed Handil's hand. 'Imagine me, love. I will gladly give you my blood whenever you want.'

Handil glanced up at her sincere girl's face. It had to be done sooner or later, and she nodded once. She closed her eyes again and pierced through the guilt of biting her most precious person, and she experienced a new and most pleasant taste in her mouth. She had hoped it didn't. 'It's, good.'

'Try me.' said Iphigenia.

A feeling of guilt for touching another woman came over Handil., but she tried to look at it as taking a bite to eat. 'Nice, but not as good as Rachael.' she said after a moment.

'All right.' said Valdys. 'So you sense a different attraction each time. See if any of us stick out for you.'

Handil gave her nod, and imagined drinking blood from each of the girls one by one. She tried Valdys first, and didn't like it as she expected from an undead, and the others gave her more or less the same taste sensation as Iphigenia. She imagined Ulric last. Her gaze turned to him at once and she stared at him with large eyes while her mouth watered. 'You.' she breathed.

Handil quenched her thirst a little later with a hare Conchim had caught for her, while Valdys searched for options in her library. 'There are no mentions of alternatives to blood for vampires that I can find. I'm looking for anything similar now.'

'If there is no alternative, she can always drink mine.' said Rachael and looked at Handil. 'Even if mine isn't the tastiest.'

Handil laid down the hare after satisfying enough of her urge, and wiped he muzzle. 'I don't want to drink anyone's blood if I don't have to.'

Rachael caressed her cheek. 'I don't want you to suffer through bad taste all the time though.'

Handil smiled softly at her. 'And I don't want to hurt you every time.'

Valdys gave up when she couldn't find anything more than myths about red beet or tomato juice. 'I think we'll just have to see how it goes when you feed on fresh prey.'

Handil nodded. 'I still feel hungry for regular food, so I don't think it's a constant urge.'

'Well, if it comes down to it, you can drink mine because I doubt I'll be affected.' said Ulric.

'That would be my guess as well. ' said Valdys. 'Your uniqueness is probably also the reason why you affect her taste so much.'

He hummed. 'I wonder why none of those vampires sensed that.'

Valdys looked from him to Handil. 'Maybe because the counter spell came from me, and my abilities are boosted by you.'

He pondered it. 'That sounds logical enough if I keep in mind magic exists in this world.' he said, and looked at Handil when a thought popped up. 'Do you sense any ability to transform into animals like the Old Ones did?'

Handil found the idea interesting, and searched herself for any indication. She shook her head. 'I can't sense anything like that. I do feel like I can summon an animal though, probably because I have a minor ability to control animals to an extent. I don't recognise the vague image of the animal that comes to mind though.'

'Can you describe it?' asked Valdys.

Handil concentrated on the image. 'It's like a kind of bird. It has, feathers sticking out on top of it's head, I think, and its legs also seem covered in feathers.' She noticed something strange. 'Weird. it has small wings on its chest?'

Valdys went through the list of known animals. 'I can't find any bird with wings or anything on their chest.' she said, and expanded her search to anything resembling animals. One result appeared in her mind. She grabbed her notebook and pen, and drew the illustration from the book she found it in, and held it out to Handil. 'Is this it?'

Handil compared the drawing with the vague image in her mind, and it cleared up. 'Yes! That's it.'

The others looked at the drawing of a bird, with wing-like limbs attached a little below and to the front of the normal wings. 'What kind of bird is this?' asked Ulric, intrigued by the existence of it. 'And where can we find it?'

Valdys gazed at the drawing. 'You can't. This is a magical creature which only one person in history apparently had been able to conjure.' She gazed at Handil again. 'You have become one interesting being, Handil.'