Thank you all very much for your kind reviews! They brighten my days! Now here comes part 2. As always I hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own True Blood! Otherwise there would have been a certain Scottish druid in it. :-)

First encounter part 2

Northern Scotland, 930 AD

As if she stood outside her body Aodann recognized every single change at first. She heard her pulse beating faster for a moment but slower and slower afterwards. She felt Godric's skin seeming less and less cold. She felt her feet getting numb and goose bumps spreading over her body. And at last she noticed that her heart became more and more silent. At no point the druid felt fear or concern. The vampire, in whose arms she was lying, was her anchor. Just as her eye lids seemed to become to heavy to keep them open any longer, Godric withdrew from her. With blurred vision Aodann saw how he bit his wrist and she barely felt it when he switched his position to bed her head in his lap.

And then she tasted his blood. A yet strange instinct took over, commanded her to drink and she obeyed. Pictures flickered over the inside of her eye lids in incredible speed. More than a thousand years of memories flew through her body and filled her cells. Aodann lay motionless and learned. She had lost any sense of time when the warm flood subsided. Her instinct was greedy for more and the woman moaned reluctantly. Only partially she felt a snicker shaking Godric's chest. „Shhh…", he murmured softly into her ear. „That is enough. Rest now!"

Aodann didn't feel it anymore when Godric finally lay down beside her and wrapped her tightly in his arms. Spasms would shake her body throughout the day while his blood changed her, but this wonderful woman would not feel anything of it. She would simply awake terribly thirsty.

Her consciousness came back to her body and to reality abruptly. Everything was silent. More silent as normally when she had woken up in her home. Aodann kept her eyes closed and concentrated. Her heart wasn't beating anymore. Her lungs neither pulled in air nor pressed it out. But the silence was more and more infiltrated by new sounds. She could her every single water drop falling down to the ground in front of the distant cave entrance. The druid heard and smelled a mouse, who was looking for shelter from the rainstorm outside. Its heart was beating and suddenly nothing mattered anymore but hunger. Last day's and last night's events came back to her mind. Her body was longing for blood.

Aodann's concentration was gone. She opened her eyes and sat up. Godric was right beside her looking expectantly. The woman hadn't even felt his embrace while waking up, hadn't felt his skin to be colder. Now she could see his thoughts as her own and saw herself through his eyes. Her complexion seemed paler than before, her expression was hounded. He thought of her as beautiful – given this knowledge another unfamiliar graving awoke in her, but wasn't nearly powerful enough to defeat the hunger. Aodann's fangs flashed forward and this new sensation battled the pure instinct for a second. She knew quite well that Godric felt all of this as well. The blood connected their bodies and minds. He laughed suddenly and handed her her old dress. „The first hunting trips are going to be a bloody mess. Your old dress should suffice until we can get you something new. But tell me where all this blood on it comes from! It's not only yours."

„I bit the jarl in the neck." Aodann gave Godric a shy look. He laughed out loud and took her face in both his hands. „And this even before your change…", he chuckled and blew a kiss on her brow. „Now take on your clothes and let us go for a hunt! I will teach you how to bite accurately!"

The amount of new stimuli that collapsed on her in front of the cave, might have been absolutely overwhelming, had she not been so ruled by hunger. „What do your senses show you?", Godric asked. „Blood! And a battle on the shore." Aodann bent her head sidewards as if to thus increase her hearing. „It's two battles. One is still fought." Her maker nodded satisfied. „This is where we will turn to. There is no easier prey than humans, killing and mutilating each other."

He took her hand and started running. She had little trouble following his pace but knew that this wasn't nearly the speed he was capable of. But she would become stronger. She would feed and from now on would become a little faster, a little more like him with every night passing. A small part of her new and complex consciousness criticised her for turning from healer to murderer in the blink of an eye and absolutely willingly. The young vampire threw a mental ax at this glimpse of a thought. For her whole life she had served humans, had abstained from so many things. And for what? To be sold like cattle in the end. In this new existence Aodann the druid, the vampire, the woman belonged completely to herself and she would savour it.

She had to laugh and involuntarily ran a bit faster. The wind was roaring in her ears and the world around her somehow seemed to stand still. Aodann felt Godric's eyes on her and smiled at him. Their new connection was irritating and absolutely natural as well. It felt right.

It didn't take long until the smell of blood and moist earth reigned everything. From far off the noise of the second still ongoing battle came to their sensible ears. Something pulled her there, something, that was connected to her former life. And this something was strong enough to rise above her thirst. Aodann turned in this direction but was hold back by Godric. „We will go to watch them later. First you have to feed and me as well." He pulled her with him in nearly human speed this time. His fangs were elongated now, too. They kept on wandering between cut-off limbs and corpses. The smell of blood was so strong, that it covered her sight like a red veil.

Her sharpened senses didn't need long to find a beating heart under all this bodies. Intoxicated her lips parted, curled over her fangs and gave her face a wild, demonic appearance. „Take him! I will stay close by." Godric's order would not have been necessary. The very moment he let go of her hand, she was rushing towards the dying warrior.

Out of his chest projected the bloody stump of a broken spear, his left leg was nothing but a compound fracture and he only had one eye left. An insignificant part of Aodann's consciousness wondered that the Viking was still alive and awake. His remaining eyeball widened in fear when he saw her kneeling down beside him. „You?", he breathed stertorously. Aodann recognized his mind. He had been in the Vikings' camp. But this was insignificant. This had been in another existence. Without giving him another direct glance, she turned his head sidewards and attacked.

His body twisted beneath her without any chance. She drank. She sprang back. Had her lungs still had a function, they would have inhaled deeply. The blood brought pictures of battles, pictures of rape, pictures of drunkenness. His whole life flickered behind her lids, which were tightly squeezed shut. Above the greed of her new instincts Aodann concentrated – she had been able to shut out this pictures as a human, she would be able to manage this again.

The lump of flesh still struggled and moaned panic-stricken under her hand but Aodann barely noticed. When she believed to be focused enough, she bit him again. The pictures were less terrible this time, stayed blurred, but it was difficult to stay lord of her appetite. In the past she had often traveled with wolves in her mind, where instincts ruled everything. This was exactly how it felt now. The moist warmth dripping down her throat send comforting shivers down her spine. She felt her body temperature increase slightly and her hunger subside.

When Aodann let go off him no life was left in this body. But that was not important. She was full. And she was sure that it would become easier in time. Blood tasted different now. It was no longer the aroma of salt and copper which every women knew who had once stung herself at a needle's tip and put the bloody finger into her mouth in reflex. Now it was sweet and spicy simultaneously, a little bit like wild honey. Or at least this Viking had tasted like this…

Godric was close. A heart was still beating there, but the rhythm already got jolty. Aodann was curious. She wanted to see him, while he took this life. The other longing grew again, now that her hunger was satisfied.

In a few blinks of an eye she was with her maker. As a human she had never been cruel but now the sight of his comparably small figure hunkering over the massive body of an old Pict took hold of her. Even the most delicate muscles on his back were tense, the moonlight, which was softened by clouds every now and then, played with his tattoos and over all lay the sweet smell of upcoming death.

When Godric let go of his meal and looked up contentedly the ban of the moment broke. With all her newly obtained power Aodann flung herself at him and pushed him into the bloody mud. Her longing for blood might had been satisfied for now, but therefore the other longing broke its way through even harder. They shared the same blood and the young vampire lusted to share the same body as well.

In pure reflex she hissed at Godric and bared her teeth. Nearly simultaneously his pupils widened from lust when Aodann began to work with a certain determination at the belt of his leather pants. The knot stood no chance against her skilled fingers. There was no shame, no holding back – their bodies had done all of this before, she just couldn't remember in her head. Her hands on the other side knew exactly what to do.

Finally the unnerving leather was all gone. Aodann embraced his penis determined and wasn't surprised in the slightest to find him ready for her. Godric laughed provocatively and forcefully grabbed her thigh. In one fluid movement he pulled her thin dress up over her hips and pressed her against his erection. She moaned involuntarily and threw back her head. Not only her body trembled from arousal but her fangs as well felt as if they wanted to break out of her jaw.

With an effort she regained control over her body. Aodann cupped Godric's face in one hand and could see her own reflection in his pitch black pupils. The trust he had in her and the force he allowed her to have over his body only turned her on even more. His hands gripped her ass demandingly and she definitely didn't want to wait any longer as well. Couldn't wait any longer. The wish to take him into her became unbearable.

The young one pressed her free hand onto her maker's sternum and brought her face close to his. With the tips of her fangs she followed the line of his jawbone and simultaneously took his pulsing length into her in one fluid movement. There was no elaborate foreplay and no tenderness, only untamed animal instinct. Aodann rolled her eyes far back when he finally filled her completely. She stayed motionless for a moment and sensed her whole body that was tense in such a wondrous way. A thousand pinpricks rushed up and down her spine.

At last it was Godric who broke the trance when he nearly impatiently gripped her hips harder and sat up. Thereby he subtly pulled out of her only to push back in even harder and deeper and then continued in a slightly slower but steady rhythm. Aodann moaned and clinched her nails into his neck and shoulders. Every new stroke sent new sensations through her body and the muscles in her lower belly contracted faster and faster as she floated towards orgasm.

„Bite me!", Godric moaned commandingly. Only too willingly she obeyed. Aodann sank her fangs deeply into his neck. With the first drops of his blood running down her throat everything became blurred. In her ecstasy she barely noticed being bitten as well. Not only could she feel Godric's hard erection pulsing in her and her own muscles closing tightly around him, she could feel the tension in him as well, like an arrow that could be shot from the bow in every second. All feelings were doubled by the blood.

This knowledge broke down the last wall. Waves washed over their connected bodies. Aodanns fingernails broke through the skin of Godric's shoulder and for a short moment left five deep and bloody marks. Unwilling to let go off him only to be able to scream, she pressed her mouth even harder against his neck and her moaning sent vibrations throughout his body. When Godric came in her nearly simultaneously, he growled deeply and lastingly like a nearing thunderstorm. With full force he pressed her against him one last time. Had she still been human it would have broken her hip but instead a second endlessly sweet climax washed through her and made every single one of her muscles tremble.

The burning desire was finally satisfied and Aodann snuggled relaxed against his naked chest and started to carefully lick the wound at Godric's neck, that was already beginning to close. Barely touching her, he caressed her hair. „We need to get you a comb. It would be a pity if your beautiful hair felted." Aodann chuckled against his neck then took a more upright position in his lap, too, and started playing with one of his own wild strands between her thumb and index finger. „Like yours are?" „Not really! I wanted them to get felted. It's easier taken care of and makes me look more dangerous."

Aodann had to laugh and slowly she separated herself from him. Her body and soul were contempt, still overwhelmed from all this new sensations, but yet relaxed like she hadn't been for a long time. The young vampire was barely on her feet when suddenly the strange feeling took control of her again, that she had to see the battle which was still roaring in a distance. It was better to follow her feelings, an experience she had made when still a child.

Godric felt her sudden concentration and stood beside her in one fluid movement, that would not have been visible for human eyes. „You're still pulled towards this battle?" Aodann simply nodded. „I can't explain it." „You don't have to. Let us go, my child. I'm curious what your gift is trying to show you so forcefully."

ooo

Another village was burning. Only sporadically there still was cattle roaring in panic. Most of them were now only burned corpses. Aodann and Godric stayed in a safe distance away from the fires' flickering light cones. Though she was full, the strong smell of blood fogged her senses. Slowly she sneaked through the shadows. She had to find out, what drew her here, what was urgent enough to make all this blood around her seem insignificant.

Weapons clattered against each other. Men were screaming from rage or pain. The wounded writhed in the mud like vermin. On the edge of the battlefield some crows had already arrived to feast. Her new and sharpened senses allowed Aodann to see even the smallest details despite the darkness. She recognized faces – many Northmen from the camp, but some Picts as well, men and women who had fought bravely for their land – but nevertheless she still didn't know what was calling for her. This was just one battle of many. It should be insignificant. She no longer was human. The history of her people didn't matter for her anymore.

Aodann confusedly knelt down in the shadows of a burned down hut, eyes still locked on the fight. Only some feet away the warriors' silhouettes danced their bizarre dance in the flickering lights of the remaining fires like in slow motion. Why was she here? Aodann desperately squeezed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate once more. If her gift had led her here, it should as well help her, damn it!

The screams, the rattling and screeching from metal on metal… - all sounds faded. Aodann forced them into the background. Hearing was as unnecessary as seeing. She sent her spirit out, floated above the fighting men and beside them, felt for every strange thought. What she found was only what she already knew from earlier battles – bloodlust, fear of death, delirium of victory. The heads of all these men were filled with it to the brim. They all fought out of pure instinct and brute drive.

Aodann came across the jarl's mind and an uncontrollable snarl left her lips. Immediately she could feel Godric beside her. The jarl wouldn't stay on his legs for much longer, but he still had some time left. He wasn't the reason why they were here now, but he would be a nice bonus. Aodann concentrated harder. She must have missed something. Something…

There! Suddenly the urge got a face and Aodann finally knew why she had overlooked the warrior before. His mind wasn't intoxicated, not in trance. He was highly concentrated and therefore, for her gift he was like a blank spot in between all of this demoniacs. Every single one of his sword strokes was instinct and thought as well. He didn't just aimlessly swing his sword around his body and overcame every enemy with no effort.

Aodann opened her eyes to see him. It was him she was drawn towards to with irrevocable force. But why? He was just some abject Viking after all! And then everything became clear. She didn't know his face, but he must have been in the camp with her. She knew all the faces there, except for the one, that hadn't thought of raping her dead or alive. It had to be him. If she could just hear his voice, she would know for sure. She had to …

Godric took her arm in a firm grip when she stood up subconsciously and tried to walk closer to the fighting men. His touch broke the trance. Aodann looked at her maker and blinked. „Do you know now, what brought you here?", he asked insistently. „He is the reason.", she simply stated and pointed towards the Northman.

„He fights extraordinarily well, but why should that have led you here?"

„He is beautiful.", she whispered, enchanted by the feline movements of the warrior. „Would I love you, like a man loves his wife, I would probably kill him right now.", Godric chuckled and put an arm around her waist. „Luckily for him it is not like this between us.", Aodann stated and glanced at her maker. „No, it is better.", he grinned and blew a kiss on her temple. „So tell me what it is, that makes this Viking special? His fighting skills alone would be reason enough to change him into one of us, but why are you drawn towards him, after all these bastards did to you?"

„He wasn't bad towards me. He gave me a blanket. He was the only one in the camp, who didn't want to rape me.", Aodann answered absentmindedly. „Then he is either a castrato or a lover of men. Or the only honourable man on this island." His daughter shook her head. „No, he isn't honourable. Not in the way you mean it. He … He is … I can't put it into words. I don't know what it is."

Only parts of a second later her head shot in another direction, eyes squeezed together into angry slits and fangs bared. Now she had not only touched his mind, but smelled his repulsive odor as well. „Jarl Aleifr …", Aodann snarled. Godric let go off her arm. „He is all yours! You can take him over, my child." „No", she whispered, „He will suffer! I want to push him into madness! I will haunt him! He will beg for death, as did I!" Godric laughed out shortly. „Thus it shall be. But next night. Dawn is near and we still have to get back to the cave." With these words he took her hand and pulled her with him. Aodann followed willingly but not without throwing one last glance towards the strange Viking.

ooo

The battle had been good. As had been the past days' battles. Few of these farmers were serious opponents. He had proven his worthiness and had drunken ale and mead with his companions every evening to thank his gods. Some of them were already in Valhalla. Now they were waiting for him. Soon he would sit at their table and feast.

He should have seen the sword blow coming after all that had happened to the jarl in this past few days. The old man had apparently lost even the miserable rest of his mind, driveled of ghosts and treachery and barely seemed to sleep anymore. And all of this had begun after this strange woman had vanished from the camp.

Now Hrolf and Gunnar kept watch over him, until he would finally start off towards the gods' hall. They had carried him away from the battlefield where Aleifr most likely still raged like a berserk, though there were no foes left.

He barely noticed the sword wound in his chest anymore, his strength dwindled and his body had went numb long ago. The heavy chain mail didn't make it any better. He was tired and only the words of his men and his own stubbornness still kept his eye lids opened. They had placed him on a small, hastily erected pyre and had lit a campfire nearby. Gunnar came over and put one hand on his shoulder reassuringly. „You are a great warrior, a son of great warriors. You saved our lives a hundred times, Eric. We will wait for the end by your side and the gods will wait for you in Valhalla." Hrolf, who had been listening from a short distance, joined in: „There will be a party with meat and gold and beer." Gunnar laughed at him and couldn't keep himself from asking: „What about women? Will there be women?" Hrolf was going to give him an answer, but Eric just beat him to it though his voice was strained. „Wherever I am, there will always be women!" The three of them couldn't help, but laugh though Gunnar got serious again soon: „All will be well! Don't be afraid."

„I am not afraid.", Eric said silently but firmly, „I am pissed off." Gunnar gave him a smile in reply. He was one of the few who was able to understand all implications. And oh how much he was pissed off, mostly with himself. He should have killed the jarl years ago, after he had raped his mother. But he had been to cautious, had wanted to wait for the right moment. Then everything had turned even worse… And now this lunatic had accused him of having taken the strange woman for himself. Of course the Pict had appealed to him – she had been passionate, proud, brave and untamed – a warrior – but he loved life far too much to sacrifice it for a stranger, and even if… he would not have been so stupid to stay in the camp afterwards.

But all of this was insignificant now. Night had fallen. His men would soon be able to return to their boats, sail home with all their loot and someday come back with their families to recolonise this new land. His ashes and bones though would remain on this far shore and his bloodline would end with him. Nevertheless he would sit in the gods' hall in Valhalla and feast, while jarl Aleifr would wander through Helheim until Ragnarok.

ooo

Even after four nights awakening was still strange and fascinating as well. Her senses recognized so much more, so that she always needed a while to take in her surroundings and reassure herself, that the latest past wasn't only a dream. As soon as she sat up, thirst took control of her again. Aodann went over to the cave entrance where Godric was already waiting for her with a smile.

„You are the most beautiful death I have ever met in my thousand years. And the leather suits you far better than your old dress!", he added smugly. Aodann huddled against him – her anchor and harbour in this still new world. The tight fitting leather clothes he had made for her were of course much more appropriate for the hunt and after all she started to feel comfortable in them.

„So where will we go for a hunt tonight, before visiting the jarl?" Aodann closed her eyes and let her mind travel to find an answer to Godric's question. Uneasiness suddenly rose at the boarders of her consciousness. Something was not as it was supposed to be. But what? She couldn't sense any danger near their hideout and of course it was hard to imagine, that anything could put Godric or her in real danger.

Something was pulling at her. She knew this pull. Was he in any danger? Aodann had tried not to think of this Viking anymore, but when last she had felt this kind of uneasiness, he had been the reason, too. Her eyelashes trembled when she send her mind out even further to look for him. Her body was already running before her consciousness had processed everything her gift had shown her. She had seen him and blood – his own blood. Everything she still knew in this moment, was that he must not die, before she was with him. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Godric was close by and didn't try to stop her, though he only knew of her growing panic, but not of its reason. It felt like an eternity later when she finally arrived at her destination and not even the omnipresent smell of fresh blood was able to break her focus. For the slow human eyes of the two Vikings she must had appeared out of thin air. They had drawn their swords and yelled some words into the night but Aodann didn't pay attention to them. Barely the blink of an eye later they died by Godric's hand.

All that mattered was the faint but stubborn heartbeat of the wounded, who was lying on a pyre. Aodann knelt down beside him and saw his face for the first time in all detail. The look of his misty blue eyes was glazed but he recognized her nevertheless. „You?", he whispered hoarsely. She just nodded, laid her cold hands around his cheeks – warm but covered in blood and dirt – and carefully licked a cut on his brow. She had to learn, what drew her to this man again and again and maybe his blood would reveal some answers.

Aodann opened herself up to the pictures of his life but none brought any solution. For a Viking he had been a good man, never took a woman against her will, never left a battlefield as a coward, always obeyed his jarl's orders yet nothing explained her constant craving for being near him, a craving even stronger than the thirst for blood or her connection to Godric.

Somewhere behind her back a body fell down to earth with a dull thud. „If you want him to stay alive as a human, you have to give him your blood and erase his memory. If you want him to become one of us, then I will change him. Or you just drain him and end his life a little bit faster than his wound.", he said silently so that only she could hear him.

Could she really rule his existence that simply? Aodann gazed into his eyes as if to get an answer by this. There was none waiting for him in his native land, no wife, no children, no parents. It reminded her of herself. And deep down she knew, that her existence would be poorer without him, she just didn't know why. Whatever it was, that connected her to this man, it was finally strong enough to overcome all doubts. Whom could she trust if not herself, her own feelings, her own gift?

„I am guilty of his wound. Jarl Aleifr attacked him, because I have pushed him into madness. And though I can't name the reason, my whole self is yelling at me, that this Viking must not die."

„I don't understand what you say.", the Viking whispered with an effort and barely moved his lips anymore. Aodann gave him a questioning look. Only then did she realize, that he hadn't noticed Godric yet and thought she had been talking to him. „All will be well.", she breathed into his ear in his native language. It sounded lame, but it was honestly said and his body was dying – long explanations wouldn't help him. Finally she stood up and turned towards Godric who was at her side in an instant. „I will change him.", he promised, „You though should drink now. This one over there is still alive … somehow."

ooo

The Pict's face vanished, but where her hands had been a certain cold remained. Instead of her he now made out the blurred face of a young man who emanated danger although he was definitely younger than him. „Are you Death?" The question left his lips without thinking. He was gliding towards delirium. Death just nodded and said Yes. „But you are just a little boy." Now Death grinned, slightly shook his head, looked at him as if he was a little boy himself and answered No. Why was his chin covered in blood? This observation brought a new thought to the surface. „My men …" „Dead.", was everything he got as an answer and he had no power left to keep himself from stating: „You swine." He could barely keep his eyes open now. He was tired and Valhalla was nearing. Yet Death who looked like a little boy raised his voice again. Why could he not just let him go?

„We watched you on the battlefield last night. I never saw anyone fight like you." What was he talking about? Was he making fun of him? Was this a last test of his sanity imposed on him by the gods? „I would fight you now if I could.", the Viking mumbled in sullen reply. The hilt of his sword was in his hand. Had not his hand and arm been useless and numb… The stranger laughed at him, as if he had heard this last thought: „I know. It's beautiful!"

Should this truly be a test? No myth had ever been told him of some bullshit like this. He didn't want to argue anymore. He wanted to go to Valhalla and feast with his ancestors, wanted to enjoy meat and ale and women. Instead he had to force out even more words, that made his lungs burn, because remaining silent didn't seem to be an option either: „What are you waiting for? Kill me!" Finally the stranger hesitated as if he really gave this a thought. But after a short while the smile on his face just grew bigger, the boy lowered his face a little closer towards him and continued speaking in an eager voice: „Could you be a companion of Death? Could you walk beside me through the world, through the darkness? I'll teach you all I know. I'll be your father, your brother, your child."

What was Death talking about? A bargain on his deathbed? But what could he loose anymore. „What's in it for me?" The words had left him without thinking and the answer came without delay: „What you love most: Life." Eric still didn't understand a word. The wound was taking its toll, his body already felt dead and his mind wouldn't last any longer. So what had life to do with him anymore? „Life…"

ooo

What an appropriate last word this was! Godric didn't wait any longer. He had had his fun with the dying human. The next time he opened his eyes the Viking would be his child and a vampire. Forcefully he attacked and pushed his fangs into the strong neck. The body convulsed and groaned in one last effort giving up all reserves that might still have been left in it. He wouldn't need them anymore. He would get new energy, a new and different form of life.

ooo

Godric was laughing at her and though Aodann tried hard to look evil and offended she could hardly resent him for it. It was her own fault. Since she had waken up, her gaze had never left the Viking. She looked him over full of curiosity. Every cell of his skin, every strand of his blond hair, every twitch of muscle was fascinating. As if to justify her actions she told herself, that the Viking would surely be glad to meet a face he knew after waking up into this new existence – she had been in Godric's arms and still the rush of new sensations had been mind-crushing – but deep down she knew quite well, that her main reason was far less unselfish.

Their maker knelt down beside them. „Don't worry. He will wake up soon. He pulled through the day pretty well, an extraordinary fighter." A certain thought seemed to cross his mind and made him chuckle once more. „Do you remember how you ambushed me in your first night?" Had she already had some blood tonight, she most certainly would have blushed at this. How could she ever forget this night! „When he awakes, he could have similar needs." If he didn't stop, she would not need to drink anything but blush nevertheless. And he definitely wouldn't have had to emphasize the last word to make sure he wasn't speaking of blood thirst. „It is quite normal. It's in the blood somehow. In my first years I acted like I was an incubus." Again his impish snicker filled the cave.

„A what?", Aodann asked, for a moment distracted by the unknown word. „They are demons, who love to take women's life energy while lying with them. I'm sure we will meet some sooner or later. They are still quite common in more densely populated areas."

„Hm…", was the only reply he got from Aodann for she was already absorbed in thought again. The distraction was gone as fast as it had come. Was it only her instinct binding her to the Viking? That could not be! It felt so much stronger. It couldn't have been her needs, that had led her to him when he was dying. How could she be attracted that much by a stranger, even worse, a damn Northman? And how could Godric talk about this so casually? He had been sharing her bed for years. He had changed her. She could feel very well the depth of their bond and the sincerity of his feelings. So why did the idea of her being drawn towards another man not bother him in the slightest?

This clash of emotions confused Aodann. She had known such things from the minds of her villagers, but never experienced them on her own. It nearly made her feel dizzy.

Godric sensed her confusion, came over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. „You are my daughter and my companion. He will be my brother, my son and my comrade in arms. Just let things go their way. Wyrd bid swidost – None cane fight against destiny. And you will learn soon, that for us vampires some feelings are very different, than they are for humans. I do not have any reason to be jealous and I wish you every joy you desire, and him as well."

Godric's last words trailed off unheard. The Viking's eyelashes quivered and his fingers were jerking uneasily. He was waking up.

„So in comparison your start into our world wasn't alltogether that bad, was it, young Jessica?" The young vampire made a pout. „No.", she whispered unwillingly. Aodann couldn't help but feel for the young red haired girl, even like her. Of course she had quite a temper, but which young one hadn't. And for crying out loud, Aodann was sure she would have been the same, had she had a maker like Bill Compton, leaving his offspring here in their care, despite all natural bonds between them.

Eric had left the room a long while ago, annoyed as hell. He had tried for ten minutes – she had to give him that – but young vampires without any sense for authority just didn't fit into his world. Her long story now had seemingly calmed Jessica down at least a little bit. Aodann wanted to give them another try. "How would you like going shopping, Jessica? Just the two of us. You really can't keep on walking around in this nightgown of a dress."

The ever growing smile on the girl's face was enough of an answer.