The sun is not the only thing that soars high today. Tempers are flaring right and left as the word continues to spread. The select group of Gaians who oversee all the goings-on of the world, the Mauds, have predicted that the violent war between vampire and human will very soon come to an end. Both sides raised their voices in protest before renewing their attacks with fresh and fierce determination. Each and every warrior wishes to reach the peak of their glory and achievement before it all ends, for the words of the Mauds are seldom wrong.

I among them did not worry; I was already as good as I could get, though just because I could, I renewed my attacks and bit just for the sake of biting. It was exhilarating; all of the energy put out by the people fighting; it was as though the entire battlefield was charged with static that at any time might let off a loud pop and bring us all to our knees.

My thoughts still strayed toward Edmund, and near midday I found myself winging toward the human's base for my daily vigil of watching. Imagine my surprise when I alighted and peeked out of the bushes and no one was there. Snatches of booming yells from that loudmouth Johnny Gambino were heard plain as day, but no Edmund guarded the entrance. I cocked my head in confusion. Surely with the battle so close to its climax they wouldn't leave the door exposed? No, I told myself as I smiled an uneasy smile. Humans were mere cattle, but even cattle know when to band together when danger is eminent. Where then had he gone? Was he inside the base perhaps, readying for the overflow that must surely come? Was he out in the thick of the fighting? It suddenly occurred to me; he might be on a mission. I knew that not long before the war began, Johnny's son Gino had gone missing. Was he trying to find Gino? But what good would that do against the vampires? Surely he would be attempting something riveting, something that would change the course of the war for their side...

I suddenly had a thought resurface; there were prisoners in the Von Helson manor. I had on more than one occasion passed by the door leading down into the dungeons and caught the tiniest whiff of fresh, unshed blood. There were other vampires who claimed they had smelled the same, but whenever they had made the slightest move to investigate, Zhivago would be seen skulking in a corner or hanging upside-down as a bat, fixing them with his beady red eyes. The message was clear enough; those who were smart would mind their own business.

I had shrugged it off and came up with my own explanations. Perhaps Ian was down there, or his brother Louie. Their relationship with the Count was common knowledge among our kind, as well as their standing. I had been surprised when I had found out that Ian was tied in with this strange family, but I smiled and told myself that stranger things had happened in Gaia.

But now I wondered anew about the captives in the dungeon. Who was REALLY down there? Was it Gino, being held captive or as a hostage? It was possible; it seemed like nearly everyone had some beef or another with Johnny Gambino. Maybe Gino was being held as leverage. The thought made me feel uncomfortable; I was well as hundreds of other females in the world of Gaia harbored a small crush on the young millionaire. Who else would be down there? The smell was too much for just one human, unless in their careless sadism they had spilled so much of Gino's blood that it would be that pungent. Steering quickly away from such a thought, I tried to think who else might be there...it had to be either Ian or Louie. It would certainly explain the vampires' gain in power and how devastating it had been; if they had one of the brothers, they were attempting to flush out the other. And if he ended up on the wrong side of an attack, more's the better. It certainly made sense at the time.

But curiosity has a way with me; it gets a grip on my mind, and will not let go until I satisfy it. I sighed in self-disgust, morphed into a bat, and took off in the direction of the Von Helson manor.

When I arrived, it was quieter than usual; many of the vampires were off battling. The Count as far as I knew was conferring with Zhivago. The Von Helson sisters...I stifled a giggle as I thought of them. I had never been able to look at them straight since the rumor had flown through the ranks of vampires that they had become hopelessly taken with one of the prisoners. The girls especially spoke in quiet whispers, tittering like a bunch of parakeets, tossing stories around with the Von Helson sisters begging their comely captive to kiss his biceps and make his pecs dance.

As fragments of gossip buzzed in my ears like mosquitoes, my brow wrinkled in thought. Neither Gino, Ian nor Louie sounded like the guy they had been describing. Gino didn't have any muscle to speak of, Ian was average and Louie was just plain lanky. And even imagining each of them in mortal peril, it was still hard to imagine any of them kissing their own bicep. Who then?

I walked over to the doorway leading down to the dungeons, surprised that it too seemed deserted. Taking as few chances as possible, I opened the door a crack before walking a ways down the hall, morphing into a bat, then flying through the door and down into the manor's dungeons.

My bat senses seemed to cry out happily; it was dark, cold and damp; a bat's cool and sweet, and the smell was not at all offensive to my little bat nose. Much of the laze of corridors was almost completely black, and I sang out to find my own way around. It was hardly necessary, since my eyes were still sharper than an average bat's, but I did like hearing my own barely perceptible squeals and shrieks as I flew along, beating my wings and feeling the damp wind make little beads of moisture on my fur.

It wasn't long before I heard small sounds coming from somewhere up ahead. I followed the sounds until I came to another door that stood ajar. I maneuvered my body and just made it in, where I fluttered up to the ceiling and hung down from a rafter, looking down on the scene below.

The first thing I saw was a remarkable head of flowing blond locks that could only be Gino's. And beside him...my eyes narrowed with mirth and a squeaky sort of chuckle escaped from my tiny mouth. Liam. Of course.

He was surrounded by at least a score of female vampires, the Von Helson sisters draped on either side of him, twirling locks of his hair in their fingers and nuzzling his neck. The rest were crowded around him as though trying to get as close as possible, and my eyes widened when I saw that his chains were dangling behind him instead of holding him fast. Gino, whose chains were still in place, was virtually being ignored and was staring at the whole thing with resigned disbelief.

"Hey Liam, do you think you could stop being an idiot for one minute and ask one of them to free us and let us go?" Liam sent a wink his way. "Relax, man; we're safe as can be here. These ladies wouldn't harm us now, would you ladies?" He directed this last part to the crowd of females and they all seemed to make happy kitten sounds as they drew in even closer.

I watched the whole thing and felt the anguish of not being able to laugh out loud. All that came out was a strange chirrup that sounded more like a bird with the hiccups than a bat. Liam must have heard, because he raised his head and saw me hanging there. "Hey there, baby; why don't you drop the wings and fur and come on down here? I bet you're really hot under that bat persona, and there's a piece of me with your name on it." I almost choked with mirth at his goofy sweet-talk. I let go of the rafter and spiraled down to where they were. I flew so close to Liam that I felt his hair brush against my underside, but instead of taking Liam's advice, I swooped toward Gino and flew a few quick circles around his head.

He didn't seem to appreciate a vampire bat so close to him. "Get away! Go on!" He tried to shoo me away by waving his arms, but the chains kept him from doing anything more than wave his hands. I let one of my wings brush his golden hair and then I took off out the door, leaving the silliness behind me.

My thoughts flew along with me. So it was Gino and Liam in that dungeon. So it wasn't Louie or Ian being held down there. So Edmund COULD be coming to rescue them, but it didn't seem for certain. I felt a small pang of worry. I knew Edmund to be a great fighter; goodness knows he didn't get that scar from sitting around sipping tea and reading poetry, and he definitely didn't use that sword of his to chop salad. But he wouldn't be rash enough to come here by himself, with thousands of vampires standing between him and the prisoners. For the second time that day, I smiled and shook my head no. I guessed that Gino and Lover-Boy Liam would have to sit tight for a while.

The image of Liam being surrounded by all those girls renewed my smile, and when I heard the echo of his voice in my head urging me as only he could to come down and join them, I lost what little control I had, and before I reached the manor's side exit, I transformed back into my regular form and laughed until I felt quite weak. Gino's right, I thought, he IS an idiot.

I stumbled outside, barely paying attention as the door creaked open and I stepped out into the cool night. I was still trying to get a hold of myself when I stumbled and fell right into Edmund, who had appeared out of nowhere with what looked like a hunting rifle. My next laugh seemed to stick in my throat, and I felt what little heat I had in my body leave. Before I could even blink to see if he was really there, his sword was out and the tip was just an inch from one of my eyes. I froze, sitting in a collapsed heap on the ground, breathing through my mouth in terrified gasps. My eyes began to smart; I couldn't bring myself to blink. Edmund's face was a stern, glowering mask, and he seemed to wait and see what I was going to do next.

I knew that if he used his gun on me, it would bring every vampire on the base to this spot, but that being the case, why bring such a noisy weapon at all? Unless...unless once it was used, the noise wouldn't matter. A sniping attempt. My eyes widened and a gasp of recognition escaped. Edmund wasn't here for a rescue; he was here to end the war once and for all.

He seemed to tense up as I gasped, and I saw his forehead wrinkle as he peered down at me. I was certain he would slash my throat if I sounded the alarm, and every fiber in my body was crying out for me to do exactly that, but...

I couldn't. Lord help me, but I couldn't. I didn't want to sound the alarm any more than he really wanted to follow through on his sword and silence me for good. I could see it in tiny flickers in his dark eyes; I was still a Gaian, just on the wrong side, and even so I had yet to make any move to attack him. I wondered if it was as much an agonizing choice for him as it was for me. If I said nothing and went on my way as I had intended, he could sneak right in and do what he had come to do; he may not even be spotted by anyone else. He could single-handedly bring the war to a halt. If I shouted now, he would probably run me through, but at the very best his plans would be thwarted and the war would be prolonged. But did either of us really want that? The Mauds had already said it was destined to end in a matter of days, even hours; was he their messenger, coming to bring the war's dramatic end? In any case, I came to realize that after all the time I had spent watching him, listening to him, and struggling with the decision to betray him, I could never intentionally bring harm to him.

I shivered and lowered my head. I didn't really know what to expect as I sat there, looking down at the muddy ground. Would he slide on by me, or would he think me too risky just to let go? If he chose the latter, would his attack turn me human, or would it be the end of me? Before I could think anymore thoughts on the matter, a light footfall sounded and I suddenly felt as though the left side of my skull had exploded. I caught a glimpse of what looked like rainbows and stars dancing, and then it all got drenched in ink.

I opened my eyes and slowly focused on a night sky spattered with stars. My vision looked as though it was tinged with red, and as I slowly sat up, it felt as though the left side of my head had nails being hammered into it. I reached up and felt an angry bump on my head, and my hand came back with flakes of long-dried blood. At that moment, the only thought I could think of was one of sheer and ridiculous disbelief. "He hit me."

I flew off to my home as fast as I could, and even now as I lie here, I cannot stop shaking. I was relieved that he had spared me, but now I almost wish he hadn't. I have now betrayed both sides; the one I promised to help and now the one that gave me a second chance when I had fallen beyond their normal aid. I had thought that all the ability to feel such feelings would seep out of me with my mortality, but I guess I shouldn't be so lucky. I cannot sleep, and as I lay here I cannot help but wonder where things will stand by this time tomorrow.