Disclaimer: I do not own Inheritance Cycle or any of its assorted characters.

I do own Tanya Fall and everything to do with her.

Chapter Seven: By the powers

Forsworn Formora's POV

The legends had been growing. Formora scowled, as she heard the latest. The creature-demon-shade thing had massacred an entire group of mercenary slavers.

The lone survivors memories clearly showed the female's ruby red eyes. That was similar to a shade but shades killed more using magic then brute force. Also to be taken into consideration was the carnage the creature left behind.

Even I lost my breakfast after feuding its warnings, a few of the slavers had been skinned and hanged with their own intestines.

It was a grisly sight. Unfortunately, despite my desire to hunt and end this abomination old Galby was calling me back to that city of his. Ura'bag or Urloki or whatever.

Annoyingly the name he renamed the old capital consistently seemed to 'slip' my memory. I could tell he thought I was just mocking him, so I'll have to make a special 'effort' to remember the places name. After all I am walking a very thin line.

The other Forsworn wont even hesitate when their ordered to take me out. Maybe if I had been less arrogant? Nah, it wasn't even that arrogant.

I slammed my glass down onto the bar and gestured for the bartender to refill it. While he waddled over I almost subconsciously pulled the hood of my cloak lower.

Hopefully, my contact will hurry up and get here so I can leave this lower end cesspool. I had gotten into contact with a somewhat notorious bounty hunter that went by the alias 'Blackshadow'. As a result of my sudden forced relocation, I had to pass the hunt off to someone else. Not that I liked slavers but this thing at least needed to be evaluated as a threat.

It was obviously intelligent, strong, and superhumanly fast, in essence it would be a dangerous hunt.

Instead of going on a hunt that would perhaps end my pointless service to the king, I was being sent after Morzan's archenemy, some guy called Bromie. No, Bromie doesn't sound right, I think it was Brom. Brom? That sounds familiar, I mused with an ever growing frown.

"Ma'am?" A relatively strong voice asked, you could almost hear the steel in it, "I heard you have a job for me?"

I gazed at the cloaked figure out of the corner of my eye. I could just barely discern a slight elvish lilt to his voice but he couldn't be one of my former kind. I considered questioning him about his knowledge if the elves but then I just decided, why did it matter?

Yeah, I was getting more apathetic the longer my dragon's mind wasted away.

So I replied to the guy, "I do, let's speak outside."

I slipped off my seat, stepped past the bounty hunter and made my way outside. Dismally I wondered whether I had a bounty on my head but dismissed the thought as unimportant.

Once we were standing outside I spoke to the man, "I presume you know of the rumors of a creature going by the name of 'vampire'?"

The cloaked man laughed lightly, "I don't think anybody has not heard some form of the tale...wait, these new tales are true?"

I groaned softly in annoyance, "Some of them, what have you heard?"

The bounty hunter glanced around this time, "we should go to somewhere more secluded to continue this conversation."

"Very well," I agreed arching my eyebrows beneath my hood.

A brisk walk later we entered a well to do inn and I followed him up into his room.

When he stopped in front if the door I heard him murmur a few sentences in the Ancient Language, presumably he was deactivating wards of some kind. I smiled slightly, perhaps he would survive.

The creature killed the last couple hunters I sent after it, presumably he would be more successful with a decent command of magic.

Once inside his room I restated my earlier query, "what have you heard?"

"The creature drinks blood, was born from a lake, and is only seen when the sky is heavy either rain."

I nodded in affirmation, "that it drinks blood I can confirm, I saw the evidence firsthand. The fact that it was spawned from a lake as some form of demented water spirit I have no idea," I paused and considered the last rumor, "I have never even heard of the last, I have no idea whether there is any truth to it. In addition it seems to have superhuman speed, strength, senses."

I chuckled morbidly before continuing, "and it has killed the other three I sent after it, though of course none had your brilliant reputation."

He seemed to consider this, "I assure you, I have greater reflexes than any mere man."

That I didn't doubt, rumors seemed to imply that his physical exploits were more elf like then man. Nevertheless, "Either bring me the creature or the creature's head then you will receive your money."

Blackshadow considered this before smiling grimly, "I'm going to need a third of that money for the expense of actually finding the thing."

That is fair, I suppose, so be it, I wordlessly removed a rather large drawstring pouch from under my cloak. For one thing, no Forsworn has ever lacked money.

The clink of the gold coins within the bag seemed to satisfy the man as he opened the window while turning away from me.

He looked back girl just a second before smiling again, this time more mocking then before, "Always a pleasure to meet a Forsworn."

I blinked in surprise and the assassin bounty hunter was gone, the only thing running through my head was, how the hell did he know I was a Forsworn?

Perhaps I had underestimated this guy, maybe he would be able to finish the job.

Tanya Fall POV

Only once I lost control of my hunt and massacred an innocent. I had been walking through a village out of curiosity when a young man had sliced his hand open with a rusty axe as I walked by.

It was quick and he didn't make a sound, I thought I was in the clear but unfortunately someone else had seen and they screamed.

It took only nanoseconds for my senses to evaluate and end him in a gory shower of blood.

After that I could only see red as the monster inside me crowed with delight as I brutally killed or consumed person after person. At the end of the hour I stood in the midst of a ruined village surrounded by hopelessly mutilated bodies.

I ran.

Thankfully, the mother with her small child left me about four villages before. I would have never forgiven myself if I had killed her child. The mother declined immortality but I promised the daughter that I would return when she was fourteen to offer it to her and yo renew my offer to the mother.

I was actually relieved that the mother had not wanted my type of immortality, that is if I was even immortal, I suppose I had just assumed when I offered it.

Anyways, I was unsure whether or not I would be able to control myself and stop once my fangs had sunk into her skin. Regrettably I probably would have been incapable of stopping any feast once I had started.

I knew that after this massacre I would be hunted, just as anybody that killed an entire village would be. Of course they would have no idea what actually committed the atrocity but somebody might be able to connect the brutally killed slavers of a few months ago anf the poor souls of last week.

I have been hunted twice since then by what I merely presume to be some sort of bounty hunter. Those encounters ended with my still un retractable fangs in their necks and their sanguine blood in my stomach.

I had no real qualms about their killing, they were from what I was able to gather, bounty hunters.

Though I was still greatly disturbed about my growing disdain for life, I felt remorse for the innocent but nothing disturbed me about the killing of the slavers and later the bounty hunters.

Their sometimes almost seemed like their were two voices in my head constantly urging me to kill, one urged me to drink their blood and feast, the other urged me to bite, tear, and maim.

I seemed to sleep some nights, usually only a couple nights in the middle of the month when the moon was full, or at least I had no memory of those nights but dreams of hunting both beasts and men. I did not pay much heed to these dreams because I always awoke where I had slept.

Though my clothes were regularly torn during my few cases of sleep, I attributed this to restless and fitful sleep.

Finally, I pushed these remorse ridden thoughts to the back of my mind and breathed deeply, I smelled everything in that instant. Dirt, moss, dust, water, dew, urine, and distant blood.

I didn't know where the urine smell came from but it was clearly animal. I breathed deeper, yes, it was an animal, a deer to be exact. Should I hunt it? I idly asked myself.

Yes, my inner vamp voice said eager for some blood.

The other more sadistic voice demanded, no, find a human, they taste much better.

I debated which one to listen to for a few minutes before my stomach decided for me. One second after my stomach decided my fangs cut through fur and flesh before coming to rest in the deer's arteries.

After I had sated my thirst I straightened from my predatory crouch and waltzed over to the river I heard relatively nearby.

I quickly cleaned my face and rearranged my shredded clothing using my sporadic reflection. Sometimes I had a reflection, and at other times my reflection quite escaped me.

Overall I didn't care too much about me reflection, with my supernatural powers of attraction it didn't matter to much. Some people, as in most, actually completely disregarded the atrocious state of my apparel and the hungry, and borderline sadistic look to my blood red eyes.

In fact speaking about my eyes it seemed that unless I made purposeful eye contact nobody noticed my eye color. I wonder if their is a natural ward over my eyes that conceals them?

However going amongst people was littered with difficulties, I could smell their tantalizing blood, I could hear the wet sound of their heartbeats, and all in all it was nearly torture.

So much blood calling for me, I was grateful that I had such control over my blood lust. That is, I had such control is nobody engaged in any blood letting in proximity to me.

I entered a small town not to far from the Empire's border with Surda an hour from sundown, it was slightly overcast allowing me to walk amongst the mortals while it was still slightly light.

I was garbed in a tattered (slightly) black cloak that easily hid my bloodstained and nearly shredded clothes. I would not sleep tonight because the moon was only a quarter full but I desired to rest on a real bed for a change.

I had a absurd amount of money that I had collected from the scum of society. ,I had the feeling by the time I actually met someone important, in other words a main character of the Inheritance Cycle, I would be known mostly as a legend or folklore.

That being said I greatly desired some real clothes, though in this day and age clothes had to be fitted and made by a tailor. That left me with the option of killing somebody and taking their clothes or stealing.

I did not desire to take the life of an innocent so I threw the idea of killing somebody out a window where it landed and continued to implore that I satisfy my thirst.

I guess deer don't really cut it, anyways I didn't want to end up with differently colored eyes from these bloodthirsty red. I had no idea of knowing whether my eyes would actually change to another color considering that I was far more of a real vampire but I was certainly taking no chances.

I snorted quietly at the thought as I entered what I hoped was a higher classed inn. With my luck I'd probably end up sparkling if I drank to much animal blood. And then I would have to commit suicide, I concluded brightly.

It didn't take much work to reserve a room for a night so I quickly concluded my business and set out to explore the town, at points holding my breath to keep from breathing in the scent of the humans.

And that is how almost thirty minutes later I found myself in front of a weird little building that smelled of herbs. How strange...I wonder...

I am sorry about the delay in publishing a new chapter but I had a lot of things going on.

Also JaYDN78's OC 'Blackshadow' is the OC I decided to use. Thank you everybody that submitted one, I may use others at a later date!

On a different subject, should I make my chapters longer?

And we finally are going to meet Angela the Herbalist!