My feet found solid ground, leaving me momentarily disorientated, while my mind caught up with my body. Teleporting hadn't quite been the same since my change, if it could be called that. But as the metaphorical fog cleared I realised that once more I had misjudged the distance.

I was not in Melchahim's capital.

I was not even in Melchahim.

I was at least close...Sort of...More or less.

I recognised the ruined Turelim town in which I had arrived. It was deserted now; a shabby relic of the bustling border town it had once been, slowly being reclaimed by the land itself. It had been abandoned years ago, when Turel had found defending such a remote town tedious. These days patrols sufficed to intimidate what Melchahim came this way.

I was pondering how best to remedy my situation when the distant rumble of thunder rolled again. Except this time it was not so distant. I was running before the thought had formed in my head to do so, sprinting for the nearest stable building, indeed the only one that still had a semblance of a roof intact. I had barely crossed the threshold when the heavens opened behind me, my arm burning from where I had not been quick enough, the ugly hissing sound mingling with the gentle patter of the shower.

I stumbled to the floor, gritting my teeth against the agony, every inch of me fighting against the instinct to hold my injured arm close. Far from relief, the water would simply spread and burn the rest of me. The wound healed agonisingly slowly. I helped it as best I could, patting away the worst of the water with my cowl. I was still nursing the wound when I heard a commotion beyond the door, but before I could investigate I was joined by a small party of Turelim, their cloaks pulled high over their heads to protect against the worst of the rain.

"Leave the cloaks!" I shouted as the first came through the door. He flung off the garment, showering the interior with droplets and I snarled as my arm came up to protect my face, burning itself all over again in the spray.

There were three in total, though from the screams that drifted in from beyond the doorway it was clear they had started as more. The screams faded quickly and were soon lost completely, replaced by an angry hissing that itself grew fainter and fainter. Inside the shack, none of us spoke. For a while none of us even moved, all battling the pain. One of them had almost lost a leg, she was gathered in a corner, whimpering, but unable to reach down lest she burn her hands in the process.

The moment my own pain receded I was at her side, ripping away what remained of her coverings. I bit hardly into my wrist and allowed the blood to flow over the wounds before she lost the whole limb. In spite of the pain that gripped her she protested, "my lady, no! Your blood! It is too precious!"

For a moment I was too engrossed in what I was doing to appreciate what she was saying. Her companions took over as soon as they were able to, insisting, as she had, that I not waste my precious blood on one such as her. Because I had had no need to receive such deference usually, save for that dictated by common courtesy, it was rare I appreciated that I was but one generation removed from my lord - the oldest of his brood though it was never referred to, and as such my blood was considered almost as sacred as that of Kain. To waste it on a lowly Turelim's leg was seemingly taboo.

It was ludicrous of course. My blood was as useful as theirs at times like this and no more powerful for it.

"What are you doing in this desolate place, my lady?" one of them asked, after it became clear none of us were going to burn to death. "There is nothing for miles."

I gave an awkward cough, "I was...aiming for Melchiahim. My accuracy leaves much to be desired I fear. What of yourselves? Don't say my brother actually maintained regular patrols out here?"

The man who had initially addressed me frowned, "with the rise of Melchiahim everywhere, it is prudent to patrol even our abandoned cities vigorously."

"Rise?" I asked, curiously.

"They have turned to raising the dead from the ground itself," the other spat, "they threaten to overrun or worse. If they do not cease their idiocy they will be the end of us all."

I must have looked as confused as I felt, for the female explained, "they increase their numbers too quickly, and they thin the cattle faster than they can be replaced. But," she added, the pride evident in her voice, "my lord will put an end to it."

"Hm" I muttered, moving towards the doorway. They were right to be concerned, the herd was too thin already, Melchiah would have to reign in his brood or there would be consequences. As to the other matter... It was, and always had been, considered low of any vampire to raise another after their had died. Even worse to turn the long since dead of yesteryear. The gift was too sacred to pass on to something as unworthy as a corpse. I wondered what they would think if they knew their masters had been turned in such a way.

"You will not be able to leave while this persists," I said, watching puddles forming from the doorstep. "I will make another attempt to reach Melchahim. If I am successful I will ensure food reaches you."

"My lady is most kind," the female replied, in a tone that suggested she had already resigned herself to starvation if the rain persisted. It need only last more than a day to seal their fate.

"Should you not wait, my lady?" one of them called, but I shook my head.

"If I allow myself to weaken then I will not be able to leave and we will all die together. I imagined a more fitting end for myself than this, I confess."

That elicited a chuckle from them, the sound echoing around me as I allowed myself to leave that place, praying that wherever I ended up it would at least be dry.

My second attempt was, gratifyingly, far more successful than my first. Though once again I managed to miss Melchiah's throne room. Instead I landed in his palace's entrance way, but there were so many gathered there I barely had enough room in which to materialise.

I stumbled against the wall, simply because of the sheer number of them. Most of the clans were being driven into the capitals these days, and the rain had no doubt caused many to flee to the palaces. Maybe it was because they had all descended upon a single place, but there did seem to be a lot of them. It had been a long time since I had seen so many Melchahim, in a single location, so close together and now I was faced with it, I could truly appreciate why my brothers scorned them. I could barely tell one apart from the other. They were hardly even recognisable as vampires. Their flesh had been replaced and augmented so many times they had been reduced to shambling hulks of flesh, the branded symbol of their master on their backs the only real sign that they were in any way my kin.

"My lady!" a voice called over the bustle and a particularly large, or perhaps bloated was the more appropriate word, Melchahim approached, pushing his lessers out of the way when they did not move for him. "My lady," he bowed, stiffly, as though his swollen limbs would not obey him in this simple task, "my master and lord Kain are awaiting you in the throne room..." he hesitated a moment, "if you please, they have been waiting for...some time. Lord Kain arrived over an hour ago."

He looked grim and I realised my lord was no doubt annoyed that I had not been as prompt as he. The thought was seemingly confirmed when my lord greeted me with a, "where in hell have you been?!" which roared through Melchiah's throne room, causing the nearest courtiers to scurry away from him. Every inch of him seemed to be emanating fury and as I opened my mouth to apologise he crossed the room in a few large strides, closing the gap between us in hardly any time at all, his clan regalia billowing out behind him with the speed. When he reached me he grasped my arm so harshly I could not help but hiss with the pain, "I feared you were lost!" he snarled, "why did you choose now as the time to go missing?!"

I winched against the pain in my arm and he checked himself, releasing it when he realised the firmness of his grip and seemed surprised to find he had drawn blood. I stumbled over my response, surprised at the vehemence of the anger, I had grossly misread. I was still forming my words when I happened to catch sight of Melchiah and before I could stop myself, blurted out, "what the hell happened to your arm?!"

My lord gave an exasperated sound that sounded like it was somewhere between anger and a laugh, but stormed from the room regardless, muttering loudly about the idiocy of his children. I confess I only had eyes for Melchiah, whose arm was clearly not his own. Indeed, it looked as though it might have once belonged to a Dumahim, which had the unfortunate effect of being considerably more muscular than the rest of him.

"Good to see you too, sister," Melchiah said, the relief undeniable in his voice. "You gave our lord quite the scare. He imagined you to have teleported into the storm. He was quite...concerned," he said, delicately, in a tone that conjured somewhat gratifying images of my lord threatening to wipe the Melchahim from history if they did not find me.

"I should probably go and apologise I suppose?"

"I believe that might be for the best," he replied, tactfully, but my eyes were irresistibly drawn to the spectacle of his arm. "Impressive, no?" he smirked, holding it out. To my surprise he sounded proud of the thing, I thought it looked ludicrous myself. "After the last change we discovered we could augment new flesh to far greater effect than ever before. Our new flesh does not decay as we do and so there is no limit to what we can accomplish! If it is damaged it can be replaced! We can become indestructible! What danger do the elements pose to us now when whatever harm befalls us can be cut away and replaced with flesh far stronger than our own?!"

Melchiah had gotten increasingly more animated as he spoke and by the time he was finished I could tell I was not the first to have heard this little exultation. Meanwhile my face had remained impassive throughout, it hardly seemed something worth bragging of to me, the flesh looked abnormal and out of place. Melchiah had not noticed, instead he was waving his new arm expansively over the rather busy throne room. "The rest of my brothers are in decline but see how we are increasing! Soon we will be the dominant clan."

My mind wandered back to Turelim back to their contempt for the Melchahim's manner of propagation. I glanced around the throne room, taking in the sheer number of them and knew Turel to be right - such a brood was unsustainable. And then I thought of my lord, and the furious relief in his eyes when I had returned. Melchiah was still looking at me, his arm still extended, his eyes glittering with his own triumph, waiting for my inevitable approval.

"Excuse me, brother," I said, quietly, "I think I must attend my lord."

Melchiah faltered momentarily in the face of my indifference, but I had already turned away. I went to my lord's chambers, pausing only to find the Rahabim representative and suggest he take some food down to the place where I had left the Turelim.

I found my lord in his usual chambers, though the way to them was noticeably more crowded. It was like Melchiah was inviting a war - my brothers could surely not allow such flagrant propagation, not with resources so starved already. I knocked, tentatively, but did not wait for an answer before I went in. My lord was sitting on the balcony, sheltered, thankfully. I joined him, or at least I moved to the balcony and leaned against the door frame, not actually stepping out onto it. That was too close to the rain for my liking. Not that I was spoiling the view for myself. It was too dark to see anything - save the glimmer of raindrops as they caught the light on their passing. The sound was soothing enough though. Or perhaps it would have been if it did not sound like death; deceptively peaceful as it was.

"I wish you would have a greater care for your person," my lord hissed without prompting, "if I had realised how sloppy your teleporting had gotten I would never have let you leave." I remained silent, staring at my feet as though I were once more a fledgling to be chastised. "By the Gods you could have died. If you had not appeared somewhere close to shelter-" he broke off and took a heavy breath. When he spoke again he was composed, his voice only betraying the slightest hint of anger. "Please try to be careful. Consider I have only your company to see me through the next few hundred years. And tedious though you can be, I would...regret if any harm befell you."

I smiled, despite myself at the back-handedness of his compliment. It was still raining and yet right now that did not seem to be such a terrifying prospect. I sat beside my lord's chair and together we watched the storm.