Chapter Nineteen

A Revelation


That was when someone stuffed up – like big time stuffed up. Daylen casually asked, "Have you had a vision of where we go next?"

Silence permeated the hall before Alistair whirled around and lunged at the mage. I waved a hand and the two were instantly separated by an invisible barrier as I held my temple in my hand, "Daylen – do you want to explain your insubordination now or after I let Alistair have you?"

Greagoir was pale, "You're a seer? No – wait… you're a mage?"

"Yeah – well… it's a dragon spell more like. I call to the future to tell me its secrets and it does. I am a Dragon, Greagoir. I'm not some human or elf – I'm a Dragon in humanoid form. The 'spell' is called clairvoyance. It's quick, and it's simple." I shrugged, "As to this little barrier – the cat was out of the bag the second Daylen opened his big fat mouth."

"Can it be taught?" Daylen asked.

I shot him a glare, "You be quiet – I am rather pissy with you for outing me. In theory – it can be taught, yes; but I will not do it. It's beyond the abilities of most. The Thu'um – the Voice used to speak in the tongue of Dragons – is teachable; I could teach you all how to rip someone apart with a mere shout, or teach you a Dragon 'whisper' that would reveal the auras of those around you for a time. Meaning you could reliably count the enemies in the rooms ahead of you. But Clairvoyance… it's a powerful thing, and only the most elite students could even dream of holding that ability. It took me 40 years to learn."

"But you have magic?" Greagoirs' voice had turned steely.

"Ahzid Dez," I cursed in Dovah – bitter fate indeed – before taking a deep breath and casting Tranquility. My eyes glowed a lovely silver and the room flied with sparks of moon-light as everyone was relaxed and healed from their ordeals – save Cullen. I was able to exclude people from my spells and I could see him relax when the magic didn't wash over him as it so obviously did everyone else.

Cullens' voice slightly wavered, "What… is that?"

"It is called Tranquility – a druidic power that heals and relaxes all those I view as friends so long as I don't purposely exclude them as I have you. I am not bound to the fade; I am not what you consider a mage. Your Smite does not work because I am a Dragon – I'm reasonably sure it would work on my cousin. Doubtful on King Anduin though since he can smite too… I can make portals, call nature, change shape and breathe fire. Is that what you wish to hear?"

Cullen had paled, "You… are both a mage and a Druid? From what I understood it was supposed to be one or the other."

"That's why they call me a freak; that and my Dovah magics – my Dragon soul. I was never meant to exist. You know what I am, Cullen – how I am here."

Greagoir spoke, "I… I am angry that you with-held this information. But as you are immune to Demons, can't use blood magic and are considered a diplomat… I can't do anything about it."

I nodded firmly. Cullen spoke, "I… stand by what I said before."

I relaxed, "Thank Elune."

"Um… what?" Alistair asked. I shook my head, "Look, Greagoir – contact your divine, do what you need to do… but unless you use blood magic like Uldred did you can't confine me. Actually, I could have escaped, but the tower… wouldn't have survived the attempt."

Lyna snorted, "I'd like to see you prove that!"

I shrugged, "Sure – it's first light right now, so let's go outside and I'll prove it."

Greagoir, Cullen, my group and Irving followed me. The rest of the Templars corralled the Mages to keep them all from following me too.

As soon as we were outside I said, "Okay, so we have a few options here. I can become Ethereal, call a dragon from the soul cairn, summon the spirit of a Dragonborn from ages past, breathe fire or frost, slow time, make it sound like my shout is coming from way the fuck over in the middle of the ocean, or I can summon a phantom of myself. There are of course more shouts, but those are the easiest to demonstrate."

Sten spoke first, "I say summon the dragon."

I chuckled, "You would want to see an immortal Ataashi."

"Immortal?" Alistair asked. "Durnehviir had his soul tied to the soul cairn – which is where tapped souls are thrown. It's not a pretty place, I had to go there to save a friends' mother. Durnehviir keeps the souls in line until they can be… used. I only dealt with animal souls – never humanoid. But you'd be amazed at the amount of humanoids that were in that forsaken realm."

"Souls… that sounds like blood magic." Greagoir glared. I shook my head, "Best I can explain it is… I would hold a special crystal – if something was killed, then unless it was a black soul gem, it would suck it right up – only black soul gems could hold humanoid souls… and only humanoid souls. Animal souls were how I had my weapons enchanted back in life number two. It made me very ill to see all those non-animal souls in the cairn…"

"How did the gem work?" Irving asked.

"Oh… They were naturally occurring magic stones. They could only hold one soul – ever. Once that soul was exhausted, the gem was… damaged. Other than Azura's Star – that was a 'divine' artifact, so it never broke. Anyway, the gems would suck in the souls regardless, so… it had nothing to do with personal magics." That last part was a fib, obviously.

"Then… do something safe." Greagoir said. "I only named safe ones. Really, Greagoir, if Durnehviir was unsafe I wouldn't have mentioned him! I've bested him in combat; he named me Qahnaarin – Vanquisher. This means he views me as worthy of following and befriending."

Irving injected, "Do the phantom one then."

I nodded curtly and summoned my energy into a shout, "Fiik – Lo – Sah!" at once a specter of me with no color appeared beside me. It sat there, watching and not moving.

"That's… kind of creepy. And loud." Alistair muttered.

"It is the language of the Dragons. A fight between dragons is just… a very deadly debate."

"How would you have gotten us out?" Cullen asked.

"I knew for sure that Unrelenting Force would have worked it would have toppled the top two floors of the tower. I almost did it, regardless. Another thing I might have done would be casting Ethereal – making myself past of the Aetherius so I wasn't wholly in Thedas or physical form… I might have been able to walk through that prison – but it would be risky. I don't know for sure what that would have done of if it might have worked."

Greagoir was pale, "This is… teachable?"

"Yes, anyone with sufficient will can learn it. Mortals are only able to learn and use the Thu'um through a long process of meditation and the practice of the words – but as Dragonborn, I was able to learn it by reading the words and killing dragons for their knowledge. It's complicated."

"I can imagine." Greagoir said drily. I shrugged, "I will allow you to ask 3 questions, and then I must insist that my part gets rest so that we can be on our way to Redcliff this evening."

"Fine – you said Cullen knew why you are a 'freak'?" Greagoir asked.

"Reincarnation cycles, I confided in Cullen while we were… upstairs."

Irving spoke next, "Would you be willing to teach any of your magics to us?"

I gave him an amused look and motioned to Daylen. He chose to use Bound Bow as the demonstration. "If Daylen feels generous, he can teach you what I teach him – but honestly, it's a 50-50 chance."

Irving nodded so Greagoir asked the last Question, "Are you a danger to Thedas?"

"Only the enemies who would see the world fall. I kind of like it here, I'm not going to do anything stupid. In fact…"

I summoned my void storage and dug around while muttering, "Where is it…? Aha – here it is. This little gadget will allow you to contact me day or night. It charges in the sun though, so let it get sunlight whenever possible."

I handed him a crystal and hooked one in my ear – they were styled as earrings after all.

He groaned, "My ear is not…"

I rolled my eyes, "The metal bits don't matter – turn it into a ring or something if you want. Just rub it while saying my name and it will connect for us to talk."

He nodded and slipped the small crystal into his pocket – he'd likely never use it. I wasn't going to tell him that they were another of my own inventions while I lived in Azeroth.

I then whirled on Daylen who held his hands up in surrender "Don't kill me?"

I snorted, "I'm not going to kill you – now, explain."

"I forgot… that it wasn't a known trait; I didn't mean for this to happen, Tara…"

"Maybe I should take you as my Familiar if you're going to stuff up this badly, Daylen – at least if you're that tightly bound to me, you won't make those sorts of mistakes."

"With the added bonus of sexy dreams and getting some of your abilities?" he tried to make light of it. I slapped him, "I swear Daylen – if Andy hears that you almost got me killed, he won't be nearly so merciful. You are so damn lucky that Sten hasn't challenged you for the breach of Honor and if I hadn't stepped in, Alistair would have killed you for threatening his mate. Dragons are very, very territorial and defensive, Daylen – and Alistair has enough Dragon Blood in his line to make him act like a damn Dragon. I'm more surprised that Cullen didn't react worse than Alistair as Cullen has already been linked to me by Elune as my mate – like Anduin was with the Light."

"What is a Familiar?" Irving asked.

"It sounds like Blood Magic when I explain it – but it's more of a dietary preference," I sighed – rubbing my temples as I felt a headache coming on.

"Dietary… what – you drink the blood or something?" one Templar asked.

I hissed, my fangs popping out and my eyes going red as I dropped my sun shield and began to sizzle – torture had drained all benefits of being well-fed. I used my Vampiric speed to rush to a shadowy spot and whimpered as the burns didn't instantly heal – that was what I got for doing that of my own volition on no blood.

Daylen rushed over, pushing back his sleeve, "Makers' Ass, Tara – drinkplease drink…"

I shook my head, "No – don't make me… don't make me drink from you again. You'll be too close to being a Familiar then…"

"I thought we'd already voted for you to take me as one, damn it."

Tears spilled as the burns felt raw, "No, Daylen… no…"

Sten came over, "You may take from me – once."

I looked up at the Qunari – offering his wrist to me and looking out at the Lake.

I hesitantly bit him and he groaned as his knees buckled. I admit to taking more than usual – healing was… exhausting. I flushed, "Do you… need fresh clothes?"

"I was able to hold back the climax," he said and walked off with a flushed face. He had damn impressive control – no one had ever fought the climax and won before.

Greagoir – red faced – asked, "What?"

"The bite is pleasurable, Greagoir – and she can't bite anyway unless she has permission. You don't want to see what we witnessed when we forced her to take without permission. Her screams will haunt us all for many years to come." Daylen wiped his hand down his face.

I put up my shield and moved back into the sun – flinching at the bright light after a bout of burning and said, "Vampire – sex and blood are food. I need a minimum of a mouthful per month – lately, I've needed more due to the high injury rate, power expenditure, and other factors. A Familiar is when I bite someone more than 3 times in 6 months; they become linked to me; having dreams of me sexually, producing more blood to keep me fed, gaining strength to protect me, gaining some of my abilities as a boon, and so on. It's not one-way – I'd get the dreams too, and feel an increased urge to protect the squishy one that I took on as a life-long companion. Only death – or worse – snaps the bond. I've only taken one familiar in my life… it's something that should be reserved for lovers only… or desperate Vampires that can't get blood otherwise. The Familiar would then be my steward, butler, servant, meal, or whatever I needed – and I'd be the one that protected them at all costs. Sometimes it goes wrong though – and a Familiar is turned into what I am. I can't bear the burden of being the reason you become a monster, Daylen. You are not compatible with me as a Familiar…"

"A… monster… you see yourself as a monster for this?" Alistair frowned, "From what I understand, you said it was a curse – like your lycanthropy. You said it could be cured – but that you couldn't bear the cost. You're not a monster for bearing this curse to prevent damning someone elses' soul for your returned mortality. You are not a monster for making the best of a bad situation. You are not a monster for not wanting this curse but being cursed anyway. You were 20 – you didn't even know what was going on; Maker – if your first feed was anything like when you took from Sereda then I can only imagine the horror that was trust upon you. I can't imagine how you survived to find someone willing to donate to you when you were the first of your damn kind in Azeroth."

I could see even Cullen stepping away as the chill grew worse in Alistairs' voice as he got angrier. I could see pale faced Templars – and mages that had snuck out – looking between me and him.

He stepped closer to me, "You are not a monster – the real monsters are the people who condemned you for this knowing that you didn't ask for it when you were a child and in a new world. I offered you my blood to be your familiar – and you would take it if I weren't…"

"I won't drink from an Innocent no matter how much they say they'll be okay with it. And like it or not Alistair, you are an innocent. I love you too much to do that to you…"

He let out a snarl – a snarl that almost had me shuddering in my fancy leather boots when my instincts told me that my dragon mate was pissed. He kissed me and I was suddenly wondering if he had been Hardened by something.

Silverite was chewing on Alistairs' boot to get him to let me go. Alistair looked surprised as he glanced down at the Larion cub – which drew more attention to Lite. I scooped the cub into my arms and took a step away from Alistair as I cleared my throat, "So… what brought that on?"

Alistair flushed and looked away – rubbing at his neck as he said, "I… I don't know. You referred to yourself as a monster and… I couldn't help but want to prove you wrong and defend you."

"Is that a Griffon?" Greagoir asked. I looked at my cub – now chewing on my gloved arm – and said, "No – this is a Larion… this is a Griffon," I whistled for Nia who showed up with a trill.

She nuzzled my hair and Sten cursed, "You have a griffon?"

"I have hundreds of mounts – most of which I loan out to various places for various reasons. Petting zoos are popular since my beasts are always the most the most tamed without having their spirit broken. Nia here is on the older side – I would need to get a new Griffon mount soon if I didn't plan on raising Lite here as a mount. Griffons are the main mode of transportation for the Alliance – the Horde lean more to Wyverns and giant bats…"

I was interrupted when Nia cooed, nipped at my hair and vanished before returning with a sling full of eggs. I stilled and tilted my head, "Nia – are those Crookys' eggs?"

She nodded – Crooky was Nias' mate; I hadn't been aware that Nia had a last clutch of eggs. I blew warm air toward the eggs – I knew everyone was watching in clear fascination.

The eggs began to hatch – Nia wouldn't have brought them to me if they weren't ready; my dragon breath was something that aided in hatching beast eggs. There were three eggs here – and all of them hatched.

I carefully tucked Silverite into my hood – assassin garb was what I had chosen. I picked up one of the new baby Griffons.

He was a squirmy one – red feathered and black bodied, he had grey eyes. I knew at once this one would belong to Cullen so I passed him over and said, "This one is for you; care for him well. They eat meat mostly."

Cullen began stammering but I ignored him and picked up the next one – a grey bodied girl with blue tipped feathers and red eyes. I passed her to Alistair who cradled her in Awe.

The final cub was gold with white feathers and gold eyes. I called Anduin. He answered, "My Queen?"

"Nia had a final clutch, Andy – 3 griffons. Two were male and one is female; one for Cullen, Alistair… and…"

"… Open a portal – I might like to have a bit of company here in Oribos," I could hear the smile in his voice. I did open a portal and said, "Didn't I just see you?"

"Feels like ages, my love… is this the cub?" Anduin leaned down and looked the little thing right in the eye. It blinked at him and cooed. He laughed and picked up the cub while patting Nia on the head – Nia preened like a proud Griffon.

I chuckled, "So… don't offer Griffons to Thedas; the Grey Wardens killed off the Griffons after doing something stupid to them and I won't allow that happen again. I will judge those I meet on if they can have a griffon – so far, there are not many. But I mean – in the negotiations for an alliance… don't offer and don't say yes."

Anduin nodded grimly, "I trust your word on this. I think I will name him… Varian."

I smiled, "Your father would love that, my King."

He kissed the top of my head – poor guy had to lean so far over with his 6 ¾ feet of height – and here I was at 5'3. Population of Azeroth was always abnormally tall. I was pretty much a dwarf in Azeroth standards.

"I love you," he muttered against my head.

I looked up and kissed him on the lips, "And I you – now, either you go back to Oribos, or you begin traveling Ferelden with me."

He chuckled, "It gets more and more tempting to do the latter – but Alistair and I have come to an accord."

I shrugged – he knew I had heard it. Anduin would get one or two nights each week during the Blight; after that… we would discuss it later.

Cullen coughed, "I-I… why do I have a Griffon…?"

"Because he is yours – that's why Nia brought the eggs to me; don't question it."

"Then… I suppose I'll name him Lionheart…"

I smirked – Cullen Rutherford, the Lion of Ferelden, with a griffon named Lionheart. He was adorable.

"Well, I'm naming mine Fiona – and no one can tell me otherwise." Alistair said, nuzzling the cub with his face. I let out a small chuckle, "I'm sure your mum will love that too – a Griffon named for her."

Alistair winked at me, "Considering who she is… yeah, she might like it."

Greagoir cleared his throat, "As to the… Vampire… thing… I will have to include it in my letter to the Divine along with your abilities as a seer, mage, druid and… what have you…"

I shrugged and kissed Anduin goodbye again before grabbing Cullens' arm, "Yeah – whatever. We need sleep if we're going to travel tonight… goodnight."

Cullen – thankfully – didn't protest as I dragged him up the stairs to the guest floor; both of us holding on to our cubs and feeding them meat I had pulled out along the way.

Cullen was watching his little cub with a small smile and I suddenly recalled (how could I have forgotten?) that having something dependent on you, like a pet, was a great way to help with PTSD, depression and anxiety. This cub – Lionheart – would grow to be Cullens' fiercest companion and would always be able to sense his moods. Cullen had a living, breathing, constant friend that could be there to snuggle with him through his nightmares and it wouldn't get weird.

He spoke softly as we made our way through the mess hall, "Is it really okay for me… to have him?"

I nodded, "Of course – she was bound to you the moment she nipped your hand and took that bit of blood. Griffons – when they do bond – are lifelong companions. It's not rare for them to pick someone right out of the egg because they eat like birds – the mushed up meat from someones' hand right off – rather than like lions; lions nurse milk from their parent. It isn't common, but it isn't rare, either. Nia was mine when her mother had a last clutch and her mother was mine the same way too. The Last Clutch that a griffon has is very special – each of the eggs will be completely unique and each one will have a different affinity. Lionheart has the affinity of adapting to the climate around him – so no matter where you go, you won't have to worry if he's too cold or warm. Fiona – Alistairs' Griffon – had the affinity of battle; suited for a Warden or a future King more than an archer or a mage. Varian – Anduins' Griffon – had a rare affinity; Light. One in every couple thousand Last Clutch eggs will have an affinity for an element; and of those eggs, one in every couple thousand will have a 'godly' element like the Void, Light or even Arcane. Nia was an Arcane Griffon – she could do magic. Last Clutch are the only eggs that get affinities though so the mother griffon usually chooses what to do with them – to let them be wild or give them to someone to choose where they go. Nia trusted me with her last clutch. Just seeing how you, Alistair and Anduin care for them… it's worth it for her. She looked so happy seeing how gentle you guys were with her clutch."

Cullen smiled, "I never thought I would get to see a Griffon; let alone that I would get to hold, care for or eventually ride one… but what if someone… tries to take her?"

"Last Clutch has another feature; if they are torn from their bonded, they will – for a small time – grow in size to fight off the kidnappers and return to their bonded. Lionheart will always be able to sense where you are through that bond. You don't have to worry about him being taken – but be vigilant anyway. Train him like you would a Mabari – and due to his adaption, you can train him with the mages for dodging Fireballs… at least if you use real fire, he's not likely to catch it like he would a rubber ball. Any element – Lionheart will adapt to in a split second. He's made for great things, Cullen – on top of that, he was hatched with Dragons' Breath; my breath. Fire will never hurt him, but I can't say the same for you – hence the need to train for dodging Fireballs." My voice was teasing.

Cullen chuckled, "Well… Thank you – for trusting me with a Griffon."

"Didn't you notice? I gave one to each of my mates – I figured that was why there were three Cubs anyway. Last Clutch is usually 5 – no more or less. Either Nia only brought me enough for my mates – unlikely – or she brought me all three; and knowing Nia, she would have brought me the whole clutch because she trusts me to make that choice. If there had been two more, I would have given one to whoever fit the cubs – depending on their affinities. Lionheart was always going to be yours – his adaption makes him perfect for if you need to go to… say… Kirkwall or eventually come back to Ferelden."

"I take it that I'm going to Kirkwall after this?" Cullen looked wry. I nodded, "For a time – a long time…"

He sighed, "Just as well – I can't… stay here."

Lionheart cooed and snuggled deeper into the man – attempting to alleviate stress.

"I get that – and if you want, we don't have to share a bed or get married… I am a Druid and a Mage – I will understand if you don't want to be near me."

He shook his head, "No – you… you're immune to demons and blood magic… it helps to know that such a thing is possible."

"Well… I mean… I'm not entirely immune to demons – it's just that the type of demons you deal with in Thedas are so much weaker than the ones in Azeroth that it isn't possible for them to sway me. Desire Demons have got nothing on a Succubus. Pride is cute when you compare it to a Pit Lord. Those demons can do a lot to me – but they can't possess me. my point is that while I'm immune to possession and pretty much anything your type of demons can throw at me… there are worse things that we can deal with. And I will not let the Burning Legion come for Thedas. My Illidari will not stand for it. It is the sole purpose of the Illidari to hunt demons – that is why we are called Demon Hunters more often than Illidari."

Cullen was pale, "There are… worse kinds of demons?"

"You'll hopefully never see them – Thedas has nothing to interest them. Azeroth has the World-Trees, the massive trees connected to the Emerald Dream – similar to the Fade, but not quite. There were at least two Wells of Eternity connected to those trees too – those are vast pools of Arcane Energies formed from the very life-blood of Azeroth. The Wells are what drew the Legion to Azeroth to begin with – that's how powerful they are. They've tried – and failed – to invade Azeroth on three occasions – I was born after the first invasion. The first invasion… just after that, my father learned how to harness the energies to hunt demons. He was branded 'The Betrayer' for it and locked away for so long. I was so young… I thought I knew everything back then."

Cullen shook his head, "I understand that, at least – thinking you know everything and having it shattered."

I shrugged, "Regardless… so you don't mind… sharing a bed with me?"

"I do still plan to marry you – though I must admit, the idea of sharing my wife with two other men is… off-putting to say the least."

"To be fair, they were there first," I shrugged.

He laughed, "I suppose they were, at that."

We reached the room and headed in. I pulled Silverite out of my hood and placed him on the comfy chair on one side of the room – Cullen did the same with Lionheart.

He asked, "When will I know to stop feeding him mushed meats and move to solid foods?"

"He'll tell you in his own way – usually by stealing the food off your plate and just swallowing it whole. As to other griffon care… pet him, play with him, train him and such all as though he were a Mabari and you'll do fine. He won't start flying until about 6 months old and he'll be pretty much full-sized within a year. Griffons are very smart – like Mabari, they are smart enough to speak and clever enough to know it's a generally bad idea to debate politics with family. Sometimes, you will swear he actually laughs or says something. My Griffons are always superior due to the Dragon Breath hatching, so while it really is possible for them to say a word here or there, they likely won't."

He blinked, "Lionheart could actually speak?"

"A word or two mostly – he's got parrot blood in his line so he'll only mimic things he's actually heard. I don't plan to tell Alistair this – I want to see his face the first time Fiona repeats after him saying something witty."

Cullen laughed, "It'll only be fair – Makers' Breath; that man comes up with some of the snarkiest one-liners…"

I smirked, "How do you know him?"

"We trained together in the same Monastery – I'm from Honnleath and he's from Redcliffe – the two are so close together that it wasn't a stretch for us to go to the same place. Actually, we shared a bunk too – I learned from him how to Draw and I taught him how to mix tea leaves to get a good blend."

"If you had said you taught him to cook, then I would have slapped you – first day and he makes the color gray and calls it food."

Cullen tilted his head, "You let him cook?"

"No – I told the others not to let him cook because it would do what the Joining didn't – kill us. They didn't believe me and let him cook anyway."

"I bet they don't make that mistake again," Cullen looked amused.

"No – in fact, if Alistair gets anywhere near the cooking pot, he's relegated to dish duty. He showed an interest in the pot, must be because he saw dirt."

Cullen tipped his head back and laughed, "Good – at least I don't have to worry about my wife starving in the wilds."

"…" I looked away with a flush, "There's… something you should know about… the blood thing…"

He frowned, "What is it?"

"I only take the bare minimum to keep me from pain – if I don't eat, my body tries… to kill me. Elune; the fact that I have to drink blood at all – when I am a druid, a protector of nature – makes me sick. But due to certain… circumstances… I'm hypoglycemic – my body doesn't produce natural blood-sugars needed… so I have to eat real food frequently if I don't keep up on blood intake. When I was a prisoner for those 2 centuries… they starved me – both real food and blood – and when I came out of it… if I don't eat the real food frequently on my normal blood intake… I'm very weak and debilitated… it'd be easier to kill me when I pass out from lack of blood sugar. I actually go into a coma until someone feeds me blood in those cases…"

"Maker… how did you end up with this curse?" Cullen looked horrified.

I sighed, "In one of my past lives… I chose it so that I could save the blasted world from Vampire Lords that wanted to kill everyone. I thought… when I died… it was gone. No; rather it… changed. When I turned 20 on Azeroth, it reactivated – I needed blood. So I fed from a woman that had abused me for years – only to have to retreat at once because I hadn't taken permission. It hurt so bad – nature was punishing me for my lack of permission. It felt like I was being ripped apart over and over and I could only scream and try to rip off my own limbs to get rid of the pain. I'm lucky those limbs grew back. I swore off feeding – I took no blood… but soon… my own body was shutting down – after 100 years without blood, I almost died for real. I was literally a husk of a person – you could see my bones, my muscle was almost non-existent… Inas found me – but I refused to feed from him. I couldn't… do that to him. Knowing this curse was something that others would shun me for, he sought out the Illidari – and when they saw me… they cared. They figured a demon had invented a new curse – so they fed me willingly so that I could tell them what happened. That was how I met Kayn Sunfury – my right hand. He fed me – and he…well… that was how we discovered the bite was pleasurable. After that, I stuck to the Illidari when I could – any of them willing to feed me at a moments' notice – that was… the best 400 years of my long life in Azeroth. Until they were all imprisoned by the Wardens for being demonic in nature – for 10,000 years I thought my husband was dead. I had only married him 20 years before that and I felt our bond as Familiar and Master snap… because they used his blood to imprison him. When he came back, he thought I had moved on without him and… broke the marriage."

Cullens' eyes were dark, "He did what?"

"I'll tell you more about that later. But… my point is that… this curse is painful and I do starve. Without blood, real food is bland when the pain starts – it's like eating sawdust and it does nothing for my hunger. Food is only effective when I'm also supplementing with blood."

"Are you asking…?" Cullen was still.

"No – I'm not asking for blood from you – I am explaining why I need blood. I know… this makes me a monster…"

Cullen shook his head, "You didn't ask for this – to save one world, you sacrificed yourself… you didn't ask for it to come back in such a terrible way when you were reborn."

I took a shaky breath, "I… I know you're right – but… I'm a leech, Cullen; a blood-sucking worm that people found distasteful when it wasn't being used to save lives. I…" I was hyperventilating as he pulled me into his arms, kissing my cheeks, my eyelids, my forehead and my nose… he was so gentle…

By the time we changed into our night-clothes, I felt… loved.