A/N: This story is resisting me. I will reach an end to it, but it will take time. (Mental image, Raziel fighting his way through the swamp before he found the air reaver.) This chapter was especially difficult to get right. (I have the deleted versions still, hopefully they will survive until I decide to post them.)

Chapter Three

It did not take long for Raziel to discover the appropriate tavern. He lurked in the shadows, hesitant to approach. He watched as two vampires walked through the entrance. They had wings, clearly marking them as older members of his clan. He felt an overwhelming sense of longing, but he was not yet ready to reveal himself to them.

Raziel clambered up the side of the building to one of the high windows. Here, he could observe his children without being noticed. He saw that the room wasn't very crowded; there were perhaps only forty, and a mere dozen bore wings. Raziel watched as the vampires laughed and talked with each other as they sipped from small glasses. "How perverse," Raziel muttered to himself, "They are acting like humans."

A small cry drew Raziel's attention. He noticed a particularly pale vampire, who was cradling his shoulder. He was marked by two deep but bloodless gashes. A female vampire forced a glass into his talons. "You know you're not supposed to let yourself get so hungry, Michael," she said.

Michael reluctantly took the glass and drank. He lowered it with a grimace. "It doesn't taste right anymore," he said.

Raziel studied this strange vampire that disliked the taste of blood. He narrowed his eyes and managed to detect a slight aura. So, Michael was part wraith. Raziel watched as the sickly vampire was forced to swallow two more glasses of blood. Disgusted, he dropped silently to the ground.

"Provided for indeed," Raziel muttered, "They have managed to tame my once proud kin." He wondered if his descendants had become weak. If so, then this indignity was worse than total annihilation. These creatures would be only shadows of his former clan.

Raziel thought back to the creature, Michael, and wondered. Though blood could be poured into vessels, perhaps even stored, spectral energy was not so easy to contain. If that was what the wretch truly needed, then of course he would not thrive on blood. Yet, if he was not allowed to take anything directly from a living body, he would not get the energy he needed. Yet, Raziel admitted, Michael did manage to survive. Raziel did not feel that he would be so fortunate if the same rules applied to him.

Raziel's thoughts were broken by the crunch of a hoof against gravel. He turned, and saw the pale vampire, who appeared as if summoned. He glowed translucently in the weak light of the stars. His wings were raised, as if trying to make his lean body appear more imposing.

Michael let his gaze linger on Raziel a long moment before speaking. "I see that you were once part of our clan," he challenged. "I did not realize that there were any left to be found. Though it seems that our Lady Gonawae has made a mistake and she was too late to save you. Can you still think, wraith? Do you remember your name?"

Raziel saw that this upstart's courage came from having nothing else to lose. Still, perhaps he would prove himself to be useful. "Do not take that insolent tone with me, child. I do remember my name, though I do not see how it is any of your concern."

Michael broiled with hostility, but he folded his wings and relaxed his stance. "I don't know what to make of you," he sneered.

"Nor do I know what to make of you," Raziel said, "Does blood really satisfy your hunger?"

Michael sighed, exasperated. "That is all there is available. We do not feed on the Humans, the Hylden, or the Vampiri. Not directly, in any case. Did she turn you lose without explaining that?"

"She mentioned it," Raziel said, "though it seems that I cannot conform to her rules."

"Why did Lady Gonawae bring you here, then?" Michael asked.

"She did not give me a satisfactory reason, and I have no wish to rely on her for answers," Raziel said bitterly. "That does leave the unanswered question of how I am supposed to feed."

"Then I suggest you swallow your pride before you starve," a voice rang out from above. A female vampire glided down on the two from the rooftops, her wings arched gracefully to catch the breeze. She was the one who had been forcing Michael to drink back at the tavern. "I don't know where you've been, but I would hate to see you come this far only to die."

"I am beyond death," Raziel said, "and I answer to no one's will but my own."

"Let's go someplace more comfortable then, perhaps you can tell us some more about the world we left behind. I didn't think there was anyone left for her to find." the female said.

Raziel was puzzled by her request. Did his clan know nothing of Kain's empire? "Perhaps," he said carefully, "but still I have questions of my own."

"By the way, my name's Lillandra," she said as she led Raziel down the street, "I believe you've met Michael."

Michael was gloomily following Lillandra. He watched Raziel out of the corner of his eye. He stumbled, though Raziel couldn't decide if Michael was still weak from hunger or simply clumsy.

The trio made their way to a crude lookout tower on the edge of town. It was constructed of stout wooden beams. The two winged vampires flew to the top and settled themselves comfortably on a cushion of old sacks. Raziel swiftly climbed the ladder and crouched at the far end of the platform.

"First, I want to know about you," Raziel commanded, pointing at Michael.

"You want to know how I became what I am today? I was one of the first ones in the sanctuary to grow wings. In my unbridled joy of flight, I grew reckless. I managed to impale myself on a tree limb. It took them years to find me." Michael paused, reflecting. "I brought this on myself, but it has served as a lesson to the others."

"Tell me about the spectral realm here. What did you see in it?" Raziel asked, thinking that perhaps Michael would know if there were gateways here.

"It was desolate," Michael said, realizing that Raziel would know about the distortion and unending twilight of the spirit realm, "There were some wandering souls, and creatures that ate them. Most of it was empty." Michael gazed at Raziel in open curiosity. What was this blue creature looking for?

"Did you see any swirling vortexes of energy on the ground?" Raziel asked.

"No, nothing like that," Michael said, confusion crossing his features.

Raziel sat back for a moment, signaling a momentary pause in his questions. It had been a long time since he had had a conversation with someone who knew less than he did. Somehow, it felt refreshing. Raziel still lacked the knowledge he sought, but for the moment it could wait.

Lillandra spoke next, "What happened to our home?" she asked Raziel, "Lady Gonawae brought most of us here the same year that we lost our leader."

Raziel felt a small flame of rage leap up at the reminder. He took a moment to calm himself before he said, "When I awoke, Nosgoth had sunk even further into decay. The other clans degenerated into monstrous beasts." Raziel decided not to mention that four other clans were without their leaders now. He fell silent, indicating that he would speak no more on the matter.

"Why do you cover your face?" Lillandra asked.

Raziel stiffened. "I don't want to talk about it," he growled.

He was swiftly becoming irritated with this vampire. She was arrogant, Raziel could not fault her for that, but she was also too open. He wondered how she had managed to survive, she was clearly not a fledgling. "What about you? Do you have a story?" Raziel demanded.

"I don't remember anything from before I came here. I had just been fledged," Lillandra said.

"Yet you said that Lady Gonawae brought you here. You must be at least a thousand years old," Raziel said incredulously.

"Lady Gonawae does not age. We're not quite sure if she's as human as she looks," Michael said moodily.

Raziel stood up and declared, "I think it's time to have another talk with Gonawae." He leaped off the tower and used his ruined wings to glide away. He dropped down behind a fence and shifted to the spectral realm. An instant later, he was again in the Vampiri Citadel.