Ravyn paused and looked down. When she looked back up there was a single tear in her eye. " When Viktor finally did find out where she hid he ordered her to be brought to him. He decided he was going to keep me, thought I might end up useful to him somehow. But as a warning to if I ever actually did step out of line, he slaughtered her right in front of my eyes. Dug his blade right through her neck."

Michael could have sworn he saw the actual seen play out in her eyes.

Ravyn blinked back her tear and in seconds it was gone. " He kept me locked away under the mansion for about a century or so. I read many many books. I was also taught how to fight. Several times I was sent out into combat to fight against my kind…my own people. That was Viktor's sick way of getting to my head."

" Why didn't you just run away when he sent you out at combat?" Michael asked.

" Because he had me on a very tight leash. When I was sent into combat there was a special group of death dealers patrolling around me that would shoot me if I even made a move that looked like I was going to escape. I promised my mother before she died that I would never surrender to those fools. That promise was the only thing that kept me going. Often they would make me angry before a battle so I would fight twice as hard and twice as good. Centuries passed and I got wiser. I could control my anger and my ever-growing powers. I adapted. Soon I met Selene. About a century after she had come to the castle I had met her. I was patrolling around outside when I saw her out. That's how we met. We became friends and she talked to Viktor and got me up from out of my crypt."

Selene suppressed a smile. She could not help but think of all the great times she and Ravyn had. Without Ravyn, Selene didn't think she ever would have adapted the way she did.

" Soon after Viktor went to sleep. Amelia and I had been friend early on and had ordered I be "kicked out" of the mansion. Really she was saving me and I was grateful. So I left, never to return."

" Where did you go after that?" Selene asked.

" I made it on my own. I adapted just as I used to. Then I found XIII. Owned by an old acquaintance named Lestat. I fought there and made money. Every time someone kills thirteen times they get honored and raised a level up. Lestat took me in for a while and I was one of them. But you see once you make that thirteenth kill you are a member for life, a 'blood bond'. I had just escaped when I bumped into you two."

They continued talking all through the night. All of insignificant things like the details of her childhood or XIII. Soon they became tired and Ravyn drifted to sleep during there conversations only to have a book chucked at her by Selene. Eventually Selene became tired and she and Michael retired off to bed. They left Ravyn alone to ponder things by herself.

A day later, over a long self-debate, Selene entered the library. She found Ravyn sitting upside down on the couch reading another book.

" Ravyn?"

" Yes Selene?"

" I need to ask you something."

Ravyn looked away from her book to Selene. Selene seemed to have a troubled expression. Ravyn effortlessly sat up and shifted herself so she was sitting the right way. She marked her page and threw the book on the desk. " Okay. Shoot."

Selene took a breath. " Well you know we can't stay here, and we aren't what you'd say welcome at the mansion, and who knows where the remaining lycans are. Remember that man that came to the mansion about thirty-five years ago?"

Ravyn thought for a moment. " The feliente?"

" Yes. Do you remember how he talked about his native land? How everyone was welcome there? Every species, every creature, everyone, immortal and mortal alike? A place where they could all live in peace?"

" Just as long as it was kept a secret to the majority of the mortal world, a legend and no more. What are you getting at? You think we should go there?"

" I thought we should give it a shot. Think about it. Once we enter the land barrier we cannot be harmed, the law forbids it. And if anyone dare break that law they will by run out or killed. And out scents will be so muddled by everything and everyone else that they would not be able to tell if we had entered, passed by, or left."

" That all sounds great Selene but what if they come looking for us?"

" Well the vampires know us well enough to know that we would never dream of staying in one place."

Ravyn thought of this for a moment. " What did Michael have to say about this?"

" He had his objections but I told him to trust my judgment. After all, it has not steered my wrong yet."

Ravyn kept any other faults to herself. When Selene had a gut instinct about something there was no stopping her and that was that. She sighed. " Alright Selene. We'll go along with your plan."

Selene smiled a little. Later that day, when the sun was down they set out. They got a car and Selene drove until the wee hours of the night, flooring it the whole way. Soon they came to a stop next to a wide, deep river.

Selene stepped out of the car. She held her face up to the sky and inhaled deeply. Ravyn got out and stood by the car. She gave a questioning look to Selene when she turned to face Ravyn.

" We passed the border. C'mon, lets dump the car in the river and run for the mansion."

They gave their bags to Michael as Ravyn and Selene wheeled the car into the river. It sank quickly. They ran as fast as they could to the mansion located in the center of the land, earning them a lot of questioning looks. Two guards at the door to the mansion stopped them.

" Please we need to get in!" Selene said. She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder to the threateningly light sky.

" I'm sorry miss but we do not recognize your scent."

" Look the sun is rising, can we discuss this inside?!" Michael asked.

" We can talk about it perfectly fine out here! You cannot enter the castle unless you are a resident here. What are you, a vampire?"

" YES!" Selene yelled.

The guard sprung to life and quickly opened the door. " Oh sorry miss! I didn't know!"

The three of them ran inside. The guard closed the door abruptly after walking inside. " A thousand pardons."

Selene cast an icy glare at him. " We wish to speak to the one who runs this place."

The guard nodded. " Yes ma'am." He turned to the other guard who had remained silent this whole time. " Watch the door." The other guy nodded as the first guard ran into the shadows.

Even darkness has a shadow. I am that shadow. My power is unsurpassable. Though my place in the war is neutral. But soon the vampires and the lycans will come seeking me and my people's allegiance. Which side shall I choose? I have family and friends on both sides. For six centuries my people have lived in peace and I do not want to ruin that. But what would happen if the war came upon them? Again I am faced with the same question, which side will I choose? That is not a question I can turn away from and these are not creatures I can turn my back on. And what of the Falcons? The ancient, mystical birds that want them all dead. Will Ravyn's prophecy turn out true? The two sides of the epic war will unite and bleed together…

He was tall with long black hair. It stopped at his jaw line, which was strong. His eyes were completely pure black at the moment. His face was very nicely chiseled giving the appearance of a god. A dark god. He wore a loose fitting silk shirt and some dark blue Levi jeans with a pair of rubber toe army boots. His long black leather trench coat fanned out behind him as he walked.

The hallway was long but after several corners, twists, and turns he made it to his office. As he opened the door he was filled with a pure scent, a cross scent, and an unknown scent. Unmistakable the first two. Vampire. Hybrid. But what about the third one? Out of the shadows in the dim lighting, one of his own soldiers came up to him.

" Sir, people to see you, sir" The guard said as he straightened his posture.

" I told you no visitors." He said, his voice throaty yet smooth, dark, mysterious.

" Sir, I understand that sir but they demanded to see you, sir."

He looked at the three. The one with black hair, pale skin, and ice blue eyes was an unmistakable vampire. The one next to her, with dirty blonde hair and a strong jaw, he looked almost mortal but his scent said otherwise. This one was the cross breed, a cross over of vampire and lycan. The one next to the male, she was the unknown scent. She looked young and well toned with a beautiful face and raven black hair much like the vampire. But her eyes were different. Her eyes! She had cobalt eyes with black scleras. They way the colors were, how the cobalt meshed with the black, it looked astonishing. Could it be? The only other being ever recorded with having such eyes in a mortal looking form was Ravyn. " Dismissed soldier."

The guard abruptly left.

" Forgive me miss. My guards have orders to let any vampire inside this close to sunrise. But we've had some skeptical arrivals as of late and they were suspicious." He apologized.

" They were just doing their job." Selene said.

He confirmed that she was a death dealer in the biggest of the three covens by what she wore, a skintight leather suit with a long black leather trench coat. All having the gothic symbols. Plus any other vampire would have been outraged.

" Forgive our intrusion but we had no other place to go Mr.…. uh.." Selene stuttered.

" I only tell my real name to a select few. Everyone else knows me as Shadow. And you three are?"

Selene hesitated for a moment. Then she decided that she was going to have to trust these people if she was to seek their help. " I'm Selene."

" Selene? As in Selene the death dealer? Viktor's "adopted" daughter?" Shadow asked.

" You know me?" Selene asked, confused.

" There are few here who haven't. You are the one who killed Viktor."

Selene looked down immediately.

" Don't worry, we are glad you did."

Michael decided to chime in and change the subject for Selene. " I'm Michael."

Shadow grinned, showing his elongated and pointy canines. The tooth in front on the canine was also elongated and pointy only not as much, on both sides and on his lower part of the mouth too. " Michael the hybrid. Lucian's dream."

" You've heard of me?" Michael asked feeling a little odd.

" Word travels fast." Aubrey simply replied.

Aubrey's gaze drifted from Michael to the young woman, the one whose sent he could not place. Then it hit him. "Ravyn?"