Chapter 9

Hour of the Wolfe

The subtle sense of dread that had plagued Wolfe ever since Heidi and Ginny's talk about the future multiplied tenfold as Rachel Esklove reported the appearance of a rift in the anti-Apparition wards that prevented most beings from entering the city. He'd been expecting that, of course, but not the fact that it was happening more than half an hour ahead of schedule.

It didn't make sense, for if the Rangers hadn't had forewarning, enabling them to already be in position over Diagon Alley before the attacks began there, they would still have been in Nomad Island. The invading forces would have encountered a group of fully equipped Rangers ready for deployment. Could this mean that Yamato had known that Wolfe would anticipate his move, putting him in a position to outguess Wolfe in this manner?

Aside from some very sketchy information provided by the Dark Trolls and some spies in the underworld, and his knowledge of Yamato's psychological profile, he hadn't had any evidence to support his assumption that Yamato would try to flee to the Mirror Realm through the Umbral Gate. He'd only seen some indication that Yamato was planning to run, but, for the most part, the conclusion that his intended destination was the Mirror Realm had been a hunch. So, it couldn't have been a set-up by means of carefully leaked information on Yamato's part that was now prompting this reaction from Wolfe. But if that wasn't the case, the only explanation would be that Yamato had outguessed him, somehow.

Yamato's unconventional tactics in Diagon Alley, coupled with the sight of the sheer numbers of Yamato's army in Nomad Island, seemed to support this theory. By causing the maximum amount of chaos in England with a minimum amount of resources, he'd been able to concentrate all his forces on this assault. Though Wolfe had never bothered to find out exactly how many Dark Trolls existed, he suspected that nearly all of them were present now. There were over a hundred Dark Trolls—roughly twice as many as Maximus had commanded at Agua Caliente and Laketown—backed by at least three times as many flesh golems cobbled together from organic spare parts. In addition to those, there were about four hundred animated golems made of wood, stone, and metal. They carried simple weapons and weren't too difficult to dispatch, and they primarily served to draw fire away from the more lethal troops.

Wolfe's mind reeled as he realised the implications of this. Yamato had been very close to taking over Anastasiou's former empire from within. Wolfe knew that Maximus hadn't used all of Yamato's resources, though he had hoped that it would have been about eighty or ninety percent. But from the looks of things, Maximus had only known about a little over half of Yamato's resources, leading Wolfe to the conclusion that—had it not been for Maximus' and Malfoy's interference—Yamato probably would have succeeded in deposing Anastasiou. These troops, in addition to the ones destroyed in Laketown, would have overwhelmed Anastasiou's loyal followers, leaving those remaining with the choice to either serve Yamato or die.

"I'm reading strange signatures," Rachel Esklove said. "They look like anti-magic fields. And it looks like the assault force is splitting up. The majority is headed towards the city. The troll formation is headed towards the Umbral Gate."

"Hurricane and Typhoon, your mission is to seek out and destroy the generators," Faust began, but was interrupted by Wolfe before he could finish issuing orders.

"Get above the troll formation. The trolls are on my side, and they'll follow my lead as soon as they see me. Don't harm them. If they're carrying the generators, I'll give the order to destroy them, and the invaders will lose their edge," he said, though he very much doubted that Yamato had entrusted the precious generators to the trolls.

Faust looked baffled. "Stand by, Cruisers. Wolfe, what do you mean with 'on my side'?"

"Same way it sounds, Commander. They never stopped serving me, even though I wasn't myself when I took control of them."

"How do you know Yamato isn't controlling them with those magic maggots we found in Brazil?" Adi Ganilau, a young Fijian witch from the Medical Division, asked.

"Because I had several trolls test the maggots out on themselves. The maggots died several hours after introduction because the trolls were unsuitable hosts," Wolfe said impatiently. "Now if you could get above the troll formation before the attackers reach the city…"

Faust nodded to Rachel, who had been looking over her shoulder, awaiting confirmation, and Cruiser lurched into motion, speeding across the crop fields towards the enemy formation.

"I'm getting a transmission from our people near the Umbral Gate," Clara da Silva reported. "They want to know whether they ought to be worried about the assault having started earlier than expected."

"Is Nicolai with them?" Wolfe asked.

"He's the one who told them to call … hold on … he's transmitting directly now. He borrowed Montalban's communicator. I'll put him through to the speaker," Clara said, while she manipulated a few controls.

"Nicolai," Wolfe said, as soon as he heard the static over the speaker.

"I'm here," Nicolai's voice came back, though the transmission was poor, probably due to the interference from the anti-magic fields.

"I think Yamato has outguessed me. He must have anticipated my anticipation of his move. You'll have to disable the Umbral Gate. If I'm right, he probably has a contingency plan to deal with his would-be captors in Shamballah. I don't want to endanger them, so Yamato mustn't reach Shamballah. We'll have to contain him here."

"Perhaps Yamato did outguess you, but I don't think so," Nicolai said. "I think he won't be fleeing through the Umbral Gate at all. I believe this is simply a very elaborate diversion to keep you and the Order occupied. The assault force is here to cause as much destruction as possible. Also, Yamato knows that two of your sons are supposed to be in Concordia, vulnerable to attack. Had you not been here, your concern for their safety would have distracted you and possibly even lured you back here. This would have allowed him to flee into the Mirror Realm unnoticed—I think your insight was accurate concerning that part of his plan. But he'll go through the portal in Lake Michigan. It is common knowledge that the natural portal there offers a relatively smooth ride, and it isn't nearly as well guarded as the Umbral Gate. He won't have any trouble slipping by the Ministry officials from the United States."

Wolfe shook his head. "That's not his style. Throughout his criminal career he's often made a point by taking the path of most resistance just to show off. He always wants to rub in his success like that."

"True, but he was never a fugitive within the criminal community before. I think you've underestimated the impact that turn of events had on his psyche. You succeeded in frightening him to such an extent that he's changed his modus operandi."

Wolfe's knees went weak as he realised that he'd underestimated his ability to intimidate. He'd been so bent on striking fear into the hearts of his enemies that he'd become too good at it.

"Command and Control to Commander Faust," a very high voice called anxiously. "The wards around Abaris Lane are being suppressed with an anti-magic field."

"This confirms that your sons were the primary targets—possibly the Potter children too," Nicolai said. "Yamato probably wanted the choice between immediate and extended family to paralyse Harry with indecision. He didn't expect you to be here. Had he been expecting it, he'd have known that you'd make sure that your children were evacuated. This is simply a very thorough diversion."

"Err, Wolfe, we'll be in position in a second," Rachel Esklove said.

"Commander Faust," the same young voice returned. "Heidi Gravenstein went back to Abaris Lane for the cats fifteen minutes ago. She hasn't returned."

That shook Wolfe out of his fevered thoughts. He didn't know what had possessed Heidi to go back for a pair of cats. She'd probably acted on the assumption that she'd have some time to spare. Either way, she was defenceless with that anti-magic field in place. "Open the ventral hatch," he said, as he bounded to the levitation circle. Showing surprising speed and agility, Faust managed to join him just in time to ride down with him.

"What are you going to do?"

"A duplicate will lead the trolls in an attack against the golems, so withhold the Rangers and City Watch from attacking to prevent friendly-fire casualties."

"I'll inform them of the situation," Faust nodded. "And what about the original you?"

"I have to rescue Heidi."

"And how did you intend to reach Abaris Lane? Make a duplicate now, and let it jump out. In Portkey mode we can be over Abaris Lane in a heartbeat."

Wolfe saw the wisdom in the commander's suggestion, berating himself for his lack of insight. His fear for Heidi's life had him on the edge of panic, and he knew that it could get him killed. Fortunately, whoever was assailing Abaris Lane didn't have the benefit of a wand either.

He concentrated briefly, feeling a slight tingling sensation as a duplicate stepped out of his body. The duplicate immediately leapt out of the open hatch.

Faust toggled the Cruiser's internal communicator the moment the duplicate was gone. "Rachel, get us over Abaris Lane immediately—Portkey mode."

"Sorry, Commander. The ship's charms work just fine in anti-magic fields, but there's no telling what'll happen to them if we arrive inside one through Portkey mode. But I'll get right on the edge of the field. Hold on!"

A few seconds later, Wolfe saw the ground briefly spin into a blur through the still-open hatch, before reverting to the familiar area on Concordia's third tier. He nodded his thanks to Commander Faust before jumping out. He transformed himself into a Snidget in mid-air, oriented himself and darted towards Abaris Lane.

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The duplicates always instinctively knew if there were more of them at one time, and their spot in their creation line-up. Sensing that there was one other duplicate already, he designated himself Beta in order to give make it easier for the original to discern who he was communicating with, if such communication became necessary.

He landed among the trolls in a crouch, not too far from a human controller. The wizard's eyes widened with fear as he saw Wolfe Beta, and a quick jab into his mind revealed the wizard wasn't in control of his own mind. A bunch of set instructions bounced around in his mind, most of which he had to relay to the trolls at the appropriate time.

The wizard drew his wand—a move that surprised Wolfe Beta, since the wizard had to know that his wand wouldn't work. But before the wizard could utter anything, a gigantic war hammer came down on top of him, extinguishing his life with a sickening crunch.

When Wolfe Beta looked up at the offending troll inquisitively, the troll bent down and picked the wand up. With a grubby finger he pointed to an odd thing on the wand. It was a ring with some strange runes etched into them.

"Ring wand work close magic-gone stones. General not know danger," the troll explained in guttural tones.

Wolfe Beta nodded. Only a minority of the trolls bothered to learn human languages properly, but this one knew it well enough to get the point across. Evidently that ring attuned wands to the anti-magic field, enabling them to work. Wolfe Beta realised that his short existence might have ended prematurely if the troll hadn't intervened, so he didn't berate it for using lethal force even though it had killed an innocent. The blame lay with himself, for forgetting to instruct the trolls not to use lethal force beforehand.

As he pocketed the wand, he made a mental note to remind the trolls to use non-lethal force against living targets, in order to avoid more needless tragedy. He glanced up at the troll. "Are our warriors carrying some of these magic-gone stones?"

The troll nodded vigorously.

Wolfe wandlessly cast the Sonorus Charm before he spoke. "Your general commands you to stop marching!"

As one, the moving trolls stopped.

"Which of you carry the magic-gone stones?" he asked, using the Dark Trolls own terminology to simplify the questions.

A large troll some forty feet away grunted affirmatively and pointed at a pack on his back.

"Put it on the ground!" Beta commanded.

The troll tugged at a few rugged leather straps, causing the generator to fall to the frozen ground with a resounding thud. Moments after it hit the floor, Beta cast a Reductor Curse at it with his captured wand, and the generator was reduced to gravel.

Then he turned to the trolls again. "Array in single row battle charge formation!"

Reacting to his command, the trolls scrambled to form a line, using Wolfe Beta's position as an imaginary middle point. Less than a minute later, the trolls stood in a wide row that stretched roughly a hundred yards in either direction. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that half of the golem army had halted its march towards Concordia in confusion. Whoever was co-ordinating the battle on the enemy's side was probably trying to work out why the trolls weren't reacting to the prearranged instructions. For the Concordians it was a fortunate mistake, since it gave them precious extra time to evacuate to the city's higher levels. It also gave Beta a time for some parting words.

"Our foes outnumber us badly, and many of you will meet your end. But you'll meet it as warriors, and you'll prove to the world that honour ought to be measured by actions instead of origins. You will prove to the world that while you were birthed through the efforts of Vedor's evil mind, you aren't of like mind. The people in the city are not the enemy, and though you may be attacked, you will not respond to it. The humans among the golem army are also to be spared. Take them out of the battle, but harm them as little as you can."

Wolfe Beta scanned the faces of the trolls, and he sensed no aversion to his order.

"It also seems that my quarry has eluded me, and I won't be around to lead you while I pursue him," he continued. "In my absence, you will answer to my Soul Brother. Harry Potter is his name, and all of you know his reputation in battle."

The murmur that rose from the troll formation and the awed expression on their faces told Wolfe that Harry wouldn't have to worry about any challenges to his authority. How Harry would respond to being worshipped by the trolls, however, was another matter entirely.

"I know you will respect him as you respect me," Wolfe Beta added with a smirk. Then he raised his right arm and pounded his fist on his chest. "Strength and honour!"

The trolls' thunderous reply echoed over the field as they mimicked the gesture.

Wolfe Beta drew the wand he'd captured, taking a moment to savour the irony that he'd be using Yamato's invention against him. As those thoughts crossed his mind, he also remembered that the original didn't know about the wand's adaptation, so he briefly allowed his consciousness to touch the original's, relaying the information and getting a feeling of grateful acknowledgement in return. Then he turned to face the opposing formation of golems. The trolls' eagerness for battle was contagious, and Wolfe Beta felt his excitement growing with every heartbeat. The fact that they were outnumbered nearly seven to one didn't bother him at all.

"Charge!" he roared, before breaking into a sprint, channelling magic to quicken his strides and keep ahead of the longer-legged trolls.

He briefly thought about increasing his size, but rejected the idea, since more bulk would make him easier to hit. Taking possible ranged attacks into account, he also zigzagged his run, but no ranged attacks came. To their cost, the enemy hadn't worked out that the trolls had switched sides, probably not having heard Wolfe's speech despite his usage of the Sonorus Charm. So now the full complement of roughly ten dozen trolls ploughed into their enemies' ranks, and over two hundred golems were destroyed in the first two seconds of the clash. This instantly reduced the enemy's numerical superiority to around five-to-one, before the enemy co-ordinator realised what was happening and the golem troops began to defend themselves.

Wolfe Beta couldn't help feeling a profound sense of loss as trolls began to fall around him. Wolfe realised that, after the attack on Hogwarts, and a year after that, Agua Caliente and Laketown, the Dark Trolls had been firmly labelled as evil. He knew that many people standing on the battlements of Concordia's outer walls were perfectly happy to see the golems and trolls wipe each other out. Sure, they were brutish, but they weren't evil. If the Dark Trolls had truly been evil at heart, they wouldn't be assisting him in Concordia's defence.

A strengthened resolve to prove that to the world welled up inside Wolfe Beta, and he began to focus on defending trolls who were in immediate danger of being overwhelmed, instead of destroying golems offensively. This way the golems were still destroyed, but attrition on the trolls was slowed down somewhat. However, he quickly saw that his efforts weren't good enough, and that the trolls weren't outfighting the golems by enough of a margin to prevail. He searched his mind as best he could in the heat of battle, coming up with a solution after thirty costly seconds in which several more trolls had fallen.

He gathered his energy and leapt over the entire golem army, landing between them and Concordia's city walls. Then he pointed the captured wand towards the sky, making a twirling motion. Immediately, clouds gathered over the battlefield, and a grey column descended out of those clouds, pulling every nearby golem into its whirling embrace. It also sucked the snow off the ground, quickly turning the whirlwind white.

"Your general commands you to retreat," Wolfe Beta bellowed, while the magic tornado cut a ragged path through the uneven battle lines, plucking more golems off the ground and allowing the trolls to retreat. Some were cut down by swarms of golems, but most did manage to retreat. And after they were out of harm's way, he intensified the power of the vortex, though he was careful to keep it away from the robed humans that had become more prominent as the ranks of golems thinned out.

When he had most of the golems in the vortex, he transformed the circulation into a powerful downburst that hurled its entire contents against Nomad Island's frozen soil. The force of impact was enough to destroy even the stone and metal golems, and the ones made of wood and the grotesque flesh golems were utterly annihilated, effectively ending the battle. Less than two dozen golems remained.

Wolfe Beta sprinted towards the remaining foes, stunning the wizards and destroying the golems. The trolls had obviously realised that his earlier call for a retreat had been of a tactical nature, and the situation had changed after the tornado's carnage. They too had re-engaged the remainder of the enemy, and they disposed of the last few golems with ease, before clustering around their general. Less than half of the trolls remained.

He opened his mouth, intending to praise the survivors, but he was cut short as the power that sustained his existence was abruptly cut off.

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Wolfe flew through Abaris Lane in Snidget form, looking for whoever was responsible for the anti-magic field. He took care to skirt closely over roofs and along walls, keeping out of sight as much as possible, for even though the Snidget was small, it wasn't invisible. He knew he might not be recognised if spotted, but a Snidget was such an unusual sight that someone might be tempted to try and capture him for fun.

Not having seen any movement at his own home, Wolfe carefully made his way through Abaris Lane, looking for suspicious movement. A tingling at the periphery of his consciousness brought Wolfe's attention to other matters. It was the duplicate he'd left with the trolls, telling him that the enemy might have working wands. It also told him that he'd have a working wand too, if he managed to capture one.

Wolfe continued to do cursory inspections of the houses until he came upon the Lescoriere residence. He saw some movement inside, and he briefly hovered in front of an open window to see what was going on, keeping as closely to a corner as possible. He saw three masked people clad in black dragon-hide suits. Two were immediately in front of him, while another stood a bit further away, by the front door. They had crossbows slung across their backs, and several throwing knives tucked in their boots and easily accessible sheaths. They also had their wands in special holsters, and Wolfe knew that he had to capture one of them for use.

A drawback to his Animagus forms was that he couldn't employ his Mind Reading gift as an animal, but in this case he didn't need to employ his gift to know that these men weren't under any mind-control. These men were among the wizarding world's top assassins, and Wolfe wondered what kind of guarantees Yamato had given them to coax them into accepting this mission. Trickery was out of the question, since every criminal in the wizarding world knew the consequences of going after Wolfe's loved ones.

The devices on their wrists looked like Portkeys, telling Wolfe that the possibility of immediate escape was one on the factors that had led them to consider this mission. The other factor was probably the masks, which hid their faces from identification.

Wolfe attention was drawn back to event within the house as another three masked men dragged the Lescorieres and Heidi into the living room. His anger flared as one of the wizards backhanded Heidi across her face, sending her sprawling to the floor. It enraged him so much that he had trouble maintaining his Animagus form, and it didn't get any better when the man pulled Heidi back up by her hair and shoved her against the wall.

"Where are the Wolfes?" the one who had hit Heidi barked.

"They're … in another part of town." Heidi groaned in pain. "Their a-aunt has taken them shopping."

Heidi's acting ability impressed Wolfe. Had he not known better, her reply certainly would have convinced him, so smooth and effortless was the lie. And he also appreciated her cunning in trying to keep the assassins occupied, knowing that it wouldn't take long for help to arrive.

"She's lying, and she's stalling!" another of the masked figures hissed. "She knew of the attack beforehand. The brats are at the Rangers' headquarters."

As the masked figure spoke, Wolfe realised that Yamato had equipped them with Mind Reading potion or powder.

"What? Who warned her?"

"Wolfe!"

"He's here? Then we'd better leave before he finds us!" the one who had struck Heidi said, and Wolfe's anxiety slowly diminished.

"Wait! The redhead bitch has a deeper connection to him. She's not merely his brats' guardian. She's his woman too, and she thinks she's pregnant with his bastard. She's a viable target. We should take her with us, and we shouldn't linger here much longer. The Rangers might arrive soon."

"The Rangers are far too busy dealing with the diversion outside the city."

"Nevertheless, we should hurry," the Mind Reader said, while he extracted a Portkey from one of his pockets. It was similar to the ones the men were wearing.

Panic was threatening to overwhelm Wolfe now. He knew that the assassins' kidnapping plan would have served the purpose of keeping his mind off Yamato while he agonised over Heidi's whereabouts. Heidi's survival was not an issue, since they weren't going to ransom her. They wouldn't keep her alive very long, either—he couldn't let them leave with her.

Wolfe darted backwards some ten metres before plunging forwards, gaining momentum as he neared the window. The moment he was through, he changed back into human form in the blink of an eye and slammed into two of the assassins, sending them crashing into the wall—the sheer force of the impact causing some of the Lescorieres' carefully arrayed pottery to tumble off a shelf.

While crashing into his foes, Wolfe had also made a successful grab at one of their wands. He aimed it at the man holding Heidi and shot a stunner at him, taking care to aim at his unshielded neck. Wolfe didn't pause as the man slumped into Heidi, instead tracking his next target and shooting another stunner, hitting him in the throat and taking his fourth enemy out of the fight.

His finely honed instincts told him that one of the two remaining attackers—the one that had been standing by the front door—probably had him lined for a curse by now. He leapt aside, noticing a green light reflected on the highly polished coffee table as he tumbled over a leather sofa. A moment later, he hit the ground between the sofa and the table, grabbed the table, and, as he rose, hurled it at where he remembered the wizard had been standing. A muffled grunt and a cracking sound revealed that his aim had been true. Then Wolfe turned and aimed at the last wizard—who had been about to hex Heidi. He cast a stunner that was so powerful that it knocked the wizard cleanly through the thin wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

His keen hearing and sense of smell told him that it wasn't over yet, as he picked up the sound of three pairs of padded boots and the scent of dragon-hide. Friends would have been wearing Graphorn hide, so Wolfe knew that these were foes. Two of them burst through the front simultaneously, prepared to curse whoever they found first.

Since he knew that hitting two fast-moving targets in a narrow unshielded aperture was too difficult, Wolfe used a Banishing charm to slam one into the other as hard as possible. The banished wizard lifted his companion off his feet, and both slammed into the wall with a crunching noise—their dragon-hide armour evidently being the supple variation that did little to protect the wearer from physical trauma. As soon as he was done with those two, he turned to the last one, realising that it was too late. A tall, potted plant blocked the only angle Wolfe could have used to deflect the curse with one of his own. Time seemed to slow down as he saw the wizard glare at Heidi as greenish light began to blossom out of the tip of his wand. He knew that his life without Heidi would be worthless, so he did the only thing that he could do. There was no time to waste, and Wolfe imagined hearing his inner voice crying out to jump now.

He threw himself in front of Heidi … and the dividing cluster of cells in her womb that would become their baby, trusting Heidi to have the presence of mind to pick up his wand out of his lifeless hand and dispatch the assassin.

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VERY IMPORTANT FOR MY SELF ESTEEM. Please read.

AUTHOR"S NOTE: Sorry to be whining about this again, but I can't help getting the feeling that I'm doing something wrong if I get less than a certain amount of reviews. I've poured a part of my soul into this chapter. I did my utmost to place myself in the shoes of a character about to sacrifice himself for someone he loves. Please Review this one! It doesn't matter what you say. If you disagree and find Wolfe's attitude unrealistic that's fine too. If you believe the action descriptions are too technical in your opinion, tell me. (Suggestions on alternative writing styles would be most welcome in such a case.) If you think I ought to vary the use of my tenses, tell me. If you think Wolfe's Gladiator-like speech to the trolls was superfluous, tell me. If you think writing from the duplicate's point of view was weird or confusing, say so. But say (write) something. Even it is a one-liner of encouragement.

On another note, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beta Christine. My diskette got corrupted and my pc crashed, resulting in a catastrophic loss of data. Fortunately she still had my work on file, which is why I was able to post this here today. If the chapters hadn't been recovered, I probably would have given up on the story entirely, since it's proving very difficult to write, and due to the disappointingly little feedback the last few chapters have yielded. A 'Thank You' for Christine in your review would also be much appreciated.

Gogirl: I decided to update this chapter early in celebration for my beta's good sense and the fact that I just got a burst of inspiration that'll allow me to write several chapters without any problems. Oh, and how did you like this cliffhanger?

NCDSbookworm: Matt's family? What family would that be? His parents and brother are dead, and the only other relative to make the screen was a cousin of his. Or did you mean his kids?

battlefield-addict: Would you like to answer the questions I asked in my Author's Note, if it isn't too much bother? Thanks for your review, though. Even though it was a one-worder I still appreciate it.

Saint Mike: Thanks. That research took a lot of time.

Bluerain22: Almost everything in my fics happen for a reason. :-)

Numba1: The Weaslseys intellectually understand that there's a grey area, but they haven't lived a life like Wolfe's. He was taught that the only way to ensure that justice would be done was to see it through by oneself.

maaike-fluffy: Wolfe laveert op moment een beetje tussen het licht en de duisternis. Trouwens, als Ron hem aan zijn eigen woorden had herinnerd had Wolfe iets gezegd in de trant van; Different times, different circumstances.

Fragarach: I needed a little variety.

Foxfur: No, your memory serves you well. It was discussed in Chapter 27 of Mind War.

The Keymaker: You thought that cliffhanger was evil?

blah29: Funny that you mentioned points of view in your feedback. ;-) This chapter was finished way before I posted Chapter 8, so your review didn't influence my writing. But it was still a funny coincidence.

Chelli Potter: Yes, Ironheart did pass his Incubus traits onto Wolfe. And the reason Nicolai's effects are stronger is because Nicolai has more incubus blood. For the life of me I can't remember which chapter I wrote this, but Aria is one-half incubus too. That's the reason she married Ironheart; it was an arranged marriage to keep the peace between two incubus clans. So Ironheart's daughters by Aria were also one-half incubus (second generation maybe, but still…) while his son and daughters by other women had thinner blood. That's why Nicolai has stronger incubus powers than Wolfe.

Elric Magus: It isn't just you.

Lioness-07863: That's okay. You don't have to review every chapter. So why did I just whine about reviews? Because the list of people who have marked my fics as a favourite keeps growing while the reviews are slowly dropping. Do you think it too much to ask why people like your stuff?

Zuzuanni: OJ, eh? ;-)

lluvatar: Here it is. Care to answer the questions I asked in the A/N?

Lady of Masbolle? I don't mean to be rude, but why did you love it?

Darkflower2113: You I answered in an e-mail.