Cearbhail: Alright, a new chapter. Yes, this is going to be a fun one and I'm going to attempt to put some humor in...little at a time. Should start next chapter, but I snuck a little in towards the end. You'll see. Enjoy.

[Warlord Zeelius]

The war room was especially active today. People were screaming, eyes were glued to the virtual map that was now a giant illusion-casted image. The image was what my newly promoted Shadowblade daughter was sticking her head on the line to record with her crystal ball. Everything we were seeing was happening in real-time. It was happening right now…in Cheydinhal.

Not only was my main task force already surrounding Cheydinhal, but there was a bit of a nasty realization. Vampires. Lots of them too. The image that filled the entire virtual map in front of us was a giant burning city of Cheydinhal. Shadowblade Nexa was standing up on what appeared to be a wall, aiming her special spell 'Recording Eye' at the town. Everything she saw, we saw. And what we saw shook us all to the core.

Vampires were already inside the town. It wasn't some army, just a small group of ten or so. Most of them looked like elves and Imperials, but one could never tell with humans. Could be Nords for all I knew. At least Bretons had pointy ears since they shared elven blood.

The vampires were scouting the city out: finding dead bodies and using necromancy to raise them up into vampire thralls. The surviving citizens screamed out in horror as a vampire would jump on top of them and bite them. Whether they were feeding or just turning, it didn't matter. That person would not live to see the end of the night.

"Hurry up. Our clan needs to become stronger if we are to survive!" A tall buff vampire called. He looked like a Nord, I could tell by his thick accent and burly muscles. He was dressed in blood-red royal clothes adorned with black scaly armor. He looked like a monster.

The image Nexa showed us zoomed in on the vampire. He must have been a vampire lord. {Orders?} She whispered.

I shook my head and whispered back. "Hold. Your objective is not the dead and dying. Your objective is to find your seer. And if she's really stupid enough to stick around where vampires can get her…she's not that good of a seer and is of no use to us anyway."

My daughter held any reply. I can understand her worry. Vampires had a great sense of smell and hearing. If she risked talking any more than she already did…she was dead.

Screams of a little girl filled our screens. Nexa looked away from the vampire lord, seeing a vampire pulling a ten year-old girl from the wreckage of a house by her hair. She screamed and reached up to her hair, trying to pull her hair out of the vampire's hands. The girl looked scared to death, but tried to fight back. She kicked against the vampire's legs, trying to unbalance him. It did not work.

"Lord Harkon! We have a live one here. Breton by the smell of her." The vampire called to the vampire lord, now addressed as Harkon.

Harkon smiled. "Good, a young immortal servant. You have my permission to turn her, my son. Give her the blood of a lord. Give her wings. We need more lords if not only until we survive this war."

The vampire, apparently Harkon's son, smirked. "But Lord Harkon, another vampire lord might be a problem. What if she tries to take your throne? What if she challenges you?"

Harkon dismissed with a wave of his hand. "One little girl poses no threat to me. I am strong, experience, old. She will be weaker than the rest of us, but strong enough to be of use. she will give me more power over the other lords and help me secure my throne."

I turned around to everyone, ignoring the screen. From what I just heard, this vampire was a strong vampire lord who held his own kingdom. We needed something like him on our side. We already had liches, why not vampires too? If only I could get some information on him before I committed to this decision. I did not want to approach a dangerous enemy, I wanted a complacent ally.

"Ok, we need to find out who this guy is and if we can get him to join us in our war." I said to every person inside the room, including the Queen, who watched over us with her usual silent voice. She never spoke unless it was urgent. I sent out a silent ping for my shadowmasters. Two shadow portals ripped open behind me and they dove through. I looked back at them and said, "Dig up whatever information we have on vampires and vampire lords. Look for anything involving Nord vampires and a vampire lord by the name of Harkon. I need to know yesterday."

My shadowmasters nodded and bowed, stepping back into the shadow that they morphed through.

I turned my attention back to the screen, watching in horror as the vampire lord walked up to the little girl, who was still pulling on her hair and screaming in horror, her eyes pulled shut. The other vampire was now starting to sink his teeth into her neck. "Now, now…this will only stick for a second. Then…darkness eternal."

{Orders?} Nexa whispered, her voice pulled tight.

"Hold." I repeated.

{Father? She's just a little girl.} She replied, her voice becoming edgy.

"So were you." I replied back. "You've survived worse."

{I had training, I was prepared. I…never had to fight a vampire before.} She started sounding frantic.

"And if you want to change that…there are easily ten of them, all master class, with at least one vampire lord proceeding over them, maybe two if that son of his can transform like in the tales. Let's not forget about all the thralls. Oh yes, if you want to go out and save her, by all means…go die." I almost couldn't control my voice, but instead I cooled myself down before I said anything else. I allowed a quick breath in…and out. I loosened my grip on the edge of the desk and sat back down, relaxing my neck.

"Daughter…" I said, shaking my head. "Remember your training. Wait for the opportune moment. When can you safely get to her?"

{…after he bites her. He'll be momentarily stunned by the sudden blood-rush. But that is also the worst time to attack him because he'll have recharged his batteries and fully healed.} She replied, almost robotic now. Good, I had her thinking instead of reacting now.

Sosia looked over to me, her face expressing her shock. "So we're just going to let this vampire kill her?"

I shook my head. "What would you do, Sosia? Did you not hear him? 'Give her the blood of a lord'. He's not killing her, he's turning her."

Her face did not change one bit. Instead she stood up and screamed, "And that's not a death sentence itself? He's making her undead."

I looked away from Sosia back to the screen. The vampire now had a hold in her neck, licking her dry. The girl screamed out in bloody murder, grabbing the head of the vampire in a hopeless attempt to halt him biting her. Blood rolled from her neck, staining her dress. The eyes in her head started rolling back and her arms started becoming limp.

Sosia stood up, slamming her fist onto the table. When she saw the small Breton girl's arms become limp, she pushed up her sleeves and reached for her staff. "Ooh…that's enough. I cannot sit here and watch these children turn into vampires! I'm teleporting down there and saving her life." She said, grabbing her staff.

I rushed up to the Arch-Mage and grabbed her by the shoulder. I pulled her down and said, "Sosia…I know how you feel, but you cannot leave the safety of this room. One brush of their teeth or their magic can infect you with vampirism. If you were to die, your baby would have no parents left."

That brought a tear to the Arch-Mage's eyes. She sat back down, her body shaking with the effort. She looked over to me and blinked back a tear. "Then you order your daughter to save that little girl. If you won't, I will go and save her instead."

I sighed and sat back down. I watched the screen for a few more seconds before I pushed the button on the table. "Shadowblade Nexa…new mission priorities."

…

[Nexa]

{Rescue that girl and get her healed.} My father's voice rung through my receiver.

I smiled as I reached for my faceted sword. It was time I got to do something useful for once. I shuddered at the thought of just letting this girl die, even though she was already bitten. Maybe I could get to her before they finished their turning ceremony. Based on what I read on vampires, and what I saw with Vicente during my stay with the Dark Brotherhood, I knew that the turning process took minutes. I still had time before his blood merged with hers. During that whole time, he could not take his teeth out or his turning process would be rejected by the host body.

I unsheathed my sword and tapped my comms. "Ok, attack on vampire group. Target is little girl. We have to save her."

I reached out, ripping a portal into the shadow-void. I jumped in, being embraced by the shadows. The warm but freezing shadows. I ripped out of the shadows right in front of the vampire attacking the girl. I brought my sword in, missing his head by an inch. That did not matter, I skimmed him. It was enough to get him to break his hold on her. I reached out, grabbed the girl with my right hand, and jumped back into my portal. I felt the shadows pull me away from the scene and I found myself landing gracefully on the branch I sat on before I left.

I watched as Oleeme popped out of his own shadow portal. His eyes lit up with a bright light and he stuck out his hands. Bright balls of artificial sunlight shone over the city. The vampires hissed at him but started to retreat into the town. Erandur and his sniper rounded the corner a second later, Erandur with two katanas out and the archer with his crossbow. The archer started firing away at the vampires, hitting two of them square in the chest. They flew off their feet, crashing into the ground.

I looked down at Harkon. He hissed in complaint, looking around the battlefield. "We have what we came for. We leave now." He looked up at me, right at the girl in my arms. He pointed to me and, just like that, he vanished into a mist of bats that fluttered off into the night. Several other vampires turned into a mist of bats and fluttered off as well. The thralls just vanished into portals summoned to teleport them back.

My squad hung there for a couple seconds before they began to clear the sight. {Ok, Nexa. It's safe to come down now.} Erandur's voice sounded through our comms.

I jumped into a portal, arriving in the middle of my squad's formation. The little girl was still in my arms. Her eyes were glazed over and her lips were pulled into a sick smile that reminded me of skooma addicts. I looked around and said, "Anyone have a cure disease potion?"

"That's…no…disease." I heard a voice call.

I looked away to see the vampire that bit the little girl. He was clinging at the arrow stuck in his chest. Blood that was probably not his rolled from his mouth and he reached up at the arrow in a wasted attempt to pull the arrow out of his stomach. He was pinned against one of the wooden buildings. He was slowly dying. I needed answers.

I rushed up to him and placed my sword to his throat. "Explain." I said.

He smirked wildly and pulled at the arrow. "I'm a pure-blood vampire. What I have and pass on is no disease, but a gift…from Molag Bal. No amount of healing spells and potions can remove a blessing from a Daedric Lord, unless another Daedric Lord blesses her instead. If you wish…you can turn her into a werewolf…" He started laughing, his eyes fading away. "Which is more evil in your eyes? A sophisticated vampire, or an uncontrollable beast?"

"Orders?" I called into the receiver. I hoped my father had some good news for me. I did not want this little girl dying before I own eyes.

The girl started crying as she reached up at nothing in particular. Her nails started sharpening, her teeth elongating and becoming pointy. Her skin tone started to fade away. I looked over to the vampire and said, "How can she be turning already? I thought vampirism took three days to contract!"

The vampire looked at me one last time before smirking. He offered up a weak chuckle. "This is not your typical vampirism…now is it?" With that his eyes blanked out. He was dead.

I looked around at Oleeme. "Quick, you know all sorts of healing spells. Is there one for this?" I asked.

Oleeme calmly bent down to look at her. He stuck his hand out, scanning her energy. "I believe I can fix this." He closed his eyes and his body became shrouded in light. The bright light traveled from his hands and embraced the girl. She started shaking violently, foam pouring out of her mouth. She started levitating from my arms and I could see the back of her dress starting to bulge. Two short wings sprouted from her back and stretched out.

Oleeme's spell exploded, sending him flying backwards as it did so. He landed a few feet away, wiping his head off. "The magic inside her was too strong for me, Shadowblade. I could not save her."

The girl's body started hovering. It floated from me, covered in red magic. Her hair floated up even though it was braided. The unconscious girl floated around to face me, her eyes still shut. I could hear her take in a breath and her eyes snapped open. She looked over at me, her eyes black as the Void, with bright yellow irises, glaring right through me.

I saw her frown. "I saw what you did." She said, her voice very tight. "You tried to save me." She blinked back any tears that were beginning to fall. She hissed at me and she jumped back, grabbing her head in pain. "This urge…I cannot fight it. I need…" She said. The wings stretched out further and she pushed up into the air. "I need…" She said again, looking around. "BLOOD." She screamed to the wind. The voice seemed to roar through the ground and the air. The ground shook and the air started to heat up.

Erandur unsheathed his swords and Huir prepared his crossbow. Once the girl saw them prepare to fight her, all the shaking stopped. The air cooled down again. She drifted down to the ground slowly, keeping us all within her stare. I started to ready my own weapon, which drew her glare to me. "Please…" I started. "We don't want to hurt you if we don't have to."

She looked at me and then at Erandur. She smiled. "I know. Just…stay here, I'll be right back. I just need…a moment to drink something." She took off into the sky faster than any group of bats I saw yet. I saw her fall from the sky momentarily, crashing into a building. She screamed out in minor pain, standing up and brushing her head. "Oww…stupid wings!" She said, taking off again.

Erandur glanced at me and bowed. "Thank you for making her calm. I did not like the idea of killing a girl, even if it was a vampire."

I nodded at the disappearing vampire. "Well, we need all the help we can get and she doesn't seem overly affected by the sudden change, although she might become unsettled and uncontrollable over her need for blood. Besides…" I started saying as I looked over at Oleeme. "we tried to save her. The vampire that died was right; we couldn't beat a Daedric Lord's special gift. If she wishes to die later, we'll kill her."

Erandur growled at me. "What do you mean, if she wishes to die? She's a beast now…she won't want that. Would you?"

I shrugged. "I would not want to live forever, no one does. Everyone has a time and a place. She has the choice of it now: when and where and how." I stepped away from Erandur. "We promised to save her. I guess I should report my failure."

{No need, Shadowblade. We saw the whole thing. You did you best, mission accomplished. We all knew that she was turning. There was no changing that. Not once we received a report about what a vampire lord really is. Your new objective is to keep her safe and on our side. She will be a valuable ally if you can control her. She might seem like a monster, but she is still a little girl. Once her blood-call wears off she'll return to who she was before she was bit.} My father called over my receiver. {Right now focus on your primary mission. Find that seer and see if she's still alive.}

I nodded and pressed my transmitter. "Yes, father. We will begin at once."

Cearbhail: Ok, now we're getting somewhere. This story should start writing itself after next chapter, where the seer comes into play. For all of you who read my other stories, being the Shoutmen and CoDS:L you already know who this little girl is and who the seer is as well. ALL my stories will tie in at some point. Just to let you know, I'm just that type of writer. I do not create separate worlds, all one world that exist within each other. Just my style, I guess.