Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi everyone! I will finish Haunted tower eventually but if you want me to focus more time on this story, please leave a review and tell me. Remember, if you think I should change something, tell me. Just don't flame, or else I will drain your blood, drink it, and feed your corpse to pigs...

(p.s. Note to all who take everything seriously. That was a joke.)

Chapter 2 : Veil of the Abyss

The War

Cri held out her hand to the boy. "C'mon, will you help me?" The boy hesitated, afraid that she may be trying to trick him. "I'm not trying to trick you. You can carry a gun if you want to. Shoot me if I betray you. But if you try and betray me I will make every waking moment of the rest of your life a twisted nightmare of pain and suffering. Do I make myself clear?" The boy nodded slowly. The way her eyes had changed from sweet to deadly scared him out of his wits.

Cri handed him an assault rifle that was held by one of the solders. She striped the rest of magazines and handed them to him. She bent over, dipping the tip of her dhampir guns into one of the blood pools that covered the ground. The guns began to pump the blood into the magazines that she had. She switched magazines and did it again. "My name is Cri Amylisa Rayne." She said without looking up. "What's yours?"

The boy's eyes widened. She was a dhampir not a vampire. She was the one his superiors told him and the other solders about to scare them and make them fight harder. She was the 'dangerous one.' But here she was, refilling her guns, asking him, a mere third class trainee on a simple re supply mission gone wrong, to help her end this war. "M-my name is Taylor, Taylor Alexander Sanchez. And I don't know the first thing about ending this war."

Cri looked up at him. She had heard the name Sanchez somewhere before. She shrugged it off and smiled at him. It was an odd little half smile that showed her left fang. "Don't worry, you wont have to do that much. Just do what I tell you too and with a little luck we can at least make peace for awhile." She finished filling her magazines and stood up, stretching her muscles. "But for now, let's make camp. I get a headache if I don't get enough sleep, and trust me, you do not want to see me in a bad mood.

Titans Tower

The Titans stared at their teammate in shock. Robin was the first who found his voice. "How?...When?...What do you mean? You mean she is your fledgling right" Cri shakes her head. "I mean exactly what I meant. Nightingale is my daughter. She is my flesh and blood and I will never let anything happen to her." Cri reaches down and messes up Nightingale's hair making her laugh and try to escape.

Starfire squealed in delight and picked the young girl up in a crushing hug. "I just love children. Please friend Cri, how old is she" Cri managed to pry Night out of Starfire's grip before she suffocated. "She is 5 years old as of tomorrow." Starfire jumped up. "Then we must prepare a party of birthdays for her" Robin quickly dragged her away to try and calm her down.

Cri glanced in the doorway. "I almost forgot. I also would like to introduce you to the person who helped me stop the war. Meet Taylor Alexander Sanchez. A young human boy with matted red hair walked out of the shadows. He had expected to see a room full of vampires but he was met with the sight of a half robot man, a little green elf, a girl with green eyes and orange skin, some sort of Goth, and his childhood comic book hero. "Taylor meet the Teen Titans. Teen Titans meet Taylor."

Taylor timidly waves. Starfire squeals in delight, and rushes up to him, leaving Robin on the couch. "Please tell me; where do you come from, how did you get here, what is your favorite color, what is your favorite animal, do you wish to be my friend" Taylor was amazed how much she could say in one breath. "Well, I come from the planetTearkon , Cri teleported me, gun metal black, my pet wyvern, sure" Starfire squealed again and grabbed him in a crushing hug. "Hello new friend" Cri tapped Starfire on the shoulder. "I know your body doesn't need that much oxygen but you might wanna let him go. He's turning blue." Star immediately let him go and begged his forgiveness.

Cri smiled at the Titans. "My husband Soto, the commander of the vampire army, and amazingly a full bred member of the 'Council of 13', is still back in the other dimension. I was able to call a temporary truce. It's supposed to last 20 years at minimum but he decided to stay behind and command his army, just in case. He will contact me if there is any trouble. I just want to say that if there is, I want to leave Night here with you guys. This way she will be safe." Cri smiled down at her daughter who had busied herself with examining the Gamestation. "Just don't tell her. I don't want to upset her."

Raven cleared her throat. "Perhaps a tour of the city is in order. Cri nodded, but Taylor shook his head. "I'm tired. I will take the tour tomorrow." Cri nodded again and turned to Raven "Will you come with us? It will make everything easier…I've forgotten where most things are." Raven nodded and opened the elevator. "Now, I would think, would be the best time." She said. Cri gestured to Nightingale and she got up and walked into the elevator. Cri got in after her. "She is a lot smarter than she should be for her age." The elevator doors close and bring them down to the first floor.

Cri hands Nightingale a pair of sunglasses as she leads her out of the tower. Cri faces the city, taking a deep breath of the salty air. "I missed this place." She smiled down at Night who now, with the sunglasses on, looked like someone from the Matrix. "We are gonna fly ok? If you start to get tired I will carry you, but I want you to try, ok" She smiles and nods up at her mother, still too timid to talk around Raven who had appeared next to them.

Night summoned a pair of Jet black feathered wings. They reflected midnight blue as the sun hit them, unlike Cri's who reflected a grayish white. Cri flapped her wings softly and rose off of the ground. Night accomplished the same feat but with more difficulty. Raven rose into the air behind them and then all three were flying towards the city.

Cri dived down and dragged her hand across the surface of the water. She relished its cool feel smiling. She climbed back up when they reached the docs, just clearing the roof of the warehouse she had been held captive in by Slade. She rejoined her daughter and Raven who was pointing out useful details. "That's the pizza place." She said in her usual monotone. "That's the bank, and there's the park. Terra's statue was moved there from Slade's destroyed base."

Cri had already started to tune Raven out. The dhampiric warrior knew all of this. She had begun to think about the war. She thought how she had met Soto, the leader of the vampire army. How he had scoffed at her claim of a dhampir being able to use magic. How she had fallen in love with him when he had been shot. Yes, it had turned from a battle into a slaughterhouse after she saw Soto get hurt. She thought about the first time she held Nightingale in her arms. So beautiful was she then. Oh how much more beautiful she was now.

She was snapped out of her daydream by a wave of dark energy. She shivered and looked around for its source. She sniffed the air and her eyes widened. 'The veil…It's…It's in the air.' She realized the energy she had felt was from a human's aura…An infected human's aura.

The War

Cri got up and stretched her muscles. She yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes. She looked down at the young human boy, sleeping less than 2 feet from where she was. She walked out of the makeshift tent and began her morning stretches.

The dhampir quickly finished and climbed a tree. She began carefully examining all the branches before hopping to the next one and repeating the process. She soon found what she was looking for. A newly made crow's nest with 3 eggs sitting inside it. She took the eggs just as the mother crow got back. The crow dived at her and she grabbed it out of the sky without looking up. "I hope he isn't a vegetarian," she said to herself softly. She jumped out of the tree and headed back to camp, picking up acorns on the way.

Taylor was awoken from his nightmares by the smell of cooking eggs and meat. He sat up slowly as the past few days events came back to him. He quickly looked around. Where was the dhampir girl, Cri? He quickly got up and put his helmet on. 'Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe when I open this tent door I will see my team.'

He looked out of the tent and his heart sunk. It was just Cri cooking…Eggs? 'Where the heck did she get eggs?' He wondered. 'And what smells like cooking meat?' "That would be a crow and its eggs." She replied without looking up. Taylor jumped. She had actually read his mind. "Come on; eat it while it's hot. It tastes a lot better than the name suggests." He sat down and Cri handed him what looked like a smallish, fire cooked chicken, roasted acorns, and 3 sunny side up eggs. The second thing he noticed was how good it smelled. He dove into the food, ravenous.

Cri stared at him. She was eating a few strips of dried rabbit meat she had paced in her bag. She had expected him to be hungry, but he was wolfing down the food like a man who hadn't eaten in weeks. He finished far before her and sighed softly looking content. "Am I really that good a cook" She asked, a playful smile on her face. "Yes" he said smiling back. "It was very good but you see, the reason I ate so fast is that we are not fed much because rations are low. Why yesterday my party had run out of food."

Cri nodded at him. "That's actually how Soto plans to beat you guys…by cutting off you food supply." Taylor raised his eyebrows. "We suspected something like that, but who is Soto" She smiled at him, her eyes loosing their focus. "He's…my husband…Soto Endon Donavan Rayne." The boy looked up at her curiously. "So he has 2 middle names" Cri couldn't help but laugh to herself. "No, actually, in the vampiric community, the male takes the female's last name." Taylor slapped his face. "I forgot about that! Sorry."

Cri chuckled softly. "And his best friend and second in command is…" Her eyes widened as something dawned on her. "Who" The boy asked. "Never mind that." She said quickly. "Taylor, do you have an older brother" The boy nodded. "That's why I joined the army…He was bitten and turned by a vampire…" Cri nodded. "Now I remember where I have heard the last name Sanchez before…You do know what this means don't you? We will be able to end this war a lot faster and with a lot less risks."

I'm evil aren't I? At least the cliffhangers in this chapter aren't as bad as the one's in the last chapter, and in the last story for that matter. I can't wait to start the next chapter! But I should finish Haunted Tower…READ AND REVIEW!