The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Chapter 3: Reasons



“Just find the one who killed my wife, I trust you. I will start everything immediately,” he told her in a subdued voice.



'Why', Laura wondered as she sat in the day room, 'Why do you trust me? What have I done to earn your trust?' ….









Lauralin sat at the table in her library as Darlinia entered. The library, one of two in the mansion was filled with books ranging from philosophy to history and personal accounts to poetry. They were written in Elven, Dwarven, and the common tongue of men. She even had one or two Gnome books and a few Halfling histories. "What troubles you?" Darlinia asked.



"They do", Laura replied, "All of them."



"Why?" Darlinia asked as she sat on the edge of the old and battered mahogany table.



Lauralin looked up at Dar, "They look to me for answers. Answers I do not have. I do not know what to do or how to get myself, let alone anyone else, through this."



"You know", Dar said, "I've had a chance to speak to each of them concerning the reasons they follow you. Would you like to hear them?"



Lauralin looked at Dar with mild surprise. "You have?"



Darlinia nodded. "You have to understand that I had served your father for over a century. When you took over I had my doubts, even though I knew you already. I

questioned each of them to get a feel for you from their perspectives. It says a lot about a person. The reasons they are followed."



Lauralin looked down then back up at Dar, "What did they say?" She asked.



"Well", Darkmoor began, "I shall start with myself, and it’s only fair. You have a nobility of spirit. Your desire to protect others is something I hold in high regard. Yet you have gentleness to you, a gentle spirit, even in your present form. I must admit that your willingness to...how did he put it?...Bend the rules?...That bothers me."



"He", Laura said, "Who?"



"Who else?" Dar asked. "Aveius. And speaking of him, let’s look at his reasons."



"Waiting for his pay?" Lauralin giggled.



"Waiting for his pay?" Darlinia asked.



"Well when I first met him, I was looking for some people to go with me into the swamps. I had hired him to go with me. After we were finished with that fiasco, which I am sure you remember well, he stayed with me. I had forgotten about the payment until much later. Now it is a running joke between us."



Dar laughed and nodded. "Could be that, although that's not what he told me. What he told me was that he was intrigued by you due to your persistence. Stubbornness as he calls it. Strong willed by your own words."



Lauralin laughed and leaned back, looking at Dar and waiting for her to continue.



"You also Look at people as they are, not as they were, he really respects that. He also likes your gentle spirit, although he refers to it as being a 'mother hen'."



Again Lauralin laughed. "Yes I have heard him say that before, directly to me." Laura leaned forward, looking at Dar, "I cannot help it Dar, I care about them all, about you."



Darlinia sat down next to Lauralin and took her hand. "Don't say that like you need to apologize. We like and care for you because of that."



"Since we are on Aveius, however, let’s take a look at his sister. Lea follows you for several reasons. You went to another world to reunite her with her brother. Then



you offered her a home and a job, and not just any job, but First Knight, disregarding the racial dislikes most would feel toward her as a drow. You also took the time to accompany her wherever she needed to go during her initial fear of prejudice in the city."



"Yeah well," Laura interrupted, "You have seen her." Lauralin fluttered one eyelid. "She is beyond beautiful."



Darkmoor laughed and stood up. "Well she is comfortable with you. You are like an older sister to her, and incest was outlawed," Dar finished grinning at Laura who laughed at her poke. "One last thing. She views you as a leader and feels comfortable with your decisions because she is confident that they will be the right ones. You look at everything, from every angle. Sometimes annoyingly analytical, but you leave no consideration out."



"What do you mean annoyingly?" Lauralin asked, "I am not annoyingly analytical."



"Laura. If you see a bowl sitting in the open plains, you will sit there for hours because you HAVE to know who left it there, how and why."



Lauralin just sat, saying nothing, knowing that sometimes her desire to know supercedes everything else. In her experience everything had a meaning. Everything had a story, and she wanted to KNOW that story, that history.



"I suppose Jozan only follows me because she had served father. I know he assigned her here," Lauralin stated.



"You might be surprised Laur," Darlinia responded, "She follows you because of your ability to take charge of a situation and take responsibility for the consequences of your actions and those under you. That is the mark of a true leader."



"And what about Brook?" Lauralin asked, "I cannot figure that out at all."



Dar smiled at her and nodded. "I would wonder that myself. She has a good point though. She admires your fearlessness in the face of adversity. You won't give up just because things are difficult and you don't give up on your people no matter how difficult things get."



"I would hardly say fearless. I am afraid, Dar. So afraid so much of the time."



"Ahh yes but," Darkmoor replied, "It is what you DO that makes the difference between fear and cowardice. Many feel fear, most give into it, you won't."



"Hey", Laura looked at Dar, her eyes filled with curiosity, "What about Seranius? I almost killed him the first time we met; he was a drider and it just...just." Lauralin shuddered at the memory of the spider like Seranius.



"Well actually that is part of the reason, or tied to it anyway. He was originally investigating why Aveius never returned. After multiple fireballs he decided to 'regroup'.



After he got cured and got to know you he found that you two have common interests, like in magic and plays. Mainly, however, it is because you overcame your fear of him."



"As for my sister”, Darlinia continued, “she originally owed you a life debt. But later she came to realize that you were willing to forget her past and accept her even with that kind of past. I don’t know if that will make a difference in the end…"



"She reminds me of you sometimes Dar. Her nobility of spirit, her word and the way she stands behind it. Other times though", Laura searched for the right words and couldn't find them; "Well sometimes she frightens me."



Darlinia nodded. "She is my twin but my opposite. She is a Dark Knight. As long as she owes you a life debt she is of no threat to anyone. If, however, she fulfills that duty to you then I do not know what she will do. Not now, that her own masters have turned their backs on her." Darlinia sighed and gathered herself.



"I am sorry Dar, I like her really."



"I know. There is still hope. She is indebted to you and until that debt is repaid, which could be a very long time, then she must remain. That will be more time with us and more time for her to, hopefully, change."



"Did Baghtru ever tell you why he follows me? I have asked him directly but he has never answered. I mean with everything that I have put him through I just do not understand why he would stay."



"First of all, it's not what YOU'VE put him through. It's what both of you have been through. But yes, I do have an answer for you. You never looked at him as half-orc but always as a companion and an equal. You took him in and took care of him



when he was younger and never asked or expected anything in return. You trusted in him even when he doubted himself."



They both turned as Ferranifer and Arleena entered the room. "I see your being yourself again, my darling,” Arleena said as she sat beside Lauralin and gave her a deep, passionate kiss.



"Please continue, Darlinia", Ferranifer said to Dar, "Arleena and I shall handle our own views."



"Well", Darkmoor said, obviously a little angered at the eavesdropping, "I believe that only leaves Rayanna. She follows you because of your kindness and patience."



Dar then stood "And there you are, barring them." She nodded toward Arleena and Ferranifer. "I have to go, think about what is being said Laur." Darlinia turned and headed out of the library, closing the door behind her.



"Well now," Ferranifer began, "I guess I'll go first." Ferranifer turned a chair around from the library table and with all proper grace and etiquette seated herself, crossing her legs slowly. "Why do I follow you." She seemed to take a moment to



gather her thoughts as Arleena sat back mumbling something that Lauralin didn't hear. "I heard that," Ferranifer told Arleena, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the woman.



"I'm supposed to be concerned about this why?" Arleena asked Ferranifer who sighed and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Well for one, because of your intellect and cunning at such a young age. You managed to figure out things that I



had spent centuries trying to figure out. I became familiar with languages that are no longer even spoken to figure out what the medallion was saying."



"It was not in another language, it was in older common but in cryptogram form."



"I didn't say I wanted to discuss it!" Ferranifer said crossly before visibly calming herself. "I was simply commenting on your intellect. I also like the way you meddle into other peoples affairs to better the world."



"Tha...” Lauralin began but Ferranifer held up her finger. “I'm sure you have your own wording for it, but I am giving MY reasons." Ferranifer got up and sat on the other side of Lauralin. "There is one other reason,” she said leaning close to Laura, "Because you were willing to give me a second chance. You accepted me and....I'm not used to that."



Lauralin smiled at her and embraced her. "You are not so bad as you would have others believe. I have seen your anger when I am threatened, you truly care."



Ferranifer looked at Laura softly for a moment before sitting back and recovering herself. "So you would believe", she said gruffly.



"Oooo, my turn," Arleena interrupted then, "let me see. Why do I follow you. Well, you have a nice butt."



Laura laughed at that as Ferranifer looked at Arleena. "That isn't what we meant."



Arleena sighed. "Okay let me see. Your stubborn, I like that actually, even if it is something I have to put up with."



"I am strong willed, not stubborn."



"Right, I'm giving my reasons, don't interrupt. You’re stubborn. Let me see. Oh. Bitchy."



"Bitchy!? I am not BITCHY."



"Yes you are. If you're fed up with something or someone or if you’re told to do something, or ESPECIALLY if you’re told to NOT to do something, you're Bitchy."



"I am NOT, tell her Ferranifer", Laura said looking at her mentor and creator.



"Oh no, shall we call in Aveius?" Arleena asked as she looked at Lauralin. "He can recount the time when you fireballed the bedroom door as he was standing behind it because he kept interrupting us."



Lauralin sat back saying nothing and just looking at the floor.



"I also like the way your eyes focus when you’re in combat mode."



Lauralin looked at Arleena quizically. "Combat mode?"



Arleena nodded. "When you’re determined, we call it combat mode. You’re so focused on whatever it is your doing."



Lauralin giggled a bit as she leaned against Arleena thinking about the curious descriptor.



"Your ability to look at things from all angles before taking action." Arleena nodded at this point, "Yes, I like this very much."



"Or,” Ferranifer added, "not taking action if the situation would call for none."



Again Arleena nodded, agreeing with Ferranifer. "Of course you sometimes take it to the point of overanalyzing a situation, especially if it seems over simplistic."



Ferranifer chuckled and nodded. "Yeah Dar hit it on the head with the bowl in plains."



Arleena laughed and nodded as Laura sunk back on the couch. "Oh come now darling, you know it's true. But I like that you don't run into things blindly. It's a good quality."



Arleena looked at Laura now, catching her eyes. "And I like that you are so caring. I know I can be cold sometimes but after over six hundred years it happens. But you have that ability to spread warmth to others through your kind actions and caring ways. I adore that about you. And finally I love that overall childlike cuteness when you’re playful."



Laura looked at them both and thought about what Dar had said.



"Come on Arleena", Ferranifer said, standing up, "She'll need time to think about all this."



Arleena nodded and hugged Laura before standing and heading out with Ferranifer. Lauralin sat for some time considering what had been said. She had never dreamed of so many reasons, of so many simple things that she never thought about but that meant so much to others.



Suddenly her senses told her that something was very close and she stood, fire dancing across her hands and fingers.



"No need for that", Shandaril told her. The half-succubus was standing near the window, looking out across the city. "I couldn't help but overhear."



"I am sure you do not miss much. Your demonic senses must be quite impressive."



"Oh", Shandaril chuckled, "Nothing like that, I'm just nosey."



Lauralin looked at the woman, knowing that she was no match for this half-demon, angry at the intrusion. "What do you want Shandaril?"



Shandaril looked over from the window, smiling. "Straight to the point? No chit-chat from the quick, cute one?"



Lauralin saw no harm in this, "How are you?" She asked sincerely.



Shandaril turned to fully face her now, obviously not expecting this sort of reaction. "Well I'm fine actually", she replied, a bit disconcerted, "Can I ask you something?"



"Sure", Laura said, trying to focus on the conversation. Her vampiric nature prevented Shandaril's charm from taking hold, but she was still a beautiful woman.



"I know you have been an adventurer. Have you ever been out a long time, returning late at night, heavy of heart? Only to see a candle burning in an inn window and have your spirits lifted? That single candle a sign of hope, warmth and rest? A promise of peace, if only for a little while?"



Lauralin sat on the table, her mind drifting back to those days on to that world in which she had found herself after the accident that tore open the rift. How many times had this very thing happened? Seven years of wandering, fighting against the terrible forces that sought to imprison and enslave the people. It had often left her looking forward to getting to a safe haven. Oh how well she knew this very thing of which Shandaril spoke. "Yes", was all Laura could say, a lump forming in her throat. Although she had not the power and authority then that she possessed now, she could not help but think of how much simpler things were then.



"Come here", Shandaril said quietly.



Laura eyed the woman wondering what she had in mind.



"Don't worry, I don't bite", She told Laura as she saw the hesitation, "Nibble maybe, but it seems pleasurable enough...at least until they die."



Laura looked at Shandaril, hearing the almost wistful tone of her voice, and approached the window.



"What do you see?" Shandaril asked.



"The city", Laura answered in confusion as she looked out over the nighttime cityscape.



Shandaril nodded. "You know what I see? I see many lights. Many candles burning in the night. Many small hopes and restful places." Shandaril turned and looked at Lauralin. "Do you know why they are here? They seek rest and warmth and peace. They are drawn here by one candle. Yours. You give them hope because you will not allow them to come to harm if you can help it. YOU are that candle in the night to them.



YOU are their hope. Don't extinguish their only means of peaceful rest."



Shandaril leaned down, her lips lightly brushing Lauralin's forehead, then vanished.



Lauralin stood and left the day room after lighting one candle and setting it in the window.....







'Not trust', she thought, 'Hope'.

Chapter 2: Realization



Lauralin turned from the window and walked toward the door of the Library. "Yes, show her in", Laura said in a load voice as she pulled up the hood of her cloak and took a seat at the desk in a shadowy corner. The maid showed no sign of surprise even due to the fact that she and the woman she was escorting had not been expected. She just assumed that the Lady of the house had surveillance gear throughout the mansion and was fully aware of all who came and went.



"Have a seat Lieutenant Schanlein", Laura said as the woman the maid had been escorting entered the room. Sarah Schanlein was disconcerted by the acknowledgement and knowledge of her name but she kept her face impassive and scanned the room as she headed to a couch in the room. Two plush couches sat facing each other with a carved mahogany coffee table sitting between them in front of a deep fireplace. A thick red rug with black swirls covered the floor and brass candleabra sat in the corners of the room. A large picture hung over the mantle of a man with a badly scarred face. She was unable to get a good look at the figure sitting at the desk because of the cloak she wore, but would not let her discomfort show.



"I am here to ask you a few questions", Sarah began. "This is an informal interview, so I wonder if you would mind? I'd like to tape it for your benefit, so that you'll have your answers recorded to prevent any misunderstandings, if that's alright."



"Pertaining to your investigation of the murders that have been taking place", Lauralin finished, "It is fine for you to use your voice recording device."



Sarah a bit taken aback by the quick evaluation and immedietly became suspicious. She looked at Lauralin thinking how odd her reference was to the cassette player and turned on the tape recorder. The woman had an accent that she didn’t recognize so she would have the linguists at the precinct nail it down. “Yes. It seems that the morning after the first murder you bought this house cash. You also deposited a substantial amount of money into a new bank account, also cash. There are no prior records concerning you, either, Ms. Oaks, I find that odd. Can you explain this?"



Lauralin looked up at the picture over the mantle piece of the fire place. It was a hand done painting done by her description and her father’s eyes gazed back at her. She sat for a long moment before Sarah regained her attention.

"Ms. Oaks?" Sarah asked.



"Hmm? Oh. I am sorry", Lauralin said.



Sarah looked at the picture then back at Laura questioningly.



"My father", Lauralin said. "I shall see to it that you get the appropriate materials. Is that satisfactory?"



Sarah nodded. "The crimes", she said, "these people had been drained of blood. No evidence of it in the area at all, and they were killed in that area, we are certain. And the way it happened. Terrible." She looked at Laura as she said the last.



"I do not believe the papers had said how", Laura replied.



Sarah nodded. ‘The papers didn’t say how, but you didn’t say you didn’t know how’, she thought.



"And what's your business here?" Sarah asked.



"Business", Laura replied. "That is, I have business in this city, my work has brought me here."



"And your work is?" Sarah asked.



"Protection", Lauralin said simply.



Sarah considered for a moment. "Did you know any of the people who died?", she asked.



"I fear that I did not", Lauralin replied, "but then I know so few. I go all over the world."



"And I assume that you were home during each murder?" Sarah asked, close to crossing the line between interagation and fact finding.



"Some assumptions are better than many peoples facts", Lauralin told her. It was true, though the assumption was wrong.



Sarah nodded and realized that this wasn't particularly getting anywhere. She reached out and turned off the tape recorder, "That's all for now. I may have more questions later." Standing up she tried to catch a glimpse of the woman but the graceful hostess stood and moved from the desk without revealing her face. The woman moved with amazing grace and it made Sarah nervous, though she wasn't quite sure why.



Lauralin escorted the lieutenant to the door and Sarah caught a glimpse of red behind the cloak she wore. "What is that?" Sarah asked. Lauralin pulled the bottom of the cloak away and revealed her long flame red hair that cascaded down her back, ending only an inch above the floor.



"My god", Sarah said, touching her own golden brown hair. "Mine is only shoulder length and hard enough to deal with."



Lauralin smiled. "Well your profession is very demanding", Laura said.



Sarah then caught a glimpse of amazing emerald green eyes. ‘If this woman is a criminal’, she thought, ‘she must be good. Such features would not be easily forgotten.’



Lauralin watched her drive away then turned and headed back into the mansion.

Laura stormed through the foyer. "Angra!" She shouted and almost immediately her maid appeared. The middle aged woman still looked good with her Black hair in a tight bun with streaks of silver and her brown eyes. She stood taller than Lauralin by half a foot and held herself with quiet dignity.



"Lady?" She asked.



"Cancel the motor couch, please, I will not need it tonight after all."



Angra did a quick curtsey and headed toward the garage where the limo waited.



Lauralin headed up the wide stairway and into her office. She entered the door to her practice room and began her meditation, furious that the local authorities were restricting her movements. Of course, they didn't know they were restricting her movements, but she had read it in the woman's mind.

Laura had been meditating for some time and turned as Angra entered the room. "Forgive me, Lady, but Master Ardrint is here to see you."



Lauralin nodded and stood. She followed Angra to the day room where she met with a man in his late forties. His grey hair still showed blond highlights and his hazel eyes were bright and clear. He had a strong build and stood almost six feet in height but he had about him an aura of sadness.



"Please sit", Lauralin said as she walked in.



"Have you found out anything?" He asked as he sat.



"Not yet, although I think I know. I just would prefer not to say yet. But, I do have a favor to ask of you."



"Anything." He replied.



"I need an identity based on Lauralin Oaks." She said.



"Dana", He replied.



"I'm sorry?"



Michael Ardrint smiled, "Your Dana Oaks, my dear."



Lauralin blushed slightly at her mistake.



"Lauralin", he said, "Beautiful name."



Lauralin smiled, "Thank you. Yes. Dana Oaks. It has to be believable and stand up to scrutiny. The police will be looking into it. I'll pay whatever the cost. I'll also need a world communication machine and someone I can trust to run it here at the mansion."



"World communication machine?” He asked.



"Yes ummm", Lauralin tried to remember the name.



"A computer Master Ardrint", Angra explained.



"Ahhh", Michael chuckled, "Interesting name. Easily done. And, I know just the person you need."



"Thank you just let me know the cost for all this."



"Just find the one who killed my wife, I trust you." Michael stood and headed for the door. "I will start everything immediately."



Angra escorted him to the door as Laura sat in the day room awaiting nightfall.

Chapter 1: The Ultimate Sacrifice



"It is easy to find something worth dying for, what is hard is to finding something worth living for."



Lauralin gazed out of the window of her library as night drew her diamond-studded cloak across the sky. Reflected in the window was a woman of short stature. Her eyes were emerald green and her flame red hair cascaded down her back ending only an inch above the ground. She was very thin with an hourglass figure about five and half feet in height. The rather ample chest was the only thing that threw off her hourglass appearance. Her cheekbones were high-set and she had the slightly pointed ears and lightly arched eyebrows of her Elvin ancestry. The combination of classic elven beauty and human sex appeal mixed in her to make a memorable appearance in most men and many women. Her skin, always pale from long hours of study, had a marble like quility to it now. She stood straight-backed, with the quiet confidence of someone who would look to be at least twice her age. To the world at large she looked to be in her mid to late teens.



The words she had spoken with such passion leapt into her mind as she began to wonder if she had made the right decision. She knew the price she had paid, but she had not been able to find any other solutions and she couldn't have stood by or even fought, knowing that there was the possibility of saving hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.



‘But is there a price that is too high?' she wondered.......



The door to her library opened and Darlinia entered the room. Lauralin turned as the woman approached her and saw her looking about as though expecting an attack at any moment. Darlinia was even shorter than Laura, not quite five feet tall, but had an athletic build to her feminine form, smaller breasted and not so wide of hips. Muscles slid under the ink black skin of the drow woman. Over three centuries of military training had honed her into a lethal fighting machine and her silver hair and white eyes marked her anywhere on the field of battle.



"I want you to assemble the defenders, Dar. I have an idea."



Darlinia Darknight, known as Darkmoor, her combat name, to other drow, looked at Lauralin. Her eyes seemed to study Laura for a moment before she inclined her head slightly.



"I shall see to it directly", she said, "Shall we meet here?"



"No, we will meet in the situation room; just tell them all to meet there within the hour. Thank you Darkmoor." Darlinia inclined her head again, looked around and then headed out.



"She suspects," came a voice from one side of the room.



"Probably," was Lauralin's reply as Ferranifer came around the end of one of the shelves.



Ferranifer was of average height for a human with hazel eyes and rusty red hair unlike Lauralin's deep flame red and a pleasing figure. Her skin had a similar coloring to Lauralin's own and she looked to be in her mid twenties though her eyes seemed old and filled with knowledge.



They continued to review their plan until a knock came on the library door.



"Come," said Laura in a loud voice. Darkmoor entered the room, her eyes shifting again before settling on Laura's guest.



"They are assembled," she said simply, and drew her swords to prepare to escort Lauralin to the situation room.



"Thank you, Dar. Ferranifer?" With that Lauralin headed out toward the waiting company.



They walked out of Lauralin's home and made their way to the palace. The situation room was located in the sub levels of the palace in the former dungeon where prisoners had been tortured by the former 'mad' king. Aveius had gotten a large table with gold leaf and dragon designs for the center of the room. It was here that The Defenders, Lauralin's group read over and worked on reports from throughout the lands. Their mission was to stop potential problems before they became major difficulties. Glass panels, backlit by continual light spells spanned in a semicircle around the room. Solidified pig fat mixed with ink was used to mark positions and places on the boards, each board representing a different land.



Brook jumped to her feet her, orangish hair bouncing and drew her swords as the three entered the room. Her eyes flared at the sight of Ferranifer and she began to move toward the woman with a gleam in her light blue eyes. Her bronzed skin glistened in the torchlight, heavy, but firm breasts, heaving in anger as everyone watched her move toward them. No one in the room wanted to be in the way of the barbarian woman with her steel taut muscles as her six and a half foot frame moved with catlike grace across the floor.



"She is here at my behest," Laura said to Brook, afraid of the woman who was her friend, knowing that, should she become angered, no amount of placated would put her savage mind to rest, "please sheath your weapons and have a seat. Dar? You too."



Darkmoor responded immediately, years of training as a soldier embedded in her psyche. Brook was not so quick to respond but, finally, after a few tense moments, did as she was told.



"You are all aware of the situation in the east." Lauralin began, hiding the relief in a no nonsense tone, "Orcus, Demon Lord of the undead has raised an undead army and slowly moves toward the kingdom."



Ferranifer caught a large rat and proceeded to slit its throat, draining its blood into a goblet as Laura proceeded with her briefing. Those assembled in the room looked at the woman but said nothing. Aveius, his ashen skin, a mixture of drow and human blood, looked at her and then back to Laura. He ran a hand through his silver hair, his eyes, with almost no color to the iris, scanned the room. Aveius knew what was coming; Laura was unable to hide it from him. She had been unable to control the new power she possessed. One instance was the delicate wine glass that she had crushed in her grasp. She had always been rather weak until her change and taking it in her grip, as she was used to, proved too much for the thin glass. The wounds from the shards healed immediately after removing them and he just looked at her knowingly. She had told him then that she wanted time for people to see that she would not change, and now the time had come for her to act.



"As you are also all aware, we have tried every possible way to penetrate his stronghold, to no avail."



Darlinia interrupted at this point, "Forgive me but as you say, we are all aware of this. Your father's forces stand ready at the border. I do not see why we have not joined them as yet. The fight will be long and hard, we should be with them."



"Father is fully aware of what is against him and he even admits that our chances are slim." Lauralin replied, "Every soldier killed is another one for Orcus' forces. Orcus has sealed off every possible entrance to his fortress with either physical impediments or spells. IF we win the cost will be high, thousands will fall, unless we can get inside."



"We can't," replied Darlinia, "as you pointed out, we have tried and failed at every attempt."



"Yes," came Lauralin's response, "and so I had to go over everything again. What do we know?"



"Nothing," came Darlinia's response, "nothing useful anyway. Nothing to help us get in."



"So we must go to who CAN get in?" asked Lauralin.



"SHE can," was Brook's reply as her ice blue eyes locked on the woman at Lauralin's side and her response, as she glared at Ferranifer, showed obvious distaste. Ferranifer had fought Lauralin and Brook about a year before when they had gone to investigate some disappearances. Brook had been severely injured by one of Ferranifer's spells and, the lightning bolt having knocked the barabarian woman through the doorway to the room. Both Ferranifer and Lauralin looked in utter amazement as Brooke strode through the doorway, burned halter top in hand, scorched flesh still smoking and said, 'You ruined my best halter top, you bitch.' They had thought that Ferranifer had been defeated in the fight that continued when she turned to mist.



"Yes, she can, and why is that?" Lauralin asked, as though teaching a class.



"Because she's a vampire," replied Brook.



Darlinia stared at Ferranifer, open-mouthed. "That was what I sensed when I walked into the library!"



Brook looked over at Darkmoor uncomprehendingly.



"Darkmoor is a Paladin, a holy warrior," Laura told Brook, "she had sensed Ferranifer's presence because of her divine power. And you are correct, she can get in. She can get in because she is undead. Undead can enter and leave without difficulty. Prisoners can be brought in without them being stopped. And it is in this boundary that my plan is set. Ferranifer has agreed to accompany us to the stronghold. There, as prisoners, the group can enter..."



"I'm NOT allowing myself to be a prisoner to her!" Brook bellowed vehemently.



"I cannot either," Darkmoor agreed, firmly, "I'm sorry Laura I will take my chances on the battlefield. I acknowledge and accept your cunning and strategic mind but I will not allow myself to be taken by her."



"You will not need to allow yourself to be a prisoner of hers. I shall be leading the group," Lauralin said quietly.



"You can't lead while you're in chains," was Darkmoor's response.



"I won't be," said Laura, "I will be leading you in along with Ferranifer."



"You will be captured, they will see you for what you are," Brook told her, "you said yourself that only undead and prisoners may enter. You can't get in unless you are bound like any other prisoner."



Lauralin took the proffered goblet of blood that was being handed to her by Ferranifer. As she lifted it to her lips, the scent of the blood pushed her fangs out of their gum sheaths, "I can now," was her only response before sipping from the blood filled goblet.



"It is easy to find something worth dying for, what is hard is to finding something worth living for."



'But was it worth the price of the soul I paid' Laura wondered, as she watched the cars

slide past on the asphalt street below. 'Was it worth watching so many friends grow old and die?'