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After offering a brief bow, Ignatious turned to the collection of Golden Eyed soldiers who stood at the gate.

There were nine in total, six wearing dark green tabards over coats of mail while three wore more ceremonial tunics, each with a number of braided cords over their left shoulders to denote their rank.

Seeing the assembled welcoming party, a faint frown flickered across Nyrielle’s face.

Other than Ignatious, there were no vampires present in the honor guard.

And while the officers looked impressive, no matter what positions they held in the Tangled Wood, she doubted any of them stood higher than the High Lord’s own progeny.

"Mistress Nyrielle," Ignatious said, his voice rich and smooth like smoke over water as he made introductions. "High Lord Hamdi regrets that he’s unable to receive you directly but he’s sent Commander Stoll of the Dark Wolf Brigade, along with two of his captains to receive you."

"Commander Stoll, is it?" Nyrielle said, her eyes flashing with a midnight blue and darker, shadowy energy. "And which of these captains is your second in command?"

"Lady Nryielle," the commander said, placing his right fist over his heart in a simple salute before gesturing at the man to his right. "Captain Gruen is my..."

Whatever else he’d been about to say cut off in a strangled cry as Nyrielle vanished from sight only to appear a moment later at the commander’s side with her fangs buried deep into his neck.

Dark wings unfurled, cloaked in a shadowy energy, unleashing a flurry of feathers formed from the shadows of her wings.

Seven feathers struck out like daggers hurled with unerring precision, each piercing the neck of an armored soldier or the heart of Captain Gruen. Only the final, yet-to-be-introduced captain was spared from the fury of Nyrielle’s assault.

"Ah, ah," Zedya said, stepping forward when she saw the captain reaching for the heavy saber at his hip.

Her eyes glowed a brilliant amethyst, completely filling his vision as she advanced on him.

"In this world, you are the lucky one who gets to live, but only if you stay still and wait for Mistress Nyrielle to tell you why you were spared. Do you understand?"

"Yes, lady..." the captain said numbly with a glazed look in his eyes.

Zedya might not understand why Nyrielle had been so ruthless with the welcoming delegation, but she didn’t need to understand in order to play her part.

Since her Mistress had spared the life of this man, she had a use for him and it wouldn’t do for him to force someone to kill him in a misguided attempt at heroics.

After decades at her lady’s side, she knew her role without being prompted and she wasted no time in securing the fortunate captain until Nyrielle was ready to deal with him.

For several minutes, Commander Stoll hung limply in Nyrielle’s arms as she drank her fill of his rich, vigorous blood.

The commander had been a soldier for most of his life, doubtlessly he was one of the best of his cohort a decade ago.

Now, his vitality had begun to fade, losing the fresh potency of the young.

Instead, his blood tasted like a rich, aged wine, steeped in decades of bloody combat before being placed on the shelf to mature.

Ignatious and Zedya watched with calm, unflinching gazes as Nyrielle fed.

Neither batted an eye, even when Commander Stoll began to thrash and struggle in her grip.

Yet, for all of the man’s vaunted strength, he was as helpless as a newborn cub in her grip, powerless to resist from the start of his struggles until the light faded from his eyes and Nyrielle dropped him unceremoniously to the ground in a heap at her feet.

"You there," Nyrielle said to the remaining man. His eyes began to tremble the second that Zedya released her hold on his mind, darting from the corpses of his commander and companions to the winged vampire and back again before he took two halting steps backward and started looking for a way to escape the nightmare he’d been plunged into.

"Take a message to Hamdi," Nyrielle said as her eyes returned to their normal midnight blue pools, losing the menace of her darker, shadowy energy.

"Tell him that he is to come to my chambers one hour before dawn to pay his respects to the Harbinger of Death," she commanded.

"And tell him that he should thank me for cleaning up his trash. "

"You should run, Captain Aiss," Ignatious added, his voice startling the soldier out of his paralysis. "Mistress Nyrielle’s words are as precious as gold and just as heavy. It wouldn’t do to hold them too long before they’re delivered," he said, sending the Golden Eyed soldier scampering back into the Tangled Tower.

"I’ve seen to the preparations of your chambers personally," the former Inquisitor added as he gestured for Nyrielle to precede him into the tower.

"Sister Zedya can attend to your belongings once I’ve shown you the way," he said, stepping over a fallen soldier’s body without so much as a glance at the unfortunate man.

Whether the man had met his struggle in this life or not, Ignatious couldn’t say, but he found it unlikely.

He could only hope that the man had done enough in this life to be given greater opportunities in the next one.

Those thoughts, however, were as fleeting as the man’s life had been, quickly fading from Ignatious’s mind as he led Nyrielle to the Tangled Tower.

The tower itself had been constructed of black granite with a subtle twist to its pentagonal structure.

The entire exterior of the tower was wrapped with a twisted iron structure that emulated a wild climbing rose on a massive scale.

Wicked metal ’thorns’ protruded along the length of the twisted ironwork and every dozen feet or so a ’rose’ of blades blossomed, ready to slice flying predators to ribbons if they dared to attempt to perch on the massive iron structure.

Inside the tower, oil lamps burned at regular intervals interspersed with faded tapestries depicting glorious battles fought centuries ago along with well-preserved paintings of notable men and women of ages past. From the clear depictions of fangs in each of the paintings, it was obvious that only Hamdi’s progeny received the honor of a portrait in his grand entry hall.

After descending two flights of spiral stairs into the levels of the tower beneath the ground, Ignatious opened a heavy iron-bound wooden door and gestured for Nyrielle to proceed him in.

The sitting room was opulent and well lit with dozens of oil lamps burning quietly and casting a soft, golden light over the luxurious furnishings.

Despite the antique design of everything in the room, not a speck of dust could be found and the cushions and upholstery on the sofas and chairs looked freshly washed and restuffed, even if the fabric itself was somewhat faded from age.

"Your bed chamber is through those doors," Ignatious said, pointing at another heavy, iron-bound set of doors. "And I’ve moved myself into the room next door for the duration of your stay. I hope Sister Zedya won’t mind sharing a common room with me," he said, flashing the other vampire a smile that revealed a hint of his fangs.

"Since you’ve made the arrangements, I’ll naturally follow them," Zedya said, offering a shallow curtsey. "I’ll see to your belongings, my Lady," she added, turning to Nyrielle. "I’m sure the two of you have a great deal to discuss."

"Zedya," Nyrielle said before the youngest vampire in the room could leave. "If anyone slights you, so long as they aren’t Hamdi’s progeny, kill them directly for the offense. Feed if you’re hungry and if they’re worthy, but don’t hesitate to kill until your dress is stained red."

"As you command, my Lady," Zedya said, her brows furrowing slightly at the instruction. "But, may I ask why?"

"Because Hamdi has chosen to welcome me like an Eldritch Lord, and one that he is too busy to waste his time to welcome personally," Nyrielle said, her eyes growing dark as her fingers sharpened into claws.

"I can forgive a High Lord for being preoccupied with matters of their domain.

I cannot forgive him for failing to send even one of his progeny to receive me. "

"If he still thinks of me as the naive little girl I was two centuries ago, it’s time to teach him otherwise," Nyrielle said. "If Hamdi wishes to keep the old ways then it’s time someone reminds him that the old ways are a two-edged sword."

"Now, Ignatious," Nyrielle said as she withdrew her dark aura and relaxed her hands.

Her wings remained unfurled and her presence was still much less human than normal but she made every effort to present a welcoming attitude to her exiled progeny.

"There are many things I wis to ask you, but the most important one is this. "

"From your attire, I assume you have yet to forsake your faith," Nyrielle said, leaning forward and regarding the former Inquisitor with a predatory gaze. The red and gold vestments he wore may be in an antiquated style, but the looked like they had been made recently. While he could have dressed himself in anything, clearly he’d gone through some effort to maintain the attire that functioned as a badge of office in his former life. It was a choice that Nyrielle wasn’t willing to dismiss as a simple habit.

"What I want to know," she said with eyes that seemed to pierce through his heart to examine his very soul. "Is if you still have command of your Holy Flames..."