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The outcome of the duel between the newly appointed Lord General Thane and Savis couldn’t be any more clear.

Savis’s claws hadn’t come within a handbreadth of Thane’s brilliant, white tunic without being completely restrained by the new Lord General.

Rather, with a few sharp words and a display of frightening power, Thane had completely dominated the white furred vampire, leaving him with no ability to retaliate.

At this point, the people who had moved behind Ashlynn and her coven should return to their seats so the meeting could continue, but as they stared at the sight of the powerful, Golden Eyed vampire groveling on all fours before Thane’s relaxed figure, no one seemed willing to make the first move.

"RISE," Thane commanded as a gentle smile spread across his soft lips, allowing the power of his voice to ripple over the cowering vampire like the cleansing waters of a mountain stream. "Rise as my commander and REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE."

Once again, Savis found his body moving of its own accord before he could even think of whether or not he should obey, only this time, something about Thane’s softer tone made him want to rise, to climb to his feat, not because he hated the humiliation of being forced to grovel on the floor but because Thane asked him to rise and to remember himself.

"You are Savis, the White Fang of the Tangled Wood, Slayer of the Eldritch Lords Garibor and Talshafan and Commander of the elite soldiers of Lady Nyrielle’s army," Thane said, infusing his voice with enough power to completely dispel the effects of his earlier command.

"There is no shame in submitting to your Lord General," he added in a quieter tone as he extended a hand to help the defeated vampire return to his feet.

"And there is no reason to lose your pride for what you have accomplished in the past. But now, I need you to set your eyes on the battles of the future.

Can you do that for me, Commander Savis?

" Thane asked, looking directly into the older man’s golden eyes.

"I admit my mistake," Savis said, turning his golden eyes briefly to Zedya whose amethyst eyes shone brightly as whispered in her husband’s ear, doubtless sharing her own insights on what had just taken place. "I judged you by my experience fighting Madame Zedya. I didn’t realize that there existed a vampire among Her Eternity’s progeny who could overwhelm me with their strength. "

"Then I should warn you," Zedya said lightly as she took Lennart’s hand in hers and led him back to their seats. "Among all of Lady Nyrielle’s human progeny, I am the weakest in a clash of arms. Because I serve at Mistress Nyrielle’s side, I rarely need to resort to force and I have much less practice fighting than my siblings. "

"Had you been facing off against Marcel," she suggested with a brief glance at the empty seat. "You may never have seen him before his blades found your neck. And Sybyll would have torn you limb from limb, just to paint the room red with your blood."

"Zedya," Thane said gently as he helped the still shaken vampire back to his seat. "He’s acknowledged his mistake. There’s no need to rub salt in the wound. I’m sure that Commander Savis is looking forward to the chance to fight side by side with the rest of us in the battles to come."

"Your Eternity," Savis said as he took his seat, his voice carefully controlled despite the slight tremor he could still feel in the hand that Thane had grasped, stopping his attack as if his arm were caught in a vice even before the command of ’HALT’ overwhelmed his mind.

His golden eyes remained lowered, unable to meet those of the others at the table directly and there was no trace of his previous arrogance to be found in his slumped shoulders and tightly curled tail.

When he finally did look up at Nyrielle, his golden eyes held a mixture of deeply wounded pride and grudging respect.

"I have defeated Eldritch Lords who were strong enough to rule over domains twice the size of the Vale of mists," he said quietly.

"But none commanded the kind of... presence I felt from Lord General Thane," said as he straightened his shoulders slightly, sitting upright in his chair and attempting to recover some of his lost dignity.

"After seeing Sir Ignatious suffer under High Lord Hamdi’s claws for so long, and facing Madame Zedya in combat, I believed that I understood the limits of your progenies’ strength and ability. Clearly," he added with a touch of his former pride, "I was sorely mistaken."

For a moment, the defeated vampire paused, visibly struggling as he suppressed his desire to lash out at one of Nyrielle’s other progeny in order to reclaim some of his lost standing and the bitter realization that the difference between him and the other vampires at the table might be even greater than he imagined.

"The others in your service," he finally asked, choosing his words with uncharacteristic care.

"Do they all possess such... formidable gifts?

" His gaze flickered briefly between Thane and Nyrielle, as though he was trying to reassess not just the opponent who had defeated him but the nature of the battlefield itself now that he had entered the heart of the Harbinger of Death’s territory.

"As much as I would like to boast that all of my progeny can stand equal to Thane," Nyrielle said, looking at the handsome vampire with a complicated gaze.

"Even I will admit that Thane received a greater gift from me than I have given anyone else.

When he drank from my wrist the night he became a vampire, I allowed him to feed until I could feel the call of the abyss tearing at my soul," she said, looking into Thane’s eyes as she briefly fell into a world that belonged to the two of them alone.

Both of them had changed a great deal in the years since their first meeting and looking back, perhaps she’d been wrong to do what she had done.

It wasn’t until decades later, when Ashlynn had appeared in her life, that she realized just how misguided she’d been, but at the time, she had risked her very existence in the hope that Thane could bring her something that she had only seen from the outside and never felt for herself. ..