Hello all, here is chapter 5. Yes I know it's been forever and we've gotten older, grown a few more grey hairs and a few more wrinkles. I'm sure some of you have been waiting so long you have turned into fossils. All I can say is I'm sorry and that I blame it on my attention span. I have the attention span of a tuna fish… Yes my attention is very erratic. I had to force it back into shape to get the below chapter out. Let me warn you in advance I've done absolutely no proof reading so pardon the mistakes also sorry if my writing is out of shape. Most of all ENJOY!

His skin had turned purplish red, sizzling where the silver dagger was buried in his flesh. Lucian groaned bending forward slightly, a hand over his abdomen. He could feel Sonya's eyes on him as he attempted to extricate the dagger. He yelped, wisps of smoke drifting up from his charred hand. The hilt of the blade was silver as well. Sonya was still in silence when she made her way towards him, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on the offending object. She caught his eyes asking him quietly if he was ready, in response he took a deep breath to steal himself. Sonya's tensing muscles yanked back on the dagger. Lucian staggered taking a second to stifle the pain before he managed to croak, "How is my lady feeling?". Her body was quickening with the setting sun, the sharpness of her eyes hinted at it and her blooming smile confirmed it. "I am well Lucian. Which, it seems, is more than I can say for you. Perhaps you should sit and rest."

"I am well my lady; it was only a touch of silver."

She inclined her head in response then made her way to the coffin where her father lay his body still in convalescence. She passed her hand over the glass and kissed it.

Sonya started making her way to the exit "I have to go outside. The deathdealers are rising, we must hurry." Lucian made to follow her when a fog began to permeate his vision and the ground began to sway like the sea. Lucian swooned now doubting his own words. The world began to contort around him his footing unsteady as he made his way towards Sonya.

"Are sure you are ok? You look… unwell." She sounded worried.

"Yes…" he lied standing a little straighter "I will go back up. Perhaps my lady should stay with her f-"

"I will not cower in the dark under pretense of guarding my father! The deathdealers are rising and I am one of them. I-"

"Something is not right. I'm still bleeding freely…Why am I still bleeding?"

His fading vision was turning him blind, forcing him to reach his hands out as he lost his footing. Sonja's distorted voice was echoing distantly around him and his sense of smell was blunted. He was overcome with an intense bitterness that made him heave; then the floor seemed to disappear from under him as the world fell away.

"…Lucian!"

Sonya managed to wrap her arms around him before he hit the floor. She stumbled backward staggered slightly by his weight. He was heavier than he looked and much heavier than she had expected. A human woman would have been crushed under him, but she was able to lay him down gently on the floor. Sonya didn't know much about lycan anatomy but one look at the gash left by the dagger and she suspected that he had been poisoned. Any immortal pierced by a weapon, would begin healing immediately unless the offending object was still in his system. Sonya placed a finger in the gash feeling the wound for a sliver of silver but there was none. She pulled her finger out and rested her hand on his abdomen, enjoying his firmness. There was the strong scent of blood, sweat and death on him but underneath that she could smell earth, wind and that musky male scent she had caught the night he'd helped her evade Markus. Sonya ran her hands up his stomach, to his chest then back down his arms. His body was hard, rough and heated so unlike her own, so completely foreign. He was everything she had been raised to spurn, but instead of disdain she felt… enthralled. A thousand butterflies fluttered in Sonya's stomach moving upward to her lungs and heart, then tingling down her limbs. She passed her fingers over his lips and the feel of them was like the force of gravity dragging her own down to him. They were so close that she could feel his breath – suddenly a tremor racked Lucian's body breaking Sonya's trance and snapping her eyes to his wound. It was puckered, red and oozing puss. He had definitely been poisoned but she couldn't say by what. She knew of nothing that had a long lasting venomous effect on lycans other than silver left too long against their skin. Yet even though it was devoid of the metal, his skin continued to sizzle. Sonya felt worry burn through her gut eating away at her nerves but there was nothing she could do to help him with the humans running rampant within the castle walls. Resting her back against her father's coffin Sonya pressed her palm against Lucian's chest just above his heart. She found that though her predicament left her anxious, the thundering beats of his heart eased her thoughts and the movement of his heart stilled her nerves. She would stay with them and keep them safe from the invaders until the humans were gone.

The brightness of the world seeping past the crack of his eyelids sent a searing flash of agony through his head. Despite the numbness of his lips and tongue he could still taste the overwhelming bitterness. A cool hand was pressed against his damp feverish skin while something moist and soft drifted from his cheek to his lips. A woman's unintelligible whispers reassured him, her voice's familiar cadence lilted beautifully slowly sending the stinging sharpness of the world to the darkness again.

Sonya watched his bloodshot eyes crack open, struggling desperately against the candlelight in the room. Lucian's skin had paled; his tan had faded to a sickly washed out beige only hinting at the healthy sheen that made his kind almost glow with vitality. His scent normally a thick earthy musk was now tainted from the poison. Lucian's body shivered in exertion as he attempted to move, his pain obvious. No one was around to see her place her cool lips on his cheek, then it was again like gravity when her eyes fell to his lips pulling her forward until her mouth brushed against his. He burns hotter then the sun… Her eyes would not move from his skin; her hands itched to touch, yearning to discover him. An undeniable pooling had started in the base of her stomach as she passed her hand over his forehead to brush his hair away. She inched forward once more her lips just above his, his heat like fire on her skin. Closer still her body moved, her tongue darted out to touch her upper lip, curiosity eating at her, begging her, wanting her to, the heat pouring from her stomach down between her thighs. Just this once - A mad howl sounded from beyond the walls jerking her away from him in a start. Her eyes darted about the room assuring her that she was still alone. It would more than raise eyebrows if she was caught with the lycan like this. Animals! She had heard so many times before Sons of the beasts beyond our walls. Savages. Filth. Sonya's expression hardened. She knew what they were, she had seen what they were with her own two eyes, but she knew now that though Lucian might their direct descendent, he was no beast. Not to me. Not anymore. Placing her lips by his ear she promised him "Everything is going to be alright Lucian. I'll make sure you are well taken care of. Rest now. When you wake up again, you will be stronger."

Sonya pulled firmly on Seti's reigns bringing him to a jerky halt in front of a large red brick building. Sonya's nose wrinkled and her lips pouted at the stench of death, decay and excrement that were suspended in the air like a thick fog. Leaning over Seti's shoulder she exhaled sharply then made a conscious effort to stop breathing. Although unnecessary for their survival, breathing was encouraged and expected of vampires as the unnecessary motion helped not only to disguise their nature from humans but also served as a weapon: so much more information was available to those who used all their senses. Patting Seti's neck firmly, she swung one leg over his back and hopped onto the floor beside him. The deathdealers had tortured some of the humans for days interrogating them about the attack. The interrogations had all proven less than fruitful. All but one, when finally a mercenary had given the name of Alcott Frewin a doctor in the nearby village of Evershot. Sonya had breathed a deep sigh of relief and hope. It had been five days since the attack on Corvinus Castle and still Lucian was sick with fever and shills. His body grew clammy and his skin turned green, the gash where the infection had begun remained purple but had black pustules forming on the ridges. Lucian stank of decay now, his earthy odor overtaken by the smell of approaching death. Sonya shuddered, she could not thank him by watching him die… she would not watch him die. Taking a deep breath through her mouth she puffed out the foul tasting air, this visit would be short and sweet but she would find what she needed to know if it meant breaking coven rules and raining terror on the mortals within.

Sonya crept through the hospital, past the dying men and women left with no proper care. Sonya felt a familiar prickle of disgust at the baseness and squalor of their existence, like the lycans beyond their walls they were also nothing but animals. She drifted through the building following muffled sounds filtering through a closed door at the end of the room. When she reached the door, she gave a violent kick that sent it flying off its hinges and into the opposing wall where it crashed and splintered into pieces on the floor. A high-pitched screech filled the room and two bodies went scrambling apart. A middle-aged woman in a nurse's attire skittered further up on the table where she had been lying with her legs splayed, and pulled her dress down. The other individual, a man in his early sixties struggled to pull up his breaches.

"Doctor Alcott Frewin, I have heard that you know much about the wolves that hunt the forest beyond the gates. Is this true?"

The Doctor stuttered still fiddling with his breaches "My lady I don't know-" With his denial came a flash of Lucian's tanned face gone greenish grey with sickness beneath his skin. Sonya felt her lips pull back to bare her fangs now extended to their full length and her eyes she knew shone a piercing blue. The nurse on the table gasped and crossed herself closing her eyes and mouthing prayers to ward off evil.

"Don't lie to me doctor! The village whispers your name speaking of experiments and beasts within these walls."

"My lady they are mistaken I-" hissing lightly Sonya darted forward grabbing the doctor's jaw in one hand and lifted him off his feet in a show of unnatural strength. The nursed startle by the strength and speed Sonya displayed skittered too far back on the table and tumbled off the edge. The doctor whined "Please! Please! They are but experiments to help our village! Nothing more! I will stop if it is what pleases your master, just please do not k-"

"So you do perform experiments on them?"

"Yes my lady. The experiments are done in this very hospital. Their corpses keep well and react almost as if still living… I seek ways to wound them, ways to kill or weaken them. If your desire or your master's desire is for us to stop-"

"No, I need you to help me find a cure. If you do this, I will leave you be."

"I will do anything my lady pleases…"

"Excellent… fetch your things. You will come with me… You!" Sonya said pointing at the nurse "one word of our encounter to anyone and I will return, and by all that is unholy you will not like the results, do you understand?" At the nurses nod, Sonya grabbed Alcott by the back of his collar and led him our to Seti.

On the seventh day following the attack on Corvinus Castle Viktor was awake, and though he still required the constant support of an intravenous blood transfusion his composure was still as regally commanding as Sonya had ever seen it. His eyes surveying the chairs that circled the room found that of the 12 council members there were only four present. Their record keeper Talos, whose chair balanced on its two front legs leaning on the table before it, was also missing.

"Tanis!" Viktor's voice was still raspy and weak from his recent awakening.

"Yes, my lord." Talos' gaunt looking assistant stepped forward. Victor had never really liked him, he was a sniveling, conniving, coward that hid behind his books and tried to manipulated others to his advantage; only to slink away when events turned for the worst… but sometimes you had to overlook certain flaws, especially as an elder. Tanis was good at what he did and for this reason he continued on with his decision.

"It seems your master's death has left a vacancy that only you are qualified to fill. Congratulations, record keeper. I bid you, sit down."

The record keeper pulled the seat back noisily and was seated with plume in hand poised over paper. Viktor's wheezing breaths filled the room as he looked around noting the loss of numbers in the council chamber then focusing his eyes back on Tanis he started:

"Tanis take note that on the day of August 2nd 1582, Council members Luthar, Evangeline, Acciai, Gagan, Emma, Frongar, Amina and Eliza were lost in an invasion of Corvinus Castle. I, Viktor the elder call forth their successors Abdel, Mandeep, Serge, Agnes, Aileen & Osla , take your places." Viktor placed both hands on the stone chair, his weight on his palms and with a great deal of effort he forced his body up. " Raise your hands and repeat these words:

"I pledge allegiance to the Elders and to the great chain of blood memories. I will seek only truth to further the knowledge of the elders and remain steadfast in my fidelity to the blood memories; for these memories will depend on my existence as my existence will depend on them. To waver will be their distortion and their distortion will be my undoing." The council members echoed his words then paused to look at Viktor

"Welcome to the council." Viktor stated then motioned for them to be seated. "What information have we of this attack?"

"Not much, my lord." Agnes replied

" Have we captured any of the invaders?"

Abdel started "Yes, we have my lord but they do not know much. They swear their only knowledge is that which was given to them by their head."

"Head?"

"Yes my lord, a John Harvel. His death on was confirmed however, apparently torn in two by one of the slaves."

"My lord dare I suggest that perhaps it was the lycans who aided the humans in their invasion?" Gerard interjected.

Sonya stood "The Lycans? Our slaves? Forgive me Gerard but that is not only impossible but also quite ridiculous. Why would the Lycans give humans information about their own vulnerabilities? The human riffraff were able to wound and kill vampires but they were also just as effective at destroying our slaves. The slaves did their duty and defended us. In truth if not for the lycans, and one in particular, we would have suffered much greater lo-"

"Ah yes, the one you keep in the barn pampered and waited on hand and food by the human doctor? Your attentiveness with that animal Sonya bothers me, in fact I think it rather questionable that-"

At his referring to Lucian as an animal Sonya's eyes narrowed. She felt her fangs begin to elongate and she struggled to keep her reaction muted, worried that that those about her would notice the depth of her irritation. "You think?" she found herself interrupting despite her effort to remain silent "I find that hard to believe Gerard. If you would think for just one second that what you suggest is even slightly feasible. You also forget, that this slave stayed and guarded my father – our elder and myself. If not for him we would have been amongst the losses. Where were you Gerard? Perhaps you were away contemplating the emptiness that resonates in that overgrown h-"

"Sonya-" Viktor interrupted and paused giving her time to control her temper. "Gerard, I would advise you watch your tongue in our presence, you are a guest here and we are willing to overlook many indiscretions in light of our past agreements, but we do not look kindly on such accusations. And an accusation of this nature from yourself –of all people- to my daughter is unwise wouldn't you think?"

What's going on? Sonya wondered what does he mean by 'yourself of all people'? What agreement? Marcus also made some comments earlier during his conversation with Gerard. Sonya felt a pit in her gut; something wasn't sitting well with her. She would have to have a private conversation with her father.

"You are absolutely right, my elder." Looking at Sonya "Forgive me Sonya."

Sonya shoved down the rest of her anger and smiled sweetly "Lady Sonya" she corrected " And yes all is forgiven."

Bringing his eyes to Sonya Viktor stated "Now that slave you mentioned?"

"Yes father, he was wounded and close to death. A human doctor was able to heal him. He is recovering in the stables."

"Such effort for a beast." Viktor reprimanded.

"I did not see fit to reward such dedication with death. It would not discourage others from making much effort. Why fight to protect their lords if we will not attempt to heal a few wounds? " Sonya lied.

"Yes, once again I concur. See him well treated, well fed and pardoned for any past offences."

Sonya felt warmth in her chest as her father uttered those words.

"The human doctor? How is it that he possesses the knowledge to help the beast?"

Sonya sighed and described how and what she had discovered about the doctor and his experiments.

"Make sure he is well interrogated when he is done his work on the Lycan. I'm sure he possess more information than he has shared."

"But f-, my lord I gave him my word that I would release him."

"He has betrayed us, the very beings that protect him from the beasts that prowl the forests. If we do not set an example, the duplicity will only fester and spread. He will tell us everything he knows and he will die for his betrayal."

Viktor stood signaling the end of the meeting. In silence, the council disbanded.

Please review and tell me what you think. Toddles.