Steel, Fire, Honor and Ruin

Chapter 24
ballerinas, bats, and molten metal

Location: Nuln, city-state of the Empire
Day 74

"Don't touch that."

Maria pulled her hand back from the jar on the shelf.

"Don't touch that either."

She pulled her hand back form the next jar.

"Consider my request that you not touch anything to extend to the entire wall and its contents."

Maria frowned as she had already been reaching for the third jar. She turned from the shelf and wandered aimlessly around the room as Oskar stood over his small workstation.

The doctor took a quick glance over his shoulder. "I told you to take a seat."

"I'll stay on my feet. If I walk in step with the throbbing in my head it doesn't hurt as much," Maria admitted as she continued her patrol of the room. She noticed the doctor shake his head.

"Most would have learned the lesson after nearly bursting their brain the last time they pulled on the winds." With a sigh he then added, "Of course most people would avoid contact with vampires and skaven altogether…"

Technically he was right, but if she hadn't decided to intervene last night then Nuln would have lost its entire industrial capacity to the skaven and their bombs. And who knows how the city would have reacted to that blow. It would have not only upset the balance of power within Wissenland, but the whole of the Empire and beyond.

She didn't feel the need to point that out to him though. Oskar was an educated enough man to have probably figured that out for himself already. And she was here specifically to lean on his good graces in order to cure her growing headache.

Maria would have liked to have said she had walked across Nuln to visit Oskar at the local hospital where he worked to cure the headache that had been plaguing her since this morning… but that was far from the case. While the idea and general concept of a building dedicated solely to the nurturing of the sick and wounded wasn't unknown to the Empire, hospitals as she understood them were still centuries from being constructed on this primitive world.

The building she was standing in, while larger than the immediately surrounding structures, could at best measure up to about a fourth of the size of the city-state's opera house, and only rose up two-stories; but it at least proved to Maria that the Empire wasn't entirely stuck in the dark ages. She had seen rows of beds for the generally unwell, while more serious cases got separate enclosed rooms. As Oskar had led her up to his office on the second floor, he had explained at Maria's asking that the first floor also had a room set aside specifically for surgeries… and vivisections.

Less she knew about that the better.

Overall, by Citadel standards, these people's medical knowledge was beyond subpar; but they had the benefit of magical healing spells, potions, and water blessed by the priestesses of Shallya that could cure everything from mild infections to the plague.

Blessed H2O that could cure plague… Maria figured that evened things out pretty drastically all things considered. And speaking of magical spells, that reminded her.

"Can I ask you a personal question Oskar?"

He was currently peering into a glass flask as he whisked some ingredients together. "I suppose."

Maria's pacing of the cluttered office had brought her back to the door, and after a quick peek out into the hall to see if any other of the nurses or doctors were nearby, closed it, and turned back to face the man.

"Why do you hide the fact you can use the winds of magic?"

Her question nearly caused the man to drop the flask as he flinched and spun around with a brief look of urgency on his face until he noticed Maria had shut the door to the room cutting off their conversation from any passerby's.

"Gods above woman!" He took a moment to compose himself, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, then looked back up at Maria. "That isn't a subject broached so carelessly. Why would that even concern you?" His tone bordered on the defensive.

"I'm honestly curious," she replied, crossing the room and leaning her hip on the edge of the table he was working beside. "While most of my time in Nuln has been spent at the university reading up on the High Elves of Ulthuan, even my brief studies on the Empire tell me that battle wizards are highly prized by every province and their ruling Elector Counts. It's not like people with magical abilities are openly shunned or persecuted. In fact, the only time they are hunted, are in cases like yours. Self-taught citizens who refuse to join the colleges and be officially trained, or those whose natural gifts make them a danger."

Her time spent in Bokel with Johanna came to mind. That young woman hadn't even known what she was, and it had almost had the witch hunters burning her at the stake. That alone proved people were willing to kill those who refused the College's teachings. Why would someone like Oskar take the risk?

"So?" Maria prompted as Oskar remained silent, messing around with the concoction he was brewing for her.

"There are any number of reasons," he finally said, reaching for a small wooden box and removing a few leaves from the container. "None are strictly personal, but, honestly, it mostly boils down to the fact that I like my life the way it is. I have no desire to sell myself to the Empire and be expected to die as some no-name statistic on a far-off battlefield." He took the leaves, rolled them lightly into a ball between his hands, then handed the ball off to her.

"Chew on these," he told her, "then drink this," as he placed a wooden cup in her other hand. "This should help relieve the symptoms of your headache."

Maria looked from the cup, to the ball of leaves, then back up to Oskar. He just stared back at her without breaking into a grin and hysterical laughter so this little remedy of his must have been genuine. With a half-hearted shrug she popped the leaves in her mouth.

Mmm, a bit minty. The she nearly gagged. Terrible aftertaste.

"So, you're not the type willing to take orders," she asked after forcing herself to swallow the leaves down.

"No, not at all," he replied while tidying up his supplies. "I enjoy what I do, and even more, I enjoy being paid vast sums of gold while I do it on my terms."

Maria downed the liquid potion and set the empty cup down with a smile. "You're in the business for the money. Not the worst reason I suppose. Except I've heard wizards make a fair living working for the Colleges and the Empire."

The doctor barked out a laugh. "Yes! If you're a mage of the Bright and Gold colleges. Fire is flashy and scorches the Empire's enemies to ash, while metal reinforces its cities and foundations. You'll never see a poor mage from those colleges. But have you even seen a Jade wizard during your travels?"

"No, I don't think so."

"They're nothing more than druids," Oskar informed her with a sad shake of his head. "Most of the men and women from the Jade Order care more about becoming one with nature than making a life for themselves within a town or city. I tell you, if it weren't for their college in Altdorf, we'd never see them leave their 'lives of luxury' within the forest. Making beds out of sticks and mud," he added with a growl. "Bathing in rivers on the odd week they manage to come across one. Moss grows on their robes you know. I've seen it."

Maria couldn't help but crack a grin at his disdain for the wizarding order he technically belonged to. Clearly Oskar was the sort of man used to the comforts of modern living.

Oskar scowled. "I'm so glad it amuses you considering you're the one who's made my chosen life so much harder."

Maria was taken aback. "What? How did I screw things up?"

"Who do you think was paying me the gold? I wasn't getting wealthy healing the poor and desperate of Nuln. My powers were valued by every crime lord in Nuln. They would argue, disagree, they would fight, and I was hired to put them all back together again so the whole circus could go on and on and on."

"Oh… oh!" Despite her efforts Maria's amusement only grew causing Oskar to scowl some more. "I'm sorry! But you can't expect me to feel bad over cleaning up Nuln's criminal underground. And after last night's attack I'd guess most in the city-state will appreciate things quieting down."

Oskar leaned over his workstation. "Well not me. I was safer with all those criminals in my debt. Together they kept the witch hunters off my scent. Now who's left? Just Valantina and Schatzenheimer."

"Schatzenheimer? I've never heard of him."

"And for good reason! That two-copper peddler has less than two dozen petty thieves and hustlers working for him, and they rarely leave the poorest districts. I give it a week before Antonio just forces the man to either leave Nuln or start paying for the right to stay." Oskar looked thoughtful for a moment. "I should make my way to Talabheim. That city-state practically runs off the black-market. Must be a demand for a skilled mage living outside the system. Yes, that's best. I'm sure to make plenty of gold working there."

Maria offered him a pat on the shoulder. "Well whatever you decide I hope it works out for you. And speaking of silver and gold…" she shrugged guiltily, "I'm kind of broke right now so you'll have to bill Antonio for this visit."

Despite his early complaining Oskar smirked. "I'll be sure to overcharge him then. I'll need the extra coin for my trip." He crossed the room over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a quill and piece of paper. Maria followed him over but when he shut the drawer again the sharp noise still had her wincing.

"How long does it take your medicine to start working?"

Oskar was busy writing on the paper. Probably a receipt to be sent to Valantina. "No more than an hour or two. As I said, it will only manage the symptoms. You continue to pull on the winds of magic without properly preparing yourself first and this won't be your last headache."

A couple hours? Maria hoped the concoction would kick in faster than that. She brought a hand up to rub her forehead. "You ever thought of trying to make magical potions? The one Balthasar Gelt used last night to heal my injuries felt great and worked immediately."

The quill in his hand froze as Oskar looked up from the paper to stare at her. "Balthasar Gelt? Supreme Patriarch Balthasar Gelt? Did you just say he's here in Nuln? Right now?"

"Yeah. He's the one who pulled me out of the Iron Tower after I was arrested by the witch hunters. Healed the gunshot wound in my chest with some sort of potion."

Oskar dropped the quill and ran a shaky hand over his face. "You met with the Supreme Patriarch, interacted with his magic… and then walked straight here from Valantina's inn to a get a cure for your headache?"

"Yes?" Was he worried Gelt would find out about his secret? "I wasn't followed Oskar, you don't need to –"

"Thank you for your business miss Shepard," Oskar began as he circled around his desk, put his arms on Maria's shoulders and steered her straight toward the door. He pulled it open with one hand while the other on her back firmly pushed her out. "But now I'm going to need you to leave. I must check in with a pair of patients and then prepare for my very imminent trip to Talabheim. Have a good day."

Out of the doctor's office Maria turned to just in time to have the door shut in her face. Suppose she should have seen that coming after all he had just told her. Oops.

"Thank you for the medicine!" she called through the door before leaving.

/ooooooo\

The weather was against her today. Halfway into her walk to her second destination it started to rain. Not heavy but Maria didn't have a hat, so by the time she made it to Tiberio Mancini's tailor shop her hair was wet and matted. And she doubted it was going to make the efforts at the foundries any easier either. Her mind wandered to Gelt and how he was getting along.

Maria stepped into the store while she attempted to work her flattened bangs out of her eyes and found Mancini standing by a nearby mannequin, talking to two of his women, while gesturing at the outfit. What they were discussing made her smile.

"You're showing off one of my turtlenecks?"

Mancini and the two women turned around. The tailor stepped forward. "No harm in showing off at least one sweater. Don't know the luck I'll have in selling them, but at least this way people will see them. Start a conversation, get the word out as it were. What can I do for you miss Shepard?"

"I'm leaving Nuln again," Maria informed him. "Sometime later tonight and heading off to Altdorf. From there, hopefully, I'll finally get a ship to take me to Ulthuan. But a trip like that will take several weeks and I need some new clothes."

"Of course, Shepard, of course. Happy to lend my expertise to your adventures." He spread his arms and gestured to the back of his store.

Maria nodded back gratefully as she uncinched her coat's belt and shrugged off the dripping jacket. After she had folded it over her arm, she looked up to see the tailor and the two women staring wide eyed and slack jawed back at her. She was confused at first but a quick glance down at herself solved the mystery. She was still wearing the outfit that had survived last night's revelry. Complete with a blood-stained turtleneck with a bare shoulder from where a vampire's magic had withered the fabric away to nothing, a bullet hole from a skaven-made pistol, and several tears across her chest and stomach revealing inch wide stretches of skin.

Mancini was the first to recover as he lightly cleared his throat. "You, uh… your current appearance wouldn't have anything to do with the mess last night over in the foundry district?"

"About half of it," she replied with a shrug as she started for the back of the shop. Mancini walked beside her.

He shook his head, as a light chuckle left him. "I've been with Antonio long enough to know when to stop asking so you'll get no further questions from me."

/ooooooo\

Maria walked out of Mancini's tailor shop, a new canvas duffle bag slung over her shoulder and her purchases stuffed inside. Enough turtlenecks to get her through any scraps she may find herself in. Enough pairs of underwear to make herself feel human. Wool socks, furred gloves and a wool hat for when the temperature finally dropped.

And even better, she hadn't paid for it. Antonio had! That man was proving to be so generous.

Glancing up at the dark clouds got her a face full of rain. The sky was still grey, thickly overcast, and clearly had no intention of stopping anytime soon. At least her walk back to the inn wouldn't see her head soaked. Mancini had graciously offered her a second hat. Nowhere near as big as the hats she had worn to disguise herself as a witch hunter, but just enough to keep the rain from running down her back.

Wiping the water from her face, Maria plopped the grey hat on her head and stepped onto the street.

On her march back across the city Maria tried to sort out her upcoming trip in her head. Gelt would be taking her to Altdorf, but with the rain maybe they might delay. Hopefully no more than a day or two. And what if Nuln makes the request that the Supreme Patriarch stick around longer to help with the foundries? Devastation that severe would even take the Alliance a few weeks to sort out and rebuild. There was no way she was going to stick around for another week! Not when vampires had her location dialed in again. How long until Mannfred von Carstein sent another hit-squad after her? Or Queen Neferata sent one of her sisterhood to drag Maria to her kicking and screaming?

Well that pretty much cinched it. Even if Gelt had managed to track her down and pull her bleeding ass out of the Iron Tower there was no way she was sticking around for another night. If he wasn't heading back to the Imperial capital tonight, then she was. Antonio had smuggled her to Marienburg once before, he could do it again. Or she could simply get herself a horse and ride like hell.

Oh, wait. Maria hung her head with a sigh. Then snapped her head back up with a hiss as water ran across her neck and soaked into her new turtleneck.

Marienburg wasn't going to work this time. Because the Dark Elves had sacked the port, stolen the smuggled Elven armor and weapons, and forced the Empire to conduct all trade with Ulthuan through the northern port-city of Dietershafen up in Nordland. And getting herself a ship up there wasn't going to be easy, especially since the first one had been beached on Albion and seen its crew murdered; not to mention she had gotten that ship under false pretenses. How was the Elector Count of the province, that crotchety old soldier Theodoric Gausser, going to react to seeing her again and learning of her lies in helping the Empire get their very own omni-tools?

Despite the seriousness of it that got her snickering. She may have been posing as a Reiksguard, the Emperor's personal knights, but that was no excuse for the man to outright believe her bizarre claim. What kind of man, who had barely experienced the wonders of plumbing and gas lighting, saw an advanced piece of equipment like an omni-tool and instantly believed more could be reproduced by such a primitive society?

So. Where did that leave her? Her odds of making it to Dietershafen in one piece were small. Either the vampires or their pets would run her down on the road and start taking bite sized pieces of her. Marienburg? The city was still recovering from the Druchii raid. But it was ripe with smugglers. Maybe if she got her hands on enough coin she could persuade a captain to break the rules for her. Risky at best. And those rules existed for a reason. She and her new ship may just find themselves at the mercy of the Dark Elf fleet.

That was something Maria did not want. Not one bit. She'd read the stories. The dark cousins of the Asur were some sick and twisted individuals. They made Batarian slavers look like cheery, young, little Asari kids in comparison.

No matter how she looked at it, Maria was stuck with Gelt. Not that it was a terrible thing being stuck with him. The Supreme Patriarch was her best way forward, and that was that. They'd get to Altdorf, and then figure the rest out from there.

But how many days would it take? And how many days did she have left before the Reapers appeared overhead and blasted the galaxy to ash? How many days before she got home?

Maria's feet stopped moving. She found herself staring down at the cobblestones. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed heavily to push it back down. Looking back up she could see the carts and coaches passing bay. The few people brave enough to be out in the rain as they hurriedly made their way to their next destination.

Here she was smack dab in the middle of one of the Empire's most populated cities, but right now, she'd never felt so alone. No, she had felt this before. A lifetime ago, when she was an orphan living day to day. And the very thought of returning to those times had that lump finding its way back into her throat.

Argh! She couldn't let herself get bogged down in those thoughts. That way led to insanity.

She had to stay focused on the goal. Get to Ulthuan. Get home. Simple.

Maria took a deep breath. Then another. Alrighty then. So now that she had her immediate future planned out, where did that leave her? Well, right now, after spending no more than an hour with Mancini…

… she still had an hour or two to go before it was even lunch time.

Ugh.

/ooooooo\

Basking in the warmth of the fireplace within the lounge of the Laughing Bear Inn, Maria sat back in a chair with her feet propped up on a second, while she held a glass of whiskey in her right hand, as her left periodically went diving into an ever refilling bowl of crackers on the table beside her.

She'd been at the same table in the corner of the lounge since returning from the tailor, and then returned straight to the chair after lunch, and once again after supper. Eating crackers and downing whiskeys. Watching the rain pound on the window and the folks outside scurry about. From her vantage point every now and again she was treated to the sight of a ship passing by on the waters, but mostly the docks stayed quiet. No one wanted to be out in the rain unless they had to be.

And that had been her entire day because Gelt had wanted her to stay put. Forced to sit on her ass. Drinking and munching away crackers. Without coin of her own she was running up quite the tab, but her plan was to leave before Valantina had a chance to collect.

Honestly, this was awesome. She wished more missions from the Alliance could have been this easy.

The inn was mostly peaceful though the lounge stayed busy. On a day like this more people were coming than going, interested in getting a drink and shooting the bull with anybody who would listen. But everybody either ignored or straight out avoided her. The benefit of staying at a small inn and getting shouted at by the innkeeper/crime lord first thing in the morning for destroying roughly half his dining room because she 'sneezed'.

Maria tore her eyes off the window to see one of the inn's maids making her rounds through the tables. Luisa, if Maria remembered her name correctly. She was carrying a tray with a few empty glasses and mugs. Guess it was her turn to waitress for the day.

Maria glanced at her empty glass. What was this now? 10th? 11th? Ah, who cares. Thanks to her cybernetics it took more than a gradual downing of hard liquor over several hours to get her drunk.

One of the many perks to being brought back form the dead. Thank you, Miranda.

"Excuse me? Luisa?"

Luisa swiveled around gracefully and approached Maria's table with a smile. "Yes, miss Shepard?"

She held out her glass. "May I have another please?"

Luisa took the glass but eyed it with a little suspicion. "Are you sure miss?"

Maria held back a laugh. Somebody else had begun counting her drinks as well. "Yes, another please. When the room starts spinning on me, you'll know, I promise." And unless this place started serving ryncol, it wasn't happening anytime soon.

Ooh, she could go for some ryncol. That Krogan brew always managed to clear the senses.

"I'll be right back then." Luisa set the glass on her tray and walked off.

Maria went back to staring aimlessly out the window, but another voice pulled her attention back before her mind could wander.

"Good evening Maria."

When she looked up her jaw dropped. There was a young woman standing beside her table. She was wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt with a black leather vest, grey pants and thigh high boots. The woman pulled back the hood to her brown cloak, that was dripping wet, revealing a pretty face with high cheek bones, blue eyes, and a haystack of light blonde, nearly white hair.

Maria's mouth moved twice before words came out. "Ulrika?" She pulled her legs off the chair and stood. "What the hell are you doing here?" She cast a glance around the lounge but everybody present was more interested in their drink. Bet they'd react if the vampire flashed her fangs.

"I came to see you." She took off her cloak, and Maria noticed the rapier belted at her hip. "May I sit?" she gestured to the table.

"Of course, but should you…"

"Should I what?" Ulrika folded her cloak over the chair then took a seat. She moved stiffly but after a moment relaxed, folding one leg over the other.

Maria glanced around the lounge as she sat back down. She couldn't help it. But still nobody had showed any signs of acknowledging the two of them. Even the two men sitting at the bar who were Valantina's hired muscle. It helped her breathe a bit easier. Still she decided to keep one eye on the crowd and her voice a little softer.

"I was going to say should you really be here?" She tipped her head to the window. "Can you even be out right now? I mean, obviously you can be, I'm just surprised. I know its raining but there has to be an hour before sundown. Not to mention the last time we saw each other you had a giant hole in your back."

Ulrika opened her mouth, but Maria added hastily, "And I'm not a person an exiled vampire should just be walking up to! The witch hunters hate me, the vampires in this city attacked me, and any minute now I'm expecting a visit from the Supreme Patriarch. For your own sake you shouldn't be here."

Ulrika blinked. She leaned forward in her seat. "You were attacked by the Lahmians?"

"Yes. It was right after I was arrested by the Order of the Silver Hammer and after Gelt bailed me out of the Iron Tower. Last night I got back here to find three vampires set on dragging me off to the Queen. We argued, claws, magic and tables were thrown around, and they only backed off when one felt the Supreme Patriarch's magic on me." Maria ran a hand through her hair. "They knew who you were. And if they knew you were here…"

A strange expression flitted over Ulrika's face. "What were their names? Was it Gabriella and Hermione?"

Maria nodded. "Yeah. Like I said, it got physical. I have a silver dagger and I cut Hermione's arm with it."

Ulrika slapped a hand over her mouth just before she choked off a laugh. Her eyes were wide with mirth. "Ursun's teeth! You cut Hermione with silver?!"

"Well I'm glad you can laugh at it," Maria almost growled back. "She was sitting on my chest at the time and clawing through my turtleneck." Ulrika just snorted again. "I didn't mean to pull the dagger! But I was still a bit wired from facing the skaven and witch hunters. Next thing I know she's screaming bloody murder and scrambles back off me."

"How bad was the cut?" Ulrika asked still smiling.

"Wasn't deep. The third vampire, her name is Nathalie, promised to heal it away after they all left the inn. Gabriella and Hermione called her mistress and obeyed her every command. I'm lucky she was there, or Hermione would have torn my head off."

Ulrika laughed again. But before Maria could grill her on it the waitress decided to reappear with Maria's drink.

"Here's your whiskey miss Shepard." Luisa set a glass on the table. She looked over at Ulrika with a friendly smile. "And who's your guest? I want to say this is your sister, am I right?"

Now that caught Maria by surprise and based on Ulrika's reaction it must have startled her as well. The two of them found themselves staring at the other, and for the first time, Maria made the connection Luisa was making. She and Ulrika were both slightly taller than the average woman, they were both blue eyed, fair skinned and had blonde hair. Well, nearly blonde in Ulrika's case with her's still being closer to white than anything else. Even so you couldn't deny the similarities were striking.

Especially when they were dressed the way they were. Ulrika in her grey shirt with black vest, pants and boots. And Maria wearing her latest outfit from the tailor, a solid black turtleneck and black pants that didn't have holes in the knees.

She had really liked the look back at Mancini's. He had mentioned how having her covered neck to toe in black gave her a fierce looking quality. And best of all, it really made her face and hair pop.

"No, no," Maria said, with a shake of her head. "We aren't related. She's just a good friend. Luisa, this is…"

"Yuliya," Ulrika offered seamlessly. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Kislevan by the accent, am I right?"

Ulrika nodded. "Yes I am. I've been in the Empire so long most can't hear the accent." She pointed to Maria's whiskey. "May I have a drink as well? Red wine if you have it. The darker the better."

Luisa dipped her head. "Of course. Be right back." She strolled off and left Maria and Ulrika alone once more.

That answered Maria's question from last night as to where Ulrika was originally from thanks to her almost Russian sounding accent. Kislev, the country north of the Empire. Smaller in size but still considered militarily powerful because of their constant skirmishes and wars with the bordering Norscans and followers of chaos. When the marauders decided to come south, which they always did eventually, they had to either cross the Sea of Claws or push through Kislev. And very few of them had the boats to cross the sea.

But the brief interaction with the waitress only raised another question.

Maria's eyebrow rose. "Can you even drink wine?"

"Of course, I can drink wine," Ulrika replied. "Just because I'm a vampire means I can't occasionally enjoy a drink or meal now and then?"

"Well… yeah." Maria shrugged. "Sorry, but that's how I thought it worked."

"For your information I can drink wine. I can drink water, and anything else. And despite being dead I can still consume normal food just like when I was alive. The only difference now is that I can't live off it anymore. I still need blood every few days."

Maria pondered that. "But, if you can still eat food, and you're dead, how does that… you know. Work?"

"I can eat and drink the same as you, it just doesn't sustain me." Ulrika rested and arm on the table. "It sits in my stomach doing nothing but weigh me down until the necromantic magic that holds my body together eats it away to nothing." Her shoulders sagged slightly. "There's absolutely no benefit to doing it, it's just… I like the feeling. Reminds me when I was still human."

The living called it the vampiric curse for a reason. And while most of the vampires Maria had met seemed quite content at their new status in life, it was clear Ulrika still considered it as such. Hardly surprising when she remembered Ulrika had only been an undead vampire for the past twenty years. For her being human wasn't a distant memory.

The waitress returned, setting down a long-stemmed glass with a wide bowl filled with a deep crimson wine. Ulrika reached for her hip, no doubt to pay, but Maria waved her off.

"Put it on my tab tonight Luisa."

"Of course, miss Shepard." Luisa gave a little bow and left to check on another table.

Ulrika waited until she was out of earshot. "You didn't have to do that. This is probably a silvers worth of drink."

"Don't worry about it." Maria picked up her whiskey and held it up over the table. After a moment Ulrika picked up her own glass and clinked it with hers. They both took a drink.

"I have no intention of paying Valantina at the end of the night anyways," she added with a wink.

"Is it wise pissing that man off?"

"It's a little game we're playing. Even though he's rich he takes all my money because he can, while I run up a debt for him across the city-state. It's fun." Maria fixed Ulrika with a stare. "Now getting back to before we were interrupted. How come you laughed when I said I cut Hermione with my dagger?"

Another small smile played across the vampire's face as she took another sip of wine. "Because that woman is a bitch. Twenty years ago, only a few days after I was turned, Gabriella was my mistress. She took me in, taught me to control my blood frenzy, and how to live amongst the night-born aristocracy. If it weren't for her, I would be nothing more than a monster. Killing and gorging myself on the innocent until someone from the Empire finally tracked me down and shoved a stake through my near-immortal heart. I owe Gabriella everything. We argued and fought more times than I care to admit, but in her heart, I know she always did what she thought was best for me. Circumstances had us nearly kill each other when I was forced to leave her… but before the end, she called me daughter… and I named her mother."

Ulrika stared off past Maria's shoulder, but then gave herself a little shake and shoved past the emotions. "As I was saying, there was trouble in Nuln. Vampires were being hunted and killed by one of our own. Gabriella was ordered by the Queen in the Silver Mountain to investigate. When we got here Hermione was the woman in charge. She is a stubborn, deceitful, treacherous wench, that nearly killed me and my mistress on more than one occasion through her self-serving stupidity! Someway or another she still retains power in Nuln, though I admit to not knowing how much. Safe to say Gabriella's voice holds more sway now than it did back then."

Politics. Clearly somethings never changed across the galaxy even if one was technically the living dead.

"Sounds like you've been busy since being turned," Maria said.

Ulrika nodded before taking another sip of wine. "The first few years were rough; I'll admit to that. Thankfully, I'm a quick study, and I was good with a blade even before having the strength and speed I do now. Its not the life I wanted, but…" she shrugged, "I'll make the most of it.

"I've made mistakes. I'm no longer blameless. I regret so much of my early years as a vampire… but now I live the way I want. A way that still means I have some small measure of honor. I don't kill when I take blood. Just enough to keep me going and those I drink from always wake up feeling tired but alive. And when I do kill, I take the lives of those that deserve it. I hunt murderers, rapists and slavers. I am a horror that kills humanity's own breed of monsters."

Maria was momentarily taken back by Ulrika's conviction. What this vampire had just said was spoken with the intensity of a pledge set in stone. She barely knew this woman but believed immediately that Ulrika would keep to her word no matter the personal cost. This promise most likely allowed her to hold onto whatever humanity she believed she had left.

"Your situation doesn't worry me Maria," Ulrika continued. "I've been fairly successful avoiding confrontation with the witch hunters and others of my kind. Afterall, they cannot kill someone they do not even know is living amongst them. I'm being careful." She looked over her right shoulder. "And the Supreme Patriarch is still working at the foundries. His magic marks him like a beacon. Unless he tries to mask his power, he's not sneaking up on anyone."

Maria frowned. "You can sense where he is?"

"You can't?" Ulrika glanced back at her questioningly. "You have magic. I've seen it. Can't you sense him too? Not as if he's being subtle right now."

Maria followed the vampire's gaze and stared at the inn's wall. Concentrating, she pulled on the winds of magic, and once she found them, she followed the power as it weaved through the city-state. Very quickly it became clear the magic was being drawn toward the foundry district, and shortly after allowing herself to be dragged that direction Maria felt a burst of radiant energy.

Despite being physically seated inside the Laughing Bear Inn Maria almost felt the need to shield her eyes, just as if she were staring out the viewport of the Normandy at a passing bright star. Before severing her link to the winds of magic she could have sworn she smelled burning metal with a hint of sulfur.

"Wow. I didn't notice before." She reached up to scratch the bottom of her nose. The odor had been so real. Like she was back inside one of the foundries. "But now that I tried, he really is standing out. Does this mean you can use the winds of magic too? What powers do you have?"

Ulrika's shoulders sagged and she shifted in her seat. "Well, I… I don't have any magical powers." Maria's eyebrows shot up which earned her a near grimace from the vampire. "Its not uncommon for some vampires to be born without an affinity for the winds! Just because we're created from necromantic magic it doesn't mean the power is natural to us. And I had no connection with the winds when I was still alive."

She raised her chin slightly. "But I am learning. Its easier now for me to see the winds of magic when I focus them in my sight. And there are abilities granted to all vampires, regardless of bloodline, that I've begun to practice at. Now I can veil my presence from mortal eyes, seemingly disappearing from sight, as well as beguile their senses and even breaking weaker minds, forcing them to do as I command."

Damn. That did sound pretty impressive. Maria lifted her glass of whiskey to her lips. "You can make yourself just disappear from sight? And that isn't related to the winds of magic?"

"It's not really disappearing. I, just kind of…" Her lips tightened as she slowly spun her wine glass between two fingers. "It's hard to explain. Remember, I'm learning all this by myself through trying and failing.

"I am always aware that others are alive, and I am not. Mortals are like fireflies in the night to me. When I concentrate, and exert my will over the sparks, I can influence them in a way I want. In this case, to think I'm not even there."

"Interesting." Maria sipped her whiskey, then smiled over her glass. "Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove it." Maria nodded into the crowded lounge. "Pick a table, do your vampire thing, and let's see what you've got."

Ulrika glanced out at the lounge, then back at Maria, her mouth slightly agape. "You cannot be serious. I'm not going to try anything of the sort."

Maria shrugged. "Suit yourself. I understand. As you said, you're a young vampire with little power of your own, and you still need a lot of practice."

Ulrika's eyes narrowed as she glared back at Maria.

Come on, do it. Maria kept her playful little smile, egging the vampire on. Truth be told she wanted to see this for herself. Considering she was actively being hunted by them, the more she knew about vampires the better.

"Fine."

Ulrika stood from her chair and walked over to the nearest table. Two men sat together; each wore a brown cloak while they nursed their beers. They had been in conversation with each other since before Ulrika had even arrived.

Maria sat back and watched as the vampiress walked over and stood beside their table. Both men looked up at her, but instead of questioning what she wanted, they just stared. Ulrika appeared to be focused more on the table than either man specifically from what Maria could gather, but just at the point where things would have seemed to get awkward having Ulrika stand motionless beside them, the two men just dropped their gazes and got back to drinking and having a conversation. Apparently not caring at all that Ulrika was standing over them.

Maria's eyebrows rose in surprise. Pulling on the winds of magic, she tried to see if anything was directly out of the ordinary, but aside from a faint shimmering haze surrounding Ulrika's body, the winds just continued to lazily blow through the inn, entirely unaffected.

The vampire was truly pulling this off using some other kind of power.

Ulrika turned to face Maria as she raised her hand and placed it onto one of the men's shoulders. She gave the cloak a squeeze and then patted him on the back. Neither man at the table reacted even a little.

That was enough for Maria but not for Ulrika it seemed. She once again turned her back to Maria, facing the lounge, and stood still for a several long moments. Then suddenly she stepped forward and took a walk through the entire lounge. In between tables and guests, she never touched anybody just weaved around each patron until she came back to the relative empty center of the room.

Ulrika was looking directly back at Maria as the corner of her mouth twitched upward. She then raised both her arms above her head, so her fingers almost touched, and then pointed the tips of her boots together.

Maria's jaw dropped. There was no freaking way this was about to happen.

Ulrika's gaze stayed locked on Maria's as she pushed up to perch on the toes of her boots, dropped back down slowly bending her knees, then rose back up. Maria then proceeded to watch as Ulrika dropped her hands, keeping them chest level, and jumped back up to the tips of her boots as she started to rapidly spin herself three-hundred and sixty degrees.

Oh my god, this was happening.

Ulrika rapidly spun herself around in rough imitations of pirouettes, occasionally sticking out her arms and a leg as she did, whenever there was room enough and she didn't risk striking another person. She abruptly came to a stop, facing Maria once more, her arms extended above her head and balancing on her toes. Slowly she lowered her hands, set her feet on the floor, and then smoothly, elegantly, curtsied.

Not a person in the lounge reacted. Not a one.

"Ho…ly… shit." Maria was shocked.

Ulrika's smile couldn't have been any more victorious as she sauntered back over to their table and took her seat. Only a slight wince crossed her features as she raised her wine glass to her lips and took a long sip.

"Okay," Maria swallowed heavily. "I have, just, soooo many questions."

Ulrika set her glass back down. "I once fought a demon, summoned by a cult, during a play, on a stage in front of the most prominent nobles of Praag. It was a demon of pleasure and manipulated music to force those around it to dance. I and the audience were snared in its embrace, that is until I gave myself to its power and allowed the music to pull me closer to the creature. Where I was then afforded the opportunity to stab it and kill it." She shrugged. "I still remember the dance I was forced to surrender to. I suppose it's not entirely ungraceful."

Maria laughed. It seemed appropriate. "All that just raises further questions!"

Ulrika's own smile grew until she laughed along with Maria.

"That was amazing," Maria managed to get out as she calmed back down. "I just watched a vampire do ballet. Nothing is going to top this."

"I have to admit, I enjoyed that." She tilted her head and fixed Maria with a wicked stare. "I think it's only fair you take a turn now."

That sobered her up quick. "Um, what?"

"I just proved my vampiric ability. It's now your turn to prove your aptitude for the winds of magic."

"Um, what?"

"I saw you back in the foundry. You command the lore of shadow. The wind of Ulgu. Magic that is directly tied to darkness, invisibility, shadow, and crippling bewilderment. I've seen it's like before. It should be no trouble for someone like you to replicate my feat."

Panic, that was a good word for what Maria was feeling now. "My connection to the winds has only been for the past two months. And then I've only learned how to tap into them a little over two weeks ago!"

"So the equivalent to what I've endured trying to teach myself." Ulrika pointed a finger out into the lounge. "I showed off for you. It's time for you to show off for me. Unless… you're admitting defeat?"

Maria sulked back in her seat. Using her own tactics against her, huh? Totally unfair.

Screw it. She was a god damned Spectre. She could do this.

Maria pushed out from her chair and stood. Looking out into the crowded room, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate on the winds of magic. In no time at all the power answered her command and she felt the magic of Ulgu split off from the other seven winds and begin to swirl and embrace her.

When she was stuck back in Mordheim, Markos von Carstein had helped her call the magic quickly and have it respond to her innate desires. He had said that while there were spells she could memorize and recite, acting on instinct with her willpower shaping the magic was better in a fight for her life. Where life and death decisions were made in the span between heartbeats.

So the same idea could be applied here. Maria needed the magic to conceal her from the other people in the lounge, no matter what she decided to do. Easy.

Easy? Easy.

Putting every ounce of thought toward the task, Maria commanded the magic surrounding her to mask her physical presence. Surprisingly, the magic responded quickly. She felt the coils of power slide along her arms and legs, enveloping her body from head to toe in its embrace. When it stopped moving and became peaceful once more, Maria opened her eyes.

She looked down at her hands. Nothing looked different. But waves of air coated her clothes and skin. Hopefully that meant it was working as intended.

She really needed to find herself a manual on magic.

Maria glanced around the lounge and found a target. One of the larger circular tables had a group of five men seated together playing cards. She walked on over and stood beside the table. Nobody looked up to greet her. Taking two steps to the side, Maria bent to look directly over the shoulder of the man in front of her. From here she had a perfect view of his cards.

He still didn't acknowledge her. Neither did the man across from him, even when Maria raised three fingers and mouthed the number on the cards the man in front of her had in his possession. She had just spoiled the game, but still, none of them made a move or said a word to get rid of her.

Maria straightened up and turned to look back at Ulrika. The vampire nodded as she raised her wine glass in a toast.

Maria smiled wide. Huzzah! She'd just used her magic to do something nobody had taught her. She was invisible, and all without the use of a tactical cloak! The possibilities were endless. What could she do next? This was going to revolutionize her approach to pickpocketing in the future.

Feeling good, Maria turned back and walked around the players to the one open space at the table, and then hopped up to sit on the surface. Maria leaned back with a hand splayed out near the center where all the wagered coins were piled as she swung her lungs back and forth, still grinning at her accomplishment. Still nobody reacted, so she picked up a hat that was sitting on the table and popped it on her head.

All five men looked up at Maria at the same time. Expressions of confusion on each of their faces as they stared right at her. Maria's confidence vanished as she felt the magic coating her body shatter away. She was sitting on their table, with one of their hats on her head, and she was visible to all.

"Where did you come from?" the man on her left asked with a frown. Then it deepened. "And what ar' you doing with my hat?"

Aaah!

Maria took the hat of her head and put it on the table. Then she hopped back to the floor and pivoted around, all without a word, as she speed-walked back to where Ulrika waited.

The other woman was clearly dying. Again. That was the only explanation to why she was doubled over in her chair, with one hand covering her mouth, as her shoulders shook, and an unacceptable level of choking snorts were originating from her.

Maria dropped into her seat with a scowl. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.

Ulrika straightened and managed a glance in Maria's direction. Heroically she fought down the laughter. "That was brilliant! You were doing well until the moment you chose to pick up the hat."

"I'm guessing the hat was important in some way?"

"It made all the difference." Ulrika shook her head slowly as she continued to smile brightly. "Don't feel ashamed. I once made the same mistake, and I did it while raiding a town's armory. Long story. The hat interrupted the spell. When I approached the first table, you'll remembered I never took anything that belonged to them."

"No, but you put your hand on that man's shoulder."

She nodded. "Yes, I did. But even a harmless touch like that had be masked. I didn't shake him; I didn't cause him pain. Nothing broke my spell. When you took the hat, you failed to cover it with the same illusion that was protecting you from their senses. Basically, they all witnessed the hat suddenly appear on the head of a woman sitting on their table, and none of them could immediately recall you even approaching. Their shock was enough to overpower your desire to remain unseen.

"When I danced in the center of the room no one noticed. But I guarantee you, if I had drawn my sword, and then launched myself into a series of parries and thrusts, the threat of the action would have broken my hold over the nearest minds. Their fear of being stabbed would have shattered my control. You understand now?"

Yeah, she did. Maria supposed it all made sense, and in hindsight, she shouldn't have pushed her luck. Oh well. Like Ulrika said, there could have been worse places and times to learn this lesson. Maybe she could practice while on her way to see the Elves on Ulthuan. It was the next best thing to a tactical cloak.

Ulrika shook her head lightly. "I haven't laughed like that in, oh… over a decade. That was fun, thank you."

"Happy to embarrass myself for your amusement," Maria replied as she lost the fight to her own smile. She sipped her whiskey. Ulrika sipped her wine.

And suddenly in that moment it hit Maria hard. Here she was sitting at a table drinking with a vampire on planet located who-knows-where in the Milky Way; and she was comfortable. Content. It shouldn't have been possible. Her entire time on this world had been consumed with the need to get back home. That thought was always floating foremost in her mind. But for the brief moment, just now, it hadn't been. She had almost forgotten and gotten swept up in the simple joy of connecting with another person.

That other person just so happened to be a vampire, but still. Big picture, aside from being a supernatural creature, vampire wasn't much different than alien.

"Would you mind, Maria," Ulrika began, "if I asked you a question? Of a… more personal nature?"

"Sure, why not?"

Ulrika leaned forward a little in her chair. "Where are you from? I've never seen weapons like yours before. Or that strange blue light you wielded to send those skaven flying."

Maria downed what remained of her drink, then waved for the waitress. "How about this Ulrika. I'm going to get a beer, and then I'll tell you my story, if you tell me yours. Deal?"

Ulrika smiled and didn't even hesitate. "Deal."

/ooooooo\

If nothing else, getting this reaction from the locals was fun on its own.

"You aren't from this world?" Ulrika repeated for the second time.

"Nope."

She blinked and shook her head. "As in… not from this realm?"

"No, I've learned that's different," Maria clarified. Considering the 'other realm' was a land of pure chaos infested by demons she had to be clear about this. "Look up in the night sky. All those stars? Many of them have planets just like this one. Different people, different species, all living in this galaxy together. I'm from one of those stars. I've been looking for mine, but so far no luck."

"But… if you're from up there… how'd you get here?"

Maria threw up her hands with a sigh. "Hell if I know. I'm hoping the High Elves can tell me."

/ooooooo\

This was something Maria had wanted to ask for a while. "Which vampire bloodline do you belong to?"

Ulrika's face tightened as she sipped from her second glass of red wine. She looked away from the table.

Oh, drat. "I'm sorry. I know you were turned against your will; I was simply curious. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No. Its alright." Ulrika put down her glass and shrugged. "It was twenty years ago. The man who turned me is dead and gone. Just wish I had been the one to take his head…"

"Did Gabriella kill him?" Maria asked. "In retaliation for turning you?"

"No… some old friends did it." Ulrika scratched the tabletop with the tip of her finger. Her nail was cutting a narrow groove deep into the wood. She met Maria's eyes. "I can give the easy answer, and the complicated one.

"What most people don't know, what I didn't know until I was turned, is that the original bloodlines are incredibly old. So old, most vampires don't even know the exact age. I don't know the exact age. The first ones spread their curse but in that time the bloodlines have mixed."

Now she was getting somewhere. Why didn't the books in the university's private vault know about this?

"How does something like that happen?"

Ulrika leaned back heavily in her chair. "Say a vampire from the Blood Dragons meets a vampire from the Lahmians. Both were turned by the founders of their line. But these two vampires meet, they don't kill each other on sight, and they decide to work together. Eventually if enough time passes and their bond grows, they may decide to seal their alliance in a pact of blood. This could mean many things. They could slit their hands and drink the given blood from goblets. Or they might bite and drink directly from one another."

Maria was surprised. "Vampires do that?"

"It can mean many different things based on the situation. If a vampire wanders into another's territory, one who is far stronger than they are, the stronger vampire may feed off the weaker to establish dominance. It creates a link between them. There are also rituals where vampires drink the blood of another to swear fealty. And if two vampires decide to mutually share blood it can be a sign of shared respect… or an expression of love."

Maria's eyebrow rose. "Love. As in sex." Ulrika nodded as she held Maria gaze. "Okay then. No need to explain that any further."

"I mean to say that the bloodlines have mixed. Even the originals who were first turned have no doubt mingled with others of their kind by now. But, of course, there are strong traits that still exist for each bloodline. Otherwise mortals and vampires both wouldn't be so invested in discovering the truth of their ancestry."

"So which are you?" Maria asked, the conversation coming full circle.

Ulrika reached for her wine glass. She swirled the liquid, then sipped. "I was turned by a vampire who belonged to the von Carsteins. Though I also have some Lahmian blood flowing through me, a von Carstein was my bloodsire."

Maria could only stare back at the vampire. She had known there was a small chance it was possible, but if she'd bet on it, Maria would have figured Ulrika for either a Lahmian or a Blood Dragon. Certainly not a vampire to the bloodline that currently wanted her neck sliced to pretty little ribbons.

A von Carstein. Sitting with her in Valantina's inn. This was her luck.

"There it is." A little smirk played across Ulrika's lips. "Elevated heartbeat. Small, sudden intake of breath. Everybody knows what a von Carstein is."

"I really hate that vampires can do that," Maria replied with a wince. She took a long, long drink from her second beer. "And it's not you. I've met a few von Carsteins, and by now, most want me dead."

"It certainly doesn't help that you're immune to our curse." Ulrika's focus was rooted on Maria. "Can you tell me how that even came to be? Is it because of where you're from, or your blue magic?"

Oh boy. Here we go. Should she, or shouldn't she? Maria picked up her glass and downed the half a pint that remained in one gulp, then raised it high above her head.

"I'm going to need another beer over here!"

/ooooooo\

By now several hours had passed. Night had fallen across Nuln and the day's earlier downpour had tapered off to a slow and steady drizzle. The inn's lounge had nearly emptied as most of the patrons had made the journey up to their rooms for the night; and the Supreme Patriarch was still a no show. But Maria couldn't have cared less. It also helped that by now, after a full evening's worth of drinking with a vampire, she was finally feeling a bit tipsy.

But screw it. She was enjoying herself.

"You're kidding!" Maria nearly spit a bit of beer and wiped her chin. "You're Kislev royalty?"

Ulrika laughed, "No, that's not what I meant! I said my uncle is a Duke and my father was a March Boyar. A, I guess in Imperial terms, that makes him a provincial noble. Though not exactly. It doesn't translate well. He oversaw a swath of northern territory in Kislev. Being his daughter, that made me his successor. Within our fort everyone was required to bow to me as well as him. Not a steep bow!" she added quickly and waved a hand over the table. "Just a… bob of the neck, I guess. Bend the back a little. A Salute from the soldiers."

Maria was smiling widely. "So, no curtseying?"

The vampire looked slightly horrified. "Oh gods no! I may have curtsied for you earlier but that was my one for the decade. Don't go expecting to see another. I've been riding, fighting, and leading Kossars into battle since I was fourteen. At fifteen I had dueled and beaten all my father's officers. I am a warrior born. Those few time with the Lahmians I was forced to put on a dress and powder my face were the most difficult of my life."

Maria's smile couldn't get any wider. "Now that would be something to see."

"What?"

"You with a powdered face and makeup. Comb that mess of hair. I don't know, I think you'd cleanup nice."

Ulrika groaned and mumbled something as she stared at the table.

Maria leaned forward. "I didn't hear that."

Ulrika glanced back up. She looked sick. "I said, Gabriella gave up on my hair. She forced me to wear a wig. It had curls."

Maria broke down laughing. Ulrika jabbed two fingers up in the air back at her as she stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry.

Maria just laughed harder and nearly fell out of her chair.

/ooooooo\

Maria set her beer back down on the table. It knocked against the wood harder than she intended. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I haven't asked yet, but how's your back?"

Ulrika grimaced in her seat. She straightened her back with a cringe. "A chunk of wood thicker than my arm stuck through my insides? That isn't going to heal from a single feeding. Luckily after I managed to get out of the foundry district and begin staggering back to my… little hideout, two boorish oafs attempted to accost me."

"Aha." Vampire vs unlucky mugger. Even if Ulrika was injured you didn't need to be a genius to figure out how that fight went.

The vampire had a feral grin. "They attempted to take advantage of my injured state. Instead, I made a meal out of them." She shifted in her seat. "Still… the injury was bad. The flesh hasn't entirely regrown. Depending how much blood I'll be able to get, I'll have a hole in my back for the next week at the very least."

"I still can't believe you managed to survive that," Maria replied shaking her head.

"It was close. I've been stabbed and shot, including suffering wounds from silver, but as I said then, this was nearly the worst I've ever been hurt. If it wasn't for you and that near dead soldier you brought me, I would have been found and killed by the witch hunters." She saluted Maria with her empty wine glass. "So, thank you."

Silver, huh? Maria studied the vampire and her gaze was drawn to the woman's left eye and cheek. Where a thin black line marred her otherwise unblemished skin.

"Is that what caused your scar?" she asked pointing to her own face.

Ulrika froze in her chair. Not a twitch, except for a quick flash of betraying emotion. Embarrassment? No. More like shame. Finally, after a few of Maria's heartbeats, she slowly nodded while looking away.

"Yes. A silver knife. Though it wasn't earned in battle."

"Considering you may carry that scar for the rest of your immortal life I'm surprised you'd let something like that happen in a sparring match."

"It wasn't a sparring match either."

"Hmm." Maria regarded the vampire in a new light. Though to be frank, this was her own fault. She had only been enjoying the evening because she had ignored the little voice in her head. The little voice who sounded a lot like the witch hunter commander that had interrogated her back inside the Iron Tower.

"I had been enjoying the evening until now," Ulrika said between tight lips as she looked back at Maria.

Heh. "Me too," she replied. "It doesn't need to end. I'd just like to know if everything the witch hunters blamed you for is true or not."

Ulrika frowned. "And what did they accuse me of? Conspiring against the Empire? Killing their soldiers? Burning down cities and slaughtering the innocent?"

"Yes."

Ulrika didn't even blink. "Its true. All of it. I was naïve. I trusted the wrong vampires and was deceived. I committed horrible acts and I regret all of it. But that life is behind me. I no longer serve a master or mistress. There are promises I've made that I intend to keep. That's all I care about now."

"Those promises and the occasional acts of heroism saving the Empire," Maria added with a smirk.

It was enough that the tension lifted from the air between them. Ulrika's shoulders lost their stiffness. She shrugged. "Maybe a few."

Maria sat forward in her chair. "A terrible thing was done to you and you committed terrible acts in return. I get it."

Her brow creased. "That's still no excuse. I was a Boyarina. An Eagle of the North. I was supposed to live an honorable life."

"I didn't say it was an excuse. I'm just telling you that I get it." Maria extended her hand over the table. "If nothing else, I'm really glad I met you Ulrika. Since I landed on this planet my life hasn't been easy and I can count the number of people I trust with three fingers. I'm happy to count you as one of them."

The look of astonishment on the vampire's face was priceless; it had Maria holding back a laugh. Ulrika glanced back and forth from Maria to her waiting hand before eventually reaching out and clasping it in her own.

Her fingers were warm. Maria shook Ulrika's hand with a wide smile and got one in return. Look at that, she had made a friend. Whoo!

"Assuming I really am someone you trust; may I ask who the other two are?"

Maria let go of the vampire's hand and leaned back in her chair. Her fingers wrapped around her beer but then she lamented, remembering that it was empty. And she wouldn't be getting another. Last call was an hour ago. The bar was closed, and only a few people were left nursing what remained of their last drink for the night.

"Well… there was the Grail Knight back in Bretonnia when I first fell onto this world. He was a nice guy who stopped the other knights from cutting my throat. And the second would be the Supreme Patriarch. We've fought together. Talked a few times. And he's also protected me more than once."

Ulrika was back to scratching her nail into the table. Her eyebrows rose. "You met a Grail Knight? I've heard about them. Their skill with the lance is legendary. How –" She suddenly stopped midsentence and turned sharply in her seat, staring at the wall of the inn.

"Ursun's teeth," she growled out between clenched teeth. Quickly she stood and threw on her cloak. "I'm sorry but I have to leave. Now."

Maria rose as well. "What? Why?" She was forced to follow behind as the vampire left the lounge and began walking to the inn's front door.

"The Supreme Patriarch," Ulrika hissed over her shoulder. "He's on his way here! Can't you sense him? I have no intention of being here when he arrives."

Maria took a second to focus on the magic flowing through the city. A bright sphere of power was indeed moving in their direction. Fairly quickly too. How was he pulling that off?

"Okay – just, hold on a second!" Maria grabbed the vampire's shoulders and brought her to a stop.

Ulrika spun around. "What? I'm sorry. I'm glad to have met you as well Maria. Truly, I am. But now I have to go."

Maria smiled at that, but still shook her head. "I was going to say, don't go leave through the front. There is a door in the back, through the kitchens, and it leads out into an alley."

Ulrika blinked, then nodded. "That would be better."

Maria led her through the dining room, still under construction from the morning, and back into the kitchens. They made it to door before Maria just as suddenly came to a stop herself. She turned to Ulrika.

"Wait! I almost forgot! Its back in my room."

"Maria, I really don't think –"

"It will just take a second!" Maria called back as she ran to her room, grabbed the item, and ran back to the fidgeting vampire. She thrust it into the woman's hands with a smile. "This is for saving me from that skaven's green goo."

Ulrika raised the hairbrush, stared at it for a moment, then looked up at Maria.

"My hair isn't that bad."

Maria giggled, then caught herself. Oh wow, how many whiskey's and beers did she have again? Still, she grinned. "That's a nice one. Polished wooden handle. Bristles just the right stiffness. And your hair kinda is that bad."

The vampire was clearly not amused by Maria's gift, but Ulrika still nodded and deposited the brush under her vest. She pulled up the hood of her cloak. "Thank you, Maria. I hope you make it to Ulthuan. And that you make it back to your people."

Then she was out the door and gone without another word between them.

Maria closed the door, then leaned against it. Her head knocked on the wood.

That was nice, getting to know Ulrika better. Twenty years as a human, twenty years as a vampire. And she had packed a hell of a lot of living in those forty years. Pardon the pun. That vampire was as much a survivor as Maria. But that's where things got complicated. Every race had their advantages. Asari had natural biotics. Salarians got enhanced intellect. Turians, their martial resolve. Krogans were damn near indestructible. And humans were adaptable.

But none of them were immortal. None of them could wield magic, raise the dead, and make themselves virtually invisible to the naked eye.

This was one of her responsibilities as a Spectre. Make contact with other species and establish diplomatic relations. It wasn't listed high in the manual, what with most of the relays explored and Spectres normally sent on less than gentle assignments, but it was. And while Maria was stuck on this world relying totally on the locals, she still had to keep her priorities straight.

Ulrika seemed alright, but how in world was Maria supposed to introduce vampires to the galaxy at large?

Ugh, that made her heart hurt. Safe to say Maria could leave that to the endless committees and parades of bureaucrats. All this was academic though until she found a way off this dirtball. Though the vid industry was going to go berserk. Vampires, Elves, Dwarfs, and wizards? You couldn't ask for better material than this.

She pushed off from the door, took a moment to steady herself, then went to greet the Supreme Patriarch. Would he be able to tell she might actually be more than a little buzzed?

/ooooooo\

Maria stepped out onto the night shrouded street. The soft orange glow of the streetlamps barely lit up the road and the light drizzle of rain began to pepper her face as she approached the man wearing the golden mask.

The Supreme Patriarch dismounted from the back of his pegasus, Quicksilver, took two steps toward the inn then stopped. His gaze drawn to the large building behind her.

"What happened?" he demanded in that rough metallic voice of his. The black eyes of his mask dropped back to her. "What did you do?"

Maria came to a stop. "Excuse me?"

He pointed a gloved hand. "I can feel the residual necromantic magic inside that inn. A necromancer, or worse a vampire, was here not long ago and they used their spell craft. What did you do to provoke another attack?"

Maria blinked at him. "You're blaming me?"

"Who else? Valantina values gold not arcane secrets and power. I told you to return to this inn and keep your head down. Why did you not obey my command and simply stay out of trouble? Nuln has suffered enough damage already; the Empire cannot afford to come to further harm because of your stumbling!"

Oh. Oh, wow.

"I didn't do anything," Maria shot back as she folded her arms across her chest. "For your information last night, after I asked to say with you and you told me no, I came back here to find three Lahmian vampiresses waiting for me. The woman in charge said she had orders from Queen Neferata to bring me to her at the Silver Pinnacle."

"What?!"

Maria nodded. "That's right your Supremeness, you nearly sent me straight back into the arms of the vampires. We fought, and it was only when I called on the winds of magic that they felt your power still on me. Which is freaky enough in its own way, but I'm fine. Handled it all by my lonesome, just like I've been handling things since I first fell onto this planet."

Gelt's fists clenched at his sides. "Why is it everywhere you go, vampires are close behind? Blood Keep, Nordland, Mordheim, Wurtbad, and now Nuln. Coincidence can only carry you so far Shepard."

"I'm complicated," she growled back.

"Complicated… or perhaps a conspirator in their thrall? You've been around them long enough. Rescuing you from the Iron Tower may have been a mistake."

"You know what? Fuck you!" Great, now she was channeling Jack. The rational part of her brain tried kicking on the brakes but its slightly buzzed foot missed the pedal. "I got dumped here seconds after assuming I was about to die. For the second time! And you think you can just grill me like this?" She walked right up into Gelt's face. Well, mask. "You want to know what happened here last night? I walked in on three vampires having tea with a woman I consider a friend. Then one of them asked me to accompany her to the Silver Pinnacle. She's over two-thousand years old and remembers the exact shape of Sigmar's ass! I'm lucky to be standing here at all!"

"I recommend watching your tone when speaking to me Shepard!" he snarled.

Maria just shouted over him. "I don't know what the hell your problem is right now but lose the freaking attitude! I don't need it or deserve it. Everything that's happened to me since the Battle of the Six Pillars is just as much your fault as mine. Markos von Carstein followed me through the pillars. He was present for the battle, and he slipped past the Reiksmarshal, his Reiksguard and soldiers, all your battle wizards, and you! You lost me, while I managed to survive the vampires! That's what I do Gelt, I survive. If this means talking things out with people you would rather just stake or behead, then that's what it means! Nothing is going to stop me from finding a way home! Nothing and no one!"

The street was illuminated with a golden light that radiated off the Supreme Patriarch. His breathing could be heard behind his mask. Maria was also breathing heavily as she flared her biotics, battling the golden light with her own blue glow. Gelt may be the strongest wizard in the world, but she'd blow a hole in the street before he uttered a single syllable.

They stared each other down until Gelt's mask tilted a bit to the left.

"You're drunk."

"Oh no," she shook her head, "no, you don't get to blame this all on me. I'm buzzed, while you're just being an ass."

"Buzzed? What's the difference?" he asked.

"Buzzed I can still shoot the eyes of your mask out at fifty yards with my pistol. Drunk and I just aim for center mass instead."

The golden light surrounding him intensified as he leaned forward slightly. "I'd like to see that." He looked her over. "Though you don't appear to be carrying that pistol now."

Maria held her ground as she flared her biotics with more force countering his magics. "I don't need it now."

A neighing from behind Gelt grabbed both their attention. Maria leaned past Gelt as he slowly spun around. His pegasus Quicksilver was staring at them. The mythical horse stomped the street twice, flapped his wings, then shook his head with another light whinny.

Did she just… did they just get told off by a horse?

Gelt released a heavy sigh. His shoulders sagged as the golden light around him dimmed away.

Maria blinked. He was backing off. Holy shit.

"Fine." He turned back to her. "I'm being an ass, as you so eloquently put it. Its been a trying day. Rebuilding the foundries isn't going to be an easy endeavor, and the dwarfs wouldn't let me forget it. Apparently trying to reinforce the buildings so this can't happen a second time will compromise their original designs." He brought a hand up to his mask. "I don't care how old those bearded geezers are, this is Empire's future at stake. But all they do puff their chests out, huff, and then remind me their mountain holds are the epitome of architectural brilliance and humanity is lucky to have befriended them at all."

Maria cut her biotics She could meet him halfway. "Alright. I'm sorry I blew up at you." Gelt nodded as she stood there waiting. And waiting. She put her hands on her hips. "And you are…?"

"I'm what?"

"I'm waiting for a simple apology."

Gelt straightened his back. "I haven't apologized to anyone except the Emperor since becoming the Supreme Patriarch."

Maria arched an eyebrow at him.

"And I don't intend to change that now," he finished as he walked to his pegasus.

"Asshole," Maria called him to his back.

He shrugged. "As I just admitted moments ago." Gelt patted Quicksilver's neck, and Maria could just barely hear him speaking softly to the animal. He turned back to her. "Is there anything you need to take with you? We ride for Altdorf tonight. I intend to be back in the capital come morning."

"Yeah, I do, but," Maria did the math in her head. There was no way they'd make it to Altdorf in a single night. By boat or horse, it just wasn't possible. Unless of course…

… they rode his pegasus. Together. And now that she was looking at it, that saddle on Quicksilver's back was definitely designed for two people.

Her stomach did a little flip.

"Gather your things. I'll wait for you here."

Maria went back to her room in the Laughing Bear Inn. Everything was already packed into the canvas duffle bag. Except for her locust and phalanx, and she reached into the mattress to pull them both out of their little hideaway, stuffing them into the small bag on her waist, where her sword and silver dagger also rested.

On her way out, she stopped at the front desk. One of the maids was sitting behind reception with an open book in her hands. Maria walked over to her.

"Stuck with the night shift?"

Hannah looked up from her book. She shrugged. "Peter has the night off. I don't mind."

"I haven't seen Antonio and Raine all day. I'm assuming they're out?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Valantina were invited to a nobleman's mansion for the evening. Food, wine, and weighty discussions about sir's new social status. I'm afraid they won't be back until early morning. Paul and a few of the others provided an escort."

Maria nodded. "Alright then. Well, I'm leaving Nuln, and this time I don't see myself coming back. Give my best to Raine and Antonio, thank them for their hospitality and all that. And the orange juice. Be sure to mention the orange juice."

Hannah smiled up at her. "I will of course pass along your thanks and farewell. It was pleasure having you with us."

Maria gave her a smile and little wave, then turned and left the inn.

Gelt was still waiting for her in the street. Not that she had expected him to have gone anywhere in the short time it had taken her to get her stuff. She crossed the cobblestone road, her steps echoing in the night, but then stopped about six feet from the two of them.

"What is it?" Gelt was staring at her. So was the horse.

Maria fidgeted as she just stared right back. At the pegasus.

She had never been this close to one of these winged horses before. Quicksilver was stunning up close. The pegasus was as tall as the steed she had borrowed from the Reiksguard. A bit leaner perhaps, not as muscled or wide in the shoulders as the mighty warhorse, but thinking about that it would make sense since this creature was made to fly, not thunder its way through herds of beastmen and orcs.

Quicksilver's mane was feathered, a mix of silver and white, and all of them having tips dusted black. The pegasus's legs were also feathered at the ankles, the feathers growing to touch the ground and nearly cover the hooves entirely. His body was an unblemished sea of white.

And the wings. Holy cow, those wings. The same color as his mane, Maria's eyes drifted over the feathers and almost as if the horse knew where she was looking Quicksilver stretched his wings to their full length and flapped them twice before pulling them in again. Had to have been a full wingspan of at least fifteen feet. Maybe a hair more even. They grew out of the center of the animal's back and probably connected straight to the spinal cord.

The saddle on his back was designed with a seat in front and just behind the wings. One person would ride on the shoulders, the other on the flanks. The golden staff that the Supreme Patriarch had always been carrying around was currently strapped to the side of the saddle.

Gelt was resting his right arm across the saddle. "Are you ready to depart?"

Maria cringed, and gestured to Quicksilver. "I've… never ridden a pegasus before. Is there any, I don't know, rules I should be aware of?"

Gelt glanced at the winged horse. "Don't pull any of his feathers out if you want to continue living. Be respectful. That's about it. You've ridden a horse before, haven't you?"

She nodded. He shrugged. "They're about the same. Except when you lead them with the reins, you're also telling them whether to dive or climb in the air." He patted the saddle. "Of course, I'll be doing the leading. You're a passenger on this flight."

Seemed simple enough. But Maria wasn't above hedging her bets. She shrugged off her duffle bag and quickly rummaged around inside. Finding what she wanted, she pulled out a bright red apple.

Squaring her shoulders, Maria slowly approached Quicksilver with the apple outstretched in her hand. The pegasus just watched her as she crept closer.

"You always stuff food away with your belongings?" Gelt asked. Sounded like there was a touch of amusement in his voice.

"Yes." Maria kept her eyes on Quicksilver. "Always. Now shush, this is about me and your friend. I'd rather not be bucked off when we're a thousand feet in the air."

Quicksilver just watched her with what almost appeared to be a lazy expression, as if he was wondering what was taking her so long. Feeling judged by the fancy horse, Maria held out the apple for him to sniff.

"I hope you like apples. I have another if you do. And if you promise not to drop me on the way to Altdorf, I'll buy you a bucket full when we get there."

Quicksilver swiped the apple from her hand and crunched it between his teeth, then nudged her chest with his nose. Maria smiled. Alrighty then. She retrieved the second red apple and fed it to him as well. But her smile vanished when she spied him chewing.

The pegasus had incisors. Sharp, pointy incisors.

"Gelt, why does Quicksilver have sharp teeth?"

The Supreme Patriarch had grabbed her bag and set it over the pegasus's rump, proceeding to tie it in place.

"Pegasi are omnivores," he informed her, like it was common knowledge to the entire world. "They graze and hunt in equal measure. Vegetable or flesh, doesn't matter to them." Finished tying the duffle bag in place he waved a hand over the bag and all the ropes flashed gold. Giving them a tug, the cords moved as one as the bag stayed put. He had just turned them to metal.

Gelt looked over at her as Maria stood still as a statue. Why? Because the flesh-eating pegasus had decided to give her a good sniffing over and its teeth were now uncomfortably close to her face. How did she always get herself into these situations?

"I'm guessing you didn't know that," he said with a chuckle.

Quicksilver was looking at her so Maria kept a calm reassuring smile on her face. "No, I did not," she replied through her teeth. She reached up and ran her hand through his feathered mane. That seemed to be enough for the pegasus as he gave up on his inspection of her person and simply enjoyed the preening.

Gelt's mask was focused on Quicksilver. "Not even a nip?" The Supreme Patriarch sounded mildly upset. "Your loyalty is easily bought nowadays, isn't it? When I approached you for the first time all those years ago you bit me every chance you got."

He pulled himself up and into the saddle. Maria glanced at the pegasus and could practically see the satisfied look off the winged horse. Well, well, well. Omnivores and an intelligence greater than that of ordinary horses. Pegasi were surprising her more and more.

She petted his neck one more time. "You bit him because he didn't feed you apples the first time you both met, am I right?" Quicksilver offered a small whinny. Maria laughed. "That's what I thought."

Gelt extended a hand out for her. She took it and he helped lift her up into the saddle.

"I offered him fresh squirrel," Gelt shot back over his shoulder.

Maria made a face. "Squirrel? Ew. Why would you do that?"

"Because pegasi hunt and eat squirrel."

"Okay, well, let me ask you this. If you had a choice between squirrel or a fresh apple, which would you choose?"

"That's beside the point," he growled back. Maria laughed lightly. She then set her feet into the second pair of stirrups and pulled her newly bought gloves and wool hat out of her jacket's inside pockets. She put them on as she examined the saddle.

"Hey Gelt. I don't want to be rude here, but is Quicksilver going to be able to carry us both to Altdorf without a problem? I only ask because I'm a bit heavier than people first believe me to be."

Gelt looked over his shoulder. "No doubt thanks to all that metal throughout your body, hm?"

She nodded even though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, because of that."

"Pegasi are far stronger than you'd first believe them to be Shepard. The two of use aren't going to be a problem for this brief trip."

"Okay, good. Just double checking."

Gelt took the reins in hand as Quicksilver already began clopping down the darkened street. Maria looked over the saddle again.

"Hey Gelt."

"Yes Shepard?"

"What do I hold onto back here?"

"That's a very good question." He chose that moment to snap the reins, giving Quicksilver the lead to break into a gallop.

Maria scrambled to keep her balance. "Gelt!"

"Yes Shepard?"

"You didn't answer my question!"

"The small raised potion of the saddle separating us? You can hold onto that."

Except Maria had already tried that. The saddle was built up to separate the two riders in their seats, but unlike the horn at the front of the saddle, here there was nothing but smooth leather. She could in theory hold onto the duffle bag tied behind her, but then Maria would be leaning slightly backward the whole trip. Wasn't the most stable of positions to be in.

Quicksilver took the street corner at the full gallop. Maria did her best to lean into it to prevent being thrown straight to the ground. But then the pegasus outstretched his wings and began flapping. Lucky it was night and the streets were deserted or he would have knocked everybody out with all his flapping.

"Gelt!"

"Yes Shepard."

Were Quicksilver's hooves already off the cobblestones? From the lack of noise on every other wingbeat they were about to take off.

"I would really like something to hold onto before we – aahhh!"

The pegasus took off like a fighter jet, straight up into the night. Maria instinctively lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the Supreme Patriarch. She looked down and immediately regretted it. The ground was rapidly shrinking below them as they climbed into the sky. Her head was spinning at the suddenness of it. She really shouldn't have had so much to drink.

Maria buried her head into Gelt's back. "Don't throw up on the pegasus. Don't throw up on the pegasus. Don't throw up on the pegasus."

"You saying something back there?" Gelt asked. With a particularly sadistic note of smugness she decided. But at least he got Quicksilver to level out his ascent so they weren't skyrocketing straight into high atmo.

Maria pulled her face out of his thick golden jacket. "No, I'm perfectly fine." She squeezed his stomach. "Asshole."

Gelt just laughed back as he patted her gloved hands with one of his own. "Enjoy the ride Maria. Once we get above the clouds it should be a beautiful night."

/ooooooo\

And he was right. It was beautiful.

Quicksilver had managed to get them above the carpet of clouds without any sign of strain, his long wings flapping out a gentle rhythm as he flew. Every flap rose the pegasus into the air, but the smoothness of the act was nothing like the bobbing of the ships Maria had traveled on so far.

Now if the gallon of alcohol sitting in her stomach would just burn itself away then she wouldn't have had any complaint at all.

Still, she could deal with it to get a sight like this. Despite being grey and dark from below, from above the clouds were white and fluffy like cotton swabs. And with the night sky surrounding them, it looked as if they were flying through an endless ocean of faintly twinkling stars.

Too bad that ugly scarred green moon marred the aesthetic. It sat on the horizon, half above and half below the clouds. The normal moon was almost gone, just a sliver remained glowing before it succumbed to the new moon.

They had been flying for a couple hours before Maria realized the opportunity provided to her. Very carefully she unclasped her hands from around Gelt, then booted up her omni-tool.

"Something the matter?" he asked her.

"No." She pulled up the cartography program on her tool and then raised her left arm up to scan the whole of the horizon. It took a few seconds, but then it completed the scan. After a moments hesitation she glanced at the read out.

System: Unknown.

Planet: Unknown.

She read the report twice, feeling slightly numb. Then she got annoyed. It had been stupid of her to assume it was going to show anything else. Not enough time had passed for different constellations to become visible.

"What did you just do?"

Maria shut down the omni-tool and wrapped her arms around Gelt again. She rested her cheek on his back. "I have a tool that maps out the stars in the sky. Its capable of picking up even faint light signatures. And when it finds a constellation it recognizes, it can tell me exactly where I am in the larger galaxy."

"Except it hasn't yet, am I right?" Gelt asked. "That's why you're still lost."

She shook her head a bit. "Nope. Not yet."

"How many maps does your tool have?"

Maria stared off into the night. "Thousands. While most of the known galaxy is still unexplored, a vast majority of the stars have been mapped at the very least. For my omni-tool not to recognize even a single pattern, it means I'm way, way off the beaten track."

He didn't add anything after that and the two of them continued flying.

/ooooooo\

Maria released her grip on Gelt so she could bring her hands up to her mouth and breath some warmth back into them. She wasn't freezing by any stretch, but the cold air had begun to seep through her clothes. Her legs and feet were getting cold, as were cheeks and nose. Good thing she had the foresight to buy her wool hat. Fortunately for her, Gelt was taking the brunt of the wind. So long as she stayed small behind him, she was okay.

"Getting cold?" Gelt asked her over his shoulder.

She rubbed her gloves together. "A bit. Honestly, I'm fine. Its not a problem. Though considering the season I'm surprised we aren't freezing at this altitude. We must have climbed three-thousand feet up. We're lucky the air is so warm tonight."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Gelt chuckled in reply. He rolled his shoulders a bit. "I've been using some magic to warm the air around us so we don't freeze."

Maria frowned. "But you're a gold wizard. I thought bright wizards had the monopoly on fire?"

He nodded. "Oh, they do. There isn't a wizard alive that's ever managed to master more than one of the eight winds of magic. And those that have tried, died in their vain attempts. The High Elves are among the only two races that can tame the winds of magic to that degree. But simple things such as this? If you continue to study the winds, you'll learn there are effortless ways to manipulate the magic to your advantage."

"Like warming the air?"

Gelt shrugged. "It will never be enough to save yourself from freezing in a blizzard. But I think you'll agree it makes this flight more comfortable."

Yeah, Maria had to admit that would come in handy. Particularly with winter on its way. She'd have to see if that was a skill she could pick up before she left for Ulthuan.

"Who's the other race?"

"What?"

Maria leaned forward as she wrapped her arms around the Supreme Patriarch.

"I asked, who's the second race that –"

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

A terribly grating roar/screech forced Maria to let go of the wizard and cover her ears. Both Gelt and Quicksilver also recoiled at the deafening noise, the pegasus momentarily losing its rhythm as it neighed in pain and flapped erratically.

It sounded like it came from below. Maria looked down just as a large black mass erupted up through the clouds. It was followed by a second large shape, then a third, and a fourth. They were all flapping angrily to gain altitude. Screaming at an incredible pitch.

"Gelt! Below us!"

He hardly needed telling. Quicksilver banked hard, narrowly avoiding a collision with the leading creature. The pegasus dove, then climbed hard again to avoid the remaining beasts.

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

Maria curled over the saddle in pain. Every scream from those things felt like knives twisting in her ears. She looked back to see all four of the creatures now giving chase.

"What are those things?" Each of the creatures easily overshadowed the pegasus in comparison. Two or three bites would be all it took. The winged horse would be barely a meal at all. Shepard and Gelt, nothing more than appetizers.

"Undead!" Gelt shouted back. He snapped the reins, and in response Quicksilver began flapping hard, putting on more speed. "Abyssal Terrors, or more commonly called Terrorgheists! Creatures born of pure necromancy. Giants bats, griffons, wyverns, giant vultures, a Terrorgheist is all the above and more fused into a savage monstrosity!"

Quicksilver struggled to climb higher while still staying ahead of the undead creatures. Gelt glanced over his shoulder. "There's a Strigoi riding the largest of the four. I had no idea the vampires wanted you dead so badly. Who did you insult to warrant this?"

Yup, these things were always her faut. Except, well, in this case, it really was.

Gelt wasn't going to like this. "You remember what happened in Wurtbad? Those vargheists and Lahmians were sent by Mannfred von Carstein. He's been hunting me for a while."

Her arms still wrapped around his waist, Maria felt him stiffen at the name. "That's not possible. Mannfred is dead. Killed like his bloodsire."

"Look, believe what you want, but when the Lahmians were standing over me and gloating, the words came right out of their mouths. Mannfred is back and he wants me dead."

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

When Maria opened her eyes again, she risked turning in the saddle to look back. The four Terrorgheists were gaining. And now she could see the creature's master. The bulky hunched form of a Strigoi vampire gripping his monster's reins.

Out of all the vampire bloodlines, Strigoi appeared the least humanlike. They were bestial. Traditionally larger and tougher than their cousins, with their bulging muscles they preferred to abandon the sword in favor of tearing their opponents apart with their bare claws. As always there were exceptions to the rules, but Strigoi were generally looked down upon by other vampires. The undead aristocracy were always consciously keeping the blood thirsty beasts within themselves chained and under control. Strigoi had no misgivings. They reveled in the monsters they were.

And as she watched the vampire give chase, Maria could have sworn she saw fangs flash in the dim moonlight. He was closing the distance.

"I thought you said Quicksilver was the fastest mount in the old world?"

"And he is!" Gelt growled back. "But he's also carrying a second rider and her luggage! So long as the magic sustains them, no living thing can outrun an undead forever!"

Oh great. "So they're going to catch us?"

"Eventually, perhaps. If we let them." Gelt leaned over as he reached for his golden staff. The straps keeping it tied to the saddle disintegrated in a flash of light. It slid out from under their legs and the Supreme Patriarch held it high in the air as the winds of magic began to swirl in power around them. "But I have no intention of being caught and devoured by their ilk."

With his right hand still wrapped in the reins Gelt gave them a pull. Quicksilver responded easily. The pegasus banked hard right and in a blink they were now charging the four Terrorgheists head on.

"Hold on to me and don't let go."

Maria tightened her grip around him. "Don't need to tell me twice."

With a shouted word Gelt thrust his staff forward toward the oncoming beasts. A circle of golden light made up of shimmering indecipherable glyphs expanded in diameter at the staff's tip. From the circle shards of red-hot metal were launched toward the undead like arrows from a hundred crossbows.

The Terrorgheists shrieked in alarm. The Strigoi dove under the attack while the two flanking terrorgheists broke off to the left and right. The fourth wasn't fast enough. The shards of molten metal impaled it in the dozens. Maria watched the creature flail once in agony before the sheer number of metal spikes ripped it apart and set it a flame from the heat. A bald vulture like head fell out of the air, followed by what remained of its body, wings and claws. The flaming bits vanished through the clouds below.

Gelt cut the magic with a laugh.

"I am the Supreme Patriarch, vampire!" His metallic voice boomed through the night. Apparently, wizards could pull that off as well as heat the air around them. "Are you ready to face a master of Chamon?"

A vicious snarl was the reply. Just as loud as Gelt's enhanced voice. "You still bleed like all mortals! Give me the woman! Your death will be quicker if you do!"

The Strigoi had brought his terrorgheist around and resumed the chase. Of the two others, one was trialing slightly above, the second a fair bit below. They were close enough now for Maria to get a good view of their gruesome appearance. The vampire rode a monster of a bat. Another terrorgheist had a head of fused beak and bone, but with leathery wings and mishappen front talons. It might have been a griffon in life, now not so much. The third had the head of a bat, but the body of a lizard. It must have been a wyvern, or maybe something else.

Gelt hadn't been exaggerating when he said abyssal terrors were just the fused remains of other creatures.

And the vampire himself was just as repulsive. She wasn't looking into the face of a human. He was thick as a Krogan and had blazing red eyes. His head was nearly bald, just folds of skin and patches of hair. It looked like he was wearing some kind of leather armor, but knowing vampires, Maria hoped it was nothing more than animal leather. The Strigoi raised a muscled arm tipped with a savage claw into the sky.

Maria felt a shiver run down her back as necromantic magic tore through the night. All three terrorgheists shrieked again, this time with a brutal enthusiasm. They seemed rejuvenated and filled with more energy as they flew even faster, quickly gaining on their quarry.

The vampire laughed. Then thrust his arm at Maria's back. A purple ball of flame streaked through the night straight for them.

"Incoming!" Maria stretched her arm out and rapidly pulled a biotic barrier into existence. The ball of fire splashed against the blue shield and died out.

The saddle jerked underneath her throwing off Maria's balance and she quickly wrapped her arm back around the Supreme Patriarch.

"What are you doing?" the wizard snapped in annoyance.

Another ball of purple fire sailed past them, missing by feet.

"I was trying to help!"

"That power of yours isn't helping!" Gelt shouted as a third ball of fire whizzed past. "It's hindering the winds. Just sit tight and let me handle this"

Maria's brow furrowed. Her biotics were messing with his ability to call on the winds of magic? That didn't make any sense. If that was the case, then how was she able to use biotics and magic at the same time?

Questions for later. Right now, they had to survive this.

The winds of Chamon surged again as Gelt's staff began to glow. "I'm taking the vampire now. With him dead, the creatures under his command will crumble."

Maria looked down, then up. "Don't count on the other two terrorgheists to just sit back and watch you do it."

"They won't have time to act." Gelt voice was laced with a dangerous finality. The magic was so thick it was visible without Maria even focusing on it. He pulled on Quicksilver's reins and steered them back toward the chasing vampire.

The terrorgheist above them dove. The one below climbed fast. The Strigoi's laugh drowned out their bloodcurdling shrieks.

"Taste molten metal fiend!" Gelt shouted. He thrust his staff forward. A beam of golden light streaked through the air, right for the vampire.

A foot from the terrorgheist's face the beam of light struck a solid dome of air. Gelt grunted as his magic pushed against the barrier. The terrorgheist and vampire continued for them, hardly slowing as the magical attack from Gelt continued to battle against them, the beam thickening as the two got closer.

"Gelt!" Maria shouted. "Break off!" The two other terrorgheists were moments from knocking them out of the air.

But they never had the chance. The dome of solid air protecting the Strigoi shattered with a sonic boom. The blast wave rocked everything in the air. Maria yelped as Quicksilver was sent tumbling head over hoof, dropping at least a hundred feet before stretching out his wings and catching them again.

"What the hell was that?!" Maria had to blink and shake her head just to get the ringing out of her ears. He didn't answer and that's when she realized her arms were still wrapped around Gelt and probably the only thing keeping him in the saddle as the Supreme Patriarch slumped forward over the pegasus. "Gelt? Gelt?!"

"Unnggh…aaggmmmhh…"

Were those even words? Maria tried to shake him. "Gelt, don't you dare pass out on me!" Three brain rattling screeches told her they weren't out of the woods yet. And a quick glance behind her proved it as the three terrorgheists were all giving chase.

The Strigoi was still ridding the giant bat one.

"That was unpleasant," Gelt declared as he straightened back in the saddle. It was followed by a groan. "A lodestone, most likely fused with obsidian. To say its resistant to magic would be an understatement at this point."

"Ya think?" Maria scoffed. "Are you okay?" How had he even managed to keep a grip on his golden staff through all that?

He blatantly ignored her question. "A Strigoi protected with something like that is unlikely at best. This vampire belongs to someone else. Someone with a mastery of the arcane arts. My spell would have obliterated anything else." There was a pause. "You may have been right."

This was hardly the time for Maria to gloat, though she'd find some once they landed. Right now, they still had death on their heels.

"I can break his defense, but it'll take time and effort. Shepard, I can't guarantee your safety while I do it."

"That bad huh?"

"The only reason you and Quicksilver are alive right now is because I took most of the blowback from that last spell when it overloaded. It'll be five times worse when I break that lodestone. And those two terrorgheists aren't going to let me do that without a fight."

He didn't have to say much more, Maria could do the math. Gelt may be the most powerful human wizard on the planet, but in this exact situation, he was also trying to protect not only Shepard but his pegasus as well. He couldn't nuke the Strigoi if Maria just became collateral damage.

She looked over her shoulder. The three terrorgheists had once again closed the gap. In a few minutes they'd be in a fight for their lives.

"What if I bought you time?"

Gelt stiffened. "And exactly how would you do that?"

"Think about it. The vampire wants me, but he can't just take me as long as you're alive. You're the Supreme Patriarch. You're too dangerous. So, we divide and conquer."

"… you can't be serious."

"Need I remind you I fought a black dragon and a druchii dread lord in Marienburg? I think I can handle a single terrorgheist and a vampire." Maria risked another glance back at the creatures pursuing them. "I'll get the Strigoi's attention, while you rip apart his last two pets. Then we kill him together."

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

Would those things just shut up already! Maria opened her eyes again. Ahead of them the night was still as beautiful and clear as ever. She had truly been enjoying the flight, right up until the undead ruined it.

"We're still hours from Altdorf. I don't seem to have much choice in the matter." Gelt snapped the reins and Quicksilver neighed in response. "What do you propose?"

Maria looked down. Then back at the vampire. Then down again. The cloud cover was still thick, but last she saw they were somewhere between twenty-five hundred to three-thousand feet up. It wasn't a record-breaking height for an Asari, but it would be pushing it for a human of her biotic capability. Maria swallowed. She could do it. And damn, would this make a hell of a story if – when she got back home.

"I'm jumping for it," Maria quickly explained, as she threw one leg over the pegasus's rump, and hung off the saddle by the single stirrup.

"WHAT?!" Gelt tried twisting around as Quicksilver neighed his displeasure at the shifted weight.

"Either I'll get the two terrorgheists to follow me down, or the Strigoi himself, either way, it'll buy you the time and space you need to end this."

"Shepard, are touched in the – !"

Maria didn't catch the last part as she had already leapt from the pegasus. The tricky part of the whole operation would be getting the attention of the vampire on her way down. As the wind whipped past, she rolled onto her back with her locust submachine gun expanded in her hand. Her jacket flapping around her she shouldered the weapon and took aim.

"Come and get me asshole!"

She opened fire, holding the trigger for a sustained burst. The Strigoi's giant bat shrieked as the rounds tore through its body. But instead of the vampire diving down in pursuit, the other two terrorgheists were the ones to drop after her, folding in their long, decayed wings and falling like missiles.

Oh shit. She had really been hoping for the vampire and the single terrorgheist. And now that she thought about it, that was one of the weirdest wishes she had ever made.

But right now she had bigger problems to worry about as her back burst through the layer of clouds.

Maria could see the trees below rapidly growing. A wide river stretched along the forest. On average it took a person in freefall around fifteen hundred feet to reach terminal velocity. She was already falling too fast for comfort but the two terrorgheists had just burst through the clouds above her. Maria risked another two quick bursts of gunfire, one aimed at each of the undead creatures set on catching her. Both terrorgheists flapped erratically at being shot, and it bought Maria the precious second she needed.

She only had a few hundred feet before she hit the trees. There wasn't enough space to slow down, and she knew if she did the monsters would simply catch and eat her. So Maria did the only thing she could by curling up tightly into a ball and then throwing every iota of biotic power she had into a barrier.

She felt the impacts as she crashed through the upper branches. Everyone was like a hammer blow to another part of her body. Ironically, they also helped to dramatically slow her down as she plummeted through the forest canopy. And while her barrier was protecting her from the worst of it, she still couldn't fight the centrifugal force's assaulting her body. Maria couldn't keep herself curled up for long, bouncing off the tree branches, and finally belly flopping onto the forest floor; all the air knocked out of her lungs and her head ringing.

She was wheezing on the ground when another loud crash told her the terrorgheists had followed her example and just smashed their own way to the ground. She managed to roll onto her side and felt her back popping into place.

"Ow," was the first thing gasped out. The next was, "Can't – believe, that worked as well as it did." She was alive and in one piece. No broken bones. That had to be a record for humanity.

Thank you, Miranda, for those upgraded bone weaves.

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

"Just, shut up." Maria groaned, more annoyed by their screams now than anything else.

She was on her hands and knees as the terrorgheists burst thought the nearest trees. The horribly disfigured griffon monster stood shoulder to shoulder with the bat headed wyvern thing. Both were staring her down with the single-minded devotion of a predator sighting in on their prey.

And both were a lot bigger now than they had looked back up in the air. Here's hoping Gelt wouldn't take forever dispatching the Strigoi.

Maria pushed back to her feet just as the two undead monsters charged her. She had lost her locust in the fall so Maria yanked out her phalanx pistol and began firing behind her as she ran. Every tree she had to duck under or jump around was just smashed to pieces by the ravaging undead. Her phalanx wasn't doing enough damage to kill them permanently, so she shoved it away again before she overloaded the clip and kept sprinting through the forest.

Unfortunately, those same trees that were slowing them down had begun to thin out. Before she knew it, Maria found herself on the edge of the quarter-mile wide river. She could try to swim for it or just kill the terrorgheists. And she didn't fancy swimming for it.

Maria spun back around. She was going to have to pull out all the stops for this. Only one weapon put undead down with maximum effectiveness. Maria pulled out her silver dagger and began concentrating on the winds of magic. Surprisingly, the magic answered swiftly and easily, probably thanks to the Strigoi and Supreme Patriarch currently dueling it out somewhere high above her. Holding the dagger tight in hand Maria saw the bat headed wyvern thing first. Instantly that monster reared back as she froze part of its snout to solid ice with a cryo-blast from her omni-too.

The second terrorgheist pushed past it. The deformed griffon lunged for Maria, but its beak snapped through nothing but black smoke. A heartbeat after, a second cloud of black smoke popped into existence on its back, and that's where Maria landed. She raised the silver dagger up then plunged it straight down into the back of the undead thing's head.

Another piercing scream filled the forest as the terrorgheist thrashed in obvious pain. But only in pain. Maria had stuck it with a silver knife but now she was just trying to hold on for dear life as the monster bucked, then flapped its decayed wings and went airborne.

"No you don't!" Maria stabbed the dagger down twice. The undead creature's skull was fracturing beneath the blade, but like her pistol, the small knife wasn't doing enough damage. Well, she knew something that would. Maria sheathed the dagger then plunged her fist into the terrorgheist, managing to get her hand embedded into the creature up to the wrist.

She opened her hand and fired a biotic warp point blank into the undead thing's brain.

The biotic attack tore right through the monster's head, bursting it apart to pieces. The terrorgheist's wings went limp, along with the rest of its body, as it fell out of the air.

She then realized where she was about to fall.

"Oh shit!" was all Maria got out before crashing into the river. The terrorgheist's undead body broke apart in the water as the necromantic magic that had kept it fused together faded away. Maria's head broke the surface among the rotten pieces.

"Ugh, gross." She pushed something fleshy off the top of her head. Better off not knowing what that was.

Treading water Maria spun around looking for the bat headed wyvern. She found it on the shore, it's long serpentine neck stretched over the river's edge trying to reach her.

One down, one to go.

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

After her brain stopped throbbing Maria watched the creature pace the water's edge like a caged animal. It continually tried to reach out for her but fell short by over a dozen feet. For whatever reason it refused to jump in.

SSKKREEERAAAAWWWRR!

Spreading its wings, the terrorgheist began flapping and got itself airborne. It didn't appear willing to jump in, but it seemed ready to try and fish her out. Her clothes were weighing her down, but Maria kept her head above water. When it came for her, she'd time a dive under, then gather some more magic and attempt to kill it just like the first.

A deafening snap filled the air, like the crack of a whip. The noise beat against Maria's skull, momentarily sending her under the river's surface. She kicked back up and pulled in a lungful of air just in time to see the terrorgheist on shore convulse, its wings and neck stretch out to their full length, then collapse in a rapidly decaying heap on the shoreline.

Undead crumbling for apparently no reason only meant one thing. Gelt had done it. The Strigoi was dead.

This called for a drink when they made it to Altdorf, but for now Maria would be happy just getting out of the cold river. She swam and pulled herself out of the water, sitting in a heap on the bank, just as Quicksilver broke through the clouds above and landed beside her.

Gelt hopped out of the saddle. She gave him a little wave with one hand as she pulled off her sopping wet wool hat with the other. Wringing the water out, Maria pushed her bangs out of her face and pulled it back on her head.

"Nice job with the Strigoi," she said as he got near. "I took out one of the terrorgheists, the other broke apart after the vampire died." Gelt didn't reply as he stood over her, looking down with that stern looking mask of his. Normally it would have been difficult to guess his mood, but this time Maria had a fair idea what he was thinking. Her shoulder's and head dropped with a heavy sigh. "Alright. Just get it all out now."

"Are you badly injured?" he asked. His voice was emotionless. "You're bleeding."

Maria looked up in surprise. She had been expecting another lecture. "How bad?" She reached a glove up and touched a point of pain on her cheek. It hurt but was more annoying than anything else. The fingertips of her glove were stained red with a bit of blood. She let her hand drop with a chuckle and looked back up at Gelt. "It'll be close, but I think I'll live."

The Supreme Patriarch offered her a hand. She took it and managed to keep her groan quiet as he pulled her up to her feet. Taking a quick personal check, Maria was pleased to see that her barrier had protected her from the fall through the trees. Her jacket, clothes, and boots were still in one piece. And her sword was still belted at her hip. Nice. Dagger, pistol – oh no!

"Shit!" Maria's head snapped over to the forest. The pitch black, enormous forest. "Shit, fuck, shit, shit! I can't… I dropped my submachine gun when I hit the trees. We can't leave without it!"

She staggered toward the trees as her eyes scanned the dark. She could try to follow the broken trees and devastation left behind by the two terrorgheists, but she still had no idea when she had actually let go of the locust, or where it could have fallen.

Booting up her omni-tool for light, Maria prepared to begin her search, but Gelt grabbed her arm stopping her in place.

"What?!" She turned back to him, her eyes and voice pleading. "I need that weapon Gelt! I can't afford to lose it now!"

"Calm down." He released her arm and pointed to the bag on her hip. "Your other gun, the pistol, you still have it, correct?"

"Yes, but –"

"Let me see it."

"Gelt!"

"Just show me the pistol Shepard."

Maria didn't know what he had planned, and she itched to race back into the forest, but she shut down her omni-tool and pulled the phalanx out for him.

"Here," she said placing it in his waiting hand.

Gelt held the pistol in one hand while the other slid over the weapon. "I take it the larger gun is made from the same metallic composites?"

"More or less." Maria was practically shaking as she fought to keep her feet planted and not race off into the forest.

He gave the pistol back, then took a step past her so he faced the black forest. Without a word Gelt just raised his hand up, and Maria felt the winds of magic seep from him in streams. She concentrated, and soon after saw the magic flowing out between the trees. It shifted in the dark, stretching out further and further. Then it suddenly snapped taut, and all the flowing lines came together. Gelt retracted his hand and the magic pulled back into him.

Maria felt it coming a moment before she saw it. She jumped to catch the locust as it came flying out of the black forest. As easily as if someone had been out there and tossed it into her waiting arms.

Her eyes and fingers ran over the submachine gun. It was no worse for wear, as she compacted it, expanded it out, then compacted it again.

"Out here alone, surrounded by the Reik and the Drakwald, there isn't much metal just lying around for people to stumble upon." Gelt released his hold on the magic and the air settled. She turned to face him. "We're lucky. I suggest you keep a firm hold on that for the remainder of our trip."

Stuffing the locust away, she couldn't stop the smile on her face and hadn't the faintest inkling to do so if she could. Two steps forward and she had her arms thrown around Gelt's shoulders.

Maria hugged him tightly. "That was absolutely, positively amazing. Thank you."

Then she pulled back quickly, more than a little embarrassed she had let her feelings for one silly weapon get the better of her. Though, it wasn't just one silly weapon. As long as she was marooned here, this submachine gun was one of the few things keeping her linked to the wider galaxy.

Maria brought a hand up and rubbed the back of her neck. "What do you say we get out of her before something else shows up?"

All Gelt did was stare back at her. Well, his mask stared back at her. He just stood there, then spun on his heel and started for his pegasus waiting patiently along the riverbank.

"Oookay then…" Maria's earlier cheer at getting her weapon back vanished. Now the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end. A feat all the more impressive considering she was still soaked from head to toe. And cold. Now she was cold.

She followed a few steps behind the Supreme Patriarch and got to Quicksilver just as he vaulted up into the saddle. He offered her a hand just like last time and helped her up without a word. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he snapped the reins and get the pegasus running along the river's edge. They took off back into the air shortly after, breaking through the clouds and emerging into the sea of endless stars.

Maria sat uncomfortably in the saddle, and it had nothing to do with being wet and cold. Something was wrong, but aside from them both being attacked by the Strigoi and his pets, she could not figure out what it was that had Gelt acting the way he was. The guy was the Supreme Patriarch. In the magical arts he was the best humanity had to offer, and he had fought the awful things that wanted to destroy the greatest civilization of men in the world. It was an easy bet he'd faced far, far worse than a single vampire leading four angry terrorgheists.

"Something wrong?" she decided to ask.

"No. Nothing." He kicked his heels in, and Quicksilver increased his speed in response. "Just focused on getting to Altdorf."

Maria held back a sigh as she buried her face into his jacket. At least back on the Normandy she was able to corner people and pull rank to get them to tell her what their problems were. Preferably before those problems erupted into violence on a ship filled with the galaxy's greatest collection of skilled killers.

Whatever Gelt's problem was now, she'd find out once they landed. Luckily for her, she'd face that city and its primitive inhabitants while back in the safe, loving embrace of her collector armor.