Rassa sighed. He’d been woken by Mathius’ Unsealing only an hour after he’d gone to sleep, and at dawn no less. He would much rather be in his bed, that was for sure. But Mathius was the first apart from himself to become a fully-fledged Vampire. It was something to celebrate, and Rassa intended to be the first to do so.

“Rassa, did you sense-”

Ebony appeared on the balcony beside Rassa and Rassa just nodded in reply.

“I will go, you stay here and get some rest. We’ll celebrate this evening, once he has had some time to adjust,” Rassa smiled.

Ebony nodded, a small smile on her lips, “I…I can’t believe he actually did it. I mean, I can but-”

“I know,” Rassa replied, “It seems almost impossible to me as well. Finally. Finally, there are others who share in my burden”.

Ebony raised an eyebrow and Rassa chuckled, “I am not saying you are not sharing in it, but…you will understand when you come to be unsealed as well”.

Ebony sighed, “If you say so. I’m happy for you as well as him. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile so genuinely since Iah asked you to turn her”.

Rassa felt himself grin and accepted Ebony’s hug, “I don’t know why I ever sought to walk this path alone. It just…it feels so much better when there is someone walking it with me”.

Ebony nodded, “Then I long for the day where I can join you both”.

Rassa kissed the crown of Ebony’s head, “Aye, me too. Go back to bed. I’ll see you this evening”.

Ebony pulled away and headed back to the edge of the balcony so that she could drop back down onto her own, “Send him my congratulations”.

Rassa nodded and watched as Ebony dropped out of sight.

He turned to look over the city which had begun to be enveloped in the golden rays of the morning, then opened his mind and soul and sought the connection he had with Mathius.

He slowly turned to the north, then jumped from his balcony.

He was in no apparent hurry despite his speed. He felt nothing but calmness of resolution from Mathius, a clear sign that he was in no apparent danger, nor that he was on a rampage like Rassa had been.

Still, as Rassa crossed the Island and approached Port Cresh, he couldn’t help but think it was strange. Mathius could have been on a hunt, but why all the way over here? Was he attempting to spread out any deaths that occurred so that they wouldn’t be traced back to Moonshadow?

Rassa paused on the edge of Ishta’s estate.

His smile faded. He continued to feel only calmness and resolution, but a sense of dread settled in Rassa’s stomach. He moved, following the pull right to Ishta’s bedchamber. He could feel it now, the shadows blocking him out.

Rassa’s jaw locked in disappointment. He was not positive on what he would find on the other side of the door, but he was sure that he would not like it.

He closed his eyes, then took a breath before his own shadows reared up and splintered the door to pieces.

To the side, two naked young women knelt and watched on, their eyes puffy with tears and wide with panic. The room as a whole was dishevelled, and blood was splattered across much of the furniture. And there, in the centre of the room, naked and staring across at the door with a dead vacancy, lay the scarred and bloody body of Ishta Alamone.

Mathius sat on a chair beside the body, his boots resting on the body like it was a foot stool as he leaned back, relaxed. His bloodied claws looked over a scroll that sat laid out on the table.

Rassa felt himself freeze as he looked down at Ishta. Ishta’s eyes could barely focus on him. Even if Rassa was to heal the wounds, Ishta would not survive this. He’d lost too much blood.

“Rassa!” said Mathius excitedly, “I have it, the answer to our problems. It is done and you should worry no more!”

Mathius stood, kicking Ishta so that he rolled over, exposing his chest, where the Moonshadow symbol had been carved. Rassa felt an unbridled rage fill him, and even the shadows seemed to retreat. Mathius paused, his smile fading ever-so-slightly.

“Surely you cannot be angry at me, Rassa?” asked Mathius, looking legitimately confused.

Rassa closed his eyes, releasing a breath. The shadows calmed around him and Mathius too relaxed.

“I know I may have been a little excessive, but look, I got-”

Mathius chocked on his next word as Rassa flicked his hand and the shadows shot forward, locking around Mathius’s neck, torso, wrists and ankles and dragging him to the ground. Mathius seemed legitimately shocked as he failed to say anything more, and Rassa took two quiet and elegant steps forward before he kneeled down before Ishta.

“I’m sorry that this was your end,” said Rassa, “Nobody deserves this”.

Rassa slowly leaned forward and touched a light finger to Ishta’s lips. As he drew his finger away, the blood on Ishta’s lips came with it, followed closely by the blood on the rest of his body, and within his body. The blood in the room lifted up into the air as well, and Rassa licked two of his fingers on his other hand as he began sealing wounds on Ishta’s body. Not all of them, but enough. He then took the blood that was hovering in the air, and replaced it on the ground in a puddle beneath Ishta’s body.

Rassa sighed, then stood, turning to the two women to the side, “You will dress and leave. When you are asked of what happened here, you will say a masked assailant woke you and Ishta from your slumber, and as he tried to fight him off, he was killed. The Assailant left without touching either of you through the window”.

The women did as told, dressing and leaving in a rush, then Rassa finally turned to look at Mathius and the scroll that sat beside him. The shadow stretched out, carefully taking the scroll to Rassa’s hands. Rassa read over the contents, then gave a light smirk.

“For a man who has been in business for so long, you are so incredibly stupid,” Rassa breathed out. He stepped towards the fireplace, throwing the scroll inside and taking a match from the box on the mantle, striking it and throwing it onto the scroll. It burned away to nothing quickly enough.

Mathius looked on in surprise and horror before they both heard a disturbance out in the hall. Rassa huffed, “We are done here”.

***

A knock resounded on Rassa’s apartment doors.

“Come in,” Rassa called from where he sat, looking down in disappointment at where Mathius was restrained by shadows on the floor.

The door opened and Ebony entered, stretching her hands up above her head as she yawned, “What happened? I thought you said we weren’t celebrating until-”

Ebony paused as she spotted Mathius on the floor. Iah paused behind her, both women standing in shocked as they looked from him to Rassa.

“What happened?” asked Ebony.

“Close the door, would you?” asked Rassa with a soft calmness that seemed more frightening than it was reassuring, “And take a seat, both of you, beside me if you please”.

The girls hesitated, looking at each other, but then followed instructions, Iah sitting on his left and Ebony on his right. Now in a small circle, Rassa influenced the shadows to bring Mathius to sit in an upright position, and of course removed the shadowy gag that had been preventing Mathius from talking.

“We’re going to have a trial,” said Rassa, “Of course, I will decide upon the sentence, but so that the two of you understand the seriousness of this situation, I will allow you to have your say. As we are the only ones in the Coven, it will not run exactly the same as in the time of Chaos, but it shall suffice for now”.

Rassa held out his hands to each of the girls, and influenced the shadows to pull Mathius’ hands up.

“What I am going to do is merge our minds. You will see the crime Mathius committed through his eyes, and you will see how I dealt with the situation through mine. When it is over, you will be free to state your opinions before he is sentenced”.

Neither Iah or Ebony protested. They could tell from Rassa’s still seriousness that he was very angry, and would not put up with any questioning. The two girls glanced at each other, then took Rassa and Mathius’s hands as instructed.

Together, they experienced the crime as Mathius had committed it, then they experienced Rassa’s memory of the event. When it was done, Rassa’s power withdrew from them and they released his hands before they looked from Mathius to Rassa and back.

“Speak your piece,” Rassa instructed.

The two women were silent for a long minute before Ebony took a breath and spoke.

“I agree that his methods were excessive,” she stated, “But I cannot disagree with his reasoning”.

Rassa’s gaze turned slowly to Iah, “And you, Iah?”

Iah looked across at Ebony for a long moment before she sighed, “Ishta Alamone was an obstacle, Mathius took care of it”.

Rassa sucked in a loud breath before he stood, the two women flinching as he took a few steps away, “Rassa, please-”

Rassa whipped around, “Do not beg me for anything right now, Ebony, I am the farthest from a benevolent mood that I have ever been”.

Ebony’s mouth snapped shut as she turned away. It was moments like this that they were reminded just how far they were from Rassa. He may have turned them, but they were still far below him, becoming Vampires had only allowed them to understand that that was where they should be.

Rassa laughed condemningly as he began to pace, “Unbelievable, you are immortal, one of you even unsealed, and still, you fail to comprehend the bigger picture”.

Ebony sucked in a breath before she stood, “Perhaps we’d understand if you just explained it to us!”

“I have!” snapped Rassa, “Countless times! It was one of the damn things I asked you to accept before I changed you!”

“Those Cryptic hints? Are you talking about those?” snapped Ebony, “Rassa, we’re not fucking mind readers! We do the best we damn well can with what you give us, but sometimes even that isn’t enough for us to understand your logic!”

Rassa huffed as he stared Ebony down, “Fine”.

He stepped back towards his seat, then held out his hands again, “I will give you all probably the best and most concise explanation I possibly can. When you wake up from it, and I drag Mathius away to undertake the punishment he damn well deserves, I hope your childish, human stupidity will cease once and for all”.

Ebony hesitated, and upon meeting Rassa’s glare sat back down in a huff, taking his hand and Mathius’s again. Iah did so too, hesitantly.

Rassa dug deep, then thrust some of the memories from his lessons into their minds.

Hours later, deep into the night when the three of them began to stir once more, Rassa slipped on a thick smelting glove and reached deep into his shadows. From it he withdrew a thick, silvery clear Anthrite chain.

Rassa moved forward and clamped the chains around Mathius’s wrists, ankles and finally his neck. Mathius hissed at the pain, looking up at Rassa, half in horror, and half pleading.

Rassa stared back, unmoved, “You made the choice. You must live with the consequences. Now you should know how lenient I am being to what you could have caused”.

Mathius let his head roll forward, “I’m…I’m sorry”.

Rassa stood, summoning his wings as Ebony and Iah stood, tears in their eyes.

“Why…why didn’t you ever say?” asked Ebony.

Rassa sighed, then turned back to Ebony, “If you could spare someone you cared for from the pain of knowing, would you do it?”

Ebony’s hands went to her waist, as if to hold herself together, “That was…terrifying. Even if Order is weakened as it is now, could they do that to us?”

“There are four of us, Ebony,” said Rassa, “Five if you include Aegin. Perhaps a few more if you include the other paths. But there is a reason Chaos has been silent for so long. They were arrogant before. Loud and Proud. There is nothing wrong with that. I desire nothing more than to be the same way. But one day, Order will decide that there is something wrong with us. They will condemn our ways. They will condemn our paths, and then they will seek to destroy us in the name of their Gods. I play by their rules when in the light, and my own in the shadows. It is unfair. Of course it is. But we have not the power nor the numbers to fight as our forefathers did, and they fought too little too late. As much as it sickens me to do so. I will play the part they wish to see so that I may protect the future of my Coven. I am patient when I need to be, and I will wait them out until I can tip the scales back to a balance”.

Ebony looked over at Iah, who stepped forward and placed a careful hand on Rassa’s arm, “We are sorry for questioning your intentions. We should not have”.

Rassa sighed, then turned away, “Golden Sands will be in turmoil now. Contact Elsbeth and Talo and tell them to prepare to go south. We should attempt to secure some of the mines if we can”.

“Of course,” Iah stated as she stepped back.

“Ebony?” asked Rassa.

Ebony looked up at him.

“You go with them,” Rassa stated.

Ebony looked a little surprised, “Really?”

Rassa nodded, “I need to remain here to finish plans for the expansion, including overseeing training and appointing a new head for Barday. You’ll do well enough on your own”.

Ebony blushed, “After everything, you still trust me to do this on my own?”

Rassa sighed, “I think you’ve made enough mistakes. Time to start forging a few victories, don’t you think?”

Ebony nodded, “I’ll do my best”.

“That’s all I’ll ever ask”.

Then Rassa moved to the balcony, dragged Mathius in the Anthrite chains with him.

“One year in confinement,” Rassa stated, “Fed only once a month. That should be enough for you to think on your actions”.

Mathius had nothing to say in reply, but Rassa could feel both his fear and his remorse.