The meeting happened two days after the battle had ended.

"Glad you could all join us." the man at the head of the table, Eleus Valenmour, stated. He dressed in robes of black and green and had his grey hair slicked back. His shallow beard and deep purple eyes gave his face a strong feeling. And all those present knew he was strong. The head of the Valenmours, the moderator clan of Sostine City, was an Elder. And he looked the part too, as he was changed in his late sixties.

Today, at the meeting, he was surrounded by the heads of the four clans of Sostine who had recently gone to war with one another, and a Childe of the Swarmers.

"Perhaps the Dacus would like to start as to why a meeting between them, the Celina and the Kali, ended with an assault on the Swarmers?" he voice was gentle and aged. They all knew he was a fair man but that didn't stop them feeling fear towards him.

"Sir." Roger stood with a slight bow before addressing the table. "A couple of months back myself, Ashe and Falir met to discuss about an issue over which we were concerned. The rates of vampire disappearances in the city increased drastically in the previous six years. They were also all going missing near Swarmer territory. As a result I called a meeting which the Swarmers refused to attend but Ashe and Falir did so. I sent many requests for discussion to Xavier but they were all rebuffed. Naturally, with our forces growing weaker and the Swarmers only growing stronger, we came to the conclusion that they likely had a hand in the issue. However, we now know that not to be the case and can only apologise and offer restitution to the clan." Roger sat back down after saying his piece.

"Clans have gone to war for much less and far less obvious reasons. I think that your reasoning is acceptable but we will require the Dacus, Celina and Kali clans to offer up payment to the Swarmers for damages." Xavier said. "We don't wish to pursue this too deeply, rather we want the one responsible for not only causing the clan war, but also aiding the werewolves in infiltrating our city."

None of the leaders seemed in disagreement about the consequences they'd suffer. They were decades old and this was only a mid-level war. The news about Calla stopped it escalating into something more severe.

"Ah yes, the girl." Eleus said with a chuckle. "You've brought a Childe of your clan here Xavier, you wish her to speak on the topic?"

"If you would allow her to do so, yes."

"Very well." Eleus gestured to Leena who was currently a bundle of nerves. She stood up and began to address the table of Blood-letters and the Elder.

"We first happened upon the vampire known as Calla approximately six years ago, coinciding with the increase in missing vampires, though we had no reason to suspect her until during the battle. We first apprehended her under a false bounty set by Benedict Farrow. When we met her she had only been turned for a week and was twenty three years old; Xavier's gift for lie detection confirmed this."

Leena paused and Eleus raised an eyebrow to Xavier who nodded back. Leena then continued.

"She was an amazing newborn, despite the sickening acts she spoke of. In our first meeting I offered her a glass of blood but she merely sniffed it before pushing it back towards me. It was an act of great control. She exposed a werewolf infiltration to us in Farrow's land and we dealt with it, but she requested the chance to go after Benedict herself to settle the grudge between them. Xavier gave her a week to do so before we would move on him. As a newborn she managed to achieve killing him and two newborns by herself. We don't know how, but we know no firearms were used. Later on we heard little about her, she took over Benedict's home and began blood farming with children as the product. Most of you will have consumed some of her product as it was incredibly popular but also quite rare."

"Myself, Ashe and Falir all bought from her, though we didn't know her by name." Roger added.

"She lived a very solitude life and it wasn't until the battle when we had contact with her again. When I found her Turlin had been beheaded and she was feeding from another Childe vampire called Sarah."

"My Sarah?" asked Ashe with wide eyes and Leena just nodded.

"Why was she feeding from a vampire?" asked Bala from the side. She shared her brother's looks but had much longer hair that was tied up in a braid. Her black rimmed eyes seemed even darker than his.

"We don't know but her strength was definitely that of a strong Childe. She was pinning both of Sarah's arms with only one of hers. This meant she went from a fresh newborn to the upper levels of a Childe within the space of six years. Me and Xavier discussed it and we think she may have an in-born ability, one that allows her to grow stronger by feeding off other vampires. After me and Turlin faced her later on, she referred to him as the second course and me as dessert, implying she was going to feed from us both."

"How did you get away?" Roger enquired of her.

"We were going to lose, we could feel it. But Calla fancies herself a hunter and got rid of her firearm to meet us in hand to hand combat. Turlin wasn't at full strength since his beheading and he invited her to prove she was stronger than us both. Halfway through the fight though, Turlin noticed her complete change in demeanour." Leena was getting upset at recanting the story.

"Childe, explain that for us please." Eleus coaxed patiently.

"Her eyes were empty and she was devoid of any expression. She'd started off by having fun taunting us, and to see her look so....dead, was unnerving. Turlin thought she was manifesting an ability early, as a precursor to becoming a Blood-letter. So he told me to run and notify Xavier, as he was likely to lose his use soon and I'd be unable to match her in a one on one. I don't know what happened to Turlin, but he blocked her from following me." Leena finished.

"Hmmm. What she did is a probably the common ability called Battle Focus, almost all Blood-letters have it but the weaknesses of it stop it being widely used. Abilities can appear when one is on the cusp of advancement. If your first assumption that she has an in-born ability that allows her to consume vampires for strength is true, then with Turlin being consumed she may have already become a Blood-letter." Eleus said. "Did you notice anything peculiar about her?" he asked Leena and she took a few moments to think.

"Yes actually." Leena started. "The way she talks about herself. She said 'we came together' and spoke of herself in the plural. It was never 'I', it was always 'we'."

"Her in-born ability is completely unique, I've never heard of it before. Perhaps she is suffering mental side effects from her power." Eleus mused.

"Are you saying she became this way because she was turned?" Xavier asked him.

"I don't know the girl so it is impossible to say. Have we looked into her background yet?"

"We've begun enquiries. After we dealt with the wolf Alpha we captured some of his men. Through creative questioning we've determined that Calla helped them to bolster their forces and infiltrate the city. Apparently she went by the name of Redgrove, this information is new but I've got a couple of men searching both names to see if we get a result."

"Thank you Xavier." Eleus nodded to him and Leena took her seat behind her clan leader. "I'll be raising the issue with the royal family and Calla will officially be declared to have worked against our race. The royal family does not like to pass judgement without one's presence so all efforts must be directed to bringing her in alive. They will also be interested in her rather unique power and whether we can harness it for vampire kind in general." Eleus said as he rose to his feet. He smoothed out his robes and began to leave. "I want every person you can spare on her trail."

The next day, during the daytime Eleus headed towards a grand manor, about a hundred miles north of Sostine. He couldn't stay out in the sun for long, but he spent as much as he could, as he'd been denied the light for over a century before he became an Elder. When he did reach the manor gates he looked into the intercom video camera and the majestic electronic gates opened up.

The manor, which sat isolated, surrounded by miles of wilderness, was of comparable size to a traditional palace. It wasn't quite so archaic though, the building was regularly updated to keep up with the times. Entering the manor, Eleus' face held a smile. It had been a long time since he could bring something interesting to his friend. He headed straight for where the lounge should be, feeling glad when he found it.

'At least they haven't moved all the rooms around this time.'

In the middle of the room, sprawled across a leather couch was two middle aged looking vampires. One male and one female. Busy playing on the games console with funny headware, they didn't even turn to look at Eleus.

"My King and Queen." he said formally with a bow and mock seriousness. They turned to look at him with a light of humour in their eyes. The man tossed his controller and headset to the side and moved to hug Eleus.

"Eleus. How are you?" the woman enquired as she stood.

"Metrix, Sage. I am well." Sometimes it still surprised Eleus that these two were his rulers, and that they'd allow him to be so informal. Metrix Phens Lawe, the king of vampires on the continent, was a rather attractive man with blonde hair and blue eyes. But his physique was small and he chose to wear fake lens glasses to make himself look weaker. He didn't need physical appearances for people to know he was powerful, people just knew. Eleus himself was well aware that the man before him, who's real age was unknown but had lived for millennia, was at the highest vampire rank of Lorde.

His wife of similar age, Sage, was the queen and it was well known that Metrix doted heavily on his Kindred. She and her children all shared the same traits as her husband, blonde and blue. She was half a head smaller than Metrix and the pair just seemed to fit together. They had found each other in human life, and they, along with their children had all changed. Unlike Metrix, she didn't radiate power, but that didn't make her any less deadly. In years past it was known that she was vicious and you were lucky to walk away if you met her. Both her and Metrix had mellowed with age, and when humans began to change rapidly in the last three hundred years, they moved along with the times. Their home showed this, as it was both ancient and modern as renovations on the property were made every decade.

Eleus knew he was fortunate to know these two well. It conferred a protection on him that prevented other moderator clans from interfering with him. As an Elder he was the weakest head of a moderator clan. Most were Reagents and a couple were Ancients, vampires who could kill him with a sweep of their hand. It was genetic luck that that Metrix had sired him over a century ago. He looked very similar to Metrix's birth father and that had caused Metrix to open up to him. Despite living millennia, it seemed some vampires still held onto issues they had as humans. Sage had welcomed him into their inner circle despite his weakness because Metrix grew to love him as a kind of surrogate father, despite being many years his junior.

"Fancy playing a game with us El?" Metrix asked him with a gleam of anticipation.

"What is that?" Eleus pointed to the controller and headset.

"It's a new human device. Virtual reality they call it. You wear one of these and it feels like you're in the game." Metrix said excitedly before sighing. "You have to reduce your senses though, otherwise it looks too grainy to our eyes."

"They're moving fast aren't they? The humans." Eleus said and Metrix nodded.

"And they're getting faster." Metrix added with glee. "Another hundred years and even my vampire sight might not be able to distinguish the realness of VR."

"Metrix." Eleus coughed. "Can't you see I'm too old to be playing games?" he pointed to his greyed hair and beard. Metrix grinned before disappearing and reappearing on the couch. True vampiric speed.

"This isn't a social visit then?" Metrix asked as he started up the games console and picked up his controller.

"No, it's not."

"Eleus." Sage said with a frown as she went and sat beside Metrix. "Please tell me your not here for all that boring royal nonsense."

"I'm afraid so." he responded and the royal pair groaned. "However I think this is something you might actually enjoy. It's something that's never happened in my life, and I've seen no texts about it either."

"Oh?" Metrix sat up and stared at Eleus, setting his controller aside. "Do tell."