Seconds passed as they took a measure of each other. Ana was ready to start bringing spells to bear but hadn’t started, as Nathaniel had shown her, that could be sensed. And cocking a metaphorical gun wasn’t a great way to start a conversation.

Her experimentation with the infected blood magic had left her with a clear understanding of what it looked like. And this stranger was seeped in it. Like Ana, she had both her own magic and the strange blood kind. Except Ana had culled that part from herself, while this stranger was full of it.

A clueless farmer got between them, looking around why everyone was just standing there, noticing that something was about to go down he promptly ran away. While usually a comical sight, things were too intense for laughter now. The stranger had a hood on as did Ana, but her features looked human.

“A Terwehan wizard, what are the odds indeed.” Her voice was accented, sounding like she was trying too hard to do a French accent. Pulling the hood down revealed a pair of red fur-lined ears similar to Ana’s, with red hair streaking down. If looks could kill Ana would have died on the spot, but maybe that was just her view on things. Following the woman's lead, Ana took her hood off as well, smirking.

“Astronomical in truth. But imagine a Terwehan wizard who is also a vampire.” That got a reaction from both sides. While she didn’t know for sure, the only beings with that much blood magic who also looked like themselves were vampires, so she took a guess. And had guessed correctly. Her comment caused the rest of the members of her group to tense up, getting ready to jump at the slightest provocation.

The stranger just copied Ana’s smirk. “Quite observant are we. I must have pleased the gods to meet a kinswoman who shares with me the same gifts. And one who was bitten, but not embraced. Our day just got a lot more interesting, wouldn’t you agree?”

Ghost turned his head towards Ana, not letting the stranger out of his sight. “Are you sure?”

Ana shrugged. “From what I know only vampires use blood magic and don’t turn into abominations. But this world is big, so who knows. And what do you mean bitten but not embraced, kinswoman?” She emphasized the last word.

That brought a chuckle from the stranger. The village around them had gone silent, folks were getting inside and leaving the work for later as the word spread. “You are being too judgmental, darling.”

“Strong, smart, clever, and sporting Vorigan’s and Demidicus’s swords like you own them. You must be the Silver Rose, the one who they say had slain a terrible monster. Right over there.” She pointed with one slender arm towards a missing house, the spot where Ana had killed the vampire last time she was in this village. Looking at the strange woman was mesmerizing, and even the simple act of pointing a finger exuded grace and beauty.

Taking her frustration where only one person could hear her, Ana screamed internally. Silver Rose?! Now that is a fucking thing?! I’m happy my reputation is increasing, but why couldn’t they use my goddamn name!? Her little tantrum causing Lia to laugh hysterically.

“So you're looking for revenge?” If she indeed was here for revenge, Ana wasn’t certain she could take this stranger head-on. Her allies would only make the fight more difficult as they would present more targets for the woman.

But then the woman sneered. “Hardly. I do mourn the loss of Vorigan, he was such a good minion. But killing Cleon, now that is praiseworthy and I just had to meet the woman responsible for such a feat.”

“Minion huh. So you must be the big bad evil Lorelai. The one known as the Bloody Rose.” SHIT! Screamed at Lia again. This is very bad. Very, very bad.

A vampire so powerful it holds dominion over an entire court of vampires, yeah this is bad. Do not, I repeat do no piss her off! Lia added.

Ana’s recognition made Lorelai grin, revealing long sharp canines that Ana herself had.

Time seemed to slow down, Ana felt her every heartbeat as the look on Lorelai's face told her everything. Then she sensed it, the power built up in her foe. Not giving ground she started forming her spell, launching her two swords directly at the vampire a moment later.

But it was too late as the swords stopped in mid-air, right in front of the vampire. Ghost had drawn his weapon, taking a few steps towards Lorelai before his motion was frozen in place.

Seeing that her spell didn’t work and figuring out why immediately, she started working on her response, raising her hands in advance she shifted her hips in case she needed to dodge, letting her staff fall to the ground. Her instinct was right as her two swords started moving, flipped around, and rushing at her.

Ana jumped into a roll, coming to one knee as she got ready to release the lightning bolt at her enemy, who wasn’t there. Holding on to the complete spell, she brought her board from the cart, deflecting her swords who turned to target her again. Her magnetic force controlling the blades was still in effect and had slowed them down enough for her to get out of the way.

Using the momentum of the board she leaped forward, taking a few steps before leaping again on it, taking to the skies. In the corner of her eye she spotted the vampire in the air also, turning her body she got ready to release her spell again.

She aimed at the feeling alone, like an archer letting loose of an arrow quickly by gut feeling alone. Ana noticed that her opponent didn’t try to evade the incoming spell and was just waiting there with a smirk. That caused Ana to smirk as well, as she released the stored energy and thunder echoed throughout the village. That was the thing with lightning and electricity in general, it always followed the path of least resistance, and using magic Ana was good at setting up that path. Combined with the fact that lightning traveled at ten percent the speed of light meant that there was no evading this spell.

But then she remembered. Vampires were dead creatures, meaning no heartbeat for her to stop. Her spell had struck, sending her enemy spinning in the air. For a moment hope filled her that the fight was over and that she had won, but that hope didn’t last long.

Smoke rose from Lorelai as she giggled like a schoolgirl, sending shivers down Ana’s spine. Cursing at herself she brought her third hardest-hitting spell into bear, still avoiding the wild magic. This one would take a few moments longer to materialize, so she increased her momentum while keeping an eye on Lorelai.

Lorelai was too far away for Ana to sense any magic building up, but she expected it nonetheless. When nothing came and her spell was ready she brought her board’s momentum around, aiming at the flying vampire. Even after getting struck by lightning Lorelai didn’t move, and it felt like she was goading Ana into a trap. The problem was that both she and Lia lacked experience in fighting a wizard this powerful, only getting to know what to expect from bouts with Nathaniel.

Trusting in her judgment and with a backup plan in place, she increased her speed as much as she could, intending to ram her board directly at her enemy. In the last second as she closed in. Ana released the normally hidden blade in front as she detached herself from the board.

Less than ten meters away from her target. she thought dodging the board would be impossible. But she was proved wrong. Lorelai lifted her slender hand, the board was deflected as if it was just a nuisance. Following its momentum, the board fell to the ground somewhere outside the village.

The second plan then. She thought, releasing a cone of fire from her right hand, using as much magic as she could to increase the temperature. Looking to the sides she couldn’t see her foe anywhere. Keeping this spell going was taxing and dangerous, and after ten seconds her right hand was starting to burn while ice crystals were forming on her left.

And then flying through the flames the vampire appeared in front of her, grabbing Ana’s throat with enough force in her hand to completely cut Ana’s airway. She dropped the spell when she saw Lorelai fly through the flames, bringing her backup plan into action. She killed one vampire with it in a similar situation, and with Lia’s help, she was quick to form the grey orb in her right hand.

Seeing the manic grin in Lorelai she knew beforehand the plan was going to fail, but she would be damned if she would this bloodsucker kill her without trying. Clamping on the hand around her throat with her left hand, she brought her right straight at the vampire's face.

For a moment she thought that it worked, but when her hand started moving back she knew it was over. With a wave from her other hand, Lorelai dispersed the wild magic Ana had formed like it was nothing. Ana didn’t even know that to be possible, from everything Nathaniel had taught her it shouldn’t have been.

“I just love the confusion in your eyes. The spite, anger. So many emotions boiling, but not despair? Still clinging to hope.”

There was no room for despair in her life. Not after everything that had happened. If this bitch wanted to rumble for real, Ana was ready to comply. She learned early on that preparation was key, and that had pushed her to innovate and create. One of the things she had learned which wasn’t useful in combat was runic magic. Using an outside source like a glyph or a rune to transform a wizard's power into a physical effect.

Clamping down as hard as she could on Lorelai’s hand, she grinned. The look on Lorelai’s face turned from patronizing to realization. The same realization the monstrous lion must have had in its dying moments. “Suck on this, asshole.” She croaked with the little air that was left before she activated the runes she had engraved on the inside leather padding of her armor. A glyph designed to push air like a hairdryer, but modified to an extreme.

Thunder was caused by rapid air expansion, like when the air was quickly heated up when the high voltages of lightning ionized the gasses in the air. When those molecules don't have time to go anywhere they quickly compress. And expanding from such a high-pressure state creates the thunderous noise as well as a cloud at the point of origin. The same principle that caused a shockwave of an explosion.

Her glyphs did just this, and with so much free time outside the city, she had perfected it. But one such rune was not enough for what she wanted, so she applied the logic behind supercomputers. If you have a lot of small things, connect them to create a bigger thing.

She activated the runes, not giving the vampire enough time to escape. Deafness was followed by a wave of pain. She didn’t know what hurt as everything was just a blanket of pain. She worked hard on making the runes as deadly as possible, but not to her. Still, there was no way around the bone-breaking explosion.

Her vision took a moment to adjust but she already knew she was falling. Focusing again she brought her smaller detached board into play when another more intense wave of pain came from her legs. Something broke there, but she didn’t have time to figure out what. Using the board as sparingly as she could as not to pass out, she slowed her descent enough to roll in the grass without splattering.

Still, her injuries didn’t appreciate that. Losing focus everything had become jumbled in her mind before a slap brought her into focus again. Grabbing Ana by the chest piece of her armor that was now in taters, Lorelai cracked her neck before slapping Ana again.

“The first one is for calling me an asshole. The second one for messing up my hair with that little trick. And this one.” Lifting Ana she bit down on her exposed neck. Ana tried to stop her, but her arms didn’t respond to her commands. There was no pain this time, only pleasure. So much so that all of her escapades in the previous months felt insignificant. Intense ecstasy jolted her body, before being suddenly denied again.

The frustration that Lorelai had stopped caused her to be disgusted in herself. “Is just for me.” Feeling the woman's tongue touch her neck sent shivers through her body, her injuries forgotten.

“You are far too interesting for me to risk the embrace on you, but I will leave you with this.” Ana saw the vampire bite her lip, letting a droplet of blood slowly drip down from her beautiful lips. She couldn't think clearly from the lingering feeling of pleasure still curling her toes. Then Lorelai kissed her. But more than that. As their lips touched Ana tasted the wondrous blood on Lorelai’s lips. She could not describe the feeling that followed. It was everything one could want and more. But same as before it left leaving Ana wanting more.

“I’ll make you a deal, one Rose to another. In three weeks' time, I will come to pay you a visit, and if you tell anyone I'll get mad. On the other hand, tell no one and I’ll answer all of your questions while making what you just experienced feel like a small breeze.” Whispering the last part into Ana’s ear sent shivers down her spine again.

Letting go of her, Ana flopped back onto the ground, the pain flaring up again. She wheezed her breaths trying not to pass out. Lia’s was no help either as the wave of pleasure had affected her as well.

A minute passed as she struggled to understand everything Lorelai had said and done. Was she just that bored that tormenting Ana was fun? Was the reason for everything that simple, or is there something else the lovely Lorelai wanted? She shook her head. Lovely my ass. She was though, and the mere thought of the woman caused her to want after her with such intensity she never felt before.

She noticed something in the sky but was too deep in her thoughts to care. A little while after she heard footsteps and voices approaching. “She’s alive!” A familiar voice of Nimble yelled, stepping into her line of sight a moment later.

“Yo.” She said casually, putting her thoughts aside to bring her focus back into reality. “You’re a little late.”

Nimble had a worried look as he looked over Ana’s injuries. “Self-inflicted, again. I gotta work more on the delivery.” Other members ran up, Angel starting her prayer as soon as she stopped.

Ana let the divine magic flow over her, the snapping of her bones bringing feeling back into her limbs. Once she was whole again she sat up, grabbing her head. She felt lightheaded. “What happened? We couldn’t see after you took to the skies.” Ana reached her hand gesturing that she wanted some water.

She did but used the small break to figure out what to say. If Lorelai was going to visit her again it would be an opportunity to ambush and kill her, but what if they failed? And she even found herself not wanting to kill the vampire. If she indeed was offering answers, Ana wanted them. Besides Lorelai had easily wiped the floor with Ana, a large force of wizards and a lot of luck would be needed to take her down.

But those were excuses and she knew it. It boiled down to her not wanting to betray Lorelai, remembering the ecstasy she felt sent another wave of shivers down her spine. It was also fear at what such a powerful being could do in anger. Taking a few swigs of water she took a deep breath and shrugged.

“You tell me, dunno much of what happened after I blew the bitch away. I figured either I killed her or you did.” Nimble shook his head.

“If she did fall, we will find her. It's possible she retreated.” That made Ana chuckle and Nimble to look at her confused.

“If that didn’t kill her why would she retreat. No offense but If she could kill me, everyone else stood no chance.”

“I agree, but still. The Bloody Rose herself. Do you know why she was here?”

Ana sent him a look that asked how dense he was. “I was a little busy for a chat, but she did mock me before I told her to suck it. You know, prior to... ” She simulated an explosion with her hands. Shaking her head she continued.

“Sorry. The bitch pissed me off and the thought that she is alive is pissing me off even more.” Which was a straight-up lie. Not the fact that she knew Lorelai was alive, but that she wanted her dead. In truth, only her feelings for the woman were pissing her off.

Ghost arrived a moment later, with the two relaying what they knew. While her injuries were gone, the exhaustion from her spells and the healing caused her to falter. With Angel's help, she walked back to the village, which was several hundred meters away. How she got that far. she had no idea.

The others tried searching for Lorelai’s body but only found Ana’s board. That night Lorelai plagued Ana’s dreams and not the bad kind. Thankfully the others had left her to rest and no one was around to hear her moan in her sleep.

Morning found her and while her exhaustion was lessened, it was still present. Ghost had ordered her to ride the cart which she hated but had followed orders. The next night no fort was made, another order coming from Ghost. That one she could appreciate. Her chores were also lifted as she ordered to regain her strength. No one objected or resented her for that, the chores she was given were on her insistence in the first place.

They reached the outskirts of the city, leaving the merchants and caravans to go alone the last few kilometers as their band headed east. They visited another three villages, getting them together before finally heading home. They encountered a monster while traveling towards the first village in the east, and it was dealt with ease without any help needed from Ana.

She hated the baby gloves but understood why. They feared that if the vampire showed up again, they would need Ana to deal with her. On the journey, Ana had spent her time plotting and thinking. Nothing substantial was known of Lorelai, except that she had been at the head of the Order of the Bloody Rose for as long as it existed. And the records that Ana looked into after her first encounter showed that to be at least a millennium.

She considered her options seriously. If she chose to set a trap and was able to kill the vampire, it might bring the wrath of the Order down on the kingdom. She didn’t know how the woman would react if she told anyone, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that deaths would be abundant. In the end, she chose to keep her silence and meet this vampire, while figuring out a way to kill it in case it came to that.

They finally returned in a little over two weeks after her duel with Lorelai. If the vampire was true to her word it meant that Ana only had five days to prepare. And while wanting to meet with the vampire again, this time she knew what to be ready for.