Chapter Six

The Morningstar

Hope. The irony of it all, she thought. The virtue behind the child's own name.

On the other side of the units sturdy front door, an uninvited stranger had been beginning to give up on the sentiment for some time. It was true that for a little while, her hopefully flame had flickered and grown dimmer, dimmer, and with it, her patience even thinner. During the last few years, she had spent increasingly less time with her eyes turned to this corner of the globe; she was busy dealing with something that had become more important.

All the world had become a stage, on the verge of a war which few could see the true severity of. A war which she admittedly had been starving for all her life. While she waited atop her marble palace in the shrouded city of her own creation for it all to unfold, every day gone by was one day closer to the tipping point.

As mythical governments hunkered down, scrambled together some sort of defence, desperately turned their ex enemies into their strongest allies against the new mythical fo, her people had been sitting on its hands with a grand plan ready for unveiling. All that was needed was someone to pull the trigger, say the word, and the hidden city would reveal itself to all.

There was just one thing missing - someone to sit on the throne, someone to hold the peace. Someone of noble blood, whose blood was not so dilute with mortality that their power still held true. The court psychics had predicted that a suitable child would be born long ago, and they hadn't been wrong before.

She had been waiting to see this plan come to fruition for twenty years. All that time, she had watched from the cursed rune placed on the child as an infant; it sealed the contract between herself and the girl's parents. Although they wouldn't allow her to be taken and groomed for the throne by her courtiers, they had sworn to keep her away from those who would seek to harm her so that she could live a 'normal' life until she emerged from dormancy; then she would take her rightful place.

As the months went by, it was becoming readily apparent the War would not wait much longer. The plan would need to unfold soon if it was going to ever at all. Otherwise, the court had begun to plan for a seemingly more realistic alternative. One that did not please Her Grace, but she would accommodate if absolutely necessary.

Finally, just as their original plan was to be abandoned and the alternate strategy adopted, it happened. No sooner than the first symptoms occurred had the queen found herself back in this corner of the world again. Lurking in the undergrowth of the wintertime Montana forests for days until Karou's emergence from dormancy finally occurred was tedious, but when the moment neared, something else had happened. Instead, another transformation had taken place. Displeased, she watched in horror as her last remaining heir was laid claim to by a lowly vampire.

Perhaps she should pity him; the man had no idea what he had gotten himself into, and the curse he'd lain on them both was too large for him to understand in that moment. The last time a vampire had tampered with her bloodline had ended in absolute disaster! If only the girl's parents had fulfilled their side of the contract and kept her out of trouble, this would never have happened. Apparently, the promise of a large sum of money was not enough to keep them loyal to their promise with enough conviction even to pretend to care for their daughter. Inevitably Karou had escaped them.

It had all come to a head now. Hours ago, she had watched through the rune as her progeny literally began to unfold. Now, she stood outside the door Karou had found herself housed behind, with a fist raised, ready to make herself and the girl's future known; all she had to do was knock, and so she did.

Such was the knock on the door that it was enough to stir Karou from her half-asleep state. Buried under the blankets, she held her breath with her eyes closed tight and listened for the sound of Warren's voice. She figured he'd answer the door promptly; he was efficient like that. Besides, she knew he was up, even before she was really awake. Indeed, the strange bond between them had taken some getting used to, but in some way that she couldn't articulate, she always had a sense of where he was or what he might be doing whenever he was close by.

Moments before waking, she'd imagined him going about his morning ritual - showering and combing his fingers back through his wet hair. How handsome he looked with a towel wrapped about his waist as he made his way from the steamy bathroom as droplets of water trickled down his chiselled torso; made her smile in her sleep. Then he'd get dressed in a crisp dress shirt and drink down rich coffee, much like she'd found him doing her first morning in the unit and then head to his office to do whatever it was he did back there every day. Though his work tasks were a mystery to her, she could still envisage him sitting at his desk. She especially enjoyed how her mind's eye focused on the angles of his face and how they sharpened when he was concentrating, how the backlight of his laptop's screen lit up his complexion and highlighted the stunning blue colour of his well-fed eyes. The rhythmic tapping of his fingers against his keyboard disappeared into the background as she admired his hands, and the music he'd played for her on the night of her siring came to mind... She dreamt of herself as mortal again - no fangs and certainly no wings, like she had been before everything changed. Before August. Before Warren.

The passing thought of being alone again caused her to open her eyes, wide awake.

In reality, her wings and fangs were still with her. Her dream about Warren had inspired Karou's thirst, and when she'd woken, her fangs had been pressing into her lower lip; a yawn that needed no forcing put them back in their place. Behind her, her new wings felt clumsy and tense because she'd slept in such an odd position so as not to roll over onto them, but they were sturdy as all the other bones in her body. Unlike her newfound fangs, they didn't quite feel completely part of her yet. At least with the fangs, she knew exactly where those had come from; the wings very much remained a mystery.

Several moments passed between the first knock and the second. Anyone else may have experienced heightened anxiety, but not this stranger. The second knock rang loudly through the compound apartment; a firm sound striking upon the locked door indicated her conviction. It stirred Karou from her daydreaming.

When she tossed her blankets aside, a shower of small blue feathers sprayed across the end of the bed with it, confirming that her wings were definitely her's - they were as untidy as she was. Afraid Warren might notice the mess on the off chance he happened to peek into the room later, she took care to cover the feather fall with the blanket before leaving her room - apparently, Warren wasn't going to answer the door.

What if this is some weird new mutation of the vampiric virus? Wouldn't bat wings make more sense, though? In all the legends, the vampire's had bat wings, not bird wings. God, this is too weird! Oh, or maybe I'm evolving into some new species nobody has ever heard of... I hope not. Having no explanation would be the worst. Karou pondered on her way down the hall. She was trying to remain positive, but that all sounded too far fetched. It seemed more likely that she was just as much a freak here, within the walls of the Compound, as she had been everywhere else, throughout her whole life. This was just one more thing that made her different in a way which she was not sure she wanted to be. Whether her new state could be explained or not, her wings felt as if they were always supposed to have been there but entirely foreign at the same time - it was all very confusing. Though some may have been much more "freaked out" than Karou came across, then again, most were not so desensitised to the out of the ordinary as she was. Most girls would have run away and never looked back after meeting a human man lurking out in the woods, let alone a literal vampire. Not Karou, no, she had stood, arms out, hands open, waiting for literally anything to change her previously miserable life. She supposed that he had turned her life upside down, for better or worse.

Warren heard the visitor indicate their arrival from his office, but no one ever came to his unit uninvited - so who was it calling on him at barely half six in the morning? Briefly, he spun about his planner, which sat on his desk to face him and flicked to the day's date - no engagements until later that afternoon, and he had no "face to face" meetings scheduled for that particular day either. How peculiar that someone had arrived then, he mused. There again, the theme of the last twenty-four hours had been increasingly irregular.

Usually, most days at the Compound were mundane, predictable, and without anything to separate one from the next, which was perfectly comfortable to Warren. Magnus' and Ellis' visits were his most welcome interruptions and were about as much spontaneity his regime would allow. Still, today's visitor was like nothing else he or Karou had ever experienced. Today was about to get more mind-blowing before any chance for clarity would present itself.

At the second knock, he closed the planner and turned towards his office door, fully intending to go and see exactly who this visitor was. Mere seconds after making that decision, his earlier wish was granted when his cellphone rang in his hand. "Magnus? What made you call right now?"

"The bi-monthly report, Mijo. Why? Is now a bad time?" The Spaniard replied with frank questions. Of course, he had no idea how coincidental his timing had been. All morning Warren had pined for Magnus to therapise him, but now his call was ironically untimely.

"As it happens, yes."

When an impatient and fractionally rude third knock arrived, followed by the sweet-sounding yet disgruntled voice of fledgeling offering to answer the door, "I'll get it then!" Karou call out. Warren saw red; Karou was about to misbehave!

She had made it into the hallway just in time to hear the final knock on the door. Expecting it was probably one of the Compound's other residents presenting first thing in the morning with some menial complaint or someone Warren worked with showing up for a meeting, whoever it was, their knocking seemed impatient. Karou stole a glance toward Warren's office; the handle rattled. Weird, she thought, having imagined Mr' Up-Tight' running to beat her to the door, but she heard no movement from his end of the unit.

Regardless of Warren's eagerness to go answer the door, Magnus carried on talking and not at all getting the hint, "It never seems to be a good time lately, Warren. What on earth is going on with you?" He asked, concern ringing through his fatherly baritone voice - this was now the second time his 'almost' son had blown him off. Over the line, though, he'd also heard the third knock and Karou's declaration, which caused him to ask, "You don't usually have visitors so early in the day?"

With his hand on the door handle, he loitered and said, "Exactly. I've got to go." Warren replied in dry displeasure and finally yanked open his office door. "Karou, haven't I told you not to answer-…" He began to berate her, but it was too late; she was already staring, awe-stricken at the person standing on the doorstep. "…- the door."

That was all Magnus would hear; Warren's thumb tapped the end call button and cut him off.

Before her Sire arrived, Karou had opened the front door and peered up at the stranger loitering there. Before she could even really register anything about the person standing on the other side, she called out, "Warren! Someone's here..." When her head turned back to the woman, and she actually looked at her, it felt as though time momentarily froze. In the seconds between her calling out, Warren's arrival and the woman finally speaking, and Karou's voice trailed off to little more than a whisper. "... for you..."

The moment their eyes met, the aura which emanated from the woman left Karou feeling stunned, as though she'd walked into a wall of overwhelming emotion. During her time at the Compound, Karou thought she had seen all types of interesting and unique individuals, but this woman was otherworldly! Both humanoid and alien simultaneously. Both familiar and unfamiliar, alluring yet Karou felt moved to recoil from her, but found herself staring at the woman's angular, almost androgynous features; spellbound.

"C- Can I help you?" Karou asked, afraid to take her eyes off the woman to check if Warren was on his way.

The woman's lips parted into the most cunning of smirks, her dark green eyes glinting in the dim apartment lighting. "Yes," she replied in an accent Karou couldn't identify for the life of her. "Actually, you can."

Warren came striding around the leather couches in a hurry, and one his arrival at the door, he peered at the uninvited visitor from over his fledgelings shoulder. Instantly he was just as beguiled by the stranger as Karou appeared to be. There was nothing discrete about the stranger; she commanded attention with her presence alone. Fortunately, he was a great deal better at keeping his emotions from altering his facial expression, unlike his fledgeling, and so he skillfully hid his reaction behind his facade.

Beside him, Karou's gaze didn't falter from the strangers though she found herself shuffling behind Warren as if to hide behind him. When she shifted his gaze to examine her reaction, he found her staring in the space directly behind the woman - or rather, what was taking up that space. Standing tall against the stranger's back was a set of wing's so similar to Karou's that for a moment, she thought they must have been identical. As the stranger moved ever so slightly, the inky black and blue feathers shone with a blue-green iridescence, telling of how Karou's own mature plumage would look. They were stunning and appeared strong and steady compared to Karou's, which twitched periodically, still adjusting to their freedom.

Hit by a sense of déjà vu, Karou couldn't shake the subliminal thought that she'd seen those wings before - or at least a feather. A brief memory came to mind of an old library book, which had gone missing from her backpack some years ago. It had suddenly appeared on her desk one morning, and Karou had suspected Magda had found it elsewhere and returned it in the middle of the night. Upon opening the book, two of those same oil-slick black and bluey-green feathers had floated to the floor.

With that in mind, Karou felt something was off here - something was very, very off. What was originally a bad feeling forming in the pit of Karou's stomach was slowly evolving into a sense of complete dread.

While Karou was making her own impression of the woman, Warren was coming to his own conclusion just as quickly. A fleeting evaluation of her facial features informed him that her androgyny didn't distract from how attractive she was. However, in the absence of a warm gaze or friendly smile, her appearance instilled a sense in him to steer clear. Not to mention, the woman had a whole army's worth of confidence, portrayed excellently by how she held herself. Even to Warren, the ego she emanated was staggeringly formidable, which instantly put Warren's back up. Women with egos were usually ruthless. The smirk present on her lips added a layer of smugness that caused Warren to bristle, too - she was amused by their bemused reaction.

Scanning down the woman's body, Warren noticed her attire and impressive cloak - a dark, emerald green fabric draped across the woman's left shoulder and clasped just under her neck with an ornate, incredibly expensive-looking golden serpent encircling its own tail. But that was quickly brushed aside when he homed in on the golden object she clutched at her hip. Its position on her body signified what it was, even if it looked utterly innocuous at present; it was a weapon. So, now he was left to wonder, why was there an uninvited, armed person trespassing into the Compound and knocking upon his door, no less?

Though she appeared to be dressed as a figure of authority, Warren couldn't say that her uniform looked familiar, which at the very least swayed him away from the concern that she may have been there on behalf of the IVG. It wasn't outside the realms of possibility that Roman might send someone on a mission to spy on the Compound operation and report back. This stranger wasn't very covert, though. There again, Roman Black was not known for subtlety.

A well placed and perfectly subtle inhale forced any concerns that this stranger was vampiric very far from his mind. He almost choked on her scent and not in the pleasant way that Karou's sweet aroma affected him. No, this strangers scent teetered on the edge of offensive. What is that smell? Sulfur?

As scents often do, this one brought about a vivid memory, and Warren recalled that once, in Budapest, many moons ago, he and Ellis had encountered a person with a similar scent. The man whom it belonged to had turned out to be a demon. With that recollection in mind, Warren's chaotic thought's regarding what sort of mythical Karou might be finally quieted in the wake of this new, unexpected event and the fast assumptions he now made about the stranger.

The change in the pretty gun-metal blue colouring of Karou's eyes told Warren that the gut feeling he'd had about her harbouring more information than she realised was true; something about this uninvited visitor was familiar to her. He supposed he ought to have felt relieved again like he had the night before. Still, as though Karou's emotions had transcended through their telepathic link, he also experienced the hollow churning sensation of dread in his stomach.

Survival instincts kicked in, and though for now, he wouldn't raise any security alerts so as not to frighten his fledgeling, Warren reached over Karou and clasped his hand around the unit's door. He was taking control of the situation and meant to show the stranger that if he desired to close the door in her face, he would.

"What she means to say is how may I help you?" Warren asked with an expressionless face.

The stranger's lips curled into a deeper smirk despite the rest of her face remaining serious, which meant any motives remained concealed. Although her gaze lingered on Karou for a few more uncomfortable moments even after Warren's arrival, her hand lifted itself from the bladeless sword to offer a smooth palm outward to the pair in a gesture of false peace.

At last, the woman spoke, having been so rudely interrupted by the man who had even more rudely interrupted all her plans. The first words that left her mouth weren't English but a language Warren didn't understand. Somehow, it was familiar on Karou's ears, though she didn't know what the short phrase meant. It was like hearing the melody of an old song heard once or twice before - she didn't know the lyrics or what all the other harmonies or sounds meant, but somewhere, somehow, she recognised the language. That flicker of familiarity in the girl's blue eyes was all it took for the woman's smirk to split into a grin, but there was nothing friendly about it.

"Good morning," she repeated, this time saying the phrase was in English. "I would apologise for showing up unannounced, but the last time I intruded on the property of an ally of the Black Coven, I was not particularly welcomed with open arms." A sign of false respect for the "Lord" of the Compound, she lowered her head as the grin faded from her expression. "As a businessman yourself, though, I am sure you understand that when there is a matter of importance that needs seeing to, it is perhaps better to handle it in person." She continued.

Karou wore a confused expression, her brow furrowed as she wondered what on earth the woman was talking about. Presumably, she meant to insinuate she was an acquaintance of Warren's? Yet, when she finally looked to him, he looked less than approving or welcoming.

Yes, Warren standing as a firm barrier in the doorway meant that it was correct to assume that currently, the stranger was not welcome. For one, he had no idea who she was, and two, he didn't know her intentions.

As if her archaic reference to the Black Coven wasn't enough to cause his spine to prickle defensively, her manner was altogether ancient feeling. A feeble tactic, Warren thought, her mentioning some of his old 'friends' was intended to put him at ease, when in fact it did quite the opposite. Warren led a very private life, so why was this stranger aware of his affiliation to that Coven? - incidentally, a Coven that had not cursed the populous of Alabaster with its mere existence for nearly one hundred years. Hmm, perhaps you are here to meddle on behalf of Roman after all. That prospect did not bode well for Warren. Still, he would worry about his neck later.

"I've come for the girl." The woman said with an astonishing amount of certainty. She nodded toward Karou, who was still all but cowering behind Warren and still feeling certain something terrible was about to happen.

The instant she'd stated her intentions, Warren's lip reared, and his fangs bared while a growl threatened to roll from his throat. Instinctively his body shifted, his shoulders stiffening, to protect his fledgeling, and suddenly all his other confused feelings were set aside. The stunning wings at the woman's back had already left him with the notion that perhaps she was some estranged relative come to lay claim on her progeny, but she was highly mistaken if she thought that Karou's retrieval would occur without a fight on his part. No, she was his now. Though he'd never admit it to Karou, somewhere, deep down, he knew that he could no more live without her than any other part of himself.

"What?" Karou squeaked. "Me? I don't know you." She tugged on Warren's sleeve, hoping he'd say this was all some big surprise he'd planned or confirm there was just some benign confusion, but that was when she noticed that he was dressed in the exact clothes she'd dreamt him putting on earlier that morning; it struck her as odd but nothing in the wake of what was happening right then.

Despite how his temper had flared a moment ago when he felt Karou clinging to him in the face of the stranger's announcement, it brought him a sense of victory. Nothing ever happens how I expect around you, does it? Warren thought openly when turning to look at his fledgeling; he didn't mean to scold her. In fact, he meant it in a way quite the opposite, endearingly. Honestly, he was just dumbfounded, but before he could speak up and protest, the stranger spoke again.

"Be that as it may, child, I know you..." The woman's left hand peeked out from beneath the cover of the green cloak to reveal a rune carved into the centre of her palm.

Briefly glancing behind herself as if she expected there to be some other girl hanging out in the background, Karou was utterly lost for words. Alas, It was just the three of them; herself, Warren, the stranger and a few feet of thick, tense air. Still, whatever this woman wanted from her, Karou wasn't going to give up that easily. Suddenly Karou's palm itched, and when she went to scratch it, she felt a texture there that she'd never noticed before. She stared on in bewilderment as a rune identical to the one etched into the woman's palm appeared on her own.

"I've known you your whole life, Karou", The woman continued eerily.

At the mention of her name, Karou's eyes met the woman's.

Her amused grin returned when she noticed the look of confusion on the girl's face. "Yes, strange, isn't it, to hear your name said correctly for the first time in your life? Ha! Where are my manners... I know your name, but you don't yet know mine. I'm Cambria Morningstar. It's a pleasure to meet you finally." Her gaze flicked toward Warren. "And you too, I suppose."

The introduction did nothing to calm Karou; she still didn't know the woman. Although she did know for sure she couldn't fight off this foreboding stranger; she wondered if maybe she was fast enough to run away - what she didn't realise, however, was that even if she ran to the absolute furthest corner of the planet, she would never be entirely hidden. Not as she was currently; no, it would take a lot more power than Karou was capable of to escape the rune that watched over her every move. Still ignorant and somewhat scared, Karou moved to take a step away from the door... Involuntarily Warren's hand reached to comfort her, retrieve her and put her back into the 'safe space' close behind him.

"It's a little early in the morning for casual pleasantries," Warren remarked his first words cooly. He couldn't return the gesture and say that it was also 'a pleasure to meet' her considering her arrival's untimely and unexpected nature.

It took him another moment to comprehend who she'd introduced herself as. Wait, did she just say Cambria Morningstar? - That was the blow that left Warren floundering where he stood. Registering the name that had left the winged strangers lips, his attention refocused back on her entirely. The shocked expression his eyebrows had held fell away to leave him looking bewildered as a fresh sense of dread overwhelmed his entire body.

Morningstar. He knew that name. He had heard it before, whispered, like a secret on the lips of the fearful. It was a threat, a promise of something terrible to come. It had once been the Devil's name. So it stood to reason that this woman was not just any demon; she was connected to the highest of demons; the first to have fallen from grace. Now, his passing thoughts of angels and demons from earlier that morning came flooding back and conjured a frightful conclusion. As unlikely as it had been that he'd meet the beguiling, blue-eyed waif girl in the woods one August near Concord, again, he was now surmising that that girl was somehow linked to a creature of the darkest ilk. And yet, all along, he'd been worried he'd taint her with his wickedness - the irony was staggering. Yet, the fleeting thought he'd had sturred a hollowing feeling in his chest and caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end.

It wasn't often that Warren said something without having first thought it through, but given what he'd just learned and having imagined the worst-case scenario, the words that left his lips next weren't as composed or collected as usual. "Did you think you could just come and take her from me?" Warren asked Cambria bluntly.

The woman with the strange name, stranger accent, and even more alarming appearance nodded in understanding at Warren's question. "Ah, you see… I did expect precisely that up until you happened to insert yourself into the picture. It's so laughably ironic, that just when I think, oh, this plan will come to fruition in just a matter of days... someone as inconsequential as you turn things on their head."

Warren, I swear to God I have no idea who this lady is, Karou thought openly. Perhaps he thought she was lying. Maybe he would be angry with her about this, she couldn't guess, but it was all out of her control. The only thing she had ever asked for in her whole life was her survival, and despite the ups and downs of their odd relationship Warren had gifted that to her. The wings… This visitor… None of this was part of the plan.

Whether you know her or not, it's all by the by now, Karou; she's here already. He thought back. Whether Karou wanted to continue her life running away from one thing to the next or not didn't matter to Warren; if the Compound walls couldn't hold her, though, he would. For now, the matter of Cambria Morningstar's business there was of more grave importance. He had never been joking when he'd told Karou that leaving him was off the cards. Now they were going to have to face this, together, like it or not. And I'm going to have to deal with her regardless. He continued, a little spitefully.

"Let me get straight to my point..." Cambria said as her hand fell away from the clasp on her cloak as she adjusted it. Elegantly her hand came to be resting on the hilt of the golden object again. Though it glinted in the dim lighting of the hallway as it was freshly forged from whoever even knew how much gold, the weapon was actually just as old as the woman who wielded it. Though she didn't draw the weapon, her fingers merely curled around its hilt - more out of habit than a threat - a mere reminder and visible proof that she was exactly who she said she was. "I'm not here to interfere with this… Containment facility, or whatever you have built yourself here. I, nor Enoch, is interested in meddling with the IVG or whoever oversees this place. If you can believe it, we actually would rather have absolutely nothing to do with you all. Still, sadly dear sweet Karou has found herself in quite the predicament and gotten herself involved despite our careful planning." The woman sighed as if Karou wasn't present and involvement with Warren was now nothing but an inconvenience.

"You appear to have done your research on me," Waren grumbled through gritted teeth; it made him more than a little uncomfortable that she was causally spouting information about the IVG and the Compound; information that was all meant to be covert and on a need to know basis. It felt safe to assume that there was no need even to introduce himself since they'd come this far. "Before you start broadcasting this complicated business out into the atmosphere, perhaps you ought to step inside." Warren opened the door wide, allowing the larger winged woman entrance, but made no mention of whether she was welcome or not, and neither did he instruct her to make herself at home. Instead, he ushered Karou towards the lounge and away from Cambria so that he could divert himself towards his scotch decanter; he definitely needed a drink to steady his nerves now. Fuck, this is a lot for a Thursday morning, even by my standards... Thought the man who kept some one hundred sedate mortals in his basement, in his backup blood bank.

"You must have many, many questions, and I have just as many answers and more. I can't answer everything in the company of others, though..." Cambria said, mainly directing her statement toward's Karou.

Karou who stood looking somewhat lost as she clung to the back of the leather couch. She had been watching Warren pour himself a large glass of whiskey, yet when the stranger spoke, she glanced over her shoulder at her; her eyes couldn't stop flickering towards the woman's impressive set of wings. Her voice sounded so familiar, yet she wasn't moved warmly by her dulcet tone. Instead, it felt like an unpleasant, unwelcome whisper too close to her ear for comfort. Karou opened her lips to speak but found that the voice of her Sire drowned her out.

"Despite all you've said, it all seems to add up to nothing but sheer nonsense," Warren stated boldly. Having finished downing the brown liquor, he sucked away the heat it left on his lips, sighed and combed back his hair from his forehead – this was a way of letting Karou know he was about to get his shit together and start his interrogation. "So, seeing as you're here to talk business, why don't you spell out your proposal to me?" Then I can tell you to fuck off on record. He thought, whether Karou heard him or not, he set down his empty glass, yanked the untied tie from around his neck and folded his arms. With his weight distributed evenly over his hips, Warren now stood ready to receive the low down in all of its glorious detail.

"Yes... Why are you here... and why for me?" Karou uttered, less defensive than Warren, more desperate to find truth and take it in than dismiss it.

"You see, I have come from the Great Celestial City of Enoch, over which I currently reside. But mainly, I am here on behalf of Enoch's Throne on which I currently sit. I require someone of my bloodline to take my place as monarch while I go take care of this pesky War the mortals have waged." It was unclear if it was a trick of the light, but the woman's pupils narrowed suddenly until they were almost entirely vertical and serpentine in nature. "Once and for all..."