A Shadow Tale

[Kaliska]

Kaliska enjoyed the fight she felt more alive.But truning into her dragon when just play fighting wasnt planed.
Kaliska watched the little feild mouse runing alone the window.A hunger came over her, she wanted to jump on the mouse and end its life. But that thought sicken Kaliska
"its a rat.. im sure oskar can find me something better to eat..i hope."

[Kaliska]

Graven knocked on Kaliska's door "My Queen we need to talk to you " Kaliska cocked her head "we?..Come in then"

Graven and a Black Wolf walked in the room Graven sits by Kaliska "Soul is close he has been spoted in the woods."The Black Wolf Growls " My Brothers have seen him and his allies."

Kaliska looks at the Wolf "Allies? if things wernt bad enough" Graven sighs " Wait till you hear who it is.."

The wolf whines "Lily my queen .." Kaliska eyes Graven " Please tell me hes jokeing.PLEASE!."

Graven and the wolf look at each other " this is nothing to Joke about"

Kaliska moans and flops on her bed "Gods save us all"

__________________________________________________ ____

Deep in the woods by a small waterfall SoulSealer prepared his dark magic in secret,meaning to summon his new puppet.

Lily snarls "Who are you, And Why have you summoned me?" SoulStealer sighs " Because I Have something you may want" Lily eyes the demon in front of her " And what might that be?" SoulStealer grins evilly "Your Freedom"

[BlackPlague]

On the way back from his meal Elfangor felt something evil coming from the woods.

"Elfangor you know who i am come to me."
Elfangor walks to the strange voice."Where are you SoulStealer."
"Elf come join me we will put your talents to great use unlike the others we will let you kill all you want, no keeping your power in check all you have to do is join us."

"No that part of me is gone i nolonger fallow that path anymore."

"While your still here it will never be gone you know that better then anyone."

Elfangor smirks at the comment."If you know me so well then you know i wont join you i have gave my power to my queen nolonger am i a uncotrolable killer now leave me."

"We will see we will see Elfangor you will join us in the end."
......................LATER....................... .......

Elfangor arrived back at the inn.Elf walked into Kaliska's room where he was greeted by a worried Graven.

"What do you want vampire."

"What does it matter to you i go where i please when i please."

"We will see about that." Graven made a move for his daggers but before he could draw them Elf had his claws around Graven's face."Dont be foolish now leave me i have to tell Kaliska something."Elfangor threw Graven out the door and used magic to close the door and seal it behind him.

"Kaliska as you already know SoulStealer is in the woods with a wierd looking grey dragon and a small army coming straight for us and we either can flee or stand and fight and die.We need to make a desision now we dont have time to think it through."

[Kaliska]

Kaliska looked at Elf "call a meeting its time we get ready for war"

Kaliska walked to Talan's door and kocked "come in" As Kaliska walked in she felt annoyed and aggitated..." Have i done something wrong Talan?"

Talan looked over at Kaliska " no i was just thinking my queen. Was there something you need?"

Kaliska noded yes "Graven Told me about today. What a fool i was today.. i went to train with you and i ended up fighting everyone else.. Please forgive me and Train me Sir Talan"

[Shadowbutterfly]

Shadowbutterfly sighed tiredly. She sensed SoulStealer nearby, and she quickly and silently jogged to where he was, eyes widening when she saw Elfangor there as well. He had a long past, so long that she and he were the only ones who truly knew everything about him. He had launched an attack by himself on Shadow?s kingdom, and slaughtered a lot of vampires, and their ?bonded?. Bonded were humans or some other kind of creature or person who were bitten by vampires.

At the time, Shadowbutterfly wasn?t queen, and another vampire was ruling king. They had never gotten along, and Shadow was most pleased when he was killed and she ascended the throne. When a vampire ruler was killed, a competition was held. Whatever vampire came out alive, was the new king or queen. Elfangor was older than Shadowbutterfly and she had managed to drop him with a sleep spell. After taking over the throne, she spent years trying to get inside of Elfangor?s head, to release him from whatever blood frenzy he was in.

She finally managed to discover SoulStealer, and Elfangor had almost ripped her throat out. Shadow had cast Soul out of Elfangor?s mind, body, and his sheer existence. It had nearly killed her and the vampires had cried out to her, telling her to kill him. She, being as stubborn as she was, didn?t kill him. He was in a coma, and when he awoke, he was very aware of everything that had happened before and during his coma. He recognized her from his attack, and thinking she would kill him, he fled. (hah you fled BP )

Shadow had followed in pursuit, and after getting in a fist fight with him, he finally gave up and went back with her, where she protected him from assassinations until he was ?healthy? again. As soon as he was okay, she stopped protecting him, and she promoted him to a high rank in her guard. She trusted him completely, and felt a swell of pride when she heard him turn down SoulStealer?s offer. Elfangor had indeed given her his power. An assassin who was outraged that she hadn?t kill Elfangor had tried to kill her and himself. In a moment of weakness, Shadow was staked, and Elfangor transferred most of his powers to her to keep her alive. She still felt indebted to him, but he blew her off whenever she asked how she could repay him.

Turning from the sight of SoulStealer, she burst into a run, hoping to beat Elfangor back to the inn. Kaliska had settled things with Talan, and Shadow wondered why he felt useless for being a human. She could feel everyone?s emotion?s and she didn?t like it. Everyone was on edge, except Elfangor who was simply wired with energy, and it bugged her. Sighing, she slowed to a halt and watched Graven and ShadowLord duel. Graven was winning by the looks of it, and Shadow idly wondered how long ShadowLord would let him win. Kaliska and Talan walked off into the woods, no doubt to train by themselves, and Inferno Lust shot Shadow a wink.

Elfangor entered the clearing a moment later and, stood silently behind Shadow. ?I can explain about the clearing, My Lady.? Shadow shook her head. ?No need. I?m honored by your loyalty. Thank you.? Elfangor shook his head, clapping a hand on Shadow?s shoulder. ?No, thank you, My Lady.? He brushed past her, and started throwing taunts at Graven, who has officially lost the match.

ShadowLord padded up to his sister. ?So, what was that about?? Shadow sighed. She placed her hand against his temple and mentally told him her past with SoulStealer and Elfangor. ?I hope, that our future will be brighter than our past.? Patting her brother on his cheek, she jogged over to Graven and kicked him in the shin. ?WHAT THE F***?!?
Shadow sniffed in disdain. ?Coward. Won?t even fight me in a match.? And so the rest of the day went by, with Graven and Shadow arguing, about pointless things of course, and the others sighed and laughed.

Kaliska and Elfangor however, silently brooded in a corner, trying to come up with a way to gather the others for a meeting. They didn?t want to ruin the mood, but it had to be done.

Kaliska spoke softly, but everyone heard her.

?It?s time for war.?

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Blood red eyes watched the group opposing him, as they turned dead serious. SoulStealer cracked his knuckles. He would have Elfangor and Shadowbutterfly under his command.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Wowza! Twas a long postie!

[Kaliska]

Kaliska closed her eyes and cleared her mind ( like that was hard to do lol)
Talan waited till Kali was done " now we fight"

Kaliska charged at Talan with her daggers poised. Talan sighed and steped to the side triping kali."get up and try again" Kaliska snorted and got up.

Kaliska slaped a weak thrust aside and stabed at talan only to be shoved
to the ground.Talan grins " Try again.."

[Shadowbutterfly]

Shadow sighed and looked down at Kaliska's and Talan's approaching forms. She liked the roof, it was the only place where she could get any peace. Shadow could feel Kaliska's curse dissolving every day.

The meeting, had been simple and short. Everyone was to train and prepare themselves for the worse. ShadowLord, feeling confident he didn't need to train, dueled with the others to prepare them. Graven and Elfangor were always at eachother's throat, and it was a source of amusement for the others.

Shadow sighed and lay back against the roof, staring at the moon. It was full, and back at home the celebrations would be starting. Vampires and Were creatures would be claiming the night as theirs. Shadow was on edge. Something didn't feel right, and she felt like something was coming for her. The others didn't look like anything was bothering them, but she wondered if it was a charade or not.

"What happened, My Lady?" Shadow jerked and tilted her head up to look at Elfangor. His eyes were a gentle golden color. "I see you've fed recently." "I see you haven't. Just because your a queen doesn't mean you can starve yourself." He responded firmly, sitting down next to her. "So, what are you thinking about? And don't lie, because we both know you can't lie to me, and the other way around." Shadow sent him a glare but Elfangor ignored her. "You know, your blood tastes different from other vampires... I wonder why that is." "Your's didn't taste to well either, Elfangor."

Elfangor rolled his eyes. "You know that's not what I meant. Anyway, are we bonded? It's really weird, you know? I can feel your feelings, and I'm sure you can feel mine. He wants to use that to his advantage, you know." Turning her head to face him, Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You.. told him that?" He shook his head. "No, but he wants us for the war he's going to start. You already know he hates your brother, so I wouldn't be surprised if ShadowLord gets ambushed soon. But what are we going to do? We've been here at the inn for a few weeks, and we haven't done anything!"

Shadow sighed. "You can't rush humans. They wish to train, therefore we wait until they are ready." Elfangor bit back a retort. He stood up and jumped off the roof, gracefully rolling to his feet. Stalking off, he headed toward ShadowLord, no doubt to complain about how Shadow was acting.

Shadow jumped off the roof as well and grabbed Kaliska's elbow. "We need to talk." Kalisa nodded and followed behind quickly. "Alone." Shadow added as Talan started to follow them. Talan shot Shadow a murderous glare, but stayed behind.

"What is this about, Shadow?" Kaliska asked worriedly. "To put it bluntly, we're taking too long! SoulStealer will be upon us in a matter of days, and we're sitting here like ducks waiting to be shot down!" Kaliska sighed and rubbed her temples. "Then what is your point?" Shadow shuffled her feet. "Other than the fact we're going to slow, I was going to make you an offer. I'm a shapeshifter, so I know this will work. If you consume some of my blood, your body will react to the shapeshifting genes, and you'll be able to shift at will. We'll also be able to mentally talk to eachother and be able to tell if the other's in danger. It's your choice, but I was just setting it on the table for you."

Kaliska nodded gravely and stated, "I will think about it. And, your eyes are normally white, but they're red now.. Why?" Shadow smiled. "It's because I haven't fed lately. As the queen, I can only feed off of vampires, and since Elfangor is the only other vampire besides myself, I've been putting it off." Kaliska raised an eyebrow. "Well I suppose you better go feed. Can I watch, if it's painful?" Kaliska grinned wickedly. Shadow laughed softly. "No, he doesn't like people seeing him being fed off of... Bruises his pride, ya know? And yet, he seems to like being the one I feed off of most of the time. A confusing one, he is. Anyway, think about my offer. I'll see you later."

Shadow darted off back to the inn and spotted ELfangor. He was arguing with Graven, but stopped when Shadow sent him a hungered glare. He rolled his eyes and walked over to her silently. "Need something?" He said smugly. "Shut up. Woods. Now." Shadow grabbed him and practically threw him into the woods. "You could be gentle you know. You might break me." He whined. "I doubt I could break you." Shadow mumbled. Once she was sure they were far enough away from the others, she yanked him down to her height and bit him savagely.

"Ow ow ow!" Elfangor growled. "Did you have to bite that hard?!" After a minute or two, Shadow staggered back, her eyes swirling back to their ghostly white color. "Sorry. Hungrier than I thought." She smiled weakly and rubbed her fingers over the bite mark, healing it quickly. "Oh, I think that one may scar..." He shot her a look. "I wonder why.."

"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that I knew you were feeding, I would say you two were up to no good." Shadow whirled around to face her brother. "Sneaking up on me?" He shook his head, and snickered at Elfangor's red face. "Nope. But Kaliska wants you back at the inn. Apparently she made a decision." ShadowLord grabbed his sister and Elfangor by the back of their necks and dragged them back to the inn.

///// I bit ELfangorrrrr :P I is a queen! Mwahaha! -dances a victory dance with Kaliska-////

[BlackPlague]

After Elfangor was drug against his will back to the inn he desided to finally take Graven up on his offer to spar with him.

Elfangor stood across Graven with a rather lazy look,he is even yawning! Graven started shaking with anger at the actions of Elf,which just made Elfangor even happier about this little duel he agreed to.

Graven darted foward with both daggers drawn slashing at all angels trying to score a hit against Elf but Elfangor dodged everyone with great ease.

"Hold still you stinking blood sucker!"
"Whats wrong you to slow or something?"

Graven once agian rushed forward but this time he was met by a swift kick to the jaw braught to you my the boot of Elfangor.Before Graven even realized he was nolonger on the ground Elf had landed a few more shots to the face.Graven came crashing down to the floor where he laid for a few minutes.

Graven jumped back up to resume the duel but was grabbed by the neck by a rather amused looking Kaliska.

"Thats enough Graven.."
Graven bowed his head and turned to walk away.Graven the yelled "Your lucky vampire i was just gitting warmed up."

[Shadowbutterfly]

Shadow flipped through the pages of the book she was so called reading. Every now and then she would look at a page before flipping it to the next. A knock made her look up, and she closed the book, setting it on a table. Opening the door, she raised an eyebrow as an angry Talan shot a murderous glare before shoving past her into the room. ?How DARE you make an offer like that to My Lady! What was going through your head when you made that offer?!?

Shadow rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, watching him rant and rave. ?You know, Talan.. It doesn?t really even concern you as to what I offer Kaliska. It?s not like I was trying to slaughter her. You think I made the offer just to get a taste of dragon blood?? Talan glared and started to say something before Shadow cut him off. ?If that?s what you think, then perhaps you ARE just a pathetic human. You call yourself capable, but I highly doubt you even know how to use your blade against a demon. If any of us die, you?ll be one of the first to go! Your attitude is just enough to get his attention. If anything, he?ll probably try and make you work under his command!?

Talan?s eye twitched and he unsheathed his blade, quickly pressing it against Shadow?s throat. ?Don?t ever say that I would betray my queen. Perhaps you need to learn a lesson.? A new voice hissed out icily. ?If I were you human, I would lower that blade, NOW.? Another voice, ?I agree, and I never agree with him.? Shadow and Talan both turned to see Elfangor and ShadowLord standing in the doorway, with Kaliska standing behind them, an unreadable expression on her face.

Shadow spoke softly. ?I did not say that you would willingly betray your queen. SoulStealer has his ways of.. tainting people and controlling them.? Elfangor let out a low growl at the mere mention of SoulStealer?s name. ?And, know this. If I was truly your enemy and wanted to harm Kaliska or drink from her, I would have already. And what scares you, is that you know you wouldn?t be able to stop me.? Talan snarled. ?She?s not taking you up on your offer!? Shadow sighed, and grabbed the sword, grimacing in displeasure as the blade cut open her hand. ?That?s not up for you to decide. You?re an advisor.. at best, a bodyguard. You don?t make decisions for a queen.? She flung the sword away and it hit a wall. ?Perhaps, someone needs to teach you a lesson, one that you won?t forget.? Shadow tossed her hair dismissively and left the room. After a moment Elfangor followed and ShadowLord sent Talan a glare.

ShadowLord turned to Kaliska and said, ?She doesn?t mean any disrespect to you, but I agree with her. If we?re going to sit here, then at least let me, my sister, and Elfangor launch an attack. We?re strong enough we could wipe out some of them. It?s up to you.? After a moment he added, ?And only you. Don?t let your.. advisor make your decisions.?

////// Eeee sorry Talan D: Didn?t mean to make you so.. mean D:///////

[Shadowbutterfly]

Shadow crossed her arms. "Oh, congratulations Talan. You've found out i'm a queen, yay. I give you an applause." She clapped her hands and rolled her eyes. "Perhaps, you don't know what your talking about. The offer I made would not kill your queen... or your dragon." Shadow padded down the hall with Elfangor and Talan following her. Elfangor bared his fangs and growled at Talan, daring him to try and kill Shadow.

"You don't seem to understand, Talan. It doesn't matter if you are her rider or not. A rider, is only a rider if the dragon allows him. And, I already told you. If I wanted your Queen dead, she would be in a ditch already. You may speak for her, but the final decision comes out of her mouth." Talan stiffened and launched himself at Shadow, only to be slammed against the wall by Elfangor.


Shadow crossed her arms and studied Talan closely. "I see, so that's it then. You love her, and more than just a queen. Well, for all I know, you could be lovers. Whatever. I wasn't endangering your Queen. If anything I woul-" Elfangor snarled and tightened his grip on Talan. "Your Queen, Talan, wouldn't die. If anything, mine would. She'd be taking all of the damage for your Queen."

Talan started to turn purple and Shadow had to literally drag Elfangor off of him. "That's enough. And we'll... respect Talan's wishes." She flicked her gaze to Elfangor's and let out a puff of air as she saw his eyes. "Talan, if you'll excuse us." Shadow dragged Elfangor outside into the woods.

"That was unacceptable. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself." Elfangor growled. "It's no excuse. He knew you were a queen and he still didn't show you respect." "He's human, he doesn't have too." Silence fell on the conversation. "What's really bothering you, Elfangor?" He looked away from her and she sighed. "Fine, don't tell me. Reign that temper in, and go feed." "I can't. Everything around here is lacking what home had. There, I could last a few days longer than most vampires who fed. Now it's like I have to feed every hour."

Shadow nodded and held up her wrist. "No. I'm not biting you." Elfangor growled. "Oh for the love of everything unholy. I need to tell you something, and this is the fastest way I can tell you. Your not like my brother, who I can just talk to mentally." He sighed and eyed her wrist before bting it quickly. A few seconds later and everyone at the inn could hear, "ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

ShadowLord sighed. "Apparently, Shadow has told him everything about the offer she made.." Kaliska raised an eyebrow. "Did she not tell me something?" ShadowLord nodded and walked off to his room.