Lana turned it on with the help of Kattie and she recognized some of them. "The Vampire Council."
Shalt came over and watched as well. "I don't recognize some of them. Did we lose more leaders?"
"Maybe. Let's keep an eye out. Did you see Quinn take out a hundred dalki with dalki blood? What was that?"
Shalt stared at the hologram in wonder and awe, "Quinn, the 10th leader…. He has the King's absolute blood control! They must have crowned him King!"
Kattie had no clue what they were talking about, not having been told about how the vampire world works, much less that there even was such a thing as "vampire world." The screen split and multiple cameras followed different people. The leaders were not challenged at all by the dalki with the exception of one. Based on his ability, Shalt said he belonged to the First family which meant Bryce was no longer leader. What happened back home?
Sunny, who was recognized by both of them and a male vampire Lana didn't know killed many dalki with one hit each in a greenhouse and eventually found 10 humans alive, only one was male. Sunny was the leader of the 5th family. Her son Rokene had the rabbit-beast Quinn tried to kill that summer on the vampire world. It seemed like a lifetime ago for Lana. Their ability was talking with animals and familiars which is why Lana remembered her. She was never introduced but asked about her later because she seemed gentle. She was Serene's leader.
Another vampire gave a thumbs up to the camera after his easy victory. Still others seemed annoyed or offended that the dalki dared attack them.
The hard part was Quinn. He seemed to get more emotional as time went. He burst into a room, the reporter Bonnie behind him. The dalki in there tried using one of the 6 humans as a shield. It wasn't even clear what happened. There was a shadow then there were 4 dead dalki.
He demanded Helen's sisters tell him where she was. One of them pointed to the room next door. The camera followed him and Lana saw Helen on the wall, Quinn frozen staring at her, then heard Bonnie tell the camera man to not film that. Soon, they were interviewing survivors. Lana started crying. Helen was like a kindred spirit to her. She was hoping to bring Helen to her mother's lab when this was all over. She pushed the tablet away, telling Shalt he could keep watching but she couldn't. He took it outside. Those were his people after all, despite being part of Lana's family.
Lana would spend some time grieving. Vorden, Raten, Borden and the kids came every day. Peter was at one of the shelters with all the others close to Quinn, making sure they were protected.
Soon, Quinn made an announcement. Shalt brought the video back in so Lana could view it. Quinn wanted all to hear his words. He spoke to the camera, nodded to Muka, the 9th leader, and she touched some machine that lit up. There were flashes of blue light then the room changed. Lana recognized it as similar to the throne room of the 10th castle but much nicer.
Then there was a welcome in unison and Lana no longer questioned. Somehow, Quinn became the King of the Vampires. At the end, he dared the dalki to come attack the settlement. He put so many fortifications around it; it was clear Quinn expected the enemy to test his strength. Lana smirked. Helen will be avenged.
Quinn commanded his people to train. He needed them to be around humans without wanting to eat. Prior to this, vampires only learned to control their blood lust if they had been chosen for off-world missions. Most vampires would want blood the moment they picked up the smell of a human. For a war to work with humans at their side, this needed to change. Also, a lot had happened and the vampires all needed additional combat training.
The leaders were put in charge of training their own family members, as was their duty. Serene asked for permission to spend this time with Lana. If training was required, she couldn't think of a better person to train with. Sunny spoke to Quinn who asked Sil if Lana had the time. Sil smiled.
"Let's surprise her and find out!"
With a huge grin, Sil brought the girl to his wife. He was busy helping Quinn with preparations but if he could use this as an excuse to see his wife, he would!
Lana was ecstatic and embraced her friend. Sil then lovingly kissed his wife before excusing himself. Lana and Serene spent the time learning from each other, both becoming strong with shared knowledge and building a stronger friendship.
Sil would call once in a while but didn't feel right leaving in case the dalki attacked while he was gone.
While they were all training, Lana decided to follow the advice of Mona and Richard Eno. She decided to see if the crystals that she had from her mother contained information the way the one from Eno did. What she saw reignited the nightmare cycle she had gotten rid of months prior.
These tall things that looked like black knights were rampaging across the land. A human would only reach the knee of these beasts. They appeared to have reddish white flames emanating from within. With one breath, they could kill many humans. While not numerous, they were monstrous and deadly.
Lana knew these were the things her parents fought. The things that removed her mother's wings. She instantly wanted revenge. When Dobin came by later that day, she taught him how to use the crystal.
Clenching his jaw, "we need to do something about this."
"I know. But I don't want to go to Mother's lab until this war is over in case I'm needed for something."
Dobin nodded his head and hugged her, "we'll get through this together. How's my little nephew?" he asked rubbing her tummy.
She chuckled, "he or she is doing fine. I'm looking forward to birth already, though. It's a bit camped in there!"
One day, Quinn called and Vorden, Raten and Borden were called to the Cursed Ship. Vorden came back to update Lana then left again. She was informed about the vampires training as well as blackmail letters that were handed to specific people. Some members of the Cursed – Sil and Leo, as well as Quinn and the vampire leaders "that had been on camera" were being forced to participate in a dual using virtual reality. Logan was also told to be there as part of the board. Only those with letters were supposed to know about it. Quinn didn't trust it so he brought the strongest the Cursed had to offer as backup.
Moments after they left, Serene burst through her door elated. She had finally succeeded in a new weapon that was sure to save lives. She found Lana in labor which explained why she didn't come to the lab that morning.
Serene looked at her friend, "were you going to keep this to yourself? Does your husband know the baby's coming?"
Lana shook her head, "he's been summoned. He can't be worried about us at a time like this."
Serene stared at her wondering where she got her strength and her poor taste in men. If she had a man who was never there, no matter the reason, she would have dumped him ages ago.
She stayed by Lana's side for the rest of the day. Fiza was called to tend the twins. Rene was called to attend the birth. Shalt held one of Lana's hands while Dobin held the other. Soon, a new baby girl joined the world. Rene handed the baby up to the exhausted mama.
"I'm not sure what to name her..." Lana said through joyful tears.
"Well," Serene paused, "you said you liked my mother's name. You could name her Angelina Rosalina."
Lana smiled and so it was. Little Angelina Rosalina had joined the Plantwell family.
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This story has been re-written as an original story called Feisty Fae. I took my experience from this writing to make the story better. The new version is Romance/Fantasy Adventure. I hope you enjoy it.