New Empire

Mathaius followed Anubis with the rest of the Angelus close behind. When they reached the city and the palace, The Dowenger moved to the fenced edge and started waving. "They are here." She said warmly to Raven, who in turn got up and moved to watch. She then half turned her head, "Sophie, Kaitlyn, take my young downstairs." She didn't want him or the egg being harmed....

As the flight of Angelus flew over the city there were humans running all over the place in fear. They had been informed about Raven and the change in Anubis, but now there were more. There was a great fear. As they approached the Palace Anubis could see the Dowgener waving. He lead the others in and landed. He moved forward to allow room for the others to land. One by one they circled the roof and landed, all looking at the Dowgener and Raven.

By the time the first were landing, Raven had shooed the girls indoors and shut the door. She then stood proudly with her head high. The Dowenger took charge and started welcoming their kin as they landed. Raven remained where she was until they greeted her first. There wasn't as many that had left as she thought and most of them were less than hallf a million. "Welcome all!" The Dowenger chimed happily, "Welcome home, my kin." They all moved forward to bow their heads at the Dowenger and kneel to kiss her feet. At this point, Raven was glad she had laid the roof with astroturf. The Angelus would have destroyed any real grass with their tramping. sadly, some of Seth's toys were kicked over and broken and this annoyed Raven greatly. "Watch where you step!" She demanded......

Anubis moved to Raven and placed an arm about her. From what she had told him about the haven in the north this was only a part of them. The younger members of her people. But that would do. From what he seen they would form the basis of the begining of the rebirth of the race. The Angelus looked down at the toys not knowing what they were, but did as Raven had ordered. The three females came forward and seen that Raven had now returned to normal and was no longer in her mating cycle. "You have mated with Anubis?" one asked. She licked her lips looking at Raven with anticipation, to know weather or not it had been successful.

Raven nodded with a small smile, "I have, Serene." She replied. "May we see it?" Lark asked. Raven narrowed her eyes a little. "I am not yet ready." she told them. "You will settle in first and learn the rules of your new home. Then I will show you my offspring. Until then, I request you keep your distance from my personal nest." The females nodded in respect and then looked around. "What is all this?" Serene asked. "It's all so... green." Raven gave a smile, "This is my garden." She told them, "And the playthings of my first offspring. You will not break, disturb or otherwise touch them, understand? You are welcome to basque with us at dawn, but during the day, this space is personal." Again, the females nodded and then went back to the Dowenger. "What are the rules of this home?" Lucas asked the Dowenger. The old female nodded to Anubis. "He will tell you."....


Anubis smiled and went over the rules that he and Raven had come up with. The Dowegener and Mathaius had free reign of the Penthouse as they were considered family, but permission to enter had to be gained from the other's. Raven's orders were to be obeyed without question. The other rules he briefly went over. They were simple and not bad. He then lead them down the stairs to the levels below. "I will be having special chambers installed in the living quarters that will allow you to fly from this structure and return into it." He began showing them to the various appartments that would be theirs.

The others followed him and were having a good look around. Some stopped at the penthouse suite, but then carried on following Anubis. Once they had all cleared the roof, Raven pressed the intercom and told the girls it was safe to come back up with Seth and the egg. They arrived a few minutes later and Sophie went about picking up the broken toys while Seth started climbing over some soft shapes....

Once he had the Angelus situated he returned to the Penthouse, and then the roof. "What do you think?" he asked Raven.

Everything was back in place and back in order and Raven allowed herself to relax once more. When Anubis arrived, she looked up at him and shielded her eyes against the sun. "It should be interesting if nothing else." She told him.....

Indeed it would be. He had no idea when the three females would go into their mating cycle. It would probably be the only way to bring about the change that had occured to him. At least in the males. The females that would be selected he had to figure out what would trigger their change. He sat on a stool next to Raven and watched Seth play. With the fencing up and a few other improvements to make it warm enough at that height, Seth had no problems being there. He gave Raven a gentle kiss on her lips.

Raven kissed him back lovingly and then smiled as she watched Seth play. Beside her, the Dowenger stared at them oddly. "What was that?" She asked curiously. Raven gave a small laugh. "It's a show of affection, Dowenger." She said....

Anubis grinned, "It is a pleasent form of showing one's affection for their mate." Seth walked over to the Dowgener lifting his arms to be taken up into her arms.

"I see." The old female replied then stared at Seth oddly as he came to her and reached up. She didn't have a clue what to do.....

Anubis chuckled. "He wants you to pick him up and hold him." he told her. "He has seen you around quite a bit now and thinks you are family."

"Oh!" The old female said, then looked at Seth again. She picked him up carefully, but held him at arms' length. She still wasn't sure exactly what to do. "Here." Raven said, "Let me show you." She took Seth from the Dowenger and held him close on her knee, bouncing him gently and then cuddled him. "It's been a very long time since I've done anything like that." The old female said.....

"One never forgets such things." he chuckled. "Mathaius had to get use to it. He to I think Seth considers family." It was that or he just liked people in general. But Anubis wanted to think it was because he felt them to be family. Across the mountains in Denver Colorado, an enclave of bishops and a Cardinal convened. "More you say, more of Lucifer's Fallen Angels have arrived?" The Cardinal was not happy at all. "Surely god will send a host of Angles to deal with them." one of the Bishop's said." The Cardinal looked at the bishop with steely grey eyes. "God will not send any. He lets man do the work for him. This is a test to see if mankind is worth of God's love. For to long has he strayed from the path and now he is allowing the devil lose to punish them. It is up to us to set mankind on the path to God again." There were murmers about the room. We must strike and strike hard. Can no one see it is Lillith that has returned and has begun to fornicate with the evil fallen angels? Stike at their heart, kill this bitch demoness and then we can kill this monster Anubis and bring an end to it all." the Cardinal stood almost crying out.

The Dowenger nodded and took Seth back again. She sat him on her knee, guarding him incase he toppled and started making funny noises at him. "See Dowenger, you're getting the hang of it already." Raven laughed. The Dowenger laughed back and nodded and the two seemed happy to laugh at each other. In the conference hall, there was one voice that had not yet spoken. The man was a bishop, but not like the others. He had with him a large tome that he sat carefully on the table and then put a saffron folder on top of that. He listened carefully to all that was said and silently sipped tea from a china cup. "If I may interject here, Cardinal?" He said in a strong Scottish accent. "I have perhaps an alternative view for your consideration.".....

The Cardinal turned his attention to the Bishop. "Pray tell Bishop McDugal. What is this consideration?"

The bishop stood up and bowed his head slightly, "Thank you Cardinal." he said. He opened the folder and slid a few photos down the table. "These were taken by intelligence operatives from the CIA." He began, "The show the female in great detail." The others nodded in agreement. He then opened the enormous book and slid that down the table. "This is also a picture rendered in oil of the same female. This oil was done in 1074. May I draw your attention to the detailing beneath." He took the book back and began reading the exerpt below the picture. "Having seen this spectre, I believe God has sent her to protect my church and those that remain faithful, for she has removed only the blasphemous of my people. As my faith in God dictates, I shall render her image within the church as a guardian against the vile filth that taints the purity of Gods true children." He finished the passage and closed the book. "This was written by Pope John the second." He continued. "May I suggest the alternative now?".....

The Cardinal, a long time believer in eradicating anything that was not human. Because god had created them in his image and therefore any thing else was the work of the devil. "What better way to make one falter in their faith then to destroy a few of his minions to gain favor. Lillith has a gilded toung to lure the rightious from their path to god. Do not be deceived by writings about times long ago that portray here as a guardian. She doing the devil's bidding but failed to turn him from his path to become the Pope."

"Then you are declaring that God's own chosen shepard is a liar and that every church that bears her resemblence, including your very own Cardinal, is to be destroyed." McDugal said openly. "Could it be that Lillith may not be the creature that graces our churches and our faith, but the true Angel that many of our faithful have seen and felt lead them to God? In my opinion, Cardinal Risha, it is not her that has brought this evil upon us, it is the false god Anubis that has tainted her. He tainted our people long before the Angel arrived and it was he that attacked, he that barracaded himself within the city and he that has spawn the demons and devils that we now see. This tome, written by every Pope since the beginning of time, has never once denounced the true Angel. They were even able to catch her once and she proved herself to be as strong and wise as God's Angel should be. I say it is Anubis that has blinded her."....

The Cardinal was enraged that the Bishop McDugal was defending the devil's spawn. "He was deceived as you are being. God made us in his own image and any that is not like us is the creation of the Devil. How else could Anubis have come to be and the foul wolf like creatures and other vampires. NO Bishop McDugal, she was sent to deceive and make all think she was working for god but only to
make the rightious fall and look at the world. She and her fellow demons have brought the world to what is is now. Look at the sin, the evil in the world. Now she had joined the demon Anubis and has reveiled her true colors."

McDugal then took out a book of matches, "Then I suggest you burn down every church that bears her statue." He said firmly, "The Angels were God's warriors and guardians and he saw fit when to send them and when not to. I have seen the evil in this world, Cardinal, I can smell the filth from the Vatican's halls. I believe he sent us the Angels once more to fight for His rightousness and I believe Anubis has taken her captive and poisoned her mind. As men of God, it is our duty to save the rightous and punish the wicked. Come the day of Judgment Cardinal, I do wonder what your words will be to God when he asks you why you murdered his angel."....

Laughter filled the room from a dark corner. "How little you know for having access to countless records of the past centruies. Your silly beliefs and ideals, all based on stories handed down from father to son for generation after generation. Stories that were ment to teach a lesson but not the truth. Your whole faith is basied on fabricated stories." Again he laughed as he sat in a chair, in the shadows. The Cardinal looked at him trying to descern his features but could not. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" The door had been locked behind them and they had been the only ones in the room. "My name is of no concern of yours. But you deal with those you have no idea about. But be warned. Piss the one called Anubis off, and it might be Rome itself that vanishes in a mushroom cloud."

McDugal staggered around the table at the strange voice and tred to figure out just who it could be. "We already know about the weapons the false god is holding." He said, "And I don't care for your tone about our Holy Lord and his teachings. Who are you to doubt them?".....

Again the evil Laugh, "One that know more they you could ever imagine." The eyes of the figure glowed a bit. "But do as you wish. I shall as always just sit back and watch the foolishness that you all do. You would think that after so many centuries that you would have learned a thing or two. But you and your so called rigthcious ways always blind you to the truth and your desire for power... he looked at the Cardinal, "Oh yes Cardinal, power, you have great power with your position as does your Pope. Look at what you all have done over the past centuries. Pursiquiting innocent people because they didn't want to believe in what the church said. The Spanish Inquisition, witch burnings and the like."

"Not mine." McDugal said and picked up the tome. He held it close to his chest and looked across the table at the Cardinal. "I follow God's work, nothing more.".....

"But you still believe in a history that was not the truth. All you believe is a lie. If you look at the hidden records in your precious vatican you will see that I speak the truth. The figure rose from his seat and in an instant was standing next to McDugal and took the book from him. "Go search priest, discover the truth. The Summiarin Texts that the Church found and never have let be known they have." The next instant he was at the window, on the window ledge. Again he laughed and jumped from the window. When McDugal went to it, the firgure was nowhere to be seen.

McDugal raced for the window to get his precious book back, but the figure had gone. He spun around to face the Cardinal. "Am I the only one here that has seen this?!" He yelled, "And you all stand there dumbstruck!".....

The Cardinal was speachless. He had never seen anyone that could move that fast, nor was there anyone that knew about the text that had been unearthed in Iraq, in what appeared to be the oldest city ever built. The church had gone to great length to cover it up. He knew about them, one of the few that did. "Another of the Devils minions!" came the croaked wisper of the Cardinal as he grabbed his throat and fell to the floor, blood flowing from a severed artery.
:
McDugal stared in shock as the Cardinal fell dead on the floor and then stared at the other bishops in the room. All he could do then was run for the door. "I have to get that book back!" He yelled. "Why?" Another asked. "Because that book is the most dangerous text on the planet. In the wrong hands, it could kill us all!"...

In the Dark of the night a lone figure laughed as he made his way to a private jet at the airport. "Fools. They are such fools." There was one on the plane that he handed the book to. "Make sure this gets to your master Anubis." he told the lycan there. He raised a finger and the shackles fell away from. The lycan looked at the man before him snarling. "Don't even think about it. You would be dead before you completed the change. None of Anubis' creations were a match for me." he laughed again and stepped back to the tarmack and another wave of a hand the door of the plane closed, and a nod to the pilot the plane began moving.

Hours later, the plane approached the airspace of Los Angeles. The Lycan aboard contacted the Airport Tower, and they contacted Anubis. He allowed it to enter and land. With in a short time the Lycan was at the Palace on the lower level, kneeing before Anubis and handing him the book. "I was captured and held by someone I can only say was very powerful. He knew things and could do things. He gave me this book and told me it must get to you." Anubis looked at the book and opened it. His eyes widdened at the first few entries and then he looked down at the lycan. "Discribe him!" he ordered. Again his eyes widened at the discription. He nodded. "Go now and rest. You have done well." he then went back up to the Penthouse and his study where he began reading the book.

Raven had just finished settling Seth down for the night and had given the girtls some preening time. She saw Anubis come in, but he didn't say anything and went straight to his study. All the colour seemed to drain from her face as she spotted what he was carrying and she quickly got up and made for the study. Shutting the door begind her, she quickly went to the desk and grabbed at the book, closing it in a flash. "What the hell are you doing?".....

He looked up at Raven from behind the desk. "Reading." he told her and stood up and moved around the desk and took her into his arms. "Do you think finding out more about you will change how I feel?"

Raven suddenly wasn't in the mood to be affectionate. "Where did you get that?" She demanded...

He brought a hand up to her face. "Look at me." he told her. "Some one from my past sent it." he told her, "Why don't you want me to know what is in it?"

Raven looked up at him briefly and then pushed him away. She grabbed the book and made for the fireplace. A snap of her fingers and it was ablaze. "Because it's not for you to know." She told him, "What's contained in this book should never be known.".....

"So you do not trust me enough to know." he told her. "Don't trust your own mate?"

Raven held the book over the flames, but hesitated. She closed her eyes. "Would you want me to know every aspect of your deepest and darkest secrets?" She asked him. "This book contains many of mine and not in my own hand either. I thought I'd destreoyed them all, but I was wrong.".....

"You know more about me then I do about you. All you have to do is ask and I would tell you. That is what mates do, is it not. Why should they keep secrets from one another?" he moved up behind her.

Raven held the book closer now and let the fire go out. "Some secrets are meant to remain so." She said quietly. She closed her eyes and put the tome to her chest. "It's heavier than I remember." She said quietly, "Feels like they've added a few things since I was last with them." She moved away from him and put the book down on his desk again. "If this is here, it means they are here."....

"The Church." he had known that they were there for a very long time. Since he had taken over the city. Those in power within the church, he had figured they would be there as well, pulling the strings, trying to get the military to destroy the entire city just to get to him. "And one other that I thought was long gone."

Raven shook her head, "They're not the church." She said. "They were ordaned as part of it originally, but they became too extreme for the later day catholic bullshit." She ran her hand over the cover of the book. "They are known as Opus Dae. A dark and heavily guarded secret within the scriptures that were hunting my kind long before the church was recognised in the greater scheme of things." She looked up at Anubis, "Who from your past has returned and why has he given you my secrets?".....

"From the discription of the courrier of the one that gave him the book, it can only be one person. Cain." he told her. "Why he wants me to know your secrets I can only assume that he wants me to know what I will be dealing with."

Raven's eyes went wide, "Cain gave you this?" She took the book up again in her arms. Her breath was shallow and quick and she leaned against the desk, trying to focus her mind. "Fair enough." She said quietly, "That bastard can have his way again, if that's what he wants." She put the book down again and opened it. The first writings went back to the time of the first ever sighting of Raven and what was believed to the genesis caused by the meteor storm. Raven wasn't then as she was now. She was barely a teenager by comparison, half the size and wisdom and twice the naivety. "Enjoy." She said coldly and walked for the door.....

He stopped her before she could leave. "No I want you to stay and go over it with me. We are mates, we need to know everything about each other if we are to be able to figure out what we must do to help each other." He turned her to him and kissed her lips gently. "Tell me about what is within?" he moved her back to the desk and opened the book."

Raven kissed him back briefly and then went back to the desk. She turned the first few pages, basically a list of the writers and a basic description of Raven herself as she was then. "This book contains everything the humans ever learned about me and what happened to me. This picks up where I leave off in my journals. This was me still young enough and dumb enough to make the stupid mistakes I made and Cain is the reason for 99% of everything in this damned thing. He's the reason the humans first started following me and studying me.".....

He could imagine dumb mistakes. Before he became what he was he had made plenty of dumb mistakes in his youth. But he had learned from them, and had not repeated them. "What did he do to make them start following and studying you?"

"Because he knew what I was and he told the humans." She replied and then moved back to the book. She began to turn the pages, showing him the pictorials and basic drawings that had predated written language. "I was travelling through Sumaria when I first found the cave drawings of me and it was at the same time that I learned Cain had led an attack on my people. They called it the first cleansing. By the time I found out what had happened, all that was left of my home was ash. The Elders had taken what was left of my people deep into the dead zone." The pictures told the story of how the humans had tried and failed several times to penetrate the mountains. They hadn't been able to cross the boundry beyond the Arctic. "What we were left with was the small crag in the mountain that we have today. Cold, desolate and safe." She wiped away what could have been considered a tear before continuing. "I stayed for a few thousand years to help build something of a home, but the Elders decided it was now safe enough for me to continue my study for them. By the time I reached civilisation, if you would call it that, everythign had changed."

She turned a few more pages in the book and the first basic language had begun. It was now written in basic coptic Aremaeic. "The flood had wiped out many of the old people and I found I'd become little more than legend and myth and I had many different names. Some called me a demon, others called me a guardian. The only thing that stayed the same between the stories was that I was a hunter. By now, Cain had disappeared, but he'd left one hell of a legacy behind him. The Egyptians were beginning their decline after a man named Moses led the slave population from Egypt and a new threat was coming from Europe. They were called Romans and they were vicious. Other things had changed also. They were leaving behind the old multi-god beliefs and were starting to adopt the One God Theorum. I learned later that Cain had played a large part in this as he believed you and the others had left him. He created many stories and legends about my people and what they could do. And they had begun hunting me again." She turned a few more pages.

The language changed again into a more recognisable system of Latin. They told stories of images and tales reaching far and wide. "Africa, Asia, Europe, even Australia and the Americas. I found images of my people everywhere and stories of what our blood could do to humans. We had become prized trophies sought by the powerful and rich to bring them longer life and power. That was the first time I was caught." She wiped away another tear and turned more pages. "The self named Emperor Nero was obsessed with enternal life and power and was immensely paranoid that it would be taken from him so he used to me make him live longer and it gave him power over much of the world for a very long time. He wiped out entire civilisations because of me. I managed to escape him, but the damage had been too great to just leave. I burned everything he'd built and removed his bloodline from history. After that, I had to go into hiding."

Her travels were well documented as though someone or a group of people had been given the task to follow her. It told of how she had crossed the Persian Gulf into the Agaean. "I made it to the eastern boundry of the then Greek Empire, but even they knew all about me and began hunting me. Thanks to Cain, I had nowhere left to go and the only way home was back the way I had come. I took refuge in what is now considered Israel near a city called Judae. By then, there was a following of what would become the modern church. To be honest, I felt relief when I made it there. I was actually welcomed and not taken prisoner." She turned a few more pages and the language became more intricate and what is now considered the pynacle of the Latin dialect. "I was found by a small band of Jews and they seemed to recognise me. They took me to a church deep in the hills and showed me a statue of myself stood in prayer over a King's tomb. The called me Angel and hid me from the those that wanted me for my power. They were the first humans I had trusted in thousands of years. I remembered the leader from a memory of his mother, years before. I had been studying the growth of fig trees in a village outside Judea when she had chanced on me. It was the middle of the night and I hadn't banked on being spotted. It turned out, she was the village Elders daughter. I think she had come from a liason with her intended mate from another village and she reeked of him. She had been the first to call me an Angel, but I had passed it off at the time and I had warned her to leave the village before her family found out she was no longer pure. I had understood by then some of the customs of their religious morals." She turned a few more pages, "But back to my main story. The human was kind and giving, something many of the people of the time were not. He spoke of God and forgiveness and faith. I didn't believe much of it and thought he was somewhat insane, but the people seemed to love him. I only really remember him because of the way he was killed. They nailed him to wooden slats and left him in the desert to die with his followers." The book made great detail however of every event she had been a part of during the life and death of one known as Christ. "After that, I knew I wanted nothing more to do with anything relgious." She sniffed slightly and turned more pages in the book. "And once again, Cain made sure I was right in the middle of it all. Every time I tried to return home, he did something that stopped me. A few hundred years after my last encounter with humans, I'd had enough and sought him out for myself. I'd heard stories of him coming from the Sumarian mountains, but I found nothing and the people were determined to keep me away. I learned later that he had entered a long sleep and I was etermined I would find his resting place and either demand that he leave my people in peace, or kill him myself. I begged the Elders for help, but they refused me so I turned to a band of lycans that were travelling through the area. I have no idea why." She turned the page and showed him a disturbing picture of her walking with a very large pack of wolves. "I convinced them I was in league with Cain and they were actually dumb enough to lead me right to him." Every detail was immense and immaculate to the letter.

"Cain and I battled for three years. I waged war on him for taking away my studies and killing my people and he aged war on me for supremecy." She told Anubis sadly, "He was absolutely certain that I would fall to his will, but I fought him. In his arrogance, he actually offered me a trade. He would leave my people alone if I gave myself to him and produced what he called pure gods." She shook her head, "I tried to castrate him in digust and I almost had him too, but his lycans got in the way and all I managed was to open his belly. I ran while his minions tried to help him and I made sure after that, he would never again find me. Still, he had his way though. He spread the stories further and wider and made me a devil and a demon to be hunted and killed. All of my kind were to be executed and with us, every last immortal that could stand against him. You can guess who took up that challenge. Then came a new Pope who ordaned a small sect of the church called Opus Dae to track my movements and if possible, find the rest of my people. Killing most of us would be fair to them, but they wanted at least a few of us alive to be studied as proof we were either demons of God's Angels. They first caught up with me when the Romans left Briton, but I evaded them. And then I began finding more statues of me and my people in churches all over the continent. That's when I began studying them in return, hoping to find some way of stopping or at least hundering their efforts. Thankfully, they never found our stronghold, though they got close a few times."

The end of the tome was in sight, but there was far much more than previously written. "Since then, every Pope has documented his own version of me and my people and every generation of the Opus have tried to hunt me down. They did catch me once, but by then, I had a far greater knowledge of their workings and as disgusted with myself as I am over the entire matter, I did what I had to. I gave the Pope my blood to make him live longer and I taught his armies how to fight better and I gave them enough knowledge of the world to prove myself a guardian of God. I even hunted those they called blasphemous just to survive long enough to escape and return home. I knew they would never let me leave willingly, even if I convinced them God was calling for my return and I tried. Oh, how I tried!" She covered her face with her hands, refusing to let Anubis see her shame and moved away from the desk. "I don't need the book to tell you the rest." She said.

Moving to a chair, she sat on the arm and let her wings fall around her. "I managed to escape their clutches and I went home. I vowed I would never again leave. The stories never died though and Cain has made sure they were twisted and turned. I had finally began to believe that his games with me were over. And then the Elders decided to send me after you. The rest you already know." She closed her eyes for a moment. "And now they are hunting me all over again. They won't stop until we're all dead or in their cages to do their biding. And I bet you everything I am, Cain is the one pulling the strings. He's given that book to you just to play with you and to hurt me again. He won't stop until he's dead."

She then looked up at Anubis, her eyes sad, but also empty. "So now you know. Put that with my journals and you'll know everything about everything I've done. You can make your choice from that." She got up and made for the door......

Anubis again stopped her and took her into his arms. He held her close to him. "What is in that book, matters not to me. It is the past and this is the present, and in our bedroom lies the future. That is what matters, that is all that matters." he told her and just held her to him.

McDugal didn't know what to do. The tome he had borrowed surely would be missed soon. Those he had borrowed it from did not know that he had took it, thought they knew he had been there at the cathedral. They would surely know it was him that had taken it. But he had wanted to make his point about the winged woman. She had to have been one of god's angels sent to help mankind. She fit every discription of what an angle looked like and she had done wonders for the church in the past. But what was the Summarin Tablets that the stranger had talked about. He had been to the Vatican many times and had heard nothing of it.
He wanted nothing more then to get out of there, but the Cardinal had been murdered and one of the other bishops had called the police. They listened to what the bishops told them and about the stranger and how he disapeared out the window. Under normal circumstances, before Anubis attacked and took control of Los Angels, they would have locked them all up and thought them fanatics or something. But now they believed them but they could do little since they had no real discription of the man or vampire. After all the questioning and the police had taken the body away and dusted for fingerprints and everything, they were let go. McDugal immediately went the the small church he had come to stay at for the meeting. From here he called a good friend at the Vatican. One that worked in the Archives.
"Tell me of the Clay Tablets found in Iraq. The ones written in Summain." he asked.
"What are you talking about Stephan. There is no such thing here." came his friends reply.
"Look Luis I know about them. You owe me big time my friend. I must know."
There was a sigh on the other end. "Alright Stephan but you will not like what they say. I will fax you a copy of the translation. But none must know about this. May god forgive me, if there is one." his friend said and hung up. The last comment shock Stephan, for he knew his friend was devoute to the church and its teachings. His faith was strong and unshakable. A few minutes later the fax in the church's priests' office began to crank out the copy of the translation.
My name is Cain. Son of Adam and Eve, brother to Able. I wish to put down the truth about what happened not long ago. I have been branded a murder. That I can not deny, but the circumstances for it I wish to set straight. So I will start at the begining with my parents Adam and Eve. They were from a tribe of people that lived in a lush valley with plenty of game to hunt, and fruit to pick. But Eve was not my father's first mate. He had chosen one called Lillith but she was not like the other women of the tribe. She was strong willed and would not submit to Adam and left him. Adam then took Eve for his mate but in doing so incured the wrath of the Chief and he kicked them both out of the tribe and the valley.
Eve bore Able and Me, Cain. Life was hard for us becuse there was just the four of us. But we managed, though Able grumbled much, not liking to do as much work as he was given to do. He was the favorate of Adam and our mother Eve, and they let him get away with doing less then he should. Then one day we discovered another people, one that looked as other men and women but they had large feathery wings and could fly. They talked to our father. They examined Able and it seemed found him fit for something they wanted to do. They examined me as well but after they talked to Able a lot, they ignored me.
One day I heard a couple of these strangers, who called themselves Angelus talking. How Able was the better of the two sons. Wanting to help and was stronger and better suited mentally and was a hard worker where I was said to be lazy and not mentally capable. This made me Mad and I confronted my brother. He laughed at me. He told me that the Angelus was going to change him and make him one of them and once like them he would no longer have to do anything he didn't want to do and be free of their parents and he would go out and make the tribe in the valley worship him and make them serve him. I found out from him that he had lied to the Angelus about me and convinced them I was not worthy or fit to be chosen. This angered me more.
When I said I would go to them and tell them how he lied to them he attacked me and tried to kill me. I fought back and in the fight hit him with a rock and killed him. The Angelus was angry as was my parents. They would not listen to me. They secluded me in a cave until they determined what to do with me. Only one of the Angelus seemed to believe me. It was a young female, the daughter of one they called an elder. I told her what Able had told me and she beleived me. She told me why they had come to his parents. Long ago a star fell out of the heavens and had come to rest near where our parents had come to live. The Angelus elders had come and examined it and had found that it possibly had changed Able and myself. That perhaps it could help her people rebuild their race that was slowly dying out. But there was another young Angelus there that did not like her talking to me. He tried to force her away and he hit her hard. She fell to the ground and did not move. The young male became afraid and fled. The young female was bleeding badly and I did not know what to do. She came to long enough to tell me to drink of her blood which I did. Once I had I could feel my body changing. Something strange was happening to it. That is when the Angelus came with the young one who said I had attacked and killed the female. The elder grabbed me and took me high into the air and dropped me. I thought for sure I was going to die, but something happened and suddenly wings sprouted from my back and and unfolded, slowing my decent and letting me come to the ground safely.
I looked like one of the Angelus but only more human. Again I was afraid. I did not know what was happening to me. I didn't know if I liked what had happened to me and wished that the wings were not sprouting from my back. As if they heard me they receeded back into my body. I was far from where my parents were. I dared not return for they surely would kill me now. I was blamed for two deaths now. One I did not commit and the other was because my brother had attacked me. I decided to move south more and find other people. But as I wondered I found that there were other changes in my body as well. I needed the blood of others to live, I was stronger then other men, could move faster then them and I could move a short distance in the blink of an eye. I could change forms, into differnt animals that I saw and took blood from. Some how I also gained knowledge that I had not known before. I knew things about metals, about how to build things, how to write and to read the writtings. It was as if I had been given this knowledge when I had drank the blood of the Angelus.
For many years I wondered living off animals blood and flesh. Till one night I saw a number of stars falling from the sky. One landed near a tribe of people. The land there grew fertial and lush within a short time. I went to the people and fought their chieften and defeated him. I became the new leader and watched as four children were born. I watched them grow up and I could sence something about them. I could feel that they were different then the others of the tribe. I could feel that they were what I had been before the change. I remembered the young Angelus and how sad she was that her people were dying, and how they had hoped Able could have helped save their race. For the friendship she had given me and believing in me I decided to try and do what her people had tried to do. I chose the four to be my test subjects. I gave them my blood and watched the change in them begin.
To ensure that these four lived long enough to perhaps one day become the new begining for the Angelus I began my reign of conquest and domination over the people of the area. I hoped that the sudden emergence of an empire would catch the attention of the Angelus and bring them there so he could show them that they had been wrong about him. But they have not come. I await them and will show them Anubis, Akasha, Ra and Set.


Cain had not gone to far. He waited for the police to leave and the high and mighty leaders of the Church to go their ways as well. He followed the one, that was called McDugal. He had brought the Tome that he had his order of hunters and watchers keep over the centuries. The Hunters, the Order thought that thier founder had been a noble person out to slay the evil creatures of the night. Oh how ironic was it that he had created something that the so called Church had given their blessing to so long ago, way after he had created it. Created by one of those monsters of the night to hunt down and kill others like him and the Angelus. Oh how he hated them. He wanted nothing more for them to suffer, and slowly die off and the last of their kind to know that he had at one time held the rebirth of their race in his hands for them and that they had spurned it.

He hoped that when Anubis read the tome that he would see what Raven was really like and when he came to him, come back to him and forget about renewing the race of the Angelus. They had turned his heart to hatered of their kind, he had followed and tried at every twist and turn to have the one called Raven killed for he knew that she could be oneday the savior of their kind and he didn't want that. Not now, not since that day that the elders had finally noticed his small empire and had come looking. He met with them alone on a moutain top and told them his tale and that he had created four that could be used to help repopulate their race. But they spurned him, spat upon him and called him murderer. They said they would not contaminate their race with his filth and they left. All he had done, was for not. His heart had hardened and the memory of the little Angelus was pushed to the furthest part of his mind as his anger grew. Memories of that day made his rage intensify as he followed the priest.

Cain wanted to show Anubis the truth. He was the last survior of those days long ago. He wanted to insure that the lies that Raven and the others would tell of him were set straight and that Anubis would know that he could not trust them. Together Anubis and him could again rebuild an empire and put an end to the Angelus once and for all. He had a feeling that the priest would want to know about the Clay Tablets, would want to know what they said and why they were nerver spoken of or alowed to be seen by mankind. He waited until McDugal made his call and received the copies before silently entering the room and taking a seat in a corner. He watched the Bishop read the pages of translation a smile on his face. He could see the horror on his face as realization finally came to him. "Interesting reading is it not." he whispered. McDugal swung around to look at Cain. "Not the best writing, but I was only a beginner back then with such things." he saw the disbelief in his eyes. "Oh yes it is true. I am the one and the same Cain that wrote that over ten thousand years ago."

He stood up and moved slowly towards McDugal. "I told you your entire faith was based on a lie. One told to the other children of Adam and Eve by them. All those other stories in the so called Bible, were tales told by the family to teach leasons to the young and make them look as if they were a chosen line to do great things." he chuckled. "Perhaps once they would have been but they were not. No Garden of Eden, no creation from the earth of the first man and woman. There were lots more people at that time then just them." he took the papers from him and folded them up. "Oh and don't worry about that Tome I took. Belongs to me anyways. Oh yes, I was the one that begun the organization that has been keeping tabs and trying to kill the one discribed in it. Her name is Raven." he laughed and left. The papers though copies, had the Vactican seal and was signed by the Pope himself. This he wanted Anubis to see, to know that he had written it down long ago and was not lieing when the told him his side of the story.

Raven nodded and leaned her head against his chest, "Yes." She agreed. After a few moments taking comfort from him, she turned her head to look at the tome again. "I sitll want to burn it." She told him......

"Thow it into the fire then." he kissed her forehead. "Now that I know what is in it and what you went through we can deal with this Order of Hunters together. Trust goes along way." he said softly.

Raven moved and took the book up in her hands again. She took it to the fireplace and snapped her fingers again. The flames roared up and Raven held out the book out, ready to drop it, but then stopped. "You really don't care?" She asked, turning her head to him. "I mean, it doesn't matter that I did all those things, that I tried to kill your master and that I helped the church once?"....

He smiled and moved up to her and took the book from her and tossed it into the flames. "We all have done things that we are not proud of and such." He slipped his arms about her again and put his forehead against hers. Cain was my master back then but is no longer. As for the Church, I care not. They should have looked to you as one of their Angels and revered you instead of threatening you." He had no love for the church and some day he would find the way to bring it down.

Raven watched the flames lick at the book, slowly making it ash a piece at a time. "They treated me the same way you treated me when I first arrived." She told him, "It only changed when I started spewing the God crap enough for them to believe it that they changed their tune.".....

"Well now I know you alot better then I did at first." he chuckled. "I like the you that you are." Then he sighed. "He sent this here which means he probably means to come here." he told her. He shook his head. He never mentioned the Angelus to us and why he hates you all so much I don't know.

"He hates us because we rejected him in favour of his brother and we tried to kill him for murdering a hatchling." She replied. "And he hates me because I rejected him a second time and refused to believe his lies. Not to mention I almost killed him myself. If he's coming here, it will be for my head." She moved away from the fire.....

"What lies?" he asked. "What did he tell you?"

"That another killed the hatchling." She said, "He blamed her brother, said that he threw her down and then ran to tell the Elders Cain had done it. And that Abel had tried to kill him and he'd defended himself. The lies never stopped with him, even to my own face. He told me his empire was to prove his worth to the Elders, to prove they had chosen the wrong brother and that the pairing could work.".....

He looked at Raven and nodded. "But could he have been telling the truth? If the elders are involved, I wonder."

Raven furrowed her brow, "But Cain was a runt." She said, "We knew that from the very beginning. His own father told us he'd be glad to be rid of him. We only took him because we needed slaves for the nest."....

Anubis wondered. Cain sure did not look to be a runt, nor did he act like he would have been one that would have been rejected. "But you were not there when they examined him and his brother."

"No." She said, "But my father was and even he descirbed Cain as a runt. Abel was tall, strong and well built. Cain was weedy, thin and could barely carry his own satchels. My father was many things, Anubis, but a liar was not one fo them.".....

Anubis could not believe Cain was like that. When Cain changed Anubis, Anubis did not change physically. He had the strong and well muscled body he hand now. Cain had been strong and well formed as well. "Cain was not like that when he gave Akasha, Set, RA and myself the gift. You yourself seen him, he was not like that at all." something just did not seem right with it all. The hatered and malice towards the Angelus also did not seem like Cain. He had been a hard ruler, but he also was a fair and just one. Something had to have changed him to become what Raven discribed as being.

Raven nodded, "Oh, I know." She replied, "In his time with us, he did bulk up considerably and he did work hard, but the choice had already been made and the Elders rarely go against their own decisions."....

There was no way to know for sure. There was no record of Cain and his empire or what had happened back then. There was only his word and that of the Elders and other Angelus there. "What happened to the brother of the hatchling?" he asked.

"Nothing." She replied, "The remaining brood moved to another nest after that and he isn't here. I imagine he stayed behind with the Elders.".....

So he had stayed behind and still lived. Anubis had question many prisoners and had ways, to make them talk. Not by tourture, but by making they trip up on their own stories. It was to bad that he was not there. So again there was no way to get to the real truth if there was one. Taking Raven out of the Study into the living area he wondered what was going to happen. Cain would be coming and the Angelus was there. Oh things were going to get very interesting.

Raven moved into the sitting room and perched on the back edge of the sofa. "Cain knows I'm here." She said, "If he finds out we have mated, I know he will destroy the hatchling before killing me.".....

"He won't get close enough to do that." he told her, and took her into his arms again. "But we will meet him together." McDugal followed Cain outside and Cain turned to look at the Bishop. "It is not wise to follow me." he grinned. "I have killed humans for less then that." McDugal had questions, needed answers. "You say you are the Cain from the Bible, That you killed your brother in self defence and that the one called Raven from the Tome is of another race that evolved here on earth." Cain nodded, "Thats right. Your so called god, did not create man, did not create my parents, and did not do all those things that is said to be in the bible. Why someone would in the past write down the history of my family and its decendents, I can only imagine it was to make them look more important then they were. One day I will visit your Pope and the Vatican and I will bring down the Church." he laughed and continued on his way.

Raven nodded, but his words didn't make her feel any better....

Cain made his way to the airport and took a plane to San Diego. From there he took a car to the border of the empire claimed by Anubis. On one side was the government troops and on the other was Anubis' forces. He made it across the lines with out a problem and showed up at a command post of Anubis' forces. "Send Word to Anubis, Cain is here."

The messenger was very quick and word arrived less than an hour after Cain had turned up. Raven had taken to the study again to watch the book finish burning. She wanted to bury the ashes and make sure it was done with personally. Once she had bagged the ashes, she went to check on Seth. She stood over his crib with a distant smile on her lips. She loved to watch him sleep. That was when the messenger arrived. He bowed low to Anubis and handed over the note......

Anubis read it and sighed. He looked over at Raven and nodded. "He is at one of the command posts." he told her

Raven looked up sharply and then left the nursery. "I don't want him in my nest." She said, closing teh door behind her gently, "I dno't want him anywhere near my young.".....

"That is why we will be going out there to meet him. I don't want him near here at all. I will inform the guards to tighten security around the Palace and Mathious to be on guard." He made a quick call and then had the big Angelus come up to the penthouse.

Raven still felt apprehensive about it. "I can't go too far." She said, "It wouldn't be right to be so far away."....

"I will have him brought in to one of the other towers." he told her. Though he didn't like the idea. After another call, he lead the way up to the roof and took to the air and few to a lowere skyscraper and landed on the roof. His lycans would bring Cain there and up to the roof.

Raven followed close behind, but didn't stand with Anubis. She took a perch on top of a vent out of Cain's reach, but where she could attack if he provoked her......

Cain finally showed up about an hour later, escorted by a number of lycan guards. At the roof door they spread out. Anubis watched as he came up onto the roof. "Well now look at you." Cain said. "I see you have made the transormation." he looked over at Raven and smiled. "We meet again Angelus." he then turned back to Anubis. "She has I take it told you all about me, the lies her kind hold about me." he drew forth the translation. "Long ago after I built our city, I wrote down the truth of what happened. The truth that her kind would not believe nor would she. He handed the papers to Anubis to read. "The Church has finally discovered the ruins of our city, and the vault that I put the Clay Tablets with my side of the story."

Raven growled low in her throat as Cain arrived and crouched down with her hands between her feet. And when he had the audacity to actually speak to her, she hissed back in return. Then he spoke to Anubis and handed over some papers. She listened carefully to what he said, but still didn't believe a word of it...

Cain just grinned at Raven. How like her to be ready to pounce. "That is a translation of what the tablets said." He stood there and waited for Anubis to read pages. He then handed them to Raven.

Raven hissed back at him again and backed up an inch on the vent's edge. "I want nothing from you!"....

"Read it. It carries the Vatican seal and Pope's signature." Anubis told her.

"More lies." She hissed....

Cain only shook his head. "They did not believe me then and still they do not. No matter, your race is about to die." he looked at Anubis. "Let them die Anubis. They are not worth it. The only one of their kind that deserved to live, died by the hand of one of their own." he looked over at Raven. Salia was my friend, the only one that believed me. She yas young, only a child, but she had more wisdom then any human I had seen. Her understanding of things was a marvel. I didn't care about being changed, the idea was a bit discerning to me, Why would I want to kill her. I was not wanting to be changed. Where is Raul? If he is here I can prove to you he was the one that killed her. Salia bit him on the upper arm. He would still have her bite mark scar."

"You do not say her name!" Raven screeched, "You have no right to say her name!" Now she was furious, "Raul is not here and he carries no such mark!" She had never seen one on him so didn't believe him, "You are a murderer and a liar!"......

"When he came back with the Elder he had a leather strap covering the spot." he spat back. "You are so sure that one of your own could not have done it. Problem is you don't want to beleive it. It is much easier to think I had." Turning to Anubis. "Don't make the same mistake I did. I once thought like you. That is why I made you and the others, to show them that Salia's gift to me had worked and that they could save their race. But they rejected my offer, did not believe me and refused to check my claim out about Raul. They spat upon me and called me a murderer and said they would not taint their line with my foul creations. Let them die out, they are not worthy of a place in the world today. Join me and we can again conqure, we can make this world ours."

"Speak her name again and I swear I will gut you a second time!" She spat, pointing her finger directly at him. "You were stood over her, you had her blood on you. She was my family!" Her eyes turned to Anubis, almost begging him to end this stupidity.....

"I was holding her in my arms. I held her as she died in them!" he spat back. "But believe what you will, you are just like your elders. You have a closed mind." He looked at Anubis with hopeful eyes. "We once built an empire of ignorant humans. We can do so again." Anubis shook his head. "No. Though you never lied to me or the others, I tend to believe you. But I will not abandon the Angelus nor my plan to renew their race." He backed up to where Raven was, and streched out a hand to her.

Raven took Anubis' hand and gracefully hopped down from the vent. "I am nothing like the Elders." She said coldly, "They can suffer their cold hearts for all eternity and I will never return to them. My home is here now and I have chosen my life and you can never interfere with me again.".....

Cain did not look to pleased at what Anubis said or how friendly he was with Raven. He growled in his throat. "I see that I am to late." He looked at Anubis. "So she has swayed you to their side. He shook his head, "A pity." he turned and began walking back down the stairs. "Do not think that this is over. I have my own resources and forces. You have not heard the last of Cain. He was gone and the lycans followed to ensure he left the city."

Raven growled back and then let Anubis' hand go. She followed the lycans down the stairs and then out onto the street. "I have swayed him to nothing!" She called. "They sent me here to kill him and I chose not to.".....

Cain stopped for a moment. "You see they fear that my last creation alive will prove me right. i suggest you find Raul and look at his right arm. you will find the small child size bite mark." He then walked down the stairs the lycans escorting him down.

"You say that like I don't know." She told him flatly, "And I know Raul very well and I've never seen a bite mark anywhere on his entire body.".....

He was gone and there was no reply. "Return to the Palace and see to Seth and the egg. "I will watch from above to ensure that he leaves." Anubis told Raven.

Raven turned around and walked back inside without a word. She returned to the penthouse and checked on Seth briefly. He had turned himself over and was cuddled up to his blanket. The egg was also fine surrounded by pillows and blankets on the bed. She went into the living room and perched herself up in the beams to think......

Mathaius entered the living area and looked up to see Raven there. "What bothers you?" he asked.

Raven looked down from the beam and gave a worried look. "Cain is here." She said.....

Mathaius' eyes narrowed and a grim look came to his face. "What does he want?"

"The usual thing." She replied, "The same thing he's wanted since the beginning. To watch our race die."....

"But that is not all is it. I sence something else bothers you." he said

Raven chewed her lip a little. "He's saying that he did not kill the hatchling, but Raul and he did not murder his brother either. He says he defended himself. He claims Abel lied and made him out to be a liar and worthless.".....

"Why should this bother you. It is well known that he claimed this long ago. Raul said he had seen Cain do the foul act himself." Mathaius told her. "What more proof is needed."
:
Raven shook her head, "I don't know." She replied. "But he didn't just turn up. He sent Anubis the Book of Angels, hoping the stories would drive me away."....

"What did Anubis say about the book?" he asked. "What is his thoughts on what Cain is here for."

"He said he didn't care." She replied, then shook her head again, "I don't know what he's thinking. He stood by me when Cain was talking, but I can't read his mind like the Dowenger and you. I can feel he won't turn us out, but he also believes Cain.".....

"What is there that Cain could have as any proof. Raul saw him kill the hatchling. He had her blood all over him. Anubis does not know Cain as we Angelus do." he told her

"He said he wrote it all down." She replied, "The Sumarian scrolls from the church archives. In it, he write that Raul killed his sister and in a panic, ran to fetch the Elder and blamed Cain instead. He said he had her blood on him because he tried to help her and she died in his arms."....

Mathaius shook his head. "Why would Raul want to hurt the hatchling? No it was Cain." he assured Raven.

She gave him half a smile, "I know." She said, "It just worries me that he might sway Anubis."....

"Like I said what proof could he have that would sway Anubis. Anubis is his own master, and he has you. I think you are more important to him then Cain could ever be."

Raven nodded again, "Thank you, Mathaius." she said warmly, then jumped down from the beams. She moved to him and gave him a cuddle.....

"You see you have nothing to worry about." He hugged her back. "We must inform the Dowenger though of Cain's presence. She will be able to give better counsil then I can."

Raven nodded again and reached up to touch his forehead with her thumb. "You're like a father to me. I'm glad you decided to stay." She then moved to the door and then the elevator.....

The Dowenger was already walking from the elevator when Raven approached. "I know child, I have felt his presence." The old woman said. "Tell me all that transpired. All that was said."

Raven looked in suprise, but it faded quickly again. Of course, the old female would know he was there. As old as she was, there was almost nothing that escaped her attention. She offered her arm and began walking back slowly. "He has not changed." She said quietly, "He still proclaims innocence for the deaths of Abel and Salia and he still wants us all dead."....

"Of course he would. He tried long ago to convince the Elders that he had created those that would help our race, they shunned him, and his creations." She looked at Raven, "And now one of those creations has come forth with the hope we have longed sought." There was worry in her voice. "What else did he say."

"He wrote the Sumarian scrolls that were found by the church." She continued, "In them, he says how Raul killed his sister because she took pity on him and believed that he had only defended himself against Abel. Then he says that Raul panicked and blamed Cain so he wouldn't be punished. He tells the whole sordid tale of us and what we did to him on the word of a juvenile."....

"I have heard this from the elders and Raul." She looked up at Raven, "What else did he say. I sence there is more and it bothers you."

"He had a copy of the Book of Angels." She said, "He sent it to Anubis, hoping it would turn him against me. As if he hasn't done enough already." They reached the door and she opened it for the Dowenger. She led them in and then closed the door behind them. "Anubis has read it, well, I read it to him and then I burned it. He says he doesn't care what I've done, but I know that he also believes Cain in some way. He's stood by us, but I don't know what he will do next. Cain has always had a silver tongue, but this time, he's got sharper.".....

"How so child?" the Dowenger asked.

Raven led the old female to the sofa and helped her sit down. She then perched herself on the arm of it and put her feet up on the cushion. "He won't stop, Dowenger. He won't give up until he's seen every last one of us die. He knows that Anubis and I are paired, but he doesn't know about the egg yet. I fear he may try again to destroy me or worse, find our hatchling and destroy that.".....

She closed her eyes as she sat down. "Anubis has the same fear. But he will kill Cain before he can get close or die trying." She reached up and patted Raven's arm. "Anubis is a proud and determined male." She smiled. "Cain did great evil back then, but something good has come out of it, Anubis."

Raven nodded and smiled, "I hope so." She said....

The old Angelus nodded and smiled as well. "It is strange that only now that you and he have met. But now we have hope for our people. Perhaps once Anubis has created those that our young ones can mate with the others will join us."

Raven nodded again, "Yes, it is strange." She said, "But I have no doubt we would have tried to kill each other had we met then. Or his mate would have tried." She then smiled, "Let's hope so. I would like to know one thing though. If Cain is so adamant that Salia wounded her brother, why have we never seen the scar? I've seen his arms many timea and never once noted anything resembling a bite mark."....

The Dowgener's head jerked up at her comment. "Bite mark?" her eyes were wide.

Raven nodded, "Yes." She said, "Cain said that Salia bit Raul on the arm before he pushed her down and killed her. On his right arm. I've never seen anything marking it, not even a scrape. You can't hide natural scars, no matter how good your magik. That's how I know Cain is lying."....

"But he did have a scar." the Dowgener said. She pointed to her right arm where the scar would have been on Raul. "He kept it covered with his leather arm guard."

Raven shook her head, "That's not possible." She told the old female, "I've seen both his arms bare a million times. I saw them bare not a month ago when he tried to vie for my attention. There was no scar I could see, Dowenger."....

"I was able to use an old method of doing away with it long ago. He came to me long before you returned and asked me if there was anyway to get rid of it. He said it had been an animal that had bit him and he was embarased that he had miscaulated the animals speed."

Raven gave a light shrug, "It wouldn't be the first time." She said, "Remember when he underestimated that orca?".....

"Yes I remember, but how would Cain know about it?" she asked. Mathaius came forward. "I remember it. I thought it strange for him to have a bite mark. I didn't ask him about it."

Raven's eyes went cool. "It was no secret Raul would not make a good hunter." She said, "He's had bite marks and scrapes and enough lost feathers to stuff an entire nest before. He could have seen it before and used it to his advantage. Every one of us knows that Cain is a liar and a vicious one to boot."....

"But he was not allowed to hunt back then. He was not trained or ready." The Dowenger told her. "His father only let him go on his first hunt a few years later." The old Angelus clutched her hands to her chest. "Could we have been wrong and jumped to conclusions." she looked up at Mathaius and Raven. She placed a hand on Raven's arm. "If we were, we did a great unjustice."

Raven shook her head very quickly, "No!" She said sharply, "Cain was judged by the Elders and found guilty of his crimes. He murdered his own brother just to take his place and you both saw the evidence. He was covered in her blood!".....

"I saw him cradling her still form." The Dowenger said. "Her father was an elder, and was insturmental in the other's judgement. The Dowenger shook her head. "Tell me this child, why would one that did such things create Anubis and the others and offer them to the elders?"

Raven slid off the sofa arm, "To prove them false and destroy them." She said coldly and turned away, "The same as he's been doing with me for the last 3,000 fucking years!" She flapped her wings once, showing them she was done talking and went into the bedroom. This was unusually rude for her, considering how much she loved them. She shut the door and jumped up to the beams.....

The Dowenger watched Raven go. "She is angry and I feel she to is unsure now and that bothers her." she turned her head to Mathaius. "Mathaius return to the sanctuary, bring Raul here." If they had been wrong, judged Cain hastily, then his anger with them was well founded. She needed to question Raul herself. Her ability would tell her if he was lieing or not.

Mathaius bowed his head and nodded, "As you wish Dowenger." He said, then looked to the bedroom door. He couldn't help but shake his head, "She's not just unsure of what happened." He said, "She's beginning to doubt herself." He looked back to the old female, "We cannot allow that to happen, Dowenger, you know that, don't you. Once that doubt has taken root, she will begin to question her own mind. The damage was extensive enough the first time.".....

The Dowenger nodded. "I know. I hope she is not. She has only done what she needed to do to survive and keep our people safe. Cain made war upon our kind and if what he has said is true, then we are the ones to blame for it. I think she is not doubting herself but the belief we all have had for thousands of years now." At least she hoped that was it. At that time Anubis came down the stair and looked at both of them. "What have I missed?" he asked as he saw their looks.

Mathaius bowed again, "The Dowenger will explain." He said, "I am tasked for now, but I will return soon. I leave her care in your hands." He bowed once more and left. The Dowenger looked up from the sofa. "Cain's visit has upset the Primus more than I had bargained." She said....

"I know." Anubis said. "Her anger at him being here is great."

The Dowenger nodded, "And I have not helped matters." She continued, "All the years Cain had proclaimed his innocence and I never believed him. But something she told me just now has made me reconsider my thoughts."....

"What was that?" he asked. "You think he may be innocent?"

"Unfortunately, I believe he may be." She said honestly. "Cain has always remarked that Salia bit Raul before she died, proving it was in fact him that attacked her. A few years later, he came to me, asking for a bite mark to be removed. He told me at the time that it was an animal he had underestimated. I believed him because it his arrogance to hunting had caused this before. It had never occured to me until now that Cain may have been right. In which case, my evidence to the Elders was false and her grandfather condemned him on my word alone.".....

"I thought it was Raul's word that made the elders condem him?" he told her.

The Dowenger nodded, "Well yes, in a manner." She said, "He brought one of them to the nest, passing blame to Cain for the crime, but I spoke for him in the temple. I told them what he had told me and I told them how Cain had been covered in her blood."....

He closed his eyes. Cain had been innocent of the hatchlings death and there fore what he had said about his brother could also be true. "Did anyone really talk to Cain back then when both him and Able were examined?"

The Dowenger shook her head. "No." She admitted. "I never spoke with either boy directly until the Elders had made their desicion. It was my job to examine them only. I found Abel to be strong willed and strong in body and spirit. Cain was a weak and weedy boy. His father Adam told me all I needed to know.".....

"Cain said his brother was their parents favoriate." He hung his head and shook it. Then he placed a hand on her shoulder. "What happened back then was in the heat of the moment. Cain had killed his brother, this he does not disclaim. You and the others knowing this could only assume that he had killed the young one." This brought back memories of the past for him. He had blamed all human kind for the murder of Akasha and their unborn son. But it had only been a few that had been responsible. He had reeked vengence thourgh out the centuries for that and he now realized he shouldn't have. He then walked across the room the the bedroom and joined Raven on the beams. He reached over and took one of her hands in his and squeezed it.

Raven had perched herself in the corner and had covered herself with her wings. In impenetrable wall of shiny blackness almost. When she felt Anubis' hand on hers, she opened them slightly and peered out at him.....

He reached over with his other hand and caressed her face. "The past is the past, we can not change it. We can only look forward to the future and try to make it a better place." he said softly.

Raven turned her hand into his face, then then turned it away again. The wings closed and she pulled her hand away. At this point, the Dowenger entered and looked up. Her face was sad, but there were no tears. She tilted her head slightly. "She will be fine." She said, though not entirely sure of her own words....

Anubis sighed. He needed Raven to be herself. A fight was coming between Cain and him and he needed her at his side. "I must ready my forces for an attack from Cain and his forces. With his knowledge of our kind he will surely have the hunters well prepared to wage his war." he dropped to the floor. "It will be a few days before he can bring enough forces here. But till then we need to be vigilent."

The Dowenger looked up at him again. "Invite him back." She said. "I have sent Mathaius to bring Raul to me. Perhaps there is another option here, Anubis. Do not tell him I am here, or that Raul will be also, but insist that you wish him to come. Piss him off if you have to and I will meet him. His strength is no match for me, despite my ageing condition. He cannot harm me.".....

Anubis was a bit worried about inviting Cain back. He didn't wath him knowing about Seth or the Egg. But he had wanted her there for her advice and council and would do as she asked. He was in the air a few minutes later. Flying took a lot less time then manuvering through the streets. He found Cain still being escorted to the boarder of his domain. He landed and looked at Cain. "The
Dowenger wishes to talk to you." Cains brow furrowed at the mention of the Dowenger. A snarl apeared on his lips, That piece of shit was the one that condemed me. The lies of Able and then those bastard Angelus Raul. Why should I see her?" Anubis crossed his arms over his chest. "It seems that not all the facts had been given to her at the time. She was told what you said upon the roof. She saw the bite mark, and it was at a time before he could start hunting by himself. I believe she now believes you and knows that she was wrong and should have dug further into the matter. She has sent for Raul, if Mathaius is successful and brings him the two of you can confront each other."

Cain stood there and cocked his head to one side. He then shook his head and laughed. "Very well, I will see the old hag. She must be now after all this time." Anubis wondered what was going through his mind. "Very well the same roof top." he said and then insturcted the escort to return him there and flew back to the Palace.

The Dowenger was stood on the rooftop, watching the sun go down when Anubis returned. She gave him a smile, "He is coming back?"......

"Yes." He pointed to the building that they would meet on. "I do not wish him near here for any reason. Are you up to a lift over to it?"

The Dowenger nodded, "A wise decision." She told him, then gave him her walking cane. "How would you be most able with me?" She asked him....

Anubis chuckled. Like he had done with Raven he scooped her up into his arms. She did not weigh as much as Raven. "I think this will do." he told her.

The Dowenger nodded and put her arms carefully about his neck and then crossed her ageing ankles. There wasn't much she could do about her barren wings. "Try not to trip on my wings." She told him, "I still have feeling in them sometimes.".....

He nodded and launched himself into the air. He was getting use to doing that and loved it every time. Flying was such sheer joy. It gave him more freedom and a sence of power. Soon enough he landed on the roof of the other building and gently put the Dowenger on her feet. "Do you think Raul will come?" he asked her. He was after all the son of one of the Elders and might think his place there, at least until they all were dead. He might even think that he would take his father's place. How would Mathaius convince him to come?

"He will have no choice." She said flatly. "Mathaius will bring him bound and gagged if necessary." She righted herself and took her cane back. She looked around for something to sit down on. "Have someone find some chairs, please child. I fear this may be a long drawn conversation, especially if Cain remains as petulant as he was."......

Anubis himself went down and brought up a comfortable chair. He sat it on the roof top next to her. "He does have a lot of hate burning in him. The thing is what can be done to cool that burning."

The Dowenger nodded as she eased herself into the chair, "Yes he does." She admitted, "And my part in the situation did nothing to help. I will admit my part in it and explain a few things to him he may not have considered. Perhaps in some small way, he might let loose some of that hate and move on.".....

"What of Raven?" he asked her, "She is not herself?"

"In light of what has happened over this last day or so, she has questioned some things that perhaps she should not." The old female said. "I believe she faced Cain before and didn't beleive his tales of conspiracy and such and his continual hunting of her left their own marks.".....

"Knowing Cain as I do, he probably felt that her presence in the world was an afront to his existance. Probably put there by the elders. Being branded a murderer I don't think set well with him. Especially after the Elders gave the final insult after he had tried to show he had done what they had set out to do. He is a proud man, it probably cut deep." But from the Tome that he sent, he had tried to have her mate with him. I think he still, even though angry with the elders, down deep wanted to honor the little one whose blood changed him.

The Dowenger raised an eyebrow, "That I did not know." She said, "I can only assume from that that her rejection would have cut even deeper." She shook her head, "It's no wonder to me why she changed so greatly when she returned. When she went out into the world, she was still so young. I always butted heads with her father about that before he died. Sending out such a young child to a world so changed from when he had done so. When she came back, she seemed cold; like the spirit she carried had been stolen away and she was older than her years.".....

He nodded. But now she had him and she was alive and vibrant now. That he didn't want to have change. "Somewhere down deep inside him I think that still has that desire. We just some how have to reach that part of him."

"After more than 10,000 years, do you really believe that?"....

"His attempts to try and have Raven join him I think was more then trying to do her harm. Why after so much time didn't he try to finish your people off. After so long he, like I have amassed considerable wealth and soldiers. He has the order that hunts people like us. Even in your sanctuary they would have been able to use modern day weapons that could have destroyed it. I don't think he told anyone where that sanctuary is."

"After the first cleansing by the humans, we moved our nest to the stronghold deep in the dead zone." She said, "The church has invested centuries of work and weaponology to find it and never have yet. I believe he, like his hunters, cannot find the exact place it now rests. And I hope it never will. The Elders are now far too old and set in their ways to accept anything from the outside world. That's why they sent Raven to document the humans, to make sure their private world remained so. When the nest had to move, it angered them greatly and many of them died in transit."....

"That would not be like him. You may not have seen him, but I bet he was there and would have followed Raven back there. In the translation I read, of the clay tablets he left, he states that he was able to change into the forms of animals he feed upon. Mathaius said your people took in polar bears as pets. He could have easily have gotten close." he began to pace. He wished that Cain had
told him back in the begining of what he had planned. Perhaps he could have helped convince the elders.

"It may have been possible." She said, "But I would have felt his presence, He never entered the nest, not as an animal, or as a biped." She looked up at the darkening skies. "He is here."....

Cain came up the stairs and onto the roof. He looked at the Dowenger hatred filling his eyes. "So you are here." he hissed. "What is it you want?"

The Dowenger looked up with a small grunt. "Sit down Cain." She told him, "You are far too tall to converse with while you stand. And I believe we have much to discuss."......

"Your destruction, yes." he said and just stood there. He liked looking down at the old Angelus.

The Dowenger raised one eyebrow, "I will ask you one more time." She said, "Sit down please.".....

"And if I don't, what are you going to do about it?" he snarled.

The Dowenger slowly lifted her cane. "Then I will make you." She said, "I would much prefer talking to your face than your....whatever." She wafted her can around his mid section....

He laughed. "How do you propose to do that?" he asked her.

The old female turned her cane in her hand and then tapped it gently on the ground between her feet. Just as the sound rang out, the air around Cain became too heavy to tolerate and forced him to sit down on a small ledge close by her. "Now child, let us be polite about this." She said smoothly....

Cain felt the air about him grow heavy and weigh upon his body. He struggled to keep standing but could not. He growled out his annowance. He snarled at the old Angelus, as he came to sit on the ledge. "Polite? Ha, you and your kind being polite."

"Did I not ask you politely to sit down?" She asked him, "Twice in fact? And did I not say we had much to discuss? Thus far, I have been polite and I would like this to continue as such, Cain. Now." She adjusted herself in the seat a little and put her cane over her knees. "Tell me please what you told Anubis and the Primus."......

"About my desire to see you all become extinct?" he asked. "No I don't think that would be what you want to hear." He looked over at Anubis. "I am sure that Raven and Anubis has told you what I said. What does it matter, I am a murderer and the foulest creature on this world."

"That aside." She replied calmly. "I have heard it from them both, but I want to hear it from you. I made a mistake long ago that I do not intend on repeating, so please. Tell me the story as you know it to be.".....

He looked at her as the thought it over, "Very well." he closed his eyes and began. "We were brought to your people's place to be be tested. My father and Able talked much with your elders, I was left alone. Salia......" he face went a bit pale and saddened, "was the only one of your kind to talk to me and befriend me. Even though she was only a child, she was wise and knew more then I could have ever known at the time. She told me of what your people wanted of my family. It frightened me at the time. I didn't want to be changed. Your people looked fierce and had the ability to fly, but I liked the way I was. But Able came to me and told me how he had been chosen, how father and him had told your elders that he was the best choice for their needs and that I was worthless. This angered me, for I did more work for my parents then he ever did. He was lazy and did very little work, as he was my parents favorite. Yes he was bigger and stronger and perhaps better looking, but that only made him more....... arrogant." he opened his eyes looking at her. "He told met that he would be changed and he would go back to the tribe that had kicked our parents out and make them worship him. I told him I would tell the Angelus of his true reasons for wanting to be changed and he tried to stop me. He tried to kill me." he rubbed his neck where Able had tried to strangle him. "But I was able to hit him with a rock. I thought I had just hit him hard enought to make him stop, but he was dead. My father was angry with me and your elders were not pleased either. Salina came to the cave that they put me in to comfort me, but Raul, her brother came and tried to drag her away. She fought and said no, and bit his arm to get him to release her. He got mad and shoved her against the cave wall where she hit her head hard. Like Able it was a blow that she would not recover from. As I cradled her in my arms, she told me to drink of her blood, so it would not be wasted and perhaps what the elders wanted could be fullfilled. She pleaded with me to do it and as her friend I did. Raul had run off and returned in the back of the Elders. They claimed I killed her. I told them I didn't but they would not believe me. They would not listen to what I had to say."

The Dowenger listened carefully and what Cain said did make quite a bit of sense. She had been there when Adam and Abel had spoken with the Elders. Cain had been little more than a runt and it had been made clear to her even that Adam favoured Abel much over Cain. "When I first examined you, I found you to be weak and undernourished. I knew that your father favoured Abel, but it was not my decision to make. My job at the time was to present which of you were the stronger and most able to survive what we would need of you. On that basis alone, I put Abel forward. He was tall, strong and determined. You were what we call a runt, Cain. A child that has neither purpose nor strength enough to carry purpose. Had I know then what I know now, I would not have acted as I did." She moved her cane slightly and the weight lifted from Cain. "I made a terrible mistake and in turn, did you a deep injustice. I should have seen it when you were given a place in my cousin's nest. Within weeks, you were stronger, faster and you worked harder than any slave I had seen. My blindness and misjudgement cost you dearly and for that, I am deeply sorry.".....

He felt the weight lift from his body. "Alot of good your hindsight does." he told her. "Now your people are about to die off and your............Arrogant Pride has doomed your kind." he looked at Anubis. "What makes you think these people will honor you or see you anything other then a misfit, a half breed not fit for their kind. Why try to save them, when they will just turn on you, favor their own kind over everyone else?" he turned back to the Dowenger. "You could never believe that one of your own kind could have done such a thing. You could only believe your own kind, that all others were SLAVES as you just admitted, and not worth beleiving. At least when I had my empire, I listened to those humans I ruled over. I was better then them but I listened to them. Anubis here can tell you how many of those that were created by him and the others I had put to death for the wrongs they did." Anubis had to nodd his head in accent at it. He had been a fearless leader but a just one. He had learned much from Cain that he used when building his own.

The Dowenger nodded, "I believe you." she said honestly, "And I agree that as a race, we were decadent and arrogant. We lived by the Elders. However." She got up from her chair and leaned on her cane. "Things change." She continued, "And as a race, I have come to believe that we must accept certain truths and move on if we have any hope of surviving. I know that you tried to make ammends later on. You showed the Elders your empire and what you could do and they rejected you a second time. By then, I no longer shared their confidence. I also know that you tried to approach your efforts to the Primus and she too rejected you. In her defense, I can only say that she believed the doctrine set down by the Elders. In my own defense, I can tell you that we no longer believe in their rule. They sent the Primus here to kill Anubis, or return with him for judgement. They did this against her wishes and against my advice. What she found here was not what she had been led to believe and in turn, she decided to stay. I saw this for my own and I agreed with both her and Anubis. Aginst every law the Elders upheld, I have come here with what is left of my family and have given Anubis my word and my loyalty. And now, I have admitted my fault openly to you and asked forgiveness for my misjudgement on your behalf. Anubis has given us new life and new hope and I don't intend to make the repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing my arrogance to take precident over common sense.".....

Cain sat there. He had not expected that from her. His eyes narrowed. "And the others that have come?"

"They believe as I do. I lost faith in the Elders long ago and incurred their wrath shortly after. They have come with me because they too have lost faith in them. Mathaius, my trusted companion, is bringing me one final male. One that I believe you are familiar with?"....

He began to stand up but then looked at the old Angelus and sat back down. "So he will bring Raul here. Then what?"

The Dowenger turned and looked at Cain on the level. "So much better to speak face to face, is it not?" she asked with a toothless grin, then nodded, "Yes. I have tasked Mathaius to bring him here whether he wants to or not and he will answer to what happened those years ago. You see, I never noted a bite on his arm before because of his frankly absimal skill in hunting. It was only when Raven told me the tale that I finally realized what I had done. Now I will have him answer to me and to you for a crime that you were never guilty of.".....
:
He looked at the Dowenger hard trying to judge her words, voice and body language. He could see no deceit in either. "And what will this accomplish? I have no love for your race." Anubis shook his head, "And yet you have tried twice in the past, nay three times to give them hope and the means to keep thier race going." Anubis looked at him eyes narrowed. Oh Anubis knew what he was talking about. He could see it in his eyes. "So what of it?" he mumbled.
Anubis looked over at the Dowenger.

The Dowenger wasn't sure if she should say at first. "It is not my place to say." She told them both. "That, Anubis of Nile, is between you and your mate.".....

Anubis wished that Raven was there to hear what was being said and be with him at his side. He would have her tell Anubis what had happened. Even though she feared what he might try, perhaps it would be enough to make that hope deep within him emerge once again.

The Dowenger turned towards the palace tower and gave a long, slow, but high pitched whistle. She heard Anubis' thoughts and decided it was a good idea. "The Primus will join us shortly and you can inform cain of present developments." she said and indeed, a few minutes later, Raven landed on the edge of the building. She didn't look happy. "Why have I been summoned?" She asked coldly, "Have I not enough to do without being in this man's presence yet again?" The Dowenger moved forward and quite sharply slapped Raven's leg with her cane. "Mind your mouth." She said. "This meeting is both peaceful and productive. I have summoned you so that you may stand with your mate and tell him of the new hope he has give us." Raven looked coldly at Cain. "Fine." She said, "Give me one reason to." She said to both Anubis and Cain.....

Cain stood this time and looked at Anubis and Raven. "There is no need, he said clothing his eyes. He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes again. "So you have proved that I was right." There was a gleem in his eyes.

Raven lifted her chin, "Yes." She told him, then lifted her hair enough for Cain to see Anubis' mark. "Our pairing was successful.".....

Cain looked at the Dowenger. He had thought that Anubis and the others would be able to do it. He had not been sure and had his own doubts. But now it had been proven. He gave Raven a slight bow. "Congradulations." he said to both of them.

Raven remained stoic as Cain bowed to her. "Now will you stop your infernal hunting me?" She asked coldly, "I have more things to worry about than your vengeance.".....

He looked at Raven. He shook his head. "You will have no hunters from me on your trail." he told her, "But what has been set in motion from long ago will not just cease. But that is not the only reason I hunted you." he said as he turned towards the stairs, something of a slight smile on his lips. "Send me word when Raul gets here. I will await your messenger just beyond the border."

"Then what the hell is?!" She demanded, but he was already leaving and turned back towards the palace. She shook her head, "Some things will never change." She hissed and spread her wings. she looked to Anubis briefly. "I'm locking the doors when I get home." She said......

He took her by the arm. "You still don't understand fully do you?" he said softly, He saw the gleem in Cains eyes. "I don't think he hunted you to kill you, but to drive you. Drive you to him. His hatred of your kind made him do things. But down deep he still wanted to save your race and because of your hatred of him the only way he could have you come to him was by forcing you to. But you were to strong willed for it." he pulled her to him.

Raven hugged him briefly, "He nearly had me killed a dozen times." She said, "And he got me caught by the church. One small revelation on his part doesn't take away the centuries of pain he put me through. When I found him, I had every intention to kill him and I very nearly did, so pardon me if I don't start singing his praise just yet.".....

"And what of the centuries of his pain?" Anubis said softly. "The pain of knowing he was not the cause of Salia's death but not being able to complete the plea of a dying child because her kind would not have nothing to do with him."

"And that gives him the right to vent that on me?" She asked, "I was barely hatched when all this happened and I was barely fledged when he started hunting me. What did I do to him that he didn't put twice on me first?!".....

"He knew only the way your people felt about him. Also I think he knew you were the only hope for your people. I do not condone what he did, but, he never gave up and knew that the only way he could fully her plea was to try and mate with you. I think he found you quite attactive but you had nothing but disgust for him. So he did what he thought was the only way to get you to do it. It was not the right choice, but what other way did he have?"

"I had only just begun my cycles when I fought him." She said, "And I knew only what the Elders had told me.".....

"Then can you really blame him for what he did. Even though it was wrong, he had been condemed with out a real trial where all the facts could have been brought out. They tried to kill him by dropping him high in the sky. Rejected his offer later on. What would you have done if your roles were reversed?" The Dowenger, stood and placed a hand on her arm. "A great wrong was done child and it is my fault. None of what you went through would have happened if I had not been so quick to judge."

Raven looked from one to the other. "I still don't trust him." She said, "And I don't want him anywhere near my offspring."......

Anubis pulled her close to him. "He will not come near. I know you will not be able to trust him after everything that was done. But don't hate him anymore for something he did not do. If not for him, we would not be here together with our young."

Raven held him for a moment, then moved away again, "I don't hate him for that." She said, "I hate him for the centuries of torture he put me through and for the decades I had to fight for the church just to keep my own damned neck!" She spread her wings again and took off. The Dowenger came to Anubis and put a hand on his arm. "Give her time." She said, "She has much to question.".....

He nodded and then scooped her up into his arms again and flew her back to the Palace. They would now have to wait for Raul to be brought. He checked on the egg and Raven, hating to see her like she was. But he remembered himself and knew it would not take time to rid herself of the anger.

The Dowenger placed herself as before in Anubis' arms and then let herself enjoy the flight back. As for Raven, she returned to the beams over the bed and put herself back in the corner of them with her wings around her. She ahd so much to think about and consider and Cain had only made things more difficult to deal with. She was questioning almost everything she knew and understood....

Anubis saw her up there and sighed. She had completely turned his life around. Everything that he had been over the centuries was changing because of her. Hopefully for the better. He wished he could say something that would bring her out of it. He went back out to have a drink.

Over the next days, Raven remained very quiet. She did her usual duties and kept family life as normal as always, but once Seth was asleep and the girls had been dismissed for the night, she would return to her perch to think. For the most part, the Dowenger helped out where she could and spent most of her time sitting listening to Raven's thoughts. Much of it made her feel sad, but she tried not to let it show too much. She told Anubis as much as she thought prudent, but the rest would be up to Raven. A week later, Mathaius returned, but without Raul. He learned that after the Dowenger had left, Raul had fallen from his nest and died. He had confessed finally to his father and in turn, the Elder had ripped his wings off and thrown him. Salia had been his favourite. Mathaius told this to the Dowenger and she nodded in response, calling the act justifiable and had a message sent to Anubis to let him know.....

Anubis went to Cain with the news and Cain laughed. The elders were now alone and no doubt Mathaius had informed them of what Raven and Anubis had accomplished. This made Anubis happy, for they had made Cain's life misserable and had sent Raven to kill him. Now they could live the rest of their lives in misery and knowing that they had been foolish and would have lead thier people to their deaths. "Tell Raven that I wish it could have been different back then. But I see now that destiny had another in mind." He smiled to Anubis and then turned to walk away. "You have your hands full, my son, make me proud." With that he simply walked out into the darkness.

Across the city, the Dowenger listened into the conversation between Anubis and Cain. She was happy that the trouble between them had now passed, but she wondered why Cain would leave. Would he not want to see the success for himself, or be a part of it like he ahd always wanted to?.....

She heard a soft Laugh in her head. "Worry not old one, I will keep tabs on my son. He does not need me around. I will build my own empire in my old home land."

"A son will always need his father." The old female's voice replied smoothly, "As a daughter will always need her mother. I ask only one thing from you, Cain, son of Adam.".....

"What is that?" he asked

"Come and make peace with her before you leave." She told him, "And see your grandchildren.".....

"I don't think she will want me there old one. She still hates me for the past. When she invites me, I will return." his mental voice told her.

"I am inviting you." She told him, "And she needs this as much as you do. And I do believe Anubis wishes it too."....

"It must be her decision. I will not come between her and Anubis. Coming there would be a sign that I wished to do her more harm." he wished to see what Anubis and Raven had done but that would be later

"You will come now." The old female's voice seemed firmer this time and rang in his ears. "Cain, do you know what my name means? To my race, Dowenger means Mother of All. As mother of this nest, I am exercising my right to bring here whom I choose. You were once part of my nest and that makes you as much my son as Anubis. You will come Cain.".....

"You must have been one hell of a woman back in your day." Cain laughted. "I will come, but first you must inform her."

"I still am, son of Adam, and to you, I will always remain so. I made a mistake once to deny you my family. I will not make that mistake again. I shall inform her presently." Her voice filled with laughter and then it was gone. A few minutes after that, Raven was heard screeching and fighting, but it died down just as quickly.....

Anubis returned to the Penthouse and heard here screaming and ran to the bed room.

The Dowenger took her cane and sharply slapped Raven right across her back with it. "You will do as I say." She said calmly. "He will come in peace and you will welcome him. He is Anubis' father and therefore, your's as I have been your mother. He wishes only to see the continuance of his bloodline. That same blood runs in Anubis and now your child." At this point, Raven backed off and rubbed the welt left by the Dowenger's cane. The old female then turned to Anubis. "Your father visits." She told him with a smile, "To see his grandchildren. He means no harm nor malice and I have welcomed him. This is now my home too and as Raven will explain to you the position and respect a Dowenger has within her home." Raven wiped a tear from her cheek and sucked her fangs.....

Anubis was taken aback in shock. The Dowenger was scolding Raven and for an old one looked to have more strength then he could have imagined. "Coming here?" he then looked a bit worried.

The Dowenger nodded, then left the room for a moment. Once the door was closed, Raven growled low in her throat and rubbed the welt again. "As Dowenger of the nest, she has the right to summon whomever she chooses. Dowenger in our world means Mother of All and as such, she will do as she believes is right for the nest. She believes Cain has the right to see his bloodline before he leaves."....

It was not long after that Cain showed up at the Palaces lower entrance. It was quickly relayed to Anubis. "Bring him up." Soon he was at the front door of the Penthouse and looked around.

Raven remained in the bedroom when Cain was announced and she carefully arranged the egg so he could see it, but it was still safe and comfortably placed. She then stood by the bed and waited. The Dowenger went to the door with Anubis and smiled as she too waited.....

Cain entered and then looked to the bed room. He crossed slowly and entered. He looked at Raven and then the egg. He nodded. " Salia would have been happy." he whispered. He looked at Raven. One could see he was having trouble with getting the right words. "I wish it could have been different between us. I was wrong in doing what I did." he looked at Anubis. "He is the right one for you. I guess we all have made some bad mistake that needs time to heal from." He looked back at Raven. "When the time comes, if you would, send me word."

Raven had already made some witty and cruel remarks to give Cain, but the welt on her back still stung deeply and she kept them well hidden. She nodded to him, "I agree with you." She said quietly, "That things should have been different. You knew only what you knew and so did I." She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, finally looking at him. "But even if things had been different, I still would not have chosen you. When we met, I was still a child and a long way from being able to breed." She turned her eyes away slightly, "It was hard enough with Anubis. You mammals are very different and difficult to handle when it comes to your....innards." She moved to her egg and gently rubbed the shell. "Dowenger will inform you when it hatches. No doubt you would wish to see your second grandchild enter this world proper." She turned her eyes back to him again.....

"Second?" he asked. and turned to look at Anubis. He smiled and said, "We have adopted a human child. He seems quite bright for one so young." Cain shook his head and nodded. "Interesting. This I will also keep an eye on." At that moment, Seth came stumbling in sleepy eyed. He had been awakened by everyone talking. Cain looked down at the child and smiled.

Seth looked up at him and then whimpered before moving to Raven. He gave a small cry and held his arms out and she picked him up without question. He cuddled into her and started sucking his thumb. "Anubis named him Seth." She said, "His mother abandoned him in the city so I took him as my own." After only a few minutes of Raven swaying back and forth, Seth was asleep again and she cradled him as any mother would a baby.....

"When he grows to manhood, are you going to give him the gift." he looked first at Raven and then at Anubis.

Raven considered this for a moment and then shook her head, "Only if he chooses it for himself." She said carefully, "And not a moment before he understand exactly what it means and how it will affect him.".....

Cain chuckled, "I think when he sees what his mother and father can do and are, he will want to be just like the two of you." he turned to the Dowenger, "Should Anubis' plan works, I would say he would be a good mate for one of the females that will be produced. He turned and bowed his head to Raven and then to the Dowenger. "I now will return to the old lands. I think that region of the world is in need of one like me to rule over it. That is where you will find me."

The Dowenger lowered her head in return and smiled, "Then I shall look for you there." She said warmly, "Now let us say our fairwells as a family should." She grabbed hold of Cain by his shirt and pulled his head right down so she could reach. She rubbed her thumb down between his eyes to the tip of his nose and then pulled him down further still to touch his forehead with hers. "And next time you visit, remember that I don't like having to look up at you. You and my other new son are far too tall for my liking." She smiled and let him go before turning to Raven. "Say your goodbyes, child." Raven moved forward and reached up to pull his head down and touched hers to it also. "I still do not trust you yet." She said to him quietly, "And I will be watching you.".....

"As i will be watch you and Anubis." he said and then embased Anubis. He then went to the roof and for the first time in ten thousand years stood on the ledge of the building and concentrated. Wings came forth as he gritted his teeth. He leaped from the roof and opened his wings and glided for a distance before using them. On another roof top one of the older females saw him and was courious so launched her self into the air and followed him.

The female wasn't sure what she was doing exactly to begin with, but she couldn't help but know who this stranger could be. she had never seen him before and his scent was very strange. He smelled a little like Anubis. She had to know him. Besides, if Raven could find herself a good looking hybrid with fresh blood, so could she, couldn't she? The female caught up with him quickly and then manouvred to his aft side and out of his wake, but still within the slipstream he was creating. It was quite a big one, but then, so was he.....

Cain had not used his wings since that first time when he had been dropped to be killed. He had never really needed them. Now however he had decided to use them and was enjoying the sensation. If he wanted he could always retract them again and fit into human society as he had over the centuries. Flying over the city he felt the presence of another close at hand. He turned his head and looked behind him. When he saw it was one of the Angelus females he raised a brow. He slowed to allow her to come abreast of him. "What is it you want?" he asked. Surely they all would know the infamous Cain, accused murderer. Even though the Dowenger had finally found out the truth, the others would not have.

The female came level with him and adjusted her wings slightly as she felt some turbulence, "I've never seen or smelled you before." She said, "Who are you? I saw you leaving the nest."......

"Well now I thought you would know. Who else besides Anubis is there that is a mammal and can have wings?" he asked her.

The female furrowed her brow and then the penny dropped. She dropped a few feet in shock, but soon recovered and came abreast of him again. "Cain?" she asked, "The Cain?".....

"The one and only." he said. He continued flying. "Shocked that The Infamous Cain was visiting the Nest?"

The female cocked her head slightly, "Not really." She said....

"Why is that?" he asked her.

"Because Anubis is there." She replied, "And I think it was only a matter of time before you turned up again.".....

He chuckled. "Aye my son is there along with my grandchildren." He looked her over. She was older then Raven, but he was older then Anubis. She had a pleasing looking body. "Not afraid to be near the infamous Cain."

The female laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "What can I say?" She chortled, "I have a thing for the bad boys." She moved closer briefly, "My name is Serene.".....

"I am leaving this place for the old country, where I came from. There I intend to begin building my own empire again." It would be a bit dangerous, " You had best return."

"His nest is plentiful." She replied, "And most of the males are as inbred as it gets. I've more luck flying with you.".....#

He laughed and said, "If that is your desire. But won't you be missed and that cause worry for the Dowenger?"

Serene shrugged her shoulders, "And what can she do about it?" she asked, "Fly out here and get me?"....

Oh he would have to let the Dowenger know that Serene was with him so she would not worry about her. "So you figure to come with me all the way back to Iraq?"

Serene lifted an eyebrow, "Iraq?" She said, "That's interesting. Should be good hunting at least." she smiled lightly, "The humans there are so busy trying to kill each other, someone like you can take control pretty easily."....

"Time will tell." he grinned. Flying would take them far. They could reach higher elevations and catch the jet streams and just glide, saving their strengths. They would have to stop and feed, then rest some. For the moment he flew low enough to avoid the humans radar. As he flew he sent a mental message back to the Dowenger. "I have a guest tagging along. Don't worry about her, I will 'keep her out of trouble."

"Yes I know." Came the reply, "She will help you and she is a good hunter. Good luck, child.".....

Cain grinned and flew on with Serene. Back at the Penthouse Anubis moved up behind Raven and put his arms around her, and held her close to him. "He is gone." he whispered.

Raven leaned her head to the side and nodded, "I know." She replied, then flexed her shoulder a little. One of her wings wasn't comfortable between his front and her back. "Now we can get back to something more normal." She continued, "I'd like to start making a few changes to the nest and create a place where the others can gather."....

"If you think it will help." he told her. "In the morning the doctors will have the first candidates for the process." he told her. "Once it is done and they have changed, I need to find a way to trigger the change in them."

Raven shook her head slightly, "Give everyone time to settle in first." She said, "They need to get themselves established before you start your experiments. In coming here, they're entire world has been turned over. There's more important thigns need doing first."....

"The turning of those that have voulenteered can take place and then when you thing your people are ready we can continue." He kissed her neck. "Now that everything here is secure, Seth is back in bed and the egg is safe and warm, care for a late night fly over the city."

Raven gave a soft smile, "I'd like that." She said, "And I'm hungry."....

Anubis need to drink fresh blood so it would be a night to hunt. Raven to feed on flesh and him to drink blood. "Then let the hunt begin." he grinned.

With a grin, Raven snapped her fingers and Kaitlyn arrived with a wide yawn. "We're going hunting." She said. Kaitlyn nodded with another yawn, "Yes Ma'am." she replied and went into the master bedroom. Raven then left the penthouse and started up to the roof......

Anubis followed and let Raven lead. Once airborn he glided over the city with her. He liked doing this with her. Even though it was dark out Anubis could sence some of the others out on their hunts.

Once Raven was airborne, she circled for a few minutes to allow her vision to adjust. When she felt she could see again well enough, she looked back to Anubis and smiled. Her eyes looked like those of a cat at night and mirrored back some of the light she was taking in from below....

There were many targets below. Even though the city was under his control, the people went about their own business. Food, merchandice and the like came into the city and the businesses continued to go on. Therefore the people ventured out even though they were subject to being attacked by his lycans and now the Angelus. His control on the city police made the killings something that was disregarded. It helped to have those in power under his control, by having them either being lycans or vampires. "See any thing that looks good?"

Raven licked her lips, "A few." She said, then looked further afield, "I wouldn't mind picking off a few of those human soldiers." She said, "But that would probably give you a headache." she laughed lightly and then swooped down lower. Then she caught a familiar scent and turned her wings. "Found one.".....

"Go for it." he told her and moved back to allow her to go in and do what she wanted.

It took mere seconds for Raven to find her prey and when she did, her anger flared. The female was posing herself on a street corner. Raven landed a good ten feet away and approached, her wings shivering as she battled to contain her temper. The woman saw her and quickly wrapped her coat back around her barely clad body. "I know you." The woman said, "I saw you on the telly."
Raven moved forward more and growled low in her throat. "You know me better than that." She spat. "In fact, you and I are now related."
The woman gave a nervous smile, "We are?" She asked and then started backing up. "That's a good thing, right? I mean, if we're related, you folk don't kill family."
Raven growled lower in her throat. "I said we were related." She hissed, "I didn't say you were family."
The woman backed up further, "I don't understand." She said, now feeling that fear Raven loved.
"His name is Seth. Or at least, it is now. I'm sickened that you haven't even asked about him yet, or do you still not care?"
The penny dropped, "You took my boy?" The woman said quickly. Raven nodded, "And he's doing very well. He's gaining weight by the day and you'd be pleased to know he's now walking. He likes to suck his thumb when he cuddles up to me at night."
The woman turned her head to look around, "Yeh." she said, "That's cool. I gotta be somewhere, so...."
Raven's eyes narrowed, "People like you don't deserve the pleasure of children." She spat.
"Whatever." The woman said, looking for her escape, "Look, I never wanted the brat to begin with. You did me a favour." She ran. Raven checked her nails as she began counting.....

Anubis had landed on a rooftop and watched. He raised a brow when he heard Raven talking to the woman. So the hooker had been Seth's birth mother. He shook his head as he listened. She was not fit to have children, and Seth definately deserved better and that was what he got. Raven and him would ensure he wanted for nothing but also know that one had to work for things. He would not be the spoild and rotten child that some rich people created. Between him and Raven Seth would learn how to fight, how to command, how to think, how to be a man. He squatted on the roof top edge and watched.

Raven counted to fifty and then flexed her shoulders. she began at a gentle jogging pace to warm up proper and then raised her speed. The human was quick, but the stench of her perfume was easy to follow. Raven darted into the alleyways and started running on her toes. She leaned forward to run faster and tucked her wings in tight. "I can smell your stench a mile away, female!" She called, "I will enjoy ripping your innards out. I might even let you watch!" She laughed hideously as she followed the scent. eventually, she emerged from the other side of the block and found the woman running for the perimeter. "The humans won't help you now!" She called, closing the distance quickly. The woman started screaming to the soldiers, but they weren't moving. Raven closed the
gap and snatched the woman up by her throat. "I told you they wouldn't help." She said with a grin and then opened her mouth wide. The woman screamed as Raven's fang sank deep into her lower neck. She looked over at the gates and the soliders peering through....

Anubis followed, flying low over the buildings as he watched Raven chase the woman. Soon though they were getting near the perimeter of his domain. He had set up a double wire fence here, until high solid walls could be emplaced. The city was only about half way encircled with the wall. The soldiers on the other side of the fence looked on in horror as Raven pounced on the woman and sank her fangs into the woman's thorat. Again he looked on being ready to do what ever was needed to protect Raven. Some of the soldiers pointed up at him and knew exactly who he was. The smell of fear was strong in the air.

Raven savoured the first taste of the woman's blood and she quickly ripped the wound open enough to give the soldiers a real show. But then things went wrong. The woman's blood began to taste funny and Raven began to feel odd. She let loose her bite and turned the woman to face her. "You're not right." She said.
The woman staggered a few feet and laughed before she fell to her knees, "Heroine, bitch!" She laughed, then started choking as her blood filled her throat.
Raven backed off further and felt her vision blurring. she stumbled. "Anubis!" She called, but her voice was weak. "Anubis... help!"......

Anubis was at her side in an instant. He looked at the woman and snarled. The way she was bleeding, she would be dead in only a matter of minutes. Scooping Raven up into his arms, he launched himself up into the air. "What is it?" he asked concerne in his voice

Raven could feel the blood boiling in her stomach and it caused an immense amount of pain. It bubbled from her mouth and some of it splattered against Anubis' face. she shook her head, "She tasted wrong." she coughed.....

"What do you mean?" he asked

Raven shook her head again, "Her blood." She coughed again, spraying a little more on him, "It was wrong. Bad." She tried to cough it all up and get rid of it, but she coudlnt' get past the choking, boiling feeling.....

The way she was talking and spitting the woman had to have something in her blood. Hookers usually had a drug habit. The Dowenger would know how to induce vomiting to get rid of it.

Meanwhile, the soldiers had taken note of the scene and had reported it back to their superiors. The commander seemed very happy with the news and relayed it quickly to his superiors. The Angelus had a weakness.....

"Recover the body." came the order and soon there was a team in the city beyond the wire recovering the body. They were gone within minutes and on their way to a medical facility. Anubis got her back to the Penthouse and called out to Sophia to wake up and go get the Downger.

The Dowenger arrived seconds later on the back of a lycan and quickly moved into the penthouse. "What happened?!" She cried as she looked at a very ill Raven. She was red in the facw and by the time Anubis had put her down, she had passed out.....

"She hunted down a woman and began taking her blood, but Raven said it was bad. The woman looked like a hooker and they are known to be drug addicts." he told her

"What's a drug addict?" The old female asked. At this point, Sophia returned and leaned against the doorway to catch her breath.....

"One that becomes dependent on a drug. They use drugs to get high and feel good." Anubis told her. "We need to get it out of her system."

The Dowenger shook her head, "I don't understand." she said honestly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. What exactly is a drug?"
Sophia held her hand up, "I can tell you that, Ma'am." she offered.
The old female turned around and stared at Sophia. "Out with it then, child." She said quickly. Sophia stepped forward and looked to Anubis for permission....

Anubis nodded. Though he knew what to tell her he had no use for drugs or those that used them.

Sophie nodded, "A drug is a compound of chemicals, either man made or naturally sourced, that can alter a person's physical and mental state." She explained, "Some drugs are used as pain killers, others can fight off infection. Some can even help kill cancer cells. If a person uses a drug badly, they can become dependant on it. They can get ill or violent if they don't get it regularly. Those people are called addicts. Mistress Raven must have ingested blood from someone who uses drugs badly." She looked to Anubis, "There's a pharmacy down town where I can get good drugs to help her, but we need to find out what was in the blood.".....

"You go get the drugs that will help. On your way you have one of my soldiers go get one of the scientists Have him here immediately." Anubis was covered with the womans blood which would contain the drug.

Sophie ran for the door and then grabbed a radio from a guard. "Let me know as soon as you find out!" She called, completely forgetting for now that Anubis was still her master. Raven wasn't just her mistress anymore, she was her friend. The scientist arrived shortly after, looking flustered and frightened.....

Anubis ripped off his shirt and threw it at the scientis. "Find out what drug that blood is laced with, NOW!" he commanded. The scientist ran off with the shirt followed by a couple lycan guards. On the first level of the Palace was the lab that Anubis had established to screen potential humans that could be changed. The scientist knew that there were certain drugs that would be used out in the city. He quickly gathered what he needed and then began swabing the blood from the shirt and putting them into test tubes and running the tests. Only one changed color and he raced back up to the Penthouse. "It is heroin." he got out as he was breathing hard. He took a radio from one of the guards and called Sophia and told her.

Sophie got the message and started hunting down some epinephrin and methadone treatments. "What was it cut with?" She asked back.....

He looked at the scientist. "Was it cut with anything?" The man shook his head. "No." he told her.

"Are you sure?" Sophie asked. If Raven was indeed hunting a cheap hooker, where and indeed how would she be able to afford pure heroine......

The body was taken in to the medical facility and the doctor did the autopsie. Her blood was checked quickly and what was found. That information was given to the Full Bird Colonel that was waiting. "Excellent. Out of all the drugs this one has a definate adverse effect on them. Even the lycans seem to be effected by it." the Officer looked over at a table with a man laying on it. "Yes the Doctor said, It definately has a deadly effect on the lycans. It was to bad that Anubis was there to take her away. Would have been good to see if the heroin would have killed her."

Getting no answer, Sophie shook her head and turned to the pharmacist. "I need some mangesium sulphate and best give me a batch of EDTA while you're at it." The man handed it over without a question and Sophie bagged it all up quickly. "Pure heroine, my ass." She said. At this point, the pharmacist put his hand up,
"Wait a minute." He said. Sophie turned. "I've had a lot of the users in
just lately that were given pure heroine. Got it from a dealer out the back of a place on Sunset."
Sophie furrowed her brow and nodded, "Thanks." She said and ran off. A lycan was waiting for her and she held her arms out at him so he could get her back faster. She arrived in the penthouse minutes later..

"The administration is not going to like us having to go deal with the Drug Cartels for this stuff. But they are the only ones that has a large supply of it." The Doctor said.

"Not to mention that they will charge us five times what they would a drug dealer." the Colonel replied. "But it is necessary and is in the interest of National Security."

The scientist/doctor took the drugs from Sophia and the syringes as well. He filled them to the correct amount of each and moved to Raven and injected her with the stuff. "Now we wait and see." he told Anubis. She is totally different then anyone I have dealt with."

Cain and Serene were now over the Rocky Mountains and he saw a nice little town below. "Feel up to a bit of a midnight snack before we continue." he asked her and slowly spiraled down towards the town.

Once the doctor had done his thing, the Dowenger shooed him out and then shooed everyone else out too. "Raven needs rest and she can't do that with all of you hovering, so scoot!" She ordered. When everyone had then gone, she returned to Raven and carefully arranged her on the long sofa. The redness had receeded somewhat from Raven's face, but she was still pinker than usual. Even the base of her wings were still red. The Dowenger gently poked Raven's shoulder with the end of her cane and then pulled it away. Ravens skin reacted by turning slightly white and then a pale olive colour before the redness returned. It showed the old female that her blood had broken down and seeped through the veins close to the skin. Had she ignored the strange taste and eaten the woman, it may very well have killed her. Thankfully, she had only taken a few mouthfuls of blood. Still, the damage was extensive and it would take time for Raven to heal fully. The Dowenger could feel also that Raven's mind was all over the place. The collected calmness and focus that she usually gave had become scattered and to some degree, pointless.

After a few hours, Raven's mind began to calm and her body seemed to follow the trend. The redness had almost entirely gone now as her system recovered. It would take her a while longer to come around and a little longer than that to recover her focus. The signs were good though and whatever Sophie had found was helping. The Dowenger decided that for a human, Sophie was certainly worth keeping.

~

Serene scouted the ground briefly. What she smelled down there certainly wet her lips, but in amongst the human and horse smells, she picked up a lot of dog. This made her consider thigns more carefully. "I smell a lot of canine down there." She said to Cain. "And a lot of canine make a lot of noise. Perhaps we should target an area outside the town where there's less chance of interference?".......

Anubis left the room taking Sophia out with him. He looked down at her and nodded. "You did well in there. It seems you continue to excell in helping Raven." he gave her a slight smile. He checked on Seth and found Katelyn was fast alseep next to the little guy. Both looked wore out and he could imagine why. "Get some sleep." he told Sophia and left the spare bedroom and went up onto the roof. Pure heroin. That was something that did not seem right. He knew about the drug dealers, and he had cleaned out as many of them as he could. But they did not sell pure heroin or any drug. They cut it with various chemicals and powders to get more for their product.


How would a hooker get her hands on pure heroin. A small amount would be worth quite a bit of money, more then what she could afford. Something was not right. He stood on the roof of the small structure that held the door that opened onto the roof. He took off into the air and returned to the spot where Raven had attacked the woman. The soldiers would not have been able to cross over without starting an incident, but when he got there the body was gone. A blood trail lead to an opening in the street. He snarled as he realized that it belonged to part of the sewer system and probably ran to the other side of the fence. He would have those tunnels sealed.

Flying up to the roof of one of the buldings he looked out over the fence to what lay beyond. He didn't like it.

Cain nodded and flew out from the center of the town and found a cabin. He smelled the scent of dead animals. "A hunters cabin." he said. "Just a couple of men that hunts animals." He landed and saw two dear hanging outside the cabin. He grinned as he made a few growling noises as if a wolf might be near, trying to take the Hunter's trophies. It made both of them come out and away from the cabin.

Sophie opened her mouth, but then shut it again when Anubis complimented her services to Raven. She smiled and nodded in thanks, but then tried to speak once more. He told her to get some sleep and then he was gone. "But wait!" She called after him, but it was too late. She shook her head and could already feel the beating she was about to get for disobeying him. She ran for the roof, pushing aside a passing lycan guard, but when she got there, Anubis had already gone. With a growl, she went back inside and grabbed the same guard. "I need to speak with the master." She said quickly, "It's about the mistress." The guard growled at her in response. "Look, you dumb, drooling moron. I need to speak to Anubis. Either get him on the damned radio, or give it to me and I'll do it myself!"

In response, the lycan guard growled loudly at her and swiped her. She went flying across the hallway and bounced against the wall. Sophie cried out in pain, but got back to her knees. "Get Anubis on the fucking radio!" She demanded and again, the lycan growled at her. He moved quickly and picked her up by her throat. Two more guards arrived.
"What are you doing?" The first one asked, "We're not allowed to touch that one. She belongs to Raven."
"She's lost her mind." The guard replied, "Starting giving me orders. Can you believe that? She's with Raven for less than a month and thinks she can order me around and called me a drooling moron? I don't fucking think so."
The other two guards gruffed in shock, but the second got out his radio. "Master?" He said into it, "Master, we have a problem. Come in Master. I repeat, we have a problem. One of The Mistress' personal slaves has verbally abused your guard and demanded to speak with you. Over."

~

Serene followed Cain outside the town and then landed a few yards from him as he growled at the cabin. The two humans came out eager to defend their kill. Serene kept in the shadows until they were well clear of the house and then started growling at them too. This unnerved the two men greatly and they started pointing their guns in all directions. Serene then began to laugh, "Here kitty kitty." She cooed, "Kitty kitty." The men panicked and began to run back to the cabin.

Serene was incredibly quick and beat them to the doorway, bearing her fangs at them. "Here kitty kitty." She said to them with an evil grin. They ran the other way, right towards Cain......

Anubis took out his radio and answered it. "What are you talking about?" he said his voice a bit annoyed.

"One of the mistress' slaves." The guard told him, "Started demanding to see you and then called Neil a drooling moron, Sir."......

Anubis' eyes narrowed. The only one it could be was Sophia since she was the only one of the two awake. She knew better then that unless it was very important. She had been given more freedom and had done exceedingly well of late. "Well tell Neil he is a drooling moron and if he has touched her, or harmed her in any way, he will wind up like the last one to touch one of Raven's slaves! Now put her on and in the future if she tells anyone to contact me, you do it immediately. Is that clear!"

"Um." The guard said, then tapped Neil on the shoulder. "Better put her down." He said quietly, "And make sure you haven't bruised her or anything. Remember the last one who touched the blonde?" Neil immediately put Sophie down and shoved her to the other guard who then handed her the radio. Sophie rubbed her throat and held a hand to her sore ribs. "Master?" She said into the radio, "Master, I need to talk to you pronto. It's about Ma'am.".....

"You got me, what is it. Are you alright?" he asked her, "Did Neil do anything to you?"

"He didn't like me calling him a moron." She said with a slight cough, "But I'm ok. Look, Master, it's about the hooker that poisoned Ma'am. I tried to tell you before you left, but I didn't get the chance."....

"What about the hooker?" He wondered what she could know about the woman.

"The doctor told me she had pure heroine in her system and I told him that it was impossible. No-one sells pure heroine on the street. The guy at the pharmacy told me that he'd had a load of junkies coming in and they were high on pure heroine. He said something about a guy selling it out the back of somewhere on Sunset. Maybe that's where she jacked up?".....

That didn't sound good either or logical. Junkies getting pure stuff and someone selling it. That was pure insanity. "I will check it out. Return to the Penthouse and sleep. Give the radio back to the one you got it from."

Sophie handed the radio back and left, giving Neil a deeply evil look as she went passed. The lycan knew he was in trouble. The other one shook his head, "Sir?".....

He had heard her cough. "Neil is a moron and is to be taken into custody immediately and placed in a cell to await Raven's recovery! If I find out that you or any other has touched Sophia you will be facing Raven's fury as well. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir!" The guard replied quickly, then snapped his fingers at the other guard that had arrived with him. Neil was instantly cuffed in silver and led away. He then chased after Sophie, "Hey!" He called, "Girl!" Sophie turned around and glared at the guard. "What?" She spat back. The guard held his hands up in surrender. "I just need to know if you're hurt or anything. Boss has ordered Neil arrested. The mistress will deal with him if he's hurt you or anything." Sophie's eyes softened a little, "Finally, a dog with manners." She said, then lifted her head up, "I'm fine." She said, "A couple of painkillers and some witchazel and I'll be back to work." The guard growled lightly, "Lycan." He said, "But fair enough. I know you don't like us lot." Sophie turned around again and started walking away.....

Anubis took off and flew over the city to the part of the city she had indicated. There was a house below that seemed to have alot of human traffic comeing and going. He came in quickly and landed feet running as he grabbed one then another that was either going in or coming out and snapping their necks. He smashed the front door in and looked around spotting the drug dealer, except he didn't look like the typical drug dealer. The man saw Anubis and tried to run but like Cain he had the ability to be in another spot in the blink of an eye. He stood before the man blocking his escape, his hand on his throat. "We will be going for a bit of a flight." he told the man and turned to haul him outside. Once out side he saw the junkies. "Out of Business." he told them with a snarl and they ran off. Anubis looked around and found a gas can and a rag. Soaking the rag in gas he stuffed it into the can's opening and searched his prisoner and found a lighter. He lit the rag and threw the can through the front window and leaped into the air with the human. The gas in the can exploded and engulfed the house in flames. "No more of that junk you were selling. Now lets have a nice talk about who you are and why your selling pure heroin."

The dealer shuddered in fear as he watched he building go up in smoke. His arms and legs flailed about as he watched the ground disappear. "I just as I was told!" He cried, "I'm a nobody, small fry, ya know?".....

"Small fry? Well you had best be telling me what you know about all of this. Why sell pure heroin." They were up high and he held on to the man by the collar of his coat. Anubis hovered now. "Or do you want to see if you can fly?"

"Some guy!" He yelped, "Said he had a few bars he needed gettin' rid of!" He looked down, "Please Boss, that's all I know. I never saw the guy, he called my cell. Told me I could find the gear close to the fence on the North side. Told me to give it pure and he'd pay me 100K. That's all I know Boss!"......

"Oh I think you know more then that. You are no drug dealer. I have seen plenty of them in my long life." he let his arm drop some giving the man the sensation of falling. "Now if you don't want me to let go, you had best tell me the rest."

The human cried out in fear and actually wet himself before grabbing at Anubis' arm, "He's on the outside!" He cried, "Told me I had to hand it out pure. Told me if I cut it, he'd cut me up to pay for it. Please Boss, I swear, that's all I know!"....

"From Outside." Anubis nodded and decended to the ground. He searched the man and took his cell phone. "You had best find your way to the Outside. He also took the mans coat. "If not I will sick my lycans on you. They can sniff you out no matter where you are." he let the man go and flipped the phone open and looked to see at who had called him. The man ran off as fast as he could, "Well now, I guess I will have to find someone in the city that can trace where you called from." He again launched himself up into the air as fire engins responded to the fire. He returned to the Penthouse, being quiet as not to disturb Raven or the Dowenger. He looked in on the two slaves and Seth and then went to talk to the guards. He wanted to know exactly what Neil had done.

The guard that had spoken to him on the radio bowed his head. "He's locked down in the conference room." He said, "I spoke to Sophie and she said she was fine. I saw a couple of bruises, but nothing more."....

Anubis shook his head. "Raven will deal with him when she awakens. Pray that she is merciful and let this be a lesson to you and all my lycans. I do not like having my proud lycans...." he put a hand on his shoulder, "doing stupid things that must be punished. You all are my special creations and I am proud of you all. It hurts to have to do what must now be done."

The guard gave a cautious smile and nodded, "Some people don't like hearing the truth." He said, "And Sophie was right. He is a drooling moron. Gives the rest of us guys a bad name.".....

Anubis nodded and then gave the cell phone to the lycan guard. "Find someone that can find out who this phone number belongs to." he brought the number up and showed it to him and then gave him the phone. "When you find out, bring the info to me immediately."

The guard looked at the number and nodded, "I'm right on it, Sir." He said, then left. Another approached and bowed his head. "Is Raven ok, Boss?"....

"Don't know yet. The Dowenger will let me know." He gave the lycan a friendly pat on the shoulder and then went back up to the Penthouse.

The guard looked up with a guilt in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Boss." He said as Anubis went back upstairs, "All this is my fault. Me and my team have been weeding out all the junkies and stuff, but we must have missed this guy. Please, tell Raven that me and the others won't stop until every last dealer and addict are dead.".....

Anubis smiled as he left, "This one was planted. This one was not on anyone's books." he told the guard. "So it is not your fault. Going to find out who sent the junk and then we will deal with him or them." At the Penthouse he again quietly walked toward the master bed room to check on the egg and try to get some rest.

The Dowenger looked up and smiled warmly at Anubis as he entered and then went into the bedroom. She got up and followed him to make sure he was ok. "Are you alright?" She asked him quietly....

He turned at the sound of the Dowenger's voice. "Yes quite well. I have my people looking for the one that sent that garbage into my domain. The seller said it was from outside, beyond the fence. How is she doing?" he asked her

The Dowenger nodded, "She will be fine." She said, "That girl of yours is a genius. Whatever it was that she brought, has worked very well. Raven should be awake by morning. She may still be off balance a little until the poison has completely left her system."....

He smiled and nodded. "That is good news." He rubbed the egg.

Cain smiled as the two men tried to run. He stood in their way and laughed as they saw him, their eyes filled with terror. "Leaving so soon? Serene would be so disappointed. She would like to have a midnight snack." he grabbed the closest one by the throat and used his left wing to knock the second one back towards Serene. His other hand grabbed hold of the rifle the man held and wrenched it from his grasp.

He could feel the heartbeat of the man. It was rapid, pounding in his chest, pumping the adrenilin into the blood stream. He licked his lips at the thought of how rich and tasty his blood would be as he switched his hold on him and sank his fangs into his neck. The man screamed and tried to fight but was no match for Cain's strength.

Serene grinned evily as the second man was pushed back towards her. He stopped short of her reach and turned to run away from her. With a smile, she fluttered her wings, "Run little rabbit." She told him, "I like to chase rabbits." The man shouted in fear and took off into the darkness. Serene moved down the stairs and started jogging off in the human's direction.

It didn't take long for Serene to catch up with the man and she pounced quickly, knocking him down. Her mouth opened wide and she bit down on his lower neck. Her hands grabbed at his elbows, stopping him from getting away and she pulled her head back slightly to open the wound. Blood poured down his front and he gargled as he screamed. Serene drank copious amounts of his blood as she tore again at his throat. This one had quite a bit more muscle around his neck than most males. After another jerk of her head, the flesh finally came away and the man dropped dead to the ground. She chewed once and threw her head back to let the meat slide down her throat. It tasted so much better than bear meat and seal blubber.

As the man's blood began to soak the ground, Serene made light work of tearing away the clothing and quickly dug into the soft fleshy area under the man's ribs. In less than ten minutes, she had all but gutted him and she began on his thighs and backside. Five minutes later, any meat left on him was from the neck up and she didn't hesitate in ripping open his scalp to finish off anything and everything of nutritional value. By the time she had finished, what was left of the man was little more than bone, cartilage and scraps of hair. Covered in blood, Serene got back to her feet and picked up the unbroken spine. She also snapped off a rib, checking it had a good point on it and started walking back to Cain.

Serene came into view still carrying the spine in one hand and had the splinter of rib in the other. She was using it as a pick for her fangs. When she was done, she tossed it away and broke open the spine from the top. "He was juicy." She said to Cain, "Lots of rich muscle on that one." She looked down at the body of his meal and furrowed her brow, "You don't eat much, do you." She said as she upturned the spine and began sucking out the protein rich fluid.......

Cain laughed at her comment, "No not human flesh. I need their blood to survive but I can eat normal foods as well. But I understand you like the taste of humans. Ahhhhhh what a fine pair we make. The humans will be completely terrified, just what I like." He circled around her again looking her over and grinning. Yes she had a fine figure and it would be a pleasure to teach her what it was like to enjoy each others bodies.

Unlike Anubis he had made a study of them and knew more then Raven or perhaps even the Dowenger knew. He knew that the females had cycles that made them ready to mate and be impregnated. But they seldom seemed to have sex just for the enjoyment of it. He entered the cabin and looked around. It wasn't much but it did have a nice fireplace with a fire burning and on the stove was a pot of coffee of which he poured himself a cup.

"Test subjects show that the lycans go crazy after feeding upon one with pure heroin injected into their system. They attack anything including their own kind." the scientist told the Colonel. Now if it effects these other creatures like it did the one we may be able to do something. Prepare the tranq guns with pure heroin. Get it pure inside them and it should be very lethal."

Serene shook her head a little and followed him into the cabin. His looking her over didn't go unnoticed either. "So wasteful." She said to him, "No wonder vampyre get caught so often. Leaving dead bodies lying everywhere." She looked him up and down, considering him in the same manner has he had done her. "I eat other foods as much as the next being." She said before looking around the cabin. It was basic, but no less comfortable.

"Roasted pig is nice when you can stuff it with something. Usually onions and sage. And I like a fair amount of fruit too." She said as she moved across the space and pulled the blankets up off the bottom bunk bed. "But humans have a flavour about them that's just too much to resist, especially when they're lean and muscular like that one." She looked up with a sly grin. "I bet you taste fine too." She offered, "Not when you first got to the stronghold mind, you were such a weedy little runt, but certainly after you filled out. And now..." She tossed the blanket back down again, "The word delicious comes to mind.".......

Cain moved up to Serene, "Is that right." he picked up a cloth and began wiping the blood from her face and moving down to her chest. "Looks like you have made a mess of your clothes." he said as he wiped some blood from the tops of her breasts. He grinned as he undid the front of her top clothing to wash more of the blood away.

Serene grinned and shook her hair back as Cain began cleaning some of the blood off her. "Looks like I have." She purred, "But I don't mind. It's good for the skin, ya know." She grinned and wiped some from her cheek and smeared it over his lips....

He undid her top clothing freeing her tits. Taking one in a hand he lifted it up and licked the blood from it. "Yes, they both had delicious tasting blood." As he licked the blood he squeezed her tit.

"Hmmm." Serene replied, "But I bet your's is better." And before he had blinked, she sank her fangs into his shoulder.......

That kind of surprized him but he had done that when making love to human women and now and then a vampiress. "Well, how does it taste." he raked his fangs over her neck and brought his other hand up to her other tit and squeezed both of them.

Serene took a good mouthful and sighed. It sent goosepimples over her skin and she began to warm against him. After another mouthful, she let him loose and licked her lips, "Delicious.".....

He moved down her neck to her shoulder and sank his fangs into it and sucked some of her blood. "MMMMMMM excellent." he said and licked her blood from her shoulder. He pulled her halter like top off and let a hand move down to her ass.

Serene sighed again and raked her sharp nails down his back. They easily drew blood on him and she let him touch her for a while longer and then suddenly, without warning, she pushed him back hard. She then grinned at him and removed the rest of her clothing before moving forward quickly and quite viciously grabbed his throat. "The Primus isn't the only one to study human behavior." She said before kissing him deeply. Her other hand ripped at his pants and then reached in......

Cain grinned as he saw that Serene knew a bit more about how humans enjoyed sex as did he. He returned her kiss with equal ferver and pulled her close to him. Oh this would just be the begining and they had a very long wasy to go before they got to the old country.

Serene pushed him back again to the wall and then pounced on him. Digging her fingers and then her feet into the wall behind him, she literally climbed it to be level with him. One hand then let go of the wall and grabbed the back of his head. She kissed him again passionately for a moment and then grinned at him, "But she doesn't have jack on me. She knows nothing of keeping males happy." And she began rubbing herself over him.....

He raised a brow and grinned. It seemed Serene was a bit jelous of Raven. That did not bother Cain. "So you know about pleasing a man do you?" he returned her kiss and insured his hard cock was freed. As she rubbed against him he moved his hard cock up to her pussy. "How much have you learned?" One arm went about her to hold her to him as he continued to squeeze her tits with his other hand

Serene grinned again and spread herself a little wider before rubbing herself the length of his cock, "It's amazing what you can learn from a book." She said, "That and plenty of practice on some unwitting males."......

"So you have experimented have you? What made you do that?" he asked her.

Serene shrugged her powerful shoulders a little, "Why not?" She asked, "Why should the humans have all the fun?"....

That impressed Cain. Serene was not afraid to do a bit of research. He doubted it would have been condoned by the other members of her race, especially the Elders. "Good." he said and slipped his cock up inside her pussy.

Serene shuddered in pleasure, "And the best part of it." She said with a sigh, "No offspring until I say so." She moved her hips over him ad leaned forward to kiss him.....

That was a good thing in many ways, but Cain was like Anubis. He was now wanting a real son of his own. One that would grow up and he could train and educate. That time would come though. He knew that her cycle would start sometime and that would be the time to have thier off spring. Again he kissed her and ground himself against her.

Serene moved herself over him strongly and kissed him back just as strongly.....

He kissed her neck, enjoying the feeling of her against him and his cock up inside her. Experienced, and by her own words, liked bad boys. She was not your typical Angelus. This was going to be an interesting relationship.

Serene kept moving her hips, enjoying the sensation and the largeness of him, "Let me know when you're ready." She sighed....

Cain kept moving his hips to help bury his cock further up inside her as he could. "Don't worry, I will." he squeezed one of her this hard.

Serene nodded with another sigh as she kept moving....

"Do you like coupling like this?" he asked her. "It is enjoyable and makes the man and woman come closer to each other."

Serene nodded, "It's fun."....

After a few minutes Cain moved his hands down to Serene's ass cheeks and gripped them, "It is time." he said as he rammed his cock up inside her as she came down on it and held her there. A short time later he pumped his load up inside her.

Serene grinned as he grabbed her ass and held her down. As she felt him cum, she suddenly forced herself up and almost off him and most of it splattered against her lips. It was incredibly hot, but she knew it would be and that was why she moved. It wouldn't matter how tight he held her, she would never have let him leave that kind of heat inside her. As it dripped down from her, she grined at him. "Did you enjoy that?"....

"Of course." he said. "Little to hot for you?" he grinned as he patted her ass cheeks. When she went into her cycle, she would not be able to do as she did. She would have to accept it and deal with it.

Serene grinned, "Nothing I couldn't handle." She told him, "I just don't want it inside me." She let herself loose of him and went back to the bed. She took up the blanket she had tossed and wiped his juice from her.....

Cain streached and let his wings expand out. "We will stay here for a few hours and rest up and then continue east." The Eastern route held more land masses to cross over to get to their final destination. Also he needed to stop at certain places and begin transfering his wealth to a central location. He looked at Serene, "I like the halter top and the skirt look on you." he told her.

Serene gave half a grin and moved his hand away, "It's kinda hard to find other clothing that fits." She said with a flutter of her wings and then picked up her clothes. She got dressed and moved to the door. "You should either eat him, or bury him before he starts attracting attention." She said....

He moved to the door and looked at the dead human. Grabbing his pants he put them on and went outside and easily picked the man up and launched himself up into the air and moved a bit away from where the cabin was and a large ravine began. He dropped the body into the ravine and then returned to the Cabin. "Let the local scavengers have a feast."

Serene shrugged her shoulders and then took a good look around outside. Her eyes mirrored the light from the cabin and she scanned every inch within five miles in every direction. She moved back inside again and looked up at the ceiling. The beams were small, but she would be able to fit and hopped up into a corner.....

Cain didn't think he would be able to sleep like that. Nor was he able to do anything with the bunks. He didn't want to retract his wings just yet. He would do that when he needed to mingle with the humans. He three blankets and pillows on the floor by the fire place and laid down there on his side, moving his wings so as not to lay on them.

Serene shuffled herself about a little and then laid along the beam on her front with her legs hanging down and her wings relaxed and also hanging down. She cradled her head across her forearms and then looked down at Cain curiously.....

Cain took in a deep breath and looked up at her and smiled. "Yes?"

Serene gave a small smile, "Just curious."....

"About what?" he asked.

"Why you got passed over for your son.".....

Cain shugged his shoulders. "I was not the friendliest in the past to Raven. You know what the elders did and said in the past? I took my anger out on her. But I suppose it was destined that Anubis would be the one to mate with her."

Serene nodded, "I know." She said, "I was there. she never took well to being hunted. Pissed her off. But why Anubis then and not another of your people?"....

"Anubis and I are the only ones left. The others I created and he created back at the begining are all gone. Both of us have not created any others like us. Anubis has created his lycans again but they are vastly different then creating ones like us."

Serene nodded, "That's understandable." She said, "Humans with the right genetics are rare. The rest are just cattle."....

"That will change here shortly." he told her. Anubis will create more of us and have those of you that joined him, mate with them. It should continue the race." Cain planned to do the same thing to give more of a genitic pool

Serene lifted an eyebrow, "Yeh, I know." She replied, "The Dowenger explained it to us. But I suppose base mammals are better than nothing."....

He chuckled. "Well there are no other intelligent Reptiles that would be able to do the same." He was quite surprised that the Angelus were more human in appearance then reptiles. Their skin was soft and fleshy, not scaled, they had hair where reptiles did not. If they indeed decended from reptiles, why did they have more human features?

Serene lifted her head, "Sure there are." She said, "There are thousands of species more intelligent than humans and species that have been around a lot longer too. The Elders only chose them because we share some similar physical traits."....

"Oh and what species are these?" he asked.

"Most insects, birds, sharks, many marine mammals, especially dophin and whale."....

He had to laugh. Most of those may seem more inteligent but they are not. Except perhaps the dophins. Now they are inteligent I think. But definately not able to help keep your race going. "How did your people come to look so human if you decended from reptiles?"

Serene lifted an eyebrow, "Can a human communicate with another fifty miles away with a single sound?" She laughed then, "The same way some insects have evolved to look like spiders or foliage." She said. "We grew extra digits and it helped distribute our weight a little better and helped us grasp things better with our hands. Our arms got longer so we could reach further and our scaes became smaller to give us better camoflage. What you call hair, are actually very fine feathers that we once used for display." And in saying that, she plucked one from her head and let it drop down for him to look at.....

He looked at it. It looked like a hair, but didn't feel quite like one. He grinned and placed it on the blankets. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. It would be a few hours before dawn. He wouldn't have minded having her down with him, curled up with him, but it would be hard for one of her kind, use to perching up on things like the rafters. The wings would also get in the way. Was to bad that the Angelus could not retract their wings. He would have to have his studied to see why he could. He kind of wished he had a piece of that metor that struck near his family's home. The modern science would be able to give him answers.

Serene closed her eyes and relaxed fully. After a few minutes, she was asleep. Her wings hung below made for an excellent counterbalance for if she moved one way, her wngs would move the other and stop her from falling. She slept for a few hours and then watched Cain sleep. She wondered why if he had once loved the Angelus, he would hide away the defining mark of them. Was he ashamed, or was it just personal choice. She loved her wings. They kept her cool when it was hot and they kept her warm when it was cold. She could move vast distances quickly and make herself imposing or delicate in an instant. she gave a slight yawn before moving down to the floor. The sun would rise soon and she needed to basque.....

Cain slept fairly well. The strange place did not really set well with him but he did manage to get enough sleep to be rested. When Serene dropped to the floor he didn't open his eyes all the way and just watched her through narrow slits. He could see how early man could have mistaken them as angels. Humans had always been superstitious. Trying to explain things that were strange to them. Volcanos as being an angry god of the earth, Powerful Storms being the anger of a sky god and the like. He had been revered as a god as had Anubis, because they could change forms and lived long lives and remained young.

He moved his wings a bit, still not use to them. For now he would keep them out and try to get use to them more. They had a long way to go and it was the easiest way for her to go. She could not mingle with humans and go to an airport to board a private plane. To many humans would be able to see her and that would not be good. Flying high above the cities and other populated areas, they would not be seen to well, though radar would pick them up. But they would h ave to deal with that should the humans sent a plane up after them.

But here and there Cain had to stop and contact his organization and pull them all back from Los Angeles. He would make them think he was regrouping them. Oh how he wanted to see their faces when they learned who their founder had been and still was. Oh the religious fanatics would go nuts and then he would send in his other group of followers. Lycans and vampires that were loyal to him. There were not many of them now. Anubis had gathered quite a few during his build up. But these he would let loose upon the hunters since he no longer needed them. To do this he would have to be in human form.

He slowly got up and streached. He went outside as the sun was coming up and watched Serene.

Back in Los Angeles Anubis slept fitfully, still worried about Raven. When morning came he went up for his morning ritual as it was, carrying Raven up with him. He held her in his arms as the sun came up and shed its warm rays upon them.

Serene watched the sun come up from behind the Rockies and opened her wings to soak up the glowing warmth. It brought a soft peachy glow to her skin as her blood warmed and her wings began to shine in the light. She stayed that way for an hour or so and then turned to see Cain stood watching her. "Enjoying the view?" She asked.

~

Raven slept almost peacefully through the night. Her dreams were erratic and she was fitfull for a time, but otherwise, she didn't suffer much. Her body had healed completely by dawn and she felt aware enough to know that Anubis was carrying her. She could smell his scent and she could feel his warmth covering her. She knew he was taking her somewhere. Eventually, she could smell the dawn and knew she was outside.

As the sun rose, Raven could feel the warmth on her face and she gave a small sigh as she took in the air and turned her face towards the light. Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. Then slowly, she turned her head to Anubis and gave a small smile.....

He returned her smile and was glad she was now alright, but it was gone after a few moments. In a few minutes he would be telling her of what had happened while she was out of it. She would have to make the judgement on the lycan Neil. All knew what he had put out and he had been stupid to ignore it. He was not looking forward to her fury at Sophia bing ruffed up by one of his lycans.

Sophia had come on pretty strong, something that a slave didn't do. She had been given more freedom and priviliges, but that was not an excuse to think she could order his soldiers around. But is seemed she cared for Raven and put herself in harms way and that carried alot of weight with Anubis. The judgement though would lie with Raven though, he had given her that authority and he see to it that it was obeyed.

Raven's smile grew and she opened her eyes a little more. "You're warm." she said softly.....

He held her in his arms as the sun warmed them. "You like that don't you?" He sighed and asked, "Are you strong enough to stand?"

Raven nodded and smiled again, "I love your warmth." she said, then nodded again, "I think so.2....

He eased her to her feet making sure to hold on to her to make sure she could stand. He sighed, "I hate to ruin a perfect morning like this, but you need to be told and make the judgement."

Raven put her feet down gently and they felt strange against the astro turf. Her balance was off quite badly and she had to cling to him for a while. "What's wrong?" She asked....

He held on to her as he told her. "After I got you brought back here, Sophia went and got other drugs that would counter the pure heroin that you took in with the womans blood. When she returned I went out to check the body of the woman and that was when Sophia needed to tell me something she had learned. She told one of my lycan soldiers below that she needed to get in touch with me. He ignored her request and then she demanded he get in touch with me and called him an ignorant moron." He took a deep breath, "He evidently got mad and grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against a wall. Two other guards came and called me. He is in detention at the moment awaiting your judgement on him."

Raven opened her eyes wide, but then couldn't help but smile. "She really called him a moron?" She asked, then shook her head, "From what I know this far of that girl, she goes out of her way to protect this growing family and above and beyond any duty she has been given." She shook her head again, "But she is a slave and she was at fault to speak to him like that, even if it might just be the truth. But he is also at fault for ignoring what turned out to be something very important and for touching what does not belong to him. However, I'm more concerned right now with the heroine in the city. I only took a mouthful of that woman's blood and it hurt me very badly. Any more and I fear she may well have been the death of me. This is a much more pressing matter."....

"That is what Sophia found out. That someone was selling pure heroin to the addicts. I found the man and found out that someone from the outside has been sending him the drug and with orders to sell it pure. I got my people working on where that person is. The drug dealer had a cell phone with a phone number still on it. Once that is traced we will know more."

Raven nodded, "Then we should concentrate more on that." she said. "I will have a word with Sophie and remind her of her place. The lycan, I will deal with another time. I'm in no fit state to handle a mut right now.2....

"Well we will let him stew on the matter and think about what he should have done." he pulled her to him looking down into her eyes.

Raven nodded and then smiled up at him dozily. "I still feel tired." She said, "And my feet feel funny." She leaned into him, "So what's happening with the drugs in the city?" She asked, "Are you hunting them all down?"....

"The drug situation was under control. All the dealers we found were executed, and the drugs destroyed. But where there is a will there is a way." he told her

Raven nodded, "Then remove their customers." She said. "I'm sure your lycans can sniff them out. Remove the need, remove the supply."....

"That we can do. Dump them back on the US government and let them deal with them." He chuckled. "A good will jester by releasing some of the humans."

Raven shook her head, "They will find a way back in." She said, "Someone found a way to get pure heroine into the city. They can find a way to get people back in. No." She looked away, "I want their bodies dumped outside the fence and show the world we will not tolerate drugs or users of any kind.".....

He grinned and chuckled again. "See now that is what I like about you. You have good advice." Slaughtering the addics and throwing them over the wire would put more fear into the humans in and outside of his domain. He drew her closer and kissed her. He could only imagine that there would be quite a few of them.

Raven kissed him back, "It's not good advice." She told him, "It's mass slaughter." She shook her head. "What that woman's blood did to me was a warning. Many of the others wouldn't survive what I did and I can't afford to let them out hunting in this city unless I know they're safe. And I want the guard doubled around the fence. I don't want anymore unexpected suprises dropping over."....

A slaughter would not be the word for it. But it would be done. Clear the food supply and make a statement. He would give the orders as soon as he got her back down below. "Already got my lycans sealing up sewer lines that are coming into the city from the suburbs. That is how the body of the woman was taken. I have a feeling it was no supplier wanting to get people hooked. Some one outside my domain sent it in to see what it would do.

Raven nodded, "I believe you." She replied, then looked out over the city. "That's not all we need to secure though. We need to make sure any fresh water supplies are also secure from outside tampering and food sources. We are not purey carnivores anymore. We need other foods. Everything, and I mean everything needs to be checked and double checked now. Whomever sent in the drugs must also be considering other options too and I want to remain one step ahead."....

"Already have people on that. That was one of the first things that I had done. They know that they try anything like that, what I will do. All cargo unloaded is checked that is from ships, trains, trucks, and planes." He had alot of lycans. Over the past few years he had been creating them from those that were willing subjects. They would live longer, be stronger, and better fighters. By the time he had made it to Los Angeles, he had an army of them that had spread out through out the city in vaious jobs. When he made his move they were in position to seal off the city and make sure that things kept running smoothly.

Raven nodded, "But just to be sure." She said, "Have everything checked again."....

He nodded and then began easing her down the stairs to the penthouse. There The Dowenger was waiting for them.

Raven came down the stairs slowly and then smiled as she saw the Dowenger. "You should not be walking around so soon." The old female scolded. Raven half shrugged her shoulders, "I needed to basque." She replied, "Anubis was kind enough to take me." The Dowenger turned her eyes up to Anubis......

"She loves it as much as I do. It is a morning ritual with me and seeing she seemed to need it, I took her to the roof." he told the dowenger.

"That's all fine and well." The old mother said, "But why is she walking?" Raven sighed lightly and shook her head.....

"Well she is not completely walking on her own." he told the old Angelus. He was holding on to her.

The Dowenger lifted an eyebrow and then pointed her came back towards the penthouse door.....

He moved her towards the door, wondering what the Dowenger wanted.

The Dowenger smiled as Anubis moved into the penthouse with Raven. "Good boy." She said, then eased herself into a plush chair. "So tell me, what have you learned about what happened to her?"....

Anubis told her what he had told Raven and of what he had done. "We are going to be getting rid of the addicts. Not letting them go, but eliminating them completely."

The Dowenger nodded, "A wise choice." She said, then looked at Raven, "I'm so glad this didn't happen to any of the younger ones. They could have died. Have you any spies outside the city that can find out how the stuff got here in the first place?".....

"Once my people find out who sent it, I have a few out there that will go searching and get me any and all info they can."

The Dowenger nodded again in approval, "Very good." She said, "I don't see why the humans would tolerate such a poison in their communities. It defies all logic. When did this start happening? There is almost nothing in the journals about it."....

"It has been around for a very long time. Some cultures used drugs for various things. But only with in the last couple hundred years mankind has been getting more and more dependent on junk like that. Well some. The authorities have tried to eradicate the use of drugs but they are to weak to do what must be done."

"I see." She replied, "Well, perhaps you can show them the right way, or frighten them enough to make an effort then." She eased further back into the chair, letting her featherless wings lay limp over the sides of the chair. "Were this land mine, I'd destroy anything and everyone that dared taint it with such vileness."....