The vehicles of the security team were all pulled over to the side of the inter-city highway cutting through a large forest of towering conifers and deciduous trees. No one on the team was overly concerned about the wildlife, but that was mostly due to the extremely dense shrubs hemming in the forest. The only places where they really needed to worry about the larger animals were at the openings meant to let the wildlife across the highway. Those areas were easily spotted by the abundance of signs warning drivers of a crossing coming up. However, most of the team was tired, so, for now – other than getting out to stretch – the majority of them remained in the vehicles as a few of them gathered around a faded green car with a map spread across it's hood, anchored by four lamps.

The lamps in question were all rectangles about a finger's width wide on the top two thirds and almost twice that on the bottom third. Each of the lamps had a circular reflector, above which a hinged lid to cover the front served as a second reflector, keeping the light at least somewhat concentrated. In front of the reflector was a wick that came out of a brick of fuel that was in the bottom of the lamps. There was a nob for lowering the wick until the flame snuffed out, or to adjust brightness.

Standing beside the car and leaning over the map Tracey held a brass pendulum in one hand. She was trying to scry Jacques location, but wasn't having any luck thus far. That was when a pair of thick, long-fingered, ruddy-brown hands smoothed out the map as the Duke of Morain emerged, gliding out from the shadows of the forest with no fan-fair and no warning.

No one startled, though he was unexpected and a stranger to everyone but Tracey, who just wondered how he got past the shrubs without making a single noise. Was their an opening near by that they missed?

“Where are we going?” He asked in faux whisper.

She wanted to smack him.

Instead, trying not to laugh, she said, “I am trying to figure that out.”

“Might be easier if you just come with me.” He said, still faux whispering.

“Do you even know why we're scrying to figure that out?” One of the others asked, on-guard and borderline hostile.

Leaning over towards Tracey the Duke had his hand next to his mouth, palm facing outward and – again, still faux whispering – said, “I think this one's a little high-strung.”

Tracey snorted, realized that she had lost as Jeremy – aka Jeremiah, the Duke of Morain – fist-pumped in victory. He, for whatever reason, was not going to let her scry.

“DO you even know who it is that we're even looking for?” She challenged, trying not to be amused.

“I imagine you're looking for Fiach, given that he made off with a car that had some people in it.” He answered lightly, almost dismissively.

“...Did you happen to see who was in the car?” She asked, as the others remained tensely silent, trusting her to handle this stranger.

“I'm pretty sure I saw Jacques. I mean I'm fairly familiar with his face given that he kept picking fights with Fiach.”

“Wha-he-what? Why?” Tracey spluttered.

“Oh, that. I asked him to.”

“WHHYY?!”

“To keep him busy, while I went and looked for his missing son.”

“His missing-”

“Tiarnan's alive, he just bounced himself through time to try and get away from the scary. My brother was watching him.”

“Azimuth?”

“Yup.”

A beat of silence, then, “Why does this make me uneasy...?”

“Probably because of your experience with survival training with my brother.”

“Right.” Tracey responded, “That.”

“Yeah, that was him going easy on you by the way.”

“What did he do with the baby?” She asked suddenly and emphatically.

“Made certain that he would be afraid of being alone.”

“Hoooow?” She asked, voice strained and high-pitched.

“By making him think that no one was there.”

“I'm going to kill him.”

“No,you'rgoingtomarryhim.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No. You said-”

“Azimuth and I can see through time like you can see to your right, or left, up, or down and so on. He scared Tiarnan like that because it would most effectively reduce the likelihood that Tiarnan would become lost through time permanently.”

“...I still have an overwhelmingly powerful urge to beat him for doing that to a baby!”

“That is a perfectly reasonable response. Sometimes his tough love... Is a little too... Well, it's a bit... Much, but he's not a father yet, so I don't expect him to understand.”

Tracey sighed.

“Can you take us to where they are?”

“Of course! I thought you'd never ask!”

“Before that; marrying your brother?! In what universe?!” Tracey demanded.

“This one...?” He answered, not quite sure what she meant.

She processed that for a moment, the tips of two of her fingers splayed against her temple. A beat of silence as everyone waited on her. She took a deep breath in through her nose and then forcefully out.

“Everyone get back in the cars.” She ordered, “Duke; lead car, please.”

“Yes ma'am.” He said cheerfully and headed towards the lead vehicle, climbing in on the passenger's side with a relaxed “Hidey-hoe!” To the driver.

The driver shook his head with a smile. He'd heard the conversation clearly.

Tracey, further down the line of cars was sitting in the passenger's seat, having lost the argument with Sol about who was driving on the basis that she was too tired. Leaning against the door she could feel her teeth grinding, but couldn't seem to unclench her jaw as the Duke's words kept playing through her head.

Yeah, we'll see... She thought, He will have to undergo a drastic amount of change for that to happen.

In the lead car Jeremy softly swore as the future shifted and muttered that he should have kept his mouth shut.

“Something the matter...?” The driver warily asked.

“No... Not really. At least not for you. Might have mucked up by brother's future though.”

“Maybe, perhaps, just a thought, he should try being a little nicer to babies. Little less tough love.”

“Yeeaaahh... About that...” Jeremy said, not questioning that a Werewolf could hear them from so far away, “She was going to-”

“She shouldn't have to fix him.” The guy cut in firmly.

“Yeah, that's fair.” Jeremy conceded brusquely, decided that it was his brother's own fault.

“That town up ahead should be another day away.” The driver commented pointedly.

“Yup.”

“How-?”

“Fairy is a set of abilities, not a species.”

“You're a fairy Dragon.”

“Don't expect butterfly wings.”

“Don't make me laugh while I'm driving!”

“Sorry. Habit. Just keep going through the town. We'll be there soon.”

Gwen sat at the kitchen table Etain's home with a cup Tranquillity Flower tea. It was made from a blue flower and when brewed it would come out a slightly purple colour with a flavour that reminded most of honey, without actually tasting like honey. Unfortunately, some people were severely allergic to it. Unsurprising, given that it was a plant that resulted from the Dragonfall and her people had already confirmed a long time ago that it was a blend of an alien flower with a type of moss.

At the kitchen entrance to Gwen's left a pair red-glowing eyes drifted into view. When Gwen turned her attention to them Etain's voice quietly filled the space.

“Can't sleep?” The older woman asked, coming over to the table and sitting down.

“No,” Gwen answered, “Unfortunately, I can't. Your son insisted on making me this tea as soon as he knew that I wasn't allergic; didn't even give me the chance to say no. It was quite kind of him.”

“Fiach is more sensitive than he at first seems. I think he would have been a healer if life had been kinder to him.” Etain said, her mind drifting for a moment into dark memories.

“You alright?” Gwen asked gently, seeing the change in Etain's eyes.

“Life is not kind if you are gentle and many of my children have come out so.” Etain sighed, “But my family's problems are ours to deal with. What is keeping you up? Not to be rude, but Fiach did tell me that your daughter's father is not present... Is it him that you're worried about?”

Gwen's response to that was a depreciative not-quite-laugh.

“No,” She said with a defensive smile against her own memories of mistakes made, “Definitely not worried about him... In fact... If he shows up there's something that you need to know about him.”

Gwen watched as the blood drained from Etain's face while she explained what had happened.

“That piece of shit...” Etain muttered.

“Mm.” Was all that Gwen could find to say.

There was a tense silence as Gwen waited for a further reaction from Etain, watching her closely. It was a change in her posture that alerted Gwen that there might be a problem.

“What is it?” She asked quietly.

Etain held up one finger with a nearly silent 'shh' and was silent for a moment before almost inaudibly saying, “Cars.”

Both women silently got up, Gwen following as Etain led the way to the front door and checked through the peephole. She breathed a sigh of relief a moment later and opened the door a crack.

“Hey, gorgeous.” A male voice said quietly from the other side, “I have the security team with me. We'll need them to work with our teams, but they need rest first.”

Etain nodded and let him in.

Kaiden parked the car in the garage to her Mother's on-going beration.

“I never should have rescued you from that fucking cradle!”

What? Kaiden thought, startled and blind-sided.

“God damn waste of fucking time trying to tame you.” Her mother added in a mutter.

Huh? Tame?

“Get out of the fucking car! I need you to splint this!” Her mother barked at her.

Head spinning with the sudden emotional bombshell that had just been dropped on her without warning, Kaiden did as she was told, going through the next half hour in a daze. Try as she might, Kaiden's mind refused to grapple with what she had heard. She had been raised her whole life being told that she had been kidnapped by Romani Werewolves who had killed her birth family in order to marry her off to one of their sons. Everything shifted in Kaiden's mind as her perspective on the woman changed and she realized that the woman who had raised her might very well be the actual kidnapper.

When her mother ordered her to go sleep in the Vampire's cage in the basement, Kaiden went without comment, unaware that she had set the woman's arm with a casual ease that scared the woman.

Staring at her splinted arm Enfys Eirlaw hoped that the Vampire killed the monster she had raised.

“Fucking abomination.” She muttered in disgust.

He heard whisper-light footfalls on the stairs and felt a wave of simmering rage followed by a sheet thick, numbing ice and within that ice, so much pain. A scream, a sob trapped inside. He closed his eyes and took a step back from the other's emotions. When he opened his eyes again there was a pair of enormous, night-glowing eyes staring up at him from a sweetheart face with a small nose that had a mild inward curve with a slightly squared-off tip above a full mouth. Curved eyebrows, curling eyelashes and warm brown, olive-toned skin completed the almost impossibly pretty face of a girl he would estimate to be about twelve to thirteen years old.

He had a nephew about the same age who would probably have an instant crush on her. Might be a good idea to introduce them once he made his escape. Having heard what the woman upstairs had been saying to her he certainly wasn't going to be leaving the child in such an abusive situation. Poor thing was hurting so much he felt before she even arrived.

“What's your name, child?” He asked gently, wondering why she was in his cage.

“Kaiden Eirlaw.” She answered, “You're a Vampire.”

“Not exactly. Dhampire would be more accurate.” He told her.

“What's your name?”

“I don't give that out so easily.”

“That's a weird name.”

“Cheeky.” He said, amused, “You can call me John for now.”

“Alright John... What's a 'Dhampire'?”

“Well, in Slavic cultures it's the halfblood child of a Vampire.”

He saw the confusion on her face and knew what she was going to ask before she did.

“Vampires can have babies?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Did she not get her sex ed-? Oh, that's what she meant! He thought for a confused and puzzled moment, his brain having gone to the literal meaning of the question before sensing what she actually meant.

“Well, to be honest...” He started, then paused and thought of a better way to explain, “You do know that scientists have found that the inside of a living tree is made up of dead cells that have solidified, right?”

Her eyes went wide at that.

“But that would make them undead...”

“Yes.” He agreed.

“But that's unnatural...”

“Are you sure about that?” He asked.

“I... Why do Humans think that it's unnatural?”

He considered his words for a moment, then told her the brutally honest truth.

“Humans that have styled themselves as 'Homo Sapien Sapien', 'Wise Man'” He said, “Decided that it was unnatural to be undead and that their opinion is fact and not simply just their opinion. The oldest form of life on this planet, the one that makes it habitable for the rest of us is undead by their own criteria. And these Humans kill them en-mass. They cannot abide that which refuses to remain dead and will return... Yet they praise their own for having such wherewithal to continue living. It is them who is unnatural in their inability to live harmoniously on this world, ever pointing fingers and accusing others of what they themselves would, or have already done.”

Kaiden, not knowing how to respond to that Held up a granola bar, some home made fruit jerky made of berries and some venison jerky.

“Do you want it?” She asked, “I made all of it herself...”

Realizing that what he had said had been a little too dark and heavy for her he graciously accepted the food (and the water that she also offered) and had her sit down. Too tired not to she sat where he indicated and got as comfortable as she could. Once she had done so he sat next to her and thought for a moment before speaking.

“I have a bit of a penchant for weaving stories. It's a hobby of mine.” He told her, “If you would be so kind as to indulge me?”

She sighed and said, “Alright...”

He centered himself, then told her a gentle fairytale of a lost child returning home and started it with the classic, “Once upon a time...”

The child needed soothing, and sooth her he shall.

Auswryd (pronounced 'aus-wid') Senior – otherwise known as 'John' for the moment – floated up in the sky as the Hunters went into a fit trying find where he had went. He even left them a nice big hole (that he didn't even use) as a clue. Kaiden slept exhaustedly, cradled in one of his arms, fast asleep on fairytale dreams of finding her place in a family that loves her.

 He left the Hunters to their frantic search and headed towards a castle carved into a mountain.