Chapter 1-A Sentinel and A Party

<p>Avalon, Jade City, Kah'Vox Branch Campus, Cursed Moon Squad Admin Office.<br/><br/>Ray paced in front of her friend's desk. Fiona was one of the rare non-combatants squad leaders of the Kah'Vox clan, and the one stop shop of the Dark Moon Squad members for all problems outside of work.<br/><br/>"Why the hell was I invited to that ceremony?"<br/><br/>"Uh...Ray, calm down, I'm sure that-" Fiona began but Ray cut her off. "None of the other Sentinels in the squad received the damn invitation! I asked! I'm a Sentinel, I hunt Rogues. I AM NOT MADE TO ATTEND PARTIES!" she finished with a screech.<br/><br/>Fiona looked at her with an uneasy feeling and sighed, "Well actually they needed someone to keep an eye on the guy in case there was an attack. Threats have been made openly against the new master; he's the youngest ever to ascend after all-not even the First had been that young. And...not everyone agrees that his markings mean that he is a direct descendant of the First. There's also the part where, well, the Elders sort of told the Shadow Guard you're the best for the job."<br/><br/>Ray's jaw dropped. Well at least now she knew she wasn't actually attending the ceremony but had been hired as a deterrent and a bodyguard. She sighed. "Fine then, I'll take care of it...I hope we're getting paid our weight in mana stones for this", she grumbled.<br/><br/>The girls' relief did not last long however, as Ray suddenly realized that there was one thing she would not be able to figure out, even if her life depended on it. Spending your whole life forging yourself into a deadly weapon did have it's drawbacks after all.<br/><br/>"Well...what do you exactly wear for such a ceremony...?"<br/><br/>Fiona slapped her palm over her face. Who was the genius who thought to suggest Ray of all people as security detail for a formal, high society event!? 'A Sentinel...this will be fun', she thought to herself with sarcasm, already regretting what was about to come.<br/><br/>Ray spent three hour trying dresses before finding the right one.<br/><br/>Then one more at the spa.<br/><br/>And two hours at the beauty saloon.<br/><br/>The world's most painful torture for someone such as her.<br/><br/>'This ceremony better be worth it', she thought to herself as she was told to sit still while having her hair done, or some people would be receiving her idea of thanks. Maybe a carnivorous rose...or an oversized spider. She would see to it later.<br/><br/>*****<br/><br/>Abyss, Arcadia, Moon city; capital of the Vampire territories.<br/><br/>He was bored out of his mind with this party. Still a whole hour left for the oath ceremony. What to do? He started towards the balcony when he felt a strange tug in the middle of his back rooting him in place. He frowned and turned to look in the direction of the invisible force...and beheld the appearance of an angel.<br/><br/>His jaw dropped.<br/><br/>She was dressed in a sparkling white dress embroidered with silver thread that flowed over her skirt like vines, matching the color of her hair.<br/><br/>Her lips were painted a rich red, the color evocative of fresh blood. Her lashes, silvery white in color, framed eyes of pure silver.<br/><br/>Her long silvery hair had been pulled up into a ponytail held together by a hair clip sporting a huge, decorative, blood red rose. A thick braid graced each side of her head, hiding the sensitive tips of her pointed ears, a hairstyle often seen with elven warriors. This particular silver haired maiden was however, not an elf.<br/><br/>And she was clearly ill at ease with the glamorous crowd in the hall.<br/><br/>He finally beheld the Silver Sentinel. 'The Shadow Guard must have fallen on their heads to have invited her' he thought to himself. Looking like this she would never be able to get the Overlord out of here unseen. His lips hitched into a smirk as he realised that this was probably the funniest stunt he had ever seen the Guard pull.<br/><br/>Crick!!!...<br/><br/>He looked down, surprised. The glass he was holding was now sporting a web-like pattern.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Ray stood beside the buffet table. The contents did not appeal to her tastes, it looked like she would have to eat everything on display to filled her stomach. The servings were incredibly tiny. She however picked up a flute after making sure it was filled with red wine, not blood, trying to ignore the stares directed at her. Blending in was impossible for her.<br/><br/>Suddenly she heard her best friend's voice, "Ray, what a surprise!"<br/><br/>"Gilliane! What in the world are you doing here?"<br/><br/>"I was on my way to teleport out of Italy to visit you when I received the invitation. Since I cannot refuse an invitation from His Self-important Highness the soon-to-be Great Vampire Overlord, I did my shopping over there and rushed here through the Gate in Venise thanks to Sentinel privileges. This is so cool", Gilliane squealed. <br/><br/>Born to a witch and a human, Gilliane worked with the squad's support crew and specialized in magic. She was also famous for being a loud extrovert who was addicted to parties.<br/><br/>"Well you don't have mana running through your veins like I do" Ray muttered. It had become a joke between the two; the spellcaster with mana instead of blood and the witch with a grimoire instead of a brain.<br/><br/>"I know. You look like you're about to blow a fuse. And you're wearing heels? Fiona must be the one to have 'remodeled' you." Said with an absolute serious expression but the mirth in Gilliane's eyes easily gave her away.<br/><br/>"You're absolutely right", Ray deadpanned. The presence of her friend was undoubtedly Fiona's work and it was already making her feel more at ease.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>He was late. For his best friend's oath ceremony. He hurried inside... And was hit with the most wonderful scent of his life - his mate's scent. He whirled around and charged in its direction....and slammed straight into her.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>"ARRRRGH!" Gilliane exclaimed as she tilted forward before two strong arms clamped around her arms, saving her from a violent fall.<br/><br/>Ray instinctively widened her stance, or at least tried to, but ended up catching her heels in her dress and loosing her balance. She fell backwards into the arms of someone who sent all her senses into overdrive. The man holding her was gorgeous.<br/><br/>Bloodred eyes seared into her own. His sensuous dark red lips were slightly parted. His pure black hair seemed to have been tied into a topknot. His skin on the pale side.<br/><br/>Ray straightened herself and took in his entire physique.<br/><br/>He was tall and lean, with an air of barely leashed feral violence he wore like a cloak.<br/><br/>Vampire...<br/><br/>Lethal....<br/><br/>Powerful...<br/><br/>Her senses were screaming at her...<br/><br/>Ray had never been scared of anything since that day...but today she was. She feared what her senses were indicating.<br/><br/>Ray snapped herself out of her daze and concentrated on the situation, because her nose was telling her the man holding her friend up was a shapeshifter. Gilliane's greatest nightmare.<br/><br/>'Damage control', Ray mentally repeated as she pulled Gilliane out of the stranger's embrace, smiled as brightly as she could and introduced herself to the men. A pointless introduction, as both the shapeshifter and the vampire knew who she was. Not surprising since she stood out with her silver-coloured hair and eyes. The conversation soon became comfortable, with the vampire asking her about her most famous hunts, albeit Gilliane stayed the furthest away possible from the shapeshifter, who seemed to be in pain.<br/><br/>A short while later a young vassal finally declared the official start of the ceremony and their two new acquaintances left to see to their respective roles.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Ray scanned the area while the master of ceremonies read the ancient texts. After a lengthy recitation, the ascending overlord was finally called forward.<br/><br/>He walked...no, stalked forward towards the dais, his gait powerful, confident, proud. His blood red eyes scanned the crowd exuding immense power. He was tall, lithe, his shoulders broad. He awed the crowd as Ray finally recognized him as the vampire she had been speaking to earlier. His eyes met hers.<br/><br/>And he smirked.<br/><br/>Ray could not stop the shiver that ran up her spine. Nor could she stop staring at him. And then it clicked into place. The one man who could finally capture her senses, the one who apparently could evoke in her the attraction to be found between male and female and not the one to be found between hunter and prey, had to be the one person everyone tried to stay away from; the Vampire Overlord.<br/><br/>The shadows around the room seemed to be flickering with life as he took his place on the throne, the heavy cape he'd put on draped over an arm with practiced ease that screamed confidence and pride. The various Vampire Lords under the Vampire Overlord's command moved to place themselves in two neat rows in front of the throne with the retiring Overlord bringing forward the heavily decorated crown and placing it on the ascending vampire's head, effectively and finally declaring him the Overlord. An Overlord who according to rumor was the second born vampire with full body mana markings to reach that position; the first having been the First Vampire Overlord in all history, one who disappeared more than two millennia ago. The position was meant to be deserved, not inherited, and for a vampire that had lived barely half a century, it was inconceivable. All the Overlords that came after the First had been Made, from other species, and had received the title after having demonstrated their abilities for many centuries. Today however, the whole world could see the inconceivable happening, and despite all the threats and protests, the fact that he had been accepted by all the Lords spoke of his fearsome aptitude, for if even a single Lord did not consent to the chosen candidate, the ascension could not happen.<br/><br/>The second the crown touched his head the whole room went silent, everyone present bowing to pay their respect to the new Vampire Overlord.<br/><br/>That was when the shadows exploded and skeletal specters zoomed towards the throne. Ray, having noticed the fluctuating mana earlier, was already in action. A line of runes snaking around her arm glowed for a split second before turning into delicate tendrils that flowed over her skin along her arm to gather around her hand. She threw the tendrils in the direction of the throne with a flick of her wrist as Gilliane chanted in Gaelic. The tendrils seemed to hit an invisible barrier in front of the Overlord before scattering and starting to revolve around the throne to form a protective bubble around it, causing all the specters that tried to touch it to explode.<br/><br/>While many could wonder as to why someone so powerful would need protection from something he could destroy with a simple thought, Ray knew that if the Overlord used his abilities in that instant, many of the attendants in the hall could loose their lives from the mana he would channel, for the Vampire Overlord was far stronger than her.<br/><br/>The hall was soon in chaos as people began to run in all directions in an attempt to escape the specters and the shadows that had started to crawl towards the dais, ripping into any living being that was in their way. Amidst all the panic the Vampire Overlord sat leisurely on his throne, inside the bubble, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched the spreading mayhem.<br/><br/>Ray undid the hidden laces tied at her left hip letting her skirt pool around her feet to reveal formfitting black pants and unsheathed the guard-less sword that had been hanging at her side under her skirt as she calmly spoke to Gilliane, "There's a necromancer somewhere around here, locate them."<br/><br/>The black runes etched on her blade started glowing an eerie red, as her sclerae turned black, making the silver of her eyes pop even more. The arrays on her body started glowing silver as she fed them mana and in an instant, she appeared to have been tattooed in silver all over her body.</p>