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Message-ID: <59044asstr$1243476602@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Dreadpirate Tom <dptom@live.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Continued story, Blood Lust, Chapts 33-end
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Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 22:10:02 -0400
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Story codes for this installment are (No sex, viol, caution, vampires)
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<1st attachment, "blood lust chapts 33-end.txt" begin>



   Blood Lust Chapters 33-End

   By Dread Pirate Tom

   Chapter 33

   Mia stared up at her former Master, wishing that he would stop looking
at her with that arrogant and triumphant smile and just get on with it . 
That she had failed and would pay for that failure with the death of both
herself and her love was punishment enough without being subjected to his
gloating.  She heard Alicia's soft footfalls come to a stop in the vicinity
of her hips and closed her eyes, trying to steel herself against what she
knew was coming next.

   She heard a sharp impact and a soft exclamation of surprise.  Opening
her eyes, she saw that Arthur had lowered his chin to his chest, his face
twisted with confusion, shock and pain.  Following his gaze, she saw the
rough, gray point of one of the splintered pieces of wooden debris that
littered the basement protruding from his chest.

   He spun about and caught Alicia before she could finish her limp descent
to the floor.  Clutching her lifeless body tightly to him, he whispered,
"Why, Alicia?  Why?" over and over again.  His words resonated with such
deep sorrow that, had he been anyone else, Mia would have wept in sympathy.

   But he was Arthur.  Now freed of the foot that had held her to the
floor, Mia rolled to her feet and stood behind him.  He was so lost in his
grief that he took no notice of her movements.  Her uninjured arm moved
swiftly forward, and she took a firm hold on the shard of wood that still
stuck out from his back.  Withdrawing it slightly, she changed its angle
and drove it home once more, this time piercing the heart that Alicia had
missed.  Still holding the fledgling in his cold embrace, the Master
crumpled to the floor.

   Mia kicked him over onto his back to make certain that he was truly
dead, but she had no time to savor her hollow victory.  The profusion of
candles that Arthur had used to light this place had been scattered; first
by his battle with the soldiers and the FBI agent and then by his fight
with her.  Most had guttered and gone out, but some had come to rest among
the piles of dry and moldering wood from the collapsed portions of the
house.  Fires had sprung up in several parts of the basement and were
spreading rapidly.

   Mia ran to Tom's side.  Even with her supernaturally acute hearing, she
had to press her ear to his chest to make out the faint beating of his
heart.

   Although he was unconscious, she still whispered sadly, "I'm sorry, Tom,
but this is really going to hurt."

   Supporting his weight as much as possible, Mia took hold of the head of
one of the spikes and pulled.  With a groan of tortured wood, it came free
in her hand.  She did the same with its twin and lowered Tom to the floor.
Hastily she licked around the massive wounds in his wrists.  With the fire
spreading, there was no time for a full healing, but hopefully this quick
effort would slow the rate at which his life, already so diminished, seeped
from his veins.

   Lifting him gently over her shoulder, she ran out of the basement.  Once
clear of the fire, she laid Tom on the ground and leaned over him.  She was
astonished to see that his eyes were open.  He looked up at her with
preternatural calm.

   "I love you, Mia," he whispered before his eyes closed and his face went
slack.  She could just barely make out the sound of his heart faltering in
his chest.  There was no time for hesitation; no time to ask for consent.
If he rejected what he was about to receive, she would gladly stay outside
with him until the sun's warm rays caressed their bodies.  Biting deeply
into her own tongue, Mia bent to give him the Gift with a kiss.

   When the deed was done and his heart had beat for the last time, she sat
up and closed his sightless eyes with gentle fingers.  She had no idea if
the Gift would take: his death had been caused by mundane injuries rather
than the draining bite of a vampire.  Cold tears rolled down her cheeks as
she softly lifted his head onto her lap and settled down to wait.

   In the distance, she heard the heavy thump of a helicopter's rotors
beating the still night air.  It was getting closer.  She could stay in
that place no longer.  Placing Tom's body over her shoulder, she put her
back toward the sound and ran.  As the landscape blurred past, she pulled
his cell phone from her pocket and made several brief calls.

   When she reached the bank of the Allegheny river, she stopped in sudden
confusion.  Quick glances up and down the river revealed that there were no
nearby bridges, although the collapsed ruins of a piling bespoke of where
one had once stood.  She could not turn back or travel along the bank in
either direction without the helicopter catching sight of her.  She snorted
in self disgust at the sudden realization that Tom no longer had to breathe
any more than she did.

   Well after the helicopter had passed by, Mia emerged on the opposite
side of the river.  Splashing to shore, she hurried off to make the
rendevous she had arranged with Mark and Dana.

   Chapter 34

   The fire in the basement had spread to cover the ceiling with a blanket
of orange and blue flame by the time Alicia sat up and smoothly rose to her
feet.  As she turned to regard Arthur's body, ripples of change coursed
across her form.  Her body mass and height rapidly diminished, her skin
became several shades darker and her hair grew longer and more glossy.

   Lei truly regretted that this had become necessary, but she had warned
Arthur of the consequences of disturbing the balance between human and
vampire too severely.  And the balance had been disturbed, if not in the
way that he had intended or believed.  When she had entered dormancy the
prior morning, the city had been full of ferals.  In fact, there had been
more vampires in the city than had ever existed before in the entire world.
But, by the time she had woke this evening, only a handful remained and
their hungering, raging little minds had been snuffed out before the light
had fully faded from the sky.

   Humanity had adapted to their presence far more quickly than she would
have expected, but, even if they had reacted slowly, the result of any war
between vampire and human was a foregone conclusion.  However strong a
vampire might be at night, humanity's ability to move about during the day
was an insurmountable advantage.  She, herself, was a perfect example. 
During the dark hours she was a veritable goddess, but, during the day, a
determined child with a stick could end her existence without fear.

   The existence of her kind depended on their ability to hide in the
shadows; to conceal themselves among their prey.  That was the reason why
she had created the law.  At this point, concealment was still possible. 
Most humans would think of vampires only in the context of the images of
the mindless ferals that had spread so quickly throughout their
communications networks.  Most remained unaware that sentient vampires
existed and, as the government's lies were disseminated ever more widely,
that ignorance would persist.

   There were a few who knew the truth.  Because of them, Lei and her
children would have to be more careful for a time.  Lei could easily
envisage special forces teams around the world scanning crowds carefully
with IR gear.  Most of her kind, however, were capable of compulsion and
memory alterations, or were under the protection of one who was.  It was
unlikely that any would be revealed.  In the absence of further incidents,
fear and paranoia would gradually be replaced by natural human apathy and
things would return to normal.

   Had she waited any longer to bring an end to Arthur's crusade, it would
not have been so easy.  She could sense a number of her children converging
on this city, coming to enforce the one and only true law that bound them.
In the holds of ships, the cargo bays of planes and in the backs of trucks
they moved ever closer, as cold and implacable as a glacier.  Had humans
witnessed any of the titanic conflicts that would have ensued if Arthur had
still been alive upon the arrival of the others, no mortal would have
rested until every last nook and cranny of the planet had been thoroughly
searched and purged of her kind.

   Her reverie was interrupted by a roar as the ceiling behind her
collapsed in a gout of flame.  Given his age and vitality, she knew that
she should decapitate Arthur to ensure that he stayed dead, but she lacked
the will to do so.  The fire would have to be sufficient.  Giving Arthur's
body a final, silent salute, she leapt from the basement as the remaining
timbers collapsed to bury him forever.  He had been one of her favorite
children, and her world would be diminished by his absence.  While she had
eschewed the ties of Mistress and fledgling in his case, she had watched
and guided him over the centuries, although he had never known it.

   He had been cruel, sadistic and utterly lacking in anything resembling
compassion or mercy; all qualities that are necessary to withstand the
remorseless grind of centuries.  Whether it was because of these qualities
or despite them, she had loved him in her own way, as she loved all of her
children.  Perhaps that was why she had faltered at the last minute and
missed his heart with the improvised stake.  Had Bergthora not quickly
corrected her error, Lei would have been forced to go through the tedious
exercise of erasing everyone's memories, healing their injuries, and
repeating the scene from the beginning.  She wondered if she would have had
the strength of will to impale Arthur a second time.

   Despite everything, he had accomplished his purpose and left behind a
powerful legacy.  In spite of the government's best efforts, the word
"vampire" was on everyone's lips and in their minds.  For the masses, this
would not last long in the absence of further incidents.  Within a few
weeks, most would decide that the government was right, that it had been
nothing but a disease that had now been contained.  Then Brittany would
find a new boyfriend or Lindsey would go back into rehab, and the media and
the masses would forget these dark hours.  But a small nagging fear would
remain in the minds of many artists, scientists and statesman.  That fear
would exhort them to greater efforts, and inspire them, at least in small
ways, in every aspect of their lives.  Fear was, after all, an excellent
motivator.  The world could well be on the brink of a golden age and
humanity would owe it all to a monster.

   She walked slowly around the perimeter of the foundation, until she
reached a thick cluster of bushes.  She gestured and the catatonic form of
the real Alicia slid out from the rough concealment.  Lei's original intent
had been to carry out the reality of the charade she had just played; to
have the fledgling kill her Master and die in the process from the backlash
of the bond.  That plan had not survived meeting the girl in person.  There
were depths of savagery and lust in Alicia that had not yet begun to be
sounded.  Lei had been sufficiently intrigued to spare the fledgling's
life.

   Not that sparing her had taken any significant effort.  As distracted as
he had been, it had been child's play to keep Arthur from noticing that her
position did not exactly match where the bond indicated she should be.  It
had been only slightly more difficult to keep him from consciously
acknowledging that the bond continued to exist even though he believed that
he was holding his lifeless fledgling in his arms.

   Change distorted Lei's form until she was again the great raven. 
Gripping the shoulders of her fledgling prize with talons harder than
steel, she took to the air.  As she passed over the river, a glittering
black eye turned downwards to check the progress of the last crucial part
of her plan: the witnesses.  She focused first on the mortal.  She had
sealed the wounds on his chest in the hope of prolonging his life, but that
had apparently been too little, too late.  Her senses delved deeper and she
saw that the Outsider was already taking hold inside his flesh.  The Gift
had been given and received.

   That would do.  Even as her newest child, he still had strong ties to
the mortal world.  He would relay the news of tonight's events to the
mortal authorities.  Word would spread that the two beings at the root of
the city's strife had been eliminated, no matter what terms the government
and media couched it in.  The others would return to their normal environs
and abandon the hunt for the law breakers.

   Out of idle curiosity, she next examined the mind of Bergthora, or Mia,
as she now chose to be known.  What she found intrigued her almost as much
as Alicia had.  Lei had always considered Mia to be weak and unworthy of
the Gift, but, perhaps, her strength was merely of a different sort than
Lei was used to.  This pair warranted further observation, and Lei decided
that perhaps she wouldn't travel quite so far away as she had planned.

   On sudden whim, Lei froze Mia's mind and swooped in to land near her. 
Changing from avian form to human, she quickly pulled a small packet from
her own pocket and pushed it into Tom's.  It was a small thing that she had
acquired only because she despised waste.  To her it was nothing, but to
this pair it could mean everything.  Her task complete, Lei again took
wing, releasing Mia's mind only when she was well out of sight.

   Chapter 35

   When Tom's awareness returned, he found himself in a very dark place. 
He tried to lift his hand to his face, but there was not enough room.  He
could hear the crinkle of plastic above him, though he could see nothing.
Had he been buried alive?  He began to thrash around, seeking escape.  A
cool hand reached out of the darkness and ran soothingly across his cheek.

   "It's okay, Tom," Mia's voice said from the dark, "We're in the trunk of
Dana's car.  We're safe."

   As he calmed, Tom noticed a peculiar sensation in his mind; a bubble of
emotion seemed to float on the edge of his consciousness.  A bubble that
radiated with warmth.  No, not just with warmth, he realized, but with
love.

   His voice muted with wonder, he asked, "Is that you, Mia?  Inside my
head, I mean."

   "Yes," she answered, and he could feel a tinge of amusement among the
warmth.

   "You're beautiful," he whispered.

   There was a flurry of awkward movement and a few thunks as her limbs
found the limits of the confined space the hard way.  Then her cool lips
were pressing against his.  It was then that he realized that he felt no
pain despite the severe injuries he had suffered.  Although the bubble that
was Mia should have given it away, it was only now that he truly understood
the implications.

   "Am I a vampire?" he asked.  He could feel worry, concern and a bit of
guilt through the bubble.  Those emotions faded into confusion as Mia
realized that, although he was a little fearful and uncertain, he wasn't
upset.

   "Yes," Mia replied, "I'm sorry, but..."

   "Shhh," he interrupted, "It's okay.  I thought I was dead for sure.  You
have no reason to be sorry.  In fact, thanks for saving me."

   "You're not angry," Mia said.  As she was aware of his emotions through
the bond, it was a statement of surprised fact rather than a question.

   "Why would I be?" he asked gently, "I know you, so I also know that
being a vampire does not make one a monster or change who they truly are."

   Lips again pressed against his and lingered until the trunk suddenly
popped open and the tarp was pulled back.  Tom looked up to find Mark and
Dana staring down at them.

   "Ha!" Mark said, "I told you they were canoodling.  You owe me a beer."

   "Pig," Dana muttered, before grudgingly admitting, "But a pig who was
right."

   Tom could hear their hearts beating.  He could almost feel the warmth
flowing off of them.  A ravenous hunger rose from his core and, for the
first time, he experienced the odd sensation of his fangs extending.  As he
began to lurch out of the trunk, Mark and Dana jumped back in surprise.

   Mia threw her arm across his chest to restrain him.  "Calm down, Tom. 
When a new vampire wakes up for the first time, he always wakes up hungry.
Hunger can make you irrational.  You can control the hunger.  Just hang in
there and I'll get you fed.  Okay?"

   Her words had a bigger effect upon him than he would have thought
possible.  Once again in control, he climbed out of the trunk and then
turned to assist Mia in doing the same.

   He looked around at his surroundings curiously.  The car was parked near
a rustic cabin surrounded on all sides by thick forest.  A small dirt road
which ended at the cabin provided the only access.

   "Where are we?" he asked.

   "My Dad's old hunting cabin outside Medix Run," Dana replied, "I figured
that it would be a safe place to hide until everything calms down.  There's
even a little root cellar under a trap door in the main room.  It's damp
and dirty, but it'll be dark."

   Mia led Tom over to the porch.  "Sit here and don't hurt anyone," she
ordered, "I'll be back soon."

   Tom immediately sat as she had told him to.  When he looked at her with
confusion and a hint of fear, she explained gently, "When you took me in, I
told you about the other effects of the bond.  Because I gave you the Gift,
I'm...  Well, technically, I'm your Master.  Or Mistress.  Whatever." She
bent to kiss him lightly on the forehead, "I promise I won't abuse it."

   Mia ran off into the woods, and Dana went inside to open the windows to
air out the musty camp.  When they were gone, Mark sat down near his old
friend with a sigh.

   "Well, ain't this just some shit?" he commented darkly, "How are you
holding up?"

   "If you had told me back when I was assigned to investigate the murders
that it would result in me becoming a vampire, I would have had you
committed.  I'm not going to lie to you, Mark, I'm still not sure what to
make of all this.  I love Mia, and I know that if she hadn't turned me, I
would be dead.  Under the circumstances, I'm certainly not mad at her.  In
fact, I'm grateful.  But still..."

   When it became apparent that Tom wasn't going to continue, Mark asked
quietly, "What's it like?"

   "Hard to describe.  Everything is clearer, brighter.  As dark as it is,
I can make out every leaf on every tree in perfect clarity.  I can not only
hear some small animals moving around in the woods, but I can hear their
hearts beating.  Oh, and the smells!" Gesturing toward a section of forest,
he continued, "There is a field of flowers right past that stretch of
woods. I can distinguish the separate odors of more than five different
kinds.  The rich, earthy scent of the forest is like nothing I could have
imagined.  If that were all there was to it, I would be ecstatic.  But
there's another side.

   "When you and Dana opened the trunk, I could smell you both, and you
smelled good.  Good enough to eat.  I could hear your hearts beating in
your chests and the sigh of breath passing through your lungs.  It made me
hungry, Mark.  A ravenous, overwhelming hunger that I couldn't control or
ignore.  If it hadn't been for Mia..." he broke off with a shudder.

   Dana had emerged unnoticed from the camp and overheard the last. 
Dropping to her knees behind Tom, she embraced him lightly from behind,
"We'll help you get through this, Tom.  We know you wouldn't really hurt
us."

   Tom reached up to squeeze her hand lightly in thanks even as he shook
his head.  "That's just it," he said, "I think I would have hurt you.  Part
of me would have been screaming in horror, but the hunger was in control.
Mia has said a few times that new vampires need to feed when they rise.  I
hope that means that the hunger I felt is unusual, even unique, but what if
it's not?  What if it's like that every time?"

   Dana patted his shoulder soothingly, "Look at this logically, Tom. 
You've been around Mia for a while now.  You know that she's a decent
person.  She could have bit us at any time, but hasn't.  That's so even
though you know she's had to have been hungry at least a few times.  If she
can control the hunger, you can, too."

   "That's what I told her and what I've been telling myself.  I hope we're
right."

   The three sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes until Mark
began to snicker.  When the other two turned to look at him questioningly,
he raised a hand in supplication.  "Sorry to break the mood," he said, "but
it was getting a little maudlin.  I was just looking forward to Mia getting
back.  She's already taught Tommy here to sit.  Maybe she'll teach him how
to roll over or fetch next."

   With a scowl of mock indignation, Tom said, "Go ahead and yuck it up,
big guy.  Just remember, piss me off enough and you just might end up
happily fetching my slippers every night." By way of demonstration, Tom
bared the fangs that he hadn't quite figured out how to retract.

   The snickers turned into guffaws as Mark blurted out, "I don't think so,
slave boy.  As I recall, your Mistress ordered you to sit still and not
hurt anyone." His laughter increased in volume as he added, "Well at least
buying you a Christmas present will be easy this year.  All I have to do is
find a place that sells latex body suits and ball gags."

   Dana began to sputter with laughter of her own as she joined in on the
abuse, "On the bright side, Tom, turning into a vampire got rid of that
little gut you were growing.  You might even look good in nothing but a
leather g-string and nipple clamps."

   Tom did his best to maintain an air of wounded dignity, but their
laughter was too infectious.  When Mia returned with two deer in tow, she
found the three of them clutching onto each other gasping for breath as
they tried to recover from their merriment.

   At the sight of them, Mia's guilt over making light use of the power of
suggestion to nudge Mark and Dana's minds so that they would be more apt to
apply reason to the situation than fear or superstition faded.  The
transition from mortal to vampire was traumatic enough without adding
rejection from those you cared about.

   Walking up to the trio, she shook her head in amusement, and addressed
Mark and Dana, "You two really might want to go inside for this.  It can
be...unpleasant."

   Once they had gone into the camp, Mia turned to Tom.  "Let your hunger
loose," she directed.

   Immediately, the ravenous hunger that he had felt earlier resurfaced, as
strong as ever.  He focused on the deer's heartbeat and moved forward.

   When he rose from the carcass with a last shudder of pleasure, he
commented, "Definitely not surf and turf, but there were certainly benefits
that I've never gotten from any steak."

   Mia smiled up at him from where she had finished feeding on her own
deer. "Yeah, I think we'll be able to make do with this."

   Tom replied, "I don't see why we couldn't.  You've been doing some
amazing things since you switched to animals." He was astounded by the
massive rush of guilt that flowed through the bond.  "What's the matter?"
he asked, alarmed.

   Her eyes downcast, Mia confessed, "There should have been ten survivors
at the hotel.  Not nine." As she had expected, her words inspired a turmoil
of emotions in her lover's mind.  When they settled down, she was surprised
but ecstatic that love, strong and undiminished, remained as his primary
emotion.

   "You were pretty beat up that night.  I'm guessing that you felt pretty
much like I did when the trunk opened?" At her nod, he continued, "I can
hardly fault you for that.  If you hadn't stopped me, I would have attacked
our friends.  I wouldn't have been able to stop myself."

   "You're not horribly disappointed in me?"

   "How could I be?  But, from now on, let's promise each other that we
will stick to our furry friends.  Okay?"

   "I promise," she said.

   "So, not to change the subject, but what was that Arthur called you? 
Bergthora?"

   "With all that was happening, with all your injuries, you managed to
remember that?" she asked incredulously.

   "Mighty hard to forget."

   With a sigh, Mia muttered, "I told you that I came from a village in
eastern Russia that had been settled by the Norse.  You didn't really think
Mia was my given name, did you?"

   "So what was your full given name?"

   "Why on earth would you want to know that?"

   "Well, if I'm going to be married to a woman for eternity, I figure that
I should at least know her real name."

   Mia said softly, "Bergthora Aerickova."

   As Tom stifled a snicker, she said defensively, "For the time and place,
it was a very respectable name, I'll have you know."

   She was silent for a moment before adding loftily, "Married?  What makes
you think I'll have you?  You're already my slave, so what's in it for me?"
When Tom began to sputter, she relented, "I'm joking.  Now, as Ms.  Bara
would say, `kiss me, my fool.'"

   As they pressed together, they heard something crinkle in Tom's pants
pocket.  Perplexed, he reached in and pulled out a ziplock bag containing
several sheets of paper.  When he opened it, he found each page was divided
into four columns, two of numbers and two of words, all written in a neat
script.

   "What do you make of this?" he asked.

   "Where did you get it?"

   "Beats me, but the only people I've been around all night are you,
Arthur and Alicia."

   "You remembered Bergthora, but can't recall who stuck their hands in
your front pocket?"

   "As you might recall, I was unconscious for a lot of it."

   "True.  Well, I think we can rule Arthur out, but why would Alicia give
you this?  Why would she even have it?  I never did."

   "You know what it is?"

   "Look at the third column.  It's all bank names.  I think this is a list
of all of Arthur's accounts and the passwords to access them."

   "Huh.  That would mean..."

   "Yeah.  We're filthy, stinking rich."

   They sat in silence for a time, considering their unexpected good
fortune, before Tom spoke up, "Think you can teach me how to do that change
thingy?" As he asked, Mia caught several strong images from his mind.

   With a burst of laughter, she cried out, "I can't believe you!  I give
you the gift of immortality and incredible physical and mental abilities
and the first thing you think to use it for is to make your penis bigger?!
Dana's right.  Men are pigs."

   "Amen, sister," Dana said with a chuckle from behind them as she and
Mark emerged from the cabin.

   "Well, if you kids are going to be okay, Dana and I had better get back
to the city before anyone gets suspicious," Mark said.  As he hobbled off
towards the car, he stopped and turned to face Tom, "Before I go, though,
let's hear it."

   "Hear what?" Tom asked, confused.

   Switching to his best Bela Lugosi impersonation, Mark replied, "I vant
to suck your blood."

   Laughing uproariously at his own humor, and ignoring the rolled eyes and
grunts of disgust from everyone else, Mark resumed his trek.

   Dana lingered behind, "Um, I kinda wanted to ask you two something."

   "Ask away," Mia replied.

   "Well, I was thinking.  In all the movies, vampires have minions to take
care of them during the day.  Dracula had Renfield.  Dandridge had Billy
Cole.  I was thinking..."

   "You want to live with us?" Mia asked, nonplused.

   "Well, yeah.  If that's okay with you two," Dana answered shyly.

   With the bond, there was no need for Tom and Mia to confer.  Standing,
they walked over to the embarrassed young woman and wrapped their arms
around her.

   "Welcome to our really weird family," Tom said with a grin.

   "And if you're good, we won't even make you eat bugs," Mia dead panned.

   Laughing somewhat uncertainly, Dana promised to return as soon as she
could, and then walked off to join Mark in the car.

   After Mark and Dana had left, Tom and Mia sat entwined on the porch
until the sky began to brighten with the coming dawn.  For the first time,
they dared to talk about the, hopefully, long and happy future that awaited
them.

   Neither of them noticed the monstrous bird that watched them from the
middle branches of a huge oak tree just inside the forest.

   Lei watched the pair until the horizon began to brighten with the coming
day.  With a caw that sounded suspiciously like laughter, she flapped her
monstrous wings and took flight toward the cabin she had appropriated for
Alicia and herself.  She was almost giddy as she considered this new
experiment that could potentially occupy centuries.

   Although the Gift granted the potential of immortality, the reality was
far more limited.  Lei had yet to find a single other being whose desire
for life was as indomitable as her own.  When she had first joined with the
Outsider, she had given the Gift to all of the great philosophers of the
day, whether they wanted it or not.  The thought of what their exceptional
minds could accomplish with an eternity to work with had made the future
seem so bright.  She had been sorely disappointed when few had lasted so
much as a decade and none longer than a century.

   Most had ended their own existence almost immediately, unable to contend
with the crushing guilt that came from taking the lives of others to
sustain their own.  Others, unwilling to give their loved ones what they
perceived to be a curse, gave into despair when friends, spouses, children
and grandchildren grew old, withered and died while they, themselves,
remained unchanged.  A final few had been unable to bear an eternity of
endless night.  Unwilling to exist forever without the sun's touch, they
had instead decided to greet it.

   Since that time, Lei had chosen the recipients of the Gift based on
strength of will, innate intelligence and absolute callousness towards
others.  These criteria didn't work as well as she might have hoped.  Even
the most cold hearted eventually succumbed to madness when the very nations
in which they had been born grew decadent, collapsed and were consigned to
the dung heap of history.  Time marches ever onward, and only a very rare
few could keep pace.

   In nearly seven thousand years, she had given the Gift no more than
thirty times.  Now that Arthur was gone, only four remained.  Of those, the
eldest was barely a thousand and the rest significantly younger.  As for
the rest of the double handful of her kind, fledglings of fledglings, Mia
was among the eldest.  Nothing, it seemed, lasted forever other than Lei
herself.

   Perhaps the answer had been in front of her all along, ignored and
disdained.  Certainly, Lei had never had much use for the emotion other
than as a tool to get what she wanted.  Could love allow Mia and Tom to
endure where less gentle traits had failed?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  Only
time would tell.  Time, however, was one thing Lei had in abundance.
   

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