Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2013 11:10:04 +1200
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: the prince of house vladd book 3 chapter 1

			 THE PRINCE OF HOUSE VLADD


				  BOOK 3


				 CHAPTER 1


				 BY ARTHUR



AUTHORS NOTE:

All warnings, restrictions and copyrights are as stated in chapter 1 of
book 1 of this trilogy, any breaches are solely on the reader and the
author accepts no responsibility for your own foolishness or ignorance.

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TO CONTINUE TO BRING YOU THE BEST FREE STORIES ON THE NET.



Peter sat at his desk and looked over the remains of the minutes of last
nights council meeting, Swiftwing sat on a chair quietly watching him work,
the two boys they had rescued worked diligently on cleaning the apartment
as was their duty, the rest of the house was quiet and the new peace that
had come after the destruction by the two god boys was now a matter of
history.

It had been ten years since the downfall of the Destiny Church and the
corruption of the banks and politicians, the country was still in the
throws of trying to rebound from the disaster, of the one hundred and fifty
million people left after the destruction, some seventy five million had
packed up what little they had left and gone over seas looking for a new
life, of those who stayed or could not afford to move, most were now
settling onto the land with the aide of the peoples of the First Nation.

New boundaries had been drawn up and the old form of states was now a thing
of the past, most of the old lands of the First People had been returned to
old lines as first pointed out in the treaties of the mid 1800's, with the
aide of the god boys, the First Nations people were now quickly increasing
in numbers as their birth rate increased rapidly.

Foreign countries had at first tried to move into the crippled country but
found their many devious ways stymied by plots much older than theirs,
every twist and turn was used to take the country, international banks went
to the courts to lay claims to the land in payment for extravagant loans
made to the old administration, all failed before ever coming to the court,
some banks even found themselves in a fight to just retain what they had,
somewhere there was a secret society that blocked every attempt they made.

The major international religions also attempted to move in but were
quickly blocked, the once proud United States of America now became known
as The Confederated States of The First Nation, any reference to the old
U.S.A. and all it intimated was laid to rest, the memories of corruption,
greed and religious fervour were pushed aside after the demonstration of
the true power of the one called `Creator' by the First Nations people.

Peter looked up from his reading and smiled at his lover, their
relationship had only grown stronger over the last ten years and, as with
all Vampires, they still looked like young teen boys, they both felt their
greatest accomplishment was the forming of the Vaga Houses, after ten years
they were mostly self contained and funded, what had once been cities and
then become rubble piles, were now starting to slowly be rebuilt by those
who could not survive out in the country.

The Vaga watched over the rebuilding, small businesses began to rise and
become the outlets for the produce of the countryside, while a great deal
of the trading was done by barter, the need for a recognised currency was
also needed, this was now called `Credits' and was backed by gold as it
once had been long ago, there would be no more currencies based on
fictitious products and sold sight unseen on stock market computers.

The country had been broken up into a number of states based on old First
Nation territorial grounds; this led to fewer states and less beaurocracy,
they now numbered only seven and, for the purposes of easy understanding,
the new map was set out as simply as possible.

The new states would now be known as, The South East, The South West, The
North East, The North West, The Plains, The Plateau and Basin and lastly,
California, which was now half the land mass it previously had, within
these stated regions were the old tribal areas, for the purposes of Council
Meetings it was decided to have a central meeting place and they selected
Pine Ridge as the most central.

Each of the seven states were now represented by an Elder, these in turn
answered to smaller councils of individual tribal Elders, these positions
were unpaid and voluntary, the members being selected by the individual
tribes who in turn selected the seven Elders to represent them at the
national level.

Peter and his people kept to the dark and only came forward after being
asked by the seven Elders for help, it was to this end that Peter saw an
email arrive on the vampnet for Swiftwing, there were very few who could
use this and the only outsiders were the Elders, Peter called his one love
to come over and read the email.

Swiftwing, after giving a light peck to Peter's cheek, began to read the
email, it was short and too the point as were all of the Elders missives.

To:
    Swiftwing, son of Fleet Walker, grandson of Rising Sun, warrior of the
shape shifters, We the council of Elders request your presence in five days
time at the place of mourning of the Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge for a
meeting of great importance.  Council of Elders of the First Nation.

Along with Peter, Swiftwing re-read the short email, why would the Elders
call for him to meet and even more strange; for it to be at a place of the
Sioux who were once enemies of his people the Chiricahua Apache, the
mystery only deepened by the lack of detail, it was obvious it could not be
ignored, Peter at first was a little leery of the idea but, as Swiftwing
pointed out, there was little they could do to him if he had to fight.

Peter finally agreed, he knew he could not go with his lover but that would
not make it any easier, all he could do was make sure Swiftwing had some
backup, this also took a little bit of convincing as Swiftwing felt there
was no danger in such an open invitation, deep in Peter's belly he felt
something was not right but could not explain how he knew, and so, the
plans were made for Swiftwing to go to his meeting but under guard.


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Deep in the Colorado mountains, in a long disused missile bunker, the young
looking teen surveyed the mess on the concrete floor, the three middle aged
humans that had watched over him during his long ten years sleep, were now
just dry husks surrounded by drying pools of their own blood.

The teen, once known as Michael Strong, looked down at his servants, they
had fulfilled their use and now it was time for him to set things right,
his escape had been a close thing when the strange young boys had caused
their havoc and brought down his carefully laid plans, it was now time for
his come back and revenge on the Vampire Council.

Michael Strong, while looking to be about eighteen was in fact much older,
he had been born in 1835 and had been turned when visiting the small
village of Brewster, he had been on his way home to the small farm in the
early darkness of night when a stranger had pulled him aside and whispered
something in his ear, before he knew what was happening, he was being
drained, it took him many years to fully understand what had happened to
him, most of his justice came during the Civil War between the states, his
blood lust knew no bounds as his victims were looked on as being lost due
to the war, for Michael it was a time of plenty, the one time country hick,
farm boy was in his element.

As he aged his power grew, he had little trouble building a substantial
bank and his abilities allowed him to roam freely where ever he wanted to
go, his latest project was to take over what was left of the United States,
to this end he powered up his long silent computer and opened up the
Vampire Net, what he saw almost brought a rage to him that he had never
felt before.

Everything he once owned had been destroyed, every property and every
business was now no more than a pile of rubble, the only saving grace was
his cash fortune, being from the period of the 1800's, his cash was always
converted into gold, he had a major distrust of banks and paper money, to
his advantage all his gold reserves were now with him deep in the hidden
bunker which had once been an underground missile silo.

After reading everything on the net that he could get to, Michael began to
make his plans, it was obvious that the young Prince of House Vladd had
been given carte blanche over the American lands, both north and south by
the Vampire Council, the boy was also the reason his plans had come to
naught, there was much to pay back to the young vamp.

Michael was sure that he was unknown by any of the Princes people, he had
made sure to keep himself unknown by any of the people he had used and was,
in the main, off the radar of any of the Council, from his reading on the
Vampnet Michael could see that the Vaga could not be used by him, their
loyalty was to the Prince, he had to find new cohorts before he could rise
once again and finish what he had started ten years ago.

For the remainder of the night, Michael read everything he could find in
the old files of the vampnet about the Prince and the events that happened
while he was asleep for the last ten years, he well knew he had to have
information and a lot of it and history was always the best way of finding
ways and means.

To the normal human, ten years was a long time, to an old vampire like
Michael it was no more than a blink in his long life, time meant nothing
and he could make plans for years ahead in the knowledge that he would
still be young and able to carry them out, now however, there was only one
thing standing in his way, a young Prince named Poitr Vladd.


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Peter turned to Swiftwing,

"So when do you have to leave?"

"Tonight, I have a lot of preparations to make before the meeting."

"Why so soon, if you use the jet you can be there in a couple of hours?"

"There are things I have to do to get ready, the fasting is no trouble but
I then have to spend four days in a sweat lodge to clean my system and also
be ready for any visions, it is how Creator tells us his thoughts and plans
for us."

"But five days without you, we have never been apart that long before, I'll
miss you too much."

"Then you will have to lay down and make dreams of me, you can never tell,
maybe I will come and visit you in the dream if Creator wishes it to be
so."

"You can do that?"

"All Medicine Elders can dream walk although some are better at it than
others."

"How does it work?"

"It has a lot to do with the individual Elder, mainly the best dreamers are
those who can walk in the places between the real and the spiritual, it
takes a long time to learn how to do it properly, time and distance mean
nothing to the Dreamers, each society always has one or two who are very
strong with it, they may be from far off lands or right here at home but
all of them can talk to each other in the spirit realms."

"So what happens when one of them dies?"

"They go too inhabit the spirit realm until they are called back to this
realm in another and younger form, over time they once again gain their
abilities if given the chance."

"Oh come on my love, if that were true then all the people on earth would
be from past spirits, we would be over run."

"No, we would never be over run as most of the life spirits are reborn when
their time comes just as they pass into the spirit realm when their time is
done, it is especially true for Medicine Elders, each time their spirit is
reborn they become stronger, much of their work is done while in meditation
with spirits that have passed and are waiting to be reborn."

"Do you have past spirits my love?"

"Yes, of course, it is where my strength comes from, each of my ancestors
gave a little of their spirits to me, that's why I am not worried about
this meeting, there is little they would do to harm me, the repercussions
would be dire for them and their clans."

"Do you have any idea why they would call on you; it seems strange that
they would do it after all this time?"

"No, I have no idea at all, I would be considered way too young to join
them even though we have our two sons in the stone city, and they would be
more likely to call on them if they needed help."

The two boys hugged and Peter watched as Swiftwing left the room to get
ready to travel, he would miss him a lot but he also decided to try the
dreaming like Swiftwing had said, it was an unknown way for him but at
least he could try to believe in his lover, even if the dream did not work,
at least he would have the thoughts to go to sleep with while alone.

As Swiftwing left the lift with his small medicine bag of personal items,
he was quickly joined by six security guards, all fully armed and alert,
Swiftwing looked at the men with a smile, his lover had once again gone
over the top with his concern for Swiftwing, still he would let the men
come along with him just too keep the peace, as it was he would not see
much of them while in the sweat lodge, they could sit around for four days
and get some sun, which, in the old state of Arizona, now called The South
East State, would be more than hot enough for them.

Once on the jet and flying south, Swiftwing tried to work out why the
Elders would call on him, they were the elected members of the tribes,
there was little he could do as he had little or no power among the tribes,
he was the last of his line and, of his people there were very few left and
those were scattered all over, the Apache had had a fearsome reputation and
both the United States and Mexico had done their best to try to wipe them
out, after the last surrender of Geronimo they had been split apart and
divided into small groups until they had barely been able to survive as one
people, it was just one more degradation of the First Nations Peoples.

Once the jet had landed on an open stretch of desert where Swiftwing had
told them to set down, he, along with the ever present guards, began to
walk towards a far off cliff, at the base of the cliff were the remains of
an old long forgotten Hopi village, it was here that Swiftwing would make
his sweat lodge.

It took the better part of the day to find all the things needed even with
the help of the guards, Swiftwing was hard pressed to get it done, finally
it was ready, he had set the stones in the fire and was now readying
himself for the long ordeal of the sweat lodge, he wore only his small
breechclout and even removed his familiar moccasins.

As the last rays of the sun set in the west, Swiftwing entered the lodge
with final instructions to the guards to keep the other stones hot, he
would not leave the lodge for the full four days and one of them would have
to enter to replace any cold stones, he was not to be touched or spoken to
during this process, the guards nodded their understanding and watched as
the young boy disappeared into the oval shaped hut.

Once inside the oval hut-like sweat lodge, Swiftwing, using two deer
antlers as tongs, set the first of the hot stones at the position of the
four winds, from his medicine bag he took a bound parcel of sage and
another of dried lavender, these he would use to brush the stones after
adding water from a clay pot, they were both powerful herbs and used to
instil power to his visions as well as being favourites of the spirits.

Swiftwing, being alone had one difficulty, as he would be walking with the
spirits, he would not be able to take care of the stones in the lodge, also
he had no helper nor a drummer as would another Shaman for this special
ritual, to this end he commandeered some of the guards, one to replace the
hot stones as the time passed, the other too make sure there was ample
water in the clay pot, neither would be allowed to speak to him when doing
these small chores, he would have to work without the aide of a drummer.

During his four days in the sweat lodge, Swiftwing saw many visions, some
were not too his liking but had to be viewed and understood before he could
see where they were leading, it all came back to the upcoming meeting and
all he could garner from the visions was that the meeting would be about
change but what change was not shown to him.

The one over-riding factor in his visions was that of a misty figure that
had little or no relationship to the First People yet was a part of them;
this only caused more confusion in Swiftwing's vision time, the figure he
had seen more than once was just a misty figure but it had something to do
with the spirit world but in another form that he had never seen before.

On the fourth day, Swiftwing left the lodge more confused than before, his
visions, while many were detailed, still did not give him a clear picture
of what lay ahead only small snippets of facts, one thing that did stand
out was that this was to be a very important meeting for all of the people.

Swiftwing led the guards back to the waiting jet, he said almost nothing
and they were too well trained to ask without reason, Swiftwing settled
himself on the plane and felt it take to the air, it was only a short hop
of three hours to Pine Ridge, there he would find out more, all the while
his many visions were running through his mind as he tried to make sense
out of them.

After the jet landed at the Pine Ridge airport, Swiftwing saw two very
large Lakota police men waiting for him, they were dressed in their normal
uniforms and waited patiently, he got no feelings of animosity from them
but at the same time there was an undercurrent of suspicion, Swiftwing kept
his features in a semblance of calm assurance as he approached the two
waiting men.

Swiftwing, along with his six guards, were quickly placed in a large SUV
and driven off to the main grounds where the large modern built Hogan of
the Elders was placed, it was situated on a hill overlooking the town of
Pine Ridge but out far enough to be kept separate from everyday business,
it was also noted that this was the land of the once feared Lakota tribe of
the Sioux and the last known battle ground of the Peoples resistance to the
old US government.

When Swift wing stepped from the SUV, he saw waiting for him a very large
mass of people, all were of the First Nation, at the front of the large
mass were seven Elders, it took a few moments before Swiftwing realised
there were only six of the Elders there, one of their number was obviously
not of the People, behind the small waiting group stood two representatives
of most of the tribes in the form of young warriors dressed in traditional
dress, there were none of the store bought items that had once been popular
as old ways died, these young warriors were all dressed in nothing but the
true traditional way.

The Elders were in their best ceremonial garb, all authentic and much of it
very old and, although some were a little worn with age, they were still in
good shape, leggings and moccasins as well as medicine shirts were all
decorated with the old handmade horse beads, medicine bonnets flowed to the
ground with countless eagle feathers, each Elder held a calumet in his left
hand and a smudge fan in his right, over their shoulder hung their medicine
bags, Swiftwing could not believe the sight before him, this sort of
gathering was very rare.

Only one person really caught Swiftwing's eye, the stranger standing with
the Elders, he was not of this land, that much was evident, his skin was
paler but not quite as much as a white man although he showed obvious
traits as being of mixed blood, unlike the others, he was dressed in jeans
and a pale blue shirt that was left to hang outside his jeans, around his
waist sat the shell belt of an Elder and from his neck hung a double strand
of horse beads showing him to be a member of the Raven clan.

Swiftwing found this strange man to be an enigma, he was not of the People
yet he wore items that said he was one of them in some way, in his left
hand and laying along his arm was a Medicine pipe, it was carved in such a
way and in such fine detail that Swiftwing found it hard to pull his eyes
away from it, like the others he held a smudge fan made from the tail
feathers of a turkey but the handle again was carved in such fine detail,
it was like nothing swift wing had ever seen.

Swiftwing also noticed the stranger had a medicine bag over his shoulder
but this one, unlike the others, was made from some plant material that had
been plaited, he also had a large thick walking stick, also carved in
detail, something Swiftwing had never seen before, the last striking thing
he noticed was the bowl of the calumet, it was of a deep green stone and
shaped like the head of an eagle with the beak being pierced and a tuft of
feathers suspended from it, he knew of no stone that looked quite like this
did, it was just another difficult fact to take in about the stranger, why
he was here was any bodies guess.

The large group of warriors came from all over the Nations, from the
Southeast were young men from the Cherokee, the Catawba and Tutelo, the
Natchez and the Choctaw as well as the Chickasaw and many others, from the
Southwest were the Navaho, the Zuni, and the Mescalero, Hopi and Chiricahua
and more.

>From the plains were the young men of the Sioux, the Blackfeet, Comanche
and Kiowa, also present were others from the Crow and Cheyenne as well as
the Arapaho, Pawnee and Plains Cree. From the Basin came the Ute, Shoshoni
and Nez Perce and others, from California came the Pomo, Yokut and the
Miwok also the Karok and the Yurok.

Down from the Northwest came the Haida, Tlingit, Salish and Chinookans
along with their sub tribes, finally from the Northeast came the last
representatives, Algonquians, Chippewa, Shawnee, Huron, Ottawa, Mohawk and
Kickapoo, all of these well known tribes sent young men for this special
gathering, it was like an old style Pow Wow with all tribes present and
waiting for something special to come.

Swiftwing could not get over the numbers, many of the tribes represented
had once been bitter enemies, much blood had been spilt between many of
them and yet here they were all looking and waiting for something, even a
stranger from only Creator knew where, it was beginning to unnerve him but
he had to put on a brave face and continue with the meeting.

Swiftwing approached the small group of Elders, amongst the older men he
looked very young and the surrounding silence all but unnerved him, every
young warrior was armed with traditional weapons of their tribe, only the
Elders wore their Medicine Bonnets all the others were painted as was their
custom long ago.

While there was no actual leader of the Elders, most deferred to the oldest
among them on most occasions, it was he, the one called Dream Walker, that
spoke first, after a short greeting, Swiftwing was introduced to the
others, Looks Twice from the Sioux, Running Beaver from the Nez Perce,
Striding Elk from the Tlingit, Crooked Arrow from the Cherokee and Lone
Horse from the Cree, only the stranger was not introduced to him, this man
stood in silence and seemed to be looking inside the thoughts of Swiftwing.

After the introductions, it suddenly dawned on Swiftwing that there had
only been six of the Elders mentioned, the seventh was missing, he was the
representative of the Southern tribes, he was nowhere to be seen, as
Swiftwing thought this over, they were all asked to enter the large Hogan
that had been built for the Elders meetings, it was the first time
Swiftwing had seen one and there had never been one built like this before.

While the building looked in the same fashion as the traditional Hogan, it
was of course much larger, on the outside it looked to be constructed of
traditional materials but they were all of modern materials, once inside,
Swiftwing saw the full scope of the building, in the centre it had a
lowered pit structure in an oval shape, around the walls were two tiers of
wooden seating, enough to seat about thirty people.

The centre area was flat and covered in what appeared to be bear skins, at
the centre was a fire pit and around it were placed small cane back rests,
each one positioned at the four wind points, Swiftwing watched as the
unspoken leader, Dream Walker and the stranger took a place at the North
point, the place where all members of the Raven Clan began their prayers to
the Creator, the other five Elders took their seats according to their clan
teachings on the other three points of the four winds.

Around the walls on the wooden seating, a number of others sat and silently
watched what was going on in the pit, even now, Swiftwing had little to no
idea why he was summoned here, Dream Walker began the prayers and made the
offerings to Creator, once finished the real reason for the meeting became
known.

The absence of the Seventh member of the council of Elders had not gone
unnoticed by Swiftwing but what was about to be said surprised him in more
ways than one as he listened to the firm voice of Dream Walker, while he
looked ancient to Swiftwing's young eyes, the Elder seemed to grow as his
words filled the meeting house.

"Swiftwing, as you can see we are one member short in our council, it has
come to our attention that you are the last of the Medicine Men of the
Southwest and the last of the Chiricahua Apache to hold that position, we
here are all in agreement that we wish you to accept the seventh position
on this council, your work for the Nation has not gone unnoticed and the
high regard you hold for the old ways has made this offer unanimous, what
is your answer?"

A thousand thoughts rushed through Swiftwing's mind, he had thought for a
long time that he would be able to remain unnoticed by those of the First
Nation, it appeared that he had been wrong, he also should have known that
the power of these Elders exceeded the normal bounds of life on earth,
their abilities to travel to places not of the normal world was a well
known secret of the tribes, something the white man had never known they
could do or even believed in, these six men were very powerful in their own
way, Swiftwing could not think how he could be of any use to such strong
men.

The people crowded into the meeting house stayed silent as they let him go
through things in his mind, this was a very important decision and the
offer could not be taken lightly, silence reigned as he thought through all
his options, there was of course little he could do, if he accepted the
offer he would have to spend time away from Peter although it would only be
at times when large decisions had to be made by the full council he still
had to give it thought.

Swiftwing sat for long silent minutes as he ran through everything, what it
would mean to his loved one, what it would mean to the rest of the
household, how he could reconcile the needs of his people to the needs of
the First Nation as a whole, the meeting house remained quiet, only the
occasional cough or shuffle broke the silence.

Swiftwing bowed his head and began the silent chant to take him into his
own spirit world where all his ancestors lived still, as he felt the shift
in his surroundings, he saw once again the striking figures of his
ancestors as they came towards him, even though he was not related to the
old chiefs and Medicine Elders, he saw both the ghostly forms of Geronimo
and Cochise standing in the background, it appeared to Swiftwing that they
were also interested in the offer.

For many generations, the Apache had only been seen as the worst of the
First Nations people, their very name came from the Zuni word for Enemy,
Apachuu, and while they were well known as the most fearsome of all the
tribes, they had also suffered the most, for Swiftwing to be made such an
offer meant they had at last been seen as worthy to stand beside the others
of the First Nation, Swiftwing's mind was made up, he would accept, not for
himself, but, as the spirits had said, for all the people of the First
nation.

Swiftwing came out of his self imposed trance and looked at those waiting
for him, even now, after more than an hour in which he had been communing
with the spirits, there was still silence, he looked up into the dark eyes
of the six Medicine Elders and the strange blue eyes of the Stranger.

With a nod of his head, Swiftwing spoke to the Elders.

"My ancestors have told me to agree to your request; I will join the
Council of Elders in the place of the Southwest region."

The six Elders only nodded their heads in agreement, it was as though they
already knew the answer, which would not have surprised Swiftwing in the
least, these men were not like others in any normal way, Swiftwing watched
as the Stranger leant over and whispered something into Dream Walkers ear,
the old man smiled and nodded, with a gesture of Dream Walkers hand, a
young teen of about fifteen appeared from the shadows in the back of the
Hogan, Swiftwing assumed he was a new student and so had the job of doing
all the less difficult work that came with being a Medicine Elder.

Dream Walker looked up at Swiftwing; there was a faint smile on the Elders
lips.

"Welcome Swiftwing to our council, as your clan is of the coyote you will
hold the place of the south wind, now let me introduce you too my Spiritual
Brother, he comes from a far land way too the south, his name is Morehu
Tapuae, to us all he is known as Wind Walker and is now a member of the
Raven Clan, he has a gift for you so that you may join us with full
confidence."

The stranger looked at Swiftwing and smiled, he looked to be close to the
same age as Dream Walker but had a different air about him, there was
something deeper in his eyes than Swiftwing had ever seen before, it was as
though he lived in another world but at the same time was fully aware of
this one, his voice when he spoke sounded like that of a much younger
person.

"Congratulations young warrior, I wish to offer you three Koha, gifts of
our own people, these are all powerful Taonga or spiritual items, each has
its own power and they will guide you when asked, the first is this
Medicine Pipe."

Morehu handed the beautifully carved Calumet to the young teen who carried
it around the central circle and placed it in Swiftwing's hands, he looked
closely at the long wooden Calumet, the carving was so fine and done in a
way he had never seen before, it had strange faces and even stranger
animals as well as a lot of swirls and curved bars to bring all the carving
together, at the end was the main bowl, it was as he had seen earlier, made
of fine green stone that looked translucent and yet very beautiful, it
reminded Swiftwing of the jade he had once seen in a museum.

When Swiftwing touched the stone bowl, it felt as cold as ice, even the
heat of his hands could not warm it, he had never felt anything like it
before.

"The bowl is made from Pounamu, it is said that the stone was formed from
the tears of Mother Earth at the loss of her lover Father Sky, it is a
powerful stone, when you are in danger it will turn warm in your touch, the
stem carries the story of Papatuanuku and Ranganui, Mother Earth and Father
Sky for they are the ones above all who aide us in our lives."

Swiftwing laid the long Calumet in his left hand resting the stem on his
forearm as Morehu placed another item in the hands of the student who
carried it to Swiftwing and placed it in his hands.

The fan had a wooden carved handle and had five large and four small turkey
feathers inserted in the top, it also was finely carved with swirls and
short cross hatching, Swiftwing looked it over as Morehu told him what it
represented.

"This fan is the symbol of Tane Mahuta, guardian of the forests, the
carvings depict his children, the birds and animals of the forest, and I
hope it will assist you in your spiritual journeys, this last piece."

Here Morehu gave the young teen student a white, carved, bone necklace to
bring to Swiftwing.

"This is the symbol of Tangaroa, guardian of the sea; it will give you the
power to provide and a key to the spirits of the water."

Swiftwing saw the carving looked much like a stylised fish hook, it also
had another carving within it that was inlaid with the swirling patterns of
the abalone, its blue and green colours reminding him of the sea, he
carefully placed it around his neck, the cool touch suddenly gave him a
sense of calm and peace.

"All of these pieces have their own power and will help to not only protect
you but will give you access to all the old ones of the spirit world, they
carry a strong Mana, Spiritual Power so that you can now call on our
spirits as well as your own."

Morehu leaned back into the cane back rest and watched as Swiftwing got
used to the new items of power, it was the first time Morehu had carried
such powerful Taonga outside his home country but his Brother Dream Walker
had vouched for the young Apache Shaman and that was enough for him.

For the first time in many years, Swiftwing felt a tear softly run down his
cheek, as a Shaman he could feel a new but different power under his hands
as he felt the items settle into him.

There next followed a few more congratulatory speeches as he was welcomed
into the tight circle of Elders, from there it was only a short time before
the first of the drums started outside and the long night of dancing and
feasting began, in all the orderly chaos that followed, there was not one
angry thought or word spoken, the many varied tribes now well knew the
value of co-operation.


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Michael Strong had spent his time wisely, one after another, possible
allies had been eliminated as either, to weak, to involved with the Prince,
or just not suitable, to win over the Prince would take a special breed and
normal humans had neither the strength or knowledge to defeat the Prince,
Michael was left with only one possibility, to this end he began the plan
to leave the country on his recruitment drive, his last remaining servant,
a young man who was now about twenty five years old but had only been a
young teen when Michael had gone to his sleep, set about packing for his
Master.

The large stretched Humvee was loaded with clothes and as much gold as
Michael thought would be needed, the windows of the Humvee were well
blacked out and only the front drivers area could be seen into, Michael
would make his way to Canada, there he would find a flight to Asia, the
only place he could think of that might provide him warriors for the fight
too come.

Knowing most of the limits of the international Council, especially in
Asia, Michael had little doubt he would find what he was searching for,
getting them back into the States would be the challenge, his gold reserves
would take quite a hit but he still believed he had enough for his plans to
work, after the destruction of the Prince, he would have ample means to
replace his fortune.

Much too Michaels surprise, the trip to Canada went off with little or no
problems, the new borders were not guarded like in the old days and
everything was more relaxed, his crossing was done in the middle of the
night when the border guards were tired and thinking only of their beds,
once in Canada, Michael began a search for a private jet, it would be the
easiest way for him to move around.

Once the jet had been hired, Michael had set the flight plan as a trip to
Alaska, from there he would make a new flight plan that would take them to
Vladivostok and then on into China where he hoped his old acquaintances
were still alive and available, it was these friends he pinned most of his
hopes on, they were not part of nor known by the Vampire Council, they kept
strictly to themselves.

>From China he would go back East to Japan, he still had long time contacts
within the Yakuza, for gold they would do anything he asked as long as the
price was right, slowly Michael would build his force with the best he
could get, his plans were being put into action and soon, he would have
back his country but, this time it would be under his rule and his people
would take their rightful place at the top of the food chain.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Peter sat alone down in the lounge, Swiftwing had been away for five days
and no word had arrived about how long he would be away, for the first time
since becoming the Prince of House Vladd, Peter felt truly alone, the
silence of the house during the daylight hours was becoming depressing and
the absence of Swiftwing only went to make it more noticeable.

Peter let a long sad sigh escape his lips as his mind tried to draw
pictures of why Swiftwing was still absent, all sorts of dire scenarios ran
through his head, it was most unlike his lover to not at least send some
form of message once a day to tell him how he was missed but, this time
there was not a word, as yet he still did not fully understand the things
his Shaman lover did, his longing only grew as more time passed without
word.

Deep within his heart, Peter felt something was wrong but he could not put
his finger on it, there was nothing on the vampnet that was out of the
ordinary and there were no murmurings of discontent among the Vaga, the
World Council had not contacted him for some time so all was well there,
what this disquiet was he had no idea but there was something out there
that was a threat to him and his friends.

On the international scene there were only the usual murmurs of political
disharmony, someone crossed another's border while flying, someone else
refused an entry visa for some dictators Ambassador, the European Union was
still having financial troubles as Germany tried to take over all the
banking responsibilities and therefore increase its overall hold on the
smaller countries who were now deep in debt to Germany.

After the big crash America was now pushed back into a role it was not used
too, that of being a one time power that was now in decline, it was the
same story of many ancient, one time Empires, all eventually came to their
knees as they tried to be more than they could, but still Peter was unsure
of things around him, the nagging feeling was still there, he wished his
Swiftwing would return soon he hated the loneliness, even with a house full
of people Peter felt alone and, until Swiftwing was back by his side, he
would be discontented and feeling low.


TBC


Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz