Alyson closed her eyes, her balance off and she collapsed to the floor. Everything was spinning when Lazheros came over and helped her to feet. She felt sick to her stomach and suddenly threw up on the floor.

"Quake, go and get Captain Lion." The bronze man said.

"Ah, sir." She held up her hand and finished in draconic, *captain aishnak isn' t jaciar sva wer klewar. wux vucot charir saurivic vur jeskic re vin issue.*

**Translation: "Captain Lion isn't himself at the moment. You know red eyes and fangs are an issue."**

Lazheros let an audible groan. Well that is going to make things a lot harder now. Much harder.

"What is wrong with her?" Princess Cauladra asked no one in particular.

"I know not what ails her!" Prince Birch replied, "But I do know this: We cannot be fighting amongst ourselves with so dangerous an enemy afoot. To do so would spell disaster for all of us."

Lazheros scooped up the elementalist in his arms and turned towards the prince and princess, "The only one who can help her is Captain Lion and because of recent events the Englishman has let out his other half to fight this evil. So, I would ask that you not outright slay him on the spot when he joins us."

"Of course not!" Prince Birch declared completely aghast, "Captain Lion has ever been our friend! Many times we have enjoyed his company and he has enjoyed ours. He and his men have always been welcome in Eastport and never have there been any animosity betwixt us. I can assure you, Noble Dragon, that neither Captain Lion nor any of his men will be harmed by either of us."

Princess Cauladra nodded her head in agreement.

Quake shook her head, "Alright. I will go and get him. I think this is a very bad idea."

******

A pair of royal guards were cleaning up the remains of fallen vampires in the hallway as the swordsman came stumbling out. They paused briefly and then went back to work. One of the servants, an elf girl came over to him cautiously, "My lord? Are you alright?"

"Leave me be...child...I just need...some air!" Irzen coughed as his airway began to fully clear. The Swordsman leaned up against the wall and took in as many deep breaths as he could.

The servant girl frowned and did as he asked backing up to give him space.

Madeous came out of the throne room to finding Irzen wheezing from Alyson's assault. He also noticed a servant standing nearby and walked over. "Go on about your duties. This matter does not concern you."

She blinked and looked up to him, "Nay, sir, I would stay to offer him something to drink. For he seems he could use something to moisten his throat after what transpired."

"And what would that be?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously and advanced towards her.

"The vampires sir. It was terrible having to hide from all the fighting. It was scary and my..my" Her words began to slur and her movements became animated as if they were on strings. The eyes closed as she convulsed violently and when they opened they were glazed over, blank.

"What in the world?!" Irzen gasped as he took full notice of the elf girl.

Her mouth grinned and in a mix of tangled voices a song came out, "I had strings but now I'm free. I've got no strings on me! Teehee! Isn't that such a wonderful song? I enjoyed watching the Elementalist taking her rage out on you, Swordsman! It was such delightful carnage. It's a shame that she's still strong enough to resist me. That won't last long."

"Let me guess: You're the Blood Mage, I presume?" Irzen snarled at the little girl, "You know, using a child to do your dirty work is quite cowardly! Even for a Blood Mage."

The puppet turned to the platinum knight, "And you! YOU! I curse your interference!"

"Take a number and get to the back of the line! Unless you beat the curse Venger placed on me, you're out of luck!" Madeous snarled and steadily pushed the puppet away from Irzen.

The Swordsman now caught his full breath and stood apart from the wall with his hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

The puppet laughed now hovering above them and dancing upside down on the ceiling, "Oh come now. You poor, poor little drow. Come to play with me have you? It's been such a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng time since I've had new playthings in my reach."

Madeous reached behind his back grabbing his sword and jabbed it upwards. He missed which doesn't happen very often.

"Tsk! Tsk! No. No. No. Is that any way to treat this meeting. Such useless attempts to strike me down." The puppet hung upside down in Irzen's face, "Surely, swordsman. Have a drink on me. Tralalala!"

"Let's not and say we did!" The Swordsman smiled with an evil grin. In one fluid motion, Irzen yanked his sword free of its scabbard, sliced through the neck of the puppet and returned his sword to his sheathe with the trademark quickness of his Dark Elven heritage.

The puppet dropped to the floor with a sickening crunch even as the body twitched about before it well still. The blood however oozed out of the dead girl's corpse forming into a human sized image with a smile, "Enjoy this victory, mortals. Enjoy what freedoms you have left, we will savor your pain slowly and feast upon the souls of--!!"

Madeous drove his sword into the floor like he did back in Asylum at the barracks. The magic that flowed from the weapon surrounded the blood mage. Pure white light rose up and turned inward before the creature could react. The blood mage snarled and screamed as the power of Bahamut slammed into him with such force banishing him from the castle permanently.

With a sigh of relief, the platinum knight gave the Irzen a nod, "Is it me or do the villains here like to monologue a lot? Either way, the blood mage won't be able to control anyone here in the palace. He's been rebuked by Bahamut himself."

******

The elemental left and went back up to the airship to fetch the captain. Heading to the door, she knocked and entered. "So, umm The Bronze Man needs you come down to the throne room, sir. It's the lady...she ah, nearly killed Irzen out of rage."

The Englishman sighed heavily and stood up from his chair throwing on a hooded cloak. At least he had something to drink before he left the safety of the cabin. He stopped briefly to reassure Serna, "Maxim and Sir Gonagle will stay with you while I'm gone. Please, stay on the airship, young lady where you're safe."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Captain Lion," Serna held her shield tightly, "I'm not leaving this room until you say otherwise."

The kurori sat up on her shoulder and whispered, "I'll protect you, Serna. I won't let any evil blood sucker get near you. I promise."

*******

When Captain Lion entered, the room was tense from the previous nights battle with vampires. Still wearing the hooded cloak he approached the bronze man holding Alyson. Placing a pale hand on her forehead, she was cold and still. Her breath shallow. He glanced about the throne room and remembered a side room to the far left, "There I will do it in that room with your permission, Grand Cleric."

"Under most circumstances, I would not allow you or anyone else near her, Captain but this is not normal." The bronze man said bluntly.

Quake came over and blurted out so everyone could her, "No. You're not gonna turn her! That ain't gonna happen! I won't let you...she doesn't like vampires!"