BOOOM!

And explosion rocked the wall of thorns, as many of them were trampled on the ground and severely burned. Asha was connected to these thorns, which is to say, part of the damage they receive was felt by her. But mere seconds later, the destroyed part of the thorn wall, began to rise, growing back into position stronger than ever. But in the process, the staff in Asha's hands, sent hooked snapped barns into her palms, and drew from her blood and energy to sustain the spell.

This method of ritual sacrifice was incredibly powerful, and was a talent of witches and warlocks. And using a real live sacrifice would have been a lot better, but Asha was infected by Kael's capacity for goodness. She couldn't bring herself to use any of the people she was protecting, as a sacrifice, and it was too late to grab any of their enemies, so the only choice was to offer her blood as a sacrificial material.

But this was a testament to how strong she was, even with just her blood and energy, Asha was able to hold back hundreds of enemies as powerful as she was, if not a little more. And at the same time, she was protecting roughly two thousand people, in comparison to normal vampire elders, Asha was a cut above the rest, the very pinnacle of vampiric perfection with the only rank stronger than her being a Dracula. Which is to say, her strength was legendary, and only someone with divinity of any sort, a demiG.o.d to be precise, can completely decimate her in a battle.

And currently, the only person she knew with the power of a demiG.o.d was G.o.d knows where with her husband looking for dragons. Asha was worried, because she was running out of time. And even though she had sent to help, she wasn't sure they'll be able to get here on time before she fizzled out completely, and they all ended up vulnerable to the attacks of their enemies.

"Lady Asha! What do we do, you can't keep this up for long! And why the h.e.l.l are we being attacked by Shamir!" Sousa asked, as she limped towards Asha's side.

Asha wrinkled her nose at the stench that a.s.sailed her sinuses. Obviously it's been quite a few days since Sousa had to worry about hygiene, but that was not the problem at hand, it was the fostering wound of pus, and rot on her tight that was releasing such a pungent odor. This was the spell the Serpentis had used, and it was not just Sousa, as almost half the people here were infected by it. And with constant rotting and healing, many of them were in agony, and Sousa got injured trying to save Asha's life. Which was the only reason she was tolerating this woman who's guts she hated to the core.

"I don't know about Shamir, Sousa, but that guy has always been our enemy. I don't know why he's attacking us, but at this point I think it's better for us to a.s.sume that he and his posse of purists have gotten down and dirty with the Serpentis. They're in an alliance." Asha answered her, as she bowed her head in exhaustion, sweat dripping in huge rivulets down her black hair.

"But what about you! You can't keep this up for much longer! Are your reinforcements really on the way?" Sousa asked, as she used a clean cloth to clean off the sweat on Asha's forehead.

"Is that concern for my well being I'm hearing from you Sousa, wow! You should be careful lest anyone gets the wrong idea and think your not the venomous snake we all know you are." Asha said to her with a smile, as her knees began to shake and buckle.

Sousa stretched out a hand, and held her up, giving her the support she needed to stay on her feet, and answered.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still a venomous snake, and I still want to steal your husband. But my survival is connected to yours, so I have to make sure you last long enough to get me into those well muscled brown skinned arms of Kael Cor."

"And here I thought you had changed. I guess I'm sill naïve." Asha said to her.

"I guess you are Asha, you're too good a person for the pit, even though you're also as ruthless as they come. Your heart's in the right place.......also, I'm sorry….….for everything that's happened." Sousa said to her in a soft voice.

"Yeah I know, I sort of figured that out when you took a metaphorical bullet for me. And I'm sorry too, I was sort of a power hungry dominative b.i.t.c.h to you and the rest of the elders."

"Yes you were, and it was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l. Half the time when you act like that, I don't worry about my anger, because the anger isn't usually directed at you, but at me for the fact that I would want to rip your clothes and dominate you and your dominating persona. Or in some cases, let you dominate me instead."

"Oh! Is that a confession, in this situation? Seriously? You're a woman of many layers Sousa Zekeri, and bad timing too."

"Yes I am."

At that moment, a shockwave came from the south, spreading through the thorn hedge, and through the defenses towards Asha, who suddenly lost control of her spell, and the wall of thorns came cras.h.i.+ng down. Asha let out a small scream, as the backlash from having her spell interrupted with, almost made her pa.s.s out. But it left her with a very terrible headache. Before Asha could muster up any other defense, she felt someone jab a blade in her back, and it was made of silver. As she fell to the ground, beset by pain, she could hear Sousa whisper to her.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me, but this is the only way I can save my children. I have to hand you to Shamir, or he's going to kill them. I'm so sorry Asha!"

Asha couldn't say anything but look up at the woman she just decided to trust again. Only to have be stabbed in the back, literally. But Asha for some reason could understand, after all she was also a mother. And she knew she would have done the same thing, even to Kael, with how much she loved him. She would never have hesitated to take his life if it meant saving her children, it was dark and most would call her out for such an action. But such was the love a mother had for her children, she was willing to sacrifice everything for them, even someone she loves.

"It's okay-I...I…..I understand." Asha said to her, as she curled into herself, the pain from the silver dagger getting to her and almost shutting her senses down. She felt cold, and weak, and the fear of dying was very real for at this moment. Would she close her eyes to the darkness and never see the faces of her babies again, to see them grow up, become strong, fulfill the great destiny she knew they had, or find love and heartbreak just like she had multiple times.

Would she see her husband and her wife again, those two who would love her no matter what she did or said, her-

[You sure know how to talk a lot sister, especially when you're so close to death. Hold on, he's coming.] Xaseah's voice rang out in Asha's mind, forcing her to open her eyes wide in surprise.

Then in a surprising show of will power, she moved her hand to her back, even amidst her pain and agony, and pulled out the silver dagger stuck there. The relief she felt only lasted for a while, before she felt chains bind both her hands and legs. Asha ignored the silver burns, as she turned to Sousa and said.

"Gather the people together, he's coming."

Sousa did not need an interpreter to tell her who 'he' is. She did as Asha said, quickly gathering the people around her and moving them to the side, as Asha was surrounded by Serpentis soldiers on one side, and elder vampires on the other. The escaping residents of the red district and Sousa herself completely ignored and forgotten.

The Naga king with his bulky and large body, combined with his bone staff, came towards Asha and wrapped her tightly in the coils of his lower body. He was about to leave, when Shamir sent a ball of darkness at his coils that forced him to release the bound Asha to the ground. The infuriated Naga king turned towards Shamir and said.

"Don't overstep your bounds Shamir the unsealed. You have still not paid for your crimes in instigating a war between the Naga and vampire races, sending my people to their deaths by not telling us about how capable the vampires were. So don't test me."

"Oh! It must have slipped my mind your Majesty, but I need that woman. She's important to my coven's plans, besides she's useless to you." Shamir said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Is she now? I think that's up for me to decide hmmm? This woman is practically the queen of all vampires, and her husband is king. Because of your f.u.c.k up, she's going to be my bargaining chip against an enraged king. You set me against a vampire who single handedly built a powerful and impenetrable city in just mere months, destroyed the influence of the council of light within the pit in a year, broke the chains of the vampire's captivity, and worse of all! Something that you f.u.c.kING! Forgot to MENTION! Was that he's a freaking WEAVER! So no, Shamir, I'm not giving this woman to you. She's going to help me keep her husband in line."

"Seriously? You think you can keep Kael Cor in line? That guy is a virus, a cancer and a bacteria. He's persistent, and he talented beyond anything you've seen in existence or will ever see. He's like a c.o.c.kroach, and he never dies, he never falls. And as long as he knows you have his wife, he's going to keep coming after you, again, and again and again. Each time stronger than the last, until you're nothing but dust beneath his feet. Join me! Give the woman to me, and we can stop him together."

"Hahaha Hahaha! Oh you idiot's are a mess, look how scared you are." Asha started laughing from her place on the ground.

"And what's so funny, Queen of vampires?" The Naga king asked.

"She's not our Queen!" Shamir retorted with his visage twisted in rage.

"Queen? Queen Asha....it has a nice ring to it. I guess that's what I'm going to ask my husband for once he's back. That he makes me queen of not just the pit, but also the lands of the Serpentis. Because quite frankly that's the only thing that could make up for this s.h.i.+t storm I've had to deal with since he's been gone. Isn't that right husband?" Asha said as she looked up to see a man with the traits of a dragon flying above them.

"You want to be queen my love, fine I'll make you a queen. I'll make you a crown of bones from the bodies of our enemies, starting with this Two. f.u.c.king. Morons!"

"Oh! That's so romantic my love, now kill them. I'm it supposed to be on my knees for anyone other than you, and even then only in our bedroom. And please husband, make sure it hurts."

"With pleasure!"