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killing the creature outright.
    “Why do you make me torment you so, lover?” she asked. “What have I done to so deserve such pleasure from you?” She turned her hand just a bit as she spoke, and the vampire seemed to shrink before her, his legs buckling.
    “Dahlia!” he managed to plead.
    “A tenday has passed since I gave you your task,” she replied.
    Dor’crae’s eyes went wide with horror. “A Dread Ring,” he blurted. “Szass Tam would expand them.”
    “I know that, of course!”
    “To new areas!”
    Dahlia growled and twisted the tiny spike, driving Dor’crae down to one knee.
    “The Shadovar are strong in Neverwinter Wood, south of the city of Neverwinter!” the vampire grunted. “They have chased the paladins from Helm’s Hold and patrol the forest unhindered.”
    “Imagine that!” Dahlia exclaimed sarcastically at yet another bit of common knowledge.
    “There are rumblings … the Hosttower … magical wards and unleashed energy …”
    Wicked Dahlia cocked her shapely head despite herself, and eased up her prodding finger just a bit.
    “I know not the full tale as of yet,” the vampire said, his words coming more easily. “It is shrouded in mystery older than the oldest elf, in a time long ago when the Hosttower of the Arcane in Luskan was first built. There are—” He stopped with a grunt as Dahlia’s wood-covered finger burrowed in.
    “To the point, vampire. I haven’t an eternity.” She looked at him slyly. “And if you offer me eternity one more time, I’ll show you an abrupt end to your own.”
    “There is magical instability there, due to the fall of the Hosttower,” Dor’crae blurted. “It is possible that we could create carnage on a scale sufficient—”
    Again the woman twisted the words from his mouth, silencing him. Luskan, Neverwinter, the Sword Coast … the significance of that region was no mystery to Dahlia. The mere mention of the area rekindled memories of her childhood, memories she clutched close to her heart as constant reminders of the wretchedness of the world.
    She shook the haunting images away—it was not the time, not with a dangerous vampire held at arm’s length.
    “What more?” she demanded.
    A panicked look came over the vampire, who obviously had nothing substantial to add and expected a sudden end to his existence at the hands of the merciless elf.
    But Dahlia was more intrigued than she showed. She retracted her hand so suddenly Dor’crae fell to hands and knees and closed his eyes in silent thanks.
    “There is no time you are near me when I cannot kill you,” the woman said. “The next time you forget that and try to afflict me, I will utterly, happily, joyously destroy you.”
    Dor’crae looked up at her, his expression conveying that he didn’t doubt her for a heartbeat.
    “Now make love to me, and do it well, for your own sake,” the elf said.

    It had been a fine trip to the stream for water. The pollywogs had just hatched and the twelve-year-old elf lass had found hours of enjoyment observing their play. Her mother had told her not to rush, since her father was out on the hunt that day anyway, and the water would not be needed until supper.
    Dahlia came over the rise and saw the smoke, heard the cries, and knew the dark ones had come.
    She should have fled. She should have turned around and run back to the stream, and across it. She should have abandoned her doomed village and saved herself, hoping to rejoin her father later on.
    But she found herself running home, screaming for her mother.
    The Netherese barbarians were there, waiting.

    Dahlia pushed away the memories, channeling them, as she always channeled them, into her need for dominance. She slapped the vampire aside and rolled atop him, taking full control. Dor’crae was a most excellent lover—which was why Dahlia had kept him alive for so long—and the woman’s distraction had given him the upper hand. But only for a short while. She went at him