The high spires of the Vladias palace towered in the dead of night, lit by a thousand little eyes and candles that tainted the void with a faint orange tinge.

Lady Agatha, Last of the house of Millah held a goblet of which the content only gave a faint metallic smell, her dainty hands had elongated nails almost claw-shaped, her cadaver-esque skin raided by veins on her limbs faded into alabaster, her face proud and noble, had she been born human she would have already died, but her appearance didn't look beyond 30 something with a vibrant physique and durability. Hair held on a tight bun with draping curls, her lips coated in deep red lipstick, almost black, eye shadow purple red, her attire consisted of a ruffled collar shirt under a purple coat, black riding pants and boots that extended well beyond her knees to the middle of her thighs.

    "Brothers, sisters, children of the night, we the blood of Camazoth have received an ultimatum by the house of Venras."

Her voice echoed through the chambers of the courtyard where from the columns and spirals a crowd of thousands of Stirge peered into the center where Agatha bellowed.

    "I, king Raeburn by the hand of my royal assistant Shajae, command the coven of the night to respond to my call, in a few weeks' time preparations will be held for the summit of Harmonia, in the city of Babylon, in order to have a conversation on peace and equality between humans and products, hence it is of upmost importance for a leader to be chosen, be it the present coven master reading this invitation or any other, your presence shall be welcome and we will discuss of the future in a week."

Lady Agatha gulped, her lips dry.

    "How dare he."

A human king questioning her authority, inviting whoever insurrectionist thinks could overthrow her.

    "Is my reign undoubted or is there to be a challenge?"

She roared, her veins popping as her fangs bared her true face.

    "I do"

Vlad raised his blade.

The sword, if it could be called that, was a mixture of things, the blade was like a katana while the hilt and handle were like a traditional European long sword, adorned with gothic motifs and a pair of bats made of red rubies, one on the center as if it were a magnum opus and the other at the tip of the hilt, much smaller, but nonetheless precious.

    "I challenge you sister Agatha to a duel."

Raeb hid in the crowd wearing a glamour, he looked like a pale version of himself, with white marble skin, black hair, dressed in a coat of black feathers and black pants and shirt, on his face a lace mask making a bird, and a diadem on his head filled with silvery gothic spikes entwined in deep blue roses Its charm keeping him from being detected as a mage.

    "What impertinence, what arrogance, Vlad, do you even know what you're asking for? Do you know what true power entails?"

    "I should ask you the same."

Agatha's teeth chittered.

    "What is it then that I lack."

    "Lady Agatha, you forget yourself. You murdered my parents, your assassins took my brothers and sent me and my blood sister away, didn't you even think retributions were to come."

    "The Maximoffs were not slain by my hand nor that of our kin, you are the one who's mind is in havoc, the clans chose me when they were taken by the crown, by high queen Evanora. The crown is our enemy, or have you forgotten that as well?"

    "In turn fair maiden, have you forgotten Vladias was given to us by the crown, made by the hands of plenty and so ill fitted the pride of your elders. Let us then take that to proof and ask ourselves isn't it time already for the noble houses of the Stirge to be recognized among the nobles?"

Agreement broke into the whispers of a thousand hematophagoi.

Vlad's eyes shimmered red, a red so vibrant Agatha stepped back, for the first time in a thousand-year fear crept into her.

    "Very well?"

    "Challenge accepted Maximoff."

The strigoi cheered as they jumped all over, among them Raeb joined the aerial procession, with a trinket of his own, a charm stolen from the king's vault. While plenty of androgynous servers of the court adorned Vlad with the armor of the Blood dragon, a relic sworn only to be used by the late Sorin Maximoff before his death.

On the other corner of the room, another group of androgynous children of the night dressed lady Agatha with her house armor.

    "I have the charm; it is meant to give you an extra time of reaction if you..."

    "No."

Vlad cut him off.

    "But..."

    "As much as I appreciate it, there's only one way for me to gain my place back with my people, it will be by my own hand."

Armor pieces locked in where they should be.

    "You don't understand, they want you here, they want a true leader you must..."

Buckles fastened and locked in place.

    "I am to win by my own merit, not by magic, we the noctambule shine in the dark like the stars in the night, but like the moon we must shine with true face."

Vlad's sword was ceremoniously attached to his side hip.

    "This is a death sentence she'll tear you from limb to limb."

Raeb spat.

    "Let her try."

Vlad grumbled.

Agatha looked fierce, her armor the silver's bane a platinum white color ornated in rococo motifs and pale pink bats making a choker protecting her neck, her weapon a rapier with pink agates and zirconia on the handle, ceremonious yet lethally kept.

Vlad's armor looked like flayed flesh, red and white delineated the muscles protected, with pearls and a choker that looked like a crown of thorns, from which dangled two crimson sashes of silk with crosses at their tips.

Raeb clung to his trinket and lept as the Strigoi cleared the grounds for the duel, suddenly, the moon was a reflector from the top and the noctambule people went back to hanging upside-down ready to marvel at the fight.

    "Don't fail"

Raeb whispered.

Horns sang all over the palace.

Howling teared through the night.

The whole clan roared and cheered; the primal thirst of violence took hold.

Vlad began to circle Agatha like a wolf to its prey.

Agatha's face showed nothing, nothing but disdain, nothing but superiority, her brow fixed on the child in front of her, how much arrogance? How much blood will she spill?

Blades clang.

Vlad's true face revealed, his true factions, a bat-like nose, and fangs curved and large.

Agatha hissed as the stocked time and again leaping in to make extra damage to each attack, her riposte elegant like a ballerina tearing into the night's grand performance.

Vlad block every attack, on the fourth hit he slashed with his nails turning into claws, hissing as his eyes began to turn all red, another slashing attack and her shoulder piece fell off. She hissed and kicked him, her boot cracked as he turned his face mitigating the attack.

The rapier hit his chest piece, but barely, Agatha kneeled on the ground and summoned a dozen spears made of blood to her call, flinging them at him, the myth of her hemocraft proven right, yet Vlad was unimpressed.

Raeb was breathless.

Vlad blocked the impending attack flinging his weapon like a shield, and sheeting it back without breaking touch, then his eyes shimmered and he slashed once again, in the process the blood he had absorbed turned into a slashing gust of iron that doubled his tearing managing to make a slashing cut on her right cheek.

Agatha made her hair white and ears large like a bat, her hissing rang into a deafening noise making Vlad face the ground and kneel as the frequency rang higher and higher, the other strigoi covered their ears.

He tried to send the sword to attack, but the scream sent it coiling back in front of him.

Raeb cling to the charm and broke it, to release the magic necessary to protect himself and make a little indetectable charm to keep Vlad safe, but by then the ring had stopped.

Vlad was unconscious on the ground.

The combat seemed to have a true winner.

    "What a waste"

She sighed.

    "So, you see, there's no way you could have won, no one Will doubt me ever again."

She kneeled to grab him by the hair, there face to face she smirked.

    "On contraire, my fair lady."

Vlad transformed his nails into claws and tore into her neck. Agatha gushed with blood as her throat was tearing into pieces.

    "I have you where I wanted."

Vlad called his sword back with a flick of his wrist and the blade tore into her back, all the way through her chest, making a cavity through her lungs and many important vessels close to her heart, mating the tip with blood and viscera.

    "See I got plans, for which the first step is to secure our future, and sadly you're not part of those plans."

Agatha stumbled and fell as the new lord of the noctambule folk rose up.

    "Brothers, Sisters I reach you now, I reach for all of those we are kin, tonight a new era begins, no more will we hide from the morning sun, no more will we be condemned to walk on shadow, the era of the stars is over, from now on we will rise on the light of day and seek an unlife befitting of modernity, count the signs, our lord is gone and we must unite to make our line live another day, we must embrace others and change, from now on, I lord Vladimir Pteropis Maximoff will swear to make our kin glorious and grand in the light of all stars."

Plenty Stirge cheered and clapped as well as many whispered and many others clamored vigorously.

    "I will make sure we get a deal with the king, A land for us, vacancies for our people and an end to apartheid and the division with the clans, I will make sure we will contact our disperse brethren and end the diaspora to make myself the son of Camazoth."

Even more cheers broke.

While a few noctambule folk left into the night a vast majority stayed, Raeb did not remember how many there were, but it was clear that  if he was to keep Vlad close he would have to uphold what Vlad promised, end the diaspora, grant them a land of their own and hope for the best the grand conversion was just a myth he had read about.

Then again that was a night of celebration, and he had heard there were no decadence at a party quite like the Stirge, so he joined in, with his own reservations of course.

"Long reign the children of Vladias, Lord Maximoff of the throne of night."