Tonight there are two assemblies in the city of Dublin.

Deep underground, away from the eyes of the humans, the Vampires are congregated in their theatre. Carved out of the very stone and earth that was underneath the Council’s building, two thousand seats are filled, with another thousand standing in the aisles. Each and every Vampire, from day olds, to those whose age has been forgotten. All are waiting for the curtain to come up on the reason they have gathered in such, never seen before, numbers.

Across the city, in the woods, high in the mountains, the Lycanthropes make their way towards the large clearing, there is two to one comparison to the Vampires. Little confidence though can be found, because though their numbers are higher, the presence of the Hunter is a clear thought in their minds. Some travel in their human form, others travel with more haste through the power of their wolf being.

The stage in the Vampire’s theatre has it’s cleaned velvet red curtains drawn, they were bought off the Adelphi Cinema when it closed for the last time, to make way for a car park. From the parting Cholike and Grosls come through, dressed as that of a Christian Brother without the white ‘buck tooth’ piece of board at the front.

The murmuring in the theatre comes to an immediate halt, as the elders of the Vampire Council prepare to address the members. The fierce features of their Nosferatu appearance unique in the citizenship of Irish resident Vampires.

The clearing starts to fill up against its name. From the darkness between the trees human and wolf Lycanthropes enter. Those that have arrived in the form of Wolf return to their human forms, blankets and sweats await them to cover their nudity. History of the clearing was simple, one of their kind, worked the land as a farmer, but as age crept into his eyes and life he started to create a wood, a clear, and all for his future brothers and sisters to meet in privacy. His work complete, he stood back, proud of that which he had created, and unable to cope with his strength falling from him, in both his forms, he took his life. He is remembered, but his name is never spoken.

The last person to arrive to the site, Fred, the leader of the Wolves. Those humans who serve them are not permitted to attend. Instead all the servers were left to gather all the information about the numbers the Lycanthropes would face. ‘The time has come brothers, we are at war!’ A hush fell over the men, women, and children that were in attendance. Fred continued, a bellowing voice. ‘We all fear this Hunter, we all know of what he is capable of, but still, we know that we are stronger, than any single Vampire, any one human.’ It was clear to everyone there that Fred believed what he was saying, the reassurance of their Leader gave them hope. ‘I know that many of you wish not to have this War, I am among you. But the choice is no longer ours. I know that right now, the Vampires are meeting, each and every blood draining parasite in this country is now in Dublin.’ Confident or not in Fred, this news brought the spirit of the meeting back to reality. ‘All of them are here, all of our kind is here. We will win! We will PREVAIL!’ Before Fred could breath in to say his next words, a mighty roar escaped the mouths of most of the crowd, some remained silent, not sharing the optimisim.

In the Theatre, something had caught Grosls eye off to the left of the stage, he quickly left his twin brother, and went straight to the distraction. All that the conregation of Vampires could see was the pale skinned Nosferatu conversing with some hidden figure. A herd of whispers rose from the gathering Vampires. The brother, Cholike, looked directly into the crowd, a stare that appeared to be into the eyes of the entire audience. ‘SILENCE!’ Cholike said, his voice chilling to his own kind. Grosls smiled, and finished his conversation with the hidden figure off stage, then he walked back to his brother. You could hear a drop of blood fall in the room. ‘You will excuse me, I have a surprise for you, and a reassurance for those of you who doubt the outcome of the conflict approaching.’ Grosls clapped his pronounced veined hands together, a loud smacking noise produced. The large curtains that are behind them opened slowly, and the sight behind them left all but two, Grosls and Cholike, in total amazement.

‘The Hunter, he is a concern. Though what should we fear most? Vampire? Human? Or our very extinction from this country. Too many of our foreign brothers have been wiped out.’ The silence caught Fred, he had to get all of his kind together, make them one army. ‘Well, I say it ends here.” His voice carried over the large assembly, his words forcing the loudest cheer that was heard that night. ‘I have nothing left to say, other than to let you know the choice you have, Fight or Die!’ In his mind Fred thought he went too far, but in his heart he knew that his duty as leader was clear. Making sure that everyone knew their life was at stake, that not even the youngest of their children were safe from the teeth of the Vampire, or the silver of the Hunter. Cold silence rang through the air as Fred walked through the crowd, he did not stop to take praise from anyone, that was not why he was there, slowly, calmly he walked into the woods, into the darkness. The gathering was over, the speech short but to the point. Some of the people remained, but most changed into their beast form and took off.

Standing behind Grosls and Cholike were one hundred Warlord Vampires, every race and size, the least height of the army of Warlords was about six foot seven inches, the tallest was closing in on nine feet, and must have been close to that wide. Smiles were forming on the faces of the Vampire audience. To either side of the Warlord Army, Grosls and Cholike stood, proud of their achievement. ‘The Wolves think that they out number us, well, they still do numericly. Lets see how they fair when this army we have assembled takes to the streets.’ One, then ten, then each and every Vampire in attendance rose to their feet and began to clap their hands. ‘We still expect you to fight though.’ The powerful voice of Cholike bounded out. This though did nothing to stop the applause. Now all the Vampires knew that they had a chance, that with this army of Warlords beside them that their victory would be sealed.

‘Now, you must take your leave, we will contact you all soon. The first battle is close.’ The curtain closed behind the two brothers, and the Warlord Army disappeared. The applause died down, and the Vampires started to make their way out of the theatre. Grosls and Cholike didn’t wait for them to leave, in fact as the first Vampire shuffled out of the row of seats to make his way to the door, the brothers had retreated off the stage.

Cholike led the way, his brother Grosls following behind him. ‘Do you think they suspect anything?’ there was little worry in Grosls’ vocal strain. ‘No, they think they will survive.’ It seemed to irritate Cholike to speak. ‘When the Lycanthropes are wiped out, the Warlords will help us destroy every one of those impure bloods.’ The brothers continue to walk. Their plan continuing to flow with every step.

The last of the gathering had left, leaving Fred alone in the clearing. Sniffing the air in human form didn’t feel the same as it did while a wolf. A lesser scent filled the air, nothing was clear. Lifting a hand to his head Fred felt a headache coming on, maybe the beast inside him wouldn’t feel it so much. The change came, he sniffed the air, the advanced sense of smell gave him what he needed, somewhere close was a hurt animal, somewhere close was his evening meal, but still the headache showed its prescence. Eating may cull the pounding. He moves quickly through the woods, letting his nose sniff out the wound of his prey. A small deer, wounded by running into a broken glass bottle, would soon have it’s suffering ended, but not humanly.

The two meetings that had gathered this night didn’t go unnoticed by the Hunters. Both professional and the Ametuer had been keeping electronic eyes and ears on both gatherings.

Harmon had managed to find out the Lycanthrope meeting place, it took killing a postman who had been charged with sending out the invitations to those that were technophobic. The Postman had to deliever all the messages before Harmon could make his move. Two hours of torture, even though he hated them, and those who served them, Harmon had respect for how long the Postman, in his late fifties, managed to hold onto the information. A human life, even that of a server, was still precious, and Harmon took the near dead man to a hospital. Hours later, the postman passed from his injuries. There was a small beating of emotion from Harmon, but in his mind, he believed that a war has to have casualties.

Paul and Bernard’s method of finding information was plainly bought, hard cash. A Vampire day slave, one of those who conduct business, during the hours of hibernation, gladly handed over information of the brothers meeting. The cash gave the young man an option to get out. The Vampires take the humans in with a simple hold over them, should they disobey, their families would be turned, painfully.

Paul knew that neither he nor Bernard would pass for Vampires. Their smell and moves would give them away, not to mention the fact that they had heartbeats. The location would be impossible to gain access to. So while Harmon would gain his knowledge by attending the Lycanthropes meeting, Bernard and Paul would have attain theirs second hand. Experience had taught Paul how to get the most out of a Vampire without killing him. Although loyalty was big within the Vampire race, something else would be more prevalent for some, survival.

The mass of Vampires left the meeting at once, most deciding to go for a bite to eat. The roof of the building across from the public face of Vampire HQ was a perfect position for Bernard and Paul to maintain surveillance. They needed to pick their time right. Paul had brought a piece of his past, and modified it to suit the modern purpose. The final Vampire to leave the building had to lock up. Held within the scope of the sniper rifle, Paul took his shot. Vampire or human, all go down to a thousand volts, the shock dart hit the Vamp in the back of the neck. The ground hit the Vampire hard.

Bernard had to move quickly to gather the Vampire into the back of their Van. He would regain composure soon enough, but that was not what they were afraid of. Intel that they had collected told them that a number of Warlord Vampires would be at the meeting. From the drivers side, Bernard got out, taking a quick look up to Paul’s position. Paul was taking apart his snipers rifle, moving as quickly as he could. Sliding the side door of the van open, Bernard managed to lift the Vampire into the back. By the time Bernard had bound the hands and feet of the Vampire securely, Paul had made it to street level, his large black bag beside him.

At the roof of the Winding Stair there is little to talk about, roof access and a flat surface. The only other object that holds court on the roof is the steam pipe from the kitchen. It was here that Paul and Bernard’s new Vampire friend would be attached to during questioning. Vampires are known to be severely reactive to silver, as are lycanthropes. The Vampire, a relative newbie, was called Terry, 20 years old when turned, and 10 years a Vampire. Paul tied cloth first around Terry’s wrists then handcuffed him to the steel pipe. A thick silver wire around his denim jeans would stop him from rising. “How will we wake him?” Bernard was nervous, but the good kind, the kind that sharpened everything about him. He knew that without Paul being around to back him up, that he would be turned by this or any other Vampire.

Paul took a look at the sky, clouds parting and the dark night sky going back to bright blue. A look to his watch confirmed that sunrise was 10 minutes away. “Instinct will wake him, his internal clock should be letting him know that the sun will rise soon.” Paul had no sooner finished speaking when Terry’s eyes blinked open. Bernard’s fear came roaring back as the Vampire struggled against his binds. Morphing between his Vampire features and his human cover. Calm came when Paul stepped forward with a steel spike and held it close to Terry’s heart. The Vampire looked around, taking in his surroundings. Backing off with the steel spike, Paul let Bernard take centre stage. “You haven’t much time, so make a choice, cooperate and you can rush to shelter, be a dick about this and in less than ten minutes we’ll watch you burn.”

It didn’t take Terry long to sum up his situation, and although he knew that Bernard’s courage was doubtful, his resolve was absolute. “What do you want to know?” Paul smiled, Bernard remained still. “There is something happening, we want to know what it is?” Terry started to laugh, Bernard turned and gave Paul a look. Paul stepped forward and stuck the steel spike into Terry’s left shoulder, on impact the spike and flesh began to flame. The screams from Terry echoed through the empty Dublin streets. “Time is something you can’t mess around with.” Through his screams Terry managed to spit out aggravated words. “The war… has existed since our births, our leaders… they want it to end.”

No longer could Paul keep silent, his experience with Vampires and Lycanthropes was vast. He knew that the war between Vampires and Wolves was constant, in every country the war was there. “Why? Why now? Why here?” A new tone came into Paul’s voice, one that Bernard didn’t hear before. “No one knows, all we know is that there is an army of Warlords, and a Wolf Hunter.” Now both Paul and Bernard’s interest was peaked, but with different items. Paul knew that Warlord Vampires were hard to take down, while Bernard was more worried about the third wheel. A Wolf hunter would be useful, but Bernard wanted the Vamps and Wolves to suffer jointly. Paul took a quick look at his watch. “Three minutes to sunrise. We’ll have to cut him loose.” Paul took a step forward and Bernard reached out to stop him. “We can’t let him go, he’ll be able to return, the council will know our plans.” Paul knew that Bernard was right. Taking the steel spike from Terry’s shoulder, listening to the Vampire plead for his life, Paul moved the spike to the heart of the Vampire. Once again Bernard stopped him. “Don’t, lets let the sun take care of this.” Smiling, Paul backed off, leaving Terry cursing and swearing. Although Bernard wanted the creature to suffer he didn’t want to watch it all. Knowledge was enough.

Even after Paul and Bernard were gone, Terry continued his rampage. The first rays of sunshine were threatening over the buildings. A new pairing came onto the roof. Ana and Christy lowered onto the rooftop, Terry calmed down, in awe he watched the beautiful tanned woman walk towards him. He could tell she wasn’t a Vampire, nor her partner. “Who are you?” Terry asked, aware that more and more sunshine was creeping towards him. “Relax Terry.” Her eyes and voice were calm, making Terry feel calm. “I would like you to come with us, right now.” With a motion of her hand the binds came loose on Terry, he stood quickly. “I must get inside quickly.” Panic and haste ripped in Terry’s voice.

That night many people had smiled at Terry, but Ana’s was the only smile that didn’t give him the shivers. Ana raised her hand to the wound caused by the silver spike. She placed her hand into the wound. “Nasty silver, don’t worry, with me you will no longer have to suffer silver.” Removing her hand, the wound sealed up instantly. Stepping forward Christy has a look of worry about him. “We should move, this city is about to get busy.” Ana smiled at her King. Terry looked to his wound and then to Ana. 'What happens now?' Taking Christy’s hand, Ana and her King start to rise from the roof. 'You will be our Commander, join us now, the war is about to begin.' Confused about the new feelings inside him, Terry thought about floating like Ana and Christy, and that was it he was floating. 'Thought is a powerful thing.' The words didn’t come from Ana or Christy, but yet they were heard in Terry’s mind. 'Think about flight, and follow us.'