a 'dead' man, set about Stakis with a machete and decapitated him - and likewise fatally injured his leech, which at that very moment was attempting to make an exit through its host's throat! Dying, the leech issued an egg which transferred to Lagula. Thus Lagula was Wamphyri, and his brother a vampire in the making. Two birds with one stone, as it were!
So much Lord Shaitan had had from a spy of his among Stakis's thralls. The rest of the story - how the Ferenczys had holed-up in the dark woods, slept the Sleep of Change, and the next night set about 'recruiting' as many of the former Zirescus as they could find; and how they'd then made their way back to Starside in a body - was unimportant.
The rules of the game were as simple as Shaitan himself had made them: it wasn't the route men took but the getting there that counted.
Well, they had got here, since when they'd made their presence felt. . . almost as a thorn in Shaitan's side! He was sure they worked against him, or would if given the opportunity. He was glad that they had no mentalism to speak of, which was the reason of course that they hadn't been privy to what was going on here. And now the coming of this one, and bad blood between them, or so it would appear. Al in al an interesting situation, and something to be fostered. For if the newcomer and the Ferenczys were at each other's throats, they wouldn't have the time to be at Shaitan's. Which was why he now proposed a solution to the problem posed by Radu:
Hear me out, he said. Let's give this one the benefit of the doubt. He says he'l repay your losses. Very wel, and if he forgets his promise, time enough then to sort maters out, and take back - and take al - of what he's accrued. Except... we cannot continue to think of him as he. Among the Wamphyri, I am the only He, the first and only Lord of Lords. You, stranger, do you accept that? If so, tell us your name, and how you come to be here.
And Radu answered: My only desire is to be accepted among my peers. Since you appear to be the greatest of them, be sure I'll agree to anything you propose - on the understanding that you leave me the means to live and prosper, of course! My name and status: I'm Lord Radu Lykan, who fused with a leech in the swamplands far to the west.
All of which seems only right and reasonable to me, the unseen Shaitan answered, eager to be done with the preliminaries. Very wel, then we will trust you - but it's a trust you must repay in kind. If I were to ofer you audience in Shaitanstack, would you attend me, come up to my manse and enter of your own free will?
Previously, there had been a subdued but very real background 'babble' in the psychic aether; now, as Shaitan made his invitation, this faded to an almost electric air of expectancy, a hush as of held breath. And Radu sensed that the question of free wil was of vast importance to the Lords - as indeed, for some ill-defined reason, it was to him. In effect, Lord Shaitan had offered him the ultimate test, (or ultimate challenge?) and if nothing else, Radu's answer would decide his suitability one way or the other. Which was why he said:
My Lord, merely tell me the hour of my audience, guarantee my safe access and egress, and give me a route ...?
And: A lot of'merelys'! Shaitan answered. But... so be it. And so it would be ...
The time was set: three hours before dawn. That was Shaitan's choice, of course, and a good one for him. That close to sunup, he could be sure that the affair wouldn't be a long one, therefore that it wouldn't get too heated. For of course this was to be more than any mere audience: it would be in its way a reception for the newly ascended Lord Lykan. While Shaitan had failed to mention it to Radu, the other principal Lords - and at least two of the Ladies - would also be there. Indeed they would demand invitations, ostensibly as a matter of protocol, but mainly to ensure that no deal would be struck between Shaitan and the stranger without their knowledge.