The throne room was empty in the ancient castle.  The tapestries were free of dust and grime, though the ravages of time have left them tattered and faded.  The grand carpet leading up to the throne itself was threadbare from centuries of booted feet striding up and down its length.

The throne where Lady Liantha was lounging was immaculate, however.  The pillows were perfect, preened and fluffed.  The dark wood of the throne was polished to a mirror sheen and the gold inlay sparkled in the flickering light of the braziers and candles.

She relaxed in her dress of crushed midnight blue velvet.  Her long, dark hair was teased up above her head and held in place with a diamond studded silver tiara.  She swirled a glass of deep red wine in her hand as the gently pointed tip of her ear twitched slightly.  She had an uninvited guest.

A simple gesture of her free hand and her minions sprang into action.  Zombies crawled their way from under stones in the floor as stone gargoyles clambered down from their perches up in the darkness.  She heard the scream and grinned.  

She closed the hand she had been gesturing with and pulled it in towards her body.  There was a struggle and a crash, but she could hear the intruder being slowly dragged down the hall towards the throne room.

The huge double doors were opened and the intruder deposited on the ancient carpet.  They then swung shut with a loud bang, locking from the outside.  The intruder pushed herself up off of the carpet with surprising ease and grace, impressing the vampire.

She was dressed in a long black coat the likes of which Liantha had not seen before.  She finished her wine and set the glass on the floor beside her throne before seeming to float to her feet.

Her voice seemed to come from every corner of the throne room at once as she spoke, “Why have you dared to invade my home?”

The red haired woman had dark glasses over her eyes, hiding much of her expression from view.  She bared her teeth in challenge as she snapped, “Your ghouls invaded my home first.  Where is my brother?”

She ran her tongue over her fangs, glancing down at her glass, stained a deep red.  “Oh, your brother, you say?”

Liantha grinned as she closed her eyes and inhaled.  She could almost taste the despair.

“Why?  Why did you do this?  We have left you alone for centuries, and you did the same for us!  I thought there was mutual respect?”

She laughed, a sharp, cutting bark as she glared at the woman before her.  “Respect?  I was forgotten!  When was the last time your village sent their required tribute to me?”

The intruder screwed up her face in confusion, “Village?  Tribute?  How many years has it been since you’ve been outside?”

“Apparently long enough for you all to forget your duty to me.  Let me remind you.”

She let out a snarl as she began to transform.  Vicious talons shredded their way through the tough leather of her high heels.  Fingers slowly stretched and lengthened, skin spreading between them as her arms stretched out as well, becoming massive bat-like wings.  Her ears swept sharply up by the sides of her head as her nose turned upwards, her face pushing out into a sharp-toothed maw.  Her beautiful dress was shredded to pieces as her size increased by leaps and bounds.

Shaking her head, the intruder pulled a small triggering mechanism from the sleeve.  A wire vanished up into the arm of her coat which she threw open wide.  She almost appeared bat-like as well for a moment, the coat flapping wide around her until she pressed the button.

The vampire let out a shriek of agony as the high intensity ultra-violet lights flickered to life, bathing the vampire in their glow.  The skin of her wings shriveled and shrank as smoke and flames erupted from her body.  Within seconds, she was a smoking pile of bones that continued to wither under the bright lights.

The intruder snarled as she kicked the pile of ashes, grinding them into the worn carpet before she shed her coat.  She confidently strode over to the throne.  Tossing the glass aside to shatter in the darkness, she sat down on the throne, feeling the power of the ancient castle offering itself to her.