| I shook my head as I ate dinner, rice sitting on the edge of my fork as I pointed it at my grandfather. "Are you trying to tell me, that we're going to ask for help from vampires?" I asked, blinking at him. After we had trained and meditated for the day, Sleeping Panther decided to tell us over dinner what exactly did he mean by 'a triumvirate'. I'm kinda was sad that I knew now. "Yes, exactly," he replied, looking at me with a slightly amused expression. "Something wrong?" "Just minus the fact that their reputation is less than stellar." Will took a gulp of water before shaking his head. "On this one, I'm thinking of agreeing with Tasha. Der was telling me about those from 'Dark Land' and he said they weren't too nice of a bunch to hang with," he said. "See, and normally he disagrees with me," I pointed the fork and Will before shoving it and the rice into my mouth. "And why would they help us anyway, Grandfather?" Sleeping Panther tucked an errant piece of hair behind his ear. "They live in Nivta as well," he said simply. "And add that to the fact I personally know a person on the triumvirate." Arching an eyebrow, Will said, "What exactly is a triumvirate?" "It's three people that hold power. This triumvirate is made of the vampire, Francis, the werewolf, Amber, and the fairy or fey, Gabrile. They are the masters of their people except Amber; she is the master of all were-people." "All were-people?" "There's werewolves, wereleopards, wererats, weretigers, werehawks..." I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Ok, that's a lot of were-people. But the point is, if they have all this firepower, why aren't they jumping to help us?" Grandfather picked up our plates and put them in the sink. "It seems the people that inhabit the Dark Lands have had a 'not so stellar' reputation with human beings. They figure since they were hunted by them, why should they help them? Plus, they were not invited," he answered and sat back down. "Invited?" "They have their own set of rules. When I went to visit the pegasi, I arranged a meeting with them as well." Will and I looked at each other and thought for a moment before nodding. "As long as I don't get munched on by Dracula, I have no problem going," my friend said, wearing his normal smirk. Sleeping Panther let a ghost of a smile pass over him before looking at me. "And you?" "Looks like we're walking into the valley of hell," I said shaking my head. |