While the book was a favorite, and she was not nearly done reading it, Amaya knew that it was better to read it a chapter at a time.  Blood magic was no light matter, and she needed to master what was in the previous chapters before advancing.  And in five decades of reading, Amaya had gotten through half the book.  She smiled a little, remembering just how it and she had come to be in their present situation.  She wasn't entirely sure where Nemesis was, but she wasn't worried.  She was quite sure that her ani could handle himself.

But lately, she had been feeling restless.  Amaya needed to find something to do, someone to play with perhaps.  Something to practice on.  Stroking Sho's feathers for a moment as she squinted at the tome.  She had been reading for a half hour now, and the techniques were getting ever more difficult.  Carefully resting the tome on the table before her, Amaya rubbed her temples.  There was only so much researching that she could do before actual practice was needed.  But she wanted to check with Nemesis first to ensure that there wasn't something he needed of her.

Pulling out a bit of parchment, Amaya scribbled down a few notes of what she wanted to do.  She had a space already that she could use to practice, but there were a few… things she would need.  Test subjects, mostly.  Those she could procure for herself easily enough.  Though she wanted to be sure that she did nothing to upset the balance of this town by taking the wrong subjects.  But hopefully Nemesis could help with that, and the rest.

The only thing that she hoped was that her ani's consorts would stay out of her way.  Amaya didn't mind their presence, but that didn't mean that she had to be fond of them.  And she preferred to do her work in her own way. 

Every night on these streets of Kurayo was a battleground. Perhaps not in the traditional sense with bodies laid out by the thousands, the smell of decay and suffering or actual combat taking place. Nemesis looked on in glee at his beautiful work of art; foolish sailors had overstepped their place with him. He merely wished to speak to their captain about the latest shipment and how he’d like to ‘invest’ in his crew. They, on the other hand, had other ideas about dealing with a bloodsucker as they so kindly called him. They had disrespected him and his blood, and that presented a problem as his more besital nature took hold.

The charming side melted away from his face and then they were left to face a beast that craved destruction over their filthy blood. By the end of it, at least half of them were slaughtered right before their precious captain’s eyes and the rest of them cowered like the feeble little bastards that they truly were. Fear was an excellent way to corral humans and as he wiped the excess blood away from his face and flash them a polite smile once again, he could see it in their eyes- he owned them.

Nemesis happily returned to the manor, his clothing stained with his actions prior, but it had become the norm as of late. It usually did as the time for the full moon drew nearer. Biting and removing the gloves with his teeth, he strolled through the halls, the sounds of his boots getting the floor with each step echoed throughout the household. He was restless now, though the hunger for carnage was held back for the time being. The Volkovian Father needed something else to draw his interest towards and fortunately he smelled one of his pack still around. He made his way to where the scent came from and saw that it was Amaya had at work at something as always. As he came up closer, crimson eyes latched onto the book in hand and smiled while shaking his head.

“Still deciphering that book I see.” Coming around to her side, he lowered down and took a quick peek inside it. At least it had still been in great condition, though he wasn’t surprised in the least. Amaya must have taken exceptional care of it considering how long she had for now. And in the care of blood magic, it was better to be safe and read through everything one could than to rush through it and reap the consequences. It had been in her possession for quite some time and only time would tell when she absorb as much as she needed before completing it.“What have we learned so far this eve, little sister?”   

She heard him before she saw him of course, and Amaya left a hand protectively on the tome's cover.  "Of course.  That's the mistake most humans make, trying to rush ahead.  But we know better.  That first tome took me a century to finish, and I learned so much.  This one, I think it will take me another to get through it.  But thanks to you, I have that time, ani," Amaya said, warm affection in her voice.  Though she had left her mortal life behind long ago, she still thought about it occasionally.  And she had been little more than a wandering assassin, always looking for her next job.  But Amaya had other talents she kept honed, and one of those talents had led her to her sire.

Her hand still on the book cover, she took a moment to figure out the best way to answer the question.  "The chapter I just finished gives theories on how to summon a number of shadowy beings from another plane, ones that would be under my control.  But before I learn that, a containment spell is needed.  And for that… I need test subjects," she said, tapping fingers against her chin.  Perhaps she was being overly cautious, but she also knew that there were limits to how monstrous you could be in this city.  She also knew there were holding cells beneath her feet, but Amaya didn't know what was in them at this point.

"I don't suppose there is anyone left in the basement?  I haven't been down there in a few months," she said, a slight chuckle in her voice.  The last time she had been down there, Amaya had perfected the ability to rot the skin from whomever she touched.  That had been the result of the last chapter she had finished.  And there were still so many secrets she had left to learn.

He remained looking over her to the book with some uncertainty that could be read on his face. Nemesis had sometimes pondered who or what could have written this book if it truly took this long to continue evaluating it. Heavens knew that a mere human simply couldn’t have understood the mysteries of the dark arts long enough to written it out in this much detail though it could have been possible if he or she was able to sustain their lives long enough if they had indeed made great use of their knowledge in this particular field. “If only we had the mind that had written this.” A long finger sought out to feel against the current page Amaya was on, randomly tracing beneath some of its words. “Time isn’t of the essence for us, though I’ve never been a enthusiast for waiting. That is more of your thing, my sweet.”

“Test subjects? Pity, I had just the right men for that job before they…met with an unfortunate death”, he spoke referring to what had happened earlier tonight. Had he known beforehand, he would have gifted them all to her to use.  But they were meant to serve a point at the time, so it couldn’t be helped. Instead his thoughts turned to that of the prisoners that they kept at times. Many of them were from other houses here that for the most part crossed his family, but were too important to simply kill.

Those that he enslaved were kept down there, some for their own good since his consorts would have likely killed them the first chance they would get. Sera especially. Others were interrogated for any important information he could get his hands on before remaining there for the rest of their days. Many had refused only to receive quick nibbles by him; the bite alone was enough to be fatally venomous but he suppose that they would be able to live through it, though very painfully.

“Hm, yes we should have some humans still remaining down. If they weren’t victimized by the starving vampires and wolves first”, he replied with a wicked smile. “Feel free to use them in this venture.”    

She had her suspicions as to who, or what, had written this book.  It was treading into dangerous territory… but what good was immortality if you didn't push the limits every now and again?  "There may be a way to find that mind.  But I will worry about that only if I hit a wall.  And I think once I figure this out, I can accelerate my reading," she said, a confident smile crossing her face.  There was enthusiasm in her voice too, showing the sense of impatience that had finally worked through her calm demeanor.

Her face fell a little when he told her that the ideal test subjects had already been disposed of.  But that wasn't too much of an issue.  But her eyes lit again when there were other humans down there, and Amaya nodded.  "Come on, I would like you to see this," she said.  The book was left behind, the incantations having been committed to her memory already.  The halls were still quiet, and Amaya added no noise to the silence.  There was a trio of human cowering in the second cell, perfect for what she wanted.  Her voice was soft when she spoke to them.  "Now, now.  You shouldn't be afraid me.  I won't be hurting you," Amaya said, though she knew her cold smile was unsettling.  At least she wasn't lying to them.

A barrier shimmered into existence around the humans, grays and blues swirling around them like mist.  They cowered further into the corner, but Amaya ignored them, and started her incantation.  The words tasted foreign to her, but she had heard it spoken enough to enunciate clearly for the spell.  And from her words, shadowy forms were creeping from the corners.  They looked at her, then at the terrified prisoners under the protective spell.  They started stalking around the prisoners, who somehow huddled closer together.  "It worked!" Amaya said, clearly proud of herself.  Then her smiled turned from cold to cruel as she dropped the protective spell.  The specters didn't even hesitate.

While they were busy with their victims, Amaya raised the barrier again, containing the specters so that her brother could observe them.  "Well, that was easier than I expected.  What do you think?" she asked, once the screams had quieted.