It was very late in the night, and the only source of light in the dark forest was from the twinkling stars above.

Suddenly,

SWISH!

Lucy’s slightly shining crimson figure dashed over the terrain of the dark forest like a bat out of hell.

At this moment Lucy was pushing her speed to the limit. Everywhere she passed she left vague afterimages, yet  amazingly enough she moved this swiftly without making a sound.

‘I… don’t have…much time’ she despaired internally

The effects of the Blood Boil were beginning to worsen as Lucy’s body began to prepare for her advancement to the next rank.

 She’d tried to push it back and delay it until she’d found Sera, but she was beginning to reach her limits. Whether she liked it or not her advancement would begin soon.

‘Damn it! I shouldn’t have drained that fool so soon! Now- Wait!’

Suddenly, Lucy’s figure made a sharp right turn as she caught sight of a shock of orange hair in the distance.

Using her astounding speed Lucy traversed the knotty undergrowth of the forest with ease as she seemingly glided to the nearby spot.

As soon as her lithe feet touched the ground Lucy noticed something was different about this neck of the woods.

This area of the forest was ominous and dead silent.

But besides the drained and wrinkled body of Ambrose the Earth mage, Lucy could see no signs of Sera in the surrounding area.

“This can’t be… I can definitely feel her presence here. Wait what’s that?” Lucy strained out as she continued surveying the woods.

At that moment she took a step forward and felt reality seem to shift around her.

‘What the- I knew it!’

Lucy could hardly believe her eyes.

She had noticed a shimmering translucent-like veil right before she approached but she’d assumed it was a trick of the starlight. However, she now knew that wasn’t the case. But more importantly…

Not far from where she’d found the dried husk of Ambrose’s body, Lucy had finally found Sera. And just as she suspected moments before, she was indeed having her breakthrough to the Apostle rank as well.

‘Drinking Ambrose’s blood must have forced her advancement!’

At this moment Sera lay curled in the clearing as waves of potent psionic energy wafted off of her form. Her skin was a ghastly pale color but had various blood red vein like lines running across it.

And although her face had a grimace across it like she was in pain,  Sera breathed in slow and even inhales/exhales which greatly calmed Lucy’s nerves.

She knew the progression from fledgling to apostle was one of the simpler advancements, but any vampire would be powerless and vulnerable during it nonetheless.

‘It looks like she doesn’t have much longer to go’ noticed Lucy as she cradled Sera in her lap, ‘I suppose I could … push mine… a little longer. Just until she finishes.’

Lucy thought back to the semi translucent screen that seemed to hide Sera from view earlier.

‘I at least  have the assurance  that we’re hidden behind that forcefield, and judging by the timing I’d say it must have formed from Sera’s growing psionic power manifesting itself as she breaks through ’

This development in Sera’s abilities surprised Lucy but definitely pleased her as well. Most psionic vampires didn’t develop the ability to use forcefields until at least the Noble rank, but Sera seemed to be a freak of some sorts and developed it just before the Apostle rank.

According to Amara’s memories the ability to use/create a forcefield was an ancient and difficult skill used only by psionic vampires. The forcefields were able to hide their fortresses and clans as well as ward off some intruders but they too like vampires relied heavily on the use of blood energy to sustain them.

 Furthermore, the forcefields were starkly visible to the naked eye only under direct moonlight and sometimes required more than one psionic vampire to keep them stable.

 Nonetheless, they were a psionic vampires main form of defense and stealth and a highly sought-after skill.

As the time slowly inched by into the night, Sera’s complexion gradually improved as Lucy’s slowly seemed to worsen.

 The glaring red vein-like lines that once crisscrossed Sera’s body had now disappeared and instead began to show up on Lucy.

“Damn! It’s starting!” grunted Lucy as she felt the familiar Blood Boil begin to intensify.

‘Well, atleast, Sera’s completed hers safely’ thought Lucy as she laid back and felt her consciousness fading in and out.

Lucy knew she couldn’t put off her advancement  any longer and  had just begun to give into it when suddenly she felt movement in her lap as Sera began to rouse.

Sera jostled over and over before abruptly jumping up with her crimson eyes blazing.

“I did it! I think I reached the Apostle rank! Mast-

Before Sera could finish her sentence, she was shocked silent as she caught sight of her master’s figure encased in blood on the ground.

The dark and sticky garnet fluid had somehow covered all of Lucy’s body, leaving not even a strand of hair exposed. Most startling of all however was the rhythmic thrum of the vein like tendrils that covered the blood cocoon.

As Sera took in the sight before her she initially wanted to immediately free her master.

 The appearance of the Blood Cocoon was unnerving to say the least, but Sera could feel telepathically that her master was not only safe but felt extremely content right now, similar to how she felt during her own advancement…

“Oh! She must be breaking through to the Sire rank!” the younger vampire realized with a gasp, “what a momentous occasion”

Sera smiled jubilantly as she thought of the big achievement.

At the Sire rank a vampire was considered a commander for powerhouses and soldiers under their command, they weren’t at the top of the chain of command, but they were considered important individuals in clans/covens nonetheless.

Although Sera was relatively new to the ins and outs of being a vampire, she knew that reaching the Sire rank was a major milestone for any vampire, let alone a pureblood.

 As such she was no longer surprised that  her master’s advancement was a bit eye catching but now wondered what was going on inside.

Her progression from a fledgling to an apostle was a simple purification of  her vampiric blood as she slept, while Lucy’s leap from the  apostle to sire rank required a qualitative change in blood energy and her very essence.

 With that being said Sera had no idea if her master would even look the same afterwards.

‘Don’t worry. No matter what I will stand guard until you finish.’ she transmitted telepathically to no response...