---

 

Lucy was knocked  out cold.

 

The last thing she remembered was the gut wrenching pain she'd felt from losing her hand in Priest Cleary's attack.

 

She could say beyond the shadow of a doubt that that was the worst pain she'd felt since being beheaded in her past life. She could even subtly feel it even now... but the next thing on her mind and freshest in her memory was that bright golden light .

 

However before she could begin to ruminate over the mysterious light, Lucy and her consciousness were yanked back towards reality as she took note of a sudden feeling of falling.

 

After immediately scanning her midair surroundings for any trace of Priest Cleary and coming up with nothing Lucy  immediately noticed the sights of a striking azure forest before her and a gaping and rocky chasm rushing towards her from below.

 

'Wait! I actually am falling... and from the sky no less, how did this happen?! S-Sera! Are you here? Wake up!' she telepathically questioned as she pat her body down for the feel of the familiar furry bat form Sera, ' Damn it! And my hand hasn't regenerated yet, I must be near the end of my Blood Energy supply...'

 

'Yes! W-What's happened? Why are we falling?' questioned Sera

 

Thanks to Sera's urging Lucy refocused on the situation at hand (no pun intended) and immediately flexed her vampiric wings from where they laid dormant near her shoulder blades.

 

WHOOSH

 

Once the 3 meter long pair of jet black wings extended to their full length Lucy and Sera's descent toward the rocky chasm below slowed dramatically, but surprisingly did not stop.

 

"What the-" Lucy noticed that they were still falling or rather being pulled toward the gaping canyon beneath them, "This can't be normal, but more importantly, where is- "

 

'Master! Look! There's Nox over there!'

 

At that moment, Lucy noticed a hulking nude figure rapidly plummeting beside them some distance away towards the chasm below.

 

Suffice to say, this figure was Nox and unlike Lucy and Sera, it appeared he was still unconscious and as such hadn't released his wings yet.

 

It was at that moment, Lucy's advanced eyesight noticed even nearby bats, owls, and other wild flying creatures were being pulled towards the chasm's gaping maw, she had no doubt in her mind that something nefarious was at foot anymore.

 

'Nox! Awaken at once!' Lucy telepathically commanded her newest progeny as she angled her wings to dive after him.

 

Her zooming figure rapidly propelled towards Nox's hurtling position in the sky but much to Lucy's chagrin he still appeared knocked out and unresponsive even to her use of the sire bond.

 

Worst yet if the soreness in her shoulders were to be believed, the chasm below them seemed to have increased it's pull on the falling vampires.

 

'Damn it, we're falling too fast! I guess I have to do this the hard way. Sera help me soften our landing with your telekinesis, I'll grab Nox."

 

'Yes, master' Sera complied as she shifted back into her human form while clinging to Lucy's side

 

Mustering the last dredges of blood energy at her disposal Lucy telekinetically grabbed Nox's figure midair and brought it over to her just as a semi translucent bubble like shield seemed to coalesce around the trio.

 

This bubble like shield was airtight and had a shimmering silver sheen to it under the brilliance of the direct moonlight but most importantly it appeared just in time for impact with the floor of the chasm.

 

'Sera's mastered barriers and shields already?! What a monstrous growth in psychic ability!' Lucy couldn't help but remark to herself at Sera's progression as a Psionic vampire.

 

According to Amara's fragmented memories, it wasn't unusual for a Psionic vampire to spend centuries trying to learn how to create shields , let alone to use them in combat.  But in Sera's case it had only taken a few years, and it was right under Lucy 's nose!

 

Lucy found this matter truly impressive and wanted to properly investigate it later but the fast approaching ground quickly consumed all her attention.

 

"Brace for impact!" she warned Sera just as they were about to collide against the surface of the canyon floor.

 

 

Suddenly and with an earth shattering crash Lucy and party roughly crash landed in the center of the mysterious and many miles long trench.

 

A huge cloud of dust and broken rock were all that could be seen for a moment at the site where they'd landed before eventually visibility cleared, revealing the orb like shield still intact... barely.

 

All over the spherical shield spiderweb like cracks could be seen , but the passengers inside appeared to be relatively unharmed.

 

This feat in itself was testament to the strength and durability of the shields utilized by Psionic vampires.

 

In fact it would be no exaggeration to say that some of the best Psionic vampires could create shields that were were as formidable as some mid to high grade magic items.

 

As Lucy slowly peered over the edge of the small crater their landing had created, a part of her silently thanked Sera again for creating that shield.

 

She felt it went without being said that an uncushioned fall and impact of this magnitude was not something an ordinary vampire could survive and definitely not something she'd want to try in her current critical condition.

 

At that moment  the badly battered spherical shield evaporated in tiny motes of light that floated away mysteriously, revealing an almost equally battered Lucy, Sera, and Nox. 

 

All three had horribly pale and sweaty complexions complete with  various wounds that were slowly healing from their battle with Priest Cleary , but none more so than Lucy.

 

She needed blood badly.

 

If the intensifying burn in her throat wasn't a clue to that, the fact that her hand was still a bloody stump that was trying to heal itself was quite telling, but nonetheless Lucy used said stump to  help prop herself out of the crater when suddenly she caught the scent of something so  delectable it caused her mind and vision to go black.

 

 

With a supernatural grace  that was surprising with her current injuries Lucy jumped clear out of the crater as she sped towards the mouthwatering scent.

 

"L-Lucy what happened?" questioned Nox with a dry rasp as he attempted to sit up, "Where are we? And why does my throat burn so badly?"

 

"Where are you going?"  Sera also questioned as she shakily stood from the crater as well, "This- w-what is this place?"

 

Sera's eyes widened to the size of saucers at the scene before her.