It was the first time Erinna had left her tower, not considering the incident with Dracula but that hardly counted because she had never left his castle either.

Erinna was sick of walls, it was a dream come true when her father took her out of the castle.

The view was breathtaking, the warmth of the sun's rays caressing her soft skin purely exhilarating. The feeling of being surrounded by untainted nature was nearly overwhelming.

The urge to take off after the beautiful butterflies nearly overpowered her as she walked through the forests hedging the castle grounds with her father. She envied their freedom, wondering if she would ever be like them because deep down in her bones just beneath the marrow she knew Dracula would never truly let her go.

Suddenly there was a break in the dense vegetation surrounding them, giving way to a beautiful cottage with white peeling paint. Erinna gasped in surprise. Why was it so secluded?

Her father walked to the door seeming so sure of himself, like he had done this before. Erinna wondered if she was the only one thinking of the tragic story of Hansel and Gretel and the ugly mean witch.

Eric said some foreign words, probably a password since the door opened right then.

A beautiful elf woman appeared. Everything about her preached elegance. She was tall, slender and naturally graceful. She wore a white simple gown that reached her toes and enhanced her features. Elf women were legendary for their beauty but this woman was among the few that exceeded the rest.

"The king and his beloved daughter, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The woman beamed her eyes on Erinna.

"It's wonderful to see you again Mara," Eric graciously retuned the warm greeting.

Cogwheels were turning in Erinna's mind. So this was the mysterious Mara that Dracula had mentioned? If so then what was Erinna supposed to learn from her?

"I foresaw your visit. My lord Eric, she is just as prophesised. I don't think there has been born anyone more beautiful. Her looks are simply out of this world" Erinna helplessly blushed as the compliments came raining furiously from the woman whose own beauty had awed her.

"Careful Mara, I might think you're beginning to fall in love with my daughter," Eric joked.

Erinna thought how amazing it was to see him lay down his hackles and relax in the presence of this mystical woman, for once not looking like the all too serious king of the Elves.

"Would you blame me?" The banter continued.

"No but I would banish you. You want to steal the joy of being a grandfather away from me?"

They laughed for a while before Mara eventually sobered up.

"It really is good to see you again Eric though I know the nature of your visit is not to bring laughter to your poor old friend's lonely existence."

"Don't make me feel guilty Mara, duty calls."

"I know, I know. Believe me I do. I guess it is time she knows then."

Erinna was not entirely sure she was comfortable with them speaking as if she was not there but decided to let it slip for once.

"Yes, a lot has happened. I was mistaken to think I could evade the prophecy by hiding it from her," the king said, his words coated with regret and his eyes weighed down by guilt.

"We all make foolish mistakes, more so us Elves, our passionate nature is our greatest weapon yet our greatest weakness too; it clouds our judgement," Mara sympathised in a soothing voice that seemed to lessen the tension in the king's shoulders.

"Your words as always, are a balm to a tortured soul Mara," the king smiled weakly, the sadness not have entirely left him.

"Don't beat yourself over it Eric, you know I hate it when people cry over spilt milk. So wipe that defeated look from your face right now or so help me lord I will wipe it off with my palm. And not in a pleasant way either. Now introduce me to the beautiful princess."

Finally, Erinna thought. Though it might have been pleasant to see this unguarded care-free side of her father, she still had an ancient vampire after her and wanted answers quickly.

"Alright then, Mara meet Princess Erinna Ellington, only daughter of King Eric of the Ellingsdale Elves; Erinna meet Mara, the only surviving clairvoyant elf, before you came anyway."

Mara rolled her eyes at the ridiculous introduction as she surprised Erinna by wrapping her arms around her in a friendly embrace.

"Pay no attention to this crazy old man. I don't even know why Elves are foolish enough to make him their king," Mara whispered in Erinna's ear making the young princess laugh.

"I heard that," Eric said.

"Why are you even still here? You delivered my new best friend. Now run along and go do whatever you royals spend your time doing. Don't intrude on our girls' night."

The king looked doubtful, probably debating on whether to leave his daughter there. Mara noticed his hesitancy.

"I will take care of Erinna, Eric."

The king scratched his chin, still reluctant and unconvinced.

"You know the sessions are private, I cannot let you take part in them. Even if I wanted, you cannot cross the threshold; the magic of my ancestors would not allow you. Erinna will be safe. Think about it, if you cannot get in then neither can any blood sucker."

This seemed to convince him.

"Okay then, but call me at the first sign of trouble."

Mara decided to compromise. She knew how hard it was for her friend to let the daughter he had almost lost out of his sight.

"I'll send Elijah if we get into any trouble," she promised.

"Elijah? You got yourself a boyfriend?"

Mara laughed. "No silly, don't be jealous, Elijah is my pet owl."

"Jealous? Please," the king scoffed, "No sane elf would ever want to be romantically associated with you."

Mara rolled her eyes again, "Whatever you say Eric, whatever you say."

Eric turned then and kissed Erinna's cheek.

"Take care of yourself princess, okay? Don't let her craziness get to you."

Erinna laughed at the same time Mara rolled her large violet eyes.

"I'll be fine father, I am just glad everything is going to be finally explained."

Curiosity was making every part of Erinna's body buzz with both excitement and trepidation. Whatever she would find there would determine her path and life course, destiny Dracula had called it.

She hesitantly followed the beautiful Elven woman that her father had entrusted her to. As they walked into the house which all seemed to be one large room, one thing ensnared Erinna's attention.

It was a small pond which was spouting bouts of steam at regular intervals. It was a beautiful, magical sight, containing a purple liquid which Erinna doubted was water. Its edges were encrusted by some blue gems that she could not identify. Every here and then the liquid would bubble ominously.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Erinna turned; she had not realised Mara had followed her to the miniature pond.

"Very. What is it?" She decided to ask and sate her bubbling curiosity.

She could sense its magic; it was not just an ordinary pool. But unlike Dracula, none of the magic in the room hinted towards a dark nature or anything malevolent.

"It is the greatest tool of all those who possess the gift that you and I have; precognition or clairvoyance some may call it," Mara informed her with a smile that told her all questions were welcome.

There was something very relaxing about being in the older Elf's presence and Erinna could not put her hand on what it was.

"My visions?"

"Yes, though yours are a rare gift. The rest of us have to use Omar's Pond here to have a glimpse of the future but I'm told your visions just come to you?"

"Yes. So you cannot predict anything without the pond?" Erinna asked, a bit surprised. Maybe she had been taking her gift for granted.

"No one can. Here, let me show you," Mara offered.

The woman walked with the grace of a duck on ice and took a pinch of some sparkly dust from a jar on a stool. She chanted some words in an ancient tongue before depositing the purple dust in the pond.

The response was immediate and quite unexpected; the water bubbled violently, the purple disappearing to give way to various colours which all merged to give clear images of events.

It was a ghastly image of Angelica being tortured on a cruel device which Erinna could not even identify as she begged for her life. Erinna's guts twisted and it was only by sheer self control that she managed to refrain from spilling her stomach's contents all over Mara's floor. Sickened by the revolting images, Erinna turned away.

"I already saw that. I have to go back; I can't let them die for me."

Angelica had said she was prepared to make the sacrifice but how could Erinna ever live with herself? How could she ever enjoy the freedom that came at so high a cost?

"Erinna, what Angelica and Edward did was not forced upon them; they understood what they were getting into and accepted it. Don't spit in their face by not accepting their sacrifice, otherwise it will all be for nothing."

Erinna could not say she agreed with Mara because however way she looked at it, Angelica seemed to be the only one suffering at the end. But perhaps Mara was not telling her everything.

"Now enough about these depressing matters. I am told that I owe you a history lesson?" Mara asked, full wattage smile back in place.

Her enthusiastic nature and good mood was contagious and Erinna could not fight the smile that tugged at her own lips.

"Why do you live here alone?" She asked the thing that had struck her as odd when they had arrived.

"I am clairvoyant Erinna. All those before me with the same gift have lived in this house, we draw magic from it. You are the only one who gets visions directly, the rest of us depend on this pond," Mara explained.

As she said this she was pouring a dark potent liquid into cups. As the smell wafted through the room, it struck Erinna's nostrils as coffee.

"Want some?" Mara inquired.

Erinna didn't want some but decided to be polite, not wanting to offend the nice elf. Taking the beautiful mug which was intricately designed, hinting at a precious heritage, Erinna followed Mara to the fire place.

They both sat in the two comfortable recliners whilst staring at the eager flames eating away at the wood that gave them life. She was intrigued by the sight before her, absorbing the fire's abundant warmth that she was startled when Mara finally spoke.

"You know, your birth was very symbolic. Besides you being born on the most powerful night to us supernatural beings, your birth was accompanied by a lot of signs," Mara began.

"Melissa told me. She said the sun did not set that day."

"No, it did not. The sky was clear yet we experienced one of the harshest storms in history. Lightning was flashing nonstop until it marked you. That was when everything finally became silent."

At Mara's words, Erinna's hand immediately went to her left shoulder where her birthmark was; that was what she had imagined it was anyway. No one had ever explained to her what the mystical mark meant. The temperature on the part of her skin that it covered was always higher than the rest of her.

"My Lichtenberg sign," she whispered.

"Yes, according to prophesy it would mark you; that was how we knew you had finally arrived. But these otherwise abnormal signs were not the only things to mark your birth. You never had the pleasure of meeting your mother Erinna, neither did I but I learnt of her purity through my Precognition. She died the moment you took your first breath."

Sadness laced Mara's voice and Erinna bathed in its sympathy, letting it soothe the pain that always overtook her when thoughts of her mother crossed her mind.

"At the death of such purity, an ancient evil arose."

The temperature in the room had dropped by a couple of degrees making Erinna release an involuntary shudder. She was now seated at the edge of her seat; she had a good idea of where this was going.

"What do you mean an ancient evil arose?"

"The day you were born is the day Dracula woke up Erinna."

The pounding of her heart was too loud to her own ears as she struggled to take in and process this new information. Her trembling lips attempted to form denials that would not make it past her parched throat.

"Woke up from where?" She finally asked her voice a little hoarse.

"For two thousand years the evil tyrant had lain asleep, bound by a curse that was out of his control. Your birth set him free."

Erinna had to force herself to keep on breathing when she began feeling slightly lightheaded and a bit woozy. She was the reason Dracula had been released from whatever curse had bound him? But why? How? She had only been a child.

"I don't understand."

"Two thousand years ago Dracula had complete reign of half of the world. Humans and witches were all suffering under his tyranny. He happened to wrong one witch though and using the last bit of power she and her coven possessed, Diana put him down. For two thousand years there was not a whisper of the Dark Count."

"Until my birth," Erinna concluded with a breathy whisper.

"Until your birth," Mara affirmed.

"But what does that have to do with me?" Erinna asked, not understanding her given role in the complicated puzzle. Why did it have to be her birth that awoke him? She'd only been a child.

"It saddens me to this day that you should carry the burdens of your people; suffer the consequences of actions you never took. The witch Diana, after Dracula had killed her husband came to our people. Elliot Ellington was the reigning king then.

Diana begged him, offered her life even for Elliot to save her husband who the Count had killed. The Elves as you know are gifted with the breath of life. But Elliot could not. He was bound by ancient customs and laws. The breath of life is forbidden to be used on anyone who is not of our kind.

"Diana could not understand this and vowed to take revenge on the Elves and Vampires. Since she was not strong enough to kill Dracula, Diana came up with a plan that would solve all her problems at once. After immobilizing Dracula, she took her own life along with those of the rest of her coven. It was no little coven either; it consisted of two hundred witches of the most powerful bloodlines.

The sacrifice granted her power to continue her work in the underworld, building the ultimate weapon. She took power from every witch who died until she had gathered enough and her weapon was ready for launching."

"What was the weapon?" Erinna asked unable to fully believe that there was a weapon out there able to destroy the most powerful being on the planet.

"You."

Erinna blinked, then blinked again before confusion and disbelief hit her full force.

"But how?"

"Erinna in the time you were with Dracula did you not feel the slightest bit of pull towards him?"

Her mind reeled back to when she had woken up in his bed, before he had introduced himself as the abomination he was. The pull had been strong undeniable, even when she sensed how evil he was she still found herself mesmerised by him.

She did not answer Mara though, what kind of princess would admitting such a shameful thing make her? She was supposed to fight for her people, represent them not go around making friends with the enemy.

"That's your mission pulling you."

Now Erinna definitely wanted to laugh. She now knew Mara had lost her marbles. Who would ever insinuate that she powerless creature she was and unable to hurt a fly would kill Dracula?

Whatever crap the woman had been reading to pass away the time in her lonely house was messing with her brain. Or maybe the herbs she seemed fond of burning were finally getting to her and smoking her brain cells.

"You think I can kill Dracula?" Erinna laughed.

"It is why you were born."

"If this crazy theory of yours is true then why won't my father let me do it? Why did he go to such extreme lengths to hide this destiny from me?"

"Because you cannot complete your mission and remain unscathed. To be able to harm Dracula in any way you need to be in close quarters with him and he is the most paranoid, suspicious and guarded creature I've ever heard of.

It is universal knowledge that vampire-elf unions bring about great misfortune; more so because you are powerful and of the ruling bloodline. You will take down the whole elf race with you. And the death of Dracula, sire of all vampires will result in the death of all vampires if the curse of the union does not wipe them out."

Erinna sighed in defeat and resignation. She was the only supposed weapon that could kill Dracula yet she could not do it without harming her own people.

"You said it yourself that I'm very powerful, can't I try to kill him from here?" Erinna cringed as she said the words.

Never in her life had she ever thought she could ever think about ending another person's life but Dracula was not a person, a voice in her head whispered trying to soothe her conscience. He was going to kill Angelica and her husband.

Mara looked aside instead of responding to Erinna's question. The Princess suddenly had a sinking feeling that her mentor was hiding something from her.

"There is something you are not telling me." It was not a question.

"Mara what is it?"

Silence.

"Mara what aren't you telling me?"

"Erinna, don't trouble yourself it's probably nothing," Mara made a sad attempt to brush the matter away but that only sparked Erinna's curiosity.

"I deserve to know."

Mara sighed probably realising there was no changing the Princess' mind.

"Erinna, you should know that the future is not set in stone. It shifts as soon as a person makes a different choice from the one we had foreseen. I may see you thirsty and drinking some water but if you later on decide to wait a little longer then my vision becomes useless," Mara tried to explain.

"Mara you are trying to distract me, it's not working," Erinna decided to let her know.

"I saw the Count. He is not going to rest until he finds you. He will kill every Elf to the last one if need be," Mara finally spilled but this was no shock to Erinna. Her subconscious already knew what her conscience tried to deny.

"So there is no escaping him?" Erinna asked though it came out more like a statement than a question.

"Between us girls I will tell you no; but your father is also going to try his hardest to keep you away from him. He never wanted this life for you Erinna," Mara said softly, pity written in her eyes.

"I know."

"He's been beating himself over it for seventeen whole years. He doesn't regret your birth, you've brought joy to his life but he wishes you had been conceived only a day later. That way you could have escaped the path you are now forced to tread."

"It's not his fault, you said yourself there is no escaping destiny. I am curious though, why did she choose me?" Erinna asked again.

Why had she been chosen to become Diana's vessel of evil powers? Because there just was no other way to think of magic that came from killing people and robbing dead witch souls of their power.