Where do I begin, for what has happened is still a blur of pain, blood, and tears. The joy of recovering the sacred artifacts was brief, and now with the loss of one of them, who knows what this will mean to our world. But as much as this grieves me, the grief at the loss of my child overshadows all else.

The night began with high spirits indeed, for we gathered at the Paxlair Casino to make plans for constructing the Temple of Hope and to plan a scouting party to find a suitable location. Smiles and warm feelings filled the room as we made plans. Don Martin, Asland, Drake Marsten, Eli, Odin, Jon and many others were kidding me that my slight feelings of being queasy could mean that I was pregnant, and at first I dismissed the idea as total nonsense, but as the night progressed I began to sense that perhaps it was true and such joy awakened in my soul at the wondrous possibility.

I stepped outside only briefly, I only wished for a breath of fresh air to clear my head. But that one moment, changed everything from joy to sorrow. The wraith, Garzaia, appeared through a magical gateway right beside me, as if some unseen force was at work directing him to me. Before a cry for help could leave my lips, he had dragged me with him back through the gateway and closed it quickly behind him.

As he chained me to the black pillar on the roof of the Wraiths terror, he gloated how easily he would come by the sacred artifacts. Defiantly I assured him that the sacred artifacts would never be turned over to him, but has his hand slowly caressed my stomach he only leered and whispered, "you may be willing to sacrifice yourself Priestess, but what of the soul of your unborn child." Fear and terror like I have never felt before washed over me, and silently the tears slid down my cheeks.

It did not take long for friends to gather outside the tower of the Wraiths. As the Kindred gathered upon the roof of the tower to aide the wraiths, Garzaia made his demands, my life and that of the child in exchange for a sacred artifact. A valiant struggle ensued to attempt a rescue. The Kindred and Wraiths took great pleasure in tormenting me with descriptions of what would become of the child should the humans fail to turn over the artifact. With all my heart and soul I prayed for guidance and strength to endure. There was one among them, Olivya, who seemed to show a deep concern for the child and even went so far as to challenge Garzaia himself once after one his blows drew blood from my lip.

The battle raged for hours, with no end in sight. I had no way of knowing of events transpiring below, except for the comments and taunts of the Kindred and Wraiths as they came and went from the tower roof. When the others would leave to rejoin the battle, Olivya would stay with me and she seemed almost kind as she wiped the blood from my lips and brought me sips of water. It was obvious she disapproved of the ill-treatment of a woman who was with child.

On once such return, Garzaia arrogantly informed me that the mortals were losing the battle and it was only a matter of time before he would be meeting with Don Martin to arrange for the artifact to be given over to him. I had no way of knowing if this was true or not, but I knew I had to do everything I could to prevent it from happening. Shortly, Garzaia escorted Adara up to the roof to confirm that I was indeed still alive. Adara offered herself as a hostage in exchange for me. I begged her not to do this, but she was firm in her determination. From the gleam in Garzaia eyes, I feared he would simply hold us both, but he escorted from the Tower.

Desperate that the artifact not be lost and for the life of my child, when Olivya and I were alone once more, I begged her to help me, not for my sake but for the sake of the child. Olivya sat silently for several minutes, then rose to stand before me, softly she placed her palm against my stomach, and whispered "if I help you, I will keep you in hiding until the child is born, then the child is mine. Agreed." My thoughts swirling at such a proposal, praying and hoping I would have a much greater chance of escaping from her, then from the Tower of the Wraiths, I nodded agreement. With a snap of her fingers I felt the tingle of magic about my wrists as the chains fell away, and she opened a magical gateway. Just as the portal appeared several Kindred arrived at the top of the tower steps. Olivya yelled, "Run" as she shoved me through the portal.

The Kindred came pouring through the portal after us. Running as fast as I could I weaved through trees and stumbled through bushes, only to find myself surrounded by a swarm of Kindred. Knives slashing and magic swirling, I felt my life blood draining from me. In one horrifying moment of consciousness, I felt the knife slash across my stomach and Rogathor roared in triumph as they consumed the flesh of the unborn child. Then all was darkness.