Blessed by Night-Chapter 469: Surprise Visitor

Malachi thought whatever had just attacked the ship would have been another vessel. Or at the very least, another fleet.

But it was only a single individual. And a woman at that.

She had a pair of enormous bat wings curling from her back that were almost larger than her entire body.

She had deep caramel skin and long raven-black hair that fell down her back in one large curtain.

She wore a vibrant Indian sari with striking red, black, and gold coloring.

Her fingers, wrists, and ankles clattered with the heavy golden bangles encircling them.

An ancient golden circlet rested atop her brow. The emerald gem sitting within the fitting was so large it could be seen from tens of feet away.

Nonetheless, however nicely she was dressed would mean nothing when she was ripped apart and cast into the ocean.

Malachi and Aisha’s forms ripped apart as they pursued the strange woman.

She was a glorious red dragon who seemed to take up all of the empty space in the sky. In comparison, he was a slightly smaller black bird with four wings and an unnatural pair of horns.

His multiple glowing eyes were trained on the woman at once, and his anger seemed to intensify once he could actually put a face to the assault on their home.

He opened his black beak wide and revealed a row of gleaming white teeth as sharp as razor blades.

A terrible screech left his beak, and the woman winced.

This small lapse in her movements was enough for Malachi and Aisha to close the gap between them.

Together, the two of them crushed the winged woman between their claws and talons.

The winged woman shrieked as both of her arms were broken in an attempt to protect herself.

In a bid for escape, the woman broke down into a ghastly purple mist.

The fierce winds carried her into the upper atmosphere where it seemed she was going to escape.

However, there were greater threats outside than a simple demon or a young dragon.

"Did I say you could fucking run...?"

The woman screamed louder than before as a hand grabbed hold of her incorporeal form.

Claire’s cute and mannerly facade dissipated as she held their attacker by the neck. The embers billowing off her hair were as hot as the raging sun.

Her intangibility fading, the woman reappeared in Claire’s grip as an overwhelmingly large bat.

She snapped and clawed at Claire desperately, but only succeeded in chipping her glasses and nothing more.

"Darling... if you don’t mind, my arm is getting tired."

An arc of thunder, larger than a building, rushed down from the heavens and crackled over the raised hand of Tiamat. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The blinding light of the current chased away any darkness Mal had created and cleared the sky in an instant.

Dozens of deep yellow and blue scales started to sprout along Tiamat’s clenched jaw.

"Hold that bitch still...!"

Tiamat’s arm started to fall; the bat’s struggle intensified. Claire’s grip did not waver, rather, her claws burrowed deeper into the creature’s soft neck.

The creature felt death at her back.

"WAITTTT!!!"

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the sky and held out her arms in defense of the giant bat.

Malachi could not speak normally in his avian form, so his words came out as a telepathic wave of sound.

"Nadine, move!!"

"Babe, it’s not what you think! This is my grandmother!"

Tiamat was unable to keep a hold on her thunderbolt from the shock. In that moment, Malachi wouldn’t have even possessed the mental clarity to move out of the way.

-

Nadine’s grandmother was old. Very old.

She was old enough, in fact, that she was a part of the mass migration of inhumans to another planet 5,000 years ago. She was not even nineteen years of age back then.

A turned vampire from what would eventually be known as India, Rani Chaya-Vestasa hadn’t actually laid eyes on her granddaughter in a few hundred years.

Even before the N’kai came to her world and started demanding subserveance.

Rani, a woman who had already witnessed what it was like to live under someone else’s thumb, would not so easily surrender ever again. Nor would she allow herself to be controlled.

...And was imprisoned by the N’kai as a result. A prison that she was never released from until around two years ago when the N’kai suddenly vacated her world without explaining why.

Once she got out, the first thing she did was look for her family. Only to learn that they were already dead and Nadine was supposedly missing.

Inside the ruined ship, an awkward reunion was taking place inside the destroyed living room.

Rani’s cold eyes scanned everything she saw.

The furniture inside was well-made, though it wasn’t quite as gaudy as some of the things they had back home.

But what captured the ancient vampire’s attention the most was probably the broken picture frame depicting her granddaughter surrounded by several humans and two inhuman children.

Behind her, Nadine was nervously fumbling with her fingers.

"H-How did you even find me!?"

Rani finally stopped staring at the photograph and turned around gracefully.

She closed the space between herself and her grandmother in an instant and tapped her granddaughter on the rim of her glasses.

"You should assume that when I give you something, it’s to keep you out of trouble. I thought those filthy aliens had taken you and placed you under their control."

Nadine winced at her grandmother’s choice of terminology. She shuddered to think of what Camille or Malachi would have felt if they were in the room.

"...Nani Ma, please don’t call them that. They really aren’t as bad as you think."

Rani was visibly vexed.

She held out her hand, and the photograph came flying into her hand.

Instantly, she pointed to Camille.

"Please tell me you haven’t taken one in... And a high breed at that. Do you know what that means??"

Nadine snatched back her wedding photo. "It’s complicated... but Camille isn’t going to be controlling anyone anytime soon, I can’t even get her to remember to charge her tablet so she won’t have to play games on my phone."

Rani tilted her head. "What is a... phone?"

"Oh... It’s something I use to contact people who are far away. Like telepathy!"

Nadine did not use her phone to contact anyone. She used it to take pictures, amuse her children, and record sex tapes.

But a bit of a harmless lie was of no real consequence... or so she hoped.

"...This world is so strange... even stranger knowing that you have managed to compel such powerful warriors to fight for you and steal this ship. I remember when you had difficulty convincing a goblin not to gyrate against your leg." Rani brought a hand to her lips and giggled.

Nadine rubbed the back of her neck. "Umm, Granny, those aren’t my warriors or anything like that... that’s my family. T-The big bird is my husband and the red dragon is my sister-in-law, and the thunder woman and the adorable little red head are my daughters-in-law."

Rani’s face went slack. "What..?"

"T-They wouldn’t have attacked you if you hadn’t just come out of nowhere and hit the ship like that... you could have hurt our kids-"

"Stop, just... stop..." Rani brought her hand up to the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Nadine seemed to shrink back uncomfortably.

"Let me understand here... are you trying to tell me that all this time, you haven’t been held hostage and that you are merely playing house?! With a husband I have not approved for you?! And a demon no less!"

Nadine swallowed. "Malachi makes me happy, he’s a good man. A-And it’s not just him... we have many partners. Our life is filled with love."

Briefly, Rani recalled the photograph on the floor.

All of those other women around Nadine and he husband... could it really be what she was thinking?

Rani’s jaw set in place.

"Bring this illegitimate mate of yours before me. Quickly."