Talon sat in the clearing, watching his children crawl like vermin on the ground. They were too weak. They were slaves to the will of the moon and burned in the light of the sun. He never understood why he was unaffected by the two spheres, yet the others were so bound by them.
"Oh, my children," he said sadly, though he knew their ears were deaf to his voice. "What have you become?"
Something caught his eye, and he spotted one of them blindly approaching. It moved its gaze as if it were blind, yet it seemed to know exactly where Talon was. None of them had ever attacked him before or payed any attention to him whatsoever when they were like this. Yet the creature found his side and curled up beside him, resting its head fondly against him. He saw that it was a mare, and found the remains of the fiery orange mane unmistakeable.
"Nightshade. Even like this you..." He heard something that sounded somewhat like a cat purring resonate in her throat. He extended his wing and draped it over her, pulling her closer. She lay beside him, her red eyes gazing aimlessly out over the clearing.
As the moon approached the horizon it fell behind a line of clouds. The light disappeared from the clearing and Nightshade's body began to return to normal. Her eyes closed, her body filled out, her coat reappeared, and her mane returned once more to its full and elegant style. She blinked several times as if to clear a haze. She shook head of it, and shivered the rest of her body as if it was covered in water and she had to shake it off. She noticed the wing around her and looked up to find she was being embraced by the prince.
She shot up into a sitting position and stammered, "M-My Lord-I-I-um...I didn't-" Her face grew redder with every unfinished word. She respectfully tried to pull away, but his wing held her close. He smiled down at her, amused by her reaction, and she fell silent. She only stared at him, flush, not sure of what to say.
Orange light started to creep from behind the horizon, and Talon said, "Day is coming. You should rest."
The sun wouldn't allow her to stay awake if she wanted to, so she complied, falling asleep beside Talon. The rest of the vampires lay asleep in the clearing. He covered her protectively with his wing and looked to the sky.
"The sun is coming."