Valerie watched both the flying dagger and the thrusting sword close on her with an almost lazy smile.  They bit deep, the sword plunging into her chest with surgical precision as it sought her heart and the dagger sinking into the soft flesh of her arm.  And then suddenly, she dissolved, her form losing it's cohesion as the blades bit into it, breaking down into swirling shadow as a cold chill gripped Duncan's heart.<br/><br/><em>A shade</em>.  One of the most dangerous of the vampire's many illusions, a doppleganger almost as real as the original vampire made of wisps of blackness and fell intent.<br/><br/><em>Those were the words she was speaking, her own invocation.  But,</em>his mind raced<em>if that's the shade, then where . . . </em><br/><br/>A dagger slipped between the tight links of his chain shirt, plunging between his ribs in a soft spurt of blood as the narrow blade pierced his heart.  He could hear her now, her own illusion dispelled as shadows swirled directly behind him.<br/><br/>"Goodbye, my sweet" Valerie whispered lovingly as she twisted the blade.