First thing I must say is: Where are all the reviews for this awesome piece of writing?

This. Is. Amazing. I don't know where to start, I love this so much. I love how he sounds so wicked and powerful, and yet so gentle when talking to the child.

I know you didn't write it from the child's point of view, but I could still feel, from Vlad's words, the pain and the shame in the poor kid.

I love how he reassures the kid that it isn't his fault, and the lines at the end where he says he saved the child from "men who do not tolerate the race of child you are", etc., are very powerful and thought provoking.

Lovely. I want to say more, but I'm not articulate enough to voice everything I feel about this.

Worthy of my second favorite.

~Con