Synopsis: Lion's Mouth (a Sir Differel adventure)

The girls are out walking with Medb one afternoon when Dracula appears, grabs them, and whisks them away. They black out. When they come to, they find themselves in the dungeon of a castle. Armed guards hustle them into a cell, where they are kept for a few hours. Finally guards arrive and escort them up to an upper floor. Along the way, the girls beat their guards and make a break for it, but are intercepted by Dracula, who carries them into Sir Differel's office.

Sir Differel explains she needs a favor from them. Before she can explain more, Medb appears from behind and holds a knife to her throat. Dracula catches Sunny by the throat, but Giovanna appears and holds a shotgun to his head. The standoff is broken when the real Sir Differel appears with commandos. Medb and Giovanna give up, but Sir Differel dismisses the commandos and her double. She then explains that she needs an introduction to the Conclave, to negotiate a truce and mutual defense agreement against the Serpent People. She has already done the same with the Holy Order of St. Antony Demons-Bane, the Vatican's monster-hunting organization headed by the Monsignor. Contrary to the Monsignor's attempt to capture her, her organization, the Caerleon Order of the Companions of St. George, shares common cause with the Antonians and often cooperates with them, though they are ideological and methodological rivals. She also has a tentative truce in place with Ceithlenn, though she understands that not all Fomorians will abide by it. The vampires are the only holdouts, and so far she has been unable to locate them.

The girls maintain they cannot tell her where to find the Conclave, but Sir Differel states that she only took them to lure Giovanna to her. In exchange for the girls' safety, Giovanna agrees to escort Sir Differel to the Conclave. She also needs Medb to be her bodyguard, since the Conclave will not let Dracula anywhere near them, and may even attack without provocation. Medb agrees, again in exchange for the girls' safety. Sir Differel then tells them they are free to leave, but they refuse, saying they won't let their friends walk into danger for their sake without their help. Sir Differel makes no objection and welcomes them along, at which point Sunny remarks, "I think we've been had!" Sir Differel then gives them rooms in her ancestral castle for the night while Giovanna leaves with Dracula to meet with Uallach.

Uallach enters the meeting chamber of the Conclave and takes her seat. She reports that Sir Differel has asked for a meeting through Giovanna to negotiate an alliance against the Serpent People. The Conclave debates the issue and are evenly split between those who desire an alliance and those who do not. The leader casts the deciding vote in favor of a meeting. Uallach takes the news to Giovanna and Dracula, but reiterates that he is to come nowhere near the Conclave headquarters. If he does, Sir Differel will be killed. He agrees to those terms, but warns them against treachery; he will avenge her death as his final act as her servant.

Giovanna and Dracula return at dawn, while Sir Differel is engaged in fencing practice with Medb. Upon hearing the news, she leaves to arrange transport. Giovanna reveals that the Conclave is located in an underground fortress complex in Transylvania, to which Eile remarks, "Why am I not surprised?" Also, Uallach will meet them at a designated rendezvous point and escort them to the Conclave. After breakfast, they board Sir Differel's armored command zeppelin and take off. They journey to Caerleon headquarters for central Europe, a schloss in Austria, to refuel and spend the night. While the party are relaxing after dinner with an impromptu concert by the girls, the schloss is attacked by a mob of Callicantzari, which are incredibly ancient hominid vampires. They are led by a trio of Nosferatu. As Dracula and Giovanna provide cover, they make for a nearby armory. Sealing themselves in, they select weapons: Dracula, his two huge large-caliber automatic pistols; Medb, a Claymore; Sir Differel, the sword Caliburn and a Steyr SSP; and Giovanna, a USAS-12 combat shotgun with a 20-round drum. The girls are also given shotguns with 10-round clips. Though anxious, having never fired firearms before, Giovanna gives them a crash course while Medb and Dracula blink into the hallway. After a few minutes, they open the door and the party heads out, Sir Differel and Dracula in front, Medb and Giovanna behind, and the girls in the middle. A Nosferatu jumps them; Sunny squeals, closes her eyes, and pulls the trigger, blowing the head off the vampire. Sunny is surprised as everyone else, but Eile says, "That's my girl."

They head for the control room, where they find the Callicantzari are rapidly overwhelming the schloss's defenders. Sir Differel signals an evacuation and triggers a self-destruct device. They then head for the roof to board the zeppelin. They fight their way through knots of Callicantzari, eventually reaching their destination, killing another Nosferatu in the process. While Dracula, Medb, and Giovanna hold off the horde, Sir Differel and the girls get aboard. Then Dracula holds the gangplank as Medb and Giovanna follow. A Nosferatu engages Dracula, which allows a group of Callicantzari to climb the gangplank. Sir Differel orders the zeppelin aloft and cuts loose the gangplank. Medb jumps to the roof as Dracula rips off the Nosferatu's head, and cuts down dozens of Callicantzari. Sir Differel orders the zeppelin to come around, and as it passes, Dracula and Medb jump for the open hatch. A half-dozen Callicantzari follow; four make it, but are killed by Giovanna, the girls, and Sir Differel. As the zeppelin climbs, explosions rock the schloss, it collapses, and is then obliterated by a massive fireball. The shockwave rocks the zeppelin, but it continues on undamaged.

Dracula is furious. He berates Medb for coming after him. The former queen says nothing, but gives him a look that makes him back away. Then he turns his anger on Giovanna, accusing the Conclave of treachery. Despite facing the full force of his fury, the girls face him down as they defend Giovanna. Medb voices her own suspicions. Giovanna claims to know nothing of the assault, and that the Conclave would never go back on its word. However, she admits that there might be powerful rogues, or even a Conclave member, who would rather see the negotiations fail. Sir Differel observes that she appeared to risk her life to help them all get away, but Dracula points out that may have simply been to save her own skin. When Medb asks why she would foil her conspirators' plot, Dracula suggests she didn't know about the attack and that they were willing to sacrifice her. Nonetheless, Sir Differel decides to give her the benefit of the doubt. Especially now that, if Dracula is right, she realizes she is as expendable as the rest of them.

Later that night, when everyone else is asleep or otherwise engaged, Medb meets with Dracula. She tells him she agrees that there is treachery among the vampires, but she doubts it comes from the Conclave. In any event, she has a plan to counter it, but he will have to trust her. He tells her he still owes her a debt from the first time they meet, and listens to her plan.

They proceed directly to the rendezvous spot, where they meet Uallach. Dracula stays aboard the zeppelin, which moves off. When Medb mentions the attack, the vampire queen raises her eyebrows, but otherwise betrays no outward sign as she states the Conclave had nothing to do with it. She takes them into the fortress down to a room where they must wait until the Conclave calls for them. She and Giovanna then leave. Medb tells Sir Differel that Uallach was surprised to hear of the attack, so it wasn't ordered by the Conclave.

After a couple of hours of waiting, Giovanna comes to collect Eile and Sunny, leaving Medb and Sir Differel behind. She takes them to a circular chamber dominated by a half-circle table. Thirteen vampires are seated there, including Uallach. Though not an even mix of male and female, they represent a selection of all the major racial groups of man. In the center sits a vampire who looks more Nosferatu than human. Giovanna introduces him as the chairman of the council, then leaves. He makes a short speech, in which he praises their loyalty to their promise and their friendship to Giovanna, and once again thanks them for the part they played in Mabuse finding her cure. As he finishes, Uallach rises and presents them with medals. The chairman explains that these are passes that will allow them to pass among vampires unharmed, and to come to and go from the fortress as they please.

When he finishes, Giovanna brings in Medb and Sir Differel. Uallach explains that the Conclave has tried Sir Differel in absentia for crimes against vampirekind, and has been found guilty. Though they will honor the truce and their promise of safe passage, if they fail to reach an agreement, they will execute her. Eile asks if they will negotiate fairly. Uallach assures her that they will negotiate in good faith, but when Sir Differel points out they do so from a position of strength, she confirms that was their intent.

Sir Differel begins with a short speech about why a treaty is necessary, then the debate begins in earnest. Though tense, the negotiations are also tedious, as both sides debate what seems to Eile be to trivial points. Sunny becomes bored and begins to fidget, which becomes distracting. When a break is called after a couple of hours, Giovanna suggests that the girls go exploring. They should be safe, as long as they wear their medals.

Sunny decides to follow her nose, even though that usually gets them into trouble. As they move deeper into the complex, they encounter a large number of vampires, some of whom are aggressive, a few even hostile, but they all leave them alone when they see the medals. At one point they realize they have entered a dungeon level and decide to turn back when Sunny stumbles onto a concealed passageway. They follow it into a cavern system and emerge onto a ledge overlooking a huge cave. It is filled with Callicantzari. When they try to leave, however, they are caught by a Nosferatu and taken to a woman. Eile can tell she isn't a vampire, yet the Nosferatu and the Callicantzari obey her as if she was. She tells them that while it would be dangerous to kill them, since it might lead to her discovery, she cannot let them go or even hold them captive. She intends to inject them with the parasite that infests the Callicantzari. It is a modified variety that can turn a modern human into a Callicantzari, though only children and teens are able to survive the process. The girls may be too old, but whether the parasite turns them or kills them, they will be neutralized. The Nosferatu seizes and holds them as the woman prepares the injections, but just as she is about to inoculate Sunny, Dracula appears. He shoots the syringe, the woman, and the Nosferatu in half as many seconds, firing at two targets at a time while sizing up his next two. He then pulls two shotguns from under his coat, tosses them to the girls, and leads them out.

In the Conclave chamber, Sir Differel is stating her latest counter-proposal when she sees the vampires stiffen and look at each other in consternation. They then look at her, all except Uallach, who stares past her at Medb. The leader stands and announces that Dracula is in the fortress. Stunned, Sir Differel whirls around to stare at Medb, who is smiling like a Cheshire Cat. She surges forward, grabs Sir Differel, and pulls her towards the door, but rather than go though it, she blocks it by erecting a wall of force around herself and Sir Differel. She then tells them that the caverns beneath them are crawling with Callicantzari. They don't believe her, but Sir Differel can tell that Uallach is uncertain.

Dracula and the girls fight a running battle all the way up to the fortress dungeon, with the Callicantzari and Nosferatu hot on their heels. At one point they see the woman leading the monstrous vampires. When they get clear of the caverns, however, Dracula grabs them and a dead Callicantzari, and blinks away.

They reappear in the Conclave chamber. Believing it to be an attack, the Conclave members rise up and prepare to charge, but Eile fires a shot in the air. This startles them enough that they see the Callicantzari as Dracula throws it down. Uallach calls a truce, backed by several other members, and Medb drops her wall of force. Uallach opens the door and calls for Giovanna. She sends her with a troop of vampires to check out the girls' story. Eile goes with her to show them the way.

They make it down into the dungeon without incident, and find the hidden passage, but as they enter the chamber, Callicantzari attack. The vampire guards are killed, but Eile and Giovanna manage to get away. The Callicantzari pour out of the passage behind them in pursuit. They spread the alarm as they run, but at first the vampires they encounter are overwhelmed. Then they meet Uallach, Medb, and Sunny at the head of a troop. The troop establishes a defensive perimeter while the others head back to the Conclave chamber.

The testimony of Uallach and Giovanna persuade the Conclave to act. They put the Fortress on the defensive and call in reinforcements. They also let Sir Differel call back her zeppelin, which contains a company of Caerleon troops and British special forces. Sir Differel, Uallach, and Medb coordinate the defenses, using Dracula and Giovanna to relay orders. As reports come back in, the vampires are being forced steadily back, though they are inflicting heavy casualties. They confirm the existence of the strange woman leading the attack. They also report the presence of Nosferatu. Uallach and Giovanna are stunned. Nosferatu only answer to the Conclave, specifically the chairman. They turn to look at him as Giovanna mutters, "Madre del Dio!" The chairman leaps at Sir Differel, but Dracula intercepts him. The two fight for some time, but finally he subdues the elder vampire. Uallach questions him, and he reveals that he has made a pact with the woman. In exchange for the destruction of Sir Differel, he would become undisputed ruler of the vampires, and with the Caerleon order disabled, only the Antonians would be left to oppose the vampire takeover of humanity.

As he finishes his speech, Callicantzari and Nosferatu pour in from a secret entrance. They overwhelm the Conclave and the others, but instead of killing them they just hold them captive. The woman appears, and Sir Differel recognizes her as her maternal aunt, Miranda Guinevere Pendragon, whom Sir Differel calls Aunt Mandy. When her father died when she was twelve, Sir Differel, as his only child and the last of the Van Helsings, inherited his baronetcy and control over the Caerleon Order. Aunt Mandy was appointed her guardian and executrix of her bother-in-law's estate, but she wanted everything. She tried to kill Sir Differel, but in doing so, she awoke Dracula from a decades-long sleep, and gave Sir Differel the power to summon Caliburn to her aid. She killed Aunt Mandy by cutting off her head. Aunt Mandy then explains that she had been in league with the Fomorians, and they had resurrected her. To prove it, she rips a collar off her neck to reveal the scar of where her head was reattached. She still covets control of the Caerleon Order, and through it, control of the British government. She originally intended to use the Callicantzari, which are controlled by the Fomorians, to gain control of the vampires, and then use them all to cripple the Caerleon Order and seize control over it, but Sir Differel's presence offered an opportunity to gain control without damaging the Order. When the Conclave chairman objects, she orders the Nosferatu to kill him; they tear him apart.

She is about to unleash the Callicantzari on her captives, however, when the door to the chamber is blown open. Flashbangs are thrown in, but Medb covers the captives and they are unaffected. Troops then rush in, human and vampire alike, firing weapons. The girls and Giovanna grab up shotguns as guns are thrown to Sir Differel and Dracula; Medb, Giovanna, and the remaining Conclave vampires attack bare-handed. Aunt Mandy flees down the secret passageway and Sir Differel and the girls give chase. They are intercepted by Nosferatu, and then a Jiang Shi, and loose her at the edge of an underground lake. Dracula, Giovanna, and Medb show up with a platoon of Caerleon troops, who fire mortars, but Aunt Mandy is too far away.

They return to the Conclave chamber. Four of the thirteen members are dead, including the traitorous chairman, and casualties among the vampire and human troops are high, but the invading Callicantzari have all been killed. Uallach is placed in emergency command and she names Giovanna as her adjutant. Sir Differel offers logistical help to get them reorganized, which Uallach accepts. Then Sir Differel asks that they continue negotiations. Uallach gives her an amused look and remarks that now she can negotiate from a position of strength. Sir Differel only smiles.