~ First Storm ~
by Erin G.
© 2006
Author's Note: This is a sequel the Autumn Night, and you'll need to read that story to understand this one.
Please send feedback to: ErinG@xenafiction.net
Chapter 10
Onward we ran, and as night approached the terrain became much more treacherous, and we often found ourselves hopping from boulder to boulder, and scrambling up steep slopes of lose rock and sand. We were now high up on the shoulder of a mountain - I just hoped it was the correct mountain. We had climbed above the tree line hours ago, and now there was little, if any, vegetation. Lenési was pushing our body farther then she ever had before, drawing power from my life energy, depleting my strength. I was in a constant daze, weakened but still awake, and trying simply to focus on keeping moving.
We were also hungry. Very hungry. Even beyond the need to feed I was starting to imagine sinking my teeth into a smoky roast chicken, or an enormous slice of pizza…
"Rheda, that's not helping!" Lenési complained.
Sorry…I couldn't help it. How are we doing?
"I'm holding on…just…try not to think about food, okay?"
Okay…how about…what I'm thinking about right now?
"Rheda! Now I'm hungry and horny too! Are you trying to kill me?" At least there was laughter in her thoughts now.
"Stop for a moment," Drazan ordered.
I sooooo wanted to sit down, but I knew that my body would not want to get up again.
"W..why are…we…stopping?" Noria gasped.
Drazan pointed upward. "There…that is where we need to go."
We looked where he was pointing, and finally after weeks of travel, we saw it. A dark castle perched on the mountaintop above us. It looked so close…yet… The mountain still towered above us, rising several thousand feet from where we stood.
"We're almost there…" Lenési and started climbing, but Drazan grabbed her and held her back.
"W…what's wrong?"
"Don't you feel it?" he asked in a strained voice.
Lenési shared a look with Noria. Both shook their heads.
"What do you feel?" Noria asked in a whisper.
He didn't respond, but his eyes now reflected fear. He then commanded, "Now quickly, up this ridge. It should take us all the way to the castle."
We soon found that quickly was impossible here. Often we were using our hands as much as our feet to ascend the ever steepening route. What was dangerous in the light became foolhardy in the dark. Still, we inched our way up the mountain.
<><><><>
The Devourer slowed as night fell. Though most of its senses were very acute, it lacked useful dark vision. The scent of its prey was very strong, beckoning it to follow, but caution held it back. It did not know the nature of these beings it hunted, or their potential power. There was no need to rush here. It had seen its prey's path in the light. They were ascending a mountain that they would not return from. It settled is great body down to rest. After it consumed these mortals, it would turn its attention to the one who brought it to this accursed place.
<><><><>
We'd been forced to halt our climb during the darkest hours. Rest was impossible, so we waited for dawn, and perhaps, finally the end of our journey.
At the first lightening of the sky we forced are aching bodies to again move to our wills. We had all grown pale, our bodies taxed well beyond their limits. We all needed to feed, though Drazan seemed to be drawing from some limitless storehouse of energy.
Upward…push now…right hand pull…left foot, step a little higher. Pull myself over this boulder… Step…climb…pull…push… I couldn't hear Lenési thoughts now, and I didn't want to focus on anything but climbing. I wasn't even sure who was in control of my body anymore, yet oddly the urge the feed was only a minor irritation now.
I squirmed my way over a large boulder and found myself on a nearly flat shelf of rock perhaps thirty feet wide and triple that in length.
"You two can rest here for a moment," Drazan said.
"You mean we can sit?" Noria asked with an exhausted smile.
He looked back at us and grinned, "I'll allow it."
Noria and I sank down to the ground together. She turned to me and gently began rubbing my back, "How are you holding up, Nési?"
Goddess her little massage feels good! "No…it's Rheda. Nési…I'm not sure. I think she might be asleep."
"Can't you feel her thoughts?"
"A little, but…I don't know. They are vague and unfocused. If she really is asleep I'd rather not wake her."
"Get up," Drazan ordered quietly. "And get behind me." The alarm in his voice was unmistakable.
Noria and I struggled to our feet. "What's wrong?" Noria asked quickly.
He nodded toward the other end of the rocky shelf. A lone bird perched on a rock there.
"It's, just a bird…" I murmured.
"No…it's not. It's a red-tailed hawk - an Earth bird, and it's been following us all morning."
As we watched the hawk spread it's wings and glided over to us, landing only a dozen feet in front of Drazan. Suddenly the hawk vanished in a flash of silvery light and was replaced by a tall dark haired woman in a gray cloak. She smiled and said, "Hello, Drazan."
"Calirica…" Drazan whispered, raising his hands, wrists crossed, and palms outward in a defensive magic stance.
"Oh come now, Drazan, do you really think in your current condition you could defend yourself against me?"
Slowly Drazan lowered his hands as Calirica walked up to him. "You've led us on quite an interesting hunt. And it was all for…what?" She stepped around him and I found myself face to face with our enemy.
Lenési, wake up! I need your help! Her thoughts began to focus, but only for and instant and then they faded again.
Calirica shook her head, "Drazan, these are the two you've been protecting? Why? What are they that you would give your life for?"
"You wouldn't understand" Drazan replied, resignation and defeat heavy in his voice.
We'd come so close…we'd almost made it to the Ancient!
Suddenly Calirica seized me by the throat, and pulled me to her. "The other one is insignificant, but…this one…something is very odd about her…"
I struggled weakly, and tried to look away from her.
"No don't turn away from me…" she hissed, "Let me see into your eyes…into your soul…"
"Let her go…let her go…let her go…" Noria whispered…her voice low and gentle. She repeated the words again and again.
Calirica fixed Noria with a tight smile, "I am aware of your talents, human. You may have a modest power to control minds, but I have far more power then you can call up from your ancestors. Stop what you are doing or I will crush the life out of your fledgling."
Behind Calirica's back, Drazan raised his hand and prepared to weave a spell.
"Drazan," Calirica warned without turning, "Unless you wish all of your effort to date to be wasted, I suggest you stay your hand. You're magic would do me little harm, but would seal the death of your friends."
Drazan hand dropped to his side. "Lord Calirica, I will tell you everything that you wish to know about her. She is an innocent though - a fledgling. Even you must still have some small bit of compassion for our fledglings."
Calirica again captured my gaze. I tried to close my eyes but I couldn't. She held me spellbound. Was she seeing into my mind? Could she see Lenési? Suddenly she released me, and I stumbled back away from her.
"What…are you?" Calirica asked me in wonder.
"Tell her, Rheda," Drazan commanded softly, "Tell her everything."
Over the next few minutes I did just that. From meeting Noria, to being bitten, discovering that Lenési's spirit had entered my body, and me agreeing to let her live again. Lastly I told her of the condition of our joining, and the promise made that I would never have to feed.
The Vampire Lord regarded me in silence after I'd finished. "Do you realize," she began "that if you would have come to me and explained all of this before you decided to run, I would have been able to protect you from ever being forced to feed?"
My gaze flicked to Drazan who suddenly looked less like an aging Vampire Lord, and more like a very tired old man. His shoulders sagged, and his head bowed at hearing Calirica's words.
"Would you have really helped us?" I asked.
"Yes, I would have helped you."
"Because…I'm a fledgling?"
"No. Unlike Drazan, I have no particular attachment to the young. I would have helped you because you are unique among us. Two souls sharing a single body - that is something worth protecting and studying. I would have nullified the requirement for you to feed. If the Council had overruled me I would have personally placed you under my protection. And I would have been able to protect you without resorting to this futile effort to spirit you away to an Ancient's domain."
"Why should we believe you?" Noria demanded. "You could say anything now."
"I have no reason to deceive you."
"Can you help us now? Will you help us?" I asked.
Calirica sighed heavily, "I cannot help you as I could have before. Events have grown far more complicated for you, and for myself as well. You have caused me no end of trouble, and the Council has ordered your elimination."
Now Drazan finally spoke again, "And you are here to carry that order out?"
"No, but as I said, it's a bit more complicated then that. A Devourer has been summoned to eliminate you."
Drazan was stunned, "You brought an abomination into this World?"
"No, the new Arcane Warder, Lord Ventra did. I want to send it back out of this World."
Drazan was stunned, "They removed you as Arcane Warder?"
"Yes. The details of that aren't important just now however. What is important to you is that the demon is climbing this mountain right now."
"How close is it?" Drazan asked quickly.
"Perhaps two hours away. From its appearance I don't believe it will climb very quickly," Calirica revealed.
"What exactly is a Devourer?" I asked, almost too tired to fear this new unknown threat.
"It is…a demon…an Outsider," Calirica began in a hushed voice. "It is a creature summoned here from a different realm of existence. Its form and description can be anything imaginable - the name doesn't refer to a specific creature. They are always uniformly hungry for destruction when summoned though. They prefer to consume creatures similar to the one that summoned it. Ventra summoned this demon, so it will prefer elf or human flesh. It will seek and devour voraciously and endlessly. She instructed the demon to find you three, and it will, but I doubt it will stop with just you. It must be destroyed or it will slaughter countless people before it's brought under control."
Drazan nodded, "Do you have the power to open a gate?"
"Yes, but though I have the power to open a portal to somewhere, I cannot alone force the demon to enter it."
"If presented with a doorway back to its home, won't it want to go through it?" Noria asked.
Calirica grinned wryly. "I said I could open a portal somewhere, I didn't say it would be the creatures home. I have no way of knowing where it came from, because I didn't summon it."
I protested, "But…we're just going to send it to someone else's World to slaughter their people? That's doesn't seem right either!"
Calirica fixed me with a curious look, "Drazan, is she always like this? Child, this demon was summoned to consume your soul, and you're concerned about what may happen on some other anonymous world?"
Noria took my hand, "Yes, she's like that all the time. She's always putting the happiness of others above her own."
Calirica rolled her eyes, "Foolish child, if you behave that way you are guaranteeing yourself misery for your entire existence - however short it may be."
"What would you have us do to help you? And if we help you, what do you intend to do with us afterward?" Drazan asked.
"I will need each of your talents in this. Each of you possesses abilities that I can use. We will discuss afterward, only if there is an afterward for you."
"Calirica, look at us," Drazan said tiredly "We're all gray with fatigue. There is little we can do."
"Yes, I expected that." She carefully withdrew a small black cloth bag from her cloak, opened it, and knelt on the ground. She set the bag on the ground, loosened its drawstring and overturned it. Three small many faceted gems spilled out, each glittering with golden light. Using the cloth bag to insulate her fingers she plucked one stone from the ground. "Drazan, this one is for you."
He knelt next to her and scrutinized the offered gem. "Calirica…" he whispered in horror, "these are…"
"I know what they are," she snapped and dropped the stone into his hand. He yanked his hand back and tried to drop the gem, but it had disappeared as soon as it had contacted his flesh. Rapidly the color of Drazan's skin changed from sickly gray to a healthy color, and he leapt away from Calirica.
She plucked another stone and pointed at Noria "You're next."
Noria looked at Drazan worriedly, "What is that?"
"No…not is. Was. It was a person. It's the total life energy of someone. She's completely drained her prey and stored their life energy into these crystals. Calirica…you would do such a thing? This goes against everything we've tried not to become through our entire history! We don't murder! We protect our prey!"
"Are you through?" Calirica asked, annoyed at his interruption. "Drazan, I didn't make these. One of my predecessors did. In fact it was the very Lord that turned Noria and she later killed in retribution. I found these shortly after I became Arcane Warder. You three need to be at full strength to be of any use to me, and this is the only way I can get you there." She took a deep breath and raised her hand toward Noria, "You will either take this from me willingly, or I will drag you over here and place it in your hand by force."
Noria hesitantly walked over and knelt next to Calirica. With a last look at Drazan she slowly opened her hand, and Calirica dropped the gem onto her palm. She flinched, but the stone had already vanished. A flush of color swept over her body as it had with Drazan. She stood and absently rubbed her palm.
Calirica was already holding the gem out to me as I reluctantly approached. I knelt in front of her, but didn't open a hand. I couldn't meet her gaze when I slowly asked, "Did these people suffer? The ones who we are…consuming now?"
I heard Calirica sigh. She replied in a surprisingly soft voice, "I have no way of knowing that. Human, these gems do not contain life; they're only energy that we can now use. You didn't create them, and you will not be harming anyone by using them. What evil was done to these people happened centuries before you were born."
I raised my eyes to Calirica's. Was there a glimmer of understanding in those eyes? Without looking I opened my hand. I didn't even feel it when she gave me the gem. A moment later I felt blood rushing to my head, my heart roared in my ears, my flesh tingled…but all for only a moment, and then I felt…
"Rheda?"
It was the first time I'd heard her thoughts in most of a whole day. Lenési, are you okay? I was so worried that you were…
"Dying? I was…we were. You kept us focused though…well, I wasn't helping much. For the last day you've been carrying the whole load."
We just used the life force of another person…
"I know. It was unavoidable."
Suddenly I was aware of Calirica staring at me. "You actually speak to each other? You and Lenési? You have conversations?"
"Yes…" I replied hesitantly.
"Remarkable," she breathed, "And quite illuminating." Wind whisperer and uncursed immortal indeed! She stood and helped me to my feet.
"Can we seek the Ancient's help now?" I asked, now amazed at how revitalized and strong I felt.
"The Ancient…" Calirica winced. "I think I need to show you something. The summit is only a short climb from here."
Chapter 11
The Devourer's eyes fixed on the specks high up on the mountainside, each slowly moving toward the summit. This was the prey. Though the demon looked ungainly, this was terrain that the demon was very accustomed and adapted to. It bounded forward against the mountainside. It's rare talons dug into the solid rock and it shot upward, ascending a nearly vertical cliff face almost as fast as it could run on flat ground. At this pace its prey was only a few moments above it.
<><><><>
We moved in a line, Drazan out in front, followed by me, and then, Noria. Calirica again had transformed herself into a hawk, and even now she was circling above us. The way now was far too steep for us to walk up, but we were able to ascend on cracks and wide ledges on our way to the summit.
Suddenly I heard the scream of a hawk, and looked around for Calirica. She had appeared on a ledge above us. "CLIMB FASTER!" she shouted. "The demon is just below you!"
I looked down at a copper-colored mass racing up the mountainside. We scrambled upward, pulling ourselves along. Suddenly a shadow flickered over me, and I looked up to see a huge creature flying over my head to disappear somewhere above me. Somehow it had leapt over us to the summit. Drazan and Calirica were already on the summit, but Noria and I were still over one hundred feet below it. I looked down at her. "What do we do?" I shouted.
Indecision clouded her features. She looked down, and then toward the summit. I had just decided to continue climbing when there was a horrific explosion above me. Rocks and debris flew over our heads, and a shower of dust choked the air. I clung to the cliff as it shook against me. Coughing and needing to wipe the grit from my eyes, I didn't dare let go with either hand. The wind quickly blew the dust away and I blinked rapidly to clear my vision.
Several rapid explosions, each greater then the first shook the mountain. I shut my eyes this time, and held on tightly. A rock loosened from above, struck a glancing blow on the back of my head. Sparks exploded before my eyes, but I wasn't dislodged. When the second rain of debris finally stopped, I opened my eyes and cautiously looked upward.
A pair of black smoldering eyes stared back at me.
"Noria! It's above us! Climb down!" I glanced downward, but Noria was nowhere to be found. I half slid, half climbed downward. I could hear it above, following. Dislodged chucks of rock from its descent fell around me, bouncing off the cliff and spinning out into the open air.
I could hear it's breathing, I was so very close. I could feel the heat of its body. I didn't look up. I didn't want to see it reaching…
Something grabbed my wrist in a vice like grip and yanked my arm, painfully jerking me to my left. My hands slipped from the rock, and I started to fall away from the cliff, only to have my arm nearly wrenched from its socket at the shoulder. I was being lifted, and pulled into darkness.
"Rheda, help me get you inside!" Noria yelled. She had dragged me into a narrow vertical fissure in the cliff. Still halfway outside, I wiggled my way deeper into the large crack.
"Keep wiggling…I can feel it widening now…"
I followed her, squeezing through an impossibly narrow crack.
"Carefully now, it widens a lot. Keep your feet on this ledge."
I felt around with my toes and found the wide ledge, and carefully squeezed out of the crack, into a small hollow. It was very dark, and I could only barely make out our surroundings. We were in a tiny hollow space perhaps a dozen feet inside the mountain. Noria was perched on a flat slab of granite. I stepped off the ledge, over a wide crack, and squeezed in next to her.
I opened my mouth to speak but my voice was drowned out by roar outside. A long copper arm was thrust into the fissure we'd crawled into. Luckily its reach was well short of our position. The demon felt around, grasping at rock and empty air searching for us. Slowly it withdrew its arm, only to begin ripping at the rock at the opening. It hammered its claws against to cliff. Stone cracked and splintered, and slowly the opening widened.
"It's digging us out…" Noria breathed.
We watched in horror as it slowly ripped away the cliff face. I turned away from the demon and whispered to her, "I thought…you'd fallen."
"I almost did." She wiped a layer of dust from her forehead. "Did you see any sign of Drazan or Calirica?"
"No…they were on the summit when that thing leapt over us…"
"I know. I don't know how they could have escaped from that…thing."
I leaned my head against her shoulder. "This is were it ends then? I just met you…Goddess, I thought we were going to be together forever."
"I know Rheda."
We listened at the demon slowly broke apart the cliff, each second it got a little closer.
"Noria…I…I suppose this is…hardly the time, but I…need to tell you this…"
"You don't have to say anything… I know how you feel about me… Rheda I feel that same way about you."
"I…I know, but that's…well…it's not exactly what I wanted to say…"
"Oh? I…" She trailed off in silence as warm air flowed around her legs. "Rheda, there's an opening behind me. I can feel air flowing from it." She carefully turned around. "I think it's big enough to crawl into…"
"But won't it just…keep digging us out?"
"Maybe, but would you rather die sooner, or later?"
I turned to follow her, "Lead on, I'm right behind you."
Squirming again, we wormed our way deeper into the mountain. Though impossible to measure the passage of time in complete darkness, the sound of the demon slowly faded until only the occasional crack of rocks shattering could be heard. The tunnel we were in was barely large enough for our bodies. However it was surprisingly even and mostly smooth, and never did it narrow enough so that we could not pass. As vampires we had excellent night vision, but we did still require some light to see by. There was none this far inside of the mountain.
By the time the sounds of the demon finally grew silent, Noria announced, "I don't think this tunnel is natural."
I wiggled my hips through a particularly tight spot and replied, "Why do you think that?"
"It's too straight, and there haven't been any intersecting passages or chambers."
"Rheda, may I take over?" Lenési asked.
Sure…you can scrape your elbows and butt for a while… Mine are killing me.
"Ori, it's Nési now. Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I expect so. That is, if you're thinking that this is an airshaft…"
Airshaft? For what? A mine?
"We won't know until we get to the bottom of it…unless of course it's blocked off."
Thanks a lot… I grumbled.
Onward we slithered. It was slow, painful, but at least we weren't been eaten by a demon. Thank the Goddess for small…very, VERY small favors.
"Woa…stop for a second." called Noria.
"Found something?" Lenési asked.
"More like found nothing. I've got a whole lot of nothing in front of me. We've finally reached a chamber…but I have no idea how large it is. The tunnel we've been crawling through seems to exit out of the wall of a chamber, but…I'm not sure how I'll climb into the room yet. We could be a long way above the ground. I can't turn around in here to lower myself with my hands. And I'm not really excited about going in head first."
"I could…hold onto your feet," Lenési offered uncertainly.
"Wouldn't work. I'm still head first… Wait, if I can turn over onto my back…" Noria wiggled her hips around, and after a few minutes of struggling managed to flip over onto her back. She then slipped forward a few inches into the room. "Okay, I'm feeling around on the wall of the chamber above the tunnel to see if I can find anything to hold onto when I pull myself out… Damn…there's nothing to hold on to. Uh…Lenési? The walls are smooth. I mean, really, really smooth. Very uniform and flat as well. I don't feel any seams or cracks at all."
"Smooth like cut stone?"
"Mmm…no. Smooth like plaster, or polished stone," Noria answered.
"Well, that tells us something, doesn't it?"
Like what?
"Like it's not a mine."
Nési, we're inside a mountain! What else could it be?
"Ori, Rheda wants to know what else this could be besides a mine."
"Lots of things," Noria stated. "It could be a storage room under the castle, maybe a…dungeon, or secret temple, library…who know?" She trailed off into silence. "Okay, here's what I'm going to do. I'll pull myself out, sitting upward as my torso gets into the open. I'll try to grab hold edge of the tunnel as I slip completely out."
"That doesn't really sound very feasible." Lenési warned.
"At least I should land on my feet though… Okay…here goes."
"Be careful…"
CLUNK! "Owe! Sonuvabitch!"
"Ori, are you okay?"
A heavy sigh, "Yes…"
"Are you on the floor? How much of a drop is there?"
"Oh…about three feet."
"Three… You mean the opening is just off of the floor?"
"Yessss…and if my arm would have been about an inch longer I could have touched the floor from inside the airshaft. I banged the hell out of my knees on the floor trying to swing out from inside there. You want to crawl forward and I can help you out?"
A last bit of squirming and we were finally both out.
"What now though?" Noria wondered uncertainly. "I supposed we can…just…grope around."
Hey…wait a minute! What if there are stairs…or open pits?
"Good point." Lenési acknowledged. "Ori, Rheda just mentioned that there could be open pits or stairwells."
"Well…I don't know what else to do. The air current I felt at the top of the shaft may mean that there's an opening to the outside down here somewhere. I know it's a slim chance, but…maybe we can escape somehow. It's a shame you don't still have your magic. We could really use a little light right now."
"Rheda, do you mind if I try a little experiment?"
Experiment like…try to weave a spell? A tiny touch of fear invaded my thoughts. Okay…but I don't see how it can possibly-
My thoughts to Lenési were cut off when a soft light began to form around my hand. It grew for a moment, than vanished.
Noria exclaimed, "Nési, did you just…"
"Almost. Let me try again." Lenési replied. "Rheda, you need to relax. A little bit of magic is nothing to fear."
I'll…try.
"Good…that's good. Just think of it as a little bit of helpful, friendly magic…a light to guide us and help against the darkness…"
The soft yellow glow returned. It wavered, flickered, and then strengthened. In a moment the light illuminated the entire chamber.
"Well," Noria whispered in wonder, "this certainly isn't a storage room."
"Or a dungeon," Lenési added.
My eyes were momentarily dazzled. We were in a circular domed room perhaps fifty feet in diameter. The walls were completely covered with writing - all penned in a bright gold and silver script. The script was smooth, fluid, without any sharp angles or straight lines. The text spiraled about the room, starting at the floor and ending at the very top of the dome. I had never seen a language like this before.
"Ori," Lenési began in a hush voice, "can you read the language?"
Noria voice trembled when she responded, "Y-yes… Nési, there are no real-world examples of this language…anywhere. It's recorded in a few books only, but…it's not been used for…well…since the time before the elves first went to Earth. Only a handful of people understand this language. It's been dead for tens of thousands of years, and…" Noria gasped as suddenly the script rearranged itself forming totally new spirals of text.
"Are my eyes betraying me?" Lenési muttered. "Did the writing just change?"
Noria spoke in reverent awe, "It did. Do you know what this room is? It's Sacred History Chamber. Someone's whole life is recorded here…every detail. Nési, there is not another place like this anywhere. None have survived though the eons of time…" Noria slowly turned in a complete circle. "What is recorded here…it could be the single greatest archeological find on this world since the discovered of the Fairy Elf Goddess's Temple. It could even be just as old…"
Umm…Nési? I know this is really exciting for Noria and all, but…don't we have a few more important things to worry about?
"Yes…but it wont hurt to allow her a few moments of joy."
"Oh my great Goddess," Noria whispered again. "This is the Sacred History Chamber of an Ancient. It's all here, Lenési, everything…the entire vampire history is here. Where we came from, how we became…" Noria stopped speaking for a moment, silently reading the whispers from the past. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, "Lenési, it tells how we became vampires - how the first vampires came into being."
Lenési bit her lip, and spoke in a gentle voice, "Ori, we can't stay here. We need to find a way out."
"Nési I have to read this! We can't…we can't go yet! There is so much to read - so much to learn!"
"Ooi'a'noia!" Lenési called firmly.
Noria turned her head. Pleading now, "Nési, please. This is more important than…"
"Our lives? Is it more important than our lives? We know where this is - we can always return, but nobody else will ever know what we found unless we escape."
"If we can escape…" Noria added darkly.
The room had two arched doorways, one leading to a long upward stairway, the other sloping sharply downward.
"Up, or down?" Lenési pondered aloud. "Up to the summit of the mountain maybe…and the demon as well. Down…deeper into the mountain. Perhaps to an exit somewhere below?"
"I say we get as far away from the demon as we can. If Calirica and Drazan couldn't stand against a Devourer, we certainly won't be able to." Noria added.
I offered my vote - Down I say…
Lenési nodded, "Then it's unanimous. Down we go."
We cautiously stepped out of the Sacred History Chamber and began descending an unadorned passageway. It was wide enough that we could walk side-by-side. We descended in a gentle spiral, each step taking us deeper inside the mountain.
Suddenly the passageway opened up in another wide domed room. This one was different then the previous. While the previous had been empty except for the writing on the walls, this one was devoid of any writing of decoration. Instead, a large stone sarcophagus rested in the center of the room. The only exit was the way we'd come.
Lenési whispered nervously, "Well, this obviously isn't the way out. We should go up and try the other way."
Noria was silent. Her gaze was fixed on the sarcophagus. She slowly took a step into the room.
"Ori, there's nothing here. Lets leave…whoever is in there in peace."
"No…"
Lenési frowned, "No? What do you mean no?"
"There's someone else here. I can feel it." She took another step into the room.
A shiver invaded Lenési's words, "Ori…we should really leave this place. It's cold…It feels like…death…"
Noria suddenly walked quickly toward the sarcophagus. "I can feel you're presence; show yourself!"
A robed figure suddenly appeared before Noria. The figure was translucent and it wavered in the still air of the crypt, but it was instantly apparent that this we no illusion. Noria quickly backed away from it.
When the apparition spoke, its voice was aged, tired, and dry as the stale air of its tomb. "A spark of life to disturb my rest…my dreamless realm, my long sought peace… Reason…for trespassed?"
I could feel Lenési fear; it was scarcely less them mine. It was Noria that spoke, "Are…were you…an Ancient?"
"Ancient…aged…eternal…unbroken…unliving…undying…"
"You are an Ancient then? We came to seek your help, your protection."
"Undeath I offer …to protect… persevere… eternally… unliving… undying…"
Noria clarified, "We do not seek death. We want to live."
"Live once, die once, live a thousand times, die a thousand times… undeath… unlife… eternal… unliving… undying… forgotten…"
Noria frowned, "Must you speak in riddles?"
"Riddles… riddles… answers… questions… mysteries… secrets… through life… through death… eternal… unliving… undying…"
Lenési, may I take over? She did not answer; she simply slipped into the passive role.
I spoke hesitantly, "Undying spirit, there is a castle…a fortress upon this mountaintop. Is there an Ancient there that can help us?"
"Ancient…eternal…echo of life… stone rises… stone falls… comfort comes in death… pain comes in life… eternal… unliving… undying… forgotten…"
"Noria," I whispered, "the castle on the summit, if it's even real, has long since been abandoned."
"I think you're right…" Noria said hollowly.
"Abandoned… desolate… empty… forsaken… cursed… forgotten… echo of life… "
I tried another approach, "Ancient one, we haven't forgotten you."
"Life forgets… fades…"
"We're here because we remember you. We sought you out."
"Seeks nothing… finds nothing… echo's remain… undying… unliving… forgotten…"
I repeated, "We remember."
There was a long pause before the spirit responded, "Remembers…?"
"Yes," Noria added, "We remember you. You the first ones; you the true ones. We are your children."
"Thoughts fade… dreams fade… undeath remains… unlife remains… forgotten…"
"You still live," Noria emphasized, "You live in us. You are apart of us. You will always be remembered."
There was another long pause before the spirit responded "You live… I…lived… died… lived again… now… remembered?"
"Yes, remembered." Noria replied, "We remember your life. We remember your curse. We remember your pain."
A note of anger appeared in the spirits voice. "Curse of pain… curse of unlife… curse of hunger… eternal…unliving…undying…"
Curse? Lenési what curse?
"I…do not know, Rheda. Apparently Noria does though."
Noria voice was bolder now. "Do you remember your children?"
"Children… false children… cursed children… children of undeath… children of murder…"
"Ancient Spirit, we are not as we once were. We are peaceful…"
"Cursed eternally… children of undeath…"
"Spirit, can you see me, as I am right now?"
"Perceives…child of undeath. See only children of undeath…"
"And am I cursed?"
"Cursed eternally…undying…unliving… eternal hunger… death… life…death again…"
"Spirit, I do not kill. I do not murder. I protect my prey. I do not harm them. Do I speak truth, or do I deceive?"
"Cursed child… eternally…"
Noria repeated, "Do I speak truth or do I deceive?"
"Child of undeath speaks…truth."
"I am not a child of murder. Your children have broken that part of the curse."
"Curse…eternal…"
"I do no murder. I do not desire it. Your children no longer murder."
"Child of undeath speaks…truth."
"You know this? You perceive events outside of this tomb?"
"Cannot…must not…cursed…forgotten…"
"The child of undeath speak truth, does the ancient undying one deceive?"
"Forbidden… must not…"
"It may be forbidden, but are you still capable of it?"
"Eternal…undying…unliving…"
"Does the undying one fail the child of undeath in deception?"
"Does not deceive…undying one is aware…undying one sees beyond…" The spirit suddenly became solid, flesh formed where transparent arms were, a face formed inside a faceless hood. Hands reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing a very real person. Her hair was lustrous silver, her face of youthful beauty. "Undying one sees."
Noria's eyes widened. "Are you spirit or are you flesh?"
Her eyes drooped in sadness. "Eternal…memory of flesh…memory of life…"
"Can you leave this…tomb?"
"Tomb… rest… sleep dreamless… sleep peace… to leave… to go… have gone… everywhere… have seen…nothing… everything…"
Noria nodded. "Did you travel far from here? Four centuries ago?"
"Journeyed… traveled… destiny… eternal debt… eternal unlife…"
"You were the one who killed seven Vampire Lords?"
"Eternal debt… eternal curse… she directs… commands… rules… eternal unlife…unliving…"
Noria swallowed. "Who is she?"
The spirit raised her hood, cast her face into shadow, and did not reply.
I stepped forward next to Noria. "Can you help us?"
"Aid… assist… child of unlife…"
Noria grasped my hand. "There is a creature that does not belong on this world. Spirit, do you perceive it?"
"Perceives hunger…rage…hatred…fear…pain…"
"Do you have the power end this rage?"
"Forbidden… bring punishment… bring pain…"
"Do you have the power to stop this rage?"
"Power eternal…curse eternal…"
"I am a child of undeath - your child. For all of the children of undeath this rage must be stopped."
The room fell into silent. Noria glanced at me - we were both holding our breath.
Suddenly the mountain rumbled, them rumbled again. Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
"Undying one, is this rage stopped?"
"Rage sleeps…hatred rests…hunger…dies."
I closed my eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief. The demon was gone…but at what cost?
Noria licked her lips, "Undying one, there were two children of undeath atop this mountain. Do you perceive them?"
"Perceive…two…"
Noria's eyes widened. "They still exist?"
"Children of undeath…unliving…undying…eternal…"
"Can you take us, the children of undeath, to those above?"
"Power eternal…undeath eternal…curse eternal…"
"Undying one, if you are willing, return the children of undeath to their siblings…"
The Ancient's dusty tomb slowly faded, to be replaced by the open air and brilliant sunlight. I breathed deeply. The air was clear and cold at the summit of the mountain. At our feet were Calirica and Drazan's bodies - gray, broken, and twisted among the rocks stained red with their blood.
I looked around, but the spirit was gone. "Noria, I thought the spirit said they lived?"
Noria stared at the bodies in confusion. "I don't understand…"
"Rheda!" Lenési shouted excitedly in my mind. "In Calirica's cloak…the small black bag. See if she has any more of those gems!"
I knelt beside the Vampire Lord, and carefully opened her cloak. Her clothes were soaked with blood and it looked unlikely that any life still resided in her body. It only took me a moment to locate the bag. I quickly emptied the contents and a pair of gems fell out onto the ground. Carefully using the bag to insulate my finger, I lifted one gem and dropped it onto Drazan's hand. The second was deposited on Calirica's. This time nothing happened at first, but slowly as Noria and I watched, their deathly gray color faded, and their natural skin tone returned.
Drazan was the first to regain consciousness. Noria and I were kneeling beside him as he opened his eyes. "Noria? Rheda? What…happened?"
Noria flashed me a grin, and replied, "That, my friend, will take some time to explain."
Calirica's awoke a moment later. As soon as her eyes opened, she leapt into a crouch, and scanned the summit. Her hands were already moving as she prepared to weave a spell.
"Calirica," Noria said in a conversational tone, "you can relax; the demon is gone."
The Vampire Lord's eyes flicked to Noria, than continued to scan the mountaintop.
"It's true," I said "we dealt with the Devourer."
After several more moments of searching for danger she finally swiveled and gave us both her full attention, "There is no possible way that you two could have slain a Devourer."
"I'm waiting to hear how they did it as well," Drazan added.
Calirica spun around and stared at Drazan. "You're dead!" she exclaimed. "I saw you crushed by the demon! I felt you die!"
"Oh…that," Noria said, "We took care of that too."
Calirica looked back at us, and her eyes narrowed. "I warn you two, that I have little patience for deception."
Noria met her challenging gaze with a smile, "And is this the way you thank someone who saved your life?"
Calirica clenched her jaw, and said nothing.
Noria shook her hand and sighed theatrically, "Very well…we used the last two of your…gems to revive your both."
"Not possible!" Calirica snapped.
"Why not?" Drazan asked calmly.
"Because I didn't HAVE any more of them!"
Noria and I shared a wide-eyed look, and I protested, "But…you did! We-"
Calirica stepped away from us and waved her hand dismissively. "I have no time for you're games, and it matters little anyway. With the demon apparently gone, we now have another matter to attend to."
Drazan warily got to his feet, "And what matter is that, Calirica?"
"Why the Council's order to have you eliminated of course. I would gain considerable respect by capturing or killing you."
"But…we saved your life!" I protested.
"Thanks," she replied sweetly, "But now I really want something of yours as well."
Chapter 12
The Lords Council chamber was always a tense place. Today the tension saturated the very air.
"And the location of the fugitives?" demanded the red faced Chairman of the Lords Council as he came out of his seat.
Ventra swallowed hard. It was never a good sign when the Chairman was this angry, and it was doubly bad when he was standing. She replied in a calm voice, "With the Devourer's location still unclear, I've not been able to actively search the area for them."
"And how was the Devourer able to escape your wards?" Callamad shouted. "You guaranteed that you would be able to control it!"
"I-"
Just then a swirl of light announce the entrance of the only remaining Council member not already in the room. Calirica strode up to the table, a large bag in her hand. "Sorry I was late, did I miss anything important?" she asked lightly.
"If there is anyone responsible for this situation it is HER!" Ventra hissed at Calirica.
"Oh…yes, of course. I at least take responsibly for my own actions. I also do what it takes to correct any mistakes that I happen to see, mine or anyone else's." Calirica grinned sweetly at Ventra. "If you're looking for your Devourer, it's dead. I killed it after you lost control of it."
"That's impossible!" countered Ventra. "You haven't that kind of power!"
Now ignoring Ventra, Calirica continued, "And if you're looking for the three fugitives, I found them too. Here they are in fact." She opened the bag and flung the contents onto the table. Three severed heads bounced noisily toward Ventra. The slightly bloated face of Drazan rolled completely off the table and it fell to the floor with a wet thump. Calirica continued in a low, dangerous voice, "When I begin a hunt I always find my prey. Don't anybody in this room ever doubt that again."
<><><><>
Three figures moved among the trees, descending a rocky trail out of the Harrower Mountains. They now walked lightly and casually, their pace unhurried.
"This will take some getting used to you know," Noria remarked.
"Hey, look at it from my perspective. I'm still trying to get used to being a vampire AND sharing my body with another person! Having a different body now is just one more thing to get used to. Besides, you're still heart stopping gorgeous…as always."
"Oh, will you two quit complaining? At least you still look young and beautiful. She didn't bother to make me look young. I've had an old man's face for a thousand years, I wouldn't have minded looking young for a change."
"So do you think it worked out for her?"
"Of that I have no doubt. Calirica has power unlike any I've seen in a long, long time. She'll be a potent force within the Council now. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I do not know."
"Turning boar's heads into replicas of ours…that was just…"
"Amazing?"
"I was going to say ghastly."
"Rheda, may I?"
Sure, I'm getting tired anyway, and I doubt Drazan will want to stop anytime soon. Go ahead and take over.
Lenési hopped over a large stone in the path, before asking, "Drazan, what about Calirica's shape changing? How did she turn herself into a hawk? Can Vampire Lords shape change? And how did she change our…er…heads?"
"We can't shapeshift," he replied gruffly. "I don't know how she did any of it. Its Fairy Elf magic that's well outside of my abilities and knowledge, and that's says a lot. As I said, she has great power, and equally great ambition is seems."
"She could have killed us," Noria noted quietly.
"Indeed," Drazan agreed. "And I can't even glimpse her reasons for sparing our lives."
"Why do you think she lied to us?"
Drazan scowled. "About?"
"The gems we used to revive her and you. She claimed she didn't have any more."
"She didn't lie," Drazan replied simply, before he turned and stopped in the middle of the trail.
"But she did!" Lenési protested. "There we're two gems in her bag!"
"How do you know she didn't lie?" Noria asked, leaning against a large boulder.
"I would have known it. It's very hard for someone to lie to me and get away with it."
Noria shook her head in confusion. "Drazan, she did have two more gems."
"I know."
"But you just said-" Lenési began.
"Neither of you lied about it. The gems weren't hers."
"I don't understand. If they weren't hers, then where did they come from?"
"That is an excellent question." Drazan answered quietly. "I do not know where they came from, however I have a suspicion that Calirica does. She dismissed the issue far to easily."
"There is something we haven't told you about yet," Noria guardedly revealed.
Drazan regarded her in silence for a moment before responding, "Yes, I know. You learned something that surprised you in the Sacred History Chamber, didn't you?"
"Yes," Noria replied quietly. "Was it true?"
"What exactly did you read?"
"I only was able to read a short passage. Though I wanted to read more, it seemed more important at the time to look for an exit. The text spoke of a curse - a curse of undeath, unlife, eternal hunger, and murder. Drazan, I think the writings were detailing how Vampires were created. The translation is difficult though. I don't think the first Vampires didn't start out in life as Vampires. For what I could read they seemed to be priestesses of a goddess?" Getting a nod from Drazan she continued, "A dark goddess I think - dangerously powerful and cruel. Though I wasn't able to read the reasons, these priestesses became obsessed with everlife - I'm guessing that means immortality. They sought spells to prolong their lives, and when they failed in that, they turned to their goddess and began a year of continuous sacrifices to her. These were blood sacrifices - elf or human, I'm uncertain. The writing told of whole villages sacrificed to this goddess. They then forcefully petitioned the goddess to grant them what they sought - or as the script read, they felt they deserved what they sought."
Drazan sighed, "And she granted it to them, didn't she?"
Noria nodded. "Yes, but she did it in such a way to punish them for even daring to pressume they deserved anything from her. She gave them immortality, but also our need to feed as well. As the priestesses had murdered hundreds or maybe even thousands of people as sacrifices to this goddess, she made certain that the murder would never stop. After slaughtering so many people, these first Vampires could not control their hunger, and had no reason to control their feeding. That's really all I was able to read. Somehow we did eventually learn to control our hunger and protect our prey though. I don't know when or how that happened."
After Noria finished, Drazan simply stood in silence until Noria added, "Drazan, did you know all of this?"
His shoulders slumped and he nodded slowly. "I knew. Mostly only members of the Lords Council know this. It's not something that we want anyone else to know, even though it all happened countless thousands of years ago. We are no longer cursed in that way, nor are we responsible for the crimes of those who came before us."
Noria murmured solemnly, "Though we're not responsible, I feel the weight of it."
"Of course you do," Drazan replied gruffly. "As we all should, and I hope we always do. Our past is too horrible to let ourselves ever forget."
Lenési groaned, "Drazan, I can always count on you to kill my good mood. I hope you two aren't going to talk about this all the way home?"
Drazan shot a withering glance at Lenési, turned, and muttering to himself, resumed walking briskly down the trail.
At getting a curious look from Noria, Lenési protested, "Don't look at me that way - he really was ruining a good mood!"
Noria shook her head and grinned, before setting off to follow Drazan.
Lenési scrambled to catch up as well. Walking beside Noria, Lenési asked playfully, "Ori, do you think we can find someplace cozy to sleep tonight?"
Smiling lustily, Noria replied, "Now I'm really wishing Calirica would have teleported us out of these damn mountains! When we finally get home I'm going to stay in bed for a month!"
Lenési laughed, "A woman after my heart I see!"
"That…and the rest of your body too…"
"Ori, that's something Rheda and I need to talk to you about."
"What?"
"Umm…sharing?"
Fini
Noria, Lenési, and Rheda will return in the next tale in the series, tentatively titled Sharing.
I hope you enjoyed First Storm. It took a year for me to write, and was my first foray into writing an action/dramatic tale. It's curious to me that as I wrote Autumn Night I never intended to continue it. Then again, Autumn Night wasn't supposed to be about Vampires at all! It was simply going to be a short romance, but my Muse had other plans. When Autumn Night was complete, I knew that I had to continue the story. I now have several more works planned in this series. I hope you'll join me again to take a peek into my world of Elves, Vampires, Ancient Spirits, Goddesses, and...well, a whole lot more. - May 2006
- Erin
ErinG@xenafiction.net