Enid crossed her legs and looked at the moon that hung low on the horizon. Eyre elbowed her gently.
“What happened after Rome?”
“I went to live in Gaul. Germania to be specific.”
“So, Alemany?”
“Correct.”
“Wasn’t that Rome?”
“Not technically, it was ruled by the the Goths. Barbarians to the Romans. Strangely closer to my tribal heritage then I would have believed. I picked it because Lucius and the council would assume I wouldn’t lower myself to consorting with barbarians. Lucius forgot of my heritage often. And whoever he was when I left had no clue, I was from a pictish tribe. Sextus would remember but wouldn’t think to look for me there.”
*****
Enid’s acceptance into the Germanic tribe was a strange one. It had started in a bloody battle, not against the Germanic tribe of Gaut, but with them. Lucius and the council had sent troops after her. She had spent the better part of the last month evading them. Her luck ran out about twenty-seven days into her journey. Likely because the centurions who found her had pugmentia trackers with them. She hadn’t developed the gift of flight yet and the weather was calm, making for a fight where the odds were against her. They had played a game of cat and mouse for days. She had hurt their number, but the exchange was she had less and less blood to use to defend herself. She was so harried she could scarce get enough sustenance let alone get enough to put up a strong offense. Her capacity was still low and she needed to feed often to keep up even a minimum of strength.
It was two hours after dark and she found herself outflanked by the some of the legion. She saw the banner for the first time. It was the symbol of Minerva.
An entire legion just for me. They must be really pissed, frightened, or both.
She could smell the pugmentia elder mixed in with overwhelming stench of the mortals. She picked him out of the crowd. He had a feral look about him. Enid growled. She recognized him immediately. One of the shifters. Bloodhounds. They would turn into wolves and various flying animals. Bats, Eagles, ravens.
Couldn’t even bother to send an imperial, or maybe they couldn’t. Maybe Sextus has no idea about this whole thing. If this was unsanctioned then I can kill them all without repercussions, and if it is sanctioned then I’m an outlaw anyway. I’m going to rip the power from his blood. His fault for getting involved.
The pugmentia sniffed the air in her direction then shouted a command. The centurions in front of him locked shields and formed a phalanx. They had caught her trying to get out of the grassland and into the dense forest. Where they would have the advantage, an open field. She snarled again and drew bloodseeker. The pugmnetia bloodhound smirked.
“Drop your weapon your highness and come willingly and out of respect we will not stake you.”
“Who sent you?”
“Your husband, he was worried you might do something rash.”
“You mean like cutting my way through his legion?”
“We have six thousand men, and three of us, you are one, little girl with a sword.”
“I like my odds, do you like yours?”
“Enough of this pointless banter, you three grab her and let’s be done with this.”
He pointed to three of the centurions in the phalanx. Enid warped time and cut them down before anyone could react. She let Bloodseeker drain the last to completion then tossed the desiccated husk at the bloodhound. She saw the phalanx step back as a unit. The Bloodhound’s eyes grew wider.
“Like I said, I like my odds, do you like yours? You should have brought two legions then you might have stood a chance.”
Enid’s bravdo was a show. She knew she didn’t have the blood to cut through a legion. Thankfully the flank was still a ways off and this was fifty men at an outside maximum. She could see them. It would take them at least fifteen minutes at a full run to reach the current battle. She picked up one of the shields. She’d need the protection. She pointed her sword at the pugmentia elder.
“Your reinforcements are a long way out and there is no way you’re stopping me from getting into that forest where your legion will be at a massive disadvantage. So, I have a counter proposal for you. Stand aside and these men get to go home to their families, and I won’t swallow your soul with my sword. What do you say?”
The pugmentia elder rolled his eyes and waved his hand.
“Attack, make sure her head stays attached to her body, otherwise do what you will.”
The soldiers advanced long spears out. Enid closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp night air. It bit into her nose and lungs. She called upon her blood to warp time around her and she bashed her way through the phalanx with sword and shield. Fifteen of their number lay dead the rest of the centurions closed in on her.
Blood magic is my only chance. Sorry Uncle Remus. This is a last resort.
“Last chance bloodhound.”
He laughed.
“You’re already half dead for a second time. Let’s end this.”
“You asked for it.”
Enid reached her hand to the sky and started chanting in Atlantean. Purple lightning arced from the fallen soldiers into her hand and she punched the ground. A blast wave of purple lighting flew outwards from her. At it’s front a wall of death lightning crashed through the soldiers and the pugmentia. The mortals died instantly their faces twisted in agony. The pugmentia collapsed on the ground trees decayed instantly. Leaving a fifty-foot circle of blackened earth. All life was gone from it. She looked down at her hands. Black veins were spreading from her fingers into her hands and then under her tunic and armor. She clutched her chest as pain raced through her to her core. The pain was worse than that inflicted by her father on her when she was a child. She staggered to the fallen pugmentia who was writhing in agony. His words were broken.
“Wh..what…was that?”
Enid collapsed to her knees beside him Bloodseeker fell to the blacked earth.
“Forbidden magic. I warned you. I tried to stop you. But you refused to listen. Your suffering will be over soon.”
She grabbed him and her teeth tore into his neck. She was ravenous. The toll blood magic took on the body and soul were immense and the only way to repair the damage would be potent blood like that of an imperial or a pugmentia elder. She drank and drank until the light of undeath left his eyes and she dropped his pale shriveled corpse to the ground. The black veins vanished, and she felt renewed and she could feel the new perceptions she’d stolen from him at the edge of her senses. She could hear the entire forest. Smell the approaching legion. Even with the elder’s blood she wasn’t able to heal all her wounds after dealing with the damage the blood magic had caused. She picked up blood seeker and stumbled into the forest. Snow started to drift down through the trees. She stumbled on for what seemed an eternity. She could hear her boots crunching in the frozen ground. She ran out of the will to move on and leaned on a tree. She slid down it and collapsed in the dirt.
Its no good I need to sleep for at least a day to recover from the blood magic. Now I see why Uncle said it was magic of the last resort. If I had another pugmentia elder to drain…
It was no good. She would be no match for the other elders who stalked her steps. And their legion. They still had almost six thousand men to her one sword and now broken body. The forest would give her cover and split up their numbers but weakened like this it was hopeless. She smelled them on the wind now as it howled from the plains into the thickening forest of evergreens. It was hours until daylight and they were close enough that even if she could evade them, they would be able to pounce on whatever shelter she found within minutes of the sun going down. The pugmentia couldn’t move fast with the army though. Her new super heightened senses heard the crunch of twigs nearby. She pulled herself up the tree and lifted Bloodseeker wearily. They would win, but she would make it costly. She leaned against the tree. Another one of the elder’s tracking her appeared from the browning foliage accompanied by several more Roman soldiers.
“Where is Xerin?”
Enid looked up at the woman, she had cat eyes and her hair was almost a mane.
“My child, where is he?”
“I drained him dry you old dust bag. Just like I’m going to do to you.”
Enid pushed herself up straight and leveled Bloodseeker at the elder vampire.
“Impossible you’re just a child, he was centuries old.”
“I am the daughter of the Emperor, did you really expect it to be easy? I’m a god compared to you. He tasted like trash, just like you will, he whimpered as my teeth sank into his neck. He begged me to end him so he didn’t have to live any longer with the rancid, pathetic blood you gave him. Pugmentia scum.”
Enid spit. The elder’s eyes started glow red and she snarled. Teeth and claws coming out. She pounced at Enid, lost to her vampiric rage as Enid had hoped. The Roman Soldiers as disciplined as they were, lost all cohesion and Enid used the last of her energy to leap aside and behead the elder. The loss of her powers and blood would be regrettable but she would not have been able to drain her and fight off the soldiers once they got over the shock and reformed ranks. She sliced her way through several, by the end she had two broken long spears sticking out of her and a gladius. The Romans lay dead or dying. She collapsed shortly after the last feel forcing the spear in her stomach to push further in. She lay there still in the hallow of a tree. She would be protected from the sun here. A day’s sleep would help her recover most of her wounds but right now she just lay there, every bit of her energy spent. She could feel the snow on her face. It brought back the memory of a winter decades ago when she lay dying with a dagger in her back. Sextus wouldn’t be coming to find her. She’d taken steps to prevent him from scrying her location. Mariana could have found her, but she was dead. No one else had the skill to find her with magic. Hence the bloodhounds. She heard the sound of more boots crunching the frozen leaves and snow beneath them. She lay motionless. Hoping the darkness of the hallow would shield her. She tried to pull the shadows around her, but she lacked the strength. The language she heard being spoken wasn’t Latin. It was more akin to her native tongue. She could make out a few words. They were not pleased to see Roman soldiers in the midst, they wondered who or what had killed so many.
Asking for help from the cattle. This is a new low.
Enid pulled herself out of the hallow. To them she would look like a child. She was short and slight for an eighteen-year-old when she had been turned. She spoke her native tongue.
“Help. They are hunting me.”
The group of men all turned from the looting of the bodies and looked at the source of the sound. Enid could make out eight. She was lifted up by one of them. He gently put his arms under her and avoided the weapons she had stuck in her. He didn’t pull them out, a sign he knew that she would bleed out, if she were mortal that was.
“Did you do this child?”
She nodded.
“How many are there?”
“A legion minus one hundred.”
“So many? Why are they here?”
“For me.”
“For you? One girl-child?”
Enid gave a slight nod it was all she could muster, she let her natural vampiric charisma loose. She could see him looking at her in the way mortals always did when she didn’t try to contain it. He would fall over himself to engender himself to her. The rest of the men moved closer. He held her closer to his chest.
“Your hair marks you as one of us. We will protect you child. Only the gods can decide if you will survive your wounds.”
Enid closed her eyes and buried her face in the man’s furs. After several minutes of walking the man carrying her spoke.
“She sleeps. Do think it was she that killed so many at the forest’s edge?”
“She’s a child.”
“A child who carries a dark burden. The sword I could feel it trying to devour me.”
“Perhaps she is a child of the gods.”
“Maybe that is why the Romans want her so badly that they would send a legion into our territory against treaty.”
“She is a child of the gods could you not feel it when you looked on her? We must protect her as if she were our own daughter. Lest we anger the gods.”
“Will she survive?”
“If the gods will it.”
“What will happen if we don’t?”
“Did you see the blackened earth? That would be our village. We must protect her and do our best to tend her wounds. We will not make the same mistake the Romans have.”
He pulled her tighter to him. He spoke quietly.
“I will guard you as I would guard my own daughter had she not died from the fever.”
Enid could fell his pace quicken.
“We must reach the village quickly. She needs a healer and I will not have her die on my watch.”
The rest of the men seemed to grunt with approval, and they broke into a quick paced jog. She wasn’t sure how long they travelled or in what direction. As much as she pretended the pain didn’t bother her she let her consciousness slip away from her to be free of the pain of the weapons as they shifted in her with the jostling of the run. Should the sun hit her skin the burning would waken her and she would take shelter, but the burning never came. She found herself awake in a smokey round house. She felt herself tightly bound in fabric around her torso. The pain was gone. Her healing sleep had done its job. It was dark and she shifted and felt a strong hand hold her down. It was a woman with long blonde hair that was tied out of her face with a leather strap.
“Do not move child, you’ll reopen your wounds. Rolf would not be pleased.”
Enid nodded and lay back into the wooden and straw bed. Then she felt around suddenly the woman noticed and made a shhing sound and pulled a bundle of rough woven cloth and placed it down.
“You do not need your weapon here. You are among friends.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“As Rothger found out. He tried wield it and it slew him.”
“I’m sorry.”
She hrmphed.
“Rothger was a drunk and a thief. He toyed with an object of the gods and got his just reward.”
Enid nodded and calmed herself.
“Are you a warrior?”
Enid nodded.
“What is your name?”
Enid pondered for a long moment.
“Eyre.”
“I have heard this name spoken on the lips of trade partners from the isles.”
Enid nodded.
“She is one of their goddesses.”
Enid nodded again.
“You are young to be so far from your people.”
“The Romans took me.”
The old woman nodded and sat on a stump of wood that had been placed beside Enid’s bed of straw.
“You are strong. I thought you dead at the first light of dawn on the first day, but then you stirred in your sleep as evening came on. You are truly the daughter of the Gods.”
Enid nodded.
“You do not need to stay with me. I am healed.”
The woman quirked her head to the side.
“Impossible.”
Enid shook her head and the woman gasped when Enid tore the bandage off of her abdomen. The wounds from the Roman weapons were completely gone without a scar. Though it was difficult to tell with all the scars she did have from her father’s tender mercies.
“Not even a scar!”
Enid nodded.
“I am a daughter of the gods, one in particular. My brother worked with the other gods to have my sister killed and I escaped before I met the same fate. It is why the Roman’s hunt me. They seek to bring me back so he can finish. It is my destiny to replace our father the ruler of the gods when he tires of his burdens. My brother is jealous and wants to remove me, so our father has no choice.”
“Surely your father can save you.”
Enid shook her head.
“He mourns for his fallen wife and my sister. He is too distracted. For it was he who gave the order to kill my sister. They say she broke our laws, but we were fighting the destroyer of everything. She had no choice. Our father would do nothing. By the time my father knew of the plot against me it would be too late. The men of your tribe saved me. Once he comes out of his grief, he will reward you greatly. In the meantime, I will do what I can to repay your kindness.”
The woman’s hands were shaking as she watched Enid stand up to her full height. Which was all of five feet. Enid pulled off the rest of the bandages. And stood naked for several seconds, then started looking around for her clothes and pack. Her pack was leaned against the wall of the round house. Enid walked over to it and started rummaging for clothing. She pulled out another tunic and breaches. The woman watched her with wide eyes.
“It is like you were never hurt, yet you have scars.”
“Weapons of the gods can hurt me permanently, weapons forged by man are painful and can slow me down, but they cannot truly kill me. I have been in many battles, even if I am young for a Goddess.”
“Surely you must recover more strength.”
“I am as strong as I will be without taking what I need to get stronger from your village and that I shall not do. There is another hellhound out there still tracking me. Once I deal with it, I will be safe. My brother cannot track me without them and only had three.”
“What is this hellhound?”
“A beast from the underworld. It will track its prey tirelessly. It wears the skin of a feral man. If it finds me here it will bring the legion. I must hunt it as it hunted me. Then your village will be safe. I killed the rest of its pack it will not stop until it or I am dead. Do you have scouts? Hunters? Anyone who might know where the legion is right now?”
“Rolf came back tonight from a scouting trip. He says the legion searches the forest an hours march from the village.”
“Where is Rolf? I need to speak to him. Is it late?”
She shook her head.
“The sun has just set.”
“Good, Where is Rolf?”
“He is in the long house discussing the Romans.”
Enid nodded and left the round house. She breathed the chill night air in, she could catch the scents of the village and the forest on the wind. No sign of the pugmentia, but there was something else, something primal. She shook it off as she walked to the long house. She pushed aside the skin that acted as a barrier to the cold outside air. The inside was smokey and drunken Gauls were all over the place. She noticed Rolf talking to an older gentleman. She hadn’t been noticed yet, she let her natural vampiric charisma off its leash as she approached the conference of scouts and war chief. When she appeared beside Rolf all eyes turned to her.
“You should not be out of bed, your injuries.”
“I am fully healed.”
They all looked at each other wide-eyed. Then stared at her.
“This should be no surprise. You know what I am.”
“Please go on I did not mean to interrupt.”
After a few tense moments the murmur of laughter and conversation picked up again once the first person took a drink. Everyone slowly turned back to their conversations, the chief and Rolf and the other scouts started discussing the Roman legion. They didn’t have much information on who they were, what their strength was, or how long they would be there. They were worried they would attack the village as they would need other tribes to help. Enid patiently waited for a lull in their conversation to interject.
“They are a hardened legion, formed a few years ago. They have seen battle in Egypt. If they run out of supplies, they will attack the village to resupply, or if they find out you aided me. They aren’t on a slave hunting mission. They are looking for me. They are led by an agent of my brother. He is no normal man. He could kill this entire village himself. I will hunt him.”
The chief looked Enid up and down.
“Surely it is too much risk, you are but a child. Let the men handle this.”
Enid would usually bite back with a snarky comment at this point, but these were mortal men. They weren’t used to woman who could uproot trees and throw them at full strength.
“With respect, this is a mission guile and stealth, I am small, and I can move swiftly, and I can become part of the shadows. Also, my blade is the only one that can slay him. And as you know by now no mortal can hold it without dying.”
The chief laughed. Enid sighed. She couldn’t show them her power, she had to conserve her blood until she could feast on the Legion. She did not want to harm the villagers. She thought for a moment and then glanced at the chief. He had a wooden mug that had been empties of its ale sitting beside him. She reached out her hand and clenched her fist the mug shattered in her telekinetic grasp.
“Can any of your men do that?”
The assembled warriors jumped back at the loud popping sound. And looked towards her with wide eyes.
“I can handle myself. I will not be fighting the legion myself. Just the one that leads them. I will slip into their midst and behead him and be gone before anyone realizes what happened.”
“You say this, but Rolf found you almost dead.”
“I was not almost dead, just weakened. I wasn’t recovered from my battle with the destroyer when I was forced to flee. There were three of the hunters when they started the journey. Now there is one. Once he is gone the Legion will have no means to find me and will be forced to return to Rome. If you provide the information I need, I will kill the hunter, and the legion’s leaders, they will return to Rome broken. I will make it obvious it was me so your tribe should not fall under suspicion. If you don’t provide the information, I’m going to have to scout myself and it will be challenging.”
Rolf glanced at the chief who didn’t seem convinced. Rolf spoke anyway telling her of the landmarks around the forest and where he had seen the Legion, where the leadership had made camp. And of the strange feral human with glowing red eyes, he had seen stalking them. Enid listened to all he had to say and nodded.
“Thank you, Rolf. I will ensure you are richly rewarded for your assistance.”
Without further word Enid walked out of the long house and closed her eyes forcing her blood to transform her into the new shape she’d learned from draining Xarin. Her body shrunk and red feathers formed out of her skin. She had expected the transformation to be painful but found it to be just different. She flapped her wings struggling to lift off. She practiced gliding and landing and taking off several times before taking to the night skies. Rolf and several others watched from the shadowed doorway of the longhouse. Rolf had tears in his eyes as the bird of prey flew into the sky.
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“She is a goddess. May our enemies blood run as red as her hair. If she hunts the Romans so shall we. Make the call to war. If the chief fails to see reason, then he is a Roman already and will be first to fall to our blades!”
Enid had not intended to start a coup in the tribe. Had she known what was a foot she would have dissuaded Rolf. This was the exact reason Sextus limited their interactions with Humans to feeding or necessity. It was easy for them to see vampires as Gods, or worse monsters. Enid was still young and even lacked the subtlety she would develop with maturity. A woman looked up from her table as Rolf confronted the chief and accused him of being a servant of Rome. She sighed as his axe split the chief’s skull. She took a long drink from her ale and approached him.
“Rolf, I am milk-mother to Eyre. She would not want you to risk your people’s lives.”
“Milk-Mother to the Red goddess why did you let her suffer?”
“She is like all children, she suffers from the folly of youth. And as a youth she is having a tantrum, running away from her God-blooded father, such choices have costs, she must learn of those costs, but I would not have your people’s blood on her hands. It is too soon for her to learn that cost.”
“What would you have us do? What is your name?”
“I am Lilith, you must say nothing to her of my presence. Know that in two thousand years she will save this world, and that you will help form her into the champion the world needs. She needs to see not all men of your tribes are like her mortal father. Show her that mortals are worth respecting, that you can love, and be loved. That you can tend to children with love and respect.”
“I will mother goddess, but my wife is dead and my children.”
“My daughter will see to that. Just trust in her. Even now she ponders how to assist you in finding a new wife. She believes a child that is immune to disease is your greatest desire. She will do her best to provide it. Just trust in her wisdom. She looks young but she is older than any living person on this world.”
“I will trust in you and the Red goddess.”
“Then dispose of your chief. You were right he was a coward and was ready to send word to Rome, had you not slew him, I would have.”
Lilith dropped her hood. She was more beautiful than the most beautiful human woman any in the room had ever seen.
“Hear me, your chief was a coward, a betrayer of the gods. Rolf slew him at our behest. He is chosen. Any who oppose shall die a terrible death. Rolf keep your people inside your village walls. My daughter will call down death this night and his minions will stalk these trees. Any mortal in these woods will be dead by dawn. My daughter is young, but she is the most powerful being that walks these roads. Mark my words.”
The assembled Gauls cowered in their seats. Lilith tore a hole through space and time and left the room through it. As she left Rolf caught a glimpse of a shimmering golden building made of mirror glass. He averted his eyes and when he looked back it was again just a dark, smokey long house. Where Lilith had sat was a cloak and empty honey-mead jug and an image of Eyre dressed in strange clothes pulling her sword out of marble. He scooped it up in his hand and held it to his chest. He turned to the assembled.
“Tell everyone in the village what you’ve witnessed and that any who leave the village tonight will die at the hands of the gods.”
He left he long house. He looked at the sky as purple lightning crackled across it. Several minutes later anything not lashed down was blown off its moorings by a wave of air. Rolf who was watching the sky was knocked off his feet as were several others. A few rushed inside. The rest watched the sky.
“The mother goddess spoke true. The Red goddess calls down death on her enemies. I pray to the rest of the gods that she is victorious.”
*****
Enid exalted in the freedom of flying as a falcon. She could see the tiniest detail as she flew over the forest. Picking out the traces of the army she hunted. She traced them back to their camp. She could feel the wind picking up, and the charge in the air. If there were gods, they were on her side this night. She could kill the entire legion with a storm at her disposal. That would send a message to Lucius, one he could not ignore. Nor could the empire. They would send scouts and find the charred remains and they would know that their gods were displeased with their sticking their noses here. It would be the only explanation. Sextus would know what had happened. Lucius and the council would face repercussions and he would also know that Enid didn’t want to be bothered at the moment. She couldn’t recall ever seeing a lightning storm in winter, but she didn’t care at this point, it was a blessing she would not ignore.
She flew around and her keen senses found the scent of the pugmentia she hunted. He was listening to scouting reports outside of his tent. The fool. She flew of and hunted lone Romans taking their blood and filling herself. She heard the first crash of thunder. It was time. She flew back to the camp. She swooped down and clawed at the eyes of the pugmentia elder with her talons. He screamed in pain. The soldiers stumbled backwards out of shock, by the time they had weapons drawn she had shifted back into her human form. She stood with her foot holding the elder down. He was no match for an Imperial at full strength. She spoke in Latin.
“You do not belong in this land. He is my prey. Leave and live, stay and die with him.”
The elder’s eyes had healed by now he was trying to get free and had grown claws she crushed rib cage and shoulders with her foot to delay his attack. He cried out in agony. The soldiers hesitated then retreated she looked down at the elder.
“I could have killed you quickly, but I want you to witness the power of an unleashed Imperial before I drain you dry.”
The elder was trying to heal his wounds she could tell. She saw more soldiers starting to form up. It looks like they had just gone to get reinforcements. She growled and screamed at the sky.
“You want to die! You want this? I’ll give to you! You mortal cattle! You dare hunt me, you should be worshiping me!”
She reached up to the sky and started chanting in Atlantean calling the electricity in the air into her hands. She then leaped off the elder and smashed her fists into the ground. Forcing her telekinetic energy into the slam along with the lightninging she held nothing back and the ensuring explosion obliterated the entire camp leaving a smoking crater. The bodies of the roman legion, those that hadn’t been devoured earlier by the hungry vampire burned at the edge of it, thousands of charred and burning remains. The pugmentia elder had been sparred some of the blast. He had been partially protected by the circle of safety at the center created by Enid’s presence. He was still broken and charred. He tried to claw his way across the smoldering earth with his burned and smoking hand.
Enid picked herself up and looked down at the pathetic form before him. His legs were burned off below his lower thighs, one of his arms was missing and she could see his skull through one side of his face. He was saying something she couldn’t make out as his face was too damaged to form words. She walked to him and rolled him over. She could see his half missing lips trying to form words. His one remaining eye looked up at her with a primal fear she had never seen. She looked around herself at the carnage she had just caused in her anger. Tears of blood rolled down her cheeks as the true cost of her rage had been. Trees were smashed. Most of the bodies were limbless. She looked down at the broken pugmentia before her and she didn’t feel rage. She felt pity. For the first time in a century of undeath she felt sick to her stomach, but she could not throw up.
She kneeled down. She cupped his neck her in hand. She could feel the pugmentia vibrating with fear. His one good eye was wide with terror. She bit her hand and put it to the remains of his mouth. Her blood poured into his mouth and he began to heal rapidly. Her blood was potent and was able to heal most pugmentia wounds rapidly. It would also bind him to her, but if she did nothing, he would suffer like this until dawn and she could not stomach that, nor could she stomach more death this night.
“Remember this mercy blood hound. I will never show it to you again.”
He healed rapidly and fell to his knees.
“I am your servant forever Princess. Please forgive me I did not know who I was hunting.”
“You are not to blame, my husband is. Return to Rome, seek out Sextus, tell him what transpired here and who paid you for your services. Tell him of my mercy to you. Tell him that if anyone else seeks me out I will not be so merciful next time. And to tell the council that one day I will drain each of them dry for their part in this massacre. Never return to this land tell all who you meet that this is my territory now. Any vampire who dares enter it will find it’s life is forfeit.”
He nodded, he shifted into the form of a raven and flew into the air. Enid turned and shifted into her falcon form and flew towards the village. She did her best not to look at the carnage she had caused. When she landed she was met by Rolf. She didn’t feel like speaking to anyone let alone a mortal, but he seemed to be agitated.
“What?”
“Is the forest safe now?”
“Yes, your people are safe for the foreseeable future. The Romans know the wrath of the gods. I need someplace to rest. Someplace away from the sun and I should never be disturbed during the day. I need the day to focus my mind and control my power.
“This way.”
He led her to a nearby cave that had a wooden wall with a door built into it. Then deeper inside where a pool of water stood past another wooden wall with a door.
“None shall bother you here Red Goddess.”
“Call me Eyre.”
“As you wish, Eyre.”
Enid paused as she turned to close the door then looked at Rolf. Rolf seemed hurt? She wasn’t sure. Something was different about his demeanor.
“I do appreciate your help. I had to kill a lot of people tonight. The aftermath was unpleasant to witness.”
He nodded. She closed the door and curled up on some furs that were laid here for some reason. She wasn’t sure what this was used for, but it would be shelter from the sun. While she slept Rolf took a scouting party into the forest. Both to ensure the Romans were gone and to see what weighed on the child goddess so heavily. When they found the remnants of the Roman encampment, they were witness to destruction on a scale no human had seen short of a natural disaster up to that point. A modern human would assume a bomb had gone off. Trees were felled for a few hundred feet at the edge of the crater itself. Body parts littered the fallen trees. The bulk of the bodies were near the edge of the crater. They were twisted, smashed and charred. Most were unidentifiable save for shreds of armor and parts of swords. Rolf looked at the devastation and heard the words of Lilith in his head. She must learn the cost, she will need you to teach her compassion for mortals. Tears rolled down his cheeks. The child probably hadn’t been aware of the outcome of her actions last night. These soldiers had no chance against her, and he had been pestering her about his people’s safety. She had been dealing with having been responsible for this… The rest of his scouting party were similarly affected. The looked at each other than to Rolf. He spoke.
“She is a child, we have been tasked with teaching her mortals are not monsters. We must tread gently; This is what happens when she is angry.”
The rest nodded.
“Tell our people that this place is cursed. They do not need to see this kind of death. It was worse than they deserved. Warriors deserve honorable death in battle, not to be slaughtered at the hands of an angry god-child. I will speak to Eyre this not acceptable behavior for any being. Mortal or God.”
The group returned to the village and when night came on Rolf waited by the cave entrance for Eyre to make her exit. She did so, she looked refreshed. He had no expected that. She quirked a red eyebrow at him, he spoke.
“Eyre, may I speak plainly?”
“Of course.”
“What you did last night was wrong.”
She blinked at him. Enid couldn’t believe the words she was hearing and wondered if she was translating wrong.
“You are questioning my actions?”
“No, I’m just telling you it was wrong.”
“You dare?”
She grasped him by the front of his armor and lifted him up in her rage. Rolf could feel the waves of rage roiling off her like the broken surface of boiling water. He felt a primal fear in the pit of his stomach. She blinked and realized what she was doing and put him down. He felt weak in the knees but kept his balance. He tried to keep a stern look on his face.
“I will respect you as a goddess Eyre, but if you slaughter helpless people I will speak up. It is wrong. They were helpless before your power.”
“They would have killed your entire village. They hunted me for a month!”
“And you were still wrong to slaughter them like suckling pigs.”
Enid glared at him. Rolf could feel the fear welling up in him again. He was starting to question the wisdom of this approach. He watched her face slowly unclench from her anger and she nodded.
“You are not wrong. I just not expect a man from your tribes to feel such compassion for anyone let alone their enemies.”
“All men are not the same as the one who hurt you child.”
“I was starting to believe that right up until my brother betrayed my trust.”
“Every man is their own. Judging all by a few is wrong. What if I were to judge the gods based on what you did last night? Would I find them worth worshiping?”
Enid frowned. Damn this human was pricking at her failings, he was an artist at it. It infuriated her in the same way Sextus’s insights into her behavior often did. Rolf reminded her of him, which endeared him to her. She sighed heavily and threw her hands up.
“You have made your point Rolf with wisdom of the Emperor of the gods himself. Truth be told I am unsettled by what I did as well. I had only intended to call down lightning on them, not whatever happened.”
“Every child has to go through the phase where they underestimate their strength. If I had a piece of grain for every time, I’ve seen a child break something or harm another because they did not know their own strength I would never want for bread.”
Enid nodded. Though being called a child was vexing she was at least three times this man’s age. But as a vampire she was a child and she really did not know her own strength. She had not meant for the lightning to do that.
“Come I have prepared a feast in your honor.”
“You have? What did your chief think of that?”
“Nothing, he is dead. I killed him he was going to betray you to the Romans. He was a coward and a betrayer of the trust of a guest. He did not deserve to draw breath any longer.”
Enid looked up at Rolf with a new appreciation. Several months passed thusly. Enid would feed on the villagers only as she needed, preferring to hunt travelers. No more was heard from Rome save for a single messenger who delivered a letter apologizing for a rogue general veering into the territory and a renewed promise of trade and peace. Rolf had read it himself. Enid had been teaching him the art of reading and writing Latin so he would be at less of a disadvantage with the Romans. He was near their borders so being able to communicate effectively would be an asset. Throughout the long winter months, spring months and into the summer Rolf had treated Enid less like a goddess and more like a daughter and valued advisor. The rest of the village had been friendly but cautious around her. The tribe and village had a brisk trade with both Rome and other tribes. There were two attempted raids, both aimed at capturing the God-child said to reside in the village. They came at night; Enid’s response had been swift and brutal. Rolf would send their desiccated husks back to the tribes. He would claim publicly it was out of respect for the dead. But Enid had suggested it in private as a way to warn them away from further behavior. After the first few raids no further aggression occurred. A few letters were received that confirmed that the message they had sent with the dead bodies was clear. They wanted no part of a war with Rolf or the Red-Haired Goddess. Rolf had surprised Enid he asked her for nothing, no miracles, no assistance beyond what she offered freely on her own. So, when he approached her one evening in late summer, she was somewhat shocked to see the worry creasing his face.
“What bothers you, Rolf?”
“Wolf-born attacked a scouting party. We thought them gone.”
“Wolf-born?”
“Men infused with wolf spirits. They are like you, immune to our weapons. They left their shredded remains at our gates and painted runes in blood on the walls.”
“Show me.”
Rolf led Enid to the runes. She recognized them immediately. The spirt walkers. She was treaty bound to help them and they her. They must not know this village is under her protection if they would do this. She would have to speak to them.
“Who died?”
Enid listened as he listed off the names of four men and one boy. Some of which she counted as friends. She clenched her fists in anger. Rolf continued.
“I have done my best to do as you asked and handle matters myself, but this is beyond us.”
“I know of these creatures. They have a treaty with my father, we are bound to aid each other and not harm each other’s interests. They have broken the treaty. It could just be a single pack or member. I will see they are punished and that they know you are under my protection.”
“I do not seek vengeance. Or justice. Just the safety of my people.”
Enid nodded putting a hand on his tattooed forearm.
“I will be diplomatic out of respect for you.”
“Thank you, child.”
Enid looked him up and down. Eight months in the village being treated as a member of this tribe had an impact on her withering humanity. She wasn’t sure she liked it, but she respected most of them as she would a friend. They had earned it through word and deed. Enid shifted into her red furred wolf form she had also stolen from the Pugmentia elders earlier in the year. She followed the trail of the spirt walkers who had dismembered the villagers. She could feel the shift in mystical energies as she crossed the barrier into their realm. They would know she was here instantly; It would not take long for a pack to find her. She didn’t hide herself. She smelt the wolf-born before she saw it shifting into a monstrous half wolf, half man shape and bouncing towards her. For a pugmentia such an encounter would end in the vampire’s death. For an Imperial, even a young one the encounter was a bit more even.
She altered time and leaped into the air, shifting in the middle of her lunge. She drew her sword. She angled herself to the side of his leap and with her free hand grabbed his neck and slammed him into the ground. There was a loud crash and the ground shook as the two super-strong titans clashed. When the collision was over with Enid had broken his rib cage with her knee and had Bloodseeker across his throat. He growled and struggled coughing up blood. She saw several wolves and a couple of humans, and one other wolf-man come out of the trees. They had that hackles up. Her actions had the impact she had wanted. She wanted them to pause. Every single one eyed her silver sword. She could sense fear.
“I am Enid, daughter of Sextus, I am Slays-Demons, Blooded by tooth and claw and by treaty my territory is to be free of your presence, and my people safe from you. I marked the village as mine clearly as ordered by treaty. You have broken this treaty, this wolf in particular. It is my right by treaty to take an equal blood price from your tribe. Five are dead, one of them a cub. Who among you wishes to pay the price for this one’s breach? I have spilled blood for your people and in return you betray my trust.”
An old man pushed aside the wolf-man and a human. He held up his hands. Enid recognized him, though he was much older than she remembered from their previous meeting. He obviously recognized her. When their eyes met. They had fought side by side to destroy an infestation of demons.
“She is wolf-friend and blood-sister to me, and you dared violate her sacred territory?”
She could hear the unbridled rage in his voice. She had seen younger wolf-born shift and tear someone’s throat out for less than she was accusing of this wolf of. Age had mellowed his temper apparently. The one she was holding struggled.
“You are weak an old wolf that needs to be put down, we need to claim this whole territory, the humans are food!”
The old wolf seemed saddened by the words.
“Blood-sister you have no reason to spare my great grandson save that I ask it.”
Enid punched the wolf-man she held in the face, and she heard bones crack he stopped moving but he was still breathing. His form shifted to that of a red-haired human boy. It would take him a day or more to heal from the injury as a human. More than enough time to decide his fate properly. The humans gasped a few of the wolves made whimpering sounds the old wolf sighed with relief. The rest calmed when they realized she had not killed him.
“Out of respect for you Silver-Tooth and for the humans that provide me with shelter I grant you the rite of punishment for those involved.”
“I thank you for this kindness Slays-Demons.”
He used the name the spirit-walkers had given her to honor her role in defeating the demonic invasion of their sacred lands in Greece. He clasped her arm then tugged her close and engulfed her in a bear hug. Even shrunken with age, he was a bear of a man.
“Slays-Demons is an honored hero of our brothers and sisters in Greece. We slew a hundred demons in a single night. She is pack-mate and blood-sister to me. She will be treated with honor and respect.”
The assembled spirit-walkers looked on her with reverence afterwards. Enid felt uncomfortable. They looked at her as if she were a legend come to life. They reached out to touch her. Silver-Tooth laughed at her reaction.
“What’s going on Silver-Tooth?”
“Your story has spread amongst the tribes. The spirits speak of you being a savior to our kind.”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
“You were the one who your father sent to meet the treaty request. To our children and children’s children you become a legend. Hurling fire and lightning, slicing demons down with your silver blade. They all want to be like you. Had Red-Fury known he was attacking your territory he likely would have thought twice. He has a hot head and is quick to action but even he is not so foolish is to attack one who the spirits speak of as a legendary warrior.”
“I put up the runes, made it clear… I had assumed your kind was nowhere near here.”
“And our packs saw the runes and have given the human’s a wide berth. Red-Fury however called us cowards and fools following some old treaty. I believe you have taught him both humility and that the old treaties hold power. Had you not shown up here and granted me the rite of punishments the spirts and blood that bind our treaty surely would have. I thank you for the mercy of being clear about the rite of punishment. I believe you saved him from a fate worse than death. I find it strange you are here; You did not seem to have much love for humans as I recall.”
“The village has earned my respect and loyalty. Especially their leader. He would be upset if the punishment did not meet the crime, and the spirits are rather vicious when they are angered I was sure their punishment would be so terrible as a warning to all others who would breach the treaty….well, the thought of what they might do concerned me.”
“I may yet ask them to intervene but remind them that you have asked for mercy. Red-Fury needs to learn that our ways are not some superstitious nonsense, that violating agreements bound by blood and spirts has consequences.”
“What about the rest? It was three of them.”
“Red-Fury is charismatic and drew a few youths into his stupidity. Once they see him suffer punishment, I suspect they will learn to behave. Still, we owe the humans restitution, even without the treaty we are bound to protect them as well as this world from forces beyond. Not slaughter them needlessly. What would they find acceptable?”
“Rolf, the leader of the tribe begged me to be merciful. I think he would ask nothing but assurances of his people’s safety. I would suggest something more. Rolf is wifeless.”
“He sounds like a man that you could respect and love. And if you are here, I assume your husband is…?”
“Not dead and Rolf sees me as more a child then anything. And I he wants a child, you and I both know that is not possible for my kind.”
“Indeed, the price of your own immortality is that you can longer create immortality by having children. So, what exactly do you propose?”
“Rolf wants a wife and children that are immune to mortal disease, it is truest heart’s desire. Your people are immune to mortal sickness, even those among you that don’t possess the wolf spirt. I ask that one of your women who is willing, consider marriage to him. This will strengthen bonds, would protect the villagers for further predation least you kill kin, and he will have his truest heart’s desire. His first wife and daughter died of a fever.”
“That will be controversial as it will dilute the blood-purity of that kin. And the wolf-spirt can manifest in any of our offspring, even grandchildren, great-grandchildren.”
“I would say it is better than five of your people sacrificing their lives to appease the spirits for violating a treating and sacred trust. Also inbreeding has its own downfalls, trust me I’ve seen it in Rome.”
“You speak with a wisdom and patience that I am not used to from you.”
“While I don’t look any older it has been nearly a hundred years. My hair may not be grey, but I have grown.”
He smiled.
“I will find someone.”
“She has to be willing; I won’t go putting a woman into a marriage against her will.”
“You know what our women are like, they do nothing they choose not to.”
“I am well aware, but I don’t want you holding the punishment of their family over them.”
“I will ask for a volunteer. If a woman feels duty bound to protect her family on her own accord, then that is her choice. Now let us go to the circle of stone and let our tribe hear of the battle of Pyre hill from its two foremost heroes!”
Enid shook her head and laughed the pair regaled the tribe of spirit-kin with stories of battle long into the night. Silver-Tooth provided shelter and protection to Enid for several days as he stayed with them. Red-Fury and his pack came to her and begged for her forgiveness. Red-Fury seemed to have had his spirt broken. She felt bad, but youth had to learn from good and bad choices. She had learned her own lesson earlier in the year. She had even been asked about the destruction as the tribe had seen the remnants of both her battles. She admitted to them it was her who did all of it. They had cheered her on, she had a difficult time impressing on them that her actions were wrong. At the end of a week of stories and companionship of an old friend she started to prepare to leave a girl approached her.
Enid took her measure. She had seen her at the periphery of the tribal gatherings. She looked not much older than her mortal form appeared. She had long brown hair and ice blue eyes. They marked her as one of the northern wolf descendants. She lacked the wolf-spirit. She had had tattoos describing her tribal heritage and her family on her arms. She was tall, almost six feet. She was also broad-shouldered. Going off physical appearance she could probably beat Enid to a pulp where she mortal. Her face, while not unattractive did not look striking. She was average at best. She could not meet Enid’s gaze. A lifetime of living among the wolf-kin had given her the mannerisms of an omega wolf. Every movement gave the impression that she felt like she was inferior to Enid. Enid sighed. It was the way of the wolf-kin but it still bothered her at a fundamental level. Enid lifted her chin and met her gaze.
“What is your name?”
“I am Hazel. I am sorry Slays-Demons.”
“Relax Hazel, I am not a wolf-born. Even if I can change into one. We are both just women here, equals. Why do you wish to speak to me?”
“I was told as restitution the alpha of the human pack asked for a woman to breed with. I volunteer to be bred by him.”
Enid released her chin. She reminded herself once again that this was the way of the wolf-kin and spirit-folk and to judge them for it would be wrong. She rubbed her temples and took a deep breath. Hazel’s eyes when wide and she started to plead.
“I am fertile I can give him strong children. Please.”
“Why are you so desperate to lay for a man and just be a piece of meat to hold babies?”
“It is a woman’s place.”
Enid took another deep breath. It is their way.
“Rolf is looking for a wife. His ways are not your people’s ways. He sees women as partners in life, not breeding stalk. Even Silver-Tooth does not see you that way.”
“My brother and I are not from this tribe.”
“I see. You have not answered me, why would you volunteer to leave your home and be with a strange man?”
“I am not wanted by the men here, and my brother… he killed your pack-mates. If I do not appease the spirits he will suffer so terribly.”
“Who told you that?”
“It is the way of things, I speak to spirits they are very angry at him and at the tribe. He also said I must do it for him, for our family, or he would disown me for my cowardice.”
“First off, the spirits can be as angry as they want, they have no control of his punishment, I have granted that to Silver-Tooth. And second, you can tell your brother to clean up his own mess. He was the idiot that stuck his foot in it.”
Hazel’s eyes went wide as Enid spoke. Enid was angry. She hated when men used women to clean up their messes. Enid took another deep breath.
“Look Hazel, if you don’t feel wanted here, and you want to leave I can take you to the village. If you meet Rolf and decide you want to do whatever it is you do, that is up to you. Rolf will not force himself on you and I promise you that I will keep you safe. If you find you don’t feel right there, I will send you to my father in Rome he will protect you as part of our treaty with your people.”
She nodded. Enid wrapped her arms around the taller girl who leaned into the hug as if she hadn’t had one in years.
“I will speak to Silver-Tooth, gather your things, tell no one of what was said here. Let them think you are going to be the payment for their transgressions.”
Hazel nodded and rushed off. Enid sighed again and sought out her old friend. He smiled when he saw her.
“You have not left! I thought you long gone without so much as a farewell.”
“I am your blood sister I will never leave without a farewell.”
He pulled her in for another bear hug.
“Do not be a stranger we are neighbors now.”
“I will return as often as I can.”
She fished out an Atlantean artifact from her bag. It was a small orb that shimmered in the starlight it was attached to a length fine platinum-like chain links in the form of a necklace. She offered it to Silver-Tooth.
“If you hold this and recite these words.”
Enid recited a few words in Atlantean. She made him repeat them several times.
“If you recite the words while holding it up to the stars it will summon me. I will not appear instantly, and it could take me many weeks or months, but I will heed its call. Summon me only if it is dire.”
Silver-Tooth pulled it over his neck, he nodded, still reciting the words.
“I’ll test you on them when I visit.”
He laughed and put his arm over her shoulders. Enid was usually not one to be okay with casual touching, but with Silver-Tooth she didn’t mind for some reason, same with Rolf.
“We should talk. A girl named Hazel came to me, wanting to be bred by Rolf?”
He frowned and nodded.
“She is not from our tribe. Nor is her brother. Their tribe was slaughtered by demons and humans several seasons ago, we took them in, they have strange notions about how non-wolf spirited humans fit in to things and what women are supposed to do. It does surprise me she would volunteer though. She seems pretty set on finding a wolf-spirited.”
“Her brother basically said if she didn’t he’d disown her for cowardice. I guess it was go do this or the tribe won’t keep you anyway?”
“He can’t make that choice. Foolish pup. You told her no of course.”
“No, I told her I’d take her with me.”
“Why? She belongs with her kind.”
“Is she going to find a mate here?”
“Likely not, like I said they are different, and their blood purity is questioned. Her brother likely will as he is wolf-spirited and even being an outsider that is a prime quality in a man to our women. Her on the other hand, with no wolf-spirit and her weak will, I fear our men don’t find her attractive, but we will care for her.”
“So, she has no chance at children, or a relationship beyond servant to the tribe here and if she doesn’t go her brother will treat her like she is disowned. Which will even further reduce her esteem in the tribe’s eyes, or she can go with me, have the possibility of a husband and children, or at least being treated well?”
“You are right.”
“Look, if Rolf and her don’t hit it off, that’s fine, I will see that she has shelter, is protected and cared for. She will not be forced into marriage or anything else against her will. I give my word as your blood-sister and pack mate.”
“That is good enough for me.”
Enid hugged him tightly one last time and turned to leave.
“Before you go, Red-Fury wanted to speak to you.”
Enid nodded and waited for Silver-Tooth to summon the pup. When Red-Fury arrived he would not meet her gaze and if he were in wolf form she knew his tail would be between his legs.
“I am sorry about your tribe mates. I wish I could take it back.”
Enid frowned and looked him up and down then lifted up his chin and looked him in the eyes.
“We have both made mistakes this year. Mine cost far more lives than yours did. Let us promise each other that we will do better in the future.”
She released his chin and he nodded. She pulled him close and hugged him tightly. She probably cracked a couple of bones which he could heal quickly if he shapeshifted. She winked at him as she released him. He groaned in pain.
“I promise to learn from my mistakes. May I go?”
“Yes.”
Once he was out of site Silver-Tooth laughed.
“Couldn’t resist could you?”
“Well, a reminder of how strong I am will help reinforce how dumb it was.”
He nodded.
“Farewell Silver-Tooth.”
“Farewell Slays-Demons.”
*****
Enid’s daughter looked at her with a sideways glance.
“You used my name as an alias?”
“No, your name came from my alias.”
“What is this Slays-Demons stuff?”
“The spiritborn have this naming thing they do when a wolf-born becomes an adult. They call it their true name. Silver-Tooth told me the spirits gave me a true name for my actions. I don’t know much about their spirits, but I do know that its best to just not screw around with they want.”
“Rolf sounds like he was handsome did you two…you know?”
“I will remind you once again I am your mother.”
“Come on mom. Spill it!”
“Look its almost dawn again. I’ll think it over.”