*The vampire*
"Boss ? Are you awake ?" Natascha slowly sticks her head in the door to my bedroom. "I got a couple of bags for you".
"Bring them here". I mumble, sitting up, feeling so very tired.
I am still very weak after my trip to the forest. When I finally drove into the courtyard I had been close to crashing the car. Even if the windows were blackened out, I wasn't totally protected from sunlight. And because I hadn't eaten before going to the forest, the accumulation of porphyrins in my blood had happened very fast. They had made my skin explode in blisters, several places leaving craters of dead tissue. The muscles had contracted due to lack of blood. The security had to twitch my mummified body from the seat and carry me to bed. And here I have been since, as helpless as a cow. It pisses me off badly to let Natascha take care of me and see me in this way.
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*Siri*"So who recognised her". Gudrun asks curiously after Soleil has gone to bed."No one". I say thoughtfully. "Not the vaetter from the earth and stones, nor the ones from the water had connections to her. And no one among the dísir either".Marta and Gudrun look worriedly at each other. And Marta says. "We have been reading in the old books while you were gone. There are stories in there about vǫlur getting help from a thurse and stories of storms that made ships sink and fog that made warriors lose their way. I found nothing in our own scripts… and I didn't find anything about the dark one"."I remembered that the Malleus Maleficarum has some chapters about witches creating storms. But none of them had anything usable or true for that matter. I tried looking for something that fits with what Soleil told about the da
*Luca*I am not ready to wake up yet, but some very annoying birds insist on singing right outside my window extremely loud. Reluctantly I open my eyes, doesn't sound like the little shite out there is about to shut up. I manage to sit halfway up, before I have to give up and with a groan I fall back on the pillow. Every fiber in my body is protesting, like I have worked out for hours yesterday. I suddenly realise that I am naked…like totally naked.I mean how big is the chance that I decide to sleep naked in a house full of men ? Yup zero, nil, nada ! Where the fuck are my clothes ?The clothes aren't on the chair and it's not on the floor either. It's not really my style getting naked outside and strolling through the house showing off my arse before getting int
*Luca*"You want a beer ?" Martin asks from the refrigerator.I make a disgusted face and shake my head."Well what the fuck, it has to be 5 o'clock somewhere right ?" He says as he grabs three beers anyway."I am not going to drink any more of that shit". I glare at them, sitting down with my arms crossed on my chest."Come on ! We are pulling Your leg. We haven't slipped you anything. Everything that is happening to you, has happened to us when we turned sixteen". Martin says, opening a beer.Jonas shakes his head no, when Martin offers him a beer. Then he looks at me for a long time, asking very seriously. "You don't remember anything at all from last night ?"Opposite Martin who possesses the maturity of a ten year old Jon
*Davina*It is a normal Friday night in the Grotto, Well it is until one of the royals suddenly stands beside me and Mark. She looks at us, her face void of emotions. "Hi Mark, can I borrow your friend for a moment ?""Sure Celine". Mark answers and quickly disappears."Follow me". The beautiful vamp queen says and turns, walking away.All my friends stare after me as I hesitantly follow her. When we reach the infamous stair Celine stops. "In a moment you will follow me up there. You will be discrete and you won't speak unless spoken to. Whatever happens you are not to tell anyone what happens up there. Got it ?"I nod, feeling totally speechless."Follow me". Celine says, walking up the stairs. I can't believe this. I am really on my way to the balcony. I mean I
*Soleil*I lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling. What is this place ? Trolls and elves and monsters out to get me. Women with wings.I get up, starting to pack my few belongings in my bag, while trying to figure out which way to run to get away without getting lost in the wilderness. I stop when my imagination tells me how I will fall down a ravine and break my leg ending up dying alone. My body will rot away and never be found. I mumble annoyed, pushing my hair behind my ears. I didn't think that through. And Siri has told me I can leave if I want to, so I can just ask her to drive me home.But then the memories hit me, the ones the trolls and elves showed me. I look sadly at my bag. This is where I belong. My dreams have come true here. The stone circle, the little hill, I can't tell myself it isn't true anymore. The balance. The vaetter. The hamram. Yeah it is scary.
*Soleil*We walk in the opposite direction from when Siri had taken me to the stone circle. In this direction, the forest quickly becomes dense and the air is damp. There is a smell of still water, and the underground starts to get swampy and slick, the farther we get away from the cabin."Stop here". Gudrun puts a hand on my arm, when we can't walk any further on the soft ground. "From here you have to walk in my footsteps. There are some very deep swamp holes, if you step into one of them, it can become very dangerous".I nod feeling nervous. We keep walking for another couple of metres, before the mud turns into a dark murky lake. Gudrun stops taking off her cape and sitting down on it. I sit down next to her."Why are you wearing those old-fashioned capes and carrying the sticks". I ask."It's t
*Soleil*It is dark out now and the sun is setting, as we are on our way to the circle. We are so high up north that the night is pretty short at this time of year. But still we need flash lights to find our way. When we reach the circle the full moon has just come up over the treetops and we can turn off the lights."Marta is going to light a fire, and then we are all going to prepare our senses for the sitting out. These herbs help us clean our mind and focus". Siri shows me two leather pouches.When the fire is roaring, we all step up to it and Siri opens one of the pouches, handing it to Marta. "The first handful of herbs we throw to clean our mind. Your worries will disappear and you are present in the moment. Just do as we do".Marta reaches inside, pulling out some herbs, before leaning over the fire, throwing them into the flam
*Soleil*When they are both gone, Siri goes to one of the small stones in the circle, putting her hands on it. "Stone in circle, shield to vǫlur. I loosen the ring the earth is protecting". She pushes the stone away, making a hole in the circle and coming back to me. "We have to hurry. The others are unprotected while we are gone". She takes out the little jar of ointment. "This is a flying ointment. There are a lot of versions out there, but only a true vǫlur can use it". She explains. "To meet with a Jötnar we need to let go of our inhibitions. Even I who have seen most are still bound by what I believe to be reality and superstition in our world. "The ointment is a potent mix of plants that makes you hallucinate, so you might feel a bit… drunk before we fly. Do you understand so far ?"I nod, watching curiously as Siri opens the jar."We rub ourselves with
*Soleil* "Oh! I never thought we would get away from Scotland”. I kick off my shoes and throw the backpack on the floor. "It was getting cramped up there”. "We're getting ok at it actually”. Luca closes the door to the small apartment and slams the lock. "We handed out some serious ass kicking” I huff. "Yes, we could win every time if you did not try to decide it all”. "You can just accept that I'm always right”. He grins. "I do when you realize that it's not about being right, but about what works !" I star defiantly up at him, but surrender as he pulls me into him. "I'm just happy you came back”. He bends down and kisses me. "So am I". The butterflies flutter joyfully inside me, and I pull him down in a deeper kiss. I twist my fingers into his tousled mocha brown hair and indulge in the feel of his lips and exploratory tongue. “Well, what do you say ? English or history ?” He withdraws and deftly avoids my aggrieved gaze. "Seriously ? You want us to read our hom
*Narrator* “Magnificent !” The lord of the wind's eyes shone with obvious joy. “I could not have done thatbetter myself”. "You were entrusted to bestow on this man your strength, and now this !" The lady of the earth thrust her arm out against a settlement, engulfed in flames. "We were just letting out a little smoke". The lord of the fire grumbled. "We just happened to realise that If humans do not gather as a people, then they will never overcome the brood and not at all the queen”. “It might very well be right. But this is not the solution”. She sighed heavily. “They were meant to live happily, not to be subjected to more tyranny”. A small lake began to trickle up from the ground beneath them and manifested itself in a figure like the other three. "It's over”. The lady of the water said. “There is no hope anymore. Tonight they will gather, and your kinship will be wiped out”. "Oh, I can not get air". The lord of the wind sobbed with laughter. "Very funny !" Snarled the fir
*Tjalfe* The villagers have never seen Hrazgouls so close before. Only a few, fleeting glimpses have been had. They always come after the Bakorshas have finished emptying their prey of blood, to eat the remains. In the morning, when the residents venture out into the daylight, there are only pieces of clothing, shattered bones and stinking piles of entrails left in rust-red stains on the ground. When one of them has tried to escape over the mountains, the remaining ones do not even get to see the Bakorshaer’s servants before the death cry of the fugitive resounds across the valley. Now they come in between the houses. One being more abominable than the next. Giant beasts with luminous, yellow eyes, whose long gaps flashes with large serrated rows of teeth. Their upright bodies were covered with dense coarse fur, while the broad shoulders and long, bulging arms end up in a paw-like hand so large that it could effortlessly crush the skull of a man. In between them comes smaller cre
*Tjalfe* Although darkness reigns behind the houses, it is easy to find the victim. The child’s screams drive Saren forward, and the fire blazes furiously in his hand. He finds the child just as life leaves the body. Like a breastfeeding infant it lays the arms of a Bakorsha, whose teeth sit deeply buried in the child’s thighs. With an insane scream, Saren sends a long beam of fire towards the monster. The heat is so high that it instantly sets both the Bakorsha and the child corpse on fire. When the last rays leave Sarens hand, both fall on the ground, charred and annihilated. The embers reveal the next victim and her assailants. It is the child's mother who lays helplessly on the firewood block while one of the dark ones brutally mates her and rips her flesh to blood with its dirty nails. Three others are biting into her arms and neck, where they greedily empties her of blood. Saren raises his hands to obliterate the creeps and free the woman from her afflictions, but nothing h
*Tjalfe* Malicious laughter and agitated voices intrudes in the dark, first from the west, but gradually the sounds spread until they surround the whole village. Bringing promises of carnage and death. The people flee back out of their houses, and all search for the relative safety of the fire. Quickly they get their torches lit and turn front towards the enemy, who is still hiding in the shelter of the darkness. Only now do they become aware thatthat their medicine man stands among them without a torch. The fear of Bakorsha had for a moment made them forget the new danger that had manifested itself in their midst, but then the burning house begin to give in to the ravaging of the flames, and it seems to dawn on them what they had witnessed as they scouted out the windows. Those closest to the medicine man hurried awayfrom him. This is a mistake and part of me wants to warn them, but it is too late anyway, and a shadow flies past and grabs one of the men. His howl is drowned
*Tjalfe* I am watching from my spot inside the storm, watching as things unfold below me. The people look up at the storm, which suddenly hangs over their heads. Panic and confusion arises in the village. Everyone let go of what they have in their hands and run into the middle of the square to seek shelter around the bonfire. Humans are no longer one, they have been divided by fear, and everyone care only to keep himself and his offspring alive. Everyone pushes and hustles to get closest to the fireplace andfarthest from the edge of the circle, for now that the sun's rays are hidden behind the heavy slate-gray clouds the Bakorshas will arrive prematurely. In the middle of the village a large bonfire is burning, and torches have been laid nearby, so they can be quickly ignited. The people has learned that the Bakorshas are not enthusiastic about fire, and that it sometimes happen that the sharp-toothed monsters will abandon the attack and instead throw themselves at another vict
*Tjalfe* The valley is a beautiful, small oasis between the high mountains, which in its time had attracted the inhabitants. They had lived in peace and perfect harmony. The mountains had shielded them from the worst winds, so the crops were diverse and the people of the city had never experienced distress. The only entrance to the village is an opening to the west where the surrounding mountains remain broken by a narrow passage. The view over the pass makes it possible to detect travelers coming from distant parts of the continent in good time, and show them hospitality. No one knew of anything but tolerance and no one dreamed that travelers could come up with anything but peace. It ended when the dark ones came. From then on, the valley became a prison for the people. During the day they were trapped, and at night they were harvested like grapes on stalks. There was no way out off there, all passable roads were blocked by Hrazgouls, the servants. Many had tried to flee, but eac
*Lefu* A tear rolls down my cheek. "Goodbye, Katje". I whisper softly. "I swear your death will be avenged”. "Now you see what they are capable of”. Strano puts his hands in the pockets of his night-black Armani jacket. "It is only the beginning”. I hiss angrily at him. "How can you choose them over your own ?" "You still do not understand, do you ?" Strano rolls his eyes. “They would not be here if it were not for you. Remember that”. “You knew it all from the start, right ? That there were several dogs and that I knew about them. That's why you did not kill me right away when you came up here and picked me up. That’s the truth right ?" I can’t help but seek assurance that I am right. He gives a small sigh. “I saw an opportunity and I took it. When the girls sacrificed Elisabeth, I could not prove that they were involved. I bet you would throw in the dogs as bait if you got the chance, and that Lyndsey would bite”. "What about her ?" I nodded down toward the figure with the
*Luca* My gaze is fixed as I step forward towards Harry. The dark blonde ulfhedin might be the pack leader, but this is my prey, and I do not shy away from the warning snarl of the alpha. Harry must have come to the same conclusion, for he goes silent and withdraws. I stop in front of the charred statue. My nails slide down the rough surface. Although the texture feels like charred wood, the shell is massive. I withdraw my arm and fire. The charred crust cracks, and I have to strike through once more to penetrate into the goal. When the shell breaks, a rain of coagulated blood sprays over me. I stick my paw into the evil bitch, find what I am looking for, and pull hard. The heart is still pumping weakly as I hold it up in front of the statue. I growl triumphantly and squeezeit in my powerful fist. The heart stops beating, and the red flesh-filled tissue gives way and explodes in a cloud of dust. It is over. "What do we do now ?" Soleil's cousin stands in front of the grotesqu