Lillith

by Kate Gallwey

  But I said I would try.

  I scryed the War Room at Babylon and after a few weeks of watching and reading lips concluded that these ‘animals’ were looking forward to butchering more humans in the attack of Jericho, in the following months.

  I found something provocatively tight and flowing to wear did my hair and added a few spells and turned the attraction factor all the way up and waited until Lucian joined the meeting and ‘ported directly into the War Room at Babylon.

  There were seven large Hellions around a long table with Lucian at one end on an elaborate throne. The room had high ceilings and colourful banners fluttering in the breeze. One side of the room had a balcony and a spectacular view over the city of Babylon and the mountains beyond.

  I appeared on top of the table as far away from Lucian as I could; if you are going to make an entrance I always say, make it big. They reacted as predicted and went for their weapons, I smiled and poised, letting my attraction factor go to work with spells of ‘just be quiet and listen’. I was far enough from Lucian that my magic could work.

  “What do you want, Lucian?” I asked sweetly.

  “Your unconditional surrender to me.”

  “Ok, I surrender completely. Now what?” I replied, still very sweetly. I would have agreed to anything not necessarily keeping it later, but honour is never as important as life.

  “You will move here and become my wife.” Again the word he used was not quite the English word for ‘wife’, personal whore would be closer.

  I didn’t laugh this time, it wasn’t funny. I smiled anyway and moved closer to him and moved off the table, filling my every move with promise and seduction, all eyes were on me, I made sure of it. I would do what he asked to save my people, until I heard his next words.

  “Your people will become my slaves and live to serve my demons.”

  That was my sticking point. I sighed inwardly and swayed up the table to where Lucian sat, he stood up at my approach, and I held out my hand to him to help me off the table.

  “Whatever you want,” I whispered as I drew him close and I laid my body against his and wrapping my leg around his body and drew him into the heat of my body, “will become irrelevant once you are dead.”

  I pulled out a long thin dagger from the depths of my hair and plunged it into his body. I was too slow, maybe I remembered the old days when it was just the two of us, whatever, I had telegraphed my move and he caught my hand, he was still much stronger than I.

  The dagger entered his chest but only by an inch, it bled slightly and I immediately began to draw his Life Essence from the wound. I drew it with everything I had; I wanted to kill the bastard for he would surely try to kill me now.

  I hadn’t noticed a tall dark haired Hellion youth standing by his side in the shadows; he hadn’t been ensorcelled by me as the others had.

  He threw himself at me and I fell away from Lucian and we landed on the floor with a thump. Lucian shielded his shallow wound with his hand and I could draw no more of his Essence.

  The youth lay on top of me and for half a breath he paused and he touched my face very gently, he had silver eyes. Then he rolled off me and Lucian was towering over me with his blue black sword in his hand and he was seriously angry.

  I sat there for less than a second then moved as fast as I could, I twisted away from him, his blade waved perilously close to my head. I dove over side of the balcony and ‘ported as I fell.

  I nearly lost my head; I lost a long lock of my hair.

  It was picked up by the tall dark haired Hellion youth with silver eyes to become his most treasured possession.

  The negotiations were over; the human slaughter of hundreds of thousands had begun.

  CHA

  PTER TWELVE

  fighting the tiDe

  In the seven years that followed we lost fifty five villages and nine towns and two cities. We didn’t slow him down, geography did. Most of the villages were crushed like an eggshell, they didn’t stand a chance.

  I sent out the order of disbandment of all settlements in Asia and my people fled into the jungle and the deserts and across the seas, leaving their beautiful cities to rot abandoned, never to be inhabited again.

  Lucian crushed my Asia Empire. I led retreating army after army; no human army could make even a dent in the demon horde of Babylon.

  The curse of Babylon was unstoppable.

  I had to learn to bend like a reed in the wind, or I was going to let the approaching storm cut me down.

  One of the escaping ships in the Mediterranean Sea got blown out past the Pillars of Hercules and into open sea. They went south to escape more bad storms and found a large volcanic island. The Earth’s climate has changed many times since I arrived here and so has the geography. Look for this island and you will find it but it is no longer the same, for it did rise again about a thousand years later only to get covered with ice. The island then was a paradise, with fresh water rivers and low lying grasslands for animals, grain and rice fields and, more importantly a long way from Lucian.

  The ship had a Serpent Priestess on board and she called me as soon as she was on dry land. I was curious in spite of being rather busy losing a war, and arrived to explore this paradise island. It was perfect. We decided to start a settlement here for refugees.

  I did not tell the Council of Twelve at Karnak about the island. It became my secret as I supplied the island with all the people and tools needed to start a new city there. My instinct was proven right later on.

  They named it Atlantis.

  In those desperate days Atlantis became my refuge and my home. We built schools and homes and I loved it. I built myself a Tower of pure white stone at the top of the cliff; below me spread the growing city and the harbour walls. I had a bedroom at the very top and the view just took my breath away every morning. Many ‘Princess in The Tower Stories’ was created at this time.

  I rescued art and the artists from across Asia and the Middle East. Technicians and telepaths all found a home but I kept it a secret from all others. Many of the great teachers and artists came to Atlantis, as one part of my Empire was being destroyed, another was being created.

  And then there were four cities left in what is now Turkey.

  I loved those cities for they were filled with music and dance, happy people full of the joy of life.

  I led an army of desperate men to harass and delay the unrelenting demon army. No women were allowed as the demons raped those to death and I hated every time that happened, the men were often tortured to death but rarely sodomised.

  We were in the Southern mountainous area of Turkey and learnt how to move fast through rough forests and learnt guerrilla tactics and began to make dents in the horde. Sneak attacks and ambushes were the only way to kill Lucian’s demons.

  The old tactic of a lone bowman in the woods took out dozens of demons and I wove spells of death and madness around each city. Slowing them down so that the villages and towns could be evacuated to the cities and then ships could ferry the people to safety. I got very good at Sea Magic and sank most of Lucian’s ships that harassed my shores or my ships. It was a small victory but I needed all I could get in those dark days.

  When Antalya, the first of the three cities left in Turkey, fell I began slipping into a dark depression. ‘I couldn’t stop him’; ‘it was my entire fault’ and all those kind of thoughts. I met an extraordinary human man, he had been the Commanding Officer of Antalya, and I healed his leg wounds after we retreated into the hills.

  His name was Drew. He was an excellent tactician and I learnt a lot from his advice. But more than that he was a friend and I needed all I could get in those dark times.

  Together we put together the defence of the last two cities. We discussed the fall of each city knowing that it was inevitable and that the saving of as many people as possible was the goal here.

  I was called to Karnak and the Council informed me that they were surrendering to Lucian and asked that I remove
my personal possessions from my rooms in the great palace and not to return. I had to respect their decision and I left without comment or argument.

  The Black Lands of Egypt and the whole of my African Empire surrendered the next week, giving a blood oath to Lucian and Babylon and then he started destroying my temples and my images across North Africa, very few survived.

  Lucian executed the Council of Twelve that instituted the surrender to him, I grieved, humans were so naïve and trusting that everyone thought like they did. They have matured into a cynical self-serving people since, and many corrupted religions and spiritualities have come from these regions because of these hard lessons that they learnt here, I washed my hands of them, never argue with a fanatic.

  Lucian tried to erase my name from all their history, but later the cult of Isis began to rise again so not all was forgotten.

  I gathered up all that called to me throughout Africa with the network of Serpent Temples and took them to Atlantis.

  I was left with two cities and nearly a dozen of small towns and villages with almost forty thousand people to evacuate and seventeen surviving ships to get them to safety, no matter how you look at the numbers, it just couldn’t be done. The mobile guerrilla army and I dented the oncoming horde as much as we could but we were sustaining heavy losses,

  Drew and I worked out a plan but Lucian moved too fast for us and we were pinned down in Sirnak – the irony of this is that many centuries later they built the city of Troy very close to this site, the one from Homer’s Odyssey. That fell to an invading army as well.

  Lucian turned out the civilians and burned the city of Sirnak to the ground. The civilians were forced marched to Ishtar and there we took them in with tales of rape and torture. He used them to weaken us more for they used up all our food and medicines. People started to run out of supplies and moral was very low. The human guerrilla army was also lost. It was now just a matter of time.

  Lucian surrounded the last human city of Ishtar and I watched from the walls as we waited for his attack as I had about a dozen times before. But he set up camp so I had the mad idea he wanted to talk. I jumped down from the wall and walked through his warriors to his tent, he met me at it entrance.

  We looked at each other for a long time; he had clenched his jaw and fists. “You are angry at me.” I said calmly. “I cannot win here. Let these humans go.”

  “ You give me orders, woman?” he snarled.

  “I am not a woman. You should not see me like those others.”

  “Again you give me orders. This is my world and you and everyone else shall bow down to me and acknowledge me ruler.”

  I wanted to smile sadly at this, he sounded like a human teenager, full of a terrible insecurity. I kept my face still and replied “I will acknowledge you ruler of this world if you leave this city and let the people go.”

  Lucian has this ‘thing’ about people cannot tell him a lie without him knowing. He watches people as they speak and has learnt to read them very well. This may work with demons and humans but, with care, I can lie to him.

  I would have pledged my allegiance to the Great Spaghetti God right then if Lucian would just go away.

  Honour is a personal thing; I do not lie but nether do I answer directly. I absolutely keep my word once given, but do make sure you know the precise words used, because I do. To those that give me loyalty and prove it with more than just words, I would give my life.

  He nodded at my words and unclenched his fists. “I will agree to this. You will learn obedience and respect and you will not give me orders or open your mouth without me giving you permission.”

  Again this sounded like an angry insecure teenager, but I nodded as if in agreement.

  “Go inside my tent and wait for me.” I was ordered. So I did.

  My people watched from the walls as Lucian conferred with his officers. What I learnt later was that your word given to a female does not count. So the order to attack was given.

  A volley of flaming arrows was fired into the city of Ishtar and I heard the screams rising from the walls.

  I rushed out of the tent and thought there had been a misunderstanding when I saw Lucian directing the huge battering ram towards the gates. I saw red around the edges of my vision, I had agreed to his demands. I called down a firestorm at the tent and all around. I began to wreak havoc, death, pain and blood all around me. I became the goddess of destruction and bloody vengeance.

  My sword cut beings into bloody pieces and I had no mercy that day, I wanted them all dead. I fed off their Life Essence until Lucian reached me and then the battle really started.

  “OATHBREAKER!” I screamed, “Satan!” which in the old language means ‘liar’. I attacked full on with everything I had, I wanted to kill him.

  I have said before that Lucian is an excellent warrior and his skill with the sword is unsurpassed. I am good but not that good. I was disarmed and on my knees with his sword at my throat after about ten minutes of intense fighting. He paused and I thought it was all over. His sword drew blood and it trickled down my throat.

  I just gazed at him letting the contempt for this big bully show on my face. The battle had stopped to watch us.

  He hit me hard across the face, leaving a big bruise that took nearly a year to fade. I sprawled across the ground and his foot came down on my back, I couldn’t move. He tore off my clothes, leaving me bare and exposed to the armies around us. He then forced himself inside my unwilling body.

  I fought back and he hurt me more but by then I didn’t care, never would I submit to Lucian. His thrusting went on for a long time until he managed to come. He then stood up and wiped himself on my discarded clothes and pushed me with his foot down the short hill towards the walls of my city. “Go and die with your weak, precious people. I will kill every last one of them and spit upon their bodies with the contempt they deserve. Then you will come to me begging for forgiveness.”

  I stood up, naked and bleeding and with as much dignity as I could find feeling numb and dazed and walked through the Demon army of Babylon to my city. They opened the gates for me, and Commander Drew was there, he gave me his warm cloak and he put his arms around me very gently and led me away to a waiting ship. They washed me and took care of me but I was in deep shock.

  I watched from the full ship as Ishtar fell to the invaders. The walls were not strong enough and a huge battering ram opened the gates within the hour, volley after volley of flaming arrows rained down on the defenders and the massive catapults started raining down its terror.

  Soon the city was burning and the defending army was fleeing the walls into the city. All ships fled the burning harbour and the people left behind streamed out of the city, running for the hills with their children in their arms, fleeing the demons that had destroyed their home.

  Most of them were cut down, I know of no survivors. Thick black smoke filled the air, full of cries of pain and screams of the dying.

  I sat on the deck with many others and an injured Drew and I watched the city burn, to tired and full of emotion to even cry as we sailed away into the night.

  CHA

  PTER THIRTEEN

  PhOenix rising

  It wasn’t about sex; it was humiliation, a kind of ‘well, if you won’t bend, I will break you in front of all you hold dear.’ I mended and gathered my anger into something cold. I could have burned that cold deep into my soul but for Drew.

  He grew old very fast on that journey to Atlantis. He had been forced on board the ship by me; he had wanted to die with his men. Drew’s wounds on his body had hurt him but the ones on his spirit etched deep into the very heart of his being. All the family, friends, and loved ones that he had lost to the demons drained him at a fundamental level that I couldn’t reach to heal.

  On that voyage home he watched me go through all the stages of a victim, denial, disgust, blame, grief, and finally anger. He stopped me on the last stage and pulled me up short with a question.

  “Do you stil
l love him?”

  I answered with a wild denial but he was a wise man.

  There was and will always be love for Lucian, I can hate him at the same time but the love is always at my core.

  “Never let a chance to love go by. Reach out and grasp it with both hands and wring every last drop from it. Even though it is only for a minute or a day, grab love with both hands and never let it go.”

  That came from my friend on that long voyage. I took that message and made it my own. He was a wise man.

  I have fallen in love quite a few times since and though it has caused me great pain; I have been made much stronger for it.

  I may still love Lucian, which is my weakness and will deal with it as I may, but he will also know my vengeance and I will kill him if I can. I wanted him to lose all that he held dear first.

  I wanted revenge.

  The planning took two thousand of earth’s years.

  We built Atlantis into the greatest city on Earth, not as big a Babylon but richer and much brighter, dedicated to all the arts, music, dance, the healing arts and magic in the world. Yet its location was kept a secret. Only a handful of sea captains knew of our secret location at a time and it was kept that way for two thousand years.

  What not many knew was the whole of Atlantis was a trap. A trap for Lucian and the demons of Babylon.

  The harbour walls opened out in a ‘v’ shape funnelling all ships into a long narrowing strip of water. On the very ends of the ‘v’ were two towers, beacons with huge crystal lasers that had never been this size before. Each blaze of energy from these towers could burn and sink any ship that came near that was not friendly. It took about six minutes to recharge. This was the heaviest blast that we could produce from a crystal laser at that time. There were many smaller lasers hidden in the wall that would keep firing once activated. Other devices of death were scattered about the harbour walls. We built it knowing that one day there would be unwelcome guests knocking at the door.