Children of Shadows

by Naylor, Joleene

  “It’s all right. I wanted to tell you the others are waking.”

  He followed the Black Vigil with his eyes and yawned. “Yes. They would rise earlier than me since they’re sun walkers.”

  Katelina nodded. “Ume said something like that last night.”

  Jorick’s confusion melted away as he pulled the memories from her mind. “How disappointing. I’d hoped she’d make the red-headed clown squirm more than that. Never mind. Come, we’ll see if they have any facilities for humans.”

  Fethillen was in the room at the bottom of the stairs. She sat in a folding chair, wearing a pair of headphones, and tapping a strange metal contraption that clicked rhythmically. She stopped and listened. Katelina eyed Jorick curiously and he murmured, “Morse code.”

  “You mean like they used on the Titanic?”

  He nodded and Fethillen removed the headphones. “I didn’t think you’d wake until later.” She turned and gave Jorick and Katelina a once over. “The sun is already gone.” She motioned to the stairs. “You’re welcome to find what you can. I’m afraid we have no food for humans. We don’t keep them.”

  Katelina gave Jorick a horrified look. Did she mean they’d have to hunt something and cook it like barbarians?

  “There are sanitary facilities outside. There is a sauna and a waste… I’m sorry, I don’t know the name of it.”

  “A bathroom?” Katelina asked doubtfully.

  “Perhaps.” Fethillen waved it away and met Jorick’s eyes. “Ume tells me you’re the leader of your coven.”

  Instead of explaining, Jorick simply agreed.

  “In that case we’ll meet after you’ve fed. I will warn you that tempers run high. You killed four of my children in the woods, and I’m sure your coven is angry about the fight and the walk through sunlight. I would apologize, but the only way to reach the winter headquarters was through the sun. We rarely need to consider outsiders’ comfort. Regardless, I will keep my coven under control, so long as you do the same. When I said that violence from one was death for all, I meant it.”

  Jorick’s face stayed expressionless. “And does that apply to your coven? If one of them attacks, do we slay all of you?”

  Fethillen laughed. “I see why your coven’s human is so outspoken. Good. I prefer that to polite whispers. Fair is fair.”

  It wasn’t a concrete answer, but Jorick took it. “We’ll wake the others.”

  “Good. Your luggage is over there.” She pointed to a pile of dirty bags stacked in the corner. “No doubt you’d like a change of clothes?”

  It was an odd statement, considering it didn’t appear that the Black Vigil members ever changed, but Jorick thanked her. He and Katelina gathered what they could and headed back the way they’d come.

  It looked like all of the black clad vampires were already gone. Oren was awake, as was Torina and Etsuko. By the dim light, they looked restored, just as Jorick was.

  Verchiel sat up with a yawn and stretched. “I guess they didn’t kill us in our sleep.”

  Katelina dumped the luggage in a pile. Verchiel’s sword landed on top and he snatched it up and slid it into the special pocket in his coat. “That’s better.”

  Jorick kicked at Micah, and the bald vampire groaned and lashed back with his fist. He missed and sat up, grumbling. “Fucking Executioner thinks he’s the God damn lord of the manor. Fuck you.”

  “Fethillen has invited us to hunt for our meal,” Jorick said. “They have no food for humans, Oren, so we will have to find our own.”

  Oren made a low, annoyed sound, but didn’t deny that Etsuko was his responsibility.

  “I hope they have something around here worth catching.” Micah shook Loren. “Hey, midget brain. Get up, huh?”

  Oren stood and brushed at his clothes. “We should stay together.”

  “Fuck no,” Micah said. “I’ve been hunting with Lunch before. She makes too much goddamn noise. Pipsqueak and I will be fine on our own.”

  Verchiel grinned cheerfully. “I’ll join you.”

  Oren groaned. “That’s just what we need.”

  Katelina did a quick inspection of the house, but there was no bathroom. Then she stepped outside and clamped eyes on what looked like a disused, weathered outhouse.

  She broke from Jorick and inspected it. The roll of toilet paper was weather stained, and she was sure it had been there at least twenty years.

  “You have to be joking.” She looked to Etsuko. The woman was bundled up except for a thin strip where her eyes were, and they gave no reaction.

  After a horrible visit to the musty little shed, they took a moment to explore their immediate surroundings. The cabin was in the middle of the clearing, flanked by several outbuildings. Two of them were several times larger than the cabin, and Katelina peered into one of the frosty windows. Inside was black, save for a few dull glints of moonlight that revealed what looked a hulking metal boat with rotors on the top.

  “Helicopter?” she mused aloud.

  Verchiel crowded in and squinted through the glass. “Looks like it. That’s a big one.” He motioned to the second giant building. “There’s probably another one in there.”

  Katelina still remembered the helicopter they’d taken to the Raven Queen’s temple, and the memories made her shiver. “As long as we don’t have to ride in them.”

  A small shed turned out to be the sauna. Lined in wood, a bench ran the length of two walls. A stone pit was in the middle, full of something that looked like charcoal. Most disappointing was the lack of water.

  “I thought this was a sauna?”

  “It is,” Jorick replied. “A sauna is a steam bath.”

  “I thought saunas were where rich women went to get baths in expensive oils and have facials and…” she trailed off.

  “You’re thinking of a spa,” Verchiel said. “A sauna is when everyone gets naked and sits around in a room full of steam. We could give it a try. Loosen up the old muscles before the hunt.”

  “No thank you,” Oren said brusquely. “We saw far too much of you on the island.” He turned to Katelina. “If you’re done taking inventory, perhaps we can get on with feeding?”

  She stopped from telling him how important it was to know their surroundings. After all, if the Black Vigil had a building of mutilated corpses it might be nice to know. Then again, that was probably standard vampire fare.

  They made their way through the clearing to the forest. Etsuko produced her flashlight and she and Katelina picked their way through the snow. Though they tried, they couldn’t be as quiet as the vampires. After several frustrating, freezing moments, Katelina offered to stay by a tree and wait.

  Jorick looked regretful. “I’d rather we weren’t separated. I don’t trust the Black Vigil as far as I could kick them.”

  “Besides,” Verchiel said. “You’ll have to eat whatever we catch, so you might as well be there.”

  The thought made her ill and took her back to their hike in the mountains of Japan when Jorick had expected her to eat monkeys. She needed to start carrying freeze dried food with her.

  The vampires finally sent Jorick to scout ahead and “enchant” something for them. When they caught up, Katelina was surprised to see him kneeling in the snow next to—

  “Holy crap! Is that a wolf?”

  “What do you think?” Jorick asked mildly. He ruffled the animal’s fur, as if seeking a vein.

  “Aren’t wolves endangered? I mean, who has them in the wild except for fairytales?”

  “Obviously the Finns do,” Verchiel said as he crouched next to it. “Shall we take turns or go buffet style?”

  “Turns,” Oren said stiffly.

  “I’m not eating a wolf. Not even if you skin it and cook it. A wolf’s just a dog and there’s no way.” Katelina looked to Etsuko for support, but the woman remained mute and expressionless. Sometimes it was as if she was already a vampire.

  When no one answered, Katelina turned away so she wouldn’t have to watch them draining th
e creature. Even with her back to them, she could see its large brown eyes in her memory. Raccoons were one thing, but dogs…

  It was some minutes before Verchiel cheerfully announced, “We’re all done!” and she turned to see Jorick hefting the carcass.

  “I’m not eating it,” she repeated.

  “You could go hungry,” Oren suggested irritably.

  Jorick dropped the dead animal into the snow. “Then what do you want?”

  An owl hooted in the distance and Verchiel grinned. “How about that? Bet it tastes like chicken. What do you say, Etsuko?” He gave the Oriental woman a wink.

  “If Oren-sama thinks it will suffice then I am willing.”

  The answer made Katelina groan, but it wasn’t the time to point out that she needed liberating.

  “Sounds like a yes. I’ll be back.” The redhead disappeared into the trees.

  Jorick didn’t wait for him, but led them back toward the cabin. They were nearly to the clearing when the red-haired Executioner dropped down from the trees, clutching a fluffy owl. “I think you need to pull the feathers off.”

  Etsuko took the bird from him and bowed. “Thank you, Verchiel-sama. I will be happy to prepare this.”

  Oren’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you know how?”

  “It should not be much different than pheasant. It’s a shame we do not have dishes, but we will make do.”

  Something about her cheerful attitude irritated Katelina.

  When they’d eaten, they left the shelter of the trees and headed back to the clearing. They ran into Ume behind the hangar. She was perched on an old oil drum and stared pensively into the distance. Katelina followed her eyes to a green coil at the edge of the horizon. It looked like city lights reflected on the clouds; if the city was the Emerald City.

  Katelina’s first thought was aliens, but Jorick said, “I believe it’s the Northern Lights.”

  “But it’s not moving.”

  “Yes it is,” he said. “Just slowly.”

  Before she could reply, Micah, Loren, and Torina joined them. The bald vampire pointed and said, “Aliens!”

  Katelina refused to admit she’d thought the same thing. “It’s the Northern Lights. Duh.”

  Ume was suddenly aware of them, and looked up, startled. “Oh! Hello.”

  Jorick nodded to her impatiently and took Katelina’s arm. “Come, little one. Fethillen said she’d speak to me after we’d fed.”

  “Only you?” Micah demanded.

  “We can argue later,” Oren said wearily. “For now let Jorick deal with her.”

  Katelina took a couple pictures of the distant glow and one of the forest and sweeping snow, then she and Jorick left the others for the cabin.

  The living room held several black clad vampires who growled and glared as they walked inside and down to the basement. Fethillen waited for them in a chair near the radio. She crossed her legs and leaned forward in a posture that would’ve looked suggestive by some women, but managed to make her seem more imposing.

  “Jorick, is it?” Fethillen. “Have a seat and we’ll get started.”

  Katelina expected him to refuse, but he took the offered chair and motioned her to sit in one next to him. She felt more in control standing, but gave in with a resigned sigh.

  “First we’ll make sure we know who we are talking to. I have told you that my name is Fethillen, and beyond that there is not much to tell. Not so with yourself. You are from the American Sodalitas.” She motioned to his necklace. “You’re a Scharfrichter?”

  “We call them Executioners, but yes, I am. For the time being.”

  “You are not the only one. Your friend with the bright hair, he wears this emblem too?”

  Jorick cringed at the word friend, but nodded. “Yes.”

  “And yet you are here in an unofficial capacity?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I will tell you what I know, and then you will tell me what you know. The Children of Shadows have existed for a long time. First under Memnon and then, when he was killed, under one who remains faceless and nameless, known only as the Father of Shadows. We chased them down and killed them one by one until all but their Father was killed—or I thought perhaps he was dead also, since his face was unknown. They fell silent, there was not even a whisper of them, and I have hunted. At last, I relaxed. They were gone. Then in January the whispers start. They say their symbol has been seen. The whispers turn to talk; an army is gathering in the darkness, under the sign of Memnon. They gather supplies, they ready for war. But war with whom?

  “I cannot find their base, so I send people to search. Most come back; two do not. Yes, I think, there is truth to these rumors, for they must have been killed, and only the Children would have reason to do so. Now we know we must hunt more carefully. Then word comes to me that the Children will strike in Indonesia. We go, and since you were there you know the aftermath. But you do not know that we bring one of the Children home with us. After we remove his hands piece by piece he tells us that the Father no longer controls. There is a new master; a demon eye named Cyprus. It isn’t hard to trace this demon eye to the North American guild, but there our trail goes cold. Who is he? How does he take control? And so we return to our prisoner and after much blood he tells us that Cyprus has promised them that he will raise Memnon from the dead.”

  She broke off and gave them an intense stare, then continued. “This Cyprus claims he has already brought one myth back from the dead: Samael, the husband of Lilith.”

  Jorick shifted uncomfortably. “I assume you know the legends concerning Samael?”

  Fethillen sounded bored, “Of course. When Samael caused himself, Lilith, Adam, and Eve to be thrown from the Garden of Eden the serpent gave him the gift of immortality. Though he shared this with Lilith, she did not love him, and wandered the world creating the race of vampires. When he heard, he took his bat form and flew to her. Their battle raged across the land and destroyed the great mountain, which unleashed the waters of the world and caused the great flood. He defeated Lilith, but could not bear to destroy her completely, so he cut out her heart and put it in a jar. He entombed her then swept across the world, leaving the land poisoned and bitter until he was defeated by the Archangel Michael.”

  Archangel? Flood? That wasn’t what Katelina had heard. She looked to Jorick but he only mouthed, “later”, then said to Fethillen, “That is one version, however it was incorrect. It was not Lilith who was ‘entombed’, rather Samael, and he wasn’t dead, only lost in a four thousand year slumber.”

  Fethillen took the news with no outward sign of distress. “So it is true? Cyprus raised Samael?”

  Jorick hesitated, as if trying to decide how much to tell her. “No. Someone else beat him to it.”

  “I see. And what is Samael doing now?”

  “We thought that he’d resurrected the Children of Shadows.”

  Fethillen shook her head. “Our prisoner knew only that he had been raised, but had no idea of his whereabouts or his plans.”

  “The legends say that Samael will bring about an apocalypse and wipe out mankind, but that’s ridiculous on many levels. With no humans, there would be no new vampires, and there would be no human blood to drink.” Katelina gave him a hard look and he shrugged. “It tastes better than animals.”

  “Then it truly would be an apocalypse, as it would be the beginning of the end for vampires as well.” Fethillen tapped her leg. “Perhaps one as old as Samael, who is wearied with the world and finds it all pointless, would greet an ending to everything?”

  Something stirred in Katelina’s subconscious, but she couldn’t catch it. Her half-drawn realization showed on her face and Jorick gave her a puzzled look, but she had no answer. Instead she said weakly, “If I were him I’d go after Lilith first. She’s the one who drained his blood, stuck him there, and killed his wives.”

  Fethillen waved the subject away. “So long as he does not stand with the Children, he is unimportant. My concern is Cyprus. You
r human says you knew him? Should we? I’m afraid I’ve never bothered to keep track of what was happening on the other continent. It seemed so far removed and unimportant.”

  Katelina tried not to be insulted.

  “What can you tell me about him?”

  “Not much,” Jorick admitted. “He was a guard at The Sodalitas for years, then he left and came to the United States. He was assigned to go with us to Munich after Malick revolted against the council.”

  “I have heard of that. Malick has been quiet since?”

  “Hardly,” Jorick said. “You heard about the village decimated in Namibia? He did that to set up his headquarters. He destroyed the airport in Tokyo, and massacred many in Russia.”

  “Why would he do this?”

  “He was trying to resurrect Samael.”

  Fethillen looked concerned. “Is he the one who beat Cyprus to the task?”

  “No, it was someone less important.”

  Fethillen nodded. “I have one last question for you. In Indonesia they hunted one called Wolfe. Do you know him? Who is he?”

  “A Scharfrichter from The Sodalitas,” Jorick said. “He and Cyprus loved the same woman, but Wolfe won.”

  Fethillen threw back her head and laughed. It was so loud and sudden that it made Katelina jump. When the vampiress finally had a hold on her hilarity, she smiled. “Love! Our theories ran the gamut of complications and intrigue, only for the cause to be something so simple and basic; the age old battle! Wolfe is not with you?”

  “No. The Sodalitas sent him on a mission before we left. I don’t know where he is.”

  Fethillen nodded, suddenly sober. “The Children attacked the Birlik in Uzbekistan last night. No doubt they are moving toward a new target as we speak. Still, it gives us an idea of where to look for them. It is a difficult country for us to travel in, very controlled by their human government, but we will head out tomorrow.” She pointed to the trunks along the wall. “We have already begun to pack. It seems you and your coven are much embroiled in the things that have taken place, and will take place, so I invite you to come with us and join our fight against the evil. What do you say?”