A black arrow-shaped tongue flickered out, testing his scent. The black tongue forked. The two parts flickered independently, both right and left. Regal in its deadly magnificence, the snake’s stunning round gold and black eyes glared with cold fury directly into Sava’s eyes.
The Black Guardian.
Hood spread, swaying back and forth, the naga raja radiated controlled, aggressive fury. Its long muscular body rigid. Coiled to strike faster than the eye could see.
Displaying long sharp dripping fangs, the Black Guardian roared. Not a hiss but a stunning deep ROARRR like the big hunting cats. The roar merged into an intense vibrating HISSSSSSTT.
It took all Sava’s will not to scream and leap backward. Eyes wide he studied it, waiting for his chance to strike. The black triangular head swayed, back and forth, back and forth, eyes brilliant. Smooth, sinuous. Hypnotic.
The Guardian’s scales glinted as if cut from shining black granite. Eyes riveted on Sava, the serpent watched with fierce intensity, hissing right in his face. Over 20 feet long, the cobra’s body was thick as his arm.
Hand gripping his sword hilt, Sava dared not move a muscle. The serpent’s focus absolute, poised to strike.
Koba – Get OUT. Sava glared at the boy and flicked his eyes toward the door.
Chapter 11 – The Black Guardian
A glare and a blaze of bloodshot eyes
Tongues flickering like flame
From hissing mouths
Our blood drained away at the sight –
Virgil, Aeneid, c. 100 BC
But Koba would not go. Slowly drawing his akinake, the boy inched closer behind the huge venomous serpent.
HISSST! Releasing an explosive hiss the drakon’s head whip-lashed around and struck.
Uttering a shriek, Koba leapt aside. But the drakon’s strike was a feint to force him back. The snake whipped its focus back onto Sava. For the Black Guardian was a thinking snake. Facing two dangerous adversaries, it recognized the bigger two-legged as the greatest threat.
Fury at this invasion of its sacred grounds radiated from the Guardian’s glinting black eyes. But it was a cold, contained fury. A calculating fury.
Tongue flickering, fangs dripping. Its roaring HISSSSTT - never wavered. Steady, like powerful waves from the deep hitting the shore. The raja naga’s sinewy body swayed, eyes fixed on Sava.
Heightened awareness streamed through every particle of Sava’s body. His nervous system hummed. Poised for split second action.
The lethal drakon’s head swayed like fire dancing. Supremely confident in its ability to deal death in a lightning quick strike.
Koba drew closer, sword aloft, poised to strike.
Sava’s eyes flashed daggers at him – GET OUT. NOW.
The drakon so close, so focused, Sava would not have time to draw his sword before it struck. The head swayed, back and forth. The intense sibilant hissing never stopped. Terrifying. Hypnotic.
This must be an old serpent to have attained such size. An Ancient of Days.
Long ago the two-leggeds had worshipped and fed its forebears who lived and thrived under this very altar. Its venomous bite was used for their sacrifices. Now the raja naga, king of snakes, lived on the smaller vipers that populated the ancient city.
Hood extended, intense, vibrating, the Black Guardian roared in Sava’s face. But in those deep venomous, vibrating sound waves Sava heard something. A form of sibilant speech. A speech as old as Time. As if the serpent spoke a language Sava had understood once but forgotten long ago.
A mystical being. It should not be killed.
He took a step back. In a flash the Guardian struck. Reacting on instinct Sava’s hand went up to block the strike. He was barely able to grab the cobra’s neck just under the jaw before its fangs pierced his throat. The long fingers of his hand met only part way around the drakon’s muscular neck. It was shocking to feel the Guardian’s dense tensile weight, the sinewy metallic resilience of its scales.
Jaws snapping visciously the king cobra’s long powerfully muscled body writhed frantically. Sava could barely keep it from ripping out of his hands.
Leaping forward Koba struck. Hard. His sword slashed deep.
The drakon ripped away from Sava and struck at Koba. At that moment Sava drew his sword and struck.
His akinake nearly bounced off the serpent’s tough, almost metallic scales. It felt like striking a huge bull whip of densely woven, fibrous sinews. As the serpent whipped back around to strike him, Sava struck another devastating blow. The Guardian’s head flew off.
Thrashing wildly the great drakon went down. Its long muscular body writhing. Flailing like mad.
But the formidable Black Guardian was not done. Its decapitated head kept snapping. Furiously seeking its killer, the head wriggled on its stump, fangs leaking venom. Its powerful serpentine body lashing frantically.
The Guardian’s head had about two hands’ breadth of neck attached to it. The head used this stump to push itself upright. Glittering eyes glared venomous daggers at Sava. The nomad could not believe it. The thing was still very much alive!
The head dropped to the floor. Writhing and wriggling on its bloody stump, it came at him, jaws snapping furiously, trying to bite his feet.
”AHHH!” Sava leapt back.
There was something obscenely terrifying at this sight. This drakon’s decapitated head on its bloody stump, fully conscious, coming after him with deadly intent in its eyes.
Sava slashed at it, smacking the head away with his blade. It flew several feet, writhed and sat up on its stump again. The black forked tongue flickered, eyes gleaming. Looking for him.
In moments the head was coming again, blood dripping from its mouth along with poison. Its wriggling stump leaving a thin trail of blood behind.
“Come on Koba!” Sava hissed, turning for the door.
“Wait.” Koba pointed to the thick gold torque still around the mummy’s neck. “I want that.”
“Leave it! How much gold do you think your life is worth?”
“Quite alot.” Koba grinned. But his smile faded when he spotted grey slithering movements approaching along the walls. “Lo, the Black Guardian’s children are angry!”
Moving with alacrity around the drakon’s head and whiplashing body they raced toward the doorway. Sava glanced back to see the decapitated head now wriggling down the aisle using its bloody stump. The eyes were clear and focused. On him.
Holy Shit.
Murky darkness fell as Sava and Koba descended the temple steps. A strong wind hissed, winding its way around the ancient ruins.
An ill wind. Sava thought. There is always a price for the killing of a sacred guardian.
“I nearly shit my pants when that thing roared at me.” Sava grimaced.
“I think I did. Maybe. A little.” Koba grinned. “You chopped off the Guardian’s head, but it did not die!”
“I have never seen anything like it.” Sava shook his head. “
The desert wind hissed as it wound its way around the ancient ruins. Glancing back at the temple steps as they strode away, Sava half expected to see the drakon’s head coming down the steps after them, wriggling along on its obscene, bloody stump.
Back at the city square Samir took one look at their shocked faces and asked - “What have you done?”
Releasing a deep sigh Sava hunkered down next to the fire. “I slew a Guardian.”
“You killed a Black Guardian?” The men gathered around, all ears.
“Aye.” Sava nodded. “It was the biggest viper I have ever seen. It must have been ancient. I cut off its head but it would not die. The head just kept coming after me.” Inwardly he shivered the huge drakon’s malevolent glare engraved on his memory.
The wind began to howl doooom through the sandy streets. The air turned yellow with blowing sand. A moaning scream like a woman tortured, echoed through the streets lined with ancient stone buildings.
“So now comes the storm. You have angered the s
pirits Sava.” Ranveer shook his head.
“You should have crushed the Guardian’s head.” Casmir said. “The raja naga can visualize its killer. Its mate will come and see your image in its eyes. Then in the dead of night, the drakaina will hunt you down.”
“What in Haides is that?!” Dobrich pointed at the temple steps.
Barely visible in the murky light, something moved on the stairs. Its strange, awkward movement was completely disconcerting. No normal animal moved that way. Spellbound they all stared.
Backlit by a flash of yellow lightning the head sat up on its stump, tongue licking the air. Searching for something. The thing wriggled to the edge of the step then fell over it.
It wriggled to the edge of the next step and dropped over it again.
Everyone leapt up to see.
“Holy Mata Drakaina!” Sava blurted out, adrenalin surging through his slamming heart. “It’s the Guardian!”
He desperately wanted to mount his horse and beat a terrified retreat out of this place of demons that could not be killed. But out there the Dahae waited. Glazed eyes wide he turned to Ranveer.
“How long can the head stay alive like that?!”
Ranveer shrugged. “A long time. Maybe until dawn.”
“What can I do to stop it?”
“Catch the head and crush it or burn it.”
Sava felt sick. Absolutely repulsed. The last thing he wanted to do was try to crush the life out of this disembodied head that would not die. The thing had taken on a life of its own. He had cut off the body but its mind was still intact. Still aware. Now it would seek its killer.
What if the Guardian’s mate comes after me? Stealthy. Black as night. How will I see it in the darkness?
The Black Guardian was the Spirit of this haunted city. He pictured all the cobras in this godforsaken place slithering out of their holes. Coming after him. Intent on wreaking vengeance. Better to ride out and face the ferocious Dahae than stay here and endure a thousand venomous bites.
“The head is coming, it’s on the last step Sava!” Koba called out.
“Build up the fire Koba!” Sava leapt to his feet.
There was only one thing to do. Sava strode to the temple and halted at the bottom step. The head sat up on its stump, forked black tongue flickering. The men were all grouped behind him watching with wide, stunned eyes.
Illuminated by the firelight the serpent’s gold-rimmed black eyes locked onto Sava.
HISSSTT - Opening its jaws the disembodied head displayed long curved fangs. Translucent fangs that dripped virulent poison. Until the day he died, Sava would never forget the sight.
HISSSTT – Steady, menacing, rippling with power. The head dropped to the stone to wriggle forward. It was coming for him.
At that moment Sava struck - impaling the head on the point of his sword. Holding the sword up with the wriggling head impaled on it, he strode over to the blazing fire. He thrust the point of the sword into the flames. Just DIE damn you!
Glossary
Because the Skythians (Latin – Scythians) and Sauromatae left no written language, this book contains some Slavic and Greek words. The Pontic Greeks lived amongst and intermarried with the Skythians and Sauromatae of the Black Sea region. Most of what we know about these people today was recorded by the Greeks. But the Romans, Persians and Chinese also wrote about them. Whenever possible I have tried to remain true to the historic record and research available. But this is a turbulent field of evolving research and opinion.
Ah-Gin – god of fire, sword and war
Herodotus wrote that Skythians and Sauromatae worshipped `Ares’, the Greek god of war as their primary god of sacrifice. Russian anthropologists have posited the war god was called `Ahgin’, very similar to ‘Agni’ the Vedic god of fire and sacrifice. The Shatapatha Brahmana (VI.ii.1.2-3) lists five types of sacrificial victims: man, bull, horse, ram and he-goat.
The Indo-European Migration Theory posits that based on European and Indian language similarities, North India was invaded by (Skythian) `Indo Europeans’ from the Black Sea steppes region after the development of the war chariot in 1800 BC.
Akinake – short bronze or iron sword
Androphagi – tribe of cannibals
Boryesthenes River – Dneiper
Boukolos – priests of Dionysos
Drakons – pythons, giant serpents, or half men. From this word comes `dragon’
Drakon blood – RH negative blood type
Ennerei – priests
Euxine Sea – Greek Pontus Euxinus - `Sea of Harmony’. Today the Black Sea
Gorytos – quiver
Ister – Danube River
Kako Mati – Evil Eye
Kidaris – fitted body suit worn by Skythians and Sauromatae
Kontos – 12+ foot lance
Kurgan – giant funeral barrow
Lake Maeotis – Sea of Azov
Drakaina – serpent queen progenitor of Skythian peoples
Pontus – Region around the Euxine (Black) Sea.
Pythia – oracular priestess
Skythian – Scythian. Skythian is the ancient Greek pronuciatian. Scythian is the Latin spelling. For some reason Romans turned Greek hard K’s into soft and hard C sounds.
Sword in the Stone – Ah-Gin, god of fire, sword and war
Tanais River – Don River
Tanais – Greek/Royal Skythian trading town on Tanais River near the Black Sea
Thrakia – Thrace
Velesh – Black Serpent of the Underworld
Voivode – war leader
Vukodlak – `Wolf Hair’ – interchangeable term for Werewolf or Vampire.
Vukodlak (Werewolf interchangeable with Vampire) is Slavic. Belief in werewolves and vampires was already entrenched by 500 BC. Herodotus records that an entire Skythian tribe, the Neuri, were renowned for their ability to change into wolves.
Vampirism or blood-drinking was not just common practice but mandatory – `A Skythian has to drink the blood of the first enemy he fells’ - Herodotus.
Folkloric traditions of vampires and werewolves are traditional among the Slavs who occupy much of ancient Skythia and Sauromatia today. This appears to be a clear cultural link.
SOURCES
(Partial list) –
Anabasis by Xenophon, trans by William Rainey Harper, American Book Co.
The Histories, by Herodotus, trans by Robin Waterfield, Oxford Univ Press, NY
The Chemical Muse – Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization by D.C.A. Hillman PhD. St. Martin’s Press, NY
Egyptian Book of the Dead – Papyrus of Ani, trans by Dr. Ramses Seleem, Godsfield Press, NY
From Skythia to Camelot – A Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail, by Scott Littleton & Linda A. Malcor, pub. by Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, NY
Gilgamesh - trans by Stephen Mitchell, pub. Free Press, NY
The Golden Deer of Eurasia – Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes, State Hermitage Saint Petersburg and the Archaeological Museum, Ufa. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edited by Joan Aruz, An Farkas, Andrei Alekseev and Elena Korokova. Yale Univ Press, NY
The Golden Ass by Apuleius, Trans by Robert Graves, pub. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY
The Road to Eleusis – Unveiling the Secret of The Mysteries, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann and Carla P. Ruck, pub. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA
The Lost History of the Amazons, Recent Research Findings on the Legendary Women Nation – Gerhard Pollauer, trans. by Alena Bejenarou
Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras – The Drug Cult That Civilized Europe by Carl Ruck, Mark Hoffman, Jose Celdran, City Lights Books, San Francisco
On Sacrifice by Lucien of Samosata
On Friendship by Lucien of Samosata
The Persian Expedition by Xenophon, trans by Rex Warner, pub. by Penguin Classics
On Horsemanship by Xenophon
The Chemical Muse – D
rug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization by D.C.A. Hillman PhD. St. Martin’s Press, NY
Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends, Edited by John Colarusso
The Sacred and the Profane – The Nature of Religion by Mircea Eliade, trans by Willard Trask, pub. by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Warrior Women – An Archaeologist’s Search for History’s Hidden Heroines by Jeannine Davis-Kimball with Mona Behan, Warner Books, NY
Wine God's Sorcery: The Horse Lords Page 27
