Aeternum Amor

Lover’s Requiem is finally published at Smaswords for those that are interested in having their own copy.  It has been renamed as “Aeternum Amor”.  Once again, I seem to have a thing for Latin.  It’s free to download and you can read it either on your computer or pretty much any e-reading device.  I’m not completely happy with the cover, but it was what I was able to create with my limited graphical design skills.

Maybe one of these days I will buckle down and learn how to work with Adobe programs besides my Photoshop Elements.  Still, not bad for someone who can really only manipulate photos somewhat.

You can download the ebook here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/149329 and if all goes well, it’ll be avalible on iTunes and Barnes and Noble soon enough.  You can also click up on the Published Works tab at the top if you want to get a hold of it.

It is longer than Vatican Vamps by a lot, so hopefully the people who have complained about my short stories being too short will be happy with this length.

In non-related news, I’m heading back to my family’s home in about, oh…a half an hour. And there will be the Sister. Which means the promised Q&A with her regarding Hunger Games will be happening while we eat our Cadbury Eggs.

Have a happy Easter.  And watch out for Zombies.

Realm of the Gods Part Three

“We cross over the Fire only when we come to it.  Not before,” Migaru said, repeating one of her father’s favorite sayings. “Come on.  You can have dinner with me tonight.”
“Eat in the mountain? With lord Inferno?  No one but a lord or lady can do that!”

“I’ve been doing it for years, and I’m still alive,” she told him dryly.  “You’ll be fine.  I’ll race you there.”

Migaru took off across the plains that lay at the base of the Fire Mountain range with Rifoe right behind her. Their laughter was loud and their race made several passing Fires jump back to avoid being crashed into.

Unseen by both, a hawk swooped down to the ground, picking up its meal for the night before returning to the forest.  It landed on the outstretched arm of a man in green. “I agree,” he told it.  “It is time.”

“My thanks to you, lord Inferno.  Dinner was delicious,” Rifoe told the leader of Fire.

“It was a pleasure to have you as well, Fireling.  Besides, how could I deny a request on my daughter’s Day of Power?”  He looked at Migaru, who was busy staring at her plate as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

A knock on the door interrupted any further conversation as Fumilt poked his dark haired head into the room.  “Sorry to disturb you, milord, but there is a visitor to see you.”

“Can’t it wait for a bit? At least until I finish dessert?”

Fumilt shook his head.  “I’m afraid not.  He says it’s important.”

“Very well.  I’ll meet him in the main hall.” Fumilt nodded and closed the door on the three.  Inferno looked at the table still full of food and sighed.  “I’m sorry to have to do this to you.  If you would excuse me though.”  He rose and closed the door behind him as he left.

“I suppose I had better get going then too,” Rifoe began slowly.

“Right.  Yeah…Yeah,” Migaru said quickly.  She rose with him and walked over to the door leading to the mountain’s entrance.  “Thanks for coming?”

He grinned.  “Of course!  Like your dad said, how can I refuse a request on your Day of Power?”  He easily dodged her mock hit and smiled again.  “’sides, it was fun.  And it meant I didn’t need to compete with the rest of the family for food at the table.”

Rifoe’s huge family was forever a source of amusement and frustration to him.  While it was great to have so many people, it all the meals were a huge to do and generally a contest to see who could get at the food first.  “Good thing I had you come over then, huh?”

“You know it.” Then, before she could move away, he gave her a quick hug before darting out the door.  “Bye Mig!” he yelled to her.

“See you Rif!” Migaru called back to him.  She watched out of the door until he was out of sight. Turning, she went back inside and began to return to her room when Fumilt stopped her.

“Lady Ficis?  Lord Inferno requests your presence in the main hall.” Fumilt held out his hand.  “I was told to bring you there.”

It is Done!

I DID IT!!!!!

Started it while working two part time jobs, quit one, the other became full time, got a new job, packed up my belongings for a move on December 2nd AND managed to complete NaNo TWO DAYS before the 30th.

*faints from lack of sleep*

NaNoSprints on Twitter helped me through a lot of the tough times, as did Word Wars with friends who aren’t even in the same time zone as me.

I attended my first Write-In tonight as well, leaving me in a great position when it finished to power through the last 2,000 words to reach a final count of 50,028 words.

 

The sentence that pushed me to Winning: Through all their stories, none of them followed what we had learned in the trainings aside from “The Circle is Bad, don’t say their names” and the “Don’t be an idiot” rule.

 

Clearly, this is also good advice for life.

 

So for all those out there who have yet to reach your 50,000, I say this to you.  I’ll be waiting for you in the Winner’s Circle.  There’s a spot right next to me that needs to be filled by you.

 

Realm of the Gods Part Two

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday so far. I know I am. I just need to catch up to 18000 words on NaNo by tonight so I’m on track. Let’s see what I can do in three hours of free time!

“Thank you, father,” Migaru told him.

“I have a feast planned tonight for you, if you want it.”

She shook her head. “No thanks. I don’t want to be treated any different than the rest of Fire.”

He nodded slowly, understanding. “Very well. Will you at least dine with me in the mountain tonight?”

She smiled. “Of course. Don’t I always?”

“True,” he said. “I just thought you might have wanted to spend the night with that friend, Rifoe, of yours.” They left the room, doors closing behind them. “Do you remember the way back?” he asked, ignorant of her blush.

“I paid attention on the way here.”

Inferno ruffled her blonde hair a moment before stopping, remembering that she wasn’t as young as she once had been. “My little Fire. Always seeing everything. I could never hide anything from you.” He turned to meet her gaze. “I’ll see you tonight then? I need to head to the library and resume the meetings that I put off.” Inferno sighed with a shake of his head. “Apparently, someone’s field was gotten into by another’s Pferden and, well, I’m sure you can image where it went from there. And I seem to be the only one who can solve it.”

Of course,” she told him, seeing the dismissal for what it was. A quick smile to her dad, she walked past Inferno, retracing her steps until she reached the main hall again. From there, it was quite easy to find her way back out into the sun.

The blast of cooler air hit her like a hammer when she stepped outside. It was a welcome change from the temperatures inside the mountain. She remembered her promise to Rifoe and made her way through the houses to find him.

“Rif!” She shouted up to his room. “You there?”

His head poked out of the second story window. “Heyla! I’ll be right down!”

She moved out of the way. If Rifoe said he was going to be right down, there was only one way he would do that. He leapt out of the window a second later, using a blast of his Fire Aspect at the last possible second to slow his controlled fall to a stop. “You’re going to kill yourself doing that one of these days, Rif.”

“Afraid, lady Ficis?”

She punched him in the arm. “You wish. And don’t call me that. We’ve been friends since, what, we were born? I don’t need you calling me lady.”

“But you are one,” he pointed out. “And I’m still just a Fireling.”

“Only until next week. Don’t make me hit you again.”

“Fine. I’ll just keep calling you Mig then,” he said impishly.

“You do that, and you die.” There was a polite, yet evil smirk on her face. “Anyway, what did you need me for then?”

“Birthing day present. And it’s part Day of Power present too,” he told her. He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out something wrapped in a piece of red cloth. A moment of hesitation occurred before he nearly shoved it at her. “Uh, here.”

Migaru took it and carefully unwrapped it. Laying on the cloth was a silver ring with the two stones of Fire inset in it: ruby and obsidian. “It’s beautiful! Where did you get it?”

“My secret. Does it fit?”

She slipped it on her right hand and nodded. “Perfectly.”

“Great. Then my work here is done.”Migaru reached out and pulled Rifoe into a hug before he could leave.

“Necking in the woods?” came a scornful voice from behind them. She felt Rifoe stiffen within her arms and let go to see who had spoken.

“Oh, Fire’s tongue. Why did it have to be him…” Rifoe said quietly.

“Go away, Urien,” Migaru told him.

“Says the Air Child,” he said, voice full of hate.

“Take that back” Rifoe demanded. “That’s something that could get you killed around here!”

“Rif,” Migaru said warningly. She placed a hand on his shoulder and held him back from fighting the Fireling. The insult had hurt her too, but she wasn’t going to show that it had gotten to her. “Urien, I suggest you leave now.”

“Or what? You’ll throw embers at me? That’s all you could think about doing with your powers.”

Migaru closed her eyes and clenched her fists in an attempt to control her temper. “As lady Ficis, I order you to leave.”

“Revhia,” he spat at her, turning to go.

Rifoe leapt onto his back, bringing him down. He began to attack the other, little regard for his own self. “Take that back! You’re the Revhia here, not Mig!”

“Revhia doesn’t even look like us! Why, by Fire, should I treat her like she is? Besides, it’s not like I’m the only one who thinks it.”

“Because I am Fire,” Migaru declared. She pulled out her obsidian tube holding Living Flame and held it out. “I am lady Ficis of Fire. Lord
Inferno is my father and I am a keeper of Living Flame. I choose to make this known. Until such time when Rifoe is a lord, he is under my protection. If you or any harm him, you will answer to me.”

Urien glared at her, but fell silent. He stalked back into the village and when he was gone, Migaru and Rifoe looked at one another. “He’ll be back,” Rifoe said quietly.

She nodded. “I know. But by then, you’ll be a lord and he will still be a Fireling.”

“But only for a year. Then what?”

Realm of the Gods Part One

“Hey, Migaru!” shouted a teen.

A woman with blonde hair turned to see who was calling after her. She smiled when she saw him. “Heyla Rifoe!”

He shook the dark red hair out of his eyes and grinned at her. “Where you off to?”

“Inferno wants to see me,” she explained.

He made a face. “Have fun with that. When you’re done there, swing by my place? I have a birthing day gift for you.”

“Rif! You didn’t have to do that!”

“Migaru Ficis Inferno,” the teen said sternly, but with a smile, “You’re not a Fireling anymore after today! Twenty three years. If that’s not worthy of a gift, then I don’t know what is!”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. I may not be a Fireling, but I still can’t use fire as well as everyone else here can. Fire’s tongue! I don’t even look like the rest of you!”

“Your attitude fits in perfectly though,” Rifoe muttered darkly. Migaru tried not to laugh, intent on looking angry and stern, but her snort of laughter ruined the effect. “Go on. Get to Inferno before he fries you for being late.”

“And with that vote of confidence…” Migaru sighed out. Rifoe smiled as she turned away and continued her walk up to the start of the Fire Mountains and the main hall Inferno used for big events. There were two of Fire’s Elite Guard outside, but they were there more as decoration than actual use. There had been no need for the guards in Migaru’s lifetime and for several more before. She smiled at the two of them as they pulled the doors to the mountain hall open. They nodded solemnly, but there was a smile in their eyes. “Thanks Fumilt, Reigaf.”

“Our pleasure, lady Ficis.”

“I’m not a lady yet,” she spoke under her breath as she passed into the mountain. Rather than be cooler underground, it was noticeable hotter than outside. It was one of the quirks that the Fire Mountains had. Thankfully, the path to the main hall was short and there were windows inside that left some air into the room. Inferno was already there, sitting in a chair and reading a book from his great library. His red hair was sticking out at odd angles and looked like the flames of the element that he led. His clothes were simple and cool, the same that all of Fire wore. The only thing that set him apart from the rest of Fire were the bracers made from Living Flame. He had tamed the Flames when he became the leader of the element and wore them as a badge of office. “Greetings lord Inferno,” Migaru said, bowing low as protocol demanded.

Inferno smiled and set his book aside on a table of fire that he had called. He rose and the chair that he had been sitting in sunk back into the floor of the mountain as molten rock. “Heyla, Migaru,” he replied, his greeting as informal as possible.

She sighed in relief. She wasn’t going to be expected to maintain proper etiquette during the meeting. “What did you need? Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Can’t a father wish his daughter a Blessed Day of Power?” he asked, holding out his arms. She smiled back at him and hugged him, careful to avoid the bracers. He was careful not to touch them to her skin as well, barely engulfing her in his hug. When she had been smaller and thought herself to be a true Fireling, she had touched the Living Flame bracers as she had seen other Fires do. A healer from Water had been there with her for a month, nursing the huge burns she had received. “I have a gift for you,” he said, looking down at her.

“What?”

“Come, I’ll show you.”

Migaru stayed close to her adoptive father as they went deep into the mountain. She hadn’t ever gone this deep alone before, and had no wish to get lost. The room they came to was just as large as the main hall, but was circular instead of the normal angular room that the main hall was. A hole that led directly to the sky and the door they had come through were the only places not wreathed in flames. “This is the Hall of Living Flame. I gift to you a bit of it for you to do with as you please.”

She looked at Inferno in disbelief. “But…but dad! You know what happened last time I tried to touch this!”

He nodded. “But you were untrained. And though your fire powers are not as strong as mine, they are still there.” His mouth twitched in a smile. “To be fair, not many have powers as strong as mine though.” Inferno cleared his throat and moved from his place beside her and into the center of the Living Flame. The flames curled around him when he lifted a hand and created a sphere around him. He continued talking as he manipulated it, making it near translucent. “I have trained you in what other aspects of magic I know. But I am a Fire, after all. I am not suited to using the others. Lady Ficis, you are more than just Fire. You have all aspects within you, body and soul. I cannot train them all.”

“Why not?” she demanded to know.

The flames in the room flared with his anger. “Because I am unable to! Do not question me on such matters, girl.” Migaru shrank back from the heat as it, and Inferno, slowly cooled. “To…to not train all aspects is dangerous,” he said slowly. “But no matter what people say, you will always be Fire to me. And as such, you will need something to remind you of that.” He held out his hand and a tube from molten stone and fire slowly formed in it. Soon, he stepped out of the fire and handed it to her. It was made out of obsidian, one of the most revered and sought after jewels of Fire. It was dark, but when she looked close at it, she could see some of the Living Flames within. “This is my gift to you. Use it well.”

She bowed to lord Inferno, still gripping the obsidian. “Thank you, lord Inferno, ruler of Fire.”

“And so, Migaru, you pass from Fireling to a full Fire. Welcome to the mountain.”

Realm of the Gods Part One

In celebration of NaNoWriMo starting on Tuesday, the next Writing Serial for Fridays will be last year’s Winning NaNo.  It gives me an excuse to finally polish it up, and to read over it again before I start on the next book on November First.

So I give to you Realm of the Gods: Earth.

PROLOGUE

“Lord, Lady, I greet thee,” said the man.  Clothed in green, his shoulder length brown hair was tied up to be out of his face. It was the only thing that set him apart from the dark green of the Forest far below.

“And we greet you in return, lord Talesin,” They replied. They were in white, though Their black hair seemed to capture the starlight above and turn it into the radiance that surrounded them.  Though They had many names, they were best known as the
Lord and the Lady, or the God and Goddess.

“What willst thou have of me?” asked the lord of Music.

“You know of this world and of its people,” began the Lady. Talesin nodded.  “Then you know as well of those who would seek to destroy or enslave this place.”

“Of course.  Mages of times long past for one.”

“And those of today’s time as well,” added the Lord.

“I had heard of that, but was unaware that such rumors had a base to them.”

The two nodded in near unison.  “They are all too true.  Not long ago, one tried again.  He was struck down before he succeeded, however.”

“Blessed be the Lord and Lady,” he muttered, forgetting who he was standing before for a moment.

“Twas not our doing,” the Lady said with a smile and a shake of her head.  “Your thanks, lord of Music, go to a witch from Otherside.”

There was shock written on his face.  “From the mortal realm?”

“Yes.  But the mage she defeated was from Otherside as well.  And as much as We did not wish to do so, We have barred access to this world from Otherside.  Until those who seek to control us are gone or have forgotten our existence,” explained the Lord.

“But, that’s good,” Talesin protested.  “No more mages will attempt to control us and this world!”

“Perhaps.  But no access means those of power who would do good with it can also not reach us except for in deep meditation.  And even then, it would be but a bare shadow of this place.”

“How it must be, shall be.”

“Danger approaches, lord Talesin,” the Lady told him.  “Even now with access denied.  There is another who will attack.  The Fates have foreseen it.  And in their viewings, they have seen only one who might stop it.”

“Who, Lady?”

“One from Otherside.”

“But if the way is closed—“

“We know, Talesin,” the Lord stated sharply.

“She is already here,” She said softly, her voice in sharp contrast with that of Her consort.  “She is only a baby, but Inferno has agreed to raise her with the Fires.”

“The lord of the Fire Elementals? Begging pardon, but, Lord, Lady, I don’t really think that is the best of ideas.”

“He has promised to raise her as one of his own.  And We trust him”

Talesin looked doubtful, but allowed it to pass.   “Then we are back to the beginning.  I ask again, what willst thou have me do?” There was a large part of Talesin that rebelled against such formal speech, but he knew it was needed in situations such as these.

“When the time comes, We ask that you take the girl about the world. Take her to us here upon the Mountain so that we might meet with her.”

“How will I know, Lady, Lord?”

“You will know, Talesin.”

Talesin chewed on his lip for a moment, unsure that he would know as They said he would.  Still, if They said it, it would have to be true.  One way or another, it would happen, even if it came in the form of a letter from someone with the words “it is time” written in it.  He bowed to the God and Goddess.  “Very well.”

“Our Love go with thee, lord of Music.”

He smiled at them and bowed graciously once more before turning and exiting the room on the top of the Mountain that They called their home.  The journey down the Mountain, the highest in all of his world, was one of the easiest.  Especially when he had his Aspect of Spirit to aid him.  The Mountain was at the far end of the Fire Mountains, but the waterfall going down it belonged to Water, the clouds about its top were Air and the great oak trees at the base were maintained by Earth.  Every element owned a part of Spirit Mountain, just as everyone was a part of Spirit itself.

Talesin was one of the Gods who populated the world.  Unlike some of the others, he wandered about the world, giving help where needed and entertaining in other places.  He truly was the bard that his title, lord of Music, named him as.  Until the Lord and Lady had asked for his help, he had been quite happy spending his time in the Forest of Spirit in his small cottage by the river.  But now…Now he was going to need to move closer to Inferno’s territory: the Fire Mountains.  From there, he could keep an eye on the girl.

He didn’t trust Fire.  Their kind was so volatile, so quick to anger.  Water would have been a better choice for her.  But he knew why They hadn’t placed her there.  Water spent too much time in meditation and in dreams.  There was too great of a chance that she might go into a dream and be unable to find her way back here if she wandered into Otherside. And that wouldn’t do at all if she was supposed to be the one that was going to rescue them from Mage.

At the edge of the Forest, he found a tributary of the river that ran by his own home.  Talesin knelt down at the banks and scooped up a handful of the earth there.  Pebbles, water, sand and dirt ran through his fingers as he looked for a good place for his new home.  Finding one, he reached for his reed pipe on his side with his other hand, put it to his lips, and began playing.  He tossed the earth into the air and a lively jig echoed around him. The magic came easily and flowed in and around the stones.  Within moments, his home was before him once again.  A flourish at the end of his song anchored the cottage in place so that it would not move along with the tides of magic. There was a smile on his face as he ended the song, and he tucked the pipe back into his belt and walked inside.

Lover’s Requiem: The Epilogue

EPILOGUE: THE MALEDICTION

The boy and the girl had been in love for as long as they could remember. Sometimes, it felt like forever in their minds.  They had gone through more than most could ever think of, changes that ended with core beliefs being shaken, thoughts that the other had been dead for years.

But events had come to pass in such a way that they found each other once again.  The smallest of their group grew in a world that knew compassion, wisdom, and a simple grace that came from doing what was right even if it resulted in and end.

It was a world full of miracles that she had seen, the reemergence of a family she had thought lost.

James was content for the first time he could remember.  Belief, he was told, was what had brought Brigett back to him.  Compassion was what had kept her from leaving him completely.   The angel blood within her made her spirit immortal, though her body was not.  She returned to him a few days later, new body, old soul, and remembering how he had grieved at her loss and how Emaline had kept him from killing himself as well.

For though he had angel blood within him as well, his second chance and his miracle of rescuing Emaline had exhausted what had remained in him. Were he to die now, it would be true death, and all that came with it.

Others came to see them, each with their own tale to tell, though the story of the two lovers was one that seemed to grow with every telling until there was not a spirit nor demon in the world who did not know their name.

He wondered what would happen to him after his death, for he was not one who had lived a good life in his tenure on Earth.  Brigett simply smiled at him when he shared his grief with her, his worries and his pain, she said, were nothing compared to what he had done for good.

Still, she kept a secret from him all through their time together.  Though it ate at her, she knew no good would come of it were he to ever find out the truth about her journey to earth that had brought them together.  He had thought that it had been about rescuing Emaline.  When she had told him that was but a happy happenstance that had occurred during her mission, he had smiled and nodded, thinking he understood.  She knew that he thought it was about redeeming himself.

It never had been.

As an angel, she had done the unthinkable and lied.

She had told Diu that it had never been about him.

Brigett smiled softly.

It was a secret she was glad to keep.

°°°°°

Well, this is it. The End of Lover’s Requiem.  When I had first planned this out, I had planned for there to be two more chapters after Chapter Nine.  But when I tried to write them, nothing would come out. Thus, I realized that I had met the end of it all. This story ended up being more than 6 years in the making due to time off from it and taking breaks before finally pushing through in August to complete it thanks to Camp NaNoWriMo.

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have.

Lover’s Requiem: Chapter Eight

Time for Chapter Eight.  Just Chapter nine and then the epilogue left of Lover’s Requiem until I start a new project for Fridays.  Hope you enjoy this one!

CHAPTER EIGHT –THE SHIP OF PILLS AND NEEDED THINGS

It took less than a minute for Koios and Anahita to find themselves surrounded by Diu and his court.  They were completely boxed in and only by the slashing of Anahita’s sword were they able to keep enough room around them that they were not completely overrun.

There were moments when Koios found himself face to face with those who he thought he knew as friends.  Some were dressed in normal clothes, jeans and shirts that he had seen them in time and time again.  Others were clothed for this particular night, wearing what one might expect out of a traditional vampire: cloaks, black, and high collars.  They were playing their part well in this dance of demons tonight.

One came at him with a long dagger, expertly wielding it, slashing away at Koios anytime he got too close to the other.  The press of opponents became stronger and began to force Anahita and himself to separate while making him travel closer and closer to the dagger wielder with every step.  He hissed out in pain when he felt it bite into his skin, drawing a line etched in red across his lower back to his hip. With a growl, he spun and began to recklessly attack the one who had injured him, fighting to both kill his opponent and to get back to Anahita.

From the moments that he could spare to look at her, she seemed to be holding her own against the horde. But Diu was still standing to the side, directing the fight with a small smile on his face.  There would be occasional advances towards him by the angel at Koios’ side, but the elder vampire seemed to always know just when they would be, and sent more of his court against her.  It did not take long before she was overwhelmed with attackers.

Time seemed to stop for Koios as he watched, as though he was outside of all of it, peering in through a small window in time on the current fight.  He saw her spinning around, sword flashing in the parking lot lights, dark blood covering the steel.

His attention was pulled to Diu, who was directing members of his Court, those he had named family, those who he created, be sent to their deaths.  The name Anahita had given him—The One Who Takes—suddenly made sense in such a glaring way that he was shocked with himself for not having seen it before.  Diu didn’t just take the lives of the living to create more of his—of their—kind, he also threw it all away when he felt like it.

As Koios saw his standing to the side, hands in pockets, wandering around like he was on a stroll through the city, he finally understood what it meant to see red.  Bastard didn’t fight his own fights, didn’t even care enough about those who he had said were family and he would protect.  With a shout, he rushed back to himself, to the fight, to Brigett.

Ten years ago, he had damned himself to save her, only to find that it had been in vain then.  But now, he was stronger, faster, and understood that he would do anything to save her, even if it once again meant death for him.  He had promised her that he would help to keep her safe.  Now he could finally keep that promise.

Grabbing the vampire closest to him, Koios pulled him close, using him as a human shield against knife and fists.  The bloody furrow across his back seemed to dull in pain until it was gone, though he could still feel it dripping down his back on occasion.  The enemy who had made the wound was near him again, and Koios flung himself at his hand, intent on wrenching the dagger from his hand so he might have a weapon in what seemed an endless onslaught.

Hands caught on hands, grasping at clothes and skin, pulling on hair and kicking to get away from one another as they grappled on the ground for control of the situation.  “I won’t let you take her from me again,” Koios growled out, letting the demon within him take control of his body.  In a moment of pure instinct, he lunged for the neck of the older vampire and began to drain him dry.  Others tried to pull him off, but he held fast until motion beneath him ceased and he rose with dagger in hand, already slashing at those who were near enough to reach.

With his new weapon, he was able to clear a path through the circle surrounding him for long enough to escape its confines.  Free to move once more, he turned and ran towards where he had last seen Anahita.  With demon instinct still in control, he was able to move once again at speeds mortal eyes would not have ever been able to see.  A leap, and he was next to Anahita, wings that he hadn’t remembered creating outstretched behind him, blocking her from more attacks while she recovered.

“Koios,” he heard her whisper behind him, voice weaker than he remembered. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t plan on leaving you again, Brigett.  Never.  I will never give you up again,” he told her, firm, unwavering assurance in his words that shocked even him.  “I will go to hell before I live a life without you,” he finished quietly.

“Touching,” Diu called out from across the parking lot turned battlefield.  “If hell is what you want, hell is what you’ll get, Koios.”  He began to walk towards them, his court stopping what little fighting remained once the two lovers had rejoined.  “Why do you insist on fighting me?  You’re smart.  I wouldn’t have turned you had that not been the case.  You know as well as I do that you can’t possibly win this fight.”

“It’s not about winning,” came Anahita’s response.  Rising with the help of her sword as a cane, she moved to stand beside Koios.  “It was never about winning a fight against you, Diu.”

“Oh?  What was it then, angel?  To try to redeem me?”  Diu let out a laugh that sounded harsh against the quiet midnight air around them.  “And if I repent now, will all be forgiven?” His smile was cruel, though the tone was deadly serious.  “What of my Court? Will they be forgiven of their sins as well if I say they are?  We are vampires, angel.  We do not care of forgiveness and there hereafter.  The here and now is our domain, making the world ripe and ready for change so it does not stagnate and falter.  Were it not for us, humanity would remain in the dark ages, content to spend their lives farming.  Instead, they were forced to find ways to light the night, to build more impressive buildings to keep us away so they might live. We are what they want to be.  Immortal, forever. “

“There are some that still care of the hereafter, Diu,” Koios told him, stepping forward to meet him.  “When I met you, when you said you would save me, I believed in it so strongly that I was willing to go with you in hopes that I might live long enough to see Brigett again.”

The two were mere feet away from one another when Diu raised his hand. Koios stopped in his tracks, watching, waiting.  “Even now, Koios, you obey me.  You long to be with Brigett again.  You still love.  Weaknesses in vampires, perhaps, but a strength in humans to not let go.  I understand. This strength of will is another trait I saw in you when I went to welcome you into the Court.”  Diu reached out to place a hand on his shoulder.  “Come back to me, Koios.  Was I ever unkind?  Did I not give you everything that you asked for?”  He motioned to the left with his next words, “Emaline misses you, Koios.  Would you take away the family she chose so soon after her own family died on her?”

Attention was drawn from Diu to where he pointed with his hand, where a small red-headed child was peering out from behind one of the cars that was parked overnight.  Her face was pale, though it was with fear and not from lack of sunlight.  “Koios!” she called out to him when she saw him looking.

“My name,” he said quietly, “is James.”

Diu shook his head sadly. “It is a pity to see Koios die then.  He was a remarkable vampire.  James is nothing more than a man, and easily killed.”

James never saw the stake that plunged through his heart as he died a second time.

°°°°

TRIVIA: This chapter was the hardest to write.  I had no idea what I wanted to happen in it aside from “giant fight”.  So, I put it off and put it off until a week became a month, a year, and then 4 years.  When August’s Camp NaNo came around, this was the first on my list of projects to complete.  Word Wars really helped me push through it, and it turned out even better than I had hoped.

Also, it’s this chapter when Diu really comes into his own as a character and I start to love him, even though he’s…well…a bastard.

Lover’s Requiem: Chapter Seven

Chapter seven is now up for reading.

Also, Monday’s post will likely be delayed until about Tuesday or perhaps later due to family events, a trip to Ohio, a possible lack of internet and Athena (the computer) remaining back at home.

Enjoy what is the longest chapter of this novella!

 

CHAPTER SEVEN- WE ARE ALWAYS SEARCHING

He awoke not long before the sun sunk beneath the horizon.  From his spot in the shadows of the church’s loft, he sat and watched the last rays hit Anahita from the opening that was left in absence of the stained glass.  Her wings weren’t pulled back for once, but rather open and soaking in the warmth before the cold of the dark night.

Koios turned his attention to his other senses.  There was no one else in the sanctuary aside from them.  There were no other heartbeats that he could discern with his ears.  Smelling the air only showed him that some places needed to be dusted more than others, and the corner where he was sitting was one of them.  There was no taste of blood in his mouth.  He left the rest of that thought alone.  There was no time to go hunting tonight.  Perhaps if he ignored hunger long enough, it would go away and he would not need to.  Touch only showed him that he was sitting on stone and it was beginning to become painful.

Darkness became a shroud around him and the angel as the sun finally disappeared, taking warmth with it, but leaving safety behind.  He stood and walked to the edge of the window, looking down at the ground below.  The glass shards had been cleaned up, leaving nothing but this hole as a sign of his passing.  He could see and hear children below, running around.  Their faces were obscured with paint or masks and bodies hidden beneath layers of clothes in order to ward off the chill of the night as they moved from house to house, ringing bells and knocking on doors.  Parents with flashlights stood at the ends of the driveways, lending more light to the already bright night.

Before this year, he had loved All Hallows’ Eve more than anything.  It was a shifting in the natural order of things, when dark became more active than day.  When night was not feared.  And it was so very easy to eat his fill on this night.  Now, staring down on them, with an angel next to him, it felt different.  He couldn’t say how, it was so subtle.  Something about being able to protect them.

Shaking it, Koios tried to clear his head.  Where were these thoughts coming from?  He was still a vampire.  That was prey down there, and easy pickings at that.  He should be down there with the rest of his court, engaging in the fun they had every year.  He should be there with Diu…

Diu.  That name again.  Latin for day.  He was anything but.  It also meant for a long time.  That fit better.

He snorted and stopped thinking altogether.  There was nothing to be worried about now.  One goal and one goal only: stop Diu from killing others.

“Are you ready?” Anahita asked him quietly, still looking out at the world.

“Yes.”

She looked at him.  “Truly?”

“Yes.”

“Is this the last of our hauntings then?”

There was a smirk on his face as he looked over at her.  “I haven’t heard your word for our dates in a long time.”

“I hope that you’ll be able to hear it many more times in the future.”

“That will only happen if we both survive and manage to see each other again.  And, as I am a demon in a man’s body,” the grim face and voice was back, “I doubt that will happen.”

Anahita only nodded, not knowing what to say.  Anything that she said at that point would only sound like a lie to him.  “Where will he be?”

“Diu?”  She nodded again.  “Out in the city.  He and the court will be together on this night.  It’s the one time we can all travel as a group and not be noticed.”  He looked back out of the window and down at the children wandering around once more.  “I never thought I would say this, but for once I’m praying again.”

“Oh?”

“I pray that we find Diu in time so that we don’t have even more carnage to deal with tonight.  There is enough done in his name already.”

“I have said it before.  You are a good man, Koios.”

“Good demon, perhaps.  But no man.”

“Be that as it may.  You are none the less.”  She turned from the window and began to walk towards the stairs that lead down from the choir loft and out into the church.  “Shall we go then?”

“Yes.  I will need to eat tonight though.  If I’m going to have strength to face Diu and the entire court, I will need blood.”  He paused in his words as he saw the look of horror on her face.  “I’m sorry.  But I need to.”

“On who?  There are only children out tonight!” Anahita yelled at him

“You have not seen me feed before, angel,” he growled out at her.  “I do not take from children and I do not kill them.  I never let my demon out to reign over me completely until two nights ago.  I might have killed that, but that was it.”

“You’re telling me that you did no lasting harm to anyone?” Her voice was tinged with astonishment.  She didn’t believe him.

“I fed, but I tried to keep them alive when I was finished.  I took the memory of my time there from their mind and then left them.”  Koios resumed walking and went past her where she was on the stairs.  His black clothes were almost swirling around him as he descended down.  “I understand if you don’t want to come with.  I will meet you back here once I have finished.”  She said something then, but it was too soft for even his ears to pick up.  He turned back, one foot still on the stairs and one on the stone floor of the church.  “What was that?”

“Would my blood work?”

He gave a short and cynical laugh.  “I asked once if you would let me take from you.  You said no.”  Then, he spun back around and shot out of the door of the church at a brisk walk.  He stalked through the night, some children scattering out of his way, others commenting on what an amazing and cool and neat costume he had and were those fangs real, mister, ‘cause they sure looked real and other such inane comments until the parents of the children came and collected their young in order to move them through the night to the next house that was full of blood and sugar.

It didn’t take long for Koios to find a bar that was packed full of drunks and had several more tumbling outside every so often for either a smoke break or to head home for more drinks.  It was easy for him to convince one such drunkard to follow him into the alley.  It also didn’t take much time to subdue her as she was already more than halfway there, though it did take him an hour or so to sober up after feeding from her.  He didn’t need as much as he used to, however.  Perhaps is had something to do with Anahita’s blood.  In that time, he wandered through the city, enjoying not having to care about anything.  It was nice, and not something he had done since before he had been turned.

It was soon after he sobered up that he walked into another subdivision.  Thoughts were on nothing, cares were not even existent any more.  It was then that he noticed  someone who looked very familiar to him.  “Lupus?” he called out, sure that he was right.

The being turned, showing his face and indeed, it was the member of Diu’s Court who he knew.  “Koios?  But I thought you were dead.  Diu said…”

“Diu lied.  He’s the reason that I’m even here to begin with.  It was he who killed both me and…and Brigett.”

“I knew that, you idiot.  I was the one who killed your precious girlfriend eleven years ago.”  Lupus’ voice was cold, yet matter-of-fact.    It held no remorse in it, however.

“You killed her?” he replied softly.  His voice was barely above a whispers, but it carried easily to the elder vampire’s ears.

“On Diu’s orders.  It’s a great honor to be asked to participate in one of his hunts.  And even better if one of the hunts turns into a night of turning.  It’s something that you should have thought of before you declined his offer to turn one of your own and to have your own Court.  It’s an honor to have one.  I’ve wanted one for years, yet some little prick is going to get it instead of me, just because Diu likes him better?  I don’t think so,” Lupus yelled at him.  He launched himself towards Koios, who dropped to the ground immediately. There were advantages to vampire speed.

As Koios raised his head, he saw who Lupus had been feeding on.  It was a child.  One of the ones who was dressed up as some type of goblin or witch or what not.  As soon as that was seen, he felt anger rise completely to the fore until he saw red.  He rose, just as Lupus came at him again.  “You bastard!” Koios screamed at him.  “You go after kids!  You’re just a poor little kid yourself, being the good son, in hopes that daddy Diu would finally like you.”  He let a punch fly as soon as his adversary was in range.  The punch did little to deter the great hulking vampire from coming at him again.  Koios found himself on the receiving end of a like punch that sent him reeling to the ground once again, small pieces of brick falling from the building that he was pushed into.    He fought back the fog that threatened to envelop him when his head hit the wall.  It took him too long to clear it, however, and the much smaller vampire found himself being picked up and tossed once more, this time towards a wooden fence that he hadn’t seen before.  As he went flying towards it, he thought about the fact that he wouldn’t be able to help Anahita take out Diu, or stop Diu from hurting anyone else

He landed and closed his eyes, ready for the flames that came to eat at his body and turn it to ash as the wooden slats of the old fence pierced his chest and heart.  He was certainly flying at a high enough speed that there would be enough power to drive one of the splinters into his heart.  There was no all consuming pain, however.  Koios opened his eyes and found that he was more or less in one piece and that one a few wooden splinters had entered his body, and all were far away from his heart.  He had lived.  What was more, was that he was now sitting in a pile of weapons deadly to his opponent.   Snatching a few up, he moved to a crouch, holding the makeshift stakes like daggers had been held in medieval times.  He didn’t think to throw them.  There was something inherently bad about a strategy of fighting the included throwing away your only weapon.  He waited there, patient, waiting for his enemy to come to him.  His advantage laid in his speed, not in brute force.  It didn’t take long nor much goading before Lupus charged at him again.  Koios felt most of the impact in his shoulder, followed by his upper back when he slammed into the very same wall yet again.  “I’m getting tired of this,” he growled out, right before, bringing up one of the stakes and jerking it towards Lupus.

Batting it away, Lupus laughed. “You’ll need to be a lot faster than that, boy, if you want to win.”

“I already am,” Koios said quietly.

Lupus looked down and saw one of the splinters from the broken fence jammed into his chest.  He hadn’t even seen the attack happen, nor where the stake had come from.  “Where the hell did you get that from?  Pull it out of your a–.”

He never had time to finish his sentence before bursting into flames and then fading to ash.  The body was still burning slightly as Koios left the alley.  “I have been accused of having one there before, yes.”

The streets that had been so full before were now near empty.  It had to be close to ten, if the previous year’s Halloween was anything to go off of.  It was around then that the parents brought their children in from outside, deciding that they had braved the dangers of the night long enough.  There were things that he needed to do, however, and it was best if they were done in the dark of the night.  For one, he needed to find Diu.  In order to complete that task, he also needed to find Anahita.

It didn’t take him long to get back to the church that had served as both meeting place and sanctuary before.  She was no longer present there, which meant that he had to search for her on his own.  He closed his eyes and focused on the energy around him, meaning to draw in power to create his wings as he used to do.  Almost without thought, he felt his black wings burst from his body, only without any of the disappearance of energy that usually occurred when he manipulated it.  Another side effect of the angel blood in him, no doubt.  It made perfect sense that he would gain the ability to fly, after all. As he rose into the air, he found that there was almost a pull telling him which way to go.  He wondered if this was what angels felt, being told what to do and where to go.  He needed to get rid of this blood and soon.  He hated feeling like he was out of control.

He couldn’t help but feel as thougt he was meant to follow the pulling and pushing though.  So follow it he did, searching beneath him for any sign of Anahita or her passing. It was near the middle of the city, in an empty parking lot, that he felt the push again, only this time, it was pulling him downwards.  He landed, wings folded behind him, yet letting them remain in an attempt to show the others who were there that he too had power.

Looking around, he saw that he had landed almost three feet away from Anahita, who had a sword in one of her hands.  Across from the two of them was aligned with Diu’s Court, with Diu himself in the middle.  “I see you found me,” Anahita told him softly.

“Your blood called me to you.”

“No more searching for one another then.”

“Never.”

“As touching as this is,” Diu called out, “I need to ask the two of you to move.  We have done nothing wrong, Angel.  Indeed, it is you who has done wrong, by consorting with one of our own.  That is against the laws of the magical beings.”

She brought her sword up to rest in a guarded stance.  “I reject your laws when necessary to ensure that no more innocent blood is spilt.”

“Koios,” Diu turned to speak to him now.  “Listen to me.  I made you.  I welcomed you and treated you as my son.  Did you ever lack for anything while within my care?  Did I ever force you to do something that you did not wish to do?”  His voice was like silk, but Koios knew all too well the poison fangs that were hidden with that velvet tongue.

“No.  You tried to end me, however.  And for that I can not forgive you.”

“So then we fight,” Diu sighed out.  “So it must be.  This ends here and now.”  He stepped back, and his court surged around him, closing in on the only two that stood against him:  an angel with a sword and a young vampire with no weapons but his fists.

°°°°

Trivia: This chapter was the hardest one to write.  I wasn’t completely sure where I wanted to go during it, all that I knew was that they needed to get to the parking lot where Diu was. The fight between Koios and Lupus was not one that I had planned, but as soon as I placed the two in a street together, I knew that was what needed to happen.  This was the last chapter I wrote in my run of writing in 2006.  The last few chapters I finished this August with Camp NaNo after struggling with how I wanted “The Ship Of Pills” to begin and end.

Lover’s Requiem: Chapter Six

It’s Friday, so you know what that means!  Chapter Six is up, and only 4 more to go before we reach the end.

CHAPTER SIX- LOVER’S REQUEIM

He was being shaken into consciousness from a sleep that was deeper than he had known in a long time.  Hunger gnawed at his gut, seeking substance so that it might be sated.  His body craved the blood that he lived by.  Never before had he faced hunger such as this, nor might he again.  There was no way that he could move to find a human that he might take from.  This was the debilitating hunger that the Elders and the Codex spoke of; that they warned against.  If one of the vampire kin were ever in such a position, it was unlikely they would survive.

Every thought of his was consumed with blood lust.  He did not know who he was.  Names held no meaning.  They did not matter.

An eye opened and stared up at a blonde haired woman above him.  She was talking to him, though the words did not make sense to him.  Shadows all around him and her; the shadows were lessened by the light that she gave off.  Wings…no.  It was a trick of the light.  Wings did not exist.  Only the blood that was beneath her skin was real.

His head jerked up as her felt the familiar tingle at the back of his neck.  Morning was approaching and soon.  He was going to die again.  There was no blood for him to take so he could run.  The woman before him was all there was and she was too bright to drink from.  She hurt his eyes to look at, even though he didn’t want to take his eyes off of her.  There was beauty there.  And she looked familiar.  Another vampire perhaps?

That would mean that he was in her hunting grounds.  Which meant that he was about to be killed anyway.  There was no point in getting up.  He was either going to Greet the Mane or be killed for violating hunting rights of an older vampire.  Sagging back to the ground, he closed eyes that had barely begun to open.

Noises again.  The woman was speaking.  He tried to focus on them, to make out what the noises meant to form them into sounds.  The sounds into words.  The words into sentences.  The sentences into thoughts.  The thoughts into meaning.  “Dammit,” he heard her say.  She was swearing.  He remembered swearing.  It always meant that something bad had happened or was about to.  Why would she be swearing over him though.  Unless she felt the sun coming as well and would need to have the sun do her work in killing him for her.  Yes.  That was it.

There was something at his mouth.  A liquid.  He darted out a tongue to taste it and the blood lust grew.  His eyes opened and everything was tinged with red.   Blood.  There was blood at his mouth.

His hands flew forward with a strength he didn’t know he still possessed to hold the source of the blood in place so it didn’t fall away and leave him in hunger again.  Life, pure life and the energy that it held, poured into his mouth at long last.  It sated the monster that lived inside his skin and let him begin to move again.  He lost his attention on the world around him and all that existed was the blood that flowed from the wound and into his body.

Koios.

He had a name.

It was Koios.

That was his first thought when he could think past blood again.  As soon as it came, other memories and thoughts rushed into his mind and threatened to drown him.  He built a dam and quickly sifted through them all as they entered.   Church.  Anahita.  Dream.  Brigett.  Dream.  Diu.  Death.  Stake.  Running.  Falling.  Blood.  Now.

His eyes snapped open when his thoughts reached the here and now to look at who he was drinking from.  It was a woman.  Even in blood lust, he could tell that much.  Koios was able to look past the light and the hair this time to see that it was Anahita that he was taking from.

Jumping back as though burned, he brought a hand to his mouth, touching the blood that had managed to leak past his mouth and down onto his face.  Angel blood, he thought, touching it.

“Brigett?”

“Yes.  I heard you call.”

“I…I took your blood.  After I said that I wouldn’t.  I took it…”  He fell backwards so that he was facing the ever lightening sky to the east.  “I am truly damned now…”

“No, you are not.  It was freely offered.”

Koios sat up to stare at her.  “What?”

“I heard you call.  I came.  I saw.  And I did what was right.”

“Angel blood is in me.  I don’t think that I can ever forgive myself for taking from you like that.  What’s more is that I can not return to Diu’s Court with it in me.  Even if I wanted to.”

Anahita walked over to him and knelt down.  “You saw.”  He nodded.  “I’m sorry that you needed to see it that way.  I’m sorry that your illusions about him have been shattered.”

He pushed her away.  “It doesn’t matter now.  I have just prolonged death a little longer.  There is no shelter that I can get to in time before the sun rises.  I will die, just the same as if Diu had staked me before or if you had not heard.”  He turned so that he no longer needed to look at her.

She looked about the clearing.  Her eyes fell on the rose that he had brought her just the night before.  It had already sprouted again, three tiny rose buds appearing off of the main stem.  It was then that she knew it had not been stolen.

Where an angel stands, certain magics and powers seep into the ground to change things that are there.  Those powers cause small miracles to happen.  But only if the things there have lived before and were placed there by those pure of heart.

Reaching down to pluck the flower from the ground, she brought it over to the vampire and held her hand over his shoulder.  “For you.”

He turned, holding onto both it and her hand as he did.  He said nothing, no words were needed.  Koios leaned forward and kissed Anahita on the lips, feeling her power, her light, and refusing to be burned by it.  He was a part of her.  Light in his dark so that he could not be fully dark ever again.

Her wings spread out behind them and wrapped the two in order to create a light proof place.  “Trust me,” she whispered by his ear.

“Always,” he replied.

The ground fell away beneath them as Anahita took to the skies.  She flew away from the sun, keeping Koios in her shadow the entire way so he would not burn.  Through the trees, over streets, uncaring of who or what might see them in the wee hours of the morning.  They landed outside of the church they had first met at and Anahita brought him inside.

“You saved me.”  She raised an eyebrow.  Koios relented.  “Again.”

This time she smiled.  “What else could I do.  I save pure souls.  There was no way that I could ignore yours. Besides, I needed to save you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the one I love.”  She leaned forward and the two embraced again.  “This is the last peace we will have for a while.”

“We fight Diu tomorrow, don’t we?”

“I’m afraid so, yes.  We need to strike before he can muster all those that he has sired.”

Koios laughed.  “I don’t believe it.  I just started a war.  A war between heaven and hell.”

She hushed him with another kiss. “Just for today, forget about the war.  Forget about the ten years that have passed.  Just be James.”

“I can’t be James,” he told her firmly, “Just as you can’t be Brigett.”  His voice softened as he continued on.  “I can be Koios for you though.”

“And I can be Anahita.”

The angel and the vampire fell asleep in the choir loft that morning.  The organist who came by later never saw them as he practiced playing a requiem mass that he would be playing on the weekend.  It served a triple purpose that morning, though he never knew about the others.  He played for practice. But he also played for the loss of a love that once was there between two humans. It was a Lover’s Requiem.

And it celebrated the fact that two supernatural beings, who thought themselves to be doomed to loneliness, had found love once again.

°°°°

TRIVIA: this was, I think, the shortest chapter I wrote.  And I remember that, when typing it up, Word failed on me and I lost the entire beginning part when Koios is remembering who he is.  There was a lot of cursing after that.