Chapter Four: The Encounter Of The Goddess

Even as he stepped forward, Lilith's hand grasped his shoulders like an iron vice. "Wait," She said. "Those horses... they smell like the devil."

Dominick looked surprised that Lilith had echoed his thoughts so perfectly. "Yes, but they may stop for some oats or carrots or... Blood."

"Blood?" Lilith said, turning slightly green after thinking of her own blood on her hands, "Why would they be feeding on--?"

"Vampire's horse. They think it will make them easier to take care of." Dominick explained, using his broad, scarred hands to gesture as he spoke.

"But it did not work." Lilith said, "Why bite them anyway?"

"I have no idea," He said, shrugging, "But I do need to search them. Here." He reached inside his pouch and handed her what Lilith was sure would be some powerful weapon, something to destroy the horses with. Something unbeatable that he was going to give her: his face would be shining with admiration as she did the deed, and then...

Then Dominick actually handed her the object.

"A ROCK!" Lilith screeched, "What in the name of God am I to do with A ROCK?" Dominick grinned, and for once the smile reached his dark brown eyes.

"Yes, 'Rock,' is one term," He said calmly, "But I prefer 'Ciela’." Lilith, who was still angry at herself over the thoughts she had thought about Dominick's rock, was now interested.

"Go on."

"This can be used to draw the horses away from the pack."

"Oh. Why?"

"There is a chemical in the rock that smells like blood to the vampire's honed senses," he explained, "My father was doing research on it before... before he died." Perhaps Lilith had noticed that strong Dominick had faltered at the mention of his family, there was a purely sympathetic look that could only be borne of female instinct.

"What happened to your family, Liberator?" She inquired, taking the rock from his hand. It was smooth and cool; she ran her long fingers over it to feel its few ridges.

Dominick did not answer. "Um... Let us proceed to the searching of the packs," He said quietly, ignoring Lilith's question. Despite the fact that they had just slain a room full of vampires, Dominick did not seem ready to give up yet. Lilith was not either, so perhaps they were more alike then they thought.

***

"I can't believe they thought I was human AGAIN, those fools," Arrine said, smiling a fanged smile at no one in particular. Her hair was beginning to turn blonde, and she ran a hand through it, not being able to feel it at all. She was clad in a red dress this (and every) day, as Wolfe had wanted her too act as a lady so he could continue the charming air of a gentleman over the locals. The two of them were hiding in a small village, in the largest building, waiting for the chance to strike. Once the Liberator was slain, she would not have to hide any more.

When she had been alive she had not experienced such curbed senses. The beating of her heart was a drum, and a creaking stair was a thousand screams of dying pain. The smell of blood made her hungry, no matter when she had fed; and the smell of garlic was so strong it repelled her. Her eyes hurt whenever she went outside, from the bright sun, so she wore a heavy veil at all times. She hoped those assassins would do their job well and honorably, because she had no intention of hiring more. She would go herself, next time.

"Arrine!" Called Wolfe, and her ears twitched from the force of the word. Gracefully rising from her chair near the window, she went to find her friend. After a moment or two, she found him in the grand library.

"Yes, Wolfe?"

"What are we going to do today?"

"Wha... I mean, excuse my inquiry, my lord, but there is no reason for us to be doing anything. We have plenty to think of."

"Yes, Arrine," He said, the smile that made human girls swoon appearing on his face, "But even vampires deserve to have some fun."

"As you wish," She said curtly. Wolfe's handsomeness had lost all charm to her, and he seemed to notice this. The smile left his face as swiftly as a leaf would fall from tree, and was replaced by a downhearted frown.

 

"Wait!" He said, his eyes darting about wildly, "What is that terrible smell!" Wolfe felt dizzy, as though he had drank too much.

"I... Oh, I have no idea... get rid of it, get rid of it!" Arrine shouted, turning whiter with every word. Wolfe, with an inhuman speed, ran over to the window and slammed it shut.

"We have a problem," He said, glancing through the thick panes of glass, "I smelled blood rose."

***

Lilith threw the rock precisely as Dominick had instructed her, and it flew far away into the night. She, herself, was surprised at her own strength, but said nothing to Dominick. Probably because she was trying not to be noticed. Her dreams had been getting worse lately, ever since she had been helping the mysteriously elusive Mr.Dhampir. It did not help that she thought he was more handsome then any man she had ever seen and, despite her efforts, she stared at him often.

He was rather clueless about such things, thankfully, as most men are; so he hardly noticed. He only noticed how her bangs hid her face, and how she blushed when he caught her looking. The horses had long sense fled after the rock, and now were pawing at it nervously. As though something was wrong with it. Dominick examined each horse in turn, carefully sifting through the packs of the (now slain) vampires.

He pulled out the odd object here and there, most of which he stored in his own traveling bag. But two things, two things only, he kept out: A silver whistle, decorated with strange markings; and a map, painted in blood on sheepskin. A map that seemed to be leading to a forgotten place that was far from there. That would have taken a mortal man or woman many days to get to.

"Greece?" Dominick said, scratching his head, "Why on earth would they be in GREECE?"

"I have no idea," Lilith said, raising an eyebrow. (Dominick was beginning to think that was what she always said.) "And what on earth does that infernal-looking whistle do?"

Dominick took a deep breath. "I have no idea."

"...You have no idea? Then why did you pick it up?"

"I... I was hoping you could read the markings," He admitted sheepishly, "The ones inscribed on the bottom side of the thing."

Lilith smiled, an odd half smile that Dominick swore he had seen before. "Let me see it," she demanded fiercely, holding out a hand. Dominick carefully lay it in her pale hand, and as the two hands brushed he found himself blushing. Weather or not Lilith had noticed this, he could not say for certain, but he had noticed that her eyes lingered briefly on his face before withdrawing her hand so quickly it was if a snake had bitten her.

"Hmmmmm." She muttered, "These markings are interesting. I've only seen them once before, and that was from someone else's description."

"Whose description? Can we ask them about it? How do you know them?" Dominick shot out questions in rapid succession, his mind ready for a challenge. This made Lilith's slow replies difficult on his preparedness, and he began to act slightly more controlled.

"Well, my mother's description," she stated calmly, "It was found on the tomb of Camazotz. Well... at least, what she THOUGHT was meant to be the tomb of Camazotz."

"Why on earth was your mother in the tomb of a heathen god!?!" Dominick asked, trying to hold back the anger that threatened to erupt from him. She was wasting his time with this information, and all he had wanted was to find Arrine.

"Because she was trying to solve a mysterious outbreak of sickness there," Lilith said, "Everyone in the afflicted village had visited the tomb at least once, so, she looked there for anything out of the ordinary for a temple."

"Did she find anything?"

"I have not the faintest idea," Lilith replied, averting her eyes, "She had a seizure there, fell, and cut herself. She died from lack of blood." Dominick cringed, bracing himself just in case she should start crying. Seeing his look of discomfort, she added, "It was a very long time ago."

Dominick's sigh of relief was far too audible for Lilith's taste. "Had you expected me to burst into tears?" She scoffed, giving him an unfaltering glare.

"Arrine did," He said, turning away from her. Lilith blinked, as though she had known he was going to say. If only to change the subject, she put the whistle to her lips and blew.

 

After a moment, a large group of white bats flew towards them.

 

Lilith and Dominick glanced first at each other and then at the whistle, bewildered. Then, they were forced to shelter their ears as the white bats began to scream. A piercingly high scream that was painful to listen to. The doctor's house, which had already been though enough, lost its windows as each one crashed under the strain.

"What are they?!" Lilith shouted, loudly enough to be heard in the racket, "How can we get them to bloody shut up!"

"I have no idea!" Dominick bellowed in reply, "I have never seen these before!"

"What do you mean you have no idea!" Lilith continued to yell in that same voice, "You are a blasted vampire hunt--" She stopped shouting, and looked up at the sky. The clouds, which had obscured the moon before, had parted, and the bats had landed. A beam of light was coming down from the moon, in the center of the landed bats; a figure emerged from the darkness.

She wore a long white dress, and she had a pale face. One so pale, that her veins were visible beneath her skin. Her hair was a dark shade of purple, and her eyes were as blue as the midnight skies. A long, thin sword hung from her belt, and she held a thorn less rose in her long hands.

"Hello," She said, "My name is Ixchel, and I'm afraid you have my whistle."

***

"Master Wolfe!" The servant said again, pushing open the grand door and running into her master's room. "Master Wolfe, I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but..." she stopped her warning as she saw what Wolfe was sleeping in. The room was surprisingly bare, but, in the center, there was an aged coffin.

"What! What could you possibly want with me at this hour!?!" Wolfe said, an edge to his voice that was so animal like it frightened the servant.

"They are coming, sir," She said, "A good deal of them. Armed with stakes and hammers, garlic and bright lights, roses. I was worried, Sir. So I came to warn you." She was more worried about his handsome face then why they were coming. As Wolfe sat up and opened his mouth to reply, a startled cry came out from within the coffin. A babies' cry...

"Sir!" She said, "Why do you have a baby in your--" Wolfe had gotten out by now, and with an inhuman speed had taken the servant and, as with Arrine, pinned her to the floor.

"Babies are always better as desserts," He whispered in her ear, "You'll do just fine as a main course. Now, hold still. I'm hungry, and you were stupid enough to trust me."

 

***

 

"Ixchel?" Dominick and Lilith chorused in a tone of nearly identical disbelief, "The Mayan goddess of the moon?"

"Yes," She said, in a voice that echoed in a strange sense of beauty, "that Ixchel."

"Well, then I am at your service," Dominick cooed. Staring (perhaps) at her lovely face was more enjoyable then listening to her, he sank into a deep bow. Lilith rolled her eyes.

"How may we help you, Lady Ixchel?"

The ladies' gaze turned from Dominick to Lilith, an amused half smile forming over her face.

"You may help me by telling me how you came upon that whistle," She said, her expression serious except for the constant half smile, "For it is a caller of the ancient Gods." The surprise that was on Lilith's face was mirrored on Dominick's.

"God-S? As in, plural?"

"Yes, Hunter, it calls more then just me. It calls my lost love, the sun; his brother the morning star, their cousin, the grower of all maize, and..." she glanced around, as though checking to see no one was listening, "Camazotz, the death God."

"Depending on...?"

"You do seem full of questions for a hero, hunter," Ixchel said, a flash of annoyance appearing in her eyes, "And it depends on the time of day. I, being the goddess of the moon, will appear nearly any time at night. The sun will appear during the day, the morning star at twilight..." She paused again, as though readying herself, "And Camazotz at the hour of midnight."

"Why are you afraid of Camazotz?"

"Now, that IS a question," Ixchel said to Lilith, who blushed; Dominick looked rather put out. "The Gods are absolutely terrified of Camazotz, after what he did... what he started..."

"You mean that he started the order of the vampires?" Dominick put in hopefully, trying to be helpful. Ixchel, to her credit, was ignoring the silent battle of wills that seemed to be taking place between Dominick and Lilith.

"Yes, he did, although that is no thing for a hunter to know," Ixchel said, "At least, not in my day."

"I see. How did we call you with the whistle?"

"I heard the bats, who responded to your whistle." Ixchel explained, "They are my servants. One of them I shall instruct to stay with you, for as you own the whistle it is my solemn duty to give you counsel."

"Oh. Okay, then!" Dominick thought for a moment, and then said, "Where is Wolfe?"

"It is not your job to ask me," Ixchel said, "I am female, thus, Lilith shall ask it of me." Dominick looked like he thought this was very unfair, but Lilith only smiled.

"Can the bat be a tame one?"

Ixchel laughed, and the house shook from the strange tone. "Of course," She said, smiling in full now, "Anything else?"

Finally, the questions that had been building up inside Lilith had a chance to escape. "Can you tell my sister where I'm going? And how can we find people to trust? Will I find a real weapon to fight with? Why do I get to ask the questions?"

Ixchel looked as though she had been expecting this. "I will send your sister a bat, explaining everything, Lilith. You will find many people you believe you can trust, but few will continue to act honorably due to the greed of one man. Remember that you must go quietly, down back roads and hidden paths, as the police believe that Dominick killed Arrine. Your real weapon is and shall be that rose, Lilith. It is more valuable against who you fight then Dominick's pouches in full, and it will save your life at least once. Finally... I am a female goddess. There will be male gods that Dominick shall ask questions of; for he will be more comfortable with them then I." Ixchel looked up at the sky.

"You must go, now, my children," She said, "Dawn approaches, and my time here will soon be done. Blow the whistle again, if you should need... help." She took the whistle, strung it, and placed it around Dominick's neck. He closed his eyes, and Lilith pulsed with jealousy.

"The bat's name is Azrael, Lilith, and he is my gift to you. Oh, and remember...The dead may fight for Wolfe, but you fight for the epidemic. This is not a group of one slayer and his friend now, it will grow swiftly to the greatest battle in England."

And, with that, she faded into the night, leaving them feeling safer then they had in a very long time.