Embracing the Shadows (6 page)

Expanding into and settling of what is now
northeastern Germany, the word 'Veleti' became a blanket title for
all of the smaller tribes that formed under its rule. Viggo
belonged to the original body of the Veleti, and at a young age
became a warrior for his people. Besides dealing with any internal
conflicts, there were continuous clashes with Obodrites and Saxons.
It sounded like Viggo led a hard, bloody life.

One late autumn day, sometime in the later
fifth century, Viggo and two of his men had begun the long trek
back home after a hunting trip near the North Sea. They were woken
up that night by the sound of distant chanting. Viggo and his guys
were camped on the edge of a forest; the noise came from deeper
into those woods, and they decided to check it out. I thought about
that scene, moving through dense woods at night to check out a
bunch of strangers chanting. Those guys had balls.

It wasn't hard to find the chanters; they had
a few torches burning around the perimeter of a small clearing. The
leader of the group was a woman whose inhuman presence had Viggo's
guys wanting to get the hell out of there. Viggo, on the other
hand, was immediately attracted to her.

Long story short, he approached the assembly
alone. The leader, who was revered by her people as a goddess,
apparently liked Viggo's bravery and imposing size. She made him a
minion that night, and ordered him to hunt down his two men and
bring them back to her. He managed to do it; they weren't far away,
and weren't a match for him. Two nights later, one of Viggo's men
was tied to a tree and sacrificed in a bloody ritual. About a week
later, so was the other one.

Just to make it clear, both Viggo and the
priestess/goddess woman were basically pagans - a lot of people
back then still were. Barnabus didn't elaborate, so I didn't know
if all pagans worshipped the same set of gods or what. In any case,
the priestess had a very different way of expressing her particular
set of beliefs than Viggo's people did. Or maybe she was just on a
power trip, and it was all about the blood. No one knows for
sure.

Her name was Fennore. She was a hemo in
Ireland and had been doing her druid goddess thing for a long time
there. That ended when Christianity swept over the island in the
early fifth century. She and her followers, which included most of
her mortal descendants, got a big boat and got the hell out. They
sailed under England and all the way around Denmark, finally
landing in Obodrite territory. Fennore had some trouble with those
people, so she and her followers started migrating east near the
coast.

For the sake of her follower's safety, Viggo
convinced Fennore to have them join the Veleti. She stayed away
from those settlements, feeding on animals and human sacrifices
brought by her followers when they visited. As Fennore's minion,
Viggo spent a lot of his time with her. She knew he felt a strong
duty and connection to his people, so equal time was allowed for
him to be with them as well. Even better, Fennore realized that
ordering Viggo to attack his own men that first night really upset
him, so she never asked that he bring another sacrifice unless it
was an enemy. Aw, how nearly human of her.

I shouldn't have thought too poorly of
Fennore. I mean, Viggo saw something good in her, so I should've at
least kept an open mind. By the things Barnabus told me, though,
that wasn't easy to do. But just to stir the pot, it turns out that
I was very distantly related to her. I'll get to that in a bit.

Things went on that way for a while.
Fennore's followers blended in, some changing their names to
Germanic ones or marrying in. Viggo divided his time between being
seen among his people, getting into battles and skirmishes with
enemies, and visiting Fennore. I guess they had a real connection.
She brought him into the night, and they became lovers. I wondered
how that worked. Barnabus avoided the topic of bodily functions and
explained that the sharing of hemo blood is very intimate, and
gives greater ecstasy than feeding on human blood ever could.
Better than a strong orgasm? I had my doubts.

A number of years later, when it seemed the
right time, Viggo made a point of letting his closest friends know
he was going out on a scouting trip. Then he simply didn't return;
his death would've been assumed. He and Fennore found a large cave
that had a small entrance a mile or so inland and stretched
underground to a rocky coast. They remained in that domain for
decades. The war parties that travelled nearby made feeding
easy.

During that time, Fennore gathered more
followers as well as some of her own distant descendants to live in
a section of the huge cave. Those humans who weren't related
eventually became compliant to Viggo's presence after he and
Fennore continually fed from them. I guessed it had some mellowing
effect, like a lobotomy. Fennore continued her rituals; Viggo
didn't get involved, and left her to it.

After a long while, though, Viggo got
restless; he wanted to be with his people again. Over a generation
had passed for them and all the faces he knew were gone, but he
didn't care. The people were still Veleti - his people. So Viggo
slowly introduced himself as some powerful being to the new
generation of the tribe, soon establishing himself as a local
warlord. In a fairly remote area, he had a fortress built that was
big enough to bunk Fennore's lineage and his own trusted warriors.
It sounded pretty cool.

Fennore and her followers still did their
dark druid stuff, but only in the fortress courtyard or out in the
woods. People found out anyway. Viggo took his company out on raids
to make sure his domain was secure. As a bonus, his people
prospered from the loot he brought back. In those fights, he
sometimes ran into other hemos, most of whom were leading the
enemy's forces. Being of a greater scion, he killed or defeated all
that he met. Word spread from those encounters. Viggo and Fennore
became recognized names, and not necessarily in a good way.

More years passed while the Deviant couple
kept up with their habits and interests. A trio of supposedly young
hemos came to the fortress one night, asking to serve in their
company. They spent a long time gaining Viggo's and Fennore's
trust, all the while using their mental Gifts to sour the
villager's thoughts. It didn't work so well in reference to Viggo;
he was a good and generous leader. On the other hand, the villagers
were always nervous about Fennore. It was easy to turn their fear
of her into hate.

Those young hemos belonged to a small sect
that used their immortal blood to delve into some creepy occult
shit. Barnabus used the word 'macabre'. I guess the sect didn't
like what Fennore was up to, or saw her as some sort of spooky
competition. Minions were made out of some of the village leaders,
who kept everyone riled up during the day. It was getting ugly in
Viggoville.

The trio of hemos waited for Viggo to take
his men on another extended war march, and then made their move the
next day. The short version is that most of Fennore's followers
were slaughtered, and her human lineage hid in secret rooms within
the fortress when the villagers finally managed to break in.
Fennore, apparently too arrogant to think humans would ever revolt
against her, laid there slumbering without any defense. She was
wrapped in about a ton of chain and then staked.

That night, the trio of hemos carried Fennore
out of the fortress and waited for scouts to tell them what
direction Viggo would return from. They got the info and used all
that chain to secure her to a stone post on that edge of the
village. The bastards waited until Viggo and his men were barely in
sight, set Fennore on fire, and then used their Gift of the Void to
escape. There was no way he or his warriors could get there in time
to put her out, but they charged forward anyway.

The stake burned away, freeing Fennore, but
she was engulfed in flames by then. At first she could only scream
in agony, but then was able to form her last words when she saw
Viggo through the flames that were licking her face. Fennore called
out, telling him to watch over her lineage, and to swear to it.
Viggo bellowed back that he would, but was never sure if she heard
him.

Fennore's last word was her lover's name
before she crumbled into dust. I knew that before Barnabus said it;
the dream I had months before was still vivid in my mind. Barnabus
could paint a good picture with words, but it couldn't compare to
actually seeing it.

Viggo couldn't face the betrayal of his own
people, not for a long time. Taking his men, he left the village to
its fate. Using info from fellow Deviants, he finally found those
responsible. Viggo wasn't sure how many members of the sect there
were - he went wild with bloodlust as soon as he entered their
domain.

Barnabus explained that when a hemo is
physically drained by another, down to the point of husk or ashes,
the victim's essence is pretty much consumed. While the act can
transfer knowledge or power, there is a great risk of destroying
one's own essence in the process. If that happens, the mind loses
all connection with reality forever. It's the reason their law of
death was created.

Viggo went back to the cave that was his home
years before and claimed it as his domain again. He would have
stayed there for a very long time, but he had humans to watch over.
So, it turned out that I was related to a hemo who thought she was
a deity and performed sacrificial murders. Wonderful.

"I've rambled on long enough for now,"
Barnabus said, standing up. "I hope that small piece of your lord's
personal history was enlightening."

I got up as well. "It sure as hell was. Thank
you."

We walked in relative silence until we got to
the garage. After pushing the door remote, I asked, "So, uh, Mr.
Merritt, about those Fauna tips you were gonna give me . . ."

"Ah, quite so," he responded, waving a finger
at me. "To start you on that journey, I suggest this: begin with
initiating eye contact. Be calm, be confident. Do it often.
Methodically extend the time of your gaze, let it linger."

"What, that's it?"

"It may take longer than you assume, Mr.
Beck, but very well. I will expound further. Once you feel truly
comfortable capturing Thunder's attention in that manner, begin to
focus your mind on simple thoughts while doing so." He gave a
single nod as if that crumb of advice was a meal.

"Okay, uh, thanks. And I mean for
everything." I made sure the gate closed after Barnabus drove out
in his classic Chevy. "Think simple thoughts?" I said to myself.
Shit, I'm the king of simple thoughts.

PARANOID

There was a new chore in the Planner for the
next day. I had to buy some hardwood lumber and have it cut into
short lengths. Then I had to wait until I got a text and deliver
the lumber to a specific address. More duties would be given at
that time. Sounded simple enough.

Since I was in the hemo-net, I decided to
browse. I came across a want-ad of some Deviant in Detroit who was
paying top dollar for live midgets to be delivered; the price went
up for any previously mutilated subject. It was getting damn tough
to have any type of respect for almost any hemo bastard, let alone
the twisted ones that had nothing human left in them.

I was stewing in disgust when Thunder hopped
up on the desk and rubbed his cheek on my arm with a purr. Huh,
social cat. His antics for attention got rid of my dark mood. I
tried locking eyes with him as Barnabus suggested, but he turned
and left the office. I was gonna suck at that Fauna Gift.

Gwen and I met at some greasy spoon the next
day for lunch. Considering that I was still technically missing -
at least in the human world - we sat in a rear booth for
concealment. She was a little jumpy and nervous, tapping her purple
nails on the table and glancing out of the booth. "Well, this is a
new look - paranoid Gwen," I said conversationally. "Are you acting
like that to freak me out, or do you have a real problem?"

"Oh, I think it's real enough," she replied,
fidgeting with her menu. "And the cause of my problem is Mr.
Leopold Beck, thanks so much."

"What, me? What the hell did I do?"

"What did you do . . . Hmm. Let me start with
a little background. One of my main duties for our mutual patron is
to download data from various security cameras around the city and
store it in a private server. All human and vehicular traffic is
automatically run through a recognition software program. There are
lots of profiles already loaded, so the program flags any
reoccurring hits. I review the flags and make reports. With me so
far?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Gwen had started rolling
up her plastic menu and then releasing it. "If you're going to
order coffee when the waitress comes," I said, taking the menu out
of her hands, "make it decaf."

She moved on to fussing with her utensils.
"So, two days ago I was reviewing a tape from a security camera at
the front of a downtown parking facility that our mutual patron
controls. That camera sets off lots of flags, mostly at night, and
mostly getting matches on cars coming from and going to a big,
fancy building right down the block on the other side of the
street. Guess who I saw, Leo."

"Uh, the Doyenne?" I had no clue; I was
throwing rocks in the dark.

"Oh, no, no," Gwen answered dramatically. "I
saw someone much more familiar. A white van screeched to a stop in
front of that building, and you got out."

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right. I saw the whole thing, Leo
- the entire veil-ripping scene. I watched you and some Asian guy
going at it karate-kid style, only faster than you should've been
able to. Oh, and then there was the Great Vermin Incursion; that
was a toe-curling hoot. Should I even mention the guy whose head
was turned into pulp after our Mr. Stone was finished with
him?"