# Copyright © 2012 by James Milne

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or for educational purposes as defined in the relevant laws.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2012

ISBN 978-1-300-30238-4

www.lillith.com.au

# Other books by Shakna Israel:

UnitArmy: Day Of Black Sun

UnitArmy: Doomsday Device

Gamic Throes

Gamic Ties

The Shatterealm

# Dedication

For Ricquel, for understanding the darkness when no one else could; and never losing sight of the light.

# Acknowledgements

Lilly would not have been possible without several people, firstly and foremost, the girl most people called Raven, but I called Georgie (sometimes to your utter disgust).

Without Georgie, none of this would have been possible, I wouldn't have been introduced to the Lillian, a subsect of vampire culture that worships Lillith almost exclusively, and that sees most people within vampiric culture as shallow imitators, only their high priests (usually priestesses) were capable of rising to near the level of Lillith.

I also have to thank Georgie for being the kind and gentle guide to that world that. The bite doesn't have to be something softly taught... As you'll see from the following pages, it can be the power that hurts, not just pleasures.

Secondly, I have to thank my friends over at wattpad.com, who helped me when I first starting forming the threads that would create this story. I was writing a mythology trilogy back then, trying to unite Norse, Greek and Hebrew mythology in one world cataclysmic event. Chance Rising is the first of those stories, but it was in its sequel, Night Falls, that I entered the character of Lillith into play, and began to research her. The characters I have created in Lilly would not have appeared as they are, in fact I doubt I would have formed what I have without some guidance from you guys. Especially to Mera2876, and the enormous amount of effort you put into your stories, and responding to everyone's questions.

Next come the people who gave me the job. Without the publisher coming to me with the most awe-inspiring brief I've ever had, there is no way I would have put so much effort into this one piece. I guarantee you that I have put more time in research, writing, and editing into Lilly than anything I've written before.

It's because they came to me with this brief:

Vampires have been ruined for most people. It's become a kitsch fad for teenage girls who like Justin Bieber. We want you to change that.

Bring back the fear. Make them terrifying again.

There was no way I was turning that down. I also have to give a shout out to all the fans at www.facebook.com/lillthrises, your continued support helped me during the times when I could have shot my tireless editing team. Both the fans and the editors have put up with my random crap, and for that, you all deserve commendations.

Finally, I have to thank my family and friends who have supported me during the crazy hours that I've kept during writing Lilly. For Daniel for creating the trailer, for my parents understanding when they ask me something, and I look over with a sort of shocked or glazed over look, as if I'm not quite all there, mostly because I'm living in the world of Ardet-lili and trying to play out this terrible story of redemption lost and found.

Thankyou to everyone for your patience, and support, during the time it's taken to forge this work.

# Part One:

# The Rising

# Sosã er u̯erdh,

Sosã-ario apo mauro.  
En orsos apo toros,  
Sosã g'em.

The darkness rose, as the light fled the night.

It was ominous, a beast barely contained, the night rose, and it's queen stood alone, above it all, as behind her the storm grew, the waves of her anger crashing on the cold waves of reality. She stood alone, as the world had always viewed her, her last ties to the mortal realms were gone.

The only three people to have known her, loved her as she was, were gone.

Her legacy, a bloodline stretching back to the dawn of humanity, was gone. Butchered and desecrated.

No, she stood alone, and the storm was her only friend now, like it was in the beginning, with the garden. May he forgive her, but redemption was out of her grasp now.

Only her hate remained.

Her hate against the man standing in front of her, against her.

The only remaining threat to her life, at least this life.

He had been there, at every sorrow, every mistake down the years.

She, smiled sadly as the thunder ripped through them, shaking the ground violently. As the rain soaked her to the bone, tangling her black wavy hair, tears formed in her red eyes, and she felt the sorrow overwhelming her. "Why?"

Myrrdin cocked his head, "You betrayed him."

She smiled sadly, "Then do it already."

Myrrdin tensed,

"By moon,

By sun,

By dark,

By light,

And by all that is holy."

He paused, uncertain, and she glared at him, "What are you waiting for? End it!"

He winced, and she screamed at him across the slick rooftop, "End it!"

Myrrdin muttered to himself, and closed his eyes,

"Break this world to pieces."

He opened his eyes and looked at her, and she raised an eyebrow, daring him to finish it, to do what he was born to do, and he sighed heavily, "Why? Why do you want to die?"

She blinked, "You killed my parents... My love... My children... Why would I want to live?"

Myrrdin swallowed, "But... Your soul... You could yet be redeemed... It's within your power... Why an eternity cursed when you could have one brilliant moment and be free forever?"

"I am chained to my past!" She screamed angrily, the bitterness clear in her voice, "You have taken it all away, why would I love what I have cause to hate? I cannot love him... He has destroyed what little I had... No... Redemption is lost."

Myrrdin looked at her carefully, and nodded, "So be it. Let this be on your head."

He closed his eyes, focusing on what he had to say,

"Pos mehn.

Pos dia.

Pos mauro.

Pos legh.

Pos medhio.

Eti opi eno kei me.

Behng do geid..."

Myrrdin hesitated, adrenaline racing, palms sweating; he almost felt like he was being ripped out of his body, "Koma."

# Chapter One:

# Cambion

En tãl,

Top skera-poti dhe,  
An so agro bher.  
Ad skera-poti te Caine,  
An ant-s lōto te  
Reg-os kãl.

The hall wasn't exactly packed as Ethan Raith stood up to speak; but he hadn't expected quite so many to turn up. The concepts of identity weren't exactly high profile stuff.

He smiled softly, "Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Ethan Raith, and identities are sort of my trade, I create new personalities, new identities and social conceptions of my clients all the time. I'm a graphic designer, and branding is my speciality, and branding stretches far beyond your Chinese-manufacture t-shirt. It is the way that towns market themselves, it is the way our politics is run, and beyond that, it invades your personal life as you brand yourself through social media and market yourselves to friends, family, and anybody else you feel like. This idea of everything we do, reflecting what we are is the first step along the line moving away from the working class man and into the global social era."

Occasionally as he continued his talk, as he glanced across the crowd, his eyes would lock with one individual, the man simply watched him, stared at him. That smoldering stare tossed anger across the space, a sheer hatred that gave Ethan pause every time he noticed it.

Ethan smiled softly as he finished, shook a few hands; and then packed up his gear and took it out the side door; packing his car before he would head back in for morning tea to talk to a few people before heading off, and the next speaker giving another talk at the small seminar hall in St. Kilda.

He turned around from the boot and blinked as he saw the same man standing there, the same hate-filled glare. "What exactly is your problem? Have I insulted you somehow?"

The man laughed softly, "Really? What a defensive response."

Ethan clenched his fist, feeling his anger building, "What do you want?"

"Oh his blood rises!" The man laughed, and drew some sports-style fingerless-gloves and slipped them on; Ethan recognized them as sparring gloves, and he snapped back into a fighting stance instinctively and the man nodded, "Basic L-shaped footwork, good... You know how to fight, or at least the bare basics."

There was a rush of wind, and Ethan swore as he was tossed sideways into the brick wall, he slid to the ground, wincing as he felt the sharp sting from his scalp to tell him he was bleeding and he went to push himself upright but an iron-gripping hand seized his shoulder and pushed him down, whilst the other hand gripped around his

throat, crushing it slowly and he struggled, trying to bend his elbow, or push him away; but it was useless, and his eyesight began to blur, he panicked; trying to get any sort of blow in, feeling his knuckles bruise on the man's face as the darkness closed in around the edges and then suddenly, he could breathe again. He fell forwards onto hands and knees, gasping in lungfuls of air; he pushed himself up the wall, and he saw the man who had attacked him, circling another man standing there, arms crossed; almost looking bored.

Ethan glared angrily, "Thanks..."

His voice was hoarser than he'd expected, but what happened next, was well and truly a surprise, the newcomer turned and punched, and the attacker simply vanished from sight, he turned to Ethan and frowned, "Who are you?"

"Ethan Raith..."

The newcomer blinked, "How odd."

Ethan never heard the thunder, he was simply blinded and then thrown against the wall; missing one of his shoes, the lightning strike out of broad daylight about to cause consternation for some meteorologists.

Ethan gasped, sitting up suddenly and breathing hard, he looked around himself in the unfamiliar surroundings... No... He'd been here before hadn't he? Something to do with... His aunt maybe? Ah! This was a hospital, and by the view out the window, it had to be the Royal Melbourne. What the hell had happened? He looked around for the little handheld button that would alert the nurse's station, tapped it a couple times, and then flicked on the TV and raised his bed, it always took forever for them to turn up. He was cycling through the channels, and then flickec back a channel, it was some news channel, but his picture was on the screen. He starred in shock as the reporter said something about freak lightning strike and a scientist-type appeared and spoke about electrical discharges and nature balancing the atmosphere. He shook his head in amazement, "I was struck by lightning?"

"Yes."

Ethan turned his head and saw someone calmly sitting in a nearby seat, "It's been six hours since they brought you in. Do you remember anything?"

Ethan frowned, "Who exactly are you?"

"Inspector Sinocht."

Ethan frowned, "Ehh..."

The inspector sighed heavily, "When you were brought in, someone found you in a back alley and the doctors confirmed you were struck by lightning... But that is not the whole story... So how much do you remember?"

Ethan ran a hand through his hair, "I was... Getting ready to speak at a conference..."

Sinocht frowned, "You gave that talk..."

Ethan scrunched up his eyebrows, "Really? How'd I do?"

The Inspector sighed, "Memory loss was expected, but I'd hoped... Between when you left the hall to pack up, and the lightning strike, was less than five minutes. And well... It looks like someone tried to strangle you to death. I was hoping you could help."

Ethan swallowed painfully, "Someone... Tried... To kill me? Why?"

The inspector smiled, "It's my job to find out, find the bastard and string him up by his ankles. So don't worry... I'll find him... But if you remember anything, anything at all, you give me a call okay? The nurses have my card and know to call me."

He stood up slowly and smiled, "Hope you recover, Mr. Raith."

Enlil was a forbidding figure. One glance and you would be left in no doubt that this house, was his house.

His shoulders were slumped as he leaned on the bench, but somehow, the room seemed to center on him. It might have been how the light seemed to fade as it came close to him, or how the mind instinctively was repelled; feeling inferior to this brooding shadow. He looked up slowly at his wife, and he still felt almost blown away by her beauty, like that day in the wasteland when he had met her.

However, her beauty was obscured by concern, and Enlil could hardly be surprised, he'd fled back to the house quickly, and hadn't said a word yet.

He pushed himself upright, his golden eyes flashing red for a moment, "Myrrdin was waiting for me. He made a trap... The speaker? He tried to kill him."

Lillith swallowed nervously, her throating contracting, "Myrrdin Wyllt? Is... Here?"

"Why do you even bother to save the human?" Another voice, softer, almost lyrical, and care free, questioned as their daughter drifted into the room, and Enlil jerked his head and glared, "Lilly!"

She looked over, innocent blue eyes sparkling with joy, "Yes?"

"Wipe your chin."

Lilly laughed, and spun around, and her mother stood up slowly, her black curls falling down her back, and Enlil swallowed, feeling her rage, and Lilly paused, "Yes, mother?"

The goddess clenched her fists, "We depend on humanity. At least they can be free."

Lilly sighed heavily, "They're just cattle. They give us what we need. I don't really care about their safety. Let Myrrdin have what he wants, and never bother us."

Enlil looked over, "Lillith."

His wife paused, and then turned around slowly and moved away, and he stepped up, and grabbed his daughter's hand, "Ardet-lili. Pay attention. Myrrdin Wyllt wants us. When we fell, and took up the curse, then Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof were sent to end us, right?"

Lilly shrugged, "Yeah."

"They found they couldn't destroy us. Couldn't beat us. We were... Too powerful. A stalemate. So, the three Medicinal Angels, crafted a new weapon against us. Half human. Half demon. A cambion, and that is Myrddin Wyllt, a human who can carry the powers of a demon, or any angelic being. He has the power to combine theirs, and more, and he can destroy us. Be afraid of him."

Enlil paused and pulled out a handkerchief and slowly wiped her chin, "Honey, we have lived as long as we have,

because we respect those around us. They have a choice maybe, and most choose to live under their curse. But they are people. Not just sustenance. They live, they react, they care. Some are mothers, some fathers, some daughters, some sons. They live in truth, not just animals."

Lilly smiled softly, but Enlil could tell he still hadn't got through to his daughter.

The building was cold, the marble floors sparkling and the strange colours that danced across the floor created a beautiful scene for the man stumbling across them. He fell to his knees by the altar, and then a hand touched his shoulder, "Oh Myrrdin."

He looked up and smiled, and she helped him stand, they moved down the side of the building to a flight of steps and into a poorly lit room, where she sat him down and began to feel his wounds, "Cracked ribs... Collapsed lung, and your spine appears to have become misaligned."

Myrrdin smile painfully, "He only hit me twice."

She intertwined her fingers and flexed them, a soft light flickered for a moment and she began to massage him, the bones responded; moving under the skin, muscles reattaching and knitting together again. He breathed heavily, she paused and pulled back; the healing continuing on it's own and glared at him angrily. "You got into the hunt. The human was just bait, and you..." She gritted her teeth and shrugged, "What in hell's name were you thinking? You're lucky that Enlil left you alive to be healed. He played with you. He's the most powerful entity that has ever, ever, opposed the Master. Sammael listened to his advice when he spoke. You should have kept alert."

Myrrdin winced, "I am sorry... I... It... I fell. I am sorry."

"Make your peace with the Maker. He's the one you let down." Semangelof growled and turned, and paused as she saw the priest in the doorway, he smiled softly, "The human, Ethan Raith, cannot remember the event. That is some comfort. However... He must be something of interest if Enlil was willing to protect him."

Semangelof smiled, "Probably. Myrrdin?"

The cambion looked up, "Yes?"

"Watch Ethan. Search out everyone he is connected to. There must be a connection to Enlil there somewhere."

Myrrdin smiled, "I will."

Then Semangelof stepped over to Senoy, and he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close, there foreheads touched and Senoy smiled softly, taking in her scent, "We're getting close. It'll be over soon."

Semangelof kissed him lightly, "We never end."

Ethan looked up, and his eyes nearly fell out of his head at the woman standing in his doorway. She looked like she was barely twenty one, and she was wearing a black dress, highlighting her deep blue eyes, and her hair was straight and black, but a soft silver showed up where the light hit it, and she moved like she was a dancer, he was mesmerised, captured. She smiled softly, watching him, "Ethan?"

His heart started beating faster, and then the inspector stood up from his chair, and looked at her, "Lilly."

Her face went from serene, beautiful angel, to anger and fear immediately, "Sansenoy."

The inspector leaped at her, punching fast, and she ducked, bending and pushing off her wrists, moving to the side as the inspector's fist crashed into the wall and tore through the brickwork like it was paper, splintering it everywhere, and Lilly spun, her dress drifting out around her and she grinned, catching the next punch and slamming her knee upwards, the inspector caught the blow and deflected it with his own leg and snapped an elbow at her throat, but she flipped backwards and kicked off him, and slammed into the glass window, spinning as she went through it.

The inspector gritted his teeth, "Damn her."

He turned and looked over at Ethan, and raised his hand, it began to glow softly,

"Forget."

Sansenoy stepped into the street and looked around, just as a flash of the black dress whipped passed, he moved, ignoring the protests as people were tossed aside, as he chased after her, round corners and then she leaped, landing on a rooftop and he paused. She was way too fast for him to keep up, and she might bring the other two to

bear on him, which would end in his death. Unacceptable.

He sighed heavily and clenched his fists. For the first time in so long since this hunt had begun he had come face to face with Ardet-lili, and he'd managed to let her get away. He turned around and began to move back towards the hospital.

She was the first bloodsucker, the first varnpyre. The key to her was her resources. She would have had to visit Ethan for a reason... He must have been from her feeding grounds. She had to check out the involvement the angels had.

Sansenoy smiled softly, the perfect bait was now sitting in a hospital bed.

She leaned against the bricks, breathing hard, her chest heaving, feeling the adrenaline pump through her, and she smiled softly, she'd managed to get away. It had been years since she'd even sighted one of the angels, let alone fought, and she'd found herself equal to the task. It was... Exhilarating.

"Hey, baby!"

She looked up at the slurred accent, and starred at the drunk grinning madly, and then she realised she was in an alley, and no one was around, "Oh hell's no."

The guy laughed, "Oh, I'm gonna... Um... Some sugar... Yeah, that's right..."

Lilly screwed up her face as he stepped in front of her, the scent of alcohol and sweat pouring off him, "As if you could get it up, jerk."

The drunk glared and a pudgy hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, and she finished making up her mind, and sprinted up the wall flipping and landing behind the man before he could even realise that she had moved, and she moved quickly, her fangs extending and she bit down, feeling the skin slowly part, and the soft liquid slowly rise up, and she slid her tongue across the rough oily skin, moving the liquid onto her tongue, feeling the power rushing through her at the moment, raising her up, making her more, and as the euphoria spread throughout her body, almost making her squeal in delight, she felt the effects of the alcohol slowly begin to hit her mind. She grinned as she drank slowly, the man falling against the wall, but supported effortlessly

by her all the same, she was going to be twice-drunk once this was over.

"Inspector Sinocht."

He smiled shortly, "Dr. Stuttler. What have we got?"

The Medical Examiner turned and pointed, and Sansenoy went white as he saw the scene, "Is he?"

"Totally drained of blood? Yes." Dr. Stuttler said and then pointed at the spray, "From the looks of that, I'd say that the spray came when he was still on his knees. Only mark that I can attribute to this is on the back right of his neck. Two small marks, too big to be needles, just over an inch apart. I'll have to get him to the lab to be sure, but I'd say they're... Teeth marks. Human."

Sansenoy winced, "Right. Who found him?"

The M.E. pointed to a woman speaking to a junior officer, "She owns the pub we're behind. Came to put the trash out."

Sansenoy nodded, "Thanks."

He walked over slowly and frowned, "Have you had anything to drink?"

The woman looked up at him, "Huh?"

Sansenoy looked at the officer, "Grab her a soft drink." He turned back to her and

smiled softly, "The sugar can help with the shock. Sit down, you look like you need it."

She sat down on the step and hugged herself, "I... How can anyone do something like that?"

Sansenoy winced, "It's what I try and find out. I know it's hard, but do you think you've seen him around before?"

She nodded slowly, "Yeah. I kicked his ass out for being drunk as usual. He drinks in the area. A bit of a regular. Jamie Olsen."

Sansenoy frowned, "Was anyone hanging around him this evening?"

She scratched her head, "Not that I can think of. He was a bit of a loner. He tried to come onto one of the girls but she kicked him in the nuts... I can't think she would... Do... That..."

Sansenoy nodded, "I know, but I still have to look into it."

"Sarah..." She shrugged, "I don't know... It's in the lists. She has a tab..."

He nodded, and took the can from the returning officer and gave it to her, "We'll get this squared away. It'll be over soon enough. If you have a psychiatrist, you should give them a call."

He turned and walked over to Dr. Stuttler, "Elizabeth. This looks like that vampire

enthusiast."

She nodded, "Yeah. I'd make that call too. Matches the same M.O., and this is within driving distance of some of the other attacks... It's gone serial, Sinocht."

Sansenoy nodded grimly, "It's her."

He leaned out over the edge, and frowned softly, cocking his head. He was surprised really, it hadn't been exactly difficult to track him, once he had found the creature once, he knew how to find it again. Power enough flowed in his damned veins to accommodate most tasks. He dropped over the edge of the building, landing softly,

barely bending his knees, and walked over and grabbed a white dress, with little lace but many knots that seemed to suggest what might lie beneath it, "This one I think, for your wife. A beautiful deception, just as she has lived."

His quarry spun at the sound, and glared at him, "What are you doing here?"

Myrrdin vanished without pomp, appearing behind him and looking at a black lacy dress, short in the skirt, and the bodice tucked in neatly with folds of velvet, "And your beautiful daughter, this would suit her well, with the mahognay of their coffins off-setting the glamour of death."

He turned to the quarry and smiled softly, "Well, Enlil... The hunt is ending."

The demon stood there, a creature that had opposed the whole of creation, and it felt fear.

Enlil watched him carefully, "Why are you here? Please..."

Myrrdin sighed heavily, "To endanger your family is beyond you. Haven't you always tried to show her that we can coexist? Even her few... Fantasies... The few she has... Detained... You have tried to treat with respect, even when you had to... Put them down. I am here, because you can't fight me. Not in public... Not without showing me the way to them. I will find them though. Their death was the reason I was created. So Enlil... I have no... Inhibitions... About destroying you here."

Enlil looked at him sadly, and clenched his fists, "Cambion you are damned. Damned for all time. From the beginning of the first dawn, your life is damned. I hate what you are, and I have fallen far enough... But cambion... Your in for a hell of a time. I gave up any chance of redemption for my family... And if you kill me, then I will give my last request. Your damnation. Your curse."

Myrrdin smiled sadly, "Is that all? Yesterday you punched me with the force of a hurricane."

Enlil's shoulders tensed, and the street became cold, and it grew dark as if the sun had passed behind a cloud, though it hadn't, and he barred his teeth, revealing his four incisors, longer than the others. Myrrdin frowned slowly, beginning to remember to dread the creature in front of him, the first of the incubi to have ever walked the earth.

Myrrdin grinned slowly, "Ludovico Maria Sinistrari disagreed with the Malleus Maleficarum. He said that your kind spurned the exorcists, that exorcism was impossible."

Enlil smiled softly, "Can you feel them? They can begin to see us, hear what we say.

Know that we do not belong."

Myrrdin smiled softly and turned, "Mers. Forget."

He turned back to Enlil and raised his hands in a shrug, "Now what?"

Enlil closed his eyes, all the muscles relaxing in his body and he fell to his knees, "I will not betray them. Just do it already."

Myrrdin smiled softly, "With pleasure."

He spun and punched, tossing Enlil through the market stall, and grabbed a piece of the wooden structure, spinning the shattered piece of wood, his make-shift stake and slammed it home, stomping on the end, driving it through Enlil's skin, through the muscle, through the ribcage, through the heart, out through the back of the ribcage, out of his body, and half a foot into the concrete beneath him.

That's when he finally heard the sirens and spun as he saw police officers, he put his hands behind his head as they started screaming, and someone shoved him to the ground, but he was smiling. One of the three was dead.

What a wonderful world he lived in.

"Inspector Sinocht."

Sansenoy smiled grimly as he saw the Medical Examiner, as he walked into the white-washed room, and he saw a metal slab, and one man lying on it, a huge chunk of wood stinking out of his stomach and he cocked his head, "What the hell happened to him?"

Elizabeth Stuttler winced, "Myrrdin Wyllt. He's in a holding cell... If he decided to stay put till you came for him, that is."

Sansenoy swallowed as he moved closer, recognising the jawline, the sunken eye sockets, but mostly, the arrogant stance. Sansenoy laughed softly, "Oh you fucker, Enlil. Even dead you act like your God."

Elizabeth looked at him carefully, "Your kidding. This... This nothing... Is the Enlil?"

Sansenoy smiled softly at her, "Yes... So you should be terrified. If Enlil is dead... Then his bitch of a wife is going to come for us... And that's a storm... Terrifying really. I should be petrified..."

Elizabeth smiled softly at him, "But?"

Sansenoy ignored her and bent down over Enlil, and stroked his cheek softly, and breathed in, filling his nostrils with the smell of death, blood, decay, aftershave and the reek that never left such a damned beast, at least, to him, it would never fade.

He stood up slowly and attached the straps to the cadaver, and then turned and looked at her tools, picking up a few and he smiled softly, and he picked up a particular one and smiled softly, "These are impressive. What do you use them for?"

"Their the rib cutters." Elizabeth said slowly, starting to get nervous, and he looked over at her, "Don't back out on me now. We have done this before... Granted with weaker wills... But I have to know where they are. This fight has to end sometime."

She gritted her teeth, "Have you caught him before? Has this gone wrong?"

Sansenoy shook his head, "No, it's okay Elizabeth. He'll be in my power. Completely. But he won't tell me a thing willingly."

She nodded and pointed to a cupboard, "Pruning sheers generally cut through ribs better than those things. I don't really have to worry about my patient bleeding out... So some of the tools are... Less delicate." She pulled open a drawer, revealing a collection of knives and pulled out two six inch blades, "These are my sharpest."

Sansenoy nodded and turned to Enlil's body, and bent down over him, breathing in his scent, filling his lungs with it, he moved his lips slowly close to his, and then he kissed him, feeling the sudden shock as the power raced through him, feeling the agony as the soul was wrenched from it's punishment, and torn away from it's chains, and then he was tossed backwards as Enlil sat up with a scream, and every object, the knives, the scalpels, the jars, the other benchtops, all of it was tossed as far from him as it could get, and then Enlil slumped backwards onto the table, and Elizabeth swallowed, grabbing the handle of the knife vibrating where it had stabbed next to her head, and she jerked it out of the woodwork, "Sinocht... I think some others might be on their

way."

He smiled softly, "Turn on the music."

She spun around and selected some of the harder screamo she had in her collection, and turned back, and walked over to him slowly, knife poised in hand, and she pushed it against Enlil's throat, and his eyes snapped open, and he barred his teeth angrily, and just as the shiver began to run up her spine, he let out a howl of pain as Sansenoy slammed the scalpel into his knee, breaking the blade from the handle.

Sansenoy smiled softly, "Paying attention Enlil? Where are they?"

The man sneered, "Fuck you."

Elizabeth slammed her blade home, between the third and fourth ribs, and left it there

glaring down at the man strapped to her examiner table. "Where is your family, Enlil?"

He spat, "Fuck you, bitch."

Sansenoy picked up the bone saw, and laid it gently in the crook of Enlil's arm, and drew it softly across the skin, splitting it effortlessly, as the blood began to seep through the cut, he raised an eyebrow, "Are you willing yet?"

"No."

Sansenoy sighed and pressed down, sheering muscle and tendons, separating bone and flesh, causing blood to pour out, overflowing and dripping onto the floor, and Enlil's voice screeched against him, reminding him of the sins he was forced to commit.

"You can end it. At any time. Simply tell me where they are." Sansenoy spoke slowly, his voice full of compassion and sorrow, and Enlil's head dropped back onto the table hard, and he rocked his head side to side slowly, unable to talk.

Elizabeth swallowed, steeling herself, and then rammed another knife through his shoulder, denting the metal underneath, passing right through the major nerve cluster, and Enlil's eyes watered as he resisted screaming.

Sansenoy sighed heavily and picked up a knife and gripped Enlil's hair roughly and jerked it backwards, and ran the knife across the skin, tearing the scalp free, and tossing it between Enlil's legs, and then he stabbed down harshly, and quickly, in the middle of the ribcage, "Tell me!"

Enlil coughed harshly, and seemed to be trying to sneer, and then he collapsed, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Sansenoy shook his head, "Again."

She stepped lightly to the side of the door. The door was the front entrance to a house, it was small, unassuming. It fit neatly into this quiet area of St. Kilda, but what lay inside was anything but quiet. Inside lay a creature foul as hell, the First Fallen.

The creature that divided the heavens and lead to the tainting of the whole world, and she must be held accountable to her crimes.

Semangelof nodded slowly to Myrrdin, who muttered something under his breath, and the door exploded into splinters, and as they were still flying Semangelof dove through them, eyes searching around her, and she saw what she sought for.

A woman stood, frozen in shock, a jumper still in her hands and a pile of folded clothes in front of her, and to her left was a disheveled pile of unfolded clothes.

Semangelof stood slowly from her crouch, "Lilitu, I am here to exact the price. You are charged with treason of the highest order, inciting a rebellion, leading astray those souls that were once innocent, violence, bloodlust and finally the creation of an abomination. What say you?"

The woman dropped the jumper and turned slowly, "I created an abomination? Look at that... Thing... Next to you. That's... That's a fucking cambion!"

Semangelof winced, "To catch a monster, we were forced to create one. I will pay for my sins once the task is complete. How do you plead to the crimes I have presented?"

Lillith frowned slowly and winced, "I have little choice in the matter. The judge is omniscient... He wants a confession of wrongdoing... Fine, I will gladly explain what I have done. But that is not all." She spat angrily, "He wants me to submit. Fuck that. Never going to happen."

Semangelof sighed heavily, "Then so shall it be. For your crimes, you are sentenced to everlasting death."

Lillith clenched her fists, and thunder boomed overhead, and Myrrdin looked over his shoulder as he saw a car began to be pushed down the road by a huge wind, and he looked back over, "Mistress... She's calling a storm..."

Semangelof sighed heavily, "I am the one who came for you, Lilitu. Not the soul-biting brothers. Me. Your storm... And the storm of your heart... I can still. I don't want to curse you girl. Help me do the right thing."

Lillith glared and the walls of the building began to creak as the storm focused on it, and she sneered, "I am a goddess. This storm belongs to me. I was the First Fallen. Can you imagine the power I have? Yet you come at me like this. Your power, what little is loaned to you, is nothing. Nothing!"

Myrrdin frowned slowly, "And what of me?"

Lillith rolled her eyes, "My daughter will eat your heart if you lay a finger on me. You know you can't stop her. So don't even play with me, cambion." She spat the last word angrily, and he looked at her curiously, "You were just a housewife a moment ago. Now you threaten a creature so destructively powerful it can bring on Judgement

Day?"

Lillith glared at him slowly, "I know you might be able to destroy me cambion, but trust me, Ardet-lili is more than a match for you. It wasn't Falling that cursed my household and caused Semangelof here and her bastard brothers to hunt me. It was the birth of my daughter. How is it that he feared her so much that he would curse us so? Never grow old... No control of your carnal desires... No ability to direct your future. Sure, we all made our deals with Sammael to get power so we could live a semblance of normality, but we were already forsaken. Already damned. But Lilly? She is doubly-cursed. Ever to hunger. Ever to crave. To live forever whilst all her children die in pain. Why would he hate her so much to do that?"

Semangelof slapped her, "Don't you dare!"

Lillith turned her head back slowly, "You may take me, damn me forever. But my

daughter will not die by your hands."

Lilly paused at the driveway, breathing hard, her snow white cheeks flushed to a pale pink, and she leaned on her knees, trying to get her breath back.

That's when she stopped breathing.

The door was gone, a slim fragment hung from one hinge, and beyond that was chaos. Tossed clothing, broken furniture and blackened spots.

"No!" She screamed and sprinted into the room, hands clenched into fists, she spun around, rage pumping through her, and she saw a man calmly sitting in a chair, sipping from a mug, and he blinked, "Oh. You have arrived then. I was beginning to think that you would not return."

Lilly let out a low growl from the back of her throat, and he blinked, "Oh yes... Your parents are dead. Neither will be coming to your rescue."

Lilly starred at him, and shook her head slowly, "You damned spit of a golem's wetdream. You are nothing, Myrrdin. If my parents truly be dead... No power in heaven, earth or hell will keep me from ripping the soul from your body. I will shred it, and taint it. But before then, I will drink every drop of blood in your body."

Myrrdin blinked and put the mug down on the table slowly, "That's quite the threat. Your mother told me proudly that if I tried to hurt her... You would come for me. It's why I waited. I wanted some sort of fun before the end of the day. And I did kill her... That being said, I am almost certain that Sansenoy will bring her back again. Her soul

will bounce between hell and her ragged corpse until he's done with her."

Lilly clenched her teeth together angrily, "Bastard."

Myrrdin stood up and shrugged, "Sticks and stones my dear."

He moved, running at her so fast that she barely saw the movement, and his fist slammed into her gut, picking her off the ground and tossing her backwards and through the fridge door. Lilly slammed her feet down, tearing herself from, feeling more rips appear in her dress, and she watched him carefully, as he made a movr, trying for

a hay-maker she spun grabbing his wrist and heaved, rolling him over her shoulder, and kicked as he appeared, keeping a grip on his wrist, the man was tossed, but his arm snapped straight, causing the bones to strain, and Lilly twisted his arm up around his back, and smiled into his face, and as he went to spit she headbutted him, causing

Myrrdin to scream in pain.

Lilly let him go, and then punched his face, tossing him into the floorboards which splintered under the impact. She stood over him as Myrrdin blinked, vision swimming, and then she stomped downwards, feeling his pubic bones shatter.

Myrrdin screamed in agony, and looked up at her, "Too fast..."

She grinned and grabbbed his ankle, and pulled, spinning and slamming him down into the ground tossing boards into the air, and then she was turning, dragging him through the floor, pulling him up into the air, she let go of his ankle, only to slam her elbow down into his broken groin, crashing him into the ground at her feet. She knelt

down over him and moved in close, beside his head and breathed in deeply as terror began to spread over Myrrdin's shocked features.

Then Lilly bit him.

Her teeth eased onto his rough skin, pressing down softly, and then the skin broke, and the first beads of blood surfaced, and she rolled them onto her tongue, pushing the warm liquid down her throat, and she continued to lap at the blood as more and more arose to quench her hunger.

Then the blood stopped coming.

Lilly dropped his head and stood up slowly, wiping her chin and licking her fingers, and then she sighed.

There was only one lead, one connection between her and her hunters and it was human.

Lilly turned and left the room, walking slightly unsteadily, feeling the adrenaline, the euphoria, gripping her tightly.

As she stepped passed the door she missed a sound.

Myrrdin breathed in slowly.

Myrrdin Wyllt was born around 540 A.D., and died twenty three years later. He was the figure that inspired Merlin of Arthurian legend, and King Arthur himself to a certain extent. He was probably a real figure, a wild man who lived in the forests and hills.

Welsh legend tells of how every time travellers came upon him he prophesied of the future... Never of good tidings. However, one of the main focuses of this man who was viewed as demented by the locals, was the prophecy of his own death.

The legends give us three very specific ways he said he would die, all rather contradictory when viewed alongside.

The first, was that he would die by falling.

The second spoke of how drowning would end his life.

The third, was that he would be hung by the neck.

Myrrdin did die.

A local knight was insulted by Myrrdin prophesying that his wife was unfaithful to him, and gathered the locals, burning the forest to rout the madman. They took him to an elm that overlooked the town, and hung him on it. Yet the wind was fierce that day, and the town lay near the sea.

Myrrdin's body was torn free of the elm, and plunged towards the waterline, but a fort lay there, and Myrrdin was impaled on it's defenses, and his body flopped, leaving his head beneath the water.

He died how he said, he died the triple death.

Then as his body was left to the gulls, the locals missed a sound.

Myrrdin breathed in slowly.

# Chapter Two:

# Human

Tad-erweitert kom Sammael,

Ghreu obhi nãu-nek.  
Sosã bher kom apo sen- auei,  
Me-tag moru eno obhi g'em.  
Sosã dnghu k'er rabh,  
En sosã kedes bhat uper.

#

Ethan smiled softly as he walked through the doors, it had been a while since he'd been to the Church, but considering he had been struck by lightning... Maybe someone up there was trying to get his attention. He slid into a pew quietly, trying not to attract too much attention. He didn't particularly want to get pulled into anything. He

looked up slowly as he saw the priest stand up, some song had been playing but he hadn't been paying attention, and the priest looked out at the crowd, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Everyone around him responded quickly, almost instinctively, "Amen."

Ethan didn't really pay attention through the service, he was switching between utter boredom, counting the times the priest said, "in conclusion" and "therefore", and shivering as he looked at the priest, something about him was weirdly familiar. It was insane. Ethan had never met him before, but he felt as if the person was important... Familiar... And every now and then he had flashes of memory, snippets, of a girl. Just her face. Ethan had never met her, but she was beautiful... Why the hell was he remembering this? Was it a memory?

The priest smiled softly, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

The response echoed back quickly, "Thanks be to God!"

As everyone began shuffling out, the priest, Father San, stood by the door and spoke to each, and when Ethan stopped near him he paused, and then frowned, "Have I met you before Father?"

The priest blinked, "I am afraid not... But I think I have seen your face recently somewhere have I not?"

Ethan winced, "Probably on TV. I was... Kinda struck by lightning..."

The Father nodded, "Indeed. How are you faring?"

Ethan shrugged, "Fine I guess... Though... I can't shake the feeling I know you... And... This might sound a bit weird... But do you know a girl? Very pale skin, about my height, I think her name is... Something starting with L?"

"Lilly?"

Ethan blinked, "Yes. So you know her?"

The priest seemed to consider for a few moments and then smiled softly, "I am afraid that it is a common issue to do with trauma... I have a psychiatrist who may help, her name is Dr. Stuttler... And this may be superstition alone, but some people believe if you draw a circle with the words 'Senoy, Sansenoy, out Lillith' inside it, then you won't have nightmares. Lilly is some sort of psychological manifestation that is quite common."

Ethan smiled softly, "Can I get Dr. Stuttler's number?"

He pushed off the tree he'd been leaning against and frowned as the girl approached him. She wasn't young by his standards, his usual clients, however there was something about her, maybe a look in her eyes, how she held herself, there was... A hint of innocence about her. He blinked, "What do you want girl?"

She cocked her head, "Don't be a jerk. I want what I want, and you deal what you deal."

He blinked, not exactly what he had been expecting, but she seemed to be putting on the tough girl persona... "Piss off before you get hurt little girl."

"I get hurt?" She said with a raised eyebrow, "As if that's going to happen. If you don't want me to buy from you I can take it by force."

He looked down at her, not entirely surprised, but fairly contemptuous, "I will gut you like a pig. I will take away what's left of your innocence. Stay naive little girl."

She moved in close to him, glaring up at him, and she smiled softly, showing her sparkling white teeth, "Try me, dick."

He was sick of it now. She'd be chasing off other potential customers. He drew his knife and put it against her throat, and she swallowed nervously and he pushed her up against the tree and grabbed her neck with his other hand, "I'm going to take what I want. Because I want what I want."

That's when she moved.

He barely comprehended it, he was just suddenly against the tree, and his knife was gone, he spun around rubbing his head, and he saw her rolling the knife across her fingers, and she looked at the knife and then back up at him, and she grinned.

He went white as he realised exactly how psychotic she was, and he let out a howl of pain as she vanished, collapsing his knees, holding himself as blood poured between his fingers, then he felt two very sharp teeth rest on his neck.

Lilly bit down.

The crimson nectar flowed up and she revelled in the coppery taste, in the thrill rushing through her, he groaned painfully below her and she grinned involuntarily, letting his blood spill down her chin, run down his back, and then he ran dry. They seemed to be doing that quicker nowadays.

She shoved him to the ground and then she heard the cock of a gun, "Turn around

slowly."

Lilly turned on the balls of her feet, half crouched, and blinked as she saw the police officer, who was starring at the blood beginning to stain her dress, and a trickle of blood ran out of the corner of her mouth, and the officer tensed, "Back away from the body. Put your hands on your head. Now."

Lilly stood up slowly and the officer took a step backwards, "Stop. Now. I will shoot."

She paused and frowned, "Then what do you want me to do?"

The officer pointed at the ground, "Lie down."

Lilly shrugged and lay on the ground, putting her hands behind her back, and she felt the cuffs snap shut, the cold steel locking tightly around her wrists.

"You are charged with assault." He began, about to Mirandise her, but Lilly leaped to her feet, and as she was still in the air she tucked her knees and pulled her hands to the front, cuffs scraping the bottom of her feet, and she landed spinning, grabbing the officer from behind and pulled the cuffs tight, and she whispered in his ear as he

choked, scrabbling to remove the cuffs, "They say that it's love at first bite. That once you've been bitten... You can't stop dreaming about it. The bite. You'll squeeze your teeth together, grind them, because the bite is always there. Always at the back of your mind. It'll fill your dreams."

She licked his neck gently and brushed her teeth over it, feeling the throbbing of his blood beneath the skin, "If I let you live."

She sank her teeth down, feeling a shock run through her body, ecstasy coursing across her, like a shiver, and she rolled the liquid across her tongue.

That was when a shudder of pain slammed into her, and she dropped the man, collapsing to her knees, and then a boom echoed across her hearing, and she turned around, holding her back and glared at the man standing behind her in police uniform,

"You shot me, you asshole!"

Myrrdin shrugged and then fired again, killing the man she had been feeding on, and he glared, "Oh. Your drunk aren't you?"

Lilly staggered for a moment as she went to walk towards him and she laughed, "Even drunk your nothing cambion!"

"I'm not the one that's drunk, Lilly." He said with a smile and fired at her again, and blinked as she half-stepped aside before the bullet could hit, and she raised an eyebrow, "That all you've got dipshit?"

Myrrdin tensed, and Lilly's fist slammed into him, tosing him into the ground, and she barred her fangs, letting out a low growl and she grabbed him, trying to bite, and Myrrdin punched her stomach as hard as he could and she grunted softly, and then gripped either side of his head, and she slammed her forehead into his, and everything went black.

Lilly punched down as hard as she could, caving in his skull, and she ripped her fist to the side, tearing it to shreds and tossing brain matter across the ground.

She stood up with a giggle and held her hand above her head, stumbling softly in one place as she drank it, and she blinked, shaking her head, and looked down at him, "You taste good cambion. Sweet."

She laughed and turned, walking with a drunk skip and stumble out of the park, completely oblivious to the blood spattering her face and clothes.

Stuttler stood back from the body and looked down the line, "At this rate my morgue is going to get full."

Myrrdin swung his legs casually, sitting on the bed where he had woken up, "Unfortunately, I think you might be correct. I am getting to be able to surprise her... But it may be some time before I am truly capable of fighting Ardet-lili. She is... A monster."

Stuttler swallowed, "She's getting out of control... The more she drinks, the stronger she will be... But the worse her hunger will be. With Enlil out of the picture... I'm getting the distinct feeling he was all that was restraining her."

Myrrdin nodded, "That may be the case. However, there is little we can do about it. How do we restrain her?"

Stuttler smiled softly, "I have worked with Sansenoy quite a long time, Myrrdin. I've hunted my fair share of vampires. The key is not Lilly. It's her food source. We only have one solid connection to her. And that... Is Ethan Raith."

Myrrdin blinked, "You wish to be more involved?"

"I'm sick of cleaning up your messes, Myrrdin."

Ethan scratched his head and nervously picked up the next book he'd borrowed from the library, "Lilith the First Eve: Historical and Psychological Aspects of the Dark Feminine." He shook his head, another heavy read from some smarty-pants with more time than inventiveness. Why were scholarly authors so prone to boring and really

long titles?

The name used for Lillith here is Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, i.e., the maiden Lillith. It goes on to say of her in the text that she is a "maiden who screeches constantly" and a "gladdener of all hearts." The name of her male companion, the god or demon Lila, is also known from this period. Thorkild H. Jacobsen has pointed out in his work on the names of Sumerian kings that the father of the hero Gilgamesh was called Lilu (= Lila) or was a Lilu

demon.

The translation does not indicate clearly whether Lilu was used as the hero's proper name or as a description of his character.

In other Sumerian texts, a further female being - Ki-sikil-ud-da-kar-ra- is mentioned alongside Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke.

Ethan scratched his head, wondering. So there were three creatures that could be Lillith in myth, two chicks and a guy... How did all that figure together? He blinked and re-read the section. It was the first time all the Lillith myths had moved away from

"Hebrew myth"... Sumeria.

He flicked through an index at the back, searching for quoted books that could explain further, and then turned and scrambled through the pile of books, "Review: Enki and the Theology of Eridu".

He skimmed it and blinked, scratching his head, "So... 'Lilu' is Enlil... A god banished from his home for raping another god... He was damned to the underworld... Blah blah blah... Ninlil followed him later to the underworld... Crazy girl... Bore him a daughter... Called Sin."

Ethan sat back and cocked his head, and looked back at an open book, "Sin is the Akkadian name for the Sumerian Suen... Lilitu is the Sumerian form for the Akkadian Ardat-lili... More likely "Ardet-lili"... Lilitu is synonymous to Suen."

He sat back slowly and shivered, "Lilly. Oh fuck..."

Then something under Ardat-lili caught his eye, and he blinked in shock.

According to legend Lilin are the demonic children of Lilith and Samael. Lilith was warned that unless she returned to the Garden of Eden, one hundred of her children would die daily as her punishment. She refused, and so it is said, that one hundred lilin die daily. In order to avenge their death, Lilith kills human newborn children. Lilin also prey on newborn children, up to eight days after birth for boys, and twenty days for girls. A Hebrew tradition exists in which an amulet is inscribed with the names of three angels (Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof) and placed around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the lilin until their circumcision.

Ethan swallowed, and grabbed a piece of paper and drew a rough circle on it, and then wrote quickly, using the names he'd found in the text books,

"SNVI,

SNVSI,

SMNGLPH,

T LLTH!"

And ran and put it on his door, breathing hard. He felt a little silly, but what was a boring superstition if it actually helped with the nightmares that plagued him more and more frequently.

A flash of her face appeared again, this time she was baring two very long fangs.

He shivered and sat down in the middle of his borrowed books, but he didn't read, he didn't want to know anymore about this craziness. It was driving him out of his mind.

Rust lined the corrugated roofing, creepers ran across the faded and cracked weatherboard, and bushes blocked all semblance of a path towards the door, which in itself was lost beneath dirt, mud, discarded toys and random scraps of paper.

Lilly looked at the building with pride.

She walked down the driveway, and ducked underneath the partially opened garage door, which looked like rust had welded it solid that way, and moved passed the dusty car and open paint cans, being careful not to leave any footprints behind her, and pushed open the rotten wooden door and stepped into the yard, closing it again carefully, and almost immediately someone grabbed her throat and slammed her against the weatherboards of the house, and she grinned, "Hello, Lillian."

The woman released her and stepped backwards, running a hand through her grey hair, "Huh. You recognised me."

Lilly blinked, "Your my granddaughter. Of course I did."

Lillian shrugged, "Um... My hair was black and I did have any of these damn wrinkles back then. It's been fifty years. Not that you ever change."

"We have a problem Lillian. My parents are dead. Myrrdin Wyllt killed them. Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof will never stop until I am dead. This a hunt right now. I'm the prey. I don't like that... So let it be war upon them. Gather the Lilin. Prepare them. Then we will lead them to the door of those bastards." Lilly growled angrily, and Lillian took a step backwards, "Are you still drunk grandmother? I mean... Walking around like that..."

Lilly looked down and blinked as she saw the bloodstains, "Oh. Whatever." She looked back up at her granddaughter, "Bigger problems on my plate. Like recovering from a large amount of pain and agony from being shot. I had little choice about feeding. I needed to heal and... Myrrdin kept turning up. He's cambion. He has met me, so now he will always be able to track me... Even to the ends of the earth. He is just as strong as my father was physically, and I've killed him twice now. I even ripped his damned head off. He will always keep coming back... Till his mission is completed and me and my children are all dead... Or we remove his masters, taking away most of his power, and then we could kill him."

Lillian swallowed nervously, "What have you brought home, Lils?"

Lilly walked into the hospital reception room slowly and walked up the desk, and tried to smile as sweetly as possible. The woman behind the desk starred at her in shock, "Are you okay?"

Lilly cocked her head, "Yeah. I'm fine. I just need to find someone. Is Ethan Raith still here?"

The woman frowned and touched something beneath the desk nervously and then smiled, "Are you family?"

Lilly looked at her carefully, "You just sounded the silent alarm didn't you?"

"Yes."

Lilly winced, "I thought so. Is it the blood?"

The woman swallowed, "Uh... Yes."

Lilly winced, "Damn. Lillian told me to change... But I was just in such a rush... And I really need to know where he is. But now, you have guards coming, which means I'm going to get drunk, and lose time. Oh well. Can't be helped now."

The woman starred at her in a mixture of fear and terror, and then Lilly punched the glass, shattering it completely, and grabbed the woman by a shoulder and dragged her over the jagged broken edges, slicing open her chest and Lilly bit down. She could make the bite kind, so little pain was experienced, and the euphoria was high. But this woman had annoyed her.

And she could make the bite hurt.

The woman screamed.

Lilly's eyes rolled back into her head as the glorious feeling reached fever pitch, and then she was thrown to the floor, her ears ringing and she rolled over, and heard her muffled voice speak, "Not more damn guns!"

The guard raised it and pointed at her again, "Freeze goddamnit!"

Lilly felt the new blood coursing through her veins. The euphoria might make her a little tipsy, less responsive, less reactive, but it also lowered her inhibitions... And made her stronger. Healed her.

She leaped to her feet, slipping across the tiles as she sprinted, and her shoulder slammed into his groin, she lifted him off the ground and into the wall, crushing his bones, he screamed as he fired downwards, and Lilly collapsed from the pain, falling onto her knees, she grabbed her neck, feeling the blood wash over it, and she pulled her hand and looked at it, starring at the crimson liquid running off her fingers, and she glared at the guard, groaning on the ground, "You fucker... Now I have to feed again."

Her breath was coming short now, but an injured man was hardly a match for the first varnpyre, the matriarch of the Lilin. She grabbed his gun hand and wrenched, ripping it from his arm, and grabbed his head, slamming it into the tiles, shattering the skull, causing him to bleed all over the place. She bit his neck, quickly drinking what little she could. And she dropped him, leaning up against the wall, her fingers feeling the bullet wound as it slowly sealed over. The bullet itself would dissolve and then be harmlessly expelled in her breath.

That's when she saw the men bursting through the doors.

Several of them.

Armed with heavy objects.

They'd seen what she could do...

She winced, tired, and forced herself to her feet, lowering her fangs she let out a low growl, balling her fists, and then she moved.

Broken bones.

Broken flesh.

Torn blood vessels.

She was slipping on the blood-slickened floor by the time she'd finished feeding on them. She bent and wiped her fingers in it, playing idly with the liquid. Watching it swirl and fall, droplets in a sea.

She sprang upright and wiped her hands on her dress and jumped behind the reception desk and opened a nearby folder, scanning page after page.

Ethan Raith - Discharged.

"Damn..." She growled and looked to the computer, opening the database and searching for his contact details. She needed to know where he was.

An apartment building. It seemed so drab, such a boring place to find such an important person. She walked along the corridor, feeling her muscles tensing as she got closer and closer towards her goal, and then it appeared. Apartment D24.

She sneered and snapped her leg at the door, but as her foot contacted with the flimsy wood she felt something hit her and she stumbled backwards and leaned against the hallway wall, and she gagged, looking down at her hands as the skin went dry, and began to crack, and her strength went all at once and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

The door opened slowly, and Ethan looked at her. He was a simplistic enough figure, no more than average. He starred at her, "Are you okay?"

Lilly swallowed, "Can I come in?"

He frowned, "Yeah, you can come in."

Lilly blinked as the pain vanished... But she wasn't healing. She only healed when she fed.

She pushed herself upright slowly and walked passed Ethan, glancing at the door and saw the scrap on the door, the piece of paper with the Lillith circle on it.

She shook her head, and turned to Ethan, but something made her pause. She didn't want to force him. She wanted him to... Like her.

Ethan frowned, watching her uncertainly, and she swallowed painfully, "There is... This is so fucked up... There's a way I can heal... But I'm going to need your help, Ethan."

He winced, "How do you know my name?"

"Because we've met." She winced as she brushed the crackling skin of her palm on a table top, tearing it open, and she squeezed her hand shut to stop the blood flow, "It started with your presentation. My father was there. So was someone called Myrrdin. Myrrdin tried to kill you, and my father... Intervened..." She clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the sight of the vein's throbbing in his neck, "Do you remember it? Afterwards... I came to see you. To see why Myrrdin was so interested..."

Ethan starred at her, "Damn. Damn it! How could I...? These aren't nightmares... I'm remembering... You came to my hospital bed. Inspector Sinocht attacked you... How the hell did you survive? You jumped out the window."

Lilly smiled up at him slowly, her eyes opening, "Yes. But I know him by the name Sansenoy."

Ethan's eyes darted to the circle on the door and Lilly laughed hoarsely, "Yes. I'm her... Or that day thing was designed against me by those three."

Ethan turned to her and shivered, "You eat children?"

"No. I suck blood." She said with a laugh, and slowly lowered her fangs, "And that's... That brings us back to my request... Your circle burnt me. By saying I was allowed in you stopped it... But it's done the damage. I can't live much longer like this... I'm going to pass out... And then I'll die... I need to feed."

Ethan starred at her, "You want to bite me?"

"I'm sorry..." Lilly winced, "I don't know why you got caught up in this... I don't want to hurt you... But I don't want to die either..."

Ethan clenched his eyes shut for a moment and then he suddenly went calm and looked at her, as if weighing her up, "How much do you need?"

"Not much. Enough to maybe make you dizzy. Just like giving blood."

Ethan pursed his lips, and then he bit them, and then... He nodded. "Take as little as you can."

Lilly moved over slowly, and she painfully scraped one of her hands against his cheek, and he closed his eyes, waiting tensely, and then he felt her fingers gently stroke his neck, tipping his head to one side, and then he winced as he felt her fingernail push down sharply and twist, breaking the skin, and then two tiny sharp pricks touched his skin, pinpricks as he felt himself... Lifting... It felt almost like a dream, the pain was mingled with a shock of adrenaline, a perverted sense of pleasure, and it was building, he felt himself falling deeper into this other world as he felt her soft and smooth tongue running across his neck, lapping up his blood. He shivered at the thought.

And then she seemed to recede and Ethan opened his eyes, Lilly smiled softly, her skin baby-smooth, and she showed that cute smile that had haunted him.

Ethan leaned back against the kitchen benchtop, drinking a glass of water slowly, watching his unusual house guest closely. She shrugged, "My name isn't actually Lillith. That's the name the Sumerians gave me. It's Ardet-lili. I was born in the place that later became Acadia. My father is Enlil, he was the second to fall. He talked with Sammael, his best friend, and they fell together. Sammael became what you know as Satan... My mother was Lilitu. She fell first... I don't really know why... Enlil fell in love with my mother, and I was the result... But because I was born, I was cursed. All my children would die agonising deaths whilst I lived on forever. However, a small mercy was attached to that. I would be given the opportunity to die... Three angels known for healing were dispatched to hunt down me and my kids. Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof. Sometime in the early first century, they found they couldn't stop any of us. A few Lilin died... Enough to fulfill the curse as history records it, a hundred a year..." She paused wiping away tears, "But I was the real target. So they created an abomination worse than me. Part human, part demon. A creature that can... Sort of carry the authority, and so the power, of others. Stronger than human... Doesn't have your perception of time... I guess in your terms he'd be like a demigod. That is Myrrdin Wyllt. Inspiration for Merlin."

Ethan blinked, "Far out. But... Vampire hunters... They're real too? And the whole crucifix and holy water?"

Lilly grinned, and shook her head, "Nothing wrong with a Church. I might be damned, but he doesn't hate me that much. And yeah... There have been hunters. So many different hunters... Some human... Some of the fallen... Some somewhere in-between. Oyer and Terminer ran the most brutal of the Salem Witch Trials... They were hunters. As to weaknesses... You've already seen one. Any room with the Lillith circle in it somewhere... I have to get permission to enter or I dehydrate and die. I don't heal like humans do. Your cells are constantly reproducing, regenerating. Mine don't unless I feed. The new blood cells replenish my body, and help me heal just about any wound. You could drive a stake through my heart... But then you won't need to cut off my head like the legend says. I'll be dead in seconds, just like a normal person. Garlic... I like it in my food. And yes, I appear in mirrors. I don't have that many weaknesses. Daylight... Well it is day. I'm stronger and faster... But the more blood you drink, then the worse the hunger gets. It's... Like MSG. The more you have, the more you want."

Ethan paused, uncertain, "I... Is it always that way... With... You know... The bite? That... Amazing?"

Lilly smiled softly, "Not everyone I bite gets the thrill... But I do. Always. I'm sure if I let you bite me we'd both enjoy that... But then you'd end up like me. My blood would pass on my curse if you drank from me."

"Ardet-lili." A voice growled nearby, and the two spun, and Lilly swore violently and dove to the side as Sansenoy's foot exploded the part of the counter she'd been standing in front of, he spun and grabbed Ethan by the throat, squeezing, and Lilly steeled herself. There was no way to win this fight against that asshole, not if she had

to keep protecting Ethan... How...

Lilly sprinted forward, knocking his elbow down, before blocking the right swing, jumping backwards as Sansenoy came out her, both fists swinging, she leaped as his foot sliced through the air where she'd been, she ducked backwards, then managed to grab his fist and she twisted, spinning him, before he'd hit the ground Lilly dove, sliding across the floor and grabbed the front of Ethan's shirt and tossed him through the

window where Sansenoy had entered.

She stood up and cracked her neck, "Bring it on dick."

Sansenoy grinned, "You just killed the innocent."

Lilly frowned, "Really?"

She moved, ducking and rolling beside him, picking up a small sliver of granite, spinning and slamming it into his knee, making him fall and she hit him with a kick, tossing him backwards and shattering the weak plaster wall, and then she dove out the window, and grabbed the bench and pulled herself closer to the wall, and began sprinting down the apartment building, moving faster than Ethan was falling, and as she pulled just ahead of him she jumped out, snatching him out of the air, both of them spinning, and she winced as she bounced off the building opposite, and then her legs nearly collapsed under her as she hit the ground, pieces of concrete flying up around

her, she looked at Ethan, "Are you okay?"

Semangelof frowned as Senoy entered the room. He cocked his head, "Is it so terrible to see me?"

She smiled sadly, "No. But... Ardet-lili. There's no way we can capture her just by hunting her. Sansenoy will be lucky to survive multiple encounters. She has killed Myrrdin twice."

Senoy frowned slowly, "Then what would you suggest?"

"She knows us, and what we can do." Semangelof sighed heavily, shrugging her beautiful shoulders, "We must trap her. Create a place she wants to go... But can't escape from. Somewhere where her want will outweigh her fear."

Senoy winced, "No amount of prey will give us that."

"But her parents would. If we brought them back... But captured..." She shrugged, "It's worth considering isn't it?"

Senoy nodded, "But they can't be allowed to escape... To call on what they can do... It has to be underground. Deeper than where we are now. And... No shadows."

Semangelof nodded, "Yes... And a series of backups for the power. Can't let her just kick out a plug... We won't actually be able to be there. She might find another way in that what we can plan for... Maybe we put the trap somewhere we can move... Or bury."

"Explosives on timers will be necessary for if anything goes wrong... Or she doesn't show up." Senoy said scratching his chin, and Semangelof nodded, "Sinkable. Big bang. No shadows. Deep underground... How about a mining platform?"

Senoy nodded, "Perfect."

She lowered her binoculars and rubbed her eyes, picking up the nearby water canister slowly, and took a small sip and placed it back. Stuttler had been sitting near-immobile dressed in grey rags for nearly a day, but she knew that sooner or later, in this busy area of St. Kilda, near to both the target's house and the prey's apartment, either

would cross her target zone. Beside her M24 sniper rifle, she had four Mini-Typhoon automated guns, fitted with .50 calibre machine guns, and a tracking system attached to the weapons to allow the remote system to track individuals in the street below. She held few illusions, despite this armory, Ardet-lili was still likely to be capable of escaping. However the hope was that Ethan Raith would not be. She would be able to pin him down, and then use him as bait. His connection to the creatures was still elusive, other than living near her hunting grounds, but once he was in custody that would be far easier to determine.

She raised the binoculars to her eyes again and began to scan the street, and paused as she saw a hurried female figure dragging a male behind her, she increased the zoom, tracking their near sprint down the road, and smiled softly. It was them.

She put the binoculars down and picked up the remote control touchscreen for the Mini-Typhoons and slaved them to track Ethan, and then raised her rifle. The first shot would signal the Typhoons to begin firing, turning the street into a war zone. However, that woman had killed more than enough people in her lifetime. A handful of casualties would hardly count against removing her from the equation.

Stuttler adjusted for wind variation, for the humidity, and then she squeezed the trigger, holding her breath for the heartbeat, and then Lilly was flung face down as the bullet tore through her leg, and Stuttler's earplugs barely managed to block out the cacophany as the Typhoon's began to fire, blasting up dirt and concrete around the couple, and she sighted again, searching through the dust for her target, and she frowned as she saw Lilly appearing and vanishing, moving at a phenomenal speed, and then she smiled slowly as she realised that Lilly wasn't about to run away... She was trying to get Ethan out of the area.

She sighted and fired, and as expected just before the bullet would have struck Ethan, Lilly appeared, and she collapsed, the bullet having passed through her back.

Stuttler re-sighted the Typhoons, pinning down Lilly who was subsequently turned into a hamburger.

Elizabeth sat back after a few moments and de-activated her guns, and picked up her radio, "Inspector Sinocht, this is Stuttler. I have confirmed the target struck. Deal with the media please."

She attached it to her shoulder, and checked that the custom cuffs were still attached to her waist, and then she stood up. She nearly sprinted down the flight of stairs, pistol in one hand, cuffs in the other, and she burst through the door into the street, and saw Lilly trying to crawl towards an alleyway, she ran across the street and fired down into one of her hands, and Lilly let out a hiss, and looked up at her bleerily, and Stuttler felt her heartrate increase. Ardet-lili's eyes were different. The white's of her eyes had gone... Turned red... The colours were still green however. It was an odd sight.

Stuttler snapped the cuff around the hand she'd shot, and Lilly let out an ear-piercing scream, and Suttler smiled. She'd been right. So many myths about iron and silver being lethal or at least painful to supernatural creatures, it had been worth the gamble.

So she had twisted the two metals together to form these cuffs. She grabbed the other bloodied arm and pulled it behind the whimpering girl and snapped the cuffs shut. She grabbed the chain and heaved, pulling the girl to her feet, and Lilly's eyes rolled back into her head, but she still screamed.

Stuttler frowned, looking around, but Ethan was long gone.

Probably for help... She had to get the target locked away.

The box was mostly square, but the head had two cuts into it, and it was mostly made out of mahogany, but inset into it was an inch of iron on all the walls, and it was into this iron-lined coffin that a still screaming, and probably catatonic Ardet-lili was dropped by Stuttler who slammed the lid shut, her teeth grinding, "Don't you ever just

shut up?"

She shook her head, and then smiled softly. She was afterall, just a human, but she had managed to take down the creature that her masters had been hunting for a very long time... How long they weren't willing to tell her, but she knew that it was probably longer than most lifetimes were.

She walked around the edge of the coffin, sealing it with a tape that was partly made from lead, partly silver, and partly a type of magnet. She used a heat torch to melt it into place and then put it aside and rolled her neck.

She stood up and began walking up the stairs, she needed to talk to Semangelof about this. They had the girl, but as to killing her, there was probably no easy way to do that. But at least the task was partly done.

Stuttler froze as she saw a woman standing on the stairs above, she was poised but frozen, surprised to meet someone. The woman was graying, and fairly aged, but still had some muscle tone left, and something about her eyes was haunting, and then she sprang, Stuttler tried to twist to the side, but the woman was faster, grabbing her shoulder and shoving, and Stuttler found herself in mid-air, crashing towards the ground.

Lillian winced as Stuttler's head cracked open on the marble floor below her, and then she heard a cough behind her and turned, it was a man, and he grinned, "One of the Lilin, I suppose? What is your name?"

"I am Lillian."

He laughed, "Of course. I am Myrrdin Wyllt."

Lillian's face drained of all the colour it could produce and he grinned, "Oh, so you have heard of me then?"

Lillian swallowed nervously, "Lils warned me that you couldn't die... Is that true?"

Myrrdin blinked and cocked his head, "You know, I'm not entirely sure whether I can or not. Isn't that odd? I'm certainly not immortal by any standard. I do experience a taste of death... But enough. You Lilin. You are here... To perhaps try and save Ardet-lili. I cannot allow that... And my role is to bring about your death. Willingly or not."

Myrrdin lunged, and his fist barely missed her ribs, crashing into the stone wall around the spiral staircase, splattering rock chips, and he ripped it out again, the back of his fist slapping her fist, tossing her like a ragdoll down the stairs, but the Lilin flipped upright, and growled, barring her teeth as all four of her canines extended, and Myrrdin

laughed softly.

He jumped up, spinning and landed behind her, as she turned to punch, he dropped into a crouch beneath it, and then stood, grabbing her knee and tossing her head over heels into the far wall of the room. Lillian leaped upright and jumped, Myrrdin turned to the side, barely feeling her fist glance of his shoulder before he used an axe kick to slam her into the concrete, and then he stood on her shoulder immobilising her and he crouched, "Ardet-lili did this to me with her elbow. Then she tore my head off. Not the kindest way to kill."

He grinned and grabbed her throat in both hands, tighteniong slowly, cutting off her air as she scrabbled harmlessly, scratching and punching him ineffectively as he choked her slowly towards death.

"I'm crueler than she."

At length she went limp and he stood up, frowned for a moment and then stomped down hard, shattering her skull to pieces, before he walked over to Stuttler and cradled her head in his lap, muttering as he ran his hands over her, and the bone began to reform, and the skin knit together. He picked her up gently, and walked up the stairs.

Ethan slipped as he dove under the garage door, leaping upright and running through the dusty room and into the yard, and then he felt a slap, and he was tossed into the ground, dragging across it for a moment and he rolled over, "I need help! Lilly was shot!"

Then he saw them.

He was in the middle of a circle of about twenty men and women, and they didn't seem to have heard him, they were fixated on him. It wasn't like they were unseeing, empty... They were focused. Like a bird before the prey.

Prey.

Lilly hadn't told him who they were, just they could help her...

They had to be people she had turned.

Vampires.

He was human...

Lilly had liked the taste of his blood.

"Oh shit."

They dove on him, and Ethan let out a scream as he felt so many bites, so many cuts, stealing away from him.

Lilly had told him that it could hurt.

She hadn't lied.

\---2000 B.C.

Near the Nile a temple stood, but beneath it lay a black stain on a culture revering the dead, where even the poorest get a proper burial. There lies at least thirty six people. Killed elsewhere and dragged into a trench before the mud bricks of the burning temple were placed over them.

\---June 1st, 2001

Nepal reels as King Birendra, Queen Aiswarya and eight other members of the royal family are gunned down in an event where the stories never line up with each other.

\---April 16th, 2002

The European Military Order and Criminal Tribunal of the Knights Templar is founded. Their hundred year plan includes taking over Europe and repaying sins committed against European peoples... And the destruction of a people they call the "Lilin, a blight upon those that walk by day or night."

\---August 16, 2010

At least four children die in Peru, the deaths attributed to rabies-carrying vampire bats.

\---June 24th, 2012

A federal investigation is launched after a large amount of cattle die in Texas after previously innert genetically-modified grass begins to produce cyanide.

# Chapter Three:  
Beware the Captive

Snvi, Smnglph, Svsi

K'e sãg trei,  
Mit-bhad en mit-ai,  
Kor-dh-bhleg mit bher,  
Ne mit-k streig.

Sansenoy sneered, "She certainly has a set of lungs on her..."

The others frowned, starring at the coffin, and Stuttler crossed her arms, "She wasn't that hard to take down."

Senoy rolled his eyes, "No, and she won't be hard to banish to the depths of hell either."

He walked around the coffin slowly, scratching a circle into the ground around the coffin, and then at the foot of the coffin he carved the original forms of their names, followed by T LLTH!

The screams stopped.

Senoy raised an eyebrow and looked at the others, and Myrrdin shrugged, "We have to open it to see. I'm ready for what comes."

Semangelof sighed, "Just get on with it."

Senoy ran the knife through the sealant, and then leveraged it, managing to get two fingers into the crack and he heaved, breaking the seal with one movement, dropping the lid aside, and he blinked, "What the?"

Myrrdin scratched his head, looking at the dress, and he rolled it aside and picked up the cuffs, "Where'd she go?"

Senoy grinned, "Like I said. We've done it. She's bound for hell."

Semangelof frowned, "I'm not so sure... If we've done our duty... Why aren't we recalled?"

"So what happened then?" Senoy asked callously, and she shrugged, "I don't know... But is that really it? After so long?"

Sansenoy smiled, "I have the Lilin to deal with, we found them."

He moved silently around to the front door and looked around at the other officers, all prepared, guns at the ready. This was a drugs raid.

He nodded and spun, kicking open the door, "Freeze! Hands in the air!"

He heard squeals and ducked backwards as a blur moved through the air above him, he fired upwards thrice, and the body hit the ground behind him with a thud, and Sansenoy grinned, "Surrender now!"

He felt their hands on his throat before he saw him, and heard gunfire erupting elsewhere. Good. He didn't exactly want to let any of them live. He grabbed the woman's wrist and twisted, pulling them across each other and drawing her face closer to his, and he blinked as he saw the blood splattered face, the red eyes, and the near-insane look on her face. He kneed her in the stomach and dropped her, before slamming a knife down, severing the spinal column.

"All units, be advised, there may be hostages somewhere."

Sansenoy barely noticed the next few attackers, blocking their rabid movements before filling them with bullet holes and stab wounds.

Then he paused as he found a room, almost completely bathed in blood, and body parts when he had emptied most of the occupants, but there was somewhere there.

"Ethan..." Sansenoy said with a smile and shook his head slowly, and picked up the body, and paused, listening for a heart beat, it was there... But weak... Too weak. He must have been blood raped since he arrived here... Straight from when Lilly was captured.

Sansenoy sighed and laid him down, flexing his fingers, causing a soft white light to dance between his fingers, and he pushed down on Ethan, and he coughed violently, gasping as the colour began to return to his skin.

Sansenoy smiled and scooped him up again, "Come along, hotshot."

He left quietly, the Lilin stood little chance of survival in their frenzied state.

No matriarch to control them... Ethan must have looked too delicious to pass up.

Sansenoy arrived at the church a few minutes later, and Ethan was placed into chains, and Sansenoy slapped his face, "Wake up, kid."

Ethan blinked and shook his head, "What the fuck?"

He pulled into himself, shivering, "Where are they?"

Sansenoy frowned, "The Lilin? Dead."

Ethan shivered, "Then... It's over?"

Sansenoy frowned, "You were catatonic when I found you. Moments from death..."

"As if." Ethan said shivering, "Why would they let their pet die? They knew how to keep me alive..."

Semangelof frowned, "What of Lilly? How did you meet her?"

Ethan blinked, searching his memories, his head felt like it was full of fog... His eyes widened, "You! You did this!" He pointed at Sansenoy angrily, "Brought me into... What the fuck... This world is inside my head..."

Sansenoy crouched, "I'm afraid not. This isn't Sucker Punch. Are you saying that the first time you met one of their kind... Was when Lilly turned up at the hospital?"

Ethan clenched his eyes shut, put his fists up against the side of his head, "It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real."

Senoy sighed heavily, "Myrrdin. Search his memories. Even if he had encountered a Lilin, they may have blocked his memory access."

The cambion sighed and grabbed Ethan's wrists and pulled his fists away, "Look at me."

Ethan winced, starring into the cambion's eyes, who frowned slowly and then nodded and stood up, slapping the side of Ethan's head, "He's nothing. An accident. Enlil was interested in the idea of identity. Create who you are for the rest of the world. That's it."

Semangelof blinked, "Coincidental?"

Sansenoy sighed, "Serendipity brought Ethan to our attention, and therefore to theirs."

Myrrdin strode around the soulless body, feeling frustrated. The goody-tissues attitude of his masters was impeding the hunt. There was no way that Lilly would have died that easily. No way that he would be allowed to continue his existence in the current fashion if she was. So the answer was in front of them, the clue that would tell all.

He clenched his fists and began to recite.

"Let the skies burn,

and broil,

and bring back

that soul which

was lost.

Bind it now,

to my command.

Seue uper greus

eti elkos,

kai pernot

eno g'hren fem

au me-ar

bhendh sa nu

obhi me-doma."

Enlil's eyes snapped open and he gasped for air, breathing in, and the room darkened around him, and Myrrdin grinned, "Enlil."

The creature glared at him, "Damn you. Damn you a thousand times."

Myrrdin shrugged, "That gets old very quickly, old man. So tell me... Is Ardet-lili dead? Surely you know, after being hell-bound yourself, surely you could see her."

Enlil closed his mouth, and the light seemed to be draining out of the room entirely, Enlil's anger sucking it dry.

"You are bound to me!" Myrrdin growled angrily, and clenched his fists, "I command you to tell me! Is she dead or alive?"

Enlil clutched his chest as the pain wracked him and he coughed, blood splattering the floor, "Lilly is alive."

Myrrdin relaxed, "Now, was that so hard? Do you know where she is?"

"Fuck you." Enlil sneered, "Destroy my soul. I'd rather oblivion or hell to telling you where she is."

"Myrrdin Wyllt!" Semangelof yelled bursting into the room, she glared at the cambion, and he bowed his head respectfully as she stalked up to him, pushing his chest, "How dare you? You have a chance for redemption and then you do this? Don't you understand the price of your actions? Don't fall Myrrdin... Your on a tight enough

schedule. Oblivion is not to be wished for by any."

She turned to Enlil, and shook her head, "I am sorry, Enlil. This should not have happened."

The first succubus looked at her carefully, and then smiled sadly, "Death does not change me so much, Semangelof. My punishment has not... Purified me... As you would view. Not yet at least."

She shrugged sadly and touched his forehead, a flare of light appearing for a moment, and Enlil collapsed backwards, his soul released, and Semangelof glared at Myrrdin, "Would you make yourself worse than he? Your case is not hopeless. You serve him by hunting her... But how you hunt... You must not fall. It is the temptation of this

world... Resist. Be in it, but not of it."

Myrrdin sighed heavily, and knelt, "I am truly sorry, mistress. But Lilly is alive."

"Not how we should have found out." She said, grinding her teeth, "You cannot dismiss this."

Lilly's eyes opened, bulging, and she breathed in raggedly, coughing violently as it was filled with dust. She staggered upright, dizzy, her feet almost slipping around her. She blinked as she saw the ruins. This was Enoch, or what was left of it. One of the first cities ever built... Built as a shelter for her mother.

Lilly blinked as she saw one of the overgrown vines move and pull away.

Great... Snakes.

The ground seemed to be rocking beneath her feet, turning into a mountain with each step forwards, pausing only as she stopped, to collapse into a valley around her. Yet if she focused, trying to fight it, then the ground became steady, but only for the moment. Her mind was... Odd. Only half there. Some thoughts never finished before they seemed to spiral away into another world. A new world. A real world. Where the sand was glass and rain of crimson yellow gumdrops, and she did not exist, where rivers of brimstone ran, and the water evaporated downwards, where men smiled when they cried, and laughed when they died.

Lilly shook her head, trying to focus on the now.

This was Enoch.

She was here.

Here, an adverb, used to explain the location of an object. In, at, or at a certain place or position relative to the speaker or diagram. Usable as an exclamation, the purpose of which is to attract someone's attention, e.g. 'Here now, hold it.'

Several synonyms exist, such as hither, herein and there.

Another vine twisted, turning into a green snake that hissed before moving away.

Lilly felt herself tense, muscles clenched so tight they hurt, her heart rate escalating.

What the hell was going on? It was just a city!

She tried to swallow, and found her tongue rough and swollen... She was dehydrated.

A snake curled around her leg and crept up as she tried to stay still, frozen in fear, and it whispered in her ear slowly, "Enoch. The first city, built by Cain to the east of the legendary Eden, in the Land of Nod. It was named after Cain's eldest son, and from there passed into obscurity. As a pre-flood event, the writings that depict it's creation show signs of being oral tradition later placed into the overall manuscript, probably organised during the Israelites exile in Babylon, around 500 B.C."

Lilly clenched her eyes shut, "You don't exist."

"You don't exist." The snake retorted with a laugh, and then it bit her, and Lilly winced, opening her eyes, and though she could still feel it biting her, the snake was gone.

She looked to her right slowly, at the mess of vines crawling the stone ruins, and slowly the flowers seemed to look less like flowers, and more like camouflaged heads of snakes.

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are exothermic, amniotic vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with many more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads with their highly mobile jaws. To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca.

Lilly rolled her eyes, "I have to be going nuts..."

Nuts, adjective, insane.

Exclamation, an expression of contempt or derision.

Hunger!

They began to move, like a green and black sea they streaked down the wall, circling around her, momentum building as more and more began nipping at her feet, and as she tried to dance around them, at each movement the world tumbled around her, till she couldn't understand it, felt all reality slip from her grasp, and then she was falling, falling oh so far. Deeper than the pits of hell, further than the world is round, farther than the stars from the heavens, she plunged into the deep.

She hit the sand, and felt the wind brushing her face softly, then she was blinded as a figure stepped into view, shining like the sun itself, he crouched near her and held out his wrist, crimson drops forming on the blanket of white perfection, and his voice echoed inside her head, "Feed."

His arms hurt, like he'd been doing too many push-ups or hanging off the monkey bars for a long time. but he couldn't move them, and his feet felt like they were encased in lead.

Tiredly his eyes fluttered open, and Ethan groggily looked around the room, wincing as he felt a splinter of wood stab into his back. He tried to lower his arms, to relax them, and winced as they didn't budge. He looked up at his wrists and grimaced as he saw he was tightly bound by metal cables to a piece of wood.

He looked down at his feet.

A cross.

The nightmare was real.

He was caught up in the world of creatures that didn't exist... Couldn't exist.

None of this should be happening, let alone happening to him.

He briefly wondered if he was in fact sitting in a padded room, arms bound so he couldn't hurt himself.

"Damn you, Lilly." He growled angrily, and laughter came from behind him.

Senoy rested a hand gently on Ethan's shoulder, and applied a small amount of force, and he let out a painful groan, and Senoy sighed heavily, "Tell me, Ethan... Do you want to be free of this nightmare? Free forever?"

Ethan's face went red with the effort of trying to push up against Senoy, "Fu... Yes..."

Senoy removed his hand and walked around in front of Ethan, gripping his chin and forcing him to look up at him from an awkward angle, "I might be able to help you... But tell me... Did you use the Lillith circle against her?"

Ethan winced, "... Yes..."

Senoy blinked, "Then how was it that she was in your apartment when we found her?"

Ethan clenched his eyes, "I found her outside the door... She was incredibly dehydrated... Skin cracked and peeling... And she... Asked if she could come in. When I said those words, 'you can come in'," he paused swallowing painfully, "It stopped."

Senoy frowned, "How did she heal?"

Ethan winced.

Senoy glared at him and shouted, "How did she heal? Damn you!"

Ethan moved his head to one side, freeing him from Senoy's grasp, and two small weals, red dots even, showed on his neck. "I let her."

Senoy smiled softly, "Then Lilly is dead. Disintegrated by the fire of the circle."

Sansenoy shrugged, "She's dead. She vanished."

Semangelof sighed heavily, "Then our task is completed. Why are we not withdrawn? Why are we forced to wear these mortal shells?"

Sansenoy winced, and he shrugged, "There is... Unfortunately an answer to that question."

Semangelof cringed, "I know... But... I can still heal... Still make storms quieten... Make passions fade... My connection to him seems as open as ever..."

Sansenoy winced and shrugged, "Would he deny us that? Even if we have fallen? His mercies, kindness, goes beyond anything else..."

"As does his wrath." Semangelof said quietly, "Will we feel that? Have we gone beyond our limits? In seeking the cause of good, have we served that of evil?"

Sansenoy shrugged, "I do not know. Enlil's bound soul could not be trusted to tell the truth... But... Perhaps Lilly lives... Perhaps not."

Semangelof sighed, "God save us, either way."

A dull pounding.

Rhythmic.

It came in sets of two.

A heartbeat.

So she was still alive then...

She cracked her eyes open slowly, wincing at the light.

She put her hands over her eyes, feeling a tug on her left wrist, and the red light streaming through her hands hurt at first, but her eyes slowly adjusted, and she moved them aside, blinking as the daylight nearly blinded her.

She looked around blearily, tiredly, like she'd slept for a month straight. A needle with some sort of cord was attached to her left wrist, following it she saw a clear liquid in an IV drip.

She sat up and rolled her neck, yawning and stretching. She grabbed the needle and slid it out of her hand, and dropped it aside, and then the smell of her own blood as a tiny dot formed at where the needle had been hit her, and her stomach rumbled.

Not good.

Lilly moved quickly, searching the bedside set of drawers for her clothes, finding instead of her dress some sort of jump suit, but it was in her size so she slipped it on, discarding the hospital gown.

"Miss?"

Lilly swallowed, fighting the growl in her stomach as she nodded, "Yeah?"

"Have you seen the doctor yet? He hasn't said that we can discharge you yet..."

Lilly clenched her teeth, trying desperately not to look at the nurse as her stomach told her that she might have slept well, but she hadn't fed for a while.

The nurse grabbed her shoulder, and a Lilly jerked around to face her angrily, and her eyes locked on the vein pumping near the base of her neck.

It would be so easy to...

Lilly pushed the nurse away, spinning and running at the reinforced window, raising her arms at the last moment as she dove through it, shattering it like it was china, spinning s her feet hit the ground first she felt the concrete path crack underneath her and she felt the anger hit again, too strong this time... A raging screaming burning her

up, and she grabbed someone who was still stunned by her arrival, and she bit down hard, making him scream as she stole his life away, feeling the thrill raising her heart rate, "Hey bitch!"

Lilly felt someone tug her off the body and she spun, using her fingernails like claws she stabbed through into his mouth from underneath and tugged, ripping his head free in one clean, or rather very bloody but swift, motion.

She tossed the head down, growling, and then she heard sirens and looked up as a police car moved to pull in close to her.

She let out a scream of defiance and spun, running up the side of the hospital wall before jumping off it and onto another rooftop, and she ran, feeling her anger, hunger rising, and her control slowly slipping away.

Sansenoy's head was bowed, he was on his knees, one hand touching the foot of the altar. "Father, I know that I have not acted as I should have. I know I have done wrong... I have sinned too many times... But I beg for your-"

"Inspector Sinocht!"

He gritted his teeth, and stood slowly, "I was praying, son. You better have a good reason for this."

"We... We found the vampire enthusiast. She attacked two people outside the Melbourne Base Hospital."

Sansenoy turned around quickly, "What? What happened?"

"She bit one person... And decapitated the other... She was growling and screaming the whole time, like an animal... I came to get you sir, we're having trouble keeping up with her, but you know the streets and this case better than anyone else."

Sansenoy nodded and the two moved out towards the waiting car, and for a brief moment Sansenoy thought that perhaps he should tell the others... It could wait.

Lilly frowned, watching the house. Police tape ran around the whole exterior, and a lone police officer walked around the perimeter, obviously bored.

She leaped across the gap and landed on the tin roof silently, moving across it and dropping into the yard without a sound.

It was like a knife to the chest.

Bodies... Everywhere.

Lying in pools of their own blood.

Lila, Lili, Lilia, Lilian, Liliana, Liliane, Liliane, Lilias, Lilli, Lillia, Lilianna, Lilliana, Lilliane, Lilliann, Lillianna, Lillianne, Lillie, Lilly, Lillyan, Lillyanne, Lily, Lilyan, Lilyann, Lillita, Lolita, Lalita and Lulita. Ailith, Eilith, Lillias, Lillian, Lillie, Lillia, Lilli, and Lillika.

All of them.

Dead.

Tears rolled down Lilly's face, as she starred at her legacy.

They were her daughters.

Her sons.

Her family.

Lilly sneered angrily, clenching her fists and she strode over to the nearest and knelt next to her, stroking her face, "Lillyan..."

She slashed her wrist, and smiled painfully as he blood ran down her arm, and dripped into her daughters mouth, who gasped, sitting upright, "Matriarch?"

Lilly smiled and hugged her, "It's okay, Lillyan. I'm here now."

She stood up and moved to the next, reviving her, and greeting her by name, one by one she moved around the signs of the battlefield, resurrecting her children. Her Lilin.

That was when Lillyan fell over, choking, as black blood poured out of her mouth, and then she collapsed face forward into it.

Lilly's eyes widened, "Lillyan!"

Then Lila collapsed, and slowly, Lilly watched, crying, as her children began to die around her.

"Poison. A wonderful thing."

Lilly spun and glared at Sansenoy who shrugged, "Why would we leave the bodies behind when we were acting like cops?"

She barred her teeth angrily, "You killed my children."

"Well, I thought to myself, how do you remind an immortal that they are powerless? That they can't decide what is, and what isn't. You can't die Lilly... Or not that easily. Your kids? The Lilin? One lifetime. One lifetime of rage and lust, barely long enough to allow them to learn to control what they are... Whilst you watch on. I did you a favor by killing them off." Sansenoy grinned, "And why are you cursed? Because you refuse to submit to someone who doesn't even remember that you exist."

Lilly glared at him, "You know nothing."

She clenched her fists, delving inside of herself for the darkness she knew lay there, and then she unleashed it on the world.

Sansenoy swallowed nervously as his sight vanished.

It wasn't just dark.

There was no light at all.

He spun as he felt a quick nip on his neck, swinging and feeling his fist tear through something solid, but definitely not alive.

She nipped his neck again.

Sansenoy sneered angrily, "Show yourself whore!"

He felt his gun vanish from it's holster, and he tensed himself, "Bring it on Ardet-lili."

She nipped his neck, giggling in his ear as he tried fruitlessly to hit her, and then she fired his gun, he fell screaming as his kneecap shattered, and then the other went and he was tossed onto his back, Lilly laughing in his ear, "The Lilin deserved better than you."

He tried to grab her, and felt her grab his arm, and then he screamed as she snapped the bones, in both his arms.

Then she nipped him softly, "Pick your fights carefully, Sansenoy. You created Myrrdin for a task... Me."

Then she bit down roughly, making it as painful as she could as she sucked him dry.

The door was mad of a heavy wood, it was nearly three inches thick, and looked superb in it's framing in the cathedral. It also stood in Lilly's way, as she made her way to the basement.

She kicked, snapping mostly into two pieces, with a spray of splinters and she blinked as she saw the figure standing in the way, "Hello, Lilly."

She grinned, "Myrrdin... You used to be so much stronger, back when you carried Mikael's power."

Myrrdin scratched his head, "Say what?"

"21 A.D. You tried to kill me. A bonebreaking spell, and then you caved in the world for about ten miles around, burying me under it..." Lilly said slowly, and Myrrdin laughed, "I wasn't born for another five hundred years... That being said...

By moon,

by sun,

break her bones."

Lilly punched forward, as Myrrdin blocked her, trying to move as fast as her, sweating he tried to finish it, "Pos mehn..."

Lilly kicked his knee, shattering the bones, before snapping her knee into his jaw, sending him backwards, "Pos dia!"

Lilly grabbed his head, using her knee on his chest for leverage and snapped his head sideways, turning it and breaking his neck.

She stood up and glared, "Don't fuck with me."

Ethan blinked, gasping, and pulled tight into the foetal position, and nothing resisted.

He frowned and stretched out slowly, sitting up.

He was on a bed in a simply furnished room, a cross above his head on the wall, and a tiny window that didn't seem to be getting any light, it was just black. The shadow on the window shifted, resolving into a small bird. A crow. It rapped softly on the window, and Ethan stood up slowly moving over to it, "What do you want?"

"Forget."

Ethan stumbled backwards, starring at the bird, "What?"

"Forget."

Ethan shivered and turned, knowing that it couldn't be real, and blinked as he saw the crow standing on the bedside table, running it's beak up and down the wood, it paused and looked up at him, "Forget."

Ethan felt his body tense, and he felt like he needed to throw up, as if everything had gone wrong. The world was wrong. Spinning, tipping.

The crow vanished, fading back into a shadow, and a voice spoke near his ear, "Do not forget."

Ethan spun around, tensed for a fight, but there was nothing in sight.

Then the door handle turned and it opened slowly, and Ethan blinked, "No..."

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I came for you. Don't have a heart attack. Let's go already."

Ethan grabbed her in a hug, "Thankyou..."

She screamed and pushed him away, grabbing her face as steam began to pour off

her, and her skin began to crack, "What the hell?"

She grabbed his shirt and tore it open, and the two starred at still-healing scars, the Lillith circle carved into his chest.

SNVI

SNVSI

SMNGLFPH

T LLTH!

Ethan winced, "You can come in?"

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Idiot... That's not going to work, is it?"

Ethan sneered, "Well how should I know? None of this was real two days ago!"

"It was always real, you just never dared to open your eyes did you?"

Ethan glared, "Oh shut up old woman. I've been kidnapped and tortured just because you turned up to see why your dad would bother saving me."

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Because your kind are worthless!"

They continue yelling, as Lilly slowly began to disintegrate, skin flaking to ash and falling away.

The beat filled the space, bouncing between each of the dancers, crowding out thought, a rhythmic cadence, rising up to the limbic cortex, activating the animal side. The nightclub was packed, but one man sat alone near the bar, his thoughts his own, and he barely seemed to recognise that anyone in the room existed.

That is till two people approached him.

"Jegudael? Selaphael? What brings you here?"

The first shrugged as he sat next to him, "The usual. But Mikael... Why are you here? I haven't heard of anything requiring your attention."

Mikael smiled softly, "I was sent by him for the redemption of a soul."

Jegudael blinked, "And you didn't consult me? I can help in those cases, you know that."

"I did consult you." Mikael said softly, "A long time ago."

Selaphael smiled softly, "You know we can help, Mikael."

He looked at her, "I don't want to risk any others for this cause."

Jegudael scratched his chin, "Who has been involved in this case?"

Mikael winced, "Raphael and Baruchael have already given their all for the cause."

Selaphael starred, "Lilly?"

# Chapter Four:  
Redemption Lost

Erweitert Sammael,

Totã de'k k'ene,  
Eti en k'erd  
Ne kel- erweitert  
Kel-erweitert-klã-klo,  
Cambion,  
Ken Mauro dhen-steb  
Ne at-ei-el not.

Lilly turned slowly, feeling her skin break away all the same, letting blood roll down her shoulders, "What's that?"

Ethan blinked, "What's wha-"

He was interrupted by the sound of heavy thuds on the marble above them, door breaking and windows shattering, and screams from the voices he now recognised as Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof. He looked at Lilly, "What's happening?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm dying. Thinking isn't exactly... Easy."

She shook her head as she almost collapsed, "Come to that... Neither is standing."

Then a young man simply appeared in the doorway, "Matriarch." His accent was strong, almost Italian, but not quite, a twist of french perhaps. He looked at Lilly and winced, "You must feed, Matriarch. Reverse the curse before you die."

Ethan pulled back, grabbed his throat, and Lilly grinned, "So you found the safehouse then."

She turned and swallowed, "Bring something."

The man sprinted off, arriving a few moments later with two other Lilin, dragging Semangelof between them, her face purpled by bruising, and her neck beginning to blacken from bruises, and he shrugged, "We were forced to overwhelm them."

Lilly squatted in front of the woman, "You shouldn't have taken what is mine. You shouldn't have killed my children."

Semangelof looked at her, though one eye was forced closed from swelling, "What?"

"Sansenoy has paid the price already. You will as well."

Lilly lowered her fangs, barely touching the skin on Semangelof's neck, and then suddenly her jaw closed, and the woman let out an ear-piercing scream, and Lilly was consumed by her hunger, tearing at the flesh, widening the river of blood that cascaded down, drinking urgently, and as she did, slowly the scabs began to form, skin cells pulling closer together, and her bleeding stopped as she healed, and a healthy glow came back to her palor, all the while Ethan starred, unable to decide if he was horrified, or interested.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as Lilly ravaged the woman for her life.

Mikael winced as he saw the house, it hadn't lived a healthy life, but the destruction that he found inside told of a battle that should never have been allowed to occur. Too many dead... For what purpose? What reason could justify all this?

He breathed in slowly, deeply, and he shuddered as he smelt something behind the death and decay, beyond the bloodstains in the floor...

"Abomination." He growled angrily as the stench of the cambion threatened to overpower his senses.

He shook his head and crouched over the nearest body, and touched the forehead softly, tracing a cross across the soft and unbearably cold flesh, "On behalf of a man whose soul is parting, and cannot speak." He closed his eyes, tears forming, dripping down softly onto the cadavre, "Requiescat in Pace."

Mikael moved on sadly, giving them all their last rites.

This graveyard should not have happened.

They deserved some semblance of peace.

A last mercy.

Ethan paced the hotel room slowly, trying not to glance over at the girl half-asleep in the armchair. He was still struggling with the reality of his situation, but what was foremost in his mind was a face. A face slowly going white, tears drying up, as she starred vacantly out at the world, her life fading away from her, as Lilly bit her neck.

Semangelof...

He knew that he had been tortured, and that pain can turn to joy... The Stockholm syndrome... But firstly in his mind is that Lilly had enjoyed hurting her... It didn't matter that she was an enemy... Lilly was... He kept coming back to a single word, but 'evil' had no place in a world where right and wrong are so much harder to determine. Life was painted in shades of grey... Yet Lilly... She definitely belonged to the darker shades.

Ethan turned to her, "How could you?"

Lilly blinked, opening her eyes, "Huh?"

Ethan starred at her, concern plain on his features, "How could you enjoy it? Taking away her life?"

Lilly rolled her eyes and closed them, "Get over it Ethan."

He starred at her, "No. We are having this conversation."

Lilly sighed and pushed herself up in the seat and looked at him, "What do you want me to say? The truth or what you want it to be?"

Ethan ground his teeth together, "Your... Your just a... Parasitic... Bitch."

Lilly laughed, "Good description." She shrugged, "Think a little Ethan. You are just food for me. Your life sustains mine. If I take it, what's the difference between you eating a steak? Something had to die for you. Well, slightly more intelligent creatures have to die for me. Your nothing more than cattle. Semangelof was cattle and my enemy. That

makes it sort of easier."

Ethan starred at her, feeling his heart quicken, and then he turned, moving for the door, and Lilly appeared leaning on it, "That's not nice, Ethan."

He clenched his fists angrily, "Don't do this, girl."

She glared at him, "Girl? Ethan, you are the animal here. Not me. I'm older, and stronger, and faster, and smarter. Don't make me the bad guy."

He lunged, trying to punch her, and Lilly rolled her eyes as she caught both his fists, then she swept his legs out from under him, falling forward on top of him.

She pinned him to the floor easily, and Ethan struggled as hard as he could, she couldn't weigh more than half what he did, but he couldn't shift at all.

Lilly grinned and moved her face close to him, so that their noses were almost

touching, and she breathed in, closing her eyes, "Mmm..."

Ethan winced, trying to thrash, any movement at all, and then he felt Lilly moving softly with him.

He glared at her, stopping and Lilly laughed, "Oh your such a putz."

She bent her neck, softly tickling his neck with scrapes of her fangs, "I know you want me to."

Ethan clenched his jaw shut.

He hated her now, and he knew that his scar would be working it's magic on her by now... He wasn't going to get out of this without her biting him.

She bit.

He struggled to keep a hold of his passions as he felt her flaring them, moving sensuously as she slowly stole his blood away... By the time the dizziness hit, he wasn't sure where he was, or why he was there... All he knew was ecstasy was washing over him, and he didn't want it to.

Mikael frowned, looking at the senseless destruction of the churchyard, and the two behind him tensed themselves for a fight. He strode calmly into the main area, and paused as he saw the desecration. Selaphael said a quick prayer, and they approached the altar slowly, almost afraid of what they would find. The altar had been made of white marble, and should have been a thing of beauty, but rivulets of blood ran off it, pooling around the base, and a prone form lay on top of it, white as a sheet. Mikael took her hand slowly, trying to warm it, to feel if there was a

heart beat, and Raphael stepped over winced, "Semangelof... What happened to you?"

Mikael winced, "Time is of the essence."

Raphael nodded, and delved into the Source, and touched her softly, feeling the power move through him, and into her, and her eyes fluttered for a moment as her breathing deepened, and Selaphael began to pray fervently, as Mikael watched the slow revival of one of his own...

Semangelof opened her eyes bleerily and then they widened in recognition, "Mikael!"

He nodded and touched her head softly, "You are in safe hands now. What happened here?"

"We had Ethan..." Semangelof swallowed, "And Lilly knew where we were because we had caught her and brought her here... But when we put her inside the circle she vanished... Senoy carved the circle into Ethan's chest... So that if he touched Lilly she would begin to die... Then... She came for him... But she wasn't alone." Semangelof shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks, "We thought we'd killed them. All of them... But the Lilin... How can there be so many?"

Mikael smiled sadly, "What happened to you?"

"Ardet-lili needed to heal... She'd touched Ethan... So they used me. Sansenoy wasn't here... Lilly said she'd taken care of him already... I don't know what happened after she bit me..."

Mikael nodded and looked at Raphael, "Is she capable?"

He hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, "Yes."

Mikael stood up sighed, "Semangelof, your friends are no longer safe. Temptation is temptation, after all... But I am afraid you will be unable to intervene. You have been recalled, do you heed this?"

She smiled sadly, pushing to her feet, "I am loyal still. I heed the call."

Semangelof smiled, tears still falling down her cheeks as she started to crumble to dust.

Mikael turned and looked around him slowly, there had to be a pattern. Always a pattern to the destruction, and that would lead him to their location.

Raphael turned up his nose, "What's that stink?"

Mikael clenched his teeth together, "Cambion."

Sansenoy growled angrily and shoved the papers off the desk. He'd been going through Ethan's apartment for the last three hours... And nothing. Lilly had nearly killed him, and Semangelof was probably dead. Myrrdin and Senoy stood close by, but their efforts had been as fruitless as his. Ethan was disconnected with Lilly, a chance

occurance. Now Ardet-lili was as imposible as ever to track down. But now she had no control. A true monster unleashed.

He'd failed his mission.

"Damn it!" He yelled angrily, punching the desk, shattering it completely, and he turned and grabbed the bookcase and tossed it across the room, breaking the wall.

Senoy winced, "Sansenoy. Stop this. You can't let your passions get the best of you. Control your emotions... Or you'll end up becoming human... Your already too human. Don't fall on me."

Sansenoy sighed heavily, breathing in deeply, "I know."

Myrrdin suddenly looked up, "I know how to track her."

They looked at him, "What?"

Myrrdin smiled softly, "Ardet-lili has been here before... She's become addicted to her... Pets. So if I track Ethan, easier than tracking her because he's only human, then we will find her."

He looked over at the door, "We need to move."

The door was tossed off it's hinges by a kick as Gabrael strode into the room confidently, he looked around slowly and sighed heavily as he saw the tossed apartment, and shook his head sadly, "Someone got here before me."

The pub was the quiet kind, where you could sit and have a drink and a quiet chat, or sit with a newspaper and do the crossword and no one would bother you. Urael sat in the corner he usually occupied, sipping the beer absent-mindedly, playing over the events of his life in his mind. As usual he reached the normal conclusion: His mission

was far from accomplished, and even less clear.

Then the door opened and he nearly dropped the drink as he saw the man walk across the threshold and sit down opposite him, "I wondered if you were going to come talk to me."

Mikael shrugged, "How did you find Lilitu last time?"

Urael rolled his eyes, "I let her tempt me. I allowed her think that she could corrupt me."

"She's dead."

Urael starred, "What?"

Mikael sighed heavily, "Both Enlil and Lilitu couldn't escape the hunt forever... They both died. I have been sent so that Ardet-lili's soul can be redeemed, at least some good out of this awful mess."

Urael put his drink down slowly, "That's not going to happen Mikael. It's a fool's errand. Ardet-lili is... Gone. She doesn't just like the darkness. She loves the chaos.... Adores the power... Blood and destruction are her forte. They are the reason she lives... She's a lost cause."

Mikael winced, "What about truth? Does she care about the truth? Or anyone else

other than herself? Or is she just... Selfish?"

Urael smiled softly, "It's not like that. Not selfish. Just bloody-minded. The world exists to sustain her blood lust. Violence or food, it doesn't really matter. She just hates. She has exactly no want to care a thing about the boss, and she'd rather be damned than bow down to him."

Mikael sighed heavily, "I'm calling together the Seven. I... I'm afraid that Senoy and Sansenoy might be falling... And their cambion is too much of a threat to give much more time to."

Urael nodded softly, "So it begins in earnest."

The graveyard should have been quiet, deathly still.

The sound of the breeze moving through the moonlit trees should have been the only sound.

It wasn't.

Amongst one of the darker groves, a slurping, a growling, a sound of an animal feeding could be heard.

He wasn't afraid of it, but was annoyed that his solitude had been interrupted, couldn't he grieve his wife in peace?

He walked over towards the darkness, clenched fists, he'd kick the thing until it left, but as he neared the grove, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the copse of trees, he froze.

It wasn't a dog.

It wasn't even an animal.

The girl paused cocking her head and dropping the drug dealer, she turned around slowly, and laughed softly, "Whoops."

Lilly snapped her hand up as she stood, breaking the man's neck with a backhanded slap, and she shook her head.

She walked passed him into the moonlight, blood dripping from her fangs, and from her sullied hair, and Lily stumbled to the right slowly, breathing heavily, and paused in front of the headstone, blinking almost as if surprised for a moment, and then she

collapsed onto her knees, and burst into tears.

The tears ran down her cheeks, mingling with the blood, cascading down in streams of water and blood, falling to the ground around her, as she hugged herself tightly, the sheer weight of her depression weighing upon her, crushing her.

Lilly traced the words on the gravestone sadly, why was it that we could only create such macabre memorials to the dead? Such empty and meaningless symbolism, leaving all our memories in but a few words? The Egyptians had created theatres, entire temples, for their dead, and even the poorest were given lasting memorials. The Romans had placed statues of their lost ones where they could be remembered... But this modern society shunned what comes after the parties and the work... Ignored the old... Forgot what becomes of them.

Lilly clenched her eyes, trying to get a grip on her emotions... Trying to stop the tears.

They couldn't help what was already done.

She stood up shakily, shivering despite herself, and she reached into one of the pockets of her dress, hidden underneath a spiderweb of cord, and produced a small pendant hanging from a black cord, and on the silver pendant a face was etched, the hand that had done it was amateurish, unsure of what it had been doing, only certain

of the result it was trying to achieve.

Lilly dropped it onto the dirt sadly and staggered off, moving almost randomly throughout the graveyard, collapsing in front of some, and letting her grief overtake her, only to stand and leave, leaving only the pendant's that she had carved behind. She went to leave the graveyard slowly, but as she gripped the gates she felt her anger boiling over and she tightened up, her hands crushing the metal between her fingers as she gritted her teeth, feeling adrenaline pumping through her, making her stronger, and she spun around and yelled at the sky, "Damn you! Damn you to hell for

this curse!"

She looked down at her hands humbly, "Why? Why do my children always have to pay the price?"

Sunlight now streamed through the copse of trees, revealing it to be little more than three or four trees that had sprouted close by, but now a yellow tape stretched around the entire graveyard, and a tired and hollow inspector walked across the hallowed ground towards where his Medical Examiner was waiting.

Stuttler frowned as Sansenoy crouched beside the bodies, "Damn."

"Same M.O. From the initial, I'd say it's the same teeth marks... I'll have to confirm it... But this looks like the same individual... Any ideas... How she could... Still be?" Stuttler looked at him with fear in her eyes, and Sansenoy winced, "It's... Bewildering... Have we found anything else?"

Stuttler nodded and pointed, "Some of the boys have found pendants in front of some of the graves. Hand-carved, looks like a high school kid's work... But their all different families. Probably not connected."

Sansenoy nodded, "Thanks."

He moved off and stopped by the nearest evidence marker and crouched, and then he looked at the gravestone and blinked, and at a near run moved to the next, he laughed softly as he moved to the next, and then he spun around and ran over to Stuttler and grabbed her shoulders, "They're the Lillin! They are all Lillin!"

Stuttler blinked, looking at him, "What?"

Myrrdin smiled as he walked into the lobby of the hotel. It was lavish, nearby a set of necklaces was on display, and he could hear the pool and voices in a nearby restuarant. He moved over to the receptionist who smiled warmly, "How may I help you, sir?"

Myrrdin grinned, and punched her face, driving her nose backwards and into her brain, killing her instantly. He put one hand on the counter and leaped over it easily, and pulled up the catalogue of checked in guests. His eyes flickered over the computer screen as he scrolled through the list and then he smiled softly, "Josephine Smith... How funny."

He jumped back over the counter and moved up the stairway, and paused in front of the door, listening, but he couldn't hear anything from inside, so he slammed his knee into the door handle, tearing it backwards through the door and swung it open, and glared around the room, nothing.

He searched the bathroom, the closets, and under the bed.

He sighed heavily, she was gone.

That was when he heard the vacuum in the hallway, as one of the hotel's maids cleaned the area. Myrrdin moved out into the hallway silently, moving behind the woman, and he grabbed her mouth and the back of her neck and dragged her before she could resist, back into the room, kicking the door shut, he dragged her into the

bathroom and tapped her on the head, knocking her off her feet. He closed the door and spoke quickly,

"Now be silent,

Nu bheu taus."

He smiled as he felt the power surround the room, silencing it to any outside, and then he began to strip the woman, tearing her skin from her in thin strips, enjoying the moment as she shrieked in agony.

"Inspector Sinocht! Get in here!"

Sansenoy glanced up at the Police Chief signalling him, and he stood up slowly, understanding what was about to happen, or at least a part of it. He moved into the office slowly, and looked at his boss who pointed, "Sit down."

Sansenoy did as instructed, and his boss shook his head, "Usually, your one of the best. Always bring in the killer. Most of the time the lawyers can't argue with the evidence, and we get convictions... But this case... The serial killer... It's way, way out of control. The mayor is asking for progess now, and he's getting a little itchy. Can you imagine how that's making me feel?"

Sansenoy frowned, wondering if he killed this annoying parasite if it would constitute as part of the necessary sins to achieve his task. Probably not.

"I have the evidence to show that the most likely culprit is one Lilly Cambridge. She lived in St. Kilda and began her recent killing spree by murdering her parents. I'm pretty certain, sir."

The chief frowned and scratched his head, "Why'd she do it?"

Sansenoy shrugged, "I haven't been able to determine that unfortunately, sir. I haven't actually found anyone outside her family who knows who she is. However, as she massacred the members of the Lillin cult, she was probably involved with them, and that cult has a history of drug use... So it may be related to a hallucinogen."

The Police Chief shivered, "We really could do without another bath salt freak."

Sansenoy frowned, yes, this slow and stupid man was incompetent at his job, and so innocents would suffer. It was not just within his means, but within his duty to rid the earth of him.

One day.

"The Federal Police has been called in. They are taking over the case. You are to report to Henry Murdoch when he turns up."

Sansenoy nodded, this Henry Murdoch must die because it would interfere with his own investigation.

Senoy smiled softly leaning back from the kiss, allowing a piece of the man's soul to creep back into him, keeping him alive, and he stood up slowly and kicked as hard as he could, feeling bones shatter, then again, and again, flaring the agony, tearing into the man like there was no tomorrow. How dare he try and mug one such as he? He

was above this... And so the man must pay.

Senoy grinned, and then another hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backwards, and Senoy glared at the man who would interrupt him.

Not a man, worse.

Barachael glared over at him, "Is this what entertains you now, Senoy?"

Senoy bowed his head, "Barachael... I was unaware that your legions were required on earth..."

"The guardians never leave this earth." Barachael said with a sigh, "It is always my business to be here. However, I come to you not in my role as leader of the guardians, but as one of the Four Seraphim. Mikael has called the Seven together because of your cambion. It is time that you dismissed it... And remembered your calling. You have shown yourself a fool... I catch you in the act of giving into your temptations... Falling... And you are surprised that one of us would be here?"

Senoy glared up at him, "Don't interfere with me, Barachael. You may be the Lightning of God, but I am not a weak human being."

Barachael sighed heavily, and shook his head, "Then you reveal yourself old friend... For humankind is still our equal. So has it always been."

Senoy sighed heavily, "So you make your choice."

Barachael shook his head, "I do not wish to fight you. But I must not allow any of the Fallen free reign to attack. Sammael made his deal as well as any."

Senoy nodded softly, "Perhaps it's time I made one."

Barachael didn't even have time to blink as Senoy grabbed him and kissed him, sucking his soul from his body, and the chief of guardians collapsed to the ground and Senoy shook his head.

It was unfortunate that someone sinless would have to die in the place of one who was sinful... But in the end it would matter little.

Ethan's eyes were red, spiderwebs of veins showed, and dry tears streaked his face, he was curled nearly into a ball, "Please... Please... Just... Let me go..."

Lilly glared over at him with blood-red eyes, "Oh shut up already! I don't even know why I let you live."

She turned away from him, but in her tone Ethan had noticed something... A slight hesitation... A confession... She didn't know why she let him live.

"It's because you care."

Lilly spun around, "What did you say?"

Ethan lowered his knees a little, "You care Lilly. You see every life as something important, if not sacred. Your hatred for your curse, and for it's effect on your children... It's what keeps you going. Keeps you fighting. Fighting for one thing. You want to be free. You want a normal life, with your children. You want a family, a life free of this nonsense, where you fit into society. Where you belong."

Lilly smiled softly and shook her head, "Your right. Your right Ethan... It's what I want..."

She moved over to him, and he froze, terrified, but she was showing compassion towards him, maybe just maybe she'd let him go. Lilly sat down next to Ethan and touched his cheek softly, and then he screamed as she moved faster than he could see, he could feel her fangs driving into his neck again, ripping into him.

She was kneeling in a small box, between her and another person, she could hear his heart beat, was a small grid, and above the grid was a small crucifix, adorned with the body of Jesus, and th priest whispered softly, "Tell me your sins, child."

Lilly blinked, starring up at him, "I am a slave to sin. I... I have done... So many wrongs... I... I can't see... How can I be free? I... I enjoy what I do..."

The priest was silent for a moment, and then he spoke calmly, compassionately, "Denying the flesh and it's wanton desires is the first key to be free to grow spiritually."

Lilly blinked thinking, and then she looked down and shook her head, "It's harder than giving up water."

"I believe the apostle Paul would have spoken to you as any other, daughter. He wrote this, 'You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don't let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if

you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don't get eaten up by each other!' We were meant to be at peace with each other, to find freedom in God, not condemnation. A slave cannot serve two masters. Give up your burden to him, because only he can remove it... And he will not remember it. He will not hold it against you. As Christ was crucified and so took up all our sins, so we are crucified with him, and have no sin left. Accept that, love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor, and act like it, and you have found your path to freedom."

Lilly clenched her eyes, fighting back tears, wanting to believe that there was a freedom from her. From her curse.

Her stomach grumbled.

Lilly spun leaping through the door, splintering the wood, and she ran across the marble, fleeing the building lest she find someone, and bit them.

She had to run.

As far away as she could.

Father Matthews sat by the police car as someone dabbed his wounds, they were all superficial, but he was disturbed by what happened... But more disturbed by who had turned up a few moments later.

The head of the squad, a federal officer, approached him, "Father, I am Henry Murdoch. Can you tell me in your own words what happened here?"

Father Matthews frowned, "The sanctity of the confessional protects those who use it. I cannot relate details of my conversation with the young lady, is that understood?"

"Of course, Father." Murdoch replied softly, shrugging his shoulders.

Matthews nodded slowly, "Then what I can say is this, she suddenly became perturbed, not by anything we had said, I believe her stomach growled, and she left in a hurry. She ran through the wooden door like it was paper. An athlete perhaps."

Murdoch frowned softly and unrolled a small piece of paper, "We are following this woman for acts of murder. Is this the one that came to you?"

Matthews starred at the picture, "Murder? Her? I... I don't believe it..."

"The so-called Vampiric Killings that have occurred in this city can be attributed to this woman. If we can find her, we can find out if these conclusions are actually correct."

Murdoch frowned, "Was this her, Father?"

Matthews shook his head, "If it was, or was not, I cannot answer. I told you already, the sanctity of the confessional is protected."

Murdoch grabbed the priest by his collar and dragged him onto the bonnet of the car slamming down crime scene photos beside his face, "Look at them! Look at them. No one deserves to die like this. Help me, and help your God, stop the sins of this woman."

Father Matthews' eyes were wide, and fear was evident in his every feature, but he still said, "I answer to a higher law."

Murdoch let go of him, "Fine."

He began to walk away, and the priest stood slowly and turned, and he saw a man moving from the back of the group, walking over to him.

As Murdoch passed him he nodded, "Your job, Myrrdin."

# Chapter Five:  
Freedom's Cost

Ardet-lili,

Sosã bheu-bhleu uperi,  
G'rebh arnu ie-mit dheu,  
Sosã g'rebh bheu-nek.  
G'el apo-au akkã  
Rabh apo sosã-ario,  
Sosã uerdh en mauro.

Lilly wiped away her tears, and paused, she picked up the small shape uncertainly, it had been left on the mound in front of the grave, dead centre. Lilly blinked, starring at it, it was an odd object to find. It was definitely a bone, but more she recognised it. The small bone was almost like two arrows pushed together, and it was called the

something phalanges... Distance... Distilled... Distal.

The bone from a fingertip.

Lilly put it down again slowly and stood up, slowing her breathing and heart rate and concentrating, trying to hear anything in the graveyard, anything that could betray a person. This could be another serial killer coming after her, or Myrrdin taunting her somehow.

Nothing but the wind.

Lilly slowly moved, fear now hitting her as she tried to control it, and at the next of the Lilin graves she found another small piece of bone, looking like it might belong in an

ear.

Lilly winced, and began to move quickly through the graveyard, stopping only to note whether a bone had been placed or not, and then she paused as she counted the last bone, and shook her head, shivering.

206 bones.

The number in an average human being.

206 bones that showed her that it was a male, and the right age for someone she recently met.

Lilly winced, she was disturbed by the thought that the bones were what was left of the priest, and that he had died because of meeting her. And that surprised her.

"Vampire in a graveyard. Totally not surprising."

Lilly spun around, baring her fangs, and then she paused, "Ethan? How'd you get out?"

Ethan shrugged, "I can be resourceful if I need to. It's not like you wouldn't be able to track me down. Why do you come here?"

Lilly glared at him and then turned around, "I've never told anyone that."

She felt her heart rate slow, and her temper fade.

Someone was trying to send her a message, and to do that, they'd desecrated the graves of her children.

Lilly sighed heavily and sat down on the soft earth cross-legged, pulling her arms tight around her chest, "It's because I'm older than I look, Ethan."

Ethan almost moved towards her, but paused, uncertain, and then he said softly, "So?"

"I've lived. I've loved. I've had a family before... A normal life... My kids age, Ethan... Do you think I'm uncaring?" She shook her head as tears began to form in her eyes again, "They psyched out at you Ethan, because I'm not around enough. I have to try and protect them... But it doesn't mean that I don't love them... Their my daughters... My sons... My grandkids... They are... Everything."

Lilly wiped at her cheeks furiously, "I have to watch them die. The damn..." She choked up, unable to force the words out, and Ethan starred at the miserable figure, just sitting there, her back to him, he knew she was crying, and that she didn't want him to see it.

Ethan half-smiled in shock, "You have feelings... You're a mother. You know what love is... You care the world for them..." His face went dark and he sneered, "You just can't give a damn about humans."

"Because of that damn Eve."

Ethan cocked his head, "Eve? As in... Adam and Eve?"

Lilly looked over her shoulder at him, "Sort of. Does that scare you?"

"Sort of."

Lilly stood up slowly, still hugging herself, "Eve was his second wife."

Ethan blinked, "I thought... Well... Wasn't she made from Adam's rib?"

"Side." Lilly retorted instantly, "Translation issue. Side and rib are the same word, but imply a different greater meaning. Rib implies a lesser association, side an equality... All creatures created equal."

Ethan starred at her, "So... Eve really was created from Adam?"

Lilly laughed, "I'm trying not to boggle your brain. Lets just say its always a little more complicated." She sighed heavily, "Anyway... Adam's first wife was Lilitu. She was... The first to rebel. She chose to live with a mortal, who she fell in love with. The only creature who could understand the ramifications of choice... Those with knowledge of good and evil. That wasn't actually her rebellion..."

Ethan frowned, "What was?"

"He... Abused her." Lilly said slowly, drawing out her pauses, and she swallowed, "So Lilitu broke the rules and stole a part of the Source's power, to... Well... She ran away from what she did. That was her rebellion. The first rebellion. First mistake, ever. So she was cursed, and Adam complained." Lilly sneered angrily, "He asked for a wife who would submit to him. So the human bloodline was spawned. Down through the ages... Until they got the possibility of true forgiveness with the perfect sacrifice. Well... Take a guess."

Ethan winced, "Because of Adam... Your family was outcast... And... You never got the chance for redemption?"

Lilly nodded, "Yeah. Forever cursed."

Ethan frowned, "No... If your talking about... Him... There's always a chance. Always a redemption."

Lilly moved, crossing the distance, and she backhanded him, slapping him to the side, "Have you heard anything I said?"

She glared over at him, and froze as she smelt it.

Ethan winced touching his forehead where it had struck the gravestone, "Ow."

Lilly clenched her teeth.

Teeth.

Her eyes glaze over and the smell filled her senses, and she starred at him, and Ethan swore, "Fuck. Why didn't I run?"

"It's beautiful."

The old man stood, gazing up at a window, whilst behind him his guest waited patiently, and he turned slowly, "English however is not a beautiful language."

The guest shrugged, "What we are to discuss is not a beautiful thing."

"You are not he." The old man said slowly, and he held up his hand shakily and pointed, "Does he no longer... Respect this... Authority?"

The guest bowed, "He does, your holiness. He is... Engaged in a difficult hunt."

The Pope sighed heavily and nodded sitting, "I... This is not a normal situation."

The guest nodded, "I have hunted with him for many years. He will undertake the task with the utmost professionalism. The current predator cannot be allowed to continue to haunt these people, they are faithful, and some aren't as this era gives way to the faithless, but many are endangered."

The old man frowned slowly, "Australia is a nation of faith. However, it is... That faith only remains strong through trials of testing. Their faith is being severely tested, but not by God. The Holy One would label this test an abomination."

The guest blinked, "Melbourne."

The Pope looked at him in surprise, "So the evil has sprung to notice. Too many wrongs, too many sins have shown in the media, and so it endangers to corrupt others. Your master defended his people against such wrongs in the past, would he do so again?"

The guest shook his head, "You misunderstand, my master was unable to come because this is the evil he hunts... But to draw your notice, it must be worse than we know."

"It is, my child."

Mikael looked around the room, and sighed heavily, "We have lost one of our brothers."

The empty space shouted volumes at them, but Gabrael spoke when the others stayed silent, "Yet that is not the reason your brought us here, is it?"

Mikael shook his head, "Worse. The Pope has committed murder."

They starred at him in shock, and Mikael winced, "He has... Brought in a... Krsnik... To hunt Lilly..."

A wave of horror swept the room, and Jegudael scratched his head, "It is... Wrong... However... I think I can understand it."

Mikael blinked, "Care to explain?"

Jegudael nodded, "It's an arms race now. This whole situation has devolved into an arm's race. Everyone wants Lilly, but she's stronger, and so they need a weapon which is more powerful. Whoever has the better demon child."

Mikael nodded, "Yes... We need to stop that. Urael, I want you to hunt down this krsnik and stop it's interference... Meantime, the rest of us, we are going to take down that damned cambion."

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Ethan held his head, that sound was really beginning to bug him, but he didn't quite want to open his eyes. He felt like he'd been drinking all night, and then some. He sighed heavily and cracked his eyes open blearily. The surroundings sunk in.

The smell.

The white paint.

The annoying fluorescent lights.

Ethan sighed heavily and looked at his arm, and sure enough, an IV drip was feeding into it, and he flopped his head onto the pillow.

He was in hospital again.

He looked around and grabbed the button and pressed it, putting the trigger aside he yawned, and then a nurse appeared, "Your look better."

Ethan laughed softly, "What exactly happened?"

She frowned, "You don't remember?"

Ethan shrugged, and winced as he felt his neck and shoulder scream, and she nodded seeing his face, "I'd avoid doing that. The doctor said he thought you were mauled by a dog. The girl who found you didn't say much."

Ethan frowned, "Girl? Let me guess, short, black hair, green eyes, and some cute little dress?"

She laughed, "You know her then. Dial zero on that phone and you'll get an outside line, sure you'd like a cutie like her at your bedside. I'll let the doctor know your up."

The nurse moved away and Ethan starred at the ceiling his mind spinning.

Lilly was... A monster.

She would kill anyone.

She was nuts with bloodlust since she'd been burned by touching him, and every time since had made her bloodlust worse.

Yet she was compassionate.

She loves her children.

She let him go, and saved him.

Who was she?

Lilly picked up the coffee cup and sipped again.

The caffeine was probably starting to have an effect, but this was worth it. It had to be.

She was sitting in the middle of a mall, trying to train herself by surrounding herself with cattle, and every time she wanted to take a bite she sipped her coffee. She glanced at the seven empty cups, she wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

A stranger slid into the seat across from her and Lilly gritted her teeth, she didn't need this. "I like those fangs."

Lilly sipped her coffee, "Really."

The guy shrugged, "There's a party tonight, at one of the vamp dens. Thought maybe you'd like to go along."

Lilly paused, feeling guilt, remembering what she'd done to Ethan, but in truth, she couldn't go without, she just needed to be able to control herself.

"Only if I get to bite you."

The man grinned, "Cool. Where can I pick you up? It'll be around midnight."

"The hotel near the museum, off St. Kilda road." Lilly smiled softly, "Do you know what to wear?"

He spread his arms, "I spotted your fangs, girl. Do you?"

She grinned, "Not many wear them full time, boy."

He stood up, "I think I'm going to want to bite you too."

Myrrdin turned around slowly, "The cityscape always looks so beautiful up here doesn't it?"

The man facing him sighed heavily, "We need to talk."

Myrrdin rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Your masters have been marked for retirement."

Myrrdin laughed, "I don't care about politics, Mikael. It's not my concern."

Two thuds sounded, and Myrrdin swallowed as he turned, seeing three in one place.

He frowned, "I don't recognise you two..."

Mikael smiled softly, "May I introduce the Light of God, Urael, and the Strength of God, Gabrael."

Myrrdin winced, three of the best fighters amongst the incredibly powerful and select group.

Bad odds.

Change the status quo.

Myrrdin spun, punching out, cracking Mikael in the jaw, spinning and ducking under Urael's leg, standing up to throw him off balance before grabbing Gabrael's fist a moment before it collided with his head, he spun, lifting the arm onto his shoulder before pushing both of them off balance, and off the rooftop. Myrrdin slammed Gabrael into the concrete, before standing, still holding the fist, he put his heel into Gabrael's armpit and yanked hard, dislocating the arm, he dropped it aside and punched down as hard as he could into the stomach, feeling the flesh ripple, and the shirt began to darken as he bled, Myrrdin grinned and stomped down on a leg, snapping it in half, and then hands were around his neck.

Damn.

He'd got into the hunt again.

Urael landed in front of him, and Myrrdin's shoulders slumped, he wouldn't be able to escape so easily again.

Gabrael groaned, "Shit..."

Urael glanced at him, "You can't go on a date like that."

Mikael sighed from behind Myrrdin, "I'll do it. It doesn't take much to change our appearance."

Gabrael winced, "Be careful... She barely has... Control..."

Her feet clacked as she moved across the marbled floor, the shoes had inch thick heels, smooth studs on the inside edges, but covering the entire surface on the outside were dozens of small steel spikes, showing off against the black leather. Moving up slowly she wore black pantyhose that came to mid thigh, partly hidden behind the semi-transparent skirt she was wearing, there was a dip in the hem so that the skirt was longest behind her knees, and shortest in front of them, though still modest it spoke loudly of other thoughts. Around her waist the skirt's bronze coloured band was hidden by her top, the diagonal slant from the ruffled material hung down loosely, but higher up the material became tighter, locking around her figure to finish the strapless velvet bustier. Hanging loosely over one shoulder was a spaghetti strand for a black handbag, the main piece of it was black leather strips repeated in a fashion so that the whole skin of it seemed to be made up of shredded pieces. Around her neck was a silver necklace, forming an infinity symbol, half studded with diamonds, resting in her bosom. Completing Lilly's look were two pink rose studs, half hidden behind her hair, she smiled softly at the man standing in the doorway, his eyebrows raised, "You took your time."

He smiled softly, taking in her pale skin, her red lips, and the tiny fangs resting just on the edge, and he shrugged, "One of my friends took a bit of a tumble today, I got caught up in traffic outside the hospital."

Lilly frowned, "That hasn't put you off your appetite has it?"

He could hear the strained disappointment in her voice, the uncertainty, and he shook his head, "Never. We had a date."

Lilly grinned, looking at him, "So what do I call this noble gentleman?"

Mikael shrugged, "I usually go by Alucard."

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Bit pompous. Your the first vampire?"

Mikael held out his arm, and she slipped through his as they walked out the hotel doors, "No, that was a woman. Lillith."

Lilly glanced at him, "How much do you know about her?"

"What do you know about the Lilin?" He asked cautiously, and Lilly paused, and they looked at each other for a few moments, and Lilly grinned, "Quite a bit. Dated one of their priestesses for a while."

Mikael smiled, "Oh good. I was an initiate, a thrall, for nearly six years."

He nodded towards the car waiting, and Lilly smiled softly as they approached, slipping her arm free just before he opened the door and she frowned, "Is this a kit car?"

Mikael blinked, "What? No."

He moved around and climbed in beside her, and they shut the doors, and Lilly rolled her arms, settling into the leather seats, and Mikael pulled away from the curb, "It's only a GT-R, don't get too excited."

Lilly laughed, "Not excited yet, boy. I want see this club. Then maybe."

He glanced over at her and grinned, "I can tell."

Lilly frowned, "What?"

"You weren't exactly that dressed up for me. It's the thrill, the excitement of the place. The bite."

Lilly shivered, and ran her tongue over the back of her teeth. The bite.

Mikael frowned, slowing the car, and Lilly raised an eyebrow, looking around, "It's warehouses. That's it."

"Not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a graffiti tag that says something along the lines of 'the shadow is rising'." He said glancing out the tinted windows, and Lilly cocked her head, "Huh?"

Mikael grinned, "They move the clubs around a bit. Different covens control it at different times of the year. However, they use some basic landmarks that never change so you can find it. You just ned to know which coven is running it at the time."

Lilly rolled her eyes, "So you haven't been to this club?"

Mikael sighed, "Not since... Not for a long time." He almost kicked himself, he'd been about say 'a few hundred years', and she wouldn't want the role-play just yet.

He pointed, "There."

He pulled the car into the shadows across the road from a brick building with boarded up windows, and Lilly crossed her arms, "Really? Why do I feel like your going to get robbed, or try and rob me?"

Mikael rolled his eyes and got out of the car and walked around and opened the door for her, "They watch the streets. Security is pretty tight here."

Lilly got out slowly, and raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Alucard. Been a while since you turned up."

Lilly spun around, almost bearing her teeth, but barely holding herself in check as a security guard appeared out of nowhere, and Mikael smiled softly, "You still working this joint Raphael?"

The man nodded, "Now and then. Tonight's a showstopper so I wanted in."

Lilly looked over at Mikael, "You knew about that?"

Mikael grinned, "Hell yes. Why else would I approach the prettiest vamp in daylight?"

She smiled sweetly at him and held out her hand, and he took it, entwining their fingers, Raphael turned and pointed, "In through the back, walk into the freezer, ignore the door in the wall and go right, should be a loose panel, push it and the wall will slide open."

Mikael sighed, "Been having trouble with wannabees crashing the party?"

Raphael nodded, "Always."

The couple moved off and the security guard faded back into the shadows, and Lilly grinned, "Most underground places aren't so hard to find. You just need to know people."

Mikael nodded, "This place is run by the Lilin though. Priestess Lillian usually runs the show, but people haven't seen her for about a week. Might have got out of dodge."

Lilly's heartbeat went through the roof, and she knew that Mikael must be able to feel it through their grip, but she couldn't bring it back down. Lillian hadn't been with the others... But she was missing? What had the stupid girl tried to do?

She glanced at Mikael, and grinned, that was what tonight was about.

Relaxation therapy.

Consensual food.

If she could live like this, it would be a hell of a good life she could have.

Mikael opened a rough wooden door with peeling green paint slowly and they moved in, entering a long dark hallway, almost empty of light, with peeling wallpaper, he smiled as Lilly's eyebrows scrunched up, "This is normal."

She looked over at him, "The club better be worth it."

Mikael sighed and pushed open a door, "You always going to be this much of a drag?"

Lilly sighed and followed him through and shivered, "The freezer is on."

Mikael nodded, "This is probably a working business."

Lilly let him drag her over, and he ran his fingers over a couple panels, before punching one, and she blinked as the entire wall rolled aside, and she was blasted with sound.

Lilly grinned as they stepped into the room, as a dizzying swirl of lights danced around them in rapid patterns, the floor shook beneath their feet, and she could feel her desires rising.

Mikael shouted over the noise, "Worth it?"

Lilly spun around, grabbing both his hands and walking backwards into the crowd, pulling him in close so they could dance. She began to move, and as she snapped her head back and forth she shouted, "What

are those side rooms?"

Mikael laughed and shouted, "That's for the lovers!"

Lilly laughed in glee, moving time with the music, and then she glanced behind her, noticing that it wasn't a DJ on the stage, but a live band, and the singer was building up, she glanced back at Mikael, hiding her face with a flick of her hair, glancing at him out from between the strands, and then the singer hit her point, and let loose with a wail that sent shivers down Lilly's spine, it was like a banshee. Then she heard the sprinklers spray and the audience screamed around her, Lilly looked up, turning up her nose, and then she smelt it.

The liquid splashed down her head, covering her, and she spun around, moving behind Mikael, "This the big night?"

Mikael rolled his head back and kissed her cheek, "Of course."

The blood rolled down them, drenching them both to the bone, as the music built louder, the drum beat moving through them, and the two circled and danced, moving of each other, as Lilly slowly lost more and more control of herself, her movements becoming exaggerated, fluid, and too fast to be normal, but he could see the glee in

her eyes. Lilly nipped at his neck, spinning him around, running her hands up his sides before pushing off into the crowd, and he felt a sharp sting as she nipped at him again, super-humanly moving through the crowd again, it was intoxicating. Mikael was enjoying it, but he knew this was a moment of testing. He was getting caught up in the hype, the music, the barest emotions let fly with no inhibitions, then he felt her hands snake in around him, holding his chest, and Lilly's fangs traced a small line across his neck.

She giggled softly, and then the fangs plunged downwards.

He felt his self-control leave him, his entire willpower sapped, as she continued to bite down, to feed on his blood. Mikael's eyes fluttered closed, and Lilly continued to dance with him, moving him as the crowd swirled around them in a frenzy, but for these two, the moment was still private. She was making soft, cute little grunts as she lapped at his blood, changing the angle of her bite to dig in further, but her teeth had avoided the major nerves in the area, so the ecstasy of the moment was intoxicating him. He felt himself fall to the floor, and his eyes snapped open, the crowd had propelled them into one of the lover's rooms, hardly surprising.

It was fairly plain, three concrete walls, a wooden door, which didn't always end up getting closed, and a double-thickness mattress lying on the floor with black sheets on it.

Lilly pulled back, blood running from her open mouth, mingling with the pigs blood covering both of them, and she shivered softly, closing the door with a kick of her foot. Her eyes sparked as the moment faded, and Mikael rolled over, looking up at her, and she growled, "Angel."

Mikael stood up slowly, uncertain, and Lilly shoved him, tossing him backwards into the concrete, shattering pieces of it and kicking up a cloud of dust. He surged forward and punched with a right hook, she blocked with her arm but staggered from the blow before swinging a kick into his knee with the edge of her spiked boots, he winced as it cut, and put him slightly off balance, she leaped at him, but he fell backwards, using the momentum to roll them over, but she twisted, rolling them to the side and onto the mattress, putting her on top, and she punched down, breaking his nose, and then she punched again, harder, he winced, but wrapped one of his legs around hers, and used it to stand them both upright, spinning on the other foot he managed to push her up against the wall, she growled, bearing her teeth, but his hands were tightly gripped around her wrists, and he blocked her attempt to knee him with the entangled leg.

Lilly sneered, "Oh... You want some sin do you? Sugar not enough, you want your spice?"

"I came to offer you redemption." Mikael growled angrily, "A way out of the hell out there."

Lilly laughed, blood running down her face, dripping off the end of her hair, she moved her head towards his, and whispered in his ear, "Didn't you see me? I love this."

Mikael let go of her and stepped backwards with a sigh, "If you wish to redeem yourself, destroy Myrrdin Wyllt. That's the deal. Forgiveness for his decapitation."

Lilly slumped down the wall, half-lying on the bed, one knee raised, and she laughed and licked some blood of the end of her finger, "You tasted good."

"She's fallen so far!" Mikael said through gritted teeth, as Raphael's glowing hands massaged his neck, healing the bite slowly, and Mikael sighed heavily, "I can't believe it, she's embracing the darkness... I didn't believe it when people told me Sammael was seduced by her, not the other way around... But now..."

Selaphael smiled sadly, "Mikael. Grace is a gift. It is the greatest gift in the world, one that lets you start with a clean slate, be who you wished you could be, but it still a gift. It can be rejected. Grace wouldn't be grace if we could force it on anyone."

Mikael looked at her with pity, "I know... It's just... The cambion is going to kill Lilly. That's certain. We already know it. This... All of this... Is a mercy mission. If she can't submit... Become humble... Then she will be damned for all eternity."

Urael looked up in shock, "Can't we just remove the cambion from the situation?"

"Though born in sin, salvation is granted to everyone. Myrrdin is given that chance, to repay the debt that created him. We will be... Ordered... To release him. Give him his shot at redemption." Mikael said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jegudael looked over, "I want a chance to talk to her... I think I might be able to say something that could get through to her."

It stank.

Badly.

Her legs felt cramped, her back ached, and she was tired of being sat on by the occassional drunk. She'd buried herself strategically in a pile of junk, extra rounds by her knee, the butt of her sniper rifle barely protruding, her face completely hidden, but she could see down the scope into the open. She'd been camped in the alley entrance

for two days, just waiting. A dishevelled, if somewhat still glamorous looking Lilly drifted into her sights, and Stuttler almost didn't notice her, but she aimed quickly and fired, the bullet snapping the infinity symbol necklace, punching through the chest of the girl, and tearing out through her back.

Lilly vanished.

No puff of smoke.

No blackness.

No blur.

Just gone.

Stuttler blinked moving the rifle around slowly, had she done it?

Then she felt a hand grab her collar, and she barely had time to scream as she was tossed backwards down the alley, and Lilly stood in front of her, her eyes glowing red, and she was pissed.

Lilly sprinted across the length before Stuttler could pull the trigger again, and the rifle was torn from her grasp, shattered against the wall of the alley, and Lilly snapped her hand upwards into Stuttler's jaw, her fingers punching through the soft flesh, and Stuttler let loose another scream, which turned into a gurgle as Lilly yanked, tearing bone and muscle apart, ripping off Stuttler's lower jaw.

Stuttler's eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed, unhearing as Lilly looked down at her with concern, "Please... Please... I'm so sorry... For this... Everything..."

Lilly vanished, and Stuttler fumbled with a pocket for a phone, she had to call for help... Before she passed out.

Jegudael stood up slowly, leaving the last of the black roses on the grave, and paused as he felt two tiny pinpricks on his neck, and a low growl came from behind him. He sighed heavily, "You pay a heavy price. Every day. I'm sorry about that."

He turned around slowly, and blinked, looking at the grey-haired woman, not exactly who he was expecting.

She sneered, "What were you doing with my family?"

"Praying for mercy for them." He held his hands, "I want them to have peace."

Her eyes widened with anger, "Who the hell are you? What are you doing here? Don't muck around, or I'll rip your damn head off."

"I am Jegudael."

Lillian went white, and grabbed her chest, taking a step backwards, "Are you here to end me?"

"I want to bring you redemption." Jegudael said softly with a smile.

Lilian blinked, shocked, and she frowned, "How can there still be mercy for me?"

"There was a man once. He had a small group of zealous followers, willing to fight and die for him. He was opposed by a group of radicals who had thought he was going to lead them, but his teachings went against theirs. Everyone thought he was bringing victory. His nation oppressed, controlled by an Empire, and what he said and did was the means for upheaval. It was a rebellion, and he lead it. He created the final foundations when he was executed because everyone was afraid of the power he had... But it didn't do what it was supposed to. It made it so the world would never forget him. That he had power over death, and never raised a fist in anger. If the one

who brought redemption for everyone was a rebel... Why would it be so hard for your rebellion to be excluded?" Jegudael said with a smile, and Lillian burst into tears, "I can have a part in it? I can be redeemed?"

Stuttler's eyes opened slowly, and she groaned, a wheezing sound, and then a man appeared standing over her, "Stuttler. Lilly attacked you..."

She nodded, and moved into an easier position, picking up her phone from the drawers beside the hospital bed, and typed quickly, turning it to show him, "I remember."

Senoy winced, "Why didn't she bite you? She always bites."

Stuttler cocked her head, and typed quickly, "She said sorry."

Senoy starred, "What? She said sorry? For doing this to you?"

"For everything."

Senoy's jaw dropped, "Mother of... She's changing. It's a full behavioural change. She's losing the knife edge..."

Ethan limped into the hotel room slowly, and paused as he heard someone crying violently, and moved around the corner slowly, and starred at the girl curled up on his bed, balling her eyes out into the pillow.

His heart thudded.

Lilly sat up quickly, looking at him, and winced, nearly feinting.

Ethan frowned, and then moved, crossing the distance, and he sat down beside her, not touching her because of the Lillith circle on his chest, but if she was hurting, he wanted to be able to support her, he didn't know why... But he did.

"I don't know what I am." Lilly said through tears, "I just want to eat... And burn... It was Mikael... He gave me a chance... I can watch my kids... Grow up... But I can't... I can't help myself... I'm stuck halfway between evil and life... I can't live... They call me an undead... Good explanation of being cursed... I don't know what I am... Or why I am... Everything is just... Falling apart..."

Ethan smiled softly, "Your identity is your own. That means that so is your destiny. You've been given a choice. You'll have to choose somehow... Choose your own future. Who you will be. What you will be. Choose why you are."

Lilly smiled sadly at him, and Ethan smiled at her.

Sansenoy frowned as he saw the man sitting in his chair, "This is my desk."

"I'm looking for your case notes. Lilly Cambridge." The man said gruffly, and Sansenoy gritted his teeth, "Why?"

The man looked up, "Oh, sorry. You weren't here when I was introduced. I'm Agent Henry Murdoch, I'm taking over the case, I was hoping to work alongside you to try and pull this together."

Sansenoy smiled softly, "Right, of course."

He pulled a folder off a shelf and placed it down, "Everything we have on the girl. Her fingerprints were on record because of some minor misdemeanor that never made it to a court, I think it was speeding through a red light and getting annoyed with the officer who stopped her."

Murdoch flicked through the file and then sighed, "Very thorough, and well fabricated."

Sansenoy glared at him, "What?"

Murdoch sighed heavily, "I know what you are, Sansenoy, don't interfere. Don't get in my way. I'll just rip your head off."

# Part Two:  
The Fallen

Sosã er u̯erdh,

Sosã-ario apo mauro.

En orsos apo toros,

Sosã g'em.

# Chapter Six:  
Rebellion

Bher'g g'rebh,

Bal'bal nok'ts  
Sosã g'em,  
Sosã-ario,  
Uerdh,  
Ie-leto en sosã k'erd.

Adam laughed softly, ducking as the branch snapped upwards, a twig almost taking out his eye. The flint knife moved in his hand like a blur, shaping the tree, removing the dead, and giving way for new growth, healthy growth. If he did it right, the harvest would be huge, if not, it would go badly. Not that it often did, he was a practiced hand at this.

"So I was thinking, now that the garden is mostly under control, maybe it's our turn." Lillitu yelled from the next row over, and Adam grinned, spinning around the tree into the branches between the two, the difficult part, "Our turn?"

"You know, kids."

He laughed softly, "We haven't been trying yet?"

"Oh come on, Adam! It's not like we planned ahead. That was just romance."

He smiled softly, jumping backwards as a larger branch hit the ground, and he yelled back, "So how many do you want?"

"I was thinking about three... But we really don't know do we? One kid could be hell enough."

Adam smiled softly, the first human parents, it was a huge step.

He was excited.

"Please!"

Enlil looked over at his friend, "It's not about Sammael, Mikael. You know what this is about. I don't want to be a slave. Not scraping off the power of a king. It's about her Mikael."

"We lead through servanthood. The best leader is not one that dominates, but one that leads by example, who will do the lowest thing he expects of his men, and would expect more of himself. That is who leads us." Mikael said earnestly, and Enlil shruged, "I want to decide my own destiny, Mikael. Your a good friend... And I know the position this puts you in... But you know what's coming. It can't be avoided... And I had to choose a side. I've chosen mine."

Mikael clenched his fists, his voice filled with sadness, "Please don't do this."

"You want a girl?" Adam asked incredulously, "No! My firstborn will be one to carry my heritage."

Lillitu glared at him, "And a daughter wouldn't be able to do that?"

Adam rolled his eyes, "There's tribes out there. Any female firstborns get anything? Oh that's right. They put them out into the night to die. Male firstborn, male heir. It's the way it works."

Lillitu glared, "We're meant to make a difference! So change with this!"

"She would be ridiculed. Spat on. Warred upon. We seek out peace, changing people from the inside, Lillith. How can we if they are reviled by what they see?" Adam shook his head, "I don't see how it could possibly be the right thing by our children to do this."

"Not be right by them?" Lillitu asked incredulously, starring at him, "Your the one suggesting that you wouldn't treat your own daughter as equal to your son... And neither of them are born yet." She sneered and turned away, "Well, I'm not getting pregnant tonight."

Sammael smiled around the meeting hall, "We all know who I am. I lead the band. I help to raise the emotional level. But what I care about most, is the... most pressing and painful questions of our time. Every mortal, and that one fallen girl, has the power to change their destiny. To choose an alliance. To create their own world. To decide who is most important in their lives. To fall in love. To choose whether or not to complete a mission, or even undertake it. This choice is also ours, as it always has been." He paused, pacing for a few moments, and then he turned, "None of us has considered that choice seriously, have we? Not even when Lillitu fell in love with Adam. We thought she was crazy."

Sammael sighed and kicked the ground, head fallen, and then he paused, body going deathly still, muscles rippling, and he looked up, "That was stupid."

The doors to the hall opened slowly, and Sammael looked over as Enlil entered slowly, alone, and the figure stood there, the Eighth Archangel, and he grinned, "Sammael, what is this?"

"I was telling them the truth." The angel said softly with a shrug, and Enlil sneered, "The truth? The truth is that we're being sat on."

Enlil turned, "You came to listen. I'm asking more of you. I've had enough. No more quiet philosophising. Make you choice, or be damned."

The audience starred at him, gobsmacked, and Enlil growled and punched the wall, spraying silver fragments everywhere, "Make your choice!"

"And make it wisely." Mikael said from the shadows, emerging slowly, "He is merciful... But sin cannot be tolerated. By considering Enlil's words, you soil yourselves."

Sammael growled and grabbed the sword on his back and drew it in a fluid movement, "To victory!"

Enlil smiled grimly as angels burst into violent action, and the gulf of activity separated him and Mikael, but he saw the look of disappointment there, his friend's thoughts were clear.

If he remained a friend.

Lillith felt breath on the back of her neck, "No, Adam."

His arm snaked around her waist, "I'm sick of this, aren't you?"

"Back off." She growled, feeling the temptation of the power sitting there. She'd been made a promise by Him, in times of need, she could call on His name and he would answer her, take her away and protect her. It was part of the deal that let her become mortal.

Adam ran a trembling hand slowly down her side, and clenched it tightly, hurting her side, "Stop it!"

He growled through gritted teeth in her ear, "Why? Don't you love me?"

Lillitu spun around, pushing him away, "Not funny, Adam. I gave enough to come here... Give me time. You weren't even thinking about a family yet."

Adam glared at her, "No."

Lillitu blinked, "No to what?"

"No!" He yelled and her ears rang as the back of his hand left an imprint on her cheek, and Lillitu staggered, grabbing her face and looking up at him in horror, Adam glared, "Don't you dare. You will do what I tell you to."

Lillitu stood up tall, "I will not! I am Lillitu, daughter of the heavens."

Adam balled a fist and punched, and she gasped as she felt blood, and then he was on her, tearing at her clothes, she cried, clenching her eyes shut.

She loved him.

Why would he do this?

Her eyes snapped open, as well as her elbow snapping upwards, and he recoiled, clutching at his throat.

"Dia curse you!" She yelled, standing up, "Your back will break. Cursed is the ground because of you. Only through painful toil will you eat of it. And you will, all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, you will break your back on causing it to give birth to crops, until the day you return to the dust. Since from it you were taken, so you shall return."

Thunder cracked overhead and Lillitu stumbled as she was suddenly outside the path into the garden, and she was falling forwards as if she'd been thrown, she spun, standing up, and blinked, "Urael?"

The angel sighed heavily and drew a sword, and it flickered, the metal turning to flame, and he held it upright, "You are barred from entering this paradise, you and your spawn, for the rest of your days."

Mikael swallowed nervously as the blade slammed next to his throat, and Sammael glared, barely holding the blade back, "I don't want to have to kill you."

Mikael looked nervously down the blade, "I am willing to do my duty, even if it is that duty that you are neglecting."

Sammael starred at him, "You defend Him? Even now? When this war is almost ours?"

Not yours.

The swords stopped moving, and fear crept down the necks of the guilty, and Sammael nervously shifted his grip on the blade, "So what are you going to do then?"

You are banished.

All of you.

Your heart has become proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I throw you to the earth; A spectacle before it's kings.

Enlil starred around shaking, feeling terror biting close, he looked down at his hands as flakes of skin began to burn, floating into the air. He was terrified. What had he become a part of?

He looked around and saw the others had also begun to disintegrate.

It was over.

Before it had even begun...

Lillitu stumbled, dragging her feet across the hard, cracking dust bowl. It was the same as far as she could see. Rocks, broken earth, and dust. Nothing but dust. It was dead out here, lifeless. The garden had been the work, it's slow expansion the continued creation of the world, a shared creation between man and Him... She felt a tear slip

down her cheek involuntarily. She couldn't spare the water to cry... She was already beginning to dehydrate, her lips cracking, her back hurting. The dizziness hit her in waves.

She was betrayed.

She'd been cast out into this... Lifeless... Thing... Why?

For defending herself?

She knew she'd misused the power... But Adam would have become so much worse...

Worse than her?

She tripped on a rock, hit the ground and blowing up a cloud of dust to fill her lungs, she coughed violently, and looked down at the dull pain, and winced as she saw blood seeping from a cut on her leg. That wouldn't go down well in this lifeless hellhole.

A wavering figure appeared, almost like a mirage, and he held her head up,

"Concentrate."

He turned and looked at a nearby rock, and said something she couldn't quite grasp, and then he was gone, and she blinked, the wavering heat lines seemed to be...

Lillitu dragged herself across the ground, plunging her hands into the icy water that was trickling out of the stone, and she cupped her hands, lifting it to her mouth.

Water.

Clean.

Crisp.

Freezing.

Sammael smiled softly, and Enlil shrugged, looking at the army around them, "I served under you."

Enlil shook his head, "They owe their allegiance to you. You've given them power now, here, because they serve you. The more that serve you, the greater that power will grow... I'm nothing. Let me step into the shadows."

Sammael smiled softly at his friend and nodded, "Okay... But can't I give you anything?"

"Yeah." Enlil said and nodded, "The ability to go away. Give me power over storms, so I can create one, and disappear. Choose my own fate."

Sammael smiled, "It's all we fought for."

"You fought for your own glory." Enlil said through clenched teeth, "I heard him, and he can't lie. You can. You created this rebellion to become your own god, Sammael. To be nothing but a replacement. I want my own fate, friend."

Sammael starred at him, saddened, "If that's your wish, so be it. You can be free of me, forever. Summon up your storm... They are yours to command."

Sammael reached out and touched Enlil, and power flowed between the two, as their friendship dissolved.

She wanted to stop crying.

She was wasting water.

But Lillitu continued, holding her knees under her chin, and rocked slowly, her back against the rock that had saved her life, through blurry tears she could see the dust storm approaching, and knew that it would probably end her, but she struggled to care.

She'd been betrayed.

How could she make a life out here?

It wasn't possible.

Not probable.

The storm suddenly fled in every direction, a spray of sand, and a man was left

standing there, "Lillitu?"

Her jaw dropped, "Enlil? What are you doing here?"

He cocked his head, "Why aren't you in the garden?"

Lillitu sneered and spoke bitterly, "Adam tried to take me. Make me his."

Enlil blinked, "Did you curse him?"

She laughed, "Guess you know me then."

"We rebelled, Lillitu. I'm an... Outcast." He said, speaking the words painfully, "I wanted to see you again... To make him treat you right..."

Lillitu starred, "Do you still love me? Is that why you were such a stupid fool?"

"Damned fool." Enlil replied with a sigh, "Banished. We heard about... Adam... It wasn't right. Justice was not served... It created discord."

He looked at carefully, "But I didn't expect you to be exiled..."

Lillitu smiled softly, "Of course not."

"We... Hunt."

Sammael rubbed his temples, and looked at the tribal leader carefully, "You want to hunt?"

"We... Hunt."

Sammael gritted his teeth, and glared at the man, "Let's try this another way... You hunt..."

"We... Hunt... Want... Hunt."

Sammael clapped his hands, "Finally! You want to be able to hunt better, well I do have the power for that."

He cocked his head, "Everyone of your bloodline, till the end of days, shall be able to turn their spirit into a wolf by night." He reached out and touched the man's cheek, the power flowing through him, and the tribal leader's eyes opened wide as he felt it hit him, "Krsnik."

Adam looked up at the sky, "I don't want to be alone!"

Then he felt a wave of tiredness hit him, and he fell to his knees, exhaustion overwhelming him, had he overstepped his bounds?

His eyes closed.

He felt sleep wash over him.

Darkness.

Light burned his eyes, and Adam sat up, he winced, feeling different, as if it was harder to breathe, and he grabbed his side, wincing, "What?"

He looked at it, and blinked, his whole side, his arm, leg, everything, it was smooth, hairless. He frowned, and then looked down and saw a hand around his waist and his eyes widened, and he looked over.

It wasn't Lillith.

Adam smiled softly, looking down at her... She'd come from him, a part of him. She was like him, created from earth, or rather she was created from him.

"Eve."

Sammael smiled softly, "Hello."

Enlil spun around, fists clenched, and Sammael grinned, "You seem to be doing well."

Lillitu rolled her eyes, "Oh so funny." She pointed at the spring, "But this saved my life."

Sammael nodded, "Life's pretty harsh here... I was thinking... I can give you two sanctuary. A semblance of safety. Least I can do."

Lillitu looked at her old friend slowly, "I want to make my own way in this world... So no thanks."

Sammael shrugged, "Fine, but I don't want to leave you powerless... Because He will come for you, someday."

Enlil frowned, "You already have enough of a following don't you? Your power..."

"It grows daily. The further I Fall... The stronger I'm becoming." Sammael shrugged, "I can give you a piece of that."

Lillitu smiled softly, "As if we're going to say no, Sammael."

He grinned and held out his hand, "Then take the power of the storm, goddess."

A scream ripped through the garden, causing a flock of birds to fly into the air.

Adam smiled softly as he felt the bones in his hand grind together, her grip almost crushing him, and he used a piece of fur to wipe the sweat from her brow, "Almost there, Eve."

She glared over at him, and he felt the grip increase, and struggled to keep the signs of it from his face, and then he moved away softly, taking the small form as it began to emerge, and then with a final push he was holding it.

He flicked the flint knife quickly, and stood up, holding the child up in the light, blinking as he examined it, "He's got red hair..."

"Cain..." His wife breathed out slowly, "His name is Cain..."

Adam lay down next to his wife, passing her the child and wrapping the two of them in blanket as she passed out, and he smiled softly.

Life was perfect.

# Chapter Seven:  
The Cursed

Rabh-Ardet-lili

Bhreu uperi und bhegh,  
Koro-s ieu-dh,  
Sosã dhen g'hoem,  
Ar-bheu dheu.  
Ar-bheu k'el.

Enlil and smiled over at the woman holding his hand, and Lillitu frowned, "What?"

"Can't believe I'm this lucky."

She smiled softly, and he looked up at the stars, "It's beautiful here..."

Lillitu nodded, "It always reminds me of home."

Enlil turned towards a lone tree, and Lillitu followed, slightly puzzled, and then her face split into a grin, "How long did that take to set up?"

He looked back at her, "Always worth it, for you."

The two sat down on the grass, in front of them was a veritable feast, steamed fish, roasted boar, spit-fried birds, and a range of wild vegetables.

Lillitu smiled at him in the soft moonlight, her eyes shining, "Thankyou."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek, "I would do anything in this world for you. This is nothing."

Lillitu ran a hand across his cheek, and her fingers rested gently behind his head and pulled him back, "Not getting away that easy."

Her lips met his, and she melted into the embrace with him, pulling him close to her, tongues dancing, as the world around them vanished.

Sammael looked up as the hide flap of his tent was pulled backwards, and two of his

Fallen entered, holding a squirming, screaming mass.

Sammael starred at it in shock, taking it gently, "It's so small..."

"It's human."

Sammael rolled his eyes, "Of course she is... And she's very cute."

The two Fallen exchanged glances, and Sammael smiled softly, "But I will make her stronger than I will ever become."

They paused, suddenly afraid, and he looked up, "I need your help for this. Put your left hands, on top of each other, on the table."

They walked over to the roughly hewn piece of wood, a gift from a local tribe, and didas he had said, and Sammael made the child's hand close on the top, and then he pulled out his flint knife, and slashed his arm, wincing, and he let the blood spill onto the blade for a moment, and then he stabbed down, hard. He heard his men scream as their souls were obliterated, and the child cried, but he waited out the storm.

Eventually the child went silent, and Sammael pulled the knife out, sheathing it in a hide bag, and held the child up slowly, smiling as he saw the hand heal, and it giggled softly, and Sammael grinned, "You carry their power, and my authority, little one. Your not human... Not demon... Something in-between. You are my little cambion."

The baby laughed.

Urael looked up as the figure appeared, "Halt. The way is shut."

The man smiled softly, "I came to talk to you, Urael."

He blinked, "Mikael? Is that you?"

The beefy man nodded simply, "We have a serious problem."

"Apart from the Fall you mean? Losing a third of our numbers?" Urael asked sarcastically, and Mikael nodded, "Sammael has created his heir."

Urael swallowed, "What do you mean?"

"He made something from a human. Something in-between us and them. Cambion."

Urael felt a chill run up his spine, "No..."

Mikael nodded firmly, "I came to borrow your sword."

Urael produced the flaming weapon and handed it over, "Cambion? Really?"

Mikael tested the sword, swinging it expertly, "Unfortunately, yes."

Sammael breathed in slowly, and drew back on the small piece of cord, bending the stick in his hand as he rested the arrow in the slot, sighting the deer. He swallowed, steadying his heart beat, and then let the arrow loose.

The deer let out a strangled cry and collapsed as the arrow lodged in it's neck, puncturing an artery, and Sammael winced, not as clean a kill as he would have liked. He stood up slowly, and froze as he almost lost his head, a pillar of flame pausing, just burning the hairs on his chin, and he looked to his right nervously, and Mikael glared,

"You've made a big mistake."

Sammael swallowed nervously, "What... Mistake?"

"The cambion. Bad move." Mikael frowned, "Tends to piss people off."

Sammael frowned, "So you are to be my assassin?"

"No." Mikael looked at him sadly, "Both it and you can be redeemed. Just stop this... Idiocy."

Sammael shook his head, "Take the cambion. It's in your charge now, but I forge my own destiny."

Mikael lowered the blade, "Not forever."

Sammael grinned, "I look forward to the End of Days."

Lillitu grunted with effort, her face dripping with sweat, she groaned as she felt her muscles tearing, and she glared up at Enlil, "Better be worth it."

He simply smiled as she broke his hand, helping to steady her as the Fallen sat underneath her, ready to take the child when it finally slipped free, and then Lillitu let out a massive groan and she went limp, Enlil grabbing her as the nurse smiled softly, and held up a child, he nodded, "She is healthy."

Lillitu's eyes fluttered, and she looked up at Enlil, "You bastard. Why did I let you do that to me?"

He smiled and held out her hands, and the nurse placed the child there slowly, and moved out of the tent, and Lillitu looked down at it with pride, "She's beautiful..."

Enlil traced his wife's neck, "What will she be called?"

"Ardet-lili..."

Enlil looked at her, "The maiden? Are you sure?"

Lillitu rolled her eyes, "Yes... And now can I sit down? Bit sore."

He smiled and helped her sit, heaping straw around the two, "I should have the house finished in a couple weeks... Til then, Sammael is happy to have us here."

Lillitu looked up at him, "I'm not joining him. Not ever."

"Made that perfectly clear already." Enlil smiled, "And it's not like he'd expect me to stay, either. He's just being a friend."

Caine looked up as he saw a girl moving through the grass, pausing here and there, plucking the heads of wild grain. He was stunned. She was beautiful. Her skin was whiter than any he'd ever seen, and straight black hair cascaded down her, and she moved almost like she was dancing.

He had to get her attention.

Caine looked around for the boar he'd been hunting, and spotted a black ear near a rock almost five hundred meters away. It hadn't noticed it's stalker yet, and that suited him fine.

He crept across the ground, keeping his centre of balance low, footsteps careful on the dirt, and he grinned as he sprang into the air, the light in front of him, to make sure the creature didn't spot his shadow till it was too late. His hands encircled the boar's neck, and it took off.

He clung on tightening his grip, squeezing against its air-pipe, he bunched his fist around it and yanked, almost tossing him off the creature, and it let out a raspy squeal before falling onto its side in a slide, half crushing him. Caine pushed it off, leapt on top of it and broke its neck with a kick, and then he proceeded to drag it over to where the girl was still working.

She didn't even look up, "Numbskull."

Caine frowned, "It's a gift."

"I need bread, not meat. Want to help me out? Then pick some wheat." She kept moving, not even glancing over at him, and Caine blinked, surprised.

He shook his head and let get of the boar and started to look for heads of grain.

"Father!" Ardet-lili said excitedly, throwing open the door of the wooden house, "Father! I..." Her smiled vanished as she saw three men she didn't recognise inside the house. Her father was sitting on the edge of a hammock, "Ardet-lili, these three are Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof. They have a message."

She gritted her teeth, "What message?"

One of them took a step towards her, and she clenched her fists, moving her feet into a fighting position, and he shook his head, "It's not like that. You're being given a chance. You can come back with us. To the place your parents came from. Do you understand?"

She felt her jaw tighten, and terror filled her, "Yes."

He sighed heavily, "If you do not return however, then you will have your share in the Fall. You will be cursed. You submit, you come with us... If not... Then the Fall has it's costs."

She looked at them, from one to another, and then shook her head, "I need... Time to think..."

Senoy nodded, "Of course."

Caine couldn't keep the smile from his face; he just kept remembering that girl who had humbled him easily. She was... Amazing.

Eve looked up at him, "Meet someone on the hunt?"

He nodded, "She's beautiful... Smart... I really want her."

Adam looked over, "Chosen a bride already, Caine? What's her family?"

"She is Ardet-lili, daughter of Enlil."

Adam's face went dark, "No."

Caine looked from one parent to the other, "What?"

"You are never to see her ever again, do you hear me?" Adam growled, "Ardet-lili is off limits. Now and forever."

Caine starred, not comprehending where the anger was coming from.

The door opened slowly, and Senoy appeared, with his two compatriots, and they looked at her pointedly, and Ardet-lili nodded, "I've made my choice."

Senoy frowned, "Will you submit?"

"How the hell could you get the balls to ask me that? You insult me. You insult my family. You come here after everything we have been through, and ask me to abandon my parents, the only ones who care, and don't even announce yourselves? You are rude and stupid." She stood up and glared, "And if I see you again, I will kill you."

Senoy sighed heavily, "Then I am afraid that we are required to hunt you, any children you have, and your parents, until the end of days."

Enlil spun around angrily and tossed out his hand and the three were tossed backwards, and the house dissolved as a dust storm appeared out of nowhere, the wind ripping around them, leaving only Enlil, his wife, and his daughter standing in the eye, and Lillitu looked at her daughter carefully, "Do you know what you're doing?"

Sammael paced the tent, and Enlil frowned, "You can't help me then?"

His friend held up a hand, "I'm... Thinking." Sammael turned to him and sighed, "I don't give handouts anymore. It's been years. You have a daughter now... And the heat you bring isn't something I can simply ignore. I am expected to make a deal."

Enlil frowned, "What do you want of me?"

"I want Eve to Fall." Sammael replied simply, and Enlil winced, "I can't do that."

Sammael frowned, "Why not?"

"Because the choice belongs to the individual." Enlil growled, "Each moment of every day, how we act, what we say, how we portray ourselves is a choice. The choice to rebel is equally her right. I can't make her do anything. It would defeat the point. We can't give the world choice and then take it away."

Sammael sighed heavily, "We've always had choice. I'm not taking away anything, it would still be her choice, because everything is a choice. You always have a choice, just a question of preference."

Enlil shook his head, "I will not choose to do this. I can't."

Sammael sighed heavily, "Then I cannot protect you."

Enlil spun around, "Down!"

Their tracks lay in the dirt, all the way to the horizon, but now they were found, and the curse's price would be exacted. It couldn't be denied, but Enlil would fight to the end for his daughter. She was his hope.

He punched, his full force moving behind the fist, and Senoy was knocked off his feet by the blow, but the man simply used the momentum to flip off his wrists, landing upright, and he move forward, forcing Enlil to block the kick with his elbow, missing the punch that crashed in from the right and bounced off his ribs, he tried to lunge towards the figure, but Senoy ducked, spinning around under his arm and up again, kicking Enlil in the back and almost flooring him. He spun around in time to catch the next kick and spun the foot, flipping Senoy onto the ground, he leapt upwards and used the full power at his disposal to punch downwards, but Senoy was gone, yanked out of the way by Semangelof who produced a knife and slashed Enlil's hand when it came too

close.

Sansenoy was enjoying his own fight, arms raised as Lillitu attacked with a speed he could barely comprehend, but he blocked her blows and then snapped his elbow forward, catching her throat, and as she gagged he stomped on her foot, throwing her off balance as his knee hit her gut, tossing her to the ground roughly. He stomped down on her chest, and she screamed as ribs broke.

Ardet-lili stood to the side, terrified. Despite what she'd said, she was barely fourteen.

How could she fight any of this? Her parents were dying... The fight would be lost.

They'd turn on her.

They cursed her.

She yelled, sprinting, feeling a new strength erupting in her, and she skidded across the sandy ground, spinning and kicked out, and Semangelof was tossed aside, almost twenty meters, and Ardet-lili spun and punched hard, and Senoy screamed as his back broke, she spun in time to catch Sansenoy fist, and then she felt a hunger hit her,

something darker accompanying the strength. She felt her teeth move, and instinct stole her, and she bit down, and he screamed as blood poured from the wound as she shook her head, tearing at the flesh, feeling the

blood wash over her tongue, and it seemed to electrify her. Every fibre of her being became more alive.

Then she was jerked away, Enlil grabbing her arm, and he leapt into the air, tossing a hurricane force wind behind them, and they flew.

Urael cocked his head as he crouched, looking at the scrapes and footprints in the sand, he raised his hand and it glowed for a brief moment, and the sand fell into the cracks, illuminating the tracks of the fight, and he swallowed nervously. Enlil was an amazing warrior, but he couldn't win against two equalling him, nor could

his wife, and so they had been losing badly... And then Ardet-lili had joined the fight... Urael winced and touched the puddle of blood, confirming what it was, and he cringed as he rubbed it between his fingers, she had simply won the fight. Defeated the others easily.

Her curse would turn her into a monster.

Urael's head jerked up as he heard a growl and he spun around as a wolf slammed into him, tossing him off his feet, he screamed as it bit into his arm, shaking as it tore at the flesh, his other hand was trying to force the jaw open, to push it off, and he kicked up at it repeatedly, trying to drag his hand out of it's mouth.

The wolf was growling and panting, in a frenzied state, but Urael hadn't heard of a wolf ever attacking his kind before, and it was a bit odd. Sammael had to have a role in this.

Urael ripped his arm free with a yell, and spun kicking it off him and flipped to his feet, drawing a dagger, he sneered as it leapt at him, ducking to the side and stabbing down twice, tearing the shoulder muscles for one of it's forelegs, and the wolf stumbled on the ground, turning to him it seemed to be weighing it's choices, but Urael

moved, no hesitation as he leapt forward, stabbing into the back of the neck as he grabbed underneath the jaw and yanked hard upwards and to the right, ripping the whole head free.

Urael starred in surprise as the body of the creature slowly changed shape, becoming

human. He looked down at the head in his hand, but nothing happened to it.

Sammael.

Lillitu looked up as she heard a footstep outside, and she slipped out the hole that formed the window in the wooden structure her husband had thrown up that night, and she paused, "Urael?"

He smiled softly, "Hi, Lillith."

She winced, whispering, "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to save you." He replied and sighed heavily, "Unless you submit... Unless your daughter submits... Your whole family is going to end up dead... There is no way to win this fight. Not possible. It will never end... Until you become damned... No one wants to see that."

Lillitu moved closer to him, and straightened his shirt collar, "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes.

Her knee slammed up into his crown jewels, and he collapsed, she sneered, "I am the First Fallen. I'm not exactly going to want to submit, now am I?"

Senoy concentrated, as he began to carve a circle in the soft clay, "Bherg apo andho. Keep out the dark."

Sansenoy reinforced the circle, "Bherg sa abhor. Keep it strong."

Semangelof dug the final layer, leaving the circle solid, "Aues dhel. Shine a light."

Senoy crouched and carved his own name into the circle, "Ghab me magh. Take my power."

Sansenoy carved his own name underneath his brothers, "Me ai me magh. I give my power."

Semangelof carved her own name slowly, "Me magh obhi de rei. My power for this cause."

Then together they carved the final two words, and spoke together, "Bherg sa apo, bherg apo Lillith! Keep her out, keep out Lillith!"

The clay circle glowed red for a moment, cementing it's power into history.

# Chapter Eight:  
Forbidden Lusts

Kreu aued,

Bhleu-en ue,  
En g'hren,  
Sosã dhregh-kud en sosã  
Dhregha.

Sammael smiled softly, crouching, watching the deer move around. They were completely oblivious to his presence. He wasn't hunting, he was simply enjoying the game, the stalking. He could almost reach out and touch one of the young fawns, make it a clean fresh kill. But he wouldn't. That wouldn't be part of the game. That would be escalation, and once that began it wouldn't stop.

The fawn's head suddenly jerked up and the animals were gone, sprinting in other directions, Sammael stood up slowly, a frown crossing his face, annoyed that someone had spoilt his day, when he was tossed sideways and hit the dirt, someone sat on top of him, he punched up as hard as he could, and winced as he felt a shock travel up his arm as the blow was blocked.

He glared at the girl sitting on him, "That's impossible."

She sneered, "I want to deal."

Sammael cocked his head, "You could fight me... And you want my help?"

She stood up slowly, moving off him, "I'm cursed. Got a few problems of my own which would interfere."

He looked at the girl carefully, "Your Ardet-lili... How on earth did you block my blow? It should have torn the soul from your body..."

"Let's just say that I'm not earthbound, more hellbound, okay?" She said testily, glaring at him, and Sammael frowned, "What deal?"

"What deal did my father refuse?" She asked angrily, and he suddenly felt the power of the situation slipping away from him, she had all the cards here, he just had to make his one wildcard count or he'd lose... At least a limb.

"I wanted him to corrupt Eve." Sammael said softly, and Ardet-lili frowned, "What if I could get you into Eden... Would that be enough that you protect my family, and my descendants, forever?"

Sammael looked at her considering, and then nodded, "Yes."

"Then consider the deal done." She said and spun and walked away into the forest, and Sammael breathed out heavily and scratched the back of his neck.

He wouldn't want her as his prey.

Caine froze at the exit to the garden as the flaming sword nearly skewed him, he looked over, "Excuse me, Urael?"

The man shook his head, "Adam has given me instructions. You are not to leave the

Garden."

Caine glared, "You're going to let me anyway though, aren't you?"

Urael cocked his head, "What?"

Caine ground his teeth, "Why aren't I allowed out?"

Urael sighed heavily, "Adam can't give me orders... But maybe you'll listen to my advice. Stay clear of Ardet-lili."

Caine laughed, "I love her. I want her."

Urael put a hand on Caine's shoulder, "Don't go near her. Reject the fact that she

exists. Run away."

Caine shrugged his hand off, "Why are you doing this Urael?"

The man sighed heavily, his face grim, "Because I know who she is, and you really don't."

Caine frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Ardet-lili is the cursed offspring of the man who lead the rebellion, and the First Fallen, your father's first wife." Urael said harshly, "She is damned. Her soul is owned by another now, and every child she has will die a violent death. None will die by natural causes. Ever. She will live forever. And she will hunger for blood. She is

cursed. Her mother cursed your father, and that's why work is so hard, and isn't always enjoyable. Her father is Enlil, the one that defied Him. Sammael was only his general, he didn't lead the rebellion, that was Enlil. Are you beginning to understand why you can never be with her?"

Ardet-lili opened the door slowly and blinked, "Caine?"

He smiled softly, "Your new house was somewhat more difficult to find."

She stepped aside, "Come in!"

He stepped into the wooden house slowly and paused, taking in the single foot high table for eating, and the three hammocks in the corner, and the fact that nothing else was in the building, and it was situated in a total desert.

Lillitu smiled, "I've almost finished preparing the meal, will you stay?"

Caine looked over at her, "That's very generous of you... It can't be easy finding food out here..."

Enlil grinned, "That's why you must share it with travellers. Sit down Caine, you are our guest, and will receive the honours that it entitles you to."

He sat down slowly, and Ardet-lili sat down beside him, a grin on her face, "We can cover a little more distance than you for hunting. I don't think you will have tasted some of these."

He looked at the table as Lillitu prepared it quickly, and frowned, "I don't recognise a lot of things here... How far did you go?"

Ardet-lili shrugged, "Far enough not to be tracked."

Caine frowned, "Tracked... This is a great kindness you give me... But... How can you live like this? These conditions..."

Enlil shrugged, "As long as the three medicine boys stay out of our way, we have everything. Why would we want for more?"

Ardet-lili shrugged, "I've known far worse... But nothing better than this. We have everything to be grateful for, Caine."

He looked over at her, "Really? Even with the price that will follow you for the rest of all time?"

Her face went from happiness to anger and she stood up quickly and stormed out of the house, slamming the door. Enlil glared at him, "That was more than rude. But tell me, what did your father think of

this?"

Caine sighed heavily, "He has forbidden me to talk to her."

"What?" Enlil growled standing up and grabbing him, "You bring that against my family?"

He kicked open the door and tossed Caine out, bouncing him across the hard-packed sand, "Stay away from her! Give us some semblance of peace you idiot!"

"Caine!" Ardet-lili's sandals pounded across the dusty surface, her legs pumping as she chased after the distance figure, he paused and turned as she sprinted towards him, starring at the unruly sight. She skidded to a stop, leaning on her knees and panting as he looked away, completely uncomfortable with the situation. She grinned,

and looked up, "Caine."

He looked down at her, "Yes?"

Her smile vanished, "I'm afraid Caine... I can't be your wife... If I have children... They'll die. I'm cursed... If you married me, you would have no legacy. No son to carry your name... For all intents and purposes you would have no status, no place in society."

Caine sighed heavily, and cupped her chin in his forefinger and thumb, "It doesn't matter."

He dropped his arm, "Without Enlil's blessing, we could never be."

Ardet-lili sighed, "He's my father, I could talk to him... But what about Adam?"

Caine seemed to stiffen, and he looked away, trying to think, wanting to say something, but he just didn't know.

Ardet-lili frowned, "What if I could send a friend, someone Adam respects, who knows me well, to talk to him? Could you get them into the garden?"

Eve hummed to herself as she move around the tree slowly, knife cutting here and there, shaping it. This wasn't pruning for harvesting fruit, because this was that tree. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The one she was never to eat from. She flitted between the branches, cutting this one, thinning the fruit on this, all the while the

music played in her head.

I am a brisk and bonnie lass

And free from care or strife,

As sweetly as the hours pass

I love a country life.

At wake or fair I'm always there,

Its pleasures to be seen.

Though poor, I am contented and

As happy as a queen.

The hooked knife whistled as she span, ducked and weaved, from the inner branches to the outer, a madness to her method, a movement quick and sure, one that came with experience, a sure and steady hand, and the tree took quickly to the new shape, losing the random and heavy branches, pruning the leaves and twigs back into position, becoming a tamed tree, hiding the wildness that it represented, that it exposed to the world.

Eve smile as she worked.

Rise early, daughter of God,

Wash the white table of the linden tree,

in the morn the Sons of God will come,

To rotate the linden tree.

She lay crouched, bunched in on herself in the small crack in the ground, holding her breath with on leg tucked over her shoulder, wincing as her muscles began to protest.

She was just glad that she was still so flexible.

The guards footsteps finally began to move away and Ardet-lili slowly folded out of the ground, and she scampered passed on hands and feet, leaving no sounds behind her, moving too quickly across the ground to leave behind tell-tale footprints, and she paused by the cook's fire, watching from the flickering shadows as the roast rotated

over the fire slowly. Eventually the cook cut off the leg and a section of the belly, and placed it onto a square section of stone, and a young soldier picked it up and moved off with purpose.

She grinned and crept behind him, keeping to the shadows as he neared the main tent, and then she pounced, landing on his shoulders heavily, causing him to drop the meal, but before he could yell she grabbed his head and snapped sideways and up to the left with a satisfying crack, she caught the stoneware as she landed, and balanced

it easily. She blinked as her stomach growled, looking down at the dead young man.

Fresh kill.

She placed the meal aside slowly and moved her head towards the neck of the young man, and she felt her teeth elongating, making it easier to bite down. She bit tentatively, still not knowing how she was supposed to do this, and blinked as the blood touched her tongue, barely a drop, and her heart-rate went through the roof, hurting her chest. She slowly lapped at it, like a dog with water, spilling most of the blood out the edges of her mouth, suckling softly and quietly.

She stood up and wipe her mouth, with the back of her hand, and proceeded to clean it, licking the last drops away.

This curse did weird things.

She picked up the stone plate and moved off, drifting into Sammael's tent, who didn't even look up, he pointed to his table, looking down at some sort of carving covered in straight lines, "Put it over there."

Ardet-lili lowered it softly, and then crossed her hands behind her back and waited.

After a few moments Sammael looked up, "Are you still he... Oh. Hello."

She smiled softly, "Hello."

Sammael frowned, "Where's the normal guy?"

"I sort of snapped his neck." Ardet-lili said nervously, and Sammael rolled his eyes, "Great. Thanks. I assume your desperate to talk to me then? What about?"

Ardet-lili frowned, "I need a new deal. I'll still get you into the garden... But I want Caine as my husband. You can't touch him. I want my children to be safe."

Sammael shook his head, "No. Each person's fate is their own. The choice is their own. Caine will make his own choice."

Ardet-lili sighed heavily, "Oh."

"He will always love you." Sammael said softly, "He will always protect you. I can see that... Maybe that makes the trip worth it."

Ardet-lili smiled, "Maybe."

Caine walked into one of the meeting areas in the garden, and blinked, "Father?"

Adam smiled, "Come on over, son. Meet Iyish, she comes from the eastern tribes."

Caine moved over slowly, looking her over, she was a startling creature. Her skin was the colour of ebony, her figure was slender, her arms beautiful formed, frail as twigs, but her hips were wide, and her ankles thick. A woman who could give birth to strong men. Adam smiled, "I take it you approve of your bride then, Caine?"

Caine nodded appreciatively, "Yes, Father. Iyish... You will make a good mother."

The girl blushed, though he could barely see it, and he thought quickly, Ardet-lili was not like any other woman Caine had ever met, but would she approve of being the second wife and not the first? She had to... If she was the second, then he could have a son and her fears were groundless. They could be together. And it's not like one could outshine the other, Iyish and Ardet-lili would be beautiful side-by-side, a radiant example of worthiness to the man who they were wife to.

Yes, this was perfect.

Sammael bit into the meat, tearing at it by jerking his head as he heard one of his guards scream. He continued to eat slowly, chewing the meat, enjoying the juices as they filled his mouth, savouring the texture of the roasted pork. He heard more screams, and the sound of swords and wolf-like growls, tearing of tents.

He took another mouthful.

One of the Fallen burst into his tent, face a bleeding mess and collapsed, falling face down, and Sammael removed the last of the meat from his bone and put it aside slowly.

He stood and walked out of his tent and looked around at the wolves tearing it the Fallen violently and sighed, and held up a hand, and the battle stopped at his command.

The krsnik glowed for a moment as their souls were transformed and the human souls appeared as they stood around, though their bodies were some miles away, safe in tents guarded.

Sammael frowned, "You came for a reason. You wished to eat me to grow stronger."

He glared, "So I curse you. Unless you eat human flesh at least once between full moons, you will no longer have the power to shape your soul into beasts. Now leave... Or die."

He turned and walked around, as some ran through the tents, fleeing for their lives, the slower to react didn't get a chance to leave.

The ground cracked and tore open, creating immense fissures, and the figures vanished from sight as they were consumed.

Sammael sighed and moved the bow onto his shoulder, "What now? I just want to go hunting."

"We found this sneaking into the camp." One of the Fallen said, indicating the figure in between the two of them, bruised and keeled over.

Sammael rubbed his eyes, "Sneaking? I doubt it. That's Selaphael. Leave her and go. I'll deal with whoever hit her soon."

Selaphael smiled softly up at him, "Hi, Sammael."

He smiled sadly as he walked over, and he brushed her face, the bruises fading with his touch, "Why did you come here? I can't promise anyone safety. We are Fallen. We are... Well, to you we are wrong. Shouldn't be."

Selaphael nodded, "Yeah. I'm here on behalf of some very... Distraught... Villagers, who made a deal with you."

Sammael frowned, "If they lose the power, what is it to you?"

"Others. Distraught because their husbands came back and made a feast out of their daughters." Selaphael said coldly, and Sammael shrugged, "They wanted to eat me."

"Change the curse, please." Selaphael said softly, "You know who sent me. The authority I come on. He asks for mercy, as mercy was shown to you."

Sammael sneered, "I owe nothing."

"You owe everything!" Selaphael exploded, "You have chosen to forget!"

Sammael sighed heavily, "Fine. They don't have to eat human flesh once every moon. No. They have to pray to me. Daily."

Selaphael sighed heavily, "If that's your choice. You really are gone aren't you?"

Enlil turned, and Ardet-lili winced as the light in the cabin dimmed, almost vanishing,

"You what?"

She swallowed nervously, "All I did is speak..."

"Never. Again." Enlil sneered, "Never go near Caine. He's off limits. Forbidden. What if you bit him? What if you got married? Can you understand the hell that would rise if Adam turned against us? The future of the world lies with him, not with us. We are cursed and hunted. We don't need the danger that would come with that sort of heat."

Ardet-lili winced, "It's not like that, Father... I've spoken with Sammael... Caine is going to find a way to let Sammael into the garden, thinking he would defend me to Adam... In exchange... Sammael will protect us... And my children... Forever..."

Enlil let out a growl and punched the thin wall, shattering the wood, "You would do what? No! We do not corrupt! We do not make deals with him. We choose our own fate, and let others do the same!"

Ardet-lili laughed, "Sammael said the same thing. All he does is give them a choice."

Enlil glared, barely holding back from slapping her, when his wife spoke, "Shut up, Enlil. Ardet-lili is showing courage. She's thinking about her family, when with everything you would do, you'd let us remain slaves even though redemption is far out of reach now, isn't it?"

The light returned to the room slowly, and he sighed heavily, "It doesn't mean I have to like it."

The grass bent slowly under his foot as he inched forward, he wasn't holding his breath, that would weaken him when the opportunity presented. His breath was timed with his heartbeat, slowing him, calming him as he moved across the ground in a crouch, moving across stones, around sticks, hands at the ready, his gravity low.

He was barely moving, his motions matching the breeze as it moved across the grass, and he watched the head of the creature. He knew it should catch his smell soon, if it hadn't already.

The bull raised it's head slowly, and Caine felt the adrenaline surge through him, and he leapt, his feet kicking up tufts of grass as he was tossed through the air, the bull was turning, and he caught one horn and spun, locking his ankles around it's neck, and he clung on as it begun to buck, heaving and snorting angrily, he swallowed nervously as one of the horns came a bit close for comfort, nicking the edge of his throat, and he tightened his grip, riding it out and exhausting it wouldn't be enough, he needed to find a way to kill it.

Usually you would knock it off it's feet and slit the throat, but he'd decided to do this unarmed. A show of force to Iyish's family. Stupidity reigned again.

He had no doubts that Ardet-lili could break the thing's neck, proving that she was the stronger of the two, and the true warrior, and that was simply embarrassing. The women were supposed to gather. He was supposed to hunt.

To break the horn of the bull is to break it's power.

Iyish had said that once hadn't she?

Caine braced himself for the acrobatics he need to do, and then he moved quickly, barely thinking as he unlocked his legs, allowing the creature to buck him almost into the air, holding on only with the horns, spinning as his body fell, locking his whole body around one horn and kicking violently with both feet at the other horn, clinging to the other with a death grip, which it could end up to be. The bull let out an angry sound as there was a crunch and shearing sound, and Caine hit the ground, flipping backwards as it almost trampled him, holding onto his prize, a

broken and jagged horn.

Caine smiled as he turned to face the bull and it charged, he barely had time to react, dropping to the ground and stabbing upwards with the makeshift weapon, he felt something slam onto his leg and clenched his teeth hard enough that the gums bled to stop from yelling out. The bull wavered, and Caine pulled himself upright and yanked, tearing the horn out on an angle, and it collapsed onto the ground in front of him.

Caine smiled softly, and then looked down, wincing as he saw part of his shinbone sticking out.

He stabbed the horn into the head of the bull to make sure it was dead, and took the cord from around his pants and tied it around the head of the creature and swung it over his shoulder, and took a step forwards, and winced as his broken leg screamed at him. He ignored the pain, and the blood pouring down his leg as he heaved, moving a

step at a time, dragging the dead beast behind him.

Urael blinked, "Caine?"

He swallowed, "Hi."

Urael looked over Caine's shoulder, "That's an impressive beast. Nice takedown."

Caine smiled painfully, "Thankyou."

Urael frowned, "How's your leg?"

"Painful." Caine replied simply.

Urael laughed softly and flicked his hands, and they glowed softly, "Can't let Iyish see you with that injury. Detract from the present."

Iyish grinned as she folded the grass twice, and twisted it around a large set of dried grass that she'd already bent into shape, building the thread, as beside her the woman who would become her mother worked on building the small leg of the table they were creating. It was painstaking work, and would take several days to complete, but the

cane table would accommodate both families for the wedding, an essential moment. It would be comfortable as they lay on the soft grass near the garden. It was all exciting.

Eve grinned, "I can scarcely believe my son took down that beast."

Iyish's fac split into a smile, "He truly does believe in proving his status does he not? Such a man gives you honour to have sire him."

Eve nodded, "Indeed. Has he told you of the dowry he will pay?"

Iyish shook her head, "Those things are for the lord of the house, not for his wife."

Eve nodded, "Yet, the foods for the feasting, that is ours to choose."

Iyish frowned, "I confess, I am slightly concerned for the wine... I have never seen you nor Adam partake of the grapes."

Eve grinned, "Adam is preparing the wine for this feast. He is... Pedantic... About the flavour, ageing process and so much more. It is common that the first two days you produce the good wine, and when the guests are drunk, you produce the easier to create, the rougher... My husband would never do that. All must be brilliant, and worthy of his name."

Iyish smiled, "It is a quality he has passed on to his son, all must be perfect. I am glad that I was chosen for him."

Eve nodded, "It is a fate worthy of praise, for any. I am glad with who he was become. Are there names your family wishes to see? Traditions?"

Iyish frowned, "Caine and I have discussed names for our children, Enoch and Tubal-cain are the ones he wishes to see. The daughters will be named after my mothers."

The two were interrupted as Adam entered the area slowly, he looked over and smiled, "Matters are proceding well, then?"

Eve nodded, and Adam frowned, "I'm afraid I must pierce the happiness for a brief moment, Iyish. I have to ask, though it shames me, does my son hold a flame yet for Ardet-lili?"

Iyish frowned and shrugged, "My husband has never told me that name. I have no idea who she is."

Adam seemed to visibly relax, "Then all is well."

Adam bowed stiffly, "Lord Eli, it is with grace I receive you."

The man swathed in cloth gently removed a strip covering his mouth, revealing that he had more than eyes in his face, "It is for our common glory that we meet, Lord Adam."

Urael swallowed nervously, "Adam."

Adam looked over, his look telling his annoyance, and Urael signalled with his head, and Adam turned back, "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I do not govern what he is."

"He is a Risen." Eli said and shrugged, "Only One can say what they do. I understand."

Adam stepped away and looked at Urael, "What is it?"

Urael swallowed, "I can't let them in. Only a select few are allowed into the garden. They don't make the mark."

Adam starred at him, "You want to insult the family that is giving my son a bride, and removing the curse of Enlil's spawn from his mind?"

Urael shrugged, "Things are what they are. Don't fight it."

Adam felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck, not knowing what to do, and then he saw Caine walk over stiffly, "Urael."

The man smiled grimly, "Out of my hands."

Caine turned to his father, "I will take care of it. It is pleasant outside the garden is it not?"

Adam frowned, "We have everything set up inside the walls though."

Caine turned and walked away, and Adam swallowed, turning to his guest, the father of the bride, "Lord Eli... I am afraid that the accommodations are in need of change."

Eli frowned, "We are not granted passage then? The sword of flame would bar our way?"

Adam nodded, "Yes, so it is."

Eli clenched his jaw, "This is insulting."

"Hold your tongue!" Came a growl, and the two turned to see Caine, his face red and a table covered in meals sitting on his hands above his head, as he moved slowly through the entrance sideways, watching the table carefully, and he lowered it softly onto the ground, grunting with the effort of carrying it, and Eli frowned, "You would

speak to me in that manner?"

"Lord is the title of the guest, but the guest should know that the master is the title of the host." Caine replied softly, and then he smiled, "However, is it not traditional where you come from that you and I were to fight, and my victory would secure the hand of your eldest daughter?"

Eli laughed, "True! I would not wish to fight you, you of great strength and courage."

Caine bowed, "You honour me."

Eli shook his head, "Let us sit, and raise our glasses to much merriment, for today I gain a son."

Adam smiled, "And I, a daughter." He sat down at the head of the table, and Eli sat at his right, with Caine on his left. The other guests arranged themselves and sat down, looking at the lavish meal, and Adam looked to the heavens, "We thank you, Lord of Creation, for this bountiful feast, provided by your hands."

Then he looked at the table, "Bring forth the one, so we might see the two who shall be one, and together they be one bound under the One that is."

Caine looked over in anticipation as the black haired beauty walked through the entrance slowly, her hair jangling with silver and golden rings, but he should have looked behind him.

A single shadow stretched on the flat horizon, a single figure, a silhouette of a woman, filled with scorn. Bitter tears streaming down her cheeks, exposing her shame in the moment. Yet this was a woman who broke the rules, a warrior born and bred. A cursed soldier of destruction.

A heartbroken young girl, betrayed by her first love.

Iyish crossed the threshold, and sat slowly at the foot of the table, and Adam poured some wine into his bowl, and held it up slowly to Caine, he sipped from it, and it was passed down the ranks, passed each guest, and arrived in Iyish's delicate hands, and she sipped from it.

Adam smiled softly, "Now! They wish to be married in our eyes, to join these two families in unity! What say you?"

Eli frowned, "I see no reason to give such a cost. No such price has yet been paid."

Caine stood slowly and moved over to a tree, and untethered several animals and moved back into sight, dragging a dazed bull, almost the size of a horse, and four goats behind him. He held out the reins, "For the bride, I offer this gift."

Eli blinked in surprise, "How come you by these gifts?"

"By the sweat of my brow, and the grace of Him, I stole them from the wild fields where no man dares to tame." Caine said softly and Eli laughed, "Caine, the warrior, I gladly call you son."

A servant took the reins of the animals and then several others came to help him drag the bull over to the temporary pens so that they could contain it to take back with them.

Adam turned slowly, "Urael, your turn."

The man blinked, "My turn? To say whether these two can build a family here in the garden? It's not mine to say."

Adam winced, and Urael grinned, "But this lovely woman has already slept several nights within it's boundaries, I see no reason for that to change."

Adam's bowl arrived back at him and he raised it, "Drink to this binding of families!"

The party began.

It was good wine.

# Chapter Nine:  
Falling, Lilly Comes

Varnpyre sãg

Tera-g'hoem  
Dhugeter en Midgard  
Sosã ar-bheu k'el kreu.  
Sosã rabh  
Da'dek.

Tears. Tiny droplets of salted water, designed to lubricate and clean the eyes. Yet they serve another purpose. Emotions rise, and we find despair. The end of everything. We can't see tomorrow. Can't see the point in today. We don't want anything, we can't have a thing. No point in staying alive.

Tears streamed down Ardet-lili's face, her chest hurt, and she couldn't think anything, except that her life was over. She'd been betrayed. He'd loved her... He'd said he loved her... And then... This.

Tiny rivulets ran down her cheeks, streaking the dust on her face and turning it to mud, as she cried, hugging her knees to her chest, sitting in a corner of her small and rough home.

A slender arm was around her shoulder as her mother held her tight, Lillitu looked at her sadly, "I will always be here for you, daughter. I will always protect you. Just let me do it."

Ardet-lili bit her lip, feeling her new fangs puncture the skin and she tasted her own sweet coppery blood, and then it burst out in an unstoppable torrent, "Caine's getting married. He's having the wedding right now. Outside the walls of the garden. Plain view. Like he doesn't even care! As if yesterday he hadn't told me that he loved me,

and would give the world that we live together... Why? How could he do this to me? Am I nothing? Just a whore to be played with and then thrown aside?"

Lillitu hugged her tight, "Men can be stupid. They don't see things sometimes... But Caine won't have chosen his bride. That's not how they do things. It was chosen for him."

"He was happy!" Ardet-lili raged, "He likes her! Some bitch from the east!"

Lillitu sighed heavily and stroked her head, "It's better this way. Humankind is different to us. The sons and daughters of Adam. It hurts now, and it will continue to hurt, but it's a good thing that Caine has gone his own way. We are two different species, two races, two very different bloodlines. The loved and the outcast."

Another burst of tears filled her face and Ardet-lili buried her head under her arms, "Damn it... Damn it all... The whole damn world..."

Lillitu smiled sadly, "I love you daughter. But the fate you wanted... It could never be."

"The world will burn and die before I allow that whore of a bitch into this family!" Adam screamed angrily, and Caine sneered, his face inches from his father's, "She will be my wife! I have claim to her! You will not stand in the way!"

Adam rolled his eyes, "And the judgement of a hot-headed arrogant soldier is good for nothing. You are nothing but a sword, Caine. Stand aside and let my will be done.

Ardet-lili will never join this family. I would kill you first."

"I would die for her!" Caine yelled, his rage rising, "She is the one I saw. She is the one I wanted. She is not like any other woman father!"

Adam laughed, "She is not a woman. Woman came from man... She fell from the heavens. She is a curse, and she is cursed. Let it go boy. Ardet-lili will never see the inside of this garden."

"So I will work a new one for her!" Caine sneered, and Adam sighed, his energy fading, "Oh for the vigour of youth. It's pointless, Caine. See to the wife you have, not the one you will never have. Ardet-lili is hunted. She will fade from your life, and in all likelihood, her own life, soon enough."

Ardet-lili looked up at the figure in the doorway, "Hello, sunshine."

She glared at him, "Sammael."

He frowned, "Where's your father?"

"Behind you." Enlil growled, dumping the deer on the ground as he pushed passed the Fallen leader, and he turned and smiled softly, "Sorry, where are my manners? Please leave and go where the sun don't shine."

Ardet-lili glared over at her father, and then she let loose, "Te irrumabo! Te sunt nihil sed a catellus qui sugit in ubera caeli bos et manducat a excrementum Gigantes! Vos potius lactaverunt in tits desperatione quam tueri familia et defendere nobis est tuum! Te sunt nihil magis quam non-irrumabo ignavus cum septem ubera!"

Enlil went white as she finished, heaving and out of breath, "So you feel that strongly on the matter then?"

Ardet-lili rolled her eyes and turned back to Sammael, "Why are you here?"

"I thought you were finding me a way into the garden." He said softly, and raised an eyebrow, "Or did you forget you struck a deal with me?"

She sighed heavily, and looked away, "I need more time."

Sammael frowned, "Is this about Caine?"

She sighed heavily, "He's made things harder. He just got married."

Sammael frowned, uncertain what to say, and then he shrugged, "We waited an eternity to throw off the shackles, what's a little time?" Then he grinned, "And that was quite a tirade before... Didn't know you could swear like that."

Ardet-lili glared at him.

Iyish stepped across the dusty floor softly, moving almost silently, like a wraith as she travelled across the desert, feeling almost guilty, but not quite. She wasn't doing anything wrong, she was doing a kindness for her husband and the other. Not that Caine knew what she was doing.

She moved up as quietly as she could towards the wooden hut, and then a figure stepped out of the window and held up a hand, Iyish blinked, starring at the beautiful creature. She closed the distance, moving with a grace that she could barely comprehend, and the pale skin almost glowed under the starlight. She was exotic, gorgeous.

Ardet-lili frowned and whispered, "What are you doing here?"

Bitterness dripped like venom in her voice, and Iyish smiled softly, "I have a gift for you."

Ardet-lili blinked in surprise, and Iyish plucked a carved crescent moon, created from wood, from in-between her breasts and handed it over, "It's for you. Your symbol. Your grace. Caine loves you still."

Ardet-lili took it gingerly and looked up at her, "He loves me, but he marries you."

"I can give him an heir." Iyish said with a shrug, "I am more than happy to be the second wife. The less loved. Caine wanted to free you from the guilt of loving him, and a family with you. When his father presented me to him as his bride, a surprise to him, it was a perfect situation. We can both love him, both be married to him."

Ardet-lili smiled softly, and her hand traced a figure of eight on Iyish's neck, "You really think we could share him?"

Iyish smiled softly, "I'm certain we could work something out. Love is mutual afterall."

She felt bravery stirring in her, and she leaned forward and kissed Ardet-lili, feeling their body moulding together for a brief moment, and she pulled away, "I should return, they don't know I left."

Sammael looked up, "That was quick. I only spoke to you yesterday."

Ardet-lili tensed her jaw, "Protect my family. Protect my kids. Protect me. That's the deal remember?"

He nodded, "I'll hold up my part, you just hold up yours."

She smiled softly and held out the wooden crescent, "This is a key. Iyish gave it to me. I followed her and found the gate it opens. Caine made it so he could sneak out and go hunting. It's on the east side of the garden, just north of the banana trees. This will let you in."

Sammael smiled softly and took the small wooden object and pocketed it, he looked around with a frown, and then snatched up a lizard, and his hands glowed, and the legs faded, shrinking and dimpling back into the creature, until it was a single line, and he held it softly, "This is a symbol of the agreement between us. I'll protect you and

yours."

Ardet-lili smiled nervously, "What the hell is it?"

"A serpent?" Sammael shrugged.

She slipped in the door quietly, and Enlil looked up, "Seeing Sammael again? Or was it Iyish?"

Ardet-lili blushed, and he smiled, "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready."

She sat down as Enlil boiled the soup with a glare, and then began pouring it into three wooden bowls, and then he froze and looked up, "Irrumabo!"

The walls of the cabin exploded in a shower of splinters and Ardet-lili leapt backwards as Senoy charged through the space where she had been.

Caine starred in shock as he saw the violence, and he went to rush forward when a flaming sword appeared in front of him, "She can handle herself, kid."

Caine glared at Urael, "Let me pass!"

"No."

Caine clenched his teeth, aggravated, and then he saw Ardet-lili punch. He winced.

She moved as fast as she could, her punches turning into a continuous blur, like a single never-ending hammer blow, and Senoy was pushed into the ground, as she unleashed her hatred at what Caine was trying to do to her into this figure. Senoy's face broke, the skin tearing under the impacts, the bruising and swelling hit, as his

face began to change shape under the impacts, and he was powerless to do anything.

She was so much faster than him, he couldn't even get away.

Then she grabbed his ankle, and he felt his neck break from the inertia as he was tossed into the air.

Caine starred, "How can a woman... Do that?"

Urael laughed, "Woman? That's no woman. That bitch is a hell goddess. A demon queen."

Caine swallowed, the differences between them highlighted so blatantly, "Urael... Could you give Ardet-lili a message? That she needs to forget me?"

Urael sighed, "I won't, and I can't. This is my post, I won't leave it."

Sammael cut a branch here, a twig here, and circled the tree, neatening it up, and he heard a terrified gasp behind him, and he grinned, continuing to work, "You did a fairly shoddy job of this, Eve. I mean it's an important tree. Could have at least taken your time, I mean, it's like you want the fruit to rot."

"What do you want?" She asked breathlessly, her fear rolling off her in waves, and Sammael rolled his eyes, "Nothing. That's the point. Why would I want when I know everything He does?"

Eve just starred at him, "Blasphemy."

Sammael turned to her, "Did He really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Eve rolled her eyes, "We can eat fom the trees in the garden. But He did say, 'You must not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will surely die.'"

Sammael laughed, "As if you'd die. You pruned it, so you touched it. You didn't die. He's afraid. You're not going to die if you eat the fruit... You're going to be like him. You'll know, for the first time in your life, you'll truly know."

Eve looked up and saw the golden-red peas around the edge of the leaves, and she swallowed softly. It did look nice.

"I just want to talk to you." Enlil said putting his hand on her shoulder, she shrugged it off, "Get lost. Don't follow me. You'll be safe now."

Ardet-lili moved away, not in any particular direction, just wanting to get away.

Away from everything.

She stumbled onwards, putting one foot in front of the other, always walking. She could feel her lips cracking now from the heat, the wind blistering her skin, and there was no way she was walking in a straight line, after all, the horizon wouldn't stay flat. She nearly fell onto her face, her foot falling forwards an incredibly long way as the ground fell upwards onto it, and she blinked, trying to shake the dizziness away, even though somewhere in her muddled thoughts she knew it wasn't going to happen.

She blinked furiously as she saw a snake pop out of the sand and slither away. There was only one snake, that couldn't have been it.

She felt something cross her foot and paused, looking down as a snake slithered partway up her leg, before going down and slithering behind her.

She turned slowly, barely stopping herself from falling over, and starred as the sand seemed to roil, becoming alive, and all the way to horizon was suddenly a wave of snakes moving towards her, swarming around her, flowing up her, to bury her.

Mikael winced, grabbing Ardet-lili as she flopped backwards onto the sand, eyes rolling

into the back of her head, "You are not dying on me."

He winced as he cut his wrist, and then he held it over her mouth, and his eyes widened as he felt her fangs slam through his skin, and her teeth grinding on his arm, he looked down at her, at her unseeing eyes as she drank him, chewing on him, and he fought the pain and brushed her hair backwards, gently stroking her head, "It's okay

girl... It's all going to be okay."

Caine looked up from his position on the earthwork roof, and his jaw nearly dropped.

He could see a figure emerging on the horizon, tattered and cloaked in rags, like the desert tribes, but he knew that figure. It had been over ten years since she'd vanished, since he'd been kicked out of the garden and founded this city, named for his first son,

Enoch.

He leapt off the roof and ran over, "Ardet-lili?"

The woman glared through the tiny slit revealing her eyes, and two small figures appeared from behind her, and Caine blinked, looking at the two daughters, barely old enough to walk, and looked up at her a little more distantly, "Daughters?"

She pulled the rag from over her face, "Hello, Caine."

He watched her carefully and then frowned, "Where have you been?"

She shrugged, "Not really important. I survived. Here's a more important question, where on earth is the garden? I can't seem to find it."

Caine sighed heavily, "It went with our innocence."

He turned, "So I built this. Enoch. It's a safe haven. I built it to protect your mother."

Ardet-lili smiled, "How sweet. How's Iyish?"

Caine shrugged, "She died a couple months ago."

She cocked her head, "Your wife died? And you don't care?"

"Tubal-cain is amazing." He said with a grin, "My second son. He's worked out how to forge a metal, calls it iron. With iron... I can conquer the world. It can shatter stone. With those kinds of weapons, no one could stop me."

Ardet-lili shivered, "No. That's wrong Caine. That's not you, who you should be."

Caine looked at her, "The world is there for the taking."

"You try it, and I will stop you." She growled angrily, and Caine frowned, "Oh."

Then she gasped as Caine spun, an iron dagger plunging into her side, grazing her hip bone, and she grabbed the knife and stumbled backwards, "Damn you."

She yanked, splitting her hand open on the blade, and slammed her knee upwards, and Caine folded up as she struck his sensitive spot, and she grabbed the hair on his head and yanked his head to the side, biting down, her fangs sliding out and piercing the skin, causing his blood to pour into her mouth, and she suckled his neck, drinking the blood quickly, her tongue directing the flow into the centre of her mouth, slowly

draining him.

She pulled back slowly, swallowing quickly, and the whitened Caine looked up at her dizzily, and sneered, "You should leave."

He stumbled to his feet, falling over a couple times, and drifted away, his feet shuffling, dazed.

She winced and looked down, starring at the blood seeping from the knife wound, "It didn't heal."

Then a familiar voice spoke from the shadows, "Caine was marked, Ardet-lili. Protected. Now you get to add an allergy to iron to your list of fears."

Suddenly her hand stung and she dropped the knife, swearing, and starred at her hand, at the blisters forming on it, "Damn!"

Mikael drifted out of the shadows, his hands glowing, and he encompassed her burnt hand and looked her in the eye carefully, "Just the one scar today. A reminder of your crime."

She smiled sadly.

Tubal-cain rushed out and starred at the gathering forming just outside the city, "No..."

They weren't human, they were Fallen. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. Just massing, sharpening weapons, practicing fighting techniques, and cooking meals. A war camp.

He stood up on a nearby platform, "I am Tubal-cain, son of Caine, ruler of this city!"

Some of the Fallen turned and looked, and he swallowed, "What are you doing here?"

The Fallen parted, and a familiar and terrifying face appeared, moving through them, and he walked up to Tubal-cain, "I want Enlil."

Tubal-cain turned and signalled to a cousin, and he ran off quickly, returning shortly with the Fallen, and Sammael grinned, "The deal was done. I'm tired of waiting. You and your two pretties come with me now, or the deal's off."

Enlil glared, "A deal is a deal. You will protect us. Now or later."

Sammael opened his mouth, when a voice spoke, "Oh shut up, Sammael. You made your deal, live with it."

He looked over and Enlil's eyes widened as he saw his daughter, plus two.

"They weren't included." Sammael said slowly, and Ardet-lili moved, a blur, punching both fists into Sammael, knocking him backwards and off his feet, and then she was on him, pounding her right arm downwards, shattering the front of his skull and caving his face inwards.

She stood up and shook her hand, "That stung." She licked her finger and turned up her nose, "Sour."

Sammael let out a pained scream as his skull began to realign and reshape, healing.

"Go with him." Came a sneer, and Enlil looked up to see a haggard Caine, who pushed Lillitu towards them, "You are no longer welcome in Enoch. Any of you. Get out."

The new home, the new fortress, was a simple enough structure, rough wooden huts surrounded by a wall of spikes pointing outwards, a palisade. Somewhere inside the palisade Ardet-lili sat at a table with Sammael, and he was pissed with her.

"You have a serious attitude problem."

She shrugged, "I need to feed. As my protector, you need to supply the people I feed off now."

Sammael sighed, "I could win. Stop picking fights."

"Probably." Ardet-lili shrugged, "However, I'd rather that my protector didn't end up dead."

Sammael frowned, and drummed his fingers on the table, "Ah. I know. How about we set up a new cult. A group of people to supply your needs. They worship you, you feed on them, they think it's a blessing. I can give you a few devotees, and this kind of thing spreads fairly quickly."

Ardet-lili winced, "Is that really the best you can come up with?"

"Take or leave it." Sammael growled angrily and she sighed, "Fine. Let's do it."

The fire crackled as Enlil warmed his hands, "What is our daughter turning into?"

Lillitu winced, "She needs blood now. It's the curse."

"It's sort of worse than that." Enlil shivered, "She enjoys it. The pain. The inflicting. Where'd the shy girl who didn't want to fight go?"

Lillitu shrugged, "We all lose our innocence eventually, Enlil. She's just... Gone further than we expected. But what could we do? We didn't even know if she was still alive."

Enlil winced and looked back at the flames, and she rubbed his shoulder, "It wasn't your fault that she left."

"Yes it was." Enlil said tensely, "I could have helped her... Instead... I just let her go. I... I didn't want to be hunted. Thought she was the priority... I was just a cruel bastard."

Lillitu sighed heavily, "Well, we have a chance now. To make her... Better."

"Slim chance." Enlil said grimly.

Ardet-lili stood on a hillside, looking down at a small village. She felt a tiny hand pull at her dress, "Mummy, mummy!"

She smiled softly, "Yes, Delilah?"

"Is that dinner?"

Ardet-lili nodded, "Yes it is."

"Are you going to send it dark again, mummy?"

Ardet-lili grinned, "You do so enjoy playing with your food, don't you?"

The two girls smiled, cheeks dimpling, and she hugged them, "I love you two."

She clenched a fist, and the sunlight vanished, swallowed up, and her two daughters sprinted down the hill, giggling to themselves.

A carpenter looked around, blind in the darkness, terrified, and Lillian whispered in his ear, and as he spun she moved behind him and nipped his neck. She giggled, turning him about till he stumbled into his workbench and fell over, clattering tools everywhere.

She proceeded to break each of his fingers, one at a time, whilst he tried to curl into a blubbering ball.

Lillian glared, annoyed that he wasn't being fun anymore, and so she tore his arm off, spraying blood everywhere, coating her, and the man's screams filled the night, as she slowly ripped him to shreds, playing with her food.

Ardet-lili smiled down proudly as her daughters terrorised the town, it wasn't like any would survive.

Senoy starred into the flames, the hide blanket wrapped tightly around him, and he shivered. The scars on his face and chest were reminder enough. He wasn't starring at the fire, he was starring beyond it into the gulf. He had a job to do. A simple enough job. Stop a young girl.

He hadn't counted on her being one of the most powerful creatures he'd ever met, and he'd ignored the fact that she knew how to be a serious bitch.

He was only alive because she didn't deign to kill him.

That wouldn't be fun.

He shook his head, this was taking too long.

Sansenoy held up the scratching on the hide so he could see it from the campfire light, and winced, starring at the defences, and the marks that represented the scouts and patrols. He couldn't see a way into the camp, no way at all, let alone one that would get them in, and leave them enough strength to destroy Ardet-lili and get out again.

Sammael knew what he was doing, and it was bloody annoying.

Semangelof ran her hands across Senoy's back, slowly healing his ribs, moving them back into place, and swallowed back her nervousness. She could feel her attachment to Senoy growing, she'd been in a mortal form too long. She was allowing her emotions too much control, attaching too much value to Senoy.

His head jerked up suddenly, and he starred into Sansenoy's face, "Cambion."

# Part Three:  
The Salvation

Sosã er u̯erdh,

Sosã-ario apo mauro.  
En orsos apo toros,  
Sosã g'em.

# Chapter Ten:  
Hunting Redemption

Sosã-ario sed-es

Konemo,  
Andh-kedes  
Bhleu-sosã  
Ar-bheu.

It was quiet, and cold. The perfect night to be standing where they were, standing in the middle of a graveyard, the two dark beings, their own paths clouded as the fog begins to grow. Murdoch crouched and rubbed his hands in the soil, "Sansenoy, answer me this... You killed a priest, and spread his bones in this graveyard. Why? Why be so very vulgar?"

Sansenoy looked at him and cracked up laughing, "You really have no idea do you? You have no clue what you are hunting!"

Murdoch rolled his eyes, and then lifted his hand, still clutching a handful of dirt and sniffed it, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as a million images flashed passed his face, and he nearly fell over, "Fuck!"

Sansenoy looked over at him, "What?"

"A Lilin... She met an angel here. Eh... Jegudael... He offered her redemption, and she took it." Murdoch shook his head, "Not exactly what I expected to see."

Lilly opened her eyes slowly, a slightly puzzled expression on her face as Ethan sat down next to her, putting a tray on her lap, she looked at it and sniffed, "That's not tomato soup is it?"

Ethan shrugged, "Bit of an odd thing to ask for... But enough money makes any butcher look the other way. It's not human."

Lilly smiled tiredly, "It's swine, not too bad."

She sat up slowly and then sighed heavily, "This is too much, Ethan..."

He looked at her, "What? I'm not allowed to be nice?"

Lilly shook her head, "It's... If I even brushed your hand, I would be sent to hell, well pain-wise anyway. And... I want to hold you... More than that..."

Ethan sighed heavily, "I know... But... We need to know... I don't know... How does the Lillith circle actually work? How was it made?"

She sighed heavily, "Only freaking Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof would know, and I doubt they'll want to talk to me much... Or you for that matter. They'd rather strip the skin from our bodies and wear it as capes."

Ethan stood up, putting his hands behind his head, "Damn."

Lilly picked up the spoon and sipped the blood, feeling the dampened electric rush, "What is it?"

Ethan turned to face her, "I just... I thought that maybe, you know, with the promise for redemption, we could forget about it all... We could leave the fighting and torture behind."

Lilly felt surprised at herself, and she looked at him, "I'm not going to torture. I don't want to." She smiled, half in shock, "I'm just going to ask, very, very nicely."

Lillian looked at the building, "Really? A pub?"

Jegudael smiled, "It's what's on the inside that counts."

He pushed through the doors and strode in confidently, walking over to a single figure sitting at a table, "Lillian, this, is Mikael."

Her eyes bugged as she looked at the man in font of her, the man who had led the war effort since before time began, the greatest warrior, an equal to Sammael, probably an equal to her grandmother, and she swallowed nervously, "It's true? I... I can be redeemed?"

Mikael nodded, his face a sign of compassion, "Of course. You can be redeemed... But you have to give up who you are. Give up the hurt. The destructive self-loathing. Forget the darkness that you are. Realise that you can't do that, none of it. Surrender to Him, and let him work through you to do it. It's not something that happens overnight... It's a process. Your journey. Your story."

Murdoch bit into his hamburger and shrugged, as Sansenoy fiddled with a chip, "It's not like she's the most predictable woman in the world."

"Nor the hardest. Lilly Cambridge has to be found, and if we can't... Who the hell can?" Murdoch asked with a raised eyebrow, and then someone slipped into a seat beside Sansenoy, "I could."

The two looked at him and Sansenoy's jaw dropped, "Gabrael... Geez... What happened to you?"

"Myrrdin happened. Not that that matters much. You have fallen, Sansenoy." Gabrael growled, all joviality vanishing, he loked over at Murdoch and spat, "And your nothing but a devil worshipper."

Sansenoy glare at him, "You rude little... I will destroy you."

Gabrael rolled his eyes, "Myrrdin is under wraps."

Murdoch glared across the table, "Gabrael... I will tear your heart from your chest. We have no need of the cambion."

Gabrael raised an eyebrow, "Really? I thought krsniks liked history, knowing their past. You have obviously neglected your history. I was once Sammael's equal. You caused the Pope to fall. A bit rocky ground to be making threats now, isn't it?"

"What do you want?" Murdoch forced the words through his teeth.

Lilly sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with her feet, feeling her heart-rate pounding, her heart trying to escape her chest. She looked up nervously, her throat going dry, "I know you want to know why I came back, Ethan..."

He looked at her, and she could see the eager longing there, the demand to know, the near-desperation to know if his suspicions were true, and Lilly clenched her eyes shut, "Damn... Why can't... I... It was you, Ethan. I came back..." She opened her eyes and looked up, "Because I love you."

Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, "I... I can't make up... For... What I did to you... I was the worst bitch... Worse... I was a monster..."

Ethan sighed heavily, tears dripping down his own cheeks, "I don't want to forgive you. You abused me at every turn." Then the tightness left his jaw, and he smiled sadly, "But ever since I saw you, at the hospital when Sansenoy attacked you, when all this started for me... I've been crazy about you."

She stood up slowly, feeling like she was floating above the world, drifting over to him, his head bending down, she looked up at him, feeling the tension in the moment, bringing her mouth close to his, and then she pulled back, "Damn curse."

Ethan sighed heavily and fell on the edge of the bed, "Damn." He looked up at her, "I want to fight beside you, as an equal."

Lilly screwed up her nose, "I am not turning you!"

Ethan winced and looked down, as if he could stare through his shirt at the scars underneath it, and all the pain they were causing, and then he looked up, "The angels! They did this to me... But they would be able to undo it wouldn't they? Healing or something?"

Lilly grinned.

Stuttler clenched her fists, she'd been idle long enough, it hardly mattered that she was at the edge of death, there were things to be done. A bitch to be slain. She pulled on her pants, wincing as her muscles screamed, and ripped off the hospital gown and dropped it aside, she yanked the IV needle out of her arm and pulled on her t-shirt,

gritting her teeth as she felt her muscles protest, and she turned and saw a nurse in the doorway, "You can't leave yet. Lie down."

Stuttler barely thought about it, she stepped over, grabbing the nurse by her hair and yanked her down as she slammed her knee up into her face, breaking her nose and knocking her out, she dropped the nurse and walked over her, rolling her eyes as she saw a security guard, hand going to his gun on his belt, "Stop there!"

Stuttler kicked herself forward, dropping and sliding across the floor, carpet burning her leg as she snatched the gun from his hand before it had fully emerged from the holster, she leapt to her feet behind him, taking off the safety and firing in one movement, the guard collapsed forward, holding his chest, and she winced, no one

should be shot through the back, but it couldn't be helped, she had things to do, people to kill.

Lilly sighed heavily, grabbing each corner of her t-shirt with the opposite hand and she raised it, slipping the slight thing over her head, revealing creamy white skin, but it wasn't faultless. There was a small scar by her hip, it was circular, and aged, almost beginning to sink into her. Following her skin higher, another scar lay across her

stomach, beginning at a small point but widening to almost half an inch, but at even height to the dagger's mark, on her back, were several horizontal scars, evidence of a whip. She dropped the t-shirt, bending over, showing the burns around her wrists, as she let her pants drop to the ground, her position highlighting the scar across her right thigh. Over on her left leg, four scars from bullets could be seen, and below, both her ankles showed more burn marks, older, and her left foot showed scars, ancient, where she must have been stabbed. "Why haven't they healed?" Ethan asked from the corner, and Lilly jumped, grabbing the dress from the bed and shoving it in front of her near-naked body, bursting out the words in surprise, "I betrayed Caine."

Ethan frowned, "Why do you hide the scars?"

Lilly shuffled sideways into the bathroom, red blossoming on her dead-white face, and closed the door, and she shouted from behind it, "Because they're my failures."

Ethan scratched his head, "They mark who you were. Reminders of what you did, not what you will be. The memory of them serve as reminders so you can change what you will be."

Lilly laughed, "I love it when you talk like that."

Ethan ground his teeth, "Can't you even pretend to be serious? We should be out finding your redemption!"

Lilly opened the door, brushing her hair, "I have to kill a cambion. Any idea how you can do that? Myrrdin has been hung, impaled, drowned, shot and beheaded. How do you suggest I possibly take him out?"

Ethan winced, "Has a cambion ever been killed before?"

Lilly shrugged, "There's only ever been three cambions in the history of the world. Two were... Confiscated... by Mikael."

Ethan rolled his eyes, "Mikael! Everything goes back to him. He's who we should find."

Lilly frowned, "I have no idea how to find him. I've always run from him... Not tried to track him."

Ethan smiled softly, "Let's go to the local library. A bit of a brush up on our mythology won't hurt."

The old man banged his hands on the bartop, slopping his beer, "There's no point to it

all!"

Gabrael smiled softly, his hand squeezing the man's shoulder, "Really? So you can't say goodbye? Or hello?"

The old man looked at him quizzically, "Huh?"

Gabrael smiled, "Look at you. There's still strength in those bones. And you still love her. So you just have to remember that you won her once, so... What are you waiting for? Show her. Show her you're still that tough bastard. Toughened with age."

Then the window to the pub shattered, spitting shards of glass around, Gabrael spun surprised, seeing the blue shape, almost formed from mist, leaping across the space between them, the wolf spirit of the krsnik. He tossed up his arm, the wolf biting into it and he fell backwards, banging his head against the bartop as he hit the ground, he kicked up into the chest of the wolf, and it let go, moving backwards, and Gabrael leapt up, grabbing the aluminium frame bar stool and he swung it, colliding with the wolf's head, smashing it into the bar, breaking the wall of the bar itself, and shattering the stool into a bunch of useless pieces, as the wolf shook it's head Gabrael backed up.

He didn't know if he could win this fight, right now, he could feel the poison inching it's way from the bite wound into his mortal frame, and the innocents had to be protected.

He couldn't run or others might die.

This had been well planned.

Only one way out.

Damn.

The krsnik's wolf spirit leapt, and Gabrael tried to grab it, his fingers barely touching the ghostly thing, but it's teeth were all too solid, ripping into his throat with a tornado of blood, tearing at him viscously, and he collapsed backwards onto the ground, his vision fuzzing, as the spirit seemed to fade like a bad dream. Going back to the body whence it came. Gabrael coughed, blood spraying, shaking, as he was dying, and he held up a hand, watching as it turned black and flaked away, he was disintegrating. He was going back.

Murdoch rolled his arms as they stepped into the lobby of the hotel, "I love the

architecture, don't you?"

Sansenoy sighed and lifted his hand, revealing the silenced pistol and fired, the receptionist dropping back into the chair before she could even rise, "Really? Bit pompous if you ask me."

The security guard beside the door started, but as he made a move to grab them, Murdoch slipped through his grasp, spinning behind him, interlocking his arms with the guard and shoved downwards, dislocating the arms, and he shoved the guard forward onto the tiles, "Stay put. No need for you to die as well."

Sansenoy fired, splattering red over the tiles, "False hope, Murdoch."

The two crossed the marbled floor and entered the elevator and punched a button, Murdoch shrugged, "False hope is better than no hope."

The elevator doors opened, revealing a tourist couple, giggling and holding each other, Sansenoy fired quickly, blasting the brains of both out the back of their skulls and stepped over their bodies as they fell, "I don't agree, Murdoch."

They moved over to a door, standing either side of it, and the krsnik kicked it in, splintering the wood, and Sansenoy stepped in behind him, blinking as they saw Lilly, standing, ready, and she blinked, looking at Murdoch, "Who the hell are you?"

Sansenoy jerked his trigger finger repeatedly, shooting at her, and Lilly became a blur, ducking and bending like a gymnast, spinning around, she stopped, one hand on the ground to steady her, and she stood up slowly, holding out the other hand, and she opened it, and bullets tumbled to the carpeted floor with a clink.

Murdoch gasped, his back arching, and his body fell backwards as the wolf spirit burst out of his chest with a growl, and Sansenoy sprinted forward, leaping, trying to tackle her. Lilly fell backwards, holding him, raising her feet as they rolled and she kicked, tossing him through the glass and into the street, and then she screamed as the wolf bit down into her arm.

"No!" Ethan yelled appearing in the doorway holding a fire extinguisher, and he glanced around, spotting Murdoch's body, and slammed it down, hard.

The wolf spirit vanished, fading into a mist that crawled back into it's body.

Lilly stood up shakily, laughing, "Not bad."

Ethan laughed, and then a shadow stepped behind him.

Sansenoy ran, his face bleeding, she was too strong. Too ready for them! He ducked into an alleyway, breathing hard, and then he was tossed backwards against the wall and as he leant forward a knife appeared against his throat, "Don't."

Raphael glared at him, "You could be redeemed."

Sansenoy rolled his eyes, "I'd rather not."

Raphael sighed heavily, "As you wish."

He sliced, pushed back further, blood covering his hand as he beheaded someone who was once his friend.

Mikael looked up as Raphael entered the café, the exhaustion of generations covering

his face. Urael smiled softly as he sat, "How goes it?"

"Sansenoy is dead." Raphael winced, looking at the others, "Our number shrinks again. He went with Murdoch and attacked Lilly in a frontal assault. She tossed him out the window... Ethan knocked Murdoch out with a fire extinguisher... And Sansenoy ran into an alley. I challenged him... And he preferred death. But... Sammael turned

up. He came to talk to Lilly."

Selaphael stared, "Sammael?"

The SASR moved quickly, quietly, as they were trained to do. Surrounding the hotel, knowing that they faced incredible danger at what was inside. They maneauvered expertly, hand gestures the only sound, as they penetrated the lobby, secured it, and moved up the stairs. They were heavily armed, experts. The SASR is one of the best

trained fighting forces in the world. Sabre Squadron 2 currently held the role of counter-terrorism, and unlike when operating in other roles, the only mission statement they had, was "to rescue the hostages". In short, they operated themselves. The elite soldiers were tense, but they'd seen worse situations. A hotel in the heart of

Melbourne was hardly a challenge.

Lilly starred at the figure as Ethan backed away slowly, and he smiled, "Hello. We haven't met, my name is Sammael. It's my pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Ardet-lili's is a friend of mine."

Ethan glanced over at her, "Sammael isn't really... Him is he?"

She smiled tightly, "'fraid so."

Sammael shrugged, "I came, because, well, I want to make a deal with you."

Lilly blew through her lips, "Ha! No. No thanks. I'm kinda chasing my redemption here."

Sammael shrugged, "Just hear me out. I'll remove the Lillith circle from your friend's chest. I'll make sure no one ever hunts you again."

Ethan blinked, it sounded so good. Peace. Freedom to be together.

Lilly glanced at him and saw his face and she gritted her teeth kicking Sammael in the chest as hard as she could, through the doorway, wall and into the lobby.

She ran into the hallway, and then froze, Ethan looked at her, confused, and then he gasped as she shook, bullets tearing through her, shaking her like a ragdoll, and she fell forward, bleeding out, staining the carpet.

Ethan fought the urge to pee, and then he spun as Murdoch sat up, holding his head, "Fuck."

Then the krsnik saw him and pounced, grabbing him and sprinting through the remnants of the window, dropping down towards the ground.

Ethan clung on tightly, terrified, and then he felt something weird, like a cold lake had shot through him, and he saw the ghost wolf bouncing off a wall and it bit, catching it's own body, bouncing off the wall of the hotel and landing them on a nearby roof.

# Chapter Eleven:  
Bindings

Ardet-lili

Sosã-me  
Lillith  
Sosã-dei en Lilin,  
Sosã-ario en Mauro,  
Meng-kedes,  
Kreu-eu,  
Sosã g'em nek.

Lilly's eyes snapped open as she shivered, a freezing cold encompassing her. Her face screwed up as the pain hit her, and she looked down, there was an I.V. drip stabbed into one of her arms, blood slowly being fed into her system, but the pain was focused around her wrists. She was lying in a hospital bed of some kind, inside a cell.

A prison hospital then. But her wrists were handcuffed to the bed, and they were smoking. Iron. She gritted her teeth and jerked, snapping the chains easily and she winced as her fingertips burnt as she grabbed the rings around her wrists and snapped them off, tossing the iron fragments aside. She rubbed her wrists and winced, then yanked the IV needle out. She looked up at the blood and frowned.

She grabbed the bag and tore the end off it and poured it down her throat, swallowing feverishly, feeling the euphoria roll over her like a waterfall. She smiled giddily and burped, and then stumbled over to the steel door, and kicked it as hard as she could and swore as it dented, but didn't give way, hopping and holding her foot. The door

must have been a bit bigger than normal.

She clenched her fists and sneered.

No one caged her.

No one.

She began to pound her fists into the metal, slowly peeling the door back.

Murdoch smiled and shook the SASR commander's hand, "Thanks for the assist, that girl has been a real pain."

The commander smiled, "My pleasure. Serial killers suck. But... Where exactly is she? I thought you would have thrown her in the holding cells."

Murdoch shrugged, "She's in a cage, safer than here. Can't exactly send her into a detention facility where she'll just kill everyone and break out again."

"Where exactly?"

"Safe." Murdoch said with a smile.

The police chief ducked his head out the door, "Got a minute Murdoch?"

The commander moved away, and the krsnik walked over and entered, the chief waved to a chair and the two sat facing each other, "What happened out there today? I didn't realise we were bringing the SAS into this."

Murdoch sighed heavily, "I found Lilly Cambridge. She was staying under an assumed name with someone she kidnapped, Ethan Raith, the guy who got struck by lightning a few days back. I had the lead, but I also knew that she was moving on, and this station doesn't have the strength to take down this girl. She was shot up, bleeding out on the floor, and managed to kill two SAS. I'm happy I called them in... She's a worst nightmare walking the earth."

The police chief frowned, and pointed at a piece of paper, "That why she got put there of all places?"

"It's been renovated for... Super psychos. It was originally designed as a detox centre, but I assure you, it's security is passed what Damy Phyllis Frost could offer." Murdoch smiled, "It's over."

Mikael walked down the hallway slowly, looking at the destruction around him. The hotel had been sealed off, but simple enough to sneak into. He crept down the hallway quietly, moving up the stairs with the silent precision of an age of experience, and he winced, starring at the stains on the carpet.

Bullet cases lay everywhere, but up ahead, was hell.

He crouched down outside the room, looking at the stain, and he touched it softly, and raised it and sniffed.

The blood of Ardet-lili.

"She is going to be pissed."

Raphael strode down the alleyway slowly. Something had been stalking him for most of the day, and it had begun to grate his nerves. He had to bring it into the open. Too many had died in this task. He was fully committed, and he couldn't go back. Ardet-lili and her soul was his task on Earth, and he would see it through, if it took him ten

thousand years more.

He spun around with a glare, and froze as he saw the ghostly wolf, glowing in the shadows of the alley, "Krsnik. Damn."

Mikael ground his teeth and kicked a clod of dirt into the air. He'd spent days tracking Ethan from the hotel, where Ardet-lili had been taken. The slightest of forensic traces was all he'd found, and it had led him across the city to this graveyard, where he had lost time trying to find something, anything that could tell him where to go next... But...

"Nothing!" He yelled angrily.

A soft footstep landed behind him, "Not nothing."

He turned around slowly, and blinked, seeing the blue ghostly figure of a wolf spirit, but this one was different. A different krsnik.

Mikael tensed, backing away slowly, increasing the distance between the two, giving himself a better chance.

It noticed.

It pounced.

Mikael rolled as it bit into his raised arm, flinging the wolf into a gravestone and shattering it, he leapt upright and punched down as hard as he could, bashing it's head into the ground as he tried to reach for his sword, but it recovered too quickly, leaping up and grazing his throat.

He rolled, kicking the creature back, grabbing a piece of broken gravestone and tossing it hard, knocking it backwards as he leapt upwards and ran.

He rubbed his throat as he sprinted, wincing as he felt blood.

That was too close.

Ethan groaned, his head throbbed, it felt like he'd had a herd of elephants stampede over it. He sat up slowly, shivering. He was a pitch blackness, no light. None.

He breathed in slowly, "Lilly?"

His voice seemed to echo, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember what had happened to him. Something... She'd been shot!

Then... Then... The wolf thing...

Damn.

He was a prisoner again somewhere.

Where?

He shuffled backwards across the concrete slowly, and his back bumped against a wall, he turned around slowly, his head thumping, and ran his fingers along the concrete, and blinked as he felt nothing. No seam. So he was in a concrete room of some sort that had been made by pouring around some frame. There had to be a seam somewhere... Roof. No light because it was sealed somehow.

He craned his neck, but nothing.

He ran his fingers around, stubbing and bruising them on the tiny imperfections in the concrete, run around the room, but he couldn't reach the roof, even jumping.

Prison cell.

Not one that he could escape.

He was sealed in.

He clenched his eyes shut.

No way out.

Sealed in.

In a box.

He curled up, hands over his ears, and swallowed nervously as the shakes started.

Terror.

"Gorramit!" Lilly sneered as the door finally fell forward with a heavy boom, shoving her bleeding hands under her armpits, she shook her head to clear the dizziness, and then pulled her hands out again and winced, starring at her bleeding knuckles, "Damn it."

She stepped up onto the foot and a half thick metal door and jumped into the hallway and glanced around. Empty hallways, lots of doors, high ceilings. She frowned and cocked her head at the dead white paint scheme. Odd place.

She glanced back at her cell, at the single bed...

This was a prison, or had been at some time, probably abandoned now or the guards would have come running and shocked her to sleep hours ago.

She sighed, prisons were designed to turn you about, to make escape attempts harder, finding a way out without ever walking in for herself was going to make this difficult.

She blinked as she realised that no lights were on, she looked around and walked over as she spotted a light switch and flicked it. Nothing.

No power then.

Her eyes widened and she ran down the hall, searching desperately for a bathroom, she spotted one to her right and slammed into the door with a flying kick, bending the flimsy metal door in half, and she skidded to a halt, and leapt upright and kicked the ceramic basin, exploding it apart.

No water.

She glared down at the pipe, it was rusty and empty.

No water for a while then.

This prison was supposed to be the place where she died, and it would be if she didn't find something living, her stomach growled at the thought and she winced, she would really need to feed soon.

She wandered, opening some doors, knocking on most cell doors, feeling the depression slowly creeping in.

There was no one coming for her.

Her father was dead.

No one ready to break her out.

Her mother was dead.

The prison was empty.

She was going to starve to death.

And go crazy.

Lilly growled and punched a wall, hard, and the concrete exploded inwards, and she blinked, it was a gym. She'd almost walked right passed it.

Then the smell hit her.

Death.

Lilly burst through the wall, sending chunks flying everywhere, and she winced, looking around slowly, at the piles of body, prisoners, guards, cleaners, staff members... This prison had been working, then someone had decided to store her there, and killed it's occupants. Cut her off. Worse, it stank. Reminded her of the battlefields after Alexander had swept through.

Her nose wrinkled at the stench, trying to ignore the pussy pools and the putrefied corpses, and then she felt it.

Somewhere, faintly, amongst that foul waste, was a heartbeat.

Her stomach growled, and her fangs lengthened involuntarily, but the beat... Lilly's eyes widened, and she shouted, "Ethan!"

Selaphael looked up from her warm chicken salad as Mikael staggered through the doors, he sat down at the table, and starred at it. Urael and Jegudael exchange glances, and Mikael sighed heavily, "We have a new threat."

Urael looked at him, "Someone is interfering? Who?"

"Krsnik." Mikael said with a wince, and he undid his collar and pulled it aside, revealing the teeth marks, and then he looked at them, "This was a new player, a different krsnik. So it's probably we have a family of them."

Jegudael winced, "Sammael did turn them into a force to be reckoned with."

"It was hunting me. Looking for me." Mikael growled, and shook his head, "Not defending some prize, but wanting me out of the picture. So we're all being hunted."

Selaphael cocked her head, "What? Why?"

Mikael shrugged, "I'm not sure..."

Urael winced, "Oh."

"Oh?" Mikael asked, raising an eyebrow, and Urael sighed, "Could Sammael be behind it?"

Jegudael winced, "Great. Now we have to try and talk to that bastard."

Ethan blinked as the wall rippled.

Was that normal?

Normal, normal, upside down, inside out.

Ethan spun around, the ground turning into a hill beneath his feet, showing him the view of the sea far off.

That couldn't be normal.

Normal, normal, upside down, inside out.

He tripped as the mountain became a valley, and his eyes widened as he heard a whisper in his ear, "Ethan."

"Lilly!" He screamed, spinning, falling as his legs got tangled, and he shivered as he was surrounded by snow. He had to be careful not to fall into a snowdrift, that would be bad.

Why had he gone to the snow? Some purpose... Some reason...

Was forgetting that normal?

Normal, normal, upside down, inside out.

Was things behind him in the past?

So what was future?

In front becomes behind when you turn in place.

You can see the past easily.

Future cannot be seen.

"Ethan!" It seemed further now, moving away, unhearing.

He fell onto his knees as the world became blackened stone and walls of flame, tears dripped down his cheeks, "Lilly..."

"Your Holiness."

The Pope turned his head slowly, "Yes, my son?"

The young Father grimaced, "I have... Had reports about... Australia..."

The Pope looked at him intently, "You have news of Ardet-lili?"

"News of her and more. It is most disturbing, I am afraid." The young Father said slowly, his whole body giving off the signs of his reluctance, the way he stood, slumped his shoulders, bent his knees, and seemed to be on the edge of sprinting in the other direction.

"Do not keep it from me, my son. I have seen much evil, and known more." The old man said, his regal nature vanishing, the untold pain of his history appearing for a fleeting moment, and the Father winced, "Ardet-lili was indeed captured by the krsnik hunter. At the cost of many lives. However... It appears... That the krsnik is now taking lives without any sign of true intent. He is becoming a worse nightmare than she."

The Pope shook his head sadly, "This is grave news. A terrible occurrence... But I cannot agree with your assumption. Ardet-lili has plagued humanity with her poisoned blood since almost the dawn of time itself. She has killed millions. Created scourges that carry on her work. I weap because of the evil that the krsnik unleashes... But it

can be no worse than what she has done in her lifetime."

The Father starred at the Pope, feeling the chill of those words creep down his spine like a spider in search of a tasty morsel.

Murdoch strode into the lounge room with several glass tumblers and awkwardly set them down on the table, he smiled as he looked up at his family, "Who wants a drink?"

A few answered in the positive and he poured the ice-col water into the glasses quickly, and he frowned, "Which one of you fools tried to take out Mikael before the right moment?"

Silence hit the room which had been perfectly happy a moment before.

Then the patriarch, the terrible old man, stood up slowly, "Mikael? Care to repeat that?"

Murdoch bowed his head, refusing to look up at the man, "You gave us orders. One was to leave Mikael alone, so he doesn't realise, and let Sammael deal with him. We were not to attack him. Someone did."

The patriarch smiled softly, "Good boy."

He looked around the room carefully, at the sullen expressions, the fear, the stench of the terror he invoked in his vampire-hunting family. The Patriarch grinned, "Jas. Really?"

The forty-nine year old woman burst into tears, "Please!"

The patriarch smiled softly, "Please what?"

"Mercy?" She asked nervously, falling onto her knees.

The patriarch cocked his head, "What?"

"Mercy!" She cried, her voice cracking as the sheer momentous terror tore through her.

The patriarch laughed, "Say it one more time."

"Mercy!" She screamed, putting her soul, her entire being into the two simple syllables, and the patriarch sighed and turned away, "Murdoch. Don't let any get on the carpet."

Murdoch dragged the screaming woman from the room, and the patriarch looked at the others as he sat, "No more... Indiscretions. We are near to reaching the climax of our plans. Ardet-lili is starving, and quite nearly mad now. When we unleash her against the parliament... They won't have a clue what hit them. Lilly Cambridge will

become a legendary name, one to strike fear into the hearts of every woman, man and child in every Australian home. We can't afford any more... Mistakes."

Sweat ran down her face, tangling her hair, she wiped her forehead on her bare shoulder as she heaved at another body, tossing it halfway down the gymnasium, and she cursed as it revealed bare concrete again. She punched down, cracking it. "Damn it to all the seven hells!"

She swallowed as spittle formed on the edge of her lips, her heartbeat pounded against her chest, and the constant sound of Ethan's heart...

Lilly swallowed back the drool.

She had to find him.

Murdoch's feet moved across the carpet, each step at a measure length, softly, silently stepping down, one movement at a time. The step of a man who was determined, strong, and without mercy.

Other footsteps, less certain, but equally merciless, stepped softly behind.

Murdoch paused in front of the hotel room, and he laughed softly, "Such an obvious hiding place."

His foot burst through the thin wood, shattering the door around it, and he shoved, removing what was left of the door as he stepped inside, "Hello."

The two occupants looked over and Urael winced, "Oh damn."

The wolf spirits patted into the room behind him, and Murdoch grinned.

Jegudael clenched his fists, "Lets get on with it."

Mikael dropped off the hill and into the soft grass, he looked up at the cement walls and shook his head, "You sure about this?"

Myrrdin looked at him, "I am not wrong. She is inside."

Mikael shook his head softly, "Guards. Human guards. As innocent as fallen humans get... I don't have the right to kill them."

Myrrdin rolled his eyes, "Bugger. Back with one of you goody-goodies."

Mikael laughed softly, "Right. Well, I could just do this."

The archangel military leader raised his hand, and light flashed between his fingers, building, growing brighter, cascading over the area, Mikael winced, "Close your eyes, Myrrdin. This castle is going to sleep."

The light reached a crescendo, and the guards in their towers starred into it, and the light starred into them, and hit the off switch.

Mikael lowered his hand, shaking it, "That stung."

Myrrdin blinked as he opened his eyes, "Damn. I wish I knew how to do that."

"One day you will have." Mikael said softly, and grinned at Myrrdin's perplexed expression, "Don't you get it? You fought Ardet-lili before you were born. So one day you will go back there. With power you don't even understand yet."

Myrrdin shook his head, "Why would I ever consent to that?"

"Kill the cameras." Mikael said as he began to move towards the prison, and Myrrdin sighed and through gritted teeth he spoke, "See unseen. Augandho."

Mikael stopped in front of the doors, but Myrrdin just kept walking, stepping through the foot-thick metal as if it were paper, sheering it.

Mikael stepped through the hole cautiously and cocked his head, "It's empty."

Myrrdin frowned, "Lots of guards outside... Nothing inside? This was hooked for Ardet-lili. Her alone."

Mikael winced and he growled, "Find her. Now."

Myrrdin muttered under his breath, and a trail appeared in front of him, the trail of a bloodied body being dragged roughly.

They moved silently through the corridors, the only sounds their own breathing, for hours as they searched, room to room, cell to cell, finding nothing.

Then Mikael looked up, "Wait."

Myrrdin cocked his head, "Louder. Toros."

The sounds of a fist beating on stone echoed around them and Myrrdin pointed, "That way."

The two ran through the building, and Myrrdin leapt, kicking down the doors with both feet, rolling and landing upright, and he shivered as he saw the room, the butchered people...

"Lilly!" Mikael cried, running across the floor towards her, as she shook like a ragdoll on the ground, muscles clenching and unclenching, moaning and groaning, her eyes fluttering, and her fangs appearing and vanishing.

# Chapter Twelve:  
Sammael Comes

Dhuer reu pela,

Epi-aug bhreu-kreu,  
Deodo nek,  
Fem en kreu-trenk  
G'em  
Ar ues dhuer.  
Ardet-lili uper,  
Ues g'em.

The wolf raised it's head, tearing the last ounce from Urael and he slumped to the ground, bleeding out on the ground, gasping, trying to breath as blood bubbled around where his throat should have been. The day had come and gone.

Murdoch smiled grimly, and he turned around slowly, "Consume them."

Then he saw the figure standing in the doorway, Selaphael, starring in fear, her eyes wide, "How... Could you? Do this?"

Murdoch's back arched as his wolf spirit was released, leaping out of his chest, his jaws closed tight, snapping shut on her neck, bursting blood from her body as she fell to the ground, trying feebly to release him. Her fists beat on his side, causing bruises, but his jaw slowly closed further, cutting deeper into her, inching towards the bones.

The light went out from her eyes.

Murdoch stood up slowly, rubbing his head as the spirit receded, and the other spirits vanished, returning back to their host bodies, back to the lounge room, now cackling with laughter, under the gaze of the patriarch's calm eyes.

Threat eliminated.

Murdoch had played his role once again.

The wind moves slowly, lazily through the city, kicking up dust and leaves, weaving between buildings, ever rising upwards, the swirling pattern, the eternal chaos. He stood on the edge of the building, watching the pattern curve passed, trying to avoid the building he came to watch, as tears slowly crept down his cheeks. In front of him lay a hotel, and inside three of his friends had died. Butchered. A single figure had left the building, long before the police had arrived, and the cameras wouldn't show him laying a single finger on any of them, because krsnik spirits wouldn't show up on recordings.

Why had they chosen to fight him? To stand against the freedom he represented? The power he held? He'd offered them a part in it, and they'd... They'd thought of him as if he was diseased. Ignorant. Stupid.

Sammael clenched his eyes shut, the tears flowing more freely, the grief for his dead friends, people he had cared about, still cared for. Who he had ordered killed. He hated it... But he would not turn from his purpose. They would die. All of them.

He would achieve the dream.

"Here's to Sam!" The bar cried, "He's true blue!"

The chorus rounded the bar, celebrating the man who bought them all a beer, "He's a pisspot through and through!"

"He's a bastard, so they say!"

Sammael smiled sadly at the next line, quietly sipping his beer as he sat at the granite-topped bar, "Tried to go to heaven, but he went the other way!"

"Drink it down, down, down."

Sammael swore as pain hit his face, and he blinked, starring at the hole in the bartop, at the jagged broken granite, and he touched his face, feeling the scratches, and he turned around slowly, and saw Mikael, his face a serene picture of wrath.

"Guess I deserved that." Sammael said with a wince, and Mikael ground his teeth angrily, "You fucker."

Sammael sighed heavily, "I'd rather not kill you Mikael. We were friends once... I want to remember that time."

"Tell me about the krsniks," Mikael sneered, "After all this time... Why are they banding together?"

Sammael frowned, "What's my play here, Mikael? I don't deal for free. And... You know you can't kill me."

Mikael bit his lip and then winced, "I'll give you Myrrdin."

Sammael blinked, "Wow. Okay then. I'm founding an empire. The idea was to drive Ardet-lili into so much guilt that the darker side would come out in Senoy and Sansenoy, and you'd be called in to stop them, and then the cambion would be put into your possession. Use the varnpyre to stir up a few deaths and make sure the Pope hears, he'll call in the krsnik hunters, allowing them to move openly without fear, ready to forge my kingdom on Earth. Their attacks will get viscous and violent and attract the attentions of your friends whilst you are pre-occupied with Ardet-lili because you have a sort of big-brother love for her. The krsniks would be aggravated at being

hunted and retaliate, and kill all the others. You would then come to me, and offer the cambion to me in exchange for this information."

Mikael starred at him, a single tear slipping down his cheek, "No..."

Sammael smiled sadly, "I'm a manipulative fuck, Mikael. You have to give Myrrdin to me now... Or Fall."

"Ethan!" She screamed, sitting up with a gasp, and Ardet-lili blinked. The room was white. It sort of hurt her eyes. She blinked furiously, slowly realising that she wasn't in the gymnasium anymore. Had that been a dream? She was sitting on a small single bed, under a patch-work quilt, the white walls showed signs of age, cracks running up and down the plaster. The room was a hodge-podge of things you picked up over the years, giving it a cluttered, lived-in look. She stood up slowly, hugging the quilt around her, and shuffled slowly into the hallway, and she heard a heartbeat, and moved into the kitchen slowly, and she paused as she saw someone she recognised, elbows on the table, head in hands, crying silently.

She sighed heavily, "Why do you keep saving me? It's not like I'm worth it."

Mikael lowered his hands, revealing blood-shot eyes, "Every soul is worth saving, safeguard, nurturing. Can't you see the similarity in your own story to the ones that are remembered? Sarai? Haggai? Every chance is given to you. Every opportunity, but you act like a selfish prig and throw it back in the faces of the ones who care most

about you."

Ardet-lili looked down, fighting back her own tears, "I know. I hate that I know it. I am nothing because I hide, I tell myself it doesn't matter. I know the cost of what I do... But I don't want to change, I love what I am. I don't have to do what anyone wants me to."

Mikael sneered, "You change. You don't have a choice. You interact with the world, you think, you understand things, remember things. That all changes you. It's what you allow to change you the most that matters. Your life is in constant flux. You will change. Every moment does, you can't escape that. Run like hell if you want, but that

just means it'll catch up with you sooner or later. Try and remember, Ardet-lili, why do you hate? What is the premise, your assumption behind what's in front of your face? Wake up. Wake the fuck up, or we're all screwed."

Lilly cocked her head, "Wait. What? Why?"

His feet pounded on the dirt, the wind whipped through his hair, and he felt as if he was drifting, barely touching the landscape as it shot away beneath him. Ethan grinned, this was what he loved. Movement. Speed. It was a freedom. A little pleasure of life. It helped him to live in this moment. Forget the past. The shadow waiting for

him. This wasn't over. Someone wanted him dead, and he was in love with a vampire queen. He shook his head, trying to push the memories away, trying to be normal for a moment.

He heard the breathing of another runner and moved to the side as a middle-aged man pulled up next to him, "Often. Come this. Way?"

Ethan shook his head, "Nah. Staying close by. Holiday."

"Wish. I could have. One of those." The man said disjointedly, his forehead furrowing,

"Life kinda went upside down on me."

Ethan laughed, "That's why I'm. Holidaying. Crazy."

Then he glanced over at the other runner and skidded to a halt, "No."

Murdoch turned as Ethan raised his fists, the two breathing hard, and Murdoch raised his hands, "I didn't come for a fight."

Ethan sneered, "Really?"

"I came to offer you something... Recompense for the trials you've endured."

Ethan shook his head, "Why don't I believe you? Maybe it's something to do with you trying to kill the love of my life."

Murdoch winced, "I did put you through hell. You were tortured by my forerunners. Understandable that you'd be pissed... But It made you stronger didn't it?"

Ethan growled, "Get to the point."

"I put you through hell," Murdoch sighed, "To see if you could withstand the blessing of the krsnik. I can make you strong. You can protect Ardet-lili with my power. Become like me."

Ethan felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.

He wanted to protect her.

No more helplessness.

A deal with a devil.

"How?" Ethan asked carefully.

Sammael pushed the door with one finger and it fell off it's hinges, he smiled and looked up at the surprised faces of the family members, "Hello lambs."

The Patriarch stood up slowly and bowed, "Master Sammael."

Then a shadow stepped up behind Sammael and he grinned, "Thankyou. You performed your roles admirably."

The patriarch's smile vanished, "You can't. We did everything you wanted!"

Sammael nodded, "I know."

He stepped across the threshold into the house, and his fists balled and Myrrdin followed him in, "Kill them."

The cambion attacked, and Sammael easily grabbed the krsnik spirit that tried to attack him out of the air and destroyed it, evaporating the soul, and he punched, his hand going through the head of another before it could release the wolf spirit or run, covering his arm in a sticky mess up to his elbow, he spun, his foot slamming another head into the ground and shattering the skull.

He and Myrrdin moved, tearing through the ranks, obliterating the krsniks.

Tying up loose ends.

Lilly sat down at the table slowly, "Oh."

Mikael shrugged, "It's over. I don't know how to fight this now..."

Lilly sniffed the air, "Was Ethan here?"

Mikael smiled sadly, "Yeah. He went for a run, clear his head."

She tensed, "Alone?"

"Generally when people go outside to clear their head, they want to be alone." Mikael said with a shrug, and then blinked as she moved in a flash, the blanket crumpling to the floor, as the door burst open and Lilly ran. The wind whipping through her hair, she found the nearby running path easily enough, and she moved down it, smelling him on the air, he'd gone this way, and she had to see him. He was all she had now, then she skidded to a stop as a stench hit her. It wasn't quite like wet dog, it was more...

Ethereal.

Krsnik.

Thunder boomed overhead as the rain began to fall, and Lilly swore and sprinted again, they weren't going to take him away from her. Not again.

Murdoch stepped into the house nervously, breaking glass underfoot, and he looked around himself, as he felt the human standing behind him, and he swallowed,

"Patriarch?"

A voice came from beside him, "I think he made it to the back door before Sammael squashed his head like a melon."

Murdoch spun and saw Myrrdin leaning against the doorframe, and he swallowed nervously, "Why are you here cambion?"

Myrrdin waved, "Hello? I kill things. Those things, most of them at least, as part of those things."

Murdoch tensed as Myrrdin stood up, "I'm afraid Sammael reckons your useless now. Did you really plan to kill Ethan? That'd just piss Lilly off."

Ethan starred at Murdoch, "You were going to kill me? You son of a bitch!"

He yelled and punched, and Murdoch acted on instinct, still in shock to find his family dead, he grabbed Ethan's fist and yanked, pulling him close and he snapped his hands, grabbing Ethan's chin and jerking it up to the right sharply. He dropped to the ground, dead.

Myrrdin laughed and jumped backwards, "Guess so! Should I leave you alive? Lilly is going to want revenge on someone, and she can be a bitch. Trust me, she tore my head off once."

Murdoch sneered angrily and jumped forward, punching, but Myrrdin was already gone, and he could feel breath on his neck, "She ate Senoy, did you know that? Played with him first."

Murdoch leapt out of his back using the krsnik form, but Myrrdin was already leaping overhead in a perfect arc, landing on his feet effortlessly, "Come now, isn't that a little predictable? Come on! You carry a gift from Sammael! Put some effort into it!"

The wolf snapped around, snagging the edge of Myrrdin's ankle and he laughed as it tore his Achilles tendon, "That's it! That's the fire! The passion!"

Myrrdin sighed heavily, "Now you are worth killing."

He kicked the wolf spirit and it dissipated, Murdoch gasped, standing up, holding up shaky fists, and Myrrdin grinned, "I see the fear, krsnik. By moon, by sun, break his bones."

Murdoch leapt at him, punches so close together that they turned into a single continuous blow, pounding Myrrdin's head into the wall, and then Murdoch breathed out heavily, arms dropping to lean on his knees, and Myrrdin smiled through bloodied and cracked lips, "Pos mehn. Pos dia. Bheng sa kost."

Murdoch screamed, dropping to the ground as his muscles twisted impossibly, his bones snapping under the pressure, twisting out of their sockets, tearing and snapping and breaking through his skin till he was unrecognisable as a human corpse.

Myrrdin smiled softly, "Pathetic."

Mikael continued to stare at the tabletop as he heard footsteps enter the rented house again, and he sighed heavily, "Sammael, in here."

The old friend entered the kitchen slowly, "Is it really that terrible Mikael? I beat him, what makes you think that you could stop me. You've done a valiant effort. Truly. But all things come to an end. All victories fade to shadowed myths. People forget, and they move on."

Mikael glared up at him, "Except us! We have a duty! Commitment that mortals can't even comprehend! You turned your back on it! I won't. Not now. Not ever."

Sammael nodded, "I know. I know you'll keep fighting. You see me, standing here? It's because I know you, Mikael, and you won't ever stop fighting."

Mikael stood up slowly, "Oh damn."

Sammael grabbed the table and smashed it into his old friend's head.

Lilly stepped into the chaos of the room, water running off her in rivulets, dripping off the end of her fingers, her hair a twisted tangled mess, and she looked around the room and paused, "No."

She fell to his side, grabbing Ethan's head, and hugging it to her chest, "Please! Wake up!"

She could feel it though, the heat was gone from his veins, he was dead. No heartbeat. She could feel the disjointedness of the bones, his neck had been broken.

She cried softly, "Ethan... Damn you..."

She could feel it begin to burn her, the circle carved into his chest, but she didn't care anymore. He was gone. Everything she had was gone.

Myrrdin spoke from behind her, "By now, Mikael's also dead. It's over Ardet-lili."

She lowered Ethan gently, kissing his forehead, and then she stood up and turned, "Fuck you, Myrrdin."

She punched, her fury driving behind it, and he was slammed backwards through the wall, he leapt to his feet and ran at her, and a moment before he hit she fell to the ground, carrying him on her feet and she kicked, landing on her hands, tossing him into the air. She jumped into the air, bouncing off the roof onto a nearby building to face him.

The darkness rose, as the light fled the night. It was ominous, a beast barely contained, the night rose, and it's queen stood alone, above it all, as behind her the storm rose, the waves of her anger crashing on the cold waves of reality.

She stood alone, as the world had always viewed her, her last ties to the mortal realms were gone.

The only three people to have known her, loved her as she was, were gone. Her legacy, a bloodline stretching back to the dawn of humanity, was gone. Butchered and desecrated.

No, she stood alone, and the storm was her only friend now, like it was in the beginning, with the garden.

May he forgive her, but redemption was out of her grasp now.

Only her hate remained.

Her hate against the man standing in front of her, against her.

The only remaining threat to her life, at least this life. He had been there, at every sorrow, every mistake down the years. She, smiled sadly as the thunder ripped through them, shaking the ground violently. As the rain soaked her to the bone, tangling her black wavy hair, tears formed in her red eyes, and she felt the sorrow overwhelming her. "Why?"

Myrrdin cocked his head, "You betrayed him."

She smiled sadly, "Then do it already."

Myrrdin tensed,

"By moon,

By sun,

By dark,

By light,

And by all that is holy."

He paused, uncertain, and she glared at him, "What are you waiting for? End it!"

He winced, and she screamed at him across the slick rooftop, "End it!"

Myrrdin muttered to himself, and closed his eyes,

"Break this world to pieces."

He opened his eyes and looked at her, and she raised an eyebrow, daring him to finish it, to do what he was born to do, and he sighed heavily, "Why? Why do you want to die?"

She blinked, "You killed my parents... My love... My children... Why would I want to live?"

Myrrdin swallowed, "But... Your soul... You could yet be redeemed... It's within your power... Why an eternity cursed when you could have one brilliant moment and be free forever?"

"I am chained to my past!" She screamed angrily, the bitterness clear in her voice, "You have taken it all away, why would I love what I have cause to hate? I cannot love him... He has destroyed what little I had... No... Redemption is lost."

Myrrdin looked at her carefully, and nodded, "So be it. Let this be on your head."

He closed his eyes, focusing on what he had to say,

"Pos mehn.

Pos dia.

Pos mauro.

Pos legh.

Pos medhio.

Eti opi eno kei me.

Behng do geid..."

Myrrdin hesitated, adrenaline racing, palms sweating, he almost felt like he was being ripped out of his body, "Koma."

Mikael stumbled, barely dodging the punch, clutching his side where a kitchen knife had proved almost lethal, and glared up at Sammael, his enemy's face bruised, swollen, and his chest showing blood spots from various wounds, and Mikael sneered, "Why Sammael!? Why the hell do you hate the one that gives you breath? That

created the laws of physics that ensure your atoms don't fly apart?"

Sammael sneered, punching as Mikael flipped over him, and spun, "I want to be free! No one deserves the right to tell me what is truth, what is righteous and what is perfect!" Spittle flew with each syllable and the two stood, facing each other, feeling the exhaustion hitting home, feeling their injuries weighing them down. Mikael shook his head, all empathy lost, "You were perfect. Once. Now you've corrupted yourself beyond recognition. It's like you live to try and earn his hatred. You're an idiot. He doesn't hate you, he can't. You are his. He hates what you have become, but he will never hate you, how can he hate his own child?"

Sammael spat, "Give it up Mikael! I'm beyond all that now. Sin is idealisticly linked to me and my name. I represent everything that he is not. There is no going back for me!"

Mikael lowered his hands, slowly uncurling his fists, "I'm not going to fight you."

Sammael sneered, "Then your going to die! Come on Mikael!"

The archangel just looked at him sadly, compassion filling those ancient eyes, and Sammael cursed, "Damn it, Mikael! Fight me! Show yourself the legion warrior!"

Mikael just sadly shook his head.

Sammael closed the gap, hands grabbing Mikael's head and he wrenched, snapping his neck, "Damn it!"

Broken metal shards, brick, mortar, wood and plaster, a mess, a ball, an implosion had torn the building, squeezed it in on itself, killed the one standing on it. Myrrdin shook his head sadly and turned to walk away, but as he did he heard the sound of something metal hitting the ground, and he glanced over his shoulder, back at the chaotic destruction, and his jaw dropped as he saw the woman climbing out of the ball, half naked due to the shredding of her clothes, and she glared, "Stop checking me out, asshole."

Myrrdin turned to face her, "That's not possible..."

Lilly laughed, "Is that it? All you can do Myrrdin? You caved the world in on my head once before! It didn't work then, why would it work now?"

Myrrdin tensed, getting ready for the fight to come, but Lilly was finding it difficult. Every time she clenched her fists she felt it, the pain, the longing. Ethan was gone. He was... Gone. Ethan was dead. Mikael was probably dead. And Myrrdin was such a pathetic creature, his unending vendetta for no damn good reason...

Lilly shook her head, her stance relaxing, "You've never chosen have you? You're just someone else's tool. You are empty. No ambitions, hopes or dreams. You're nothing."

Myrrdin attacked, punching, his fist missing her face by millimetres as she weaved away, but his follow up hit her, slamming her backwards, carving a hole in the rubble, and Lilly groaned, and she stood up slowly, holding her back, "Are you blind Myrrdin?

Or are we meant to be immortals, fighting till the sun finally burns out?"

Sammael walked down the stairs slowly, the stark white plaster was peeling, paintings appeared at irregular intervals, oils mostly, though a couple were pastels. They were mostly impressionist, the quick brush strokes marking out various portraits, all of his own face. This was his house, owned by him for hundreds of years, under various

guises, passing down title from father to son. Sammael the great, the powerful, the wondrous. This was his home, his castle. And he was entering his study.

He strode into the expansive room, walls covered in books, hundreds of maps, yellowed and cracking parchment, strung hides, the room was a piece of ancient history.

He sat down heavily in his chair behind the huge mahogany desk and sighed, and then he looked up towards the ceiling, at the two prisoners chained there, and Enlil sneered from behind the muzzle Samael had put in place to avoid being spat on. "We were friends. I fought for you. Beside you. This is how you show your gratitude? Torture and imprisonment?"

Sammael ignored him, picking up a book from the desk and opening it to a bookmark, he began reading, and then he paused, using his finger to mark his place and he looked up, "Blame your bitch of a daughter."

# Chapter Thirteen:

# The Bitch

Trei uperi-anghen,

Myrrdin Wylt,  
En Mikael,  
Magh apo toros,  
En mauro,  
Lilly gela kreu-ster gelei.

Lilly punched into Myrrdin's face again, tossing backwards across the roof, his head cracking on the bordering concrete wall, and she moved, slamming her foot down on his skull, breaking it through the area, shattering his skull, and as it began to reform she stomped down.

Again.

And again.

And again.

She stepped backwards and looked around angrily, something, anything to attack him with. She snapped up a small piece of iron, and spun to stab him, and he tosse up his hands in fear, "They're alive!"

Lilly took a step backwards, "Who is alive?"

"Enlil. Lilitu. Your parents." Myrrdin said, swallowing.

Lilly starred at him, feeling everything hitting her again, threatening to overwhelm her, she gripped the piece of iron tighter, smelling the stench of her hand burning and she waved it under his throat, "How can I trust you?"

Myrrdin swallowed, wiping blood off his scalp as his head continued to heal, "Sansenoy brought them back. He tortured them to death. Several times. Information was the key to hunting you down Ardet-lili... And now they are Sammael's ace in the hole. He's holding them captive."

Lilly felt her rage boiling over, burning through her veins.

They took her family.

Tortured and killed them.

Wanted to use them as bargaining chips.

She could feel the rage, and yet, at the same time she felt as if it was pointless.

Nothing left. No reason to fight. No reason to try and win. Win what? They was no purpose to any of it.

Her stomach growled.

Lilly grabbed Myrrdin and hauled him upright, her fangs extended, and she bit his neck, bursting the veins, bleeding him dry. Filling her mouth with his lifeblood, sucking him dry.

Myrrdin screamed as he felt the piece of iron stab his gut, and Lilly continued to feed, using her tongue to swirl his blood, pour it down her throat, as she used her makeshift dagger to continually tear into him, ripping up his insides.

It felt good.

Sammael snapped the book shut, starring in front of himself in shock, "Myrrdin is dead."

Lilitu chuckled, "That's my girl."

Sammael stood up angrily, slamming the book onto the table, "She is more a monster than I ever could be! Can't you see that? Can't you understand that?"

Enlil glared down at him, "Yet she is more than you, Sammael. She knows what she does is wrong."

Sammael strode out of the room, ignoring them, and Lillitu craned her neck and looked at her husband, "What has she become? What's happened to my Lilly?"

She was on her knees, tossing rubble to either side, franticly digging, her knuckles bleeding, scratches appearing all over her wrists, and she could feel the palm of her hand break open, the burn from stabbing Myrrdin. Then she saw him, and dragged the body out into the open, and she starred down at him, and stroked his cheek, "Ethan..."

Tears fell freely on her ancient cheeks, as she hugged him, held his dead corpse, she cried, "No... Ethan... I loved you... It wasn't... A crush... Not some schoolgirl fancy... Damn it... I actually loved you... You could have been my world... But I wasn't... I wasn't there in time... I tortured you... I... I..."

Words failed her, she loved him totally, no matter how illogical it was. He had been everything to her, he had defined her world, and now... She would never hear his voice again.

Lilly clenched her eyes, remembering, striding into that hospital in that short dress, and the look of surprise on his face.

She remembered burning up, sitting in his house, and he... He let her drink from him.

Such an intimate moment, he gave himself to her.

Then... She'd taken what she'd wanted.

Burned him.

Turned him into a husk of a person.

Her personal plaything.

She winced as she remembered cracking his head open in the graveyard.

The conflict she'd felt then.

She hugged him tight, ignoring the pain as her skin blistered, "I'm sorry Ethan..."

She squeezed her eyes tight, "So sorry..."

She rocked him slowly, repeating it, over and over.

The police officer passed a cup of coffee across the table slowly to the young girl, obviously tortured by the experience, sitting in the seat across from him, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Lilly looked down at her hands, "It... It was chaos... Like hell unleashed..."

The officer nodded slowly, "Your safe now... What's your name?"

"Lilly. Lillith Ardetta Cambridge."

The officer struggled to contain his fear. He'd heard her name before. Often, recently.

A name to inspire fear.

She was a serial killer.

Utterly ruthless.

Remorseless.

He fled the room.

Lilly sighed heavily as she was escorted to another room, less nice to be in, more of an interrogation feel to it, and the Chief of Police walked into the room and slammed a heavy folder onto the table, spilling crime scene photos.

Lilly burst into tears, "I didn't want to be a monster."

"So you admit to these murders? On the record?" The man growled angrily, and Lilly blinked, seeming uncertain and she reached out and picked up a photo, "This wasn't me."

She snatched up another, "I didn't do... This... Ew..." She screwed up her nose, and then pointed at another photo, "Oh hell. I didn't do this one either."

The police chief glared, "One of my men died in the house where we found you."

"Who?" Lilly demanded, and the police chief produced a photo and slid it across the table, "Agent Murdoch."

Lilly looked at him with contempt, "He's a murderer. He killed Ethan."

The chief could barely hide his shock, "So you killed him in revenge?"

"Didn't get the chance." Lilly said, shaking her head, "Myrrdin got there first."

The Police chief leaned back in his seat, "I think we have a lot to talk about."

The microwave buzzed annoyingly in the background.

Sammael paced backwards and forwards in the kitchen, feeling his anger building to phenomenal levels.

He hadn't even been this angry when he found out death was beaten.

He was muttering to himself now, about the injustice of it, the foolhardy stupidity, the damned...

The microwave beeped behind him.

"Damn her!" Sammael screamed in anger, spinning and punched the wall, spraying plaster.

Lilly was pushed forward and the door slid shut with a clang behind her.

Holding cell.

She smiled softly and walked over and sat down on the bench slowly, looking down at her feet. Letting her guilty mind tell her how she was going to spend the hours till they transferred her to a more appropriate facility.

Then she heard a wolf whistle and looked up with a glare, and saw a man covered in tattoos leaning against his cell bars, "Hey, good looking."

Lilly gritted her teeth and stood up, walked over to her cell door and grabbed the bars and heaved, the metal screeched as it tore out of the brackets and she dropped it and

walked over to his cell as he backed away, his eyes wide at what she just did, "Keep your mouth shut or I'll rip off your head."

She turned around and stalked back to her cell, picking up the door and placing it back on it's track, she bent the metal back into shape, locking the door safely onto it's rail, and she went and sat down on the bench again as several police officers burst into the area.

Lilly sat up, blinking.

She sighed, looking around her, remembering.

She was in prison.

She let them take her in.

She rubbed her eyes with her hands and paused, she'd seen something else.

Lilly turned and looke at the man leaning against the wall of her cell, "Mikael? I thought you were dead... Myrrdin... I mean Sammael..."

Mikael laughed, "I work for the guy who conquered death, girl. Why would killing me ever work?"

Lilly sighed heavily, the sadness, the depression showing, "Not that I'm not glad to see you... But why are you here, Mikael?"

Mikael cocked his head, "Don't you want to be redeemed? You've held up your end of the bargain."

Lilly winced, "I'm a monster, Mikael. I need to pay for what I have done. I don't deserve to be free."

Mikael rolled his eyes, "That's kinda the point. It's exactly why the one faultless being died, gave up it's life freely. Because you don't deserve to be free. None of us do. We can't repay what we have done. So he takes the price. Instead of us."

Lilly nearly shouted, "That's not fair!"

Mikael grinned, "That's why it's called grace, cupcake."

The yard was full, prisoners exercising, running, laughing, sitting around in groups, enjoying their few hours of sunlight, of activity, before they ended up in their cells again. Sammael strode unseen through the crowds, manoeuvring himself quickly and silently, stepping behind a guard, he smiled softly, he could feel his influence over the souls in this place, so many, many of them wanting to give into the darkness around them... He grinned as he appeared behind his target, and gave her a quick shove to her shoulder, dissipating his glamour, but he had already back flipped into the air, out the line of fire, so to speak.

The guard spun, drawing her baton and pointed, and Lilly looked up, "What?"

"Don't 'what' me!" The guard yelled angrily and Lilly sighed, rubbing her left temple, "I might have killed hundreds, but in here? I haven't done a thing."

The guard stepped towards her slowly, angrily, hand tensing on the baton and Lilly winced, "Please don't."

The guard raised her baton with a quick movement, about to strike down at Lilly, sitting on her bench all alone.

Lilly kicked.

The guard was tossed backwards, flipping head over heels, halfway down the yard.

Silence, stillness.

And then everything exploded.

The prisoners turned on the guards, on each other, every grudge was suddenly brought to the surface like humanity was vomiting forth it's darkness.

Sammael grinned, watching, as the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre tore itself apart, the three hundred-odd prisoners ripping into everyone within punching distance. It was...

Glorious.

"You fucking jerk of a demon spawn!" Came a voice filled with hate, dripping with venom, the very soul laid bare in wrath.

He turned around and looked at her, "Why Lilly? Why couldn't you be content to die? You were becoming a hippy peace-loving bitch. I took your world from you, why couldn't you just curl up and die? Why do you have to keep getting in the way?"

Lilly sighed heavily and shook her head, "Because you took my world." She stepped towards him on the tiled roof carefully, "I haven't become a wimp, Sammael. I'm still the girl who kicked your ass."

He laughed, head thrown back, and then he looked at her sadly, "You have interfered, time and time again. Why Ardet-lili? You and I don't have to be enemies. Look at what my mere presence does! The hatred it gives birth to. Imagine how we could use that together!"

She frowned, thinking for a moment, "Why? I have a simple answer to that." She looked up at him, "Because your a dick."

Enlil fell to the ground, charred fragments of the chains bouncing around him and he tore the muzzle of his face and tossed it aside, he glanced up and lightning struck the house again, channeling down and burning the chains around his wife, melting them instantly and she fell to the ground as well, she rubbed her wrists, "Son of a bitch."

Enlil swallowed, "Hold back, Lils. Our daughter has her chance now. To be free. She got a second chance to make that choice. Caine screwed our kid up good. Now she can move on."

Lilitu glared over at him, "You want her to bow down to the same bastard who cursed her?"

Enlil sneered, "It should be her choice to make!"

"Precisely why I am here." A new voice, firm and determined and aged beyond it's time came from the doorway, and the two turned to see Mikael standing there, "To offer you the same choice she got. A chance to come back with me."

Lilitu ground her teeth together, "I have been cursed, bullied, beaten, stabbed, burnt at the stake, electrocuted, tortured and tossed in and out of hell since he abandoned me." She scoffed, "Bugger off."

Enlil looked over at his wife, "Do you really believe he abandoned you?"

Sammael glared at her, tossing daggers across the space in between the two, "I'm a dick?" He shook his head, obviously shocked, "I'm a dick?" He laughed and turned to her, "I'm a dick? Then what the fuck are you? You killed your first love." He held up a finger, "You have seduced." Another finger, "Blood raped." Another. "And betrayed your latest infatuation." Four fingers, and then Sammael dropped his hand, "It required divine intervention to keep your hands off him. What does that say?"

Lilly felt as if he'd hit her with a building, she struggled to keep her face straight, she felt as if the world was roking, and she struggled to stay upright, "I loved Ethan."

Sammael rolled his eyes, a grin on his face, "You caused his death. I could bring him back. Whose the good one here, really?"

Lilly clenched her fists, her fangs showing over her bottom lip, "Don't. No more deals. Nothing to do with you. Piss off, Sammael."

Sammael shook his head sadly, "You could have been so much, much, much more." He turned and leapt off the roof, leaving.

Lilly turned her head slowly and saw the chaos, and winced as she spotted part of the fight, beating down on a guard.

She leapt, near-flying, and crashed next to the guard that had assaulted her, and she grabbed the foot that tried to collide with her head and twisted, sending the woman flying into two others and Lilly stood up, easily blocking the flurry of punches from others and she kicked upright, breaking ribs and one of the women collapsed to the

ground, struggling to breathe.

They backed away slowly.

"Back off, shut up, and settle down ladies!" Lilly yelled, standing over the guard, she glanced down and smiled, "Just a misunderstanding." She turned back to the others in the yard, "But if any of you want to continue being bitches... Come at me."

One of the woman stepped up confidently, a shiv in her hand and she tried for a swipe, and Lilly grabbed her wrist and squeezed, splintering the bones, and then she swung her arm to the right, fast, tossing the woman through a brick wall.

Lilly smiled tightly, "Anyone else?"

They backed down.

Lilitu sneered, her face contorted into rage, and she screamed at her husband angrily, raw emotions, ideas, passions, trying to force them to fit the words, trying to communicate through language what the intensity of her soul was feeling, "It would

ruin our daughter!"

Enlil stood against her, he felt like he was a wall, standing between the gulf of chaos his wife would unleash on the world, and... And what? What was he? Cursed.

Forgotten.

He clenched his fists, "She will get her choice, Lilitu."

His wife looked at him, "You want to go back? With him?" She growled, pointing at Mikael who was standing to one side, letting the lover's quarrel fly it's course.

She shook her head and punched, lightning curving around, burning the air, and Enlil caught her fist and twisted, tossing her onto the ground, his other hand grabbing her throat, "Don't do this."

Lilitu snapped her foot up, kicking him up over her as she rolled to her feet, spinning to face him, "I'm strong than you, Enlil. You'll die."

"I would gladly die so that you don't ruin our daughter's life." He sneered.

She leapt at him, hand clawing his face, and she felt a shock burn through her and glanced down, starring in shock at the tendrils of fire, and then she saw Enlil's face, the look of consternation on it, and the two dropped to the ground, starring up at Mikael, holding a sword made of flame.

He stabbed the both of them.

Lilly looked up as a finger appeared outside her gaol cell bars, and she gritted her teeth, as he glared down at her, "Is this really what you want to become?"

Lilly sighed and rubbed her temples, "Why Sammael? Why are you haunting me?"

His nostrils flared, "You could have taken this world. Now you are just... Lying down and dying. Where's the fire Lilly? Where's the passion?" He raised an eyebrow, "The hunger?" He shook his head, "What happened to you?"

Lilly stood up, "Damn you! Every moment of my life has been trial by fire! The happiest moments of my life were the briefest! I have a chance now. A chance to be free."

Tears began to fall down her cheeks, "I'm free Sammael. No more hunger. I still have the power, but no more curse. I'm how I was supposed to be. There's nothing you can offer me. Nothing." The serenity faded from her face, "So piss off."

Sammael rolled his eyes, "Didn't you listen before? I can give you back Ethan."

Lilly tensed, fighting herself. Ethan had spent the last days of his life searching for a way to redeem her. Mikael had always been there, shadowing her, her entire life to keep her alive, give her a chance... They'd both given their lives so that she could find redemption.

Lilly smiled sadly, "We all search for our freedom, our piece of happiness. We want to be forgiven. To have our regrets taken away. I hate what I have been. What I did..."

She smiled curiously at him, "So, no. I am not fucking up Ethan's life again. Give up, Sammael. I'm a good girl now."

Sammael shook his head, "Oh... So disappointed in you."

He turned to walk out of the room, and Lilly lay back down on the cell bed, "Oh, and Sammael?"

"Hmm?" He looked back over his shoulder at her, and she grinned, "If I see you again, I'll rip your damned head off."

# Coming soon...

# Lilly's Song

 Sosã er u̯erdh,

She is rising,

Sosã-ario apo mauro.

The Queen of the Dark.

En orsos apo toros,

In the tail of the storm,

Sosã g'em.

She comes.

En tãl,

In the garden,

Top skera-poti dhe,

Where betrayal did lie,

An so agro bher.

There did she first rise.

Ad skera-poti te Caine,

At the traitorous Caine,

An ant-s lōto te

There was the fury of

Reg-os kãl.

The darkness enraptured.

Tad-erweitert kom Sammael,

A deal with Sammael,

Ghreu obhi nãu-nek.

And the fall was just about done.

Sosã bher kom apo sen- auei,

She rose on the winds of old,

Me-tag moru eno obhi g'em.

Becoming the dark that is to come.

Sosã dnghu k'er rabh,

Her voice became rage,

En sosã kedes bhat uper.

And her hatred struck the skies.

Snvi, Smnglph, Svsi

Senoy, Semangelof and Sansenoy,

K'e sãg trei,

The hunters three,

Mit-bhad en mit-ai,

Kindness and generosity,

Kor-dh-bhleg mit bher,

Creatures of burden,

Ne mit-k streig.

Never will stop.

Erweitert Sammael,

Sammael the evil one,

Totã de'k k'ene,

He took his generals,

Eti en k'erd

And forged in the heart

Ne kel- erweitert

Of an innocent one

Kel-erweitert-klã-klo,

That abomination,

Cambion,

Cambion,

Ken Mauro dhen-steb

And began a dark walk

Ne at-ei-el not.

That none shall cause to go back.

Ardet-lili,

Ardet-lili,

Sosã bheu-bhleu uperi,

She was cursed by the heavens,

G'rebh arnu ie-mit dheu,

Children ever to die,

Sosã g'rebh bheu-nek.

Her legacy to be blotted out.

G'el apo-au akkã

Agony of a mother,

Rabh apo sosã-ario,

Rage of a queen,

Sosã uerdh en mauro.

She rose in the dark.

Bher'g g'rebh,

Hide the children,

Bal'bal nok'ts

Quiver in the night,

Sosã g'em,

For she comes,

Sosã-ario,

The queen

Uerdh,

Is rising,

Ie-leto en sosã k'erd.

Vengeance in her heart.

Rabh-Ardet-lili

Ardet-lili's rage

Bhreu uperi und bhegh,

Snaps the heavens apart,

Koro-s ieu-dh,

As war is fought,

Sosã dhen g'hoem,

And she walks the earth,

Ar-bheu dheu.

Ever to die.

Ar-bheu k'el.

Ever to live.

Kreu aued,

Blood runs,

Bhleu-en ue,

Seeping down,

En g'hren,

To the soul,

Sosã dhregh-kud en sosã

As she screams in her

Dhregha.

Torment.

Varnpyre sãg

Vampire hunters

Tera-g'hoem

Cross the earth

Dhugeter en Midgard

After the Daughter of Midgard

Sosã ar-bheu k'el kreu.

And her immortal blood.

Sosã rabh

Her rage

Da'dek.

Tears them to shreds.

Sosã-ario sed-es

The Queen is on her throne

Konemo,

Of bones,

Andh-kedes

A deepening hatred

Bhleu-sosã

Burning her

Ar-bheu.

Forever.

Ardet-lili

Ardet-lili

Sosã-me

Maiden

Lillith

Lillith

Sosã-dei en Lilin,

Goddess of the Lilin,

Sosã-ario en Mauro,

Queen of the Dark,

Meng-kedes,

Beautiful Hatred,

Kreu-eu,

The blood rolls down,

Sosã g'em nek.

As she comes this night.

Dhuer reu pela,

The doors open wide,

Epi-aug bhreu-kreu,

Windows shatter,

Deodo nek,

As this very night,

Fem en kreu-trenk

The one in blood-bathed,

G'em

Arrives

Ar ues dhuer.

Upon your doorstep.

Ardet-lili uper,

Ardet-lili rises,

Ues g'em.

Coming for you.

Trei uperi-anghen,

The three angels,

Myrrdin Wylt,

Myrrdin Wyllt,

En Mikael,

And Mikael,

Magh apo toros,

Fight in the storm of the night,

En mauro,

As in the dark,

Lilly gela kreu-ster gelei.

Lilly smiles a blood-coated grin.

