Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1)

by Leena Maria

  I heard Mut-Bity's note humming as she approached me. After a while she sat next to me.

  "We have to leave the River," she said quietly to me.

  "Why?" I did not need to disagree with Mut-Bity, I knew she was very wise. Still, I was curious.

  Mut-Bity gathered her thoughts for a while. I followed her tune as it turned inwards, as it always did when she meditated on matters. This time her tune had a sharp echo. When people were afraid, their tune turned shrill and sharp. And now, perhaps for the first time, I heard Mut-Bity's fear.

  "I will not lie to you, even when you are so young," Mut-Bity finally said quietly. So quietly that no one could possibly hear what she said but me.

  I waited. Mut-Bity did not need to explain to me that she would not lie. Of course she would not. Not to me at least. She searched for words, and I waited, concentrating on listening to the songs of underwater beings. They were somehow very quick, and yet very slow - the song reacted to their movements much faster than to the movements of people. There were quick trills, and also slow, meditative echoes from animals living at the bottom.

  "You are different, but not just in your looks," Mut-Bity finally said, "you love the stories that people tell about ancient days, as do I. You are becoming someone like one of the people in those tales. You will have very rare gifts, but how they will show themselves, we do not know yet. The song of the world you hear is one of those gifts. You have inherited it from your mother."

  "And my sister?"

  "She doesn't seem to be going to the same place that you are going. She may never develop similar skills, because you were the first-born. But we may never know for certain. These things are a mystery. In any case, it is important that you know that these skills may be used for both good and evil. Since the dawn of time, the likes of you have existed and have always lived among ordinary people, often undetected, because they - you - are shaped like humans. They have not always managed to hide their gifts, and so many wonderful stories were born."

  Mut-Bity was quiet for a long time and I calmed my mind and listened to the stars of the north. They seemed to pull my heart towards them, as if I had belonged there once and they were drawing me back. They felt fresh and invigorating in my mind. I was certain that the cooling winds of the north came directly from them.

  "And that man is just like me, only evil,""I said.

  "Exactly. And the worst part is, that now that he has come close to you once, he can follow your scent for a very long time - it leads him to you."

  "Why would he like to follow me? Because we are alike?"

  "Yes... but he would not let you stay the way you are. He would like to make you similar to himself. To bind you to him in vile ways, which you could not avoid, if he once gets hold of you."

  "Why?"

  "To control the powers you are developing. And he won't give up, now that he has found you and smelled you. We need to cut the trail."

  "How?"

  "It is harder for him to follow you on water, but he can travel the shores of the River, and even follow the boat, if the wind comes from the right direction. And in this case it does. He is very, very fast. Still - a bee-sting is a very bad thing for him, and it will take time for him to heal. But as he knows we are carrying beehives, he will come looking for you in the places where bees are currently working. That is why we are now traveling directly to Mi-Wer and leaving as soon as we can, in a direction he won't immediately guess. Somewhere where you cannot take bees. And we have to stay away for a long time."

  I swallowed. Mother and sister were in Mi-Wer, at the house of the king's women. Would I have to say goodbye to them? I felt a choking feeling in my throat and the song of the night vanished. I felt very small and very lonely.

  "We have to leave so that your mother and sister remain safe. Your mother is like you, but she is so strong that she can protect herself and keep your sister safe, once she has been warned. It is important, though, that we don't lead the pale man to them and cause them danger. This is why we cannot leave your scent near them for a long time."

  I could not answer her, because I felt like crying. So I stayed quiet and just watched the cold stars warped by my tears, with my knees against my chest. The sky had turned mute.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  46. The Place of the Neteru

  Merit had clearly discovered information about some mystery that Elijah knew about as well.

  "I am traveling in search of answers," Merit's journal told him. "There are many ancient writings preserved here that we have no idea about in our time. They have vanished in centuries in between, but they still exist here. I did learn to read some hieroglyphs at home, but those were mostly offering formulas in tombs. I have taken on the task of learning to read this writing properly. Thankfully I am at a position where I can do so. I have become one of the children of the kap, it seems, despite the fact I am an adult."

  "The kap?" Mr. Donnelly scratched his ear.

  Frantic leafing of the Egyptology books brought Mr. Donnelly the answer.

  "Ah, the royal nursery... Children of the royal palace learned reading and writing and other skills in the kap... So she is a member of the court! Learning hieroglyphs and reading and writing. Well done, Merit, well done..."

  Pleased with Merit's progress in ancient life Mr.Donnelly kept on translating the last pages.

  "And I finally found my clue to the location of the neteru. It was written on a piece of papyrus in the House of Life of Inbu-Hedj, or Memphis. I do not dare write the clue down as it may get into the wrong hands. I know no one can read this yet, because the language does not even exist - what a curious feeling that gives me! But if this book ends up in the wrong hands in the future... And I admit I tore that part of the papyrus out and took it with me."

  Mr. Donnelly sat absolutely still, numb with shock. The place of Neteru... Could it be...

  With shaking hands he searched his books which were now literally towering around him on the floor. He found a book about reading the hieroglyphs.

  Neteru. Gods. The abode of the gods. And now he understood he had mistranslated earlier. "Those who kept an eye on us..." The Masters used another term completely.

  This could not be a coincidence. Merit had found the clue he was seeking for the Masters. It had to be.

  His lips felt numb as he mumbled the last sentences.

  "And I have found there are Immortals here as well. I do not know how long I can keep myself hidden from them. I think my looks will raise their suspicions, if they haven't done so already. I have to retreat to Mi-Wer and keep in hiding there, out of sight, protected by the guards of the royal harem, and trust that there are enough light-colored ladies there so that I blend in. Otherwise I shall draw doom over those I love as well. But rest assured, Elijah, I will do everything I can to find you again. If I cannot enter the mists of the buffer zone, then perhaps others near me can and they can lead me through the mists of time back to you... However, to find out if that is the case, I might need to wait for many years yet. They are still so..."

  A hole in the paper again.

  "Who are? What are they?" Mr.Donnelly wailed.

  Mr. Donnelly closed his Moleskine and the sketchbook. He would have to hide them from the Masters. But where could he hide them? How could he keep them from the eyes of the Masters? If only there was a way for him to leave the City of Immortals...

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  47. Truth Will Out

  My memories of returning to the Time Walker Center are fragmentary. I only remember moving through the mist, then rising higher until a real landscape formed around us. What it was, I have no recollection. I recall Daniel's strong arms carrying me, and I was barely conscious. I was in a state of mental collapse because of the shock. His body heat felt calming and relaxing and I must have finally fallen asleep - or fainted.

  When I woke up, I was in some sort of hospital room. My hand was bandaged and there was a strange taste in my mouth. And I had a fever. I could feel it. />
  My eyelids weighed a ton and I could barely manage to keep them open for a few seconds. I was lying on my side, with my bandaged hand in front of my face. There was someone sitting beyond it. My vision was blurry, but I felt the warmth emanating from the figure.

  "Daniel..." I thought to myself before falling asleep again. I think I felt someone gently touch my cheek.

  I woke up to whispering voices. People often think they cannot be heard, when they whisper, when in fact all the s's hiss so loudly you are bound to pay attention. Groggily I remembered reading in one of the Narnia books when I was a child that if you don't want to be overheard when you're whispering to someone, replace every letter "s" with an "h". That makes the whispering difficult to hear from a distance, according to this character in the book.

  These two were certainly hissing like two snakes...

  "We shall have to tell her now."

  "I wish we didn't have to... not just yet."

  "Well you can hardly explain away what Angel told her. It's better she knows in advance. Besides – it may already have started!"

  Lilith and Grandma, I recognized their voices.

  "She is awake," Daniel's voice announced.

  I opened my eyes with difficulty, just in time to see him leaving the room. Still avoiding me, then. The worried faces of the two women blocked my view.

  "Dana, are you awake?" Grandma asked, looking into my eyes to see if I was present.

  "No, I'm only pretending," I mumbled, "and would someone please tell me who dumped cat litter in my mouth?"

  The women laughed in a relieved way and Lilith gave me a glass of water. I found swallowing hard whilst lying down, so I sat up to empty the glass. For a while the world spun around me, but eventually my surroundings settled into place.

  "And now I want explanations." I faced the ladies once the surroundings were solid again.

  "What do you remember?" Grandma asked.

  "Everything until Angel left. What did she mean, when she said they had made me?"

  The glance between Grandma and Lilith spoke volumes. I suppose they had hoped I had somehow missed that part.

  "First of all we want you to know we only suspected. We were not sure if you would be... what you probably are. We had strong indications because of your bloodline, yes, but these things are never certain," Lilith said cryptically. "You surprised us all by being such a strong Weaver. Truly, we had never seen a human weaver make an opening to the buffer zone by herself by simply... well, weaving. All the others needed an opening made for them before they could enter the buffer zone to travel in time. But you proved to be different from the human weavers."

  "Wait. What do you mean by human weavers? Am I not human, then?"

  Lilith opened her mouth, but Grandma beat her to it.

  "It's probably best if I explain it from the very beginning. Be patient, Dana, and you will have all the answers you're looking for."

  The door opened and to my surprise Daniel walked back in with a tray.

  "You've not eaten in a while, so you'd better get this soup into you before listening to anything." He placed the tray on my lap.

  "Thank you..." I was almost embarrassed about thinking he was still avoiding me. I took the spoon and ladled the warm soup in. It tasted wonderful.

  "You are explaining it all to her now?" Daniel asked.

  "Yes, we have to," Lilith sighed.

  "About time," he commented and dropped back into the chair in which he had been sitting when I woke up. He did not look in my direction, but stared into the distance like a statue.

  "This will shock you, I am afraid," Grandma said, "and as that is bound to happen, I won't sugar-coat this for you. The first thing is – you are adopted."

  I gasped. Daniel turned his head and looked at me. Really looked at me, deep into my eyes. I knew he had known.

  "You were born during the Blitz, in London, England. The year of your birth was 1940."

  "What?" The spoon fell onto the half empty plate and splattered soup onto the bed.

  Grandma nodded.

  "You were born as the illegitimate child of a young servant girl and a soldier. You were chased by the shadows from the start because of your genealogy."

  I did not say anything. I could not. My mind was empty.

  "I'm going to show you a photograph. It is the only photograph of this person."

  Lilith held out a print of an old photo. I took it into my hands. A tall, dark-haired man was standing outside what looked like a medieval palace. His clothing was old fashioned – from the beginning of the twentieth century.

  "This is Cain. He is the leader of the dark Nephilim. And he is your grandfather."

  Everyone sat still, observing me with keen interest, while I tried to digest what I had just heard. I felt like someone had just knocked me down and forced the breath out of me. My scalp was tingling with shock and I leaned backwards, against the pillows, as all my strength left me.

  "You are saying... What are you saying? Who is this Cain? What is this Cain?"

  Grandma sighed.

  "Like I said. The leader of the dark Nephilim."

  "So you mean I am... I am... a..."

  The world began to spin.

  "Stop it, you two," Daniel's voice was harsh, "you are not handling this very well. Leave us."

  Much to my surprise Lilith and Grandma did not object. They rose from their chairs and walked out of the room. Daniel walked over to the bed. He sat down on it and took my hands in his.

  "Yes. You are Nephilim. You are the granddaughter of the leader of the dark Nephilim. And you are the result of a long... I am sorry to use this term, but there is really no other way to put it: you are the result of a long breeding program."

  I could only stare into his bright blue eyes. The golden spots were still there.

  "But... I cannot be! There's nothing out of the ordinary about me!"

  "Oh, but there is. It may take a Nephilim at this stage of your development to recognise it, even if it is not yet physically visible. I knew the second you touched my wings. They resonate in a special way to the touch of another Nephilim."

  "Is that why you have been acting so strangely?" I surprised myself by being curious about this.

  Daniel looked out of ease.

  "Well, yes... And it was so clear you had no idea of who you are. I felt sorry for you – you were about to face a very rough ride, accepting the truth about yourself."

  I had a strong feeling he was not quite honest with me, but I wanted to learn more about my genealogy, to ease the turmoil of my mind. So I did not express my doubts.

  "Was Grandma serious when she said that I was born during the Second World War?"

  "You were. Your father was the eldest son of Cain – he, too, the result of a long breeding program. A wife had been chosen for him for that end, but he escaped his family and ended up in London. Quite by chance he happened to meet another Nephilim - a girl who had no idea what she was. She had been in trouble already because of her Nephilim powers which manifested early as a child. Extremely rare. Usually a Nephilim grows into their power around the twentieth birthday, at the earliest around eighteen years of age."

  "What powers? Breeding program to what ends? What...?"

  "It is best if you listen to me first. Afterwards, you can ask all the questions you want. OK?"

  "OK..."

  "Your mother, it seems, was the last in line of one of the purest Nephilim lines, if I can put it like that. The dark ones have hunted their kind... my kind... our kind... for thousands of years, trying to wipe them off the face of the earth."

  "Why?"

  "Because we do not share their ambitions of ruling the earth and having the people as slaves, basically. People have no idea of the battles we have fought to protect them from this fate."

  "Oh..."

  "Your grandparents from your biological mother's side hid her, when she was born, by giving her up for adoption. However, they followed her life close by, ready to step in w
hen she matured, to explain to her what she was. She moved to London, and her real mother followed. She was close by when the young ones met. They fell in love. The girl got pregnant, and that is when the dark ones found him."

  "My... father?"

  "Yes. The son of the mighty Cain."

  His voice sounded bitter. No wonder, if this Cain was responsible for killing Daniel's kind.

  "They found him and took him captive. No one has heard of him since. They probably killed him because he disobeyed Cain – there is no bigger offence amongst them than that. The good part was that the dark Nephilim did not realize at first that your mother was pregnant and that she was Nephilim too.

  "She was about your age when she got pregnant and did not show her true heritage at that point. If Cain's family had known, they would have kidnapped her, or at least tried to steal the baby – you – immediately after your birth so that your mother would not have had a chance to nurse you. That would have been the easiest way to get you, but it would have had consequences later, should you have tried to get children of your own...

  "Mother's milk is essential for the development of the Nephilim baby into a full-grown Nephilim. If the mother is human, the Nephilim child cannot develop to his or her full potential. And most often the baby has the tendency to be what the mother is, in the case of a mixed breeding between bad and good Nephilim. This is something the dark ones have used to their advantage through centuries to strengthen their kind... They seem to have problems conceiving among themselves - getting pregnant can take years, if they are successful at all. If they had managed to steal you right at birth, they would have given you for breast-feeding to one of their own kind who had managed to give birth, to increase the probability of you willingly turning into one of them. And of course, they would have had other means of making you "convert" as they put it, if you did not ask of your own accord to be... turned to their kind."