by Leena Maria
The boys... didn't exactly sound like the word I would have used of someone who was three hundred years old. How old Daniel's brother was, I had no idea. I wondered if Lilith was putting a positive spin on their task in order not to let me know how dangerous it really was.
"When do you expect them back?" I rocked on the chair to keep the pain at bay.
"Any time now. They have been gone since you woke up. Five days."
I felt a band of fear squeeze around my heart. Five days in the middle of the enemy? Maybe they were dead or infected already...
"Here, have a look!" Reggie gestured me to approach.
His fingers dipped into the pockets of his loose jacket and pulled out a pair of cotton gloves. With these on he carefully opened the cover of the small book on Lilith's table. I bent closer.
"This must be one of the oldest codices in the world," he explained.
"I'm sorry... you mean book?" I wasn't quite sure I understood.
"Yes, indeed, a book in book form as we know it," Reggie nodded, "It was a revolutionary invention! Consider the scrolls that people had been using for thousands of years. They could be very long and clumsy to use of course. And then someone realized that papyrus could be cut into pages that were attached to each other at one side. The earliest books, as we know them, come from the first centuries of the Christian era. And this - I have never seen an older book than this!"
He was so overtaken by emotion that he pressed the backs of his hand to his eyes for a while. After a deep breath he gained enough composure to continue.
"You see this book is written on papyrus. The covers are made of simple boards, which I think have been covered later with leather. All these are perishable materials - it is a wonder it has been preserved!"
I nodded.
"This is written in Greek, and it has illustrations as well!"
Delicately, as though he was touching a butterfly's wing, Reggie opened the book at a place where we could see an old drawing.
It was beautiful and clearly made in Greek style. It depicted a male figure with huge red wings. In his left hand he held a scroll, which he was opening with his right hand. There was tiny writing on the scroll.
"Now, here... look through this," Reggie's deep pockets produced a magnifying glass.
Through it I saw Greek letters I did not understand, and another drawing on the scroll. I had no idea what it was supposed to depict - it looked like a torn leaf.
"What am I looking at?" I asked.
"The drawing is a map. It appears that the artist here had an actual map in his hands, which he copied onto the scroll. We haven't yet been able to identify where it is precisely, but its most likely location is somewhere in the Mediterranean region. Our researchers are working on it on their computers as we speak."
"And the text?"
"That's the very clue to the Book of Watchers!"
Again Reggie had to take a moment to control his emotions. He looked at the ceiling and breathed deeply. I observed his scholarly excitement with interest. Then he returned his gaze to the book:
"The text says: The scroll of iyrin, the path to their abode."
"The word iyrin means "the Watchers" in our language," Lilith said, "so now we know that the Book of Watchers is a scroll, a map that leads to their place of origin."
"To...heaven?" I asked.
"We don't know. It could be a place in the buffer zone realms, it could be the place where they are now, or it could be a physical place on earth - after all according to legend they lived here with their human wives," Lilith said, "and that is what Daniel and Elijah are trying to find out."
There was a knock on the door. One of the Guardians, whose name I did not know, opened the door. His eyes were wide with shock.
"Come quickly. Daniel and Elijah are back! And - "
He didn't have to say anything more. The expression on his face said it all. I was out of the room ahead of everyone else.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
51. The Prophecy
The Pythian games were held only every fourth year, and Ambrogio understood that he had been lucky to come here just now, when the games were about to commence, beginning on the seventh day of the month of Boucation, at the end of summer.
Six months earlier the theoroi, nine messengers chosen from among the citizens of Delphi, had left on their round of visits to every city in Greece to announce the start of the festival. During this time the heiromenia, a truce, was observed. No city could attempt to invade the sanctuary at this time, or they and their citizens would be excluded not only from entering the sanctuary, but also taking part in the games, or asking the advice of the Pythia.
The Delphi temple area was restored with great expense. The theoria, or official missions from the participating cities, arrived. They included not only leading athletes, but also the elite and officials of all the participating cities, and they gave rich offerings and animal sacrifices to the temple.
Ambrogio had only a few days to practice on his kithara. It did resemble the lyre, but had certain differences. Its sound box was of wood, and it had two horns that were attached to a horizontal tuning bar. There were seven strings. The horns were flexible, and when the strings were plucked, the horns made a wavelike sound. The instrument sang with a strong and deep voice.
Ambrogio had the instrument hanging from his shoulder on a strap, and played it with two hands, with closed eyes, to really listen to the different notes. His fingers were too clumsy, so he made a little plectrum out of a flat piece of wood.
If anything, he had always been musical. Learning to play the lyre had come naturally to him, and so he soon found confidence in this new, yet difficult instrument. He knew he could not win over the musicians who had played the kithara since childhood, so he decided that instead of trying to play a difficult tune, he would use it only to support his singing voice.
The song he chose was one his mother had sung to him when he was a child. It was not a lullaby. His mother had a remarkable voice and he had inherited his musical talent from her. This song was long, and had a variable melody, which took the singer from deep bass to high trills, and the intensity of the singing voice varied. He only needed to rephrase it, turning it into a song to honor Apollo.
He never saw the golden-haired goddess, while he practiced. He felt a shiver of fear, when he heard, that a musician had been found dead in the valley where the spectators of the games had set up their camps, his throat cut, but no blood anywhere on the ground around him. Because he still was wearing his jewelry, it was decided no one had broken the heiromenia, and a wild animal had attacked the man. If Ambrogio suspected where his own kithara came from, he did not dare to voice his suspicions even to himself.
The games began. The first two days were religious. On the first day a great number of animals was sacrificed in the temple, and their meat was eaten. Then a holy play was enacted, to show how Apollo killed the horrible Python snake that harassed human kind. The god threw the body of the snake into the chasm over which Pythia now sat, and the fumes caused by its decomposition made her go into trance and predict the future.
The next day people feasted on the sacrificed animals. People from different city-states got to know each other. Ambrogio also got his share of the delicious meat, and ate to his heart's content.
Then the third day of the Games came, the day of the music competition. The singers gathered in the Theatre, and performed their songs, one after the other. They had travelled from far to participate in the games, protected by the Holy Delphic Peace. There was a competition for playing the autos, the flute. And then there was the singing contest in which the singer accompanied himself on the kithara.
When Ambrogio's turn came, he closed his eyes, and sang like never before, playing the kithara only as far as he had become familiar with it. He was not as good a kithara player as the other singers, but his voice beat them all. He had never sung so well.
He won. He was crowned with the laurel wreath, which was sought
and cut by the same actor, a young boy, who had played Apollo slaying the great Python in the holy play. Suddenly Ambrogio was lauded by all.
The athletic contests were in turn on the fourth day. There were foot races, like the hoplitodromoi - running a race in full armor - boxing and wrestling and the pentathlon. On the fifth day he watched the horse races.
When it was time for Pythia to give oracles again, Ambrogio was told he would be one of those allowed to approach her. The sacrificed goat's entrails showed the Pythia would be safe. She had already fasted, and on the seventh day of the month she bathed at dawn. This she did in the very same ravine where Amrogio had met with the goddess, situated between the Phaedriade cliffs, the shining ones. The spring where she bathed was sacred, located where Apollo had killed the Python - the Castalian spring, near the statues of Gaia and Themis. She then drank the holy waters of the Kassotis near the temple – and now Ambrogio also heard it was the place where a naiad, a water nymph with magical powers, was said to live. He understood it was she he had met.
Pythia then returned to the temple with her retinue. She burned an offering to Apollo - barley meal and laurel leaves, and spoke words of worship. Priests sprinkled cold water on a flawless goat, which shuddered as a sign that Apollo was willing to answer questions. The goat was then sacrificed outside the temple so all could see the day was favorable, and Pythia would prophesize.
A priest sprinkled the temple floor with holy water. Ambrogio, having purified himself with the water of the springs of Delphi, stood in awe at the temple entrance and read the words written there. "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess". A big letter E was carved there too, but he did not know what it meant and did not dare to ask.
Ambrosia had bought the required pelanos, the sacrificial cake you could only buy from the Delphians. Inside the temple he was required to make another sacrifice, a goat again, on the inner hearth of the temple, accompanied by a Delphic citizen, who had been chosen as his proxenos - the local representative. Anyone who was not Delphic, had to have a proxenos to enter.
The Pythia then descended the steps into the place where her tripod seat was placed – the adyton, the inaccessible place. She was the only woman allowed to enter here. She held laurel leaves, and a dish in which holy water of the Kassotis spring formed a mirror. Near her was the omphalos, the navel of the world in the form of a decorated stone. Two golden eagles were on both sides of it, to remind them of how Zeus had sent two eagles to flight from both ends of the world. Where they met, was the center of the world, and this is where the omphalos was placed. The stone was covered by a carved, thick net on its surface, the agrenon. Two statues of Apollo filled the place - one wooden, the other golden. Apollo's sacred armor and lyre filled the rest of the space, leaving only a small amount of room for the Pythia.
Ambrogio tried to see the chasm from which the vapors of the decomposing Python were supposed to rise, but he only saw a limestone floor. Maybe they had covered the chasm with a floor of stone... under the tripod on which the Pythia was sitting was an incense burner and she was enveloped by the thick veils of smoke that emanated from it. This was the breath of Apollo, which entered into the Pythia and came out through her mouth as divine words.
They were not allowed to approach Pythia too closely, and only one could come and ask their question at a time. She sat on her tripod, staring into the bowl of water with glazed eyes. Her head began to bob.
Ambrogio had the honor of having the first turn. He observed the Pythia from a distance, from the entrance of the adyton - no one was allowed to come too close. The Pythia was no longer young, even though she wore the dress of a maiden. He had heard she was chosen from among the families of Delphi and, once selected, could no longer have a normal family life. She dedicated herself to be the vessel through which the god Apollo spoke directly, and lived a chaste life, taking great care of her purity. If she had been married and had children, she was to leave that life behind.
Ambrogio had been told that he should ask Pythia a question that had two options. So he had written down his question. "Should I return to my home and become a merchant like my father, or should I leave ordinary life behind me and seek for my happiness elsewhere?"
Ambrogio had been told he might not understand a word of what Pythia said, and that priests would interpret her words for him later. After this he was to think about the answer on his own, because only he could know the truth. This is why "Know thyself" was written on the entrance of the temple – if you did not know your own mind, you could not understand the cryptic answer.
But it was not so. The Pythia sat in a hunched position, listening to the question the priest quietly read to her, her face near the water. Suddenly she declared loudly in a clear and ringing voice:
"The curse. The moon. The blood will run."
Nothing more. Ambrogio was led out of the temple repeating these ominous words.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
52. The Change
There was a silent ring of people standing in the hallway in front of the gate. Lilith pushed them aside to get past, and the rest of us followed through the opening she had made.
Daniel was standing, his magnificent blue wings spread, holding a frightened-looking middle aged man in a tight grip by the arm. Next to the man crouched a dog-like shadow, its movements reflecting the nervous twitching of its master. Still, it seemed to have a will of its own, and tried to move away, whilst the man did not try to escape.
On the floor lay a dark-haired Nephilim, whose features resembled those of Daniel's. This had to be Elijah.
He lay there with open wings and closed eyes, fighting for his breath. The rasping sound of his labored breathing echoed from the walls. And his wings... they were torn into horrible shreds. Originally they seemed to have been bluish, but the shreds were turning darker as we watched. They shivered and crumpled as Elijah tried to breathe, and a pool of blood spread slowly across the tiles.
"Oh no!" Lilith gasped. "Who did this?"
"A Nephilim fighter was in the Immortal City and followed us. He caught us before we could reach any higher planes. We had to fight the man's shadow and that slowed us down, giving the Nephilim time to reach us."
Lilith knelt by the young man. Despite the horror I felt, I did not freeze. Instead my legs had a will of their own and took me right next to him.
The young man opened his eyes, and they were cloudy with shock. For a second they locked into mine, even though I could not be certain he actually saw me, and I felt a sudden wave of deep compassion flow through me. The depth of the emotion made me sway.
"Take the man to safekeeping," Lilith ordered, not diverting her gaze from Elijah.
Several Guardians stepped in to surround the shadow and the man standing in Daniel's grip. Daniel cut the cord between the shadow and its master in one inexorable and deft motion, and the shadow fell into a shivering heap on the floor. The man was left gasping for air as if someone had hit him in the stomach. People drew back, not wanting to touch the remains of the shadow as it crawled aimlessly and pitifully along the floor. Soon it stopped moving and turned into a pile of grey dust like a deflated balloon. The Guardians led the man away, and he did not try to fight.
Daniel had eyes only for his brother, and he too knelt on the floor.
"Was - is - he bitten?" Lilith asked, not daring to touch Elijah.
"I fear so, but I do not know. There will have to be blood tests," Daniel said. "They clashed wings in the most vicious fight I'd ever witnessed, whilst Elijah tried to give me a chance to escape with our prisoner. I hope he managed to protect himself."
He extended his wings and carefully slid them under Elijah's limp body. With the help of his wings and strong arms he gently lifted Elijah off the floor and headed towards the sick ward. Lilith and I followed. Reggie and Grandma were nowhere to be seen. Elijah wailed in a thin voice, barely conscious.
All the way to the ward big drops of blood fell on the floor. They were red, but had an odd glittering shimmer t
o them. The remnants of Elijah's wings trailed along the floor in Daniel's wake.
I could not watch that. I stepped closer, bent, and carefully lifted the shreds so that I ended up holding them in my arms as if I was carrying the train of a wedding dress. The shreds gave me slight electric shocks, and were slippery with blood. Only then did I realize I might have put myself in danger. I tried to remember if I had any scratches in my arms so that Elijah's blood might get into my bloodstream. But no, I did not remember having any cuts in my skin.
Elijah screamed when I touched his wings and Daniel looked over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asked, but did not slow down.
"His wings... I'm afraid bits will fall off..."
Daniel did not say anything, but now we had already reached the ward. The word had spread, and there was a whole medical team waiting.
Daniel carefully lowered Elijah onto the bed so that he lay on his back. The bed was T-shaped, and when they spread out Elijah's wings I understood, why. Both wings could be stretched out and treated at the same time as his body.
We moved aside to the wall and watched them do whatever they could for Elijah. They cut off his clothes, and saw deep marks in his body, as though someone had burned him with a hot blade. I could see scorched tissue, and deep cuts.
I understood that if the other Nephilim had managed to spit into those wounds, or had caused them by biting, Elijah would be infected.
There were four doctors. Two worked on his body, and two on his wings.
It is an amazing sight - to see how the angel wings were treated. The wings were transparent, but not immaterial. The shreds were carefully straightened to their proper place. The darkened edges were then handled with some kind of liquid that shone bright yellow – it reminded me of honey. It seemed to glue the bits back together.