Dark Slayer 20

by Christine Feehan

  «It's all right. Really. I'm all right. Nicolas has taken great care of me, and now that you're here with us, and I know you really were trying to get me out of there, everything is all right.»

  «I do not deserve you.»

  Lara smiled. «Neither does Nicolas, but I love him all the same.» The smile faded and she looked serious. «I am proud to be your daughter.»

  Nicolas helped Razvan to his feet. «And I, your son.» He grinned a little mischievously, something that shocked Ivory as he leaned over to brush a kiss on her cheek. «Hello, Mother.»

  Ivory gave him a mock scowl, but the ease in Razvan was worth the unfamiliar teasing.

  Razvan found a smile forming in his heart. «Take my daughter and sit where she can rest,» he instructed, «so they may get started.»

  Ivory touched his mind again. The terrible pain had eased, but she knew he still felt it. She wrapped her arm around him tightly and clung there while the prince walked to the middle of the room and the hush fell again.

  Gregori and Savannah carried their babies into the center of the room. The crowd erupted with joy, the walls expanding as though they couldn't contain so much happiness. Razvan wrapped his arm around Ivory's waist and held her close.

  «Everyone will pledge to love and support those children,» Ivory said, remembering the ceremony from her childhood. «All of us are expected to educate, love and become family to them so that should anything happen to their parents, they will not feel alone in the world.» She brushed a kiss along the side of his face. «More children for you.»

  He flicked her a promise of retaliation at the laughter in her voice. «We will have to have at least ten more.»

  Ivory sucked in her breath and scowled at him. She didn't know the first thing about babies-give her a sword every time.

  Razvan made a little snorting sound and even the wolves stirred as if they were laughing.

  Gregori handed his daughter to the prince. The baby seemed impossibly tiny to Ivory, but she had all her fingers and toes and a head of thick, dark hair-and she was alive. Her head turned and her eyes met Ivory's. There was awareness there. Ivory's throat tightened more.

  «Who names this child?» Mikhail asked.

  «Her father,» Gregori answered.

  «Her mother,» Savannah proclaimed.

  «Her people,» the entire crowd chanted back.

  «I name you Anastasia Daratrazanoff,» Mikhail said. «Born in battle, crowned with love. Who will accept the offer of the Carpathian people to love and raise our daughter?»

  «Her parents, with gratitude,» Savannah and Gregori answered formally.

  The second infant was handed to Mikhail with great care. She was visibly smaller and a little more fragile, with the same head of dark hair. She, too, looked at Ivory as Mikhail held her high in the air for the Carpathian people to see. Elation swept through the room at the sight of the small baby, an almost electric excitement that had tears swimming in Ivory's eyes. She smiled at the baby and was shocked when the infant smiled back.

  «Who names this child?» Mikhail asked.

  «Her father,» Gregori answered. His voice sounded choked, as if he could barely get the words past the lump in his throat.

  «His mother,» Savannah replied, cuddling little Anastasia protectively against her body.

  «Her people,» every man, woman and child in the room proclaimed in unison.

  «I name you Anya Daratrazanoff,» Mikhail announced. «Born in battle, crowned with love. Who will accept the offer of the Carpathian people to love and raise our daughter?»

  «Her parents, with gratitude.» Gregori and Savannah accepted the tremendous honor and duty together.

  The crowd erupted into singing and chanting, joy filling the ceremonial chamber. Laughter broke out. Ivory caught sight of Travis hugging Falcon. He looked happy and carefree. She found herself smiling right along with the rest of them.

  «I suppose we should swear allegiance to the prince,» she whispered.

  «I suppose,» Razvan agreed, «but not now. Now, I want to take you home and start on those ten children we are going to have.»

  Ivory laughed and placed her hand in his. She doubted the ten children thing was ever going to happen, but she certainly had no objections to the trying.

  APPENDIX 1

  Carpathian Healing Chants

  To rightly understand Carpathian healing chants, background is required in several areas:

  1. The Carpathian view on healing

  2. The Lesser Healing Chant of the Carpathians

  3. The Great Healing Chant of the Carpathians

  4. Carpathian musical aesthetics

  5. Lullaby

  6. Song to Heal the Earth

  7. Carpathian chanting technique

  1. THE CARPATHIAN VIEW ON HEALING

  The Carpathians are a nomadic people whose geographic origins can be traced back to at least as far as the Southern Ural Mountains (near the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan), on the border between Europe and Asia. (For this reason, modern-day linguists call their language «proto-Uralic,» without knowing that this is the language of the Carpathians.) Unlike most nomadic peoples, the wandering of the Carpathians was not due to the need to find new grazing lands as the seasons and climate shifted, or the search for better trade. Instead, the Carpathians' movements were driven by a great purpose: to find a land that would have the right earth, a soil with the kind of richness that would greatly enhance their rejuvenative powers.

  Over the centuries, they migrated westward (some six thousand years ago), until they at last found their perfect homeland-their susu-in the Carpathian Mountains, whose long arc cradled the lush plains of the kingdom of Hungary. (The kingdom of Hungary flourished for over a millennium-making Hungarian the dominant language of the Carpathian Basin-until the kingdom's lands were split among several countries after World War I: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and modern Hungary.)

  Other peoples from the Southern Urals (who shared the Carpathian language, but were not Carpathians) migrated in different directions. Some ended up in Finland, which accounts for why the modern Hungarian and Finnish languages are among the contemporary descendents of the ancient Carpathian language. Even though they are tied forever to their chosen Carpathian homeland, the wandering of the Carpathians continues, as they search the world for the answers that will enable them to bear and raise their offspring without difficulty.

  Because of their geographic origins, the Carpathian views on healing share much with the larger Eurasian shamanistic tradition. Probably the closest modern representative of that tradition is based in Tuva (and is referred to as «Tuvinian Shamanism»)-see the map on the previous page.

  The Eurasian shamanistic tradition-from the Carpathians to the Siberian shamans-held that illness originated in the human soul, and only later manifested as various physical conditions. Therefore, shamanistic healing, while not neglecting the body, focused on the soul and its healing. The most profound illnesses were understood to be caused by «soul departure,» where all or some part of the sick person's soul has wandered away from the body (into the nether realms), or has been captured or possessed by an evil spirit, or both.

  The Carpathians belong to this greater Eurasian shamanistic tradition and share its viewpoints. While the Carpathians themselves did not succumb to illness, Carpathian healers understood that the most profound wounds were also accompanied by a similar «soul departure.»

  Upon reaching the diagnosis of «soul departure,» the healer-shaman is then required to make a spiritual journey into the nether worlds to recover the soul. The shaman may have to overcome tremendous challenges along the way, particularly: fighting the demon or vampire who has possessed his friend's soul.

  «Soul departure» doesn't require a person to be unconscious (although that certainly can be the case as well). It was understood that a person could still appear to be conscious, even talk and interact with others, and yet be missing a part of their soul. The experienced healer
or shaman would instantly see the problem nonetheless, in subtle signs that others might miss: the person's attention wandering every now and then, a lessening in their enthusiasm about life, chronic depression, a diminishment in the brightness of their «aura,» and the like.

  2. THE LESSER HEALING CHANT OF THE CARPATHIANS

  Kepa Sarna Pus (The Lesser Healing Chant) is used for wounds that are merely physical in nature. The Carpathian healer leaves his body and enters the wounded Carpathian's body to heal great mortal wounds from the inside out using pure energy. He proclaims, «I offer freely my life for your life,» as he gives his blood to the injured Carpathian. Because the Carpathians are of the earth and bound to the soil, they are healed by the soil of their homeland. Their saliva is also often used for its rejuvenative powers.

  It is also very common for the Carpathian chants (both the Lesser and the Great) to be accompanied by the use of healing herbs, aromas from Carpathian candles, and crystals. The crystals (when combined with the Carpathians' empathic, psychic connection to the entire universe) are used to gather positive energy from their surroundings, which then is used to accelerate the healing. Caves are sometimes used as the setting for the healing.

  The Lesser Healing Chant was used by Vikirnoff Von Shrieder and Colby Jansen to heal Rafael De La Cruz, whose heart had been ripped out by a vampire as described in Dark Secret.

  Kepa Sarna Pus (The Lesser Healing Chant) The same chant is used for all physical wounds. «Sivadaba» note 1 would be changed to refer to whatever part of the body is wounded.

  Kunasz, nelkul sivdobbanas, nelkul fesztelen loyly. You lie as if asleep, without beat of heart, without airy breath.

  Ot elidamet andam szabadon elidadert. I offer freely my life for your life.

  O jela sielam jorem ot ainamet es so?e ot elidadet. My spirit of light forgets my body and enters your body.

  O jela sielam pukta kinn minden szelemeket belso. My spirit of light sends all the dark spirits within fleeing without.

  Pajnak o susu hanyet es o nyelv nyalamet sivadaba. I press the earth of our homeland and the spit of my tongue into your heart.

  Vii, o verim so?e o verid andam. At last, I give you my blood for your blood.

  To hear this chant, visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/.

  3. THE GREAT HEALING CHANT OF THE CARPATHIANS

  The most well known-and most dramatic-of the Carpathian healing chants was En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant). This chant was reserved for recovering the wounded or unconscious Carpathian's soul.

  Typically a group of men would form a circle around the sick Carpathian (to «encircle him with our care and compassion») and begin the chant. The shaman or healer or leader is the prime actor in this healing ceremony. It is he who will actually make the spiritual journey into the netherworld, aided by his clanspeople. Their purpose is to ecstatically dance, sing, drum and chant, all the while visualizing (through the words of the chant) the journey itself-every step of it, over and over again-to the point where the shaman, in trance, leaves his body, and makes that very journey. (Indeed, the word «ecstasy» is from the Latin ex statis, which literally means «out of the body.»)

  One advantage that the Carpathian healer has over many other shamans is his telepathic link to his lost brother. Most shamans must wander in the dark of the nether realms in search of their lost brother. But the Carpathian healer directly «hears» in his mind the voice of his lost brother calling to him, and can thus «zero in» on his soul like a homing beacon. For this reason, Carpathian healing tends to have a higher success rate than most other traditions of this sort.

  Something of the geography of the «other world» is useful for us to examine, in order to fully understand the words of the Great Carpathian Healing Chant. A reference is made to the «Great Tree» (in Carpathian: En Puwe). Many ancient traditions, including the Carpathian tradition, understood the worlds-the heaven worlds, our world, and the nether realms-to be «hung» upon a great pole, or axis, or tree. Here on earth, we are positioned halfway up this tree, on one of its branches. Hence many ancient texts often referred to the material world as «middle earth»: midway between heaven and hell. Climbing the tree would lead one to the heaven worlds. Descending the tree to its roots would lead to the nether realms. The shaman was necessarily a master of movement up and down the Great Tree, sometimes moving unaided, and sometimes assisted by (or even mounted upon the back of) an animal spirit guide. In various traditions, this Great Tree was known variously as the axis mundi (the «axis of the worlds»), Ygddrasil (in Norse mythology), Mount Meru (the sacred world mountain of Tibetan tradition), etc. The Christian cosmos, with its heaven, purgatory/earth and hell, is also worth comparing. It is even given a similar topography in Dante's Divine Comedy: Dante is led on a journey first to hell, at the center of the earth; then upward to Mount Purgatory, which sits on the earth's surface directly opposite Jerusalem; then farther upward first to Eden, the earthly paradise, at the summit of Mount Purgatory; and then upward at last to heaven.

  In the shamanistic tradition, it was understood that the small always reflects the large; the personal always reflects the cosmic. A movement in the greater dimensions of the cosmos also coincides with an internal movement. For example, the axis mundi of the cosmos also corresponds to the spinal column of the individual. Journeys up and down the axis mundi often coincided with the movement of natural and spiritual energies (sometimes called kundalini or shakti) in the spinal column of the shaman or mystic.

  En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant) In this chant, eka («brother») would be replaced by «sister,» « father,» «mother,» depending on the person to be healed.

  Ot ekam ainajanak hany, jama. My brother's body is a lump of earth, close to death.

  Me, ot ekam kuntajanak, piradak ekam, gond es irgalom ture. We, the clan of my brother, encircle him with our care and compassion.

  O pus wakenkek, ot oma sarnank, es ot pus funk, alnak ekam ainajanak, pitanak ekam ainajanak elava. Our healing energies, ancient words of magic, and healing herbs bless my brother's body, keep it alive.

  Ot ekam sielanak pala. Ot omboce palaja juta alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak. But my brother's soul is only half. His other half wanders in the netherworld.

  Ot en mekem ?ama?: kulkedak otti ot ekam omboce palajanak. My great deed is this: I travel to find my brother's other half.

  Rekature, saradak, tappadak, odam, ka?a o numa waram, es avaa owe o lewl mahoz. We dance, we chant, we dream ecstatically, to call my spirit bird, and to open the door to the other world.

  Ntak o numa waram, es mozdulak, jomadak. I mount my spirit bird and we begin to move, we are under way.

  Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvinak, ecidak alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak. Following the trunk of the Great Tree, we fall into the netherworld.

  Fazak, fazak no o saro. It is cold, very cold.

  Juttadak ot ekam o akarataban, o sivaban es o sielaban. My brother and I are linked in mind, heart and soul.

  Ot ekam sielanak ka?a engem. My brother's soul calls to me.

  Kuledak es piwtadak ot ekam. I hear and follow his track.

  Sa?edak es tuledak ot ekam kulyanak. Encounter I the demon who is devouring my brother's soul.

  Nenam coro; o kuly torodak. In anger, I fight the demon.

  O kuly pel engem. He is afraid of me.

  Lejkkadak o ka?ka salamaval. I strike his throat with a lightning bolt.

  Molodak ot ainaja komakamal. I break his body with my bare hands.

  Toja es molana. He is bent over, and falls apart.

  Han ca?a. He runs away.

  Manedak ot ekam sielanak. I rescue my brother's soul.

  Al? dak ot ekam sielanak o komamban. I lift my brother's soul in the hollow of my hand.

  Al?dam ot ekam numa waramra. I lift him onto my spirit bird.

  Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvijanak es sa?edak jalleen ot elava ainak majaknak. Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living.

  Ot ekam ela
jalleen. My brother lives again.

  Ot ekam wenca jalleen. He is complete again.

  To hear this chant, visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/.

  4. CARPATHIAN MUSICAL AESTHETICS

  In the sung Carpathian pieces (such as the «Lullaby» and the «Song to Heal the Earth»), you'll hear elements that are shared by many of the musical traditions in the Uralic geographical region, some of which still exist-from Eastern European (Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Croatian, etc.) to Romany («gypsy»). Some of these elements include: