Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1)

by Ronald Griffin

  “I am sorry to bother you two at home, but this is very important. I am positive that we have a leak at the church, and I am not sure who it is,” the priest says.

  Katrina assumes that the leaky squeaker has informed Cyrus of her, and Namon’s whereabouts until she’s informed of the events from earlier that day.

  Katrina steps aside for a moment, and gestures toward the couch.

  “Would you like to have a seat? How about a glass of water?” she asks.

  The priest sits down on the couch, and nods at her request. Oz scampers from under the couch, and catches a ride on Namon's leg as he walks into the kitchen. Namon notices Oz trembling, obviously not ready to be around other humans, yet. He picks him up, and gently sets him in the cupboard. He holds his finger up to his lips, signaling the terrified gremlin to be quiet. Then he gets a glass of water, and brings it out to the priest; who takes it from him, and drinks from it as if he hadn't had anything to drink all day.

  “Thank you, I needed that. As I was saying, we shipped out a bunch of artifacts today to our warehouse in Atlanta. The manifest has an amulet relic listed on there, and, well the freight truck got highjacked. The driver was murdered, and I suspect that Cyrus was responsible for the theft.”

  Katrina's heart sinks at this news. She covers her open mouth as she sits on the other end of the couch.

  “So he has the amulet,” Katrina states, her voice filled with dread.

  The priest smiles at Katrina, then reaches into his inside pocket to remove a small pouch. He hands it to Katrina who opens it slowly.

  “I managed to sneak this away right before they closed the trailer up,” the priest says. Adrenaline rushes through her veins, and turns cold when the priest hands her a black velvet bag.

  Katrina reaches into the bag, and pulls out the amulet. She is stunned into silence as she holds the very same amulet that is on the news, and on every single bulletin board in Macon. The two eye sockets are hollow, and the face of a dragon is definitely clear. Namon watches as Katrina still in shock holds the Galamythe amulet. Things just got very real and serious in this apartment. She looks up as the priest stands up, and hands the glass back to Namon, and walks toward the door. He turns when he gets there, and has his hand on the knob.

  “I am truly sorry for placing this burden on your shoulders, but I do not think there is anyone in the world that could be trusted with it other than you. The price is too high for Cyrus to get his hands on it. I'll see myself out, and I do hope you’re able to fight soon, Namon. I have a feeling there are many bad things on the horizon for this city. Goodnight,” he says as he bows.

  He turns the doorknob, and exits the apartment, leaving Katrina sitting on the couch with a shocking look on her face. Soon the look fades away, and small tears fall down the sides of her cheeks. Everything is pressing down on her, and she is very close to her breaking point.

  Chapter Seven

  Cyrus's car screeches to a halt in front of the mayor’s office. He slams the door as he gets out, and marches up the steps to city hall. It is obvious that he is pissed off as he walks through the small crowd, pushing everyone aside. He grabs the doorknob to the entrance, and winds up snatching the door completely off its hinges. The receptionist hides underneath her desk due to the sudden scare. Cyrus composes himself by adjusting his tie as he walks calmly to her desk. When he approaches her desk, he taps the top of it ever so gently.

  “Excuse me, miss, is the mayor in his office?” he asks calmly.

  She slowly peers from under her desk, and nods, confirming that the mayor is there. Then she raises a trembling hand, and points in the direction of the mayor’s office. Cyrus gracefully bows to her, and walks towards the mayor’s office, but stops to look back at her, and grin.

  “You may want to go ahead, and leave early since business hours are almost over,” he winks at her.

  He enters the room, and within moments, she can hear loud noises coming from within the office. Fearing for her life, she crawls out from behind her desk on her hands, and knees. Then she stands, and runs out of the building; too much excitement for her today.

  In the mayor’s office, Cyrus lifts him by his neck, and pushes him against the wall. His fangs are showing, and his eyes are filled with rage.

  “The amulet was not in that truck as you lead me to believe. All that was on that shipment was old records, paperwork, and relics that may as well be paperweights as far as I am concerned,” he says to the mayor.

  The mayor chokes a response, but it’s inaudible, so Cyrus pushes him until the drywall starts cracking from the pressure. The wall splits, making the mayor fall into the next room. Cyrus walks through the hole in the wall, and brushes the debris away from his clothes.

  “You are making me mess up my suit, mayor. Now what was it that you were saying again? This time try to sound a little clearer.”

  The mayor stumbles as he tries to get up, and crawls backward a few paces in fear of Cyrus.

  “I swear to you, my contact said that they were sending the amulet out today, and that was the only shipment sent to Atlanta at all today.”

  “Then your source either lied or was misinformed. Either way, you are still useful to me. Your informant isn’t, unless he has more information, so you better bring him here for questioning.”

  “Wait, sire. He did tell me one more thing. He knows where the other ring is located.”

  Cyrus looks at the mayor with a look of anger.

  “You couldn't have told me that earlier? So where is it?”

  “It is buried within one of the graves at the White Wolf shrine at Rose Hill. He said that they figured that would be a safe place you wouldn't think to search.”

  Cyrus rubs his chin for a moment.

  “I'll contact my sorcerer, and have him go claim it. He has a talent at necromancy, so he will prove most useful. In the meantime, Mr. Mayor, you need to clean this place up, and have your informant waiting for me when I come back. Find out whatever you can about him that we can use for leverage to get as much information out of him as possible,” Cyrus commands.

  He then turns around, exits the building, and gets back into his car, speeding off once again. The mayor stands, and walks into the lobby to see that his receptionist is no longer there. He swears under his breath, picks up the office phone, and dials a number.

  “Yeah, Sheila, I need your cleaning service to come clean my office. Get your brother that does drywall over here too, and make it snappy. By the way, do you know anyone looking for a job as a receptionist?”

  The sun sets and within Katrina's apartment, she sits on the couch holding the amulet in her lap, and lets out a heavy sigh. The heavy weight of one burden after another has finally pressed down on her to the point that she is having difficulty breathing. Oz hops down from the cupboard and rushes into the living room, and climbs onto the couch after the priest leaves wrapping his arms around her arm, and hugging tightly. He can feel her emotions, and wants to comfort her, and make her happy since he has been through enough sadness in his life.

  She looks down at him, and smiles at his effort, and appreciates the gesture. She leans down, and kisses the top of his head. Namon paces back, and forth, feeling pressure as well from everything that has been happening. His inevitable destiny is coming down on him. Just a few days ago he was an average home schooled teenager, and today he knows he is going to be a warrior. There will be many creatures after him just because of what he is, and what he can do to them. Now they will be after them even more because of the object that Katrina now has in her possession.

  His body starts to get warm, and a glowing white light emanates from his body. His eyes are locked on Katrina, and moments later, he realizes he has shrunk. She stands up, he sees how tall she is now compared to him, and he starts freaking out. He backs up, and stumbles on his own four feet. Wait a minute, four feet? He looks behind him, and sees that he also has a tail. He lets out a howl, and Katrina quickly puts him in a headlock, and closes his snout to
keep him quiet.

  “Shhh! Calm down! You don't want the neighbors to hear you. We don't have a pet lease, so the last thing we need is someone to report that we have a dog,” she says in a soothing tone.

  Namon calms down, and she lets go of her grip on him. She stands back up, and backs away as he tries to walk on all four legs. It doesn't take him long to get the hang of it, though, and he walks over to Katrina's side. He is about the same height as her hip, but he could easily be six feet tall if he stood on his hind legs. The fur on his body has a shiny gray, almost silver, tone to it along with the normal coloration of a wolf. Katrina gets on her knees so that she can be eye level with him, and Oz is climbing up on her shoulders to be further away from Namon. He stares at him cautiously, and knows that he is not the same kind of werewolf as Gilles was, but he still feels uncomfortable. Namon senses the little Gremlin’s unease, and attempts to speak to him using his mind just as Katrina was able to do to him before.

  “I promise you I will never hurt you, Oz. I am not one of the bad guys. I'll always protect you.”

  The Gremlin can feel the truth in his emotions, and crawls down Katrina's arm, and hops onto Namon's back. Katrina laughs at him, and pats Namon on his head. Oz grins at Katrina and follows her lead, and pats Namon's head with his tiny hand.

  “Hey, I am not a dog you know,” he thinks in her direction.

  “Now you know how I felt the other night,” she says to him, and then sticks her tongue out at him. He returns the gesture by sticking his tongue out, but is unable to do it the same way that she can. Oz sticks his tongue out at Katrina while perched on Namon's back.

  She puts the amulet on over her head, and tucks it underneath the shirt that she is wearing to keep it concealed. Then she takes a closer look at Namon, and realizes something.

  “You look exactly like Lance's quad form, same coloration, markings, everything. It’s a very uncanny resemblance.”

  “Okay, so what does that mean, then?”

  “I don’t know, honestly. I mean, I always thought that the only wolves that were supposed to always look alike were the Lance of each generation. The other three descendants of the original four children all look different, but each generation there is one that looks just like the previous, and they are always named Lance. Hmmm I wonder”

  “What?”

  “The other three only ever have two forms. Their human form, then either a bipedal or what we call a warrior form, and the quad form, which is what you and I have. The Lances' of each generation, though, always have all three forms. So I wonder if you look so much like Lance in your quad form, if that means you have a chance at all three as well.”

  “How do we find out?” he asks.

  She frowns before responding. “I don't know, I only have the quad form, and have no idea how to even begin to phase to a warrior form. I can only teach you things from a quad form perspective.”

  Namon concentrates, and his body begins to glows again. Oz quickly jumps off, and hides behind Katrina's leg as she stands up. Namon stands in his human form, and starts rubbing his stomach as it growls.

  “Man, I am so hungry all of a sudden.”

  “Yeah, that is a side effect from the phasing. It burns a lot of calories going from one form to the other.”

  “How do you do it? You only eat a few meals a day that I see, and even then you don't eat that much.”

  She motions for him to follow her, and she leads him down the hall, and into her bedroom. They approach her closet, and she reaches for the lock. He has always noticed the lock on the closet, but never asked what was in there because he figured the same rules for Katrina's purse also apply to the closet. Don't go through a woman’s purse, or you may find something that you do not want to find. He shudders at a memory of a time when he questioned the rule, and she responded by talking about feminine products. He never asked again, nor did he ever go through her purse. Don't ask, and don't tell. Is a policy he tries to live by.

  She unlocks the closet, and opens the door to reveal several shelves lines with different types of junk food. He walks into her closet, and whistles at the mother lode of pastries, candy bars, chips, and beef jerky. His jaw drops as a little bit of drool flows from the corner of his mouth at the seemingly endless amount of junk food.

  “So this is a definite perk of being a White Wolf being able to eat anything you want, and not gaining any weight,” he says with a wide grin as he reaches for a familiar yellow pastry until she pops him on his hand.

  “This is my stash. We will go to the store later, and you can make your own stash in your closet.”

  “But Trina, I am hungry now,” he says while poking his bottom lip out.

  She sighs while rolling her eyes before nodding in agreement. He grabs one of the pastries, and removes the plastic before shoving the entire thing into his mouth. Katrina pops him in the back of the head for his lack of manners. Neither of them notices as Oz starts drooling over a bag of cheddar puff corn. He snatches the bag, and hides under Katrina's bed, tearing it open, and feasting upon the tasty treats. Then the phone rings, and Katrina answers it.

  “It's a good thing you're planning on making a trip to Rose Hill tonight, Katrina” the priest says on the other end of the phone. “We just received a call from the caretaker saying that he heard a lot of moaning coming from within the cemetery. Cyrus may have a necromancer trying to build up an army.”

  Katrina's memory takes her back to the previous night when she was searching the park, and she remembers a cloud of smoke, and then a monster appearing. She believes that it’s more than a necromancer it could very well be a sorcerer and that is how Cyrus has been able to raise demons. Namon can hear every word the priest is saying thanks to his newly heightened senses.

  “You sure it's not just a couple of horny teenagers?” he jokes.

  The room is quiet the only sound that can be heard are the crickets just outside the door in the bushes. Katrina glares at him with that “shut up” look on her face, so he does, locks the imaginary lock on his lips, and throws away the key. If only it were that easy, she thought to herself.

  “We will check into it. Keep the knights on standby, but do not send them in before I give word, please. We cannot afford to keep looking for new knights.”

  “We?” the priest questions.

  “Yes, sir, Namon has phased, so I will give him some on-the-job training tonight. He shouldn't have a problem handling a few zombies.”

  Namon's eyes grow wide, and his mouth falls open as he realizes that they were not kidding around, and that zombies are real. Not sure how to react, he rushes to the living room, and looks up zombies in the bestiary index (a book listing all known demons, monsters, and many other creatures along with the best known methods of handling them.). He flips to the Z section, and there is a picture of a rotting corpse under the word “zombie.”

  “Zombies, let’s see what it says about you...” Namon finds the entry, and begins to read.

  Zombies are not the brain-eating monsters that motion pictures and modern pop culture portray them as. Are they animated corpses, you ask? Yes, they are, but they aren't reanimated by a government virus or plague outbreak, and you cannot become a zombie by being bitten by one. Zombies are reanimated corpses by result of a strong necromancer or sorcerer that raises the dead to do their bidding. They possess supernatural strength, and are very hard to kill, considering the fact that they are already dead. Dismemberment will only aid in slowing them down, and the only way to completely stop a zombie is to return all of its remains to its final resting place. Not one single piece should be left out or this won't work. Make a line around its grave to cancel the spell linking it to its master. Sprinkling salt on them is crucial to ensure that the master will not regain control of the zombie. However; never let salt touch a zombie that isn't in its final resting place. Such an action will result in the zombie realizing that it is dead, and it will go on a rampage that cannot be stopped until it is in its resting place. Once fren
zied, they become stronger, and are nearly impossible to stop.

  Namon looked up from the book, incredulous.

  “Great and this is what I have to fight tonight?” he says.

  “Believe it or not, they are some of the weakest things that you would possibly face,” Katrina says.

  Namon jumps up in surprise because he didn't realize that she had even come into the room. She takes the bestiary from him, turns it to the page listing “Warrior Demons”, and hands it to him. He reads the information, and then looks at her in astonishment, and wondering to himself how can he hope to stand up to such creatures.

  “I have had to fight several of these through the week.”

  “If Lilith died being swallowed by the Leviathan in the stories, then how is it that that demon and other creatures are in existence still?”

  “A sorcerer with enough power can summon demons. Others say that some members of the triad still exist. I know it’s not because of Demetria, though.”

  “Demetria?”

  “Bring your books with you, and look up the triad on the way, okay? I can't tell you everything all the time, you know.”

  He gulps, and takes the book back from her as they head out the door. Before leaving, he walks into the kitchen, and gets a saltshaker from the spice rack, and puts it into his jacket pocket. She looks at him as he puts it into his pocket, and feels very proud of him. He is so smart, and resourceful. He is going to make a really good White Wolf. They leave the apartment, and Oz slips out right along beside them. They get into the car, and Namon opens the book, and turns to the section labeled “The Triad” and reads the information listed.

  Three demons born of Lilith, who sought the ruling of mankind; Denominos is responsible for the creation of werewolves, Demetria is the creator of vampire , and Damerez, who developed a soft spot for humanity gave elemental magic to human gypsies. The triad constantly waged war on one another, and created different creatures, and monsters to use as weapons in their war. Lilith, their mother, grew tired of their constant war, and also feared that they would become so powerful, and may decide to destroy her as well as one another. She sought a powerful king to have a child with, and the resulting demon was called Grendel. He was very powerful, but in his battle with the Denominos he was horribly disfigured. When Grendel terrorized a kingdom, a powerful warrior sought him out, and slew him. Lilith at first was enraged by this act, but then decided any man strong enough to slay one of her lilin (another word for Lilith’s children) would be strong enough to have another child with. She seduced the warrior, and gave birth to Galamythe. She set the dragon loose to destroy her other children. He was strong enough to do such a task, but the triad decided to form an alliance long enough to trick their brother the dragon into thinking that their mother Lilith would surely destroy him once he had accomplished her wishes. So the dragon instead returned to his mother, and devoured her whole.