Book teaser

         The day was hot with not a cloud in the sky. The village remained quiet as most stayed inside to keep out of the sun, only leaving the shade to fetch cold water from the well. Sweat beaded upon his forehead as he muscled up buckets of water for the small line of townspeople. He cursed his job on days like today and silently wished for either a rainstorm or the well to dry up so he could cool off in the shade too. He poured his freshly drawn bucket into a woman's water jug. She smiled and thanked him, stating if it wasn't for him she wouldn't be able to enjoy her cool bath. He returned a smile, and through gritted teeth replied, "You're welcome." although really he meant 'I hope you drown in that tub'. As she turned and walked away, he lowered the bucket back down the well to service the next person in line. "Havin' a cold bath too?" the well man asked sarcastically. He looked up at his customer expecting a response. He realized the man as Owen, a middle-aged, very kind and extremely knowledgeable man. He lived in a kind of shack some distance from the village. He didn't interact with anyone much past buying the rare book a villager had picked up for him, stilled liquor and fetching water. He had lost his wife and two children some time before coming to the village, and preferred solitude accompanied with book and drink. He wasn't paying attention to the well-mans question, instead focussing his attention somewhere down the road leading through town. Angered by Owens ignorance, the well man frowned and raised his voice, "Hey, buddy! I asked you a question! What you lookin' a-". Owen quickly raised a hand and shh'd him, then before the well man could counter, he asked, "Bill, did you hear that?". The well man glanced at the young girl waiting patiently in line behind Owen and noticed that she too was looking down the road; her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. He looked down the road, turning an ear to detect whatever it was the others were listening to. He heard the regular bustle of the village, no breeze, birds, the squeal of the well pulley... Then he heard it. A slight and very distant sound. Bill the well man guffawed. "Aww it's prolly just a couple trees fallin' over. Ain't nothin' to get worked up abo-" "Listen!" The young girl hissed. Another sound. This time it was more audible. The well man momentarily stopped lowering the well bucket to search for the source of the sound more easily. He searched the road down to the edge of town and beyond. All he could see was the regular giant field of wheat; bordered by giant birch trees. Something illuminated the dark of the surrounding forest momentarily. "Did you see that!?" He exclaimed. His mind may not be the sharpest but his sight sure was. Both Owen and the girl glanced at him. "In the trees!" He exclaimed while pointing toward the white-barked trees. More flashes lit up the tree line. The boom of a distant explosion reaching them only moments after and closely following that, screams. Screams of men and the crash of falling trees. The well man released the rope, dropping the bucket down the well and b-lined it straight for the village leaders' home. Owen ordered the young girl behind him to run home as fast as she could to her family home and to barricade the doors before dropping his water bucket too and running after Bill.



         Bill arrived at the village leaders' house, Owen arriving only seconds later. Both men were huffing and sweaty from sprinting under the heat of the scorching sun. Disregarding any kind of respect for privacy, the pair rushed through the house calling out for Nathan and Maria. The married couple were in the nursery with their newborn girl. "Nathan! Maria! There is battle in the forest and it is coming this way!" After exchanging worried looks, Nathan started, "Owen..." "Already knowing what would be asked of him, Owen interrupted. "Don't worry Nathan, I've got her." Nathan nodded gratefully at Owen before immediately leaving the room. Maria kissed her daughter on her forehead and gently passed her to Owen. Recognizing Owens face, the infant girl smiled toothlessly. Maria placed her hand on Owens shoulder appreciatively before following her husband from the room. Nathan was already waiting at the front door. His sword, both of their hunting bows and quivers in hand. Nathan asked the well-man, "Were you able to see what exactly is headed this way!?" The Bill replied, "To be honest, I ain't seen nothin' like it." He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist and caught his breath momentarily before continuing. "There were explosions and screams coming from the forest beyond the field. Whatever it is it's definitely headed this way." Nathan immediately commanded Bill to scramble together the few men in the village that were fit enough to defend from a potential threat and meet him and his wife Maria at the barricades that acted as the town perimeter. Bill nodded and did as he was told, retreating back out the door into the heat where two of the six men were already waiting, hunting bows and quivers in hand. They had obviously heard or witnessed the commotion and responded as quickly as they could. Bill told them to run and alert the others to meet him, Nathan and Maria at the edge of town. In mere moments of being called, the 6 men most fit for battle were at the edge of town all equipped with bows.

         Bill had stated that he believed the 'battle' was heading in the direction of the village, and indeed it was. It had spilled out of the trees in the form of a woman running, favouring her right leg as her left was clearly injured. Several black-armoured soldiers emptied from the forest, attempting to shoot or cut down the fleeing woman. The injured woman suddenly stopped in the wheat field and spun around to face her oncoming pursuers. She screamed so fiercely that the hair of the on looking village defenders stood on end. After holding her battle cry for only a moment, a bright flash shone forth from her and three of the five attacking soldiers exploded in a violet blast that knocked the other couple more-distant soldiers to the ground. The woman turned and continued toward the village as more black-armoured soldiers poured out of the forest. Realizing what kind of magic the woman had used, the few defenders were in shock, having never seen anything of the like, knowing of it only from legend. Seeing this magic and remembering the tales associated with it, Nathan instantly overcame his shock and awe and sprinted to the woman's aid. Witnessing her husband run directly into danger, Maria snapped into action and screamed at the surrounding defenders her to cover Her husband, simultaneously drawing, knocking, and loosing an arrow at the oncoming black-armoured soldiers. Having hunted to survive her entire life, her aim was true and her arrow downed an attacking soldier. Witnessing this, the village archers overcame their stupor and began firing at the black soldiers. As Nathan drew closer to the woman, he realized she was extremely pregnant and oddly coloured. He called out to her that he was a friend, but, being what he knew she was, she would have already known that. He reached her in lightning time as arrows from both black soldiers and the defending villagers flew by them, a few of the arrows from the clearly more experienced village archers found their marks in the throats and bellies of the black soldiers. Nathan knew he could not lift the pregnant woman and run, so he pulled her arm over his shoulders; now bearing some of her weight, her pace was quickened.

         Nathan glanced at the woman, she had blue skin that shimmered as though it was infused with fool's gold. She returned his gaze, and atop high, pronounced cheekbones, violet, pupil-less eyes with long lashed, unblinking lids bore holes straight through him into his soul. Long, wavy black hair blew in the wind, some strands sticking to her face from the beads of sweat that permeated her skin. Nathan risked a peek behind them to judge the distance of the pursuing soldiers. Many more of them had come out of the forest and were closing in fast. Far too many for him, his wife, and the six other villagers to overcome. Maria screamed for Nathan to hurry as she fired another arrow, dropping a soldier only meters away from her husband and the injured, blue woman. As they reached the line of defenders at the perimeter of the village, Nathan was tagged in the left shoulder by an arrow, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Maria screamed and ran the few feet to her husband while the other defenders continued firing the few arrows they had left. Maria and the mysterious lady dragged Nathan behind the barricade for cover. Once out of harms way, the mysterious woman looked down at her rescuer, then Maria, the other defending men and the rapidly depleting arrows that they had left. She then turned to see the overwhelming wave of soldiers now almost at the village. She looked down at Nathan one more time, and said in an exotic, echoing accent, "Hide". Fully knowing what she meant, Nathan bellowed at his fellow archers, "Get behind something, NOW!". They immediately did as they were told, fearful of the strange woman's power, and the tone of their leaders voice. The pregnant woman slowly walked forward out of cover, extending her arms sideways, palms out. Now exposed to archer fire, the enemy bowmen knelt to line up their shots while charging swordsmen continued toward their target. She looked to the sky and began singing the single most beautiful note ever heard or imagined by the surrounding villagers. She rose slowly from the earth, eventually hovering a few feet above ground. Tears began streaming from her violet, pupil-less eyes, creating thin, deep blue lines down her cheeks and converging under her chin. Her open mouth exposed teeth similar to that of a canine as she continued her captivating song.



         The grass around her began pulsating from invisible waves of energy flowing forth from her body. The enemy archers had loosed their trained arrows, only, upon reaching a few feet from their target, they disintegrated. Brilliant shades of blue, green, and violet began swirling from her body, covering her in a kind of spirit-flame. A single tear fell from underneath her chin. The oncoming soldiers immediately stopped in their tracks as absolute terror contorted the expressions upon their faces. They turned face, and sprinted in the other direction. As soon as the lonely falling tear impacted in a sparkling splash upon the ground, the woman changed the note of her song into a blood-curdling scream, white-blue lightning shot outward from the woman's eyes, mouth and fingertips, scorching the ground beneath her. The blue, green and violet flame swirling around the woman erupted with a force so strong, it destroyed the cover the villagers were hiding behind, flinging them backward like rag dolls before exploding forward, rupturing the very ground beneath it. Electric violet chasms tore through the earth as her power shot toward the fleeing assailants. Milliseconds passed by like hours as the immense, raw energy caught up with the soldiers, ripping them apart at the molecular level. Blood-mist and dust quickly filled the air and the event was over as soon as it started. The once outnumbering and overwhelming army had been reduced to nothing. The woman dropped to the ground, limp and unmoving.



         Most of the village archers had been knocked out by the blast, but Nathan and Maria were untouched. They were at the fallen woman's side in but a moment. They shook her in an attempt to wake her, fearing for the lives of both her and the unborn child, but she remained unresponsive. Her eyes and mouth were burned black and scarred from the lightning that had exuded from them only moments ago. Nathan placed his index and middle fingers on her jugular to check for a pulse, and the woman writhed back to life, instantly clutching at her abdomen. She cried out in the most horrendously gruesome scream, resembling that of nails on a chalkboard. The lightning had obviously scorched her throat and lungs as well as her face and hands. The sickening noise that vomited forth from her damaged esophagus was enough to waken a few of the unconscious archers who backed away as far as they could, fearful of what her voice wrought, and though nothing happened, they remained at a distance. "My god". Said Maria under her breath. In a split second, the woman reached out with a bubbly, blistered, blackened hand and gripped Maria by her wrist; she looked directly at her with charred, cloudy eyes and rasped, "NOT. YOUR. GOD." Maria cried out and buckled in pain from the force of grip the woman had on her wrist. Nathan yelled for the conscious archers to come hold down the burned woman. Seeing Maria in pain, they quickly overcame their fear and responded to Nathan's orders. Two archers, one, Bill the well-man, and another, Owen, came over to hold her down. The woman screamed in agony and clutched at her pregnant belly, releasing Maria from her iron grip. Maria fell back and nursed her sprained wrist. "Maria, we need to save her baby!" Bellowed Nathan, trying to be audible over the ghastly screams. Maria sat back in shock from pain and the horrific sight in front of her. "MARIA!" Nathan screamed. "You need to help her!". Maria slowly nodded and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply in an attempt to calm herself, and flicked her hands as if to remove water after washing. She then rubbed her hands together like she was warming them up from the cold. She took a few more deep breaths before placing one hand on the woman's head and another over the woman's heart. Maria began humming. A faint light emitted from her palms and the woman's writhing calmed ever so slightly but her screams became three obvious syllables. "That's great Maria! Keep going!" Nathan encouraged his wife. She began humming louder and the woman's screams were all but intelligible. "Stronger Maria!" Maria's face was white and beading with sweat and she focused harder. Maria began singing her tune, increasing the intensity of the light emitting from her palms and her nose started bleeding. The writhing woman screamed, "C... CU... CUT THEM OUT!!!!!". Maria had reached her limit, she fell back, held the backside of her hand to her now gushing nose and looked at her husband. Nathan met his wife's gaze. Somehow knowing what she was meaning to say, he nodded grimly. "Bill! Give me your dagger." Bill removed a hand from the woman's shoulder and withdrew his dagger from the scabbard upon his belt, handing it to Nathan. Nathan gripped the dagger and Bill returned his hand to the woman's shoulder to keep her held down. Nathan inserted the side of his hand in the woman's jaw, only after hesitating at her canine-like teeth. The woman immediately stopped writhing and began breathing deeply and rapidly as though she was anticipating what was about to come. Nathan inserted the knife into the blue, glittery flesh just below her naval. The woman whimpered and continued breathing heavily, the few remaining unburnt flesh of her clenched, shaking knuckles turned white. Nathan cringed as he swiftly cut to just above her pubic bone. The woman cried out in pain and bit down on Nathan's hand. Tears ran down his cheeks but the need to save life overpowered the pain. He then made a horizontal cut to open her uterus, but the worst was already over. The woman had completely quit writhing and released the grip her jaw had on Nathan's hand. Her eyelids fluttered and her head rolled slightly from side to side as her body numbed from overloading on endorphins and shock. Tears surprisingly shed from her crisp, cloudy eyes down her face and into the dirt. Nathan removed his hand, bloody from numerous puncture wounds. With no more need to hold the woman down, the two archers sat back, sweaty and exhausted from exertion. Maria reached into the woman's abdomen and retrieved the first child, cutting her umbilical chord and handing her to Nathan. She reached in again and pulled out a baby boy, cutting his umbilical chord as well. Both had the skin of a normal human, not blue like their mothers. She must have taken a human as a mate.



         The twins' mothers' life was fading rapidly. Nathan and Maria bent close to the dying woman and Maria said, "They are beautiful twins. A boy and a girl." The corners of the woman's mouth twitched upward into a slight smile, more tears poured from her exposed tear-ducts. "What will you call them?" Nathan asked. "Apollo.... And Artemis..." The woman breathed. "My sun and my moon." Maria assured the woman that she would love and care for these children as if they were her own. The woman began to let go, now convinced she had done the best she could for her children. With her last breath, she whispered while gripping a pouch on her belt, "The relic." Immediately Nathan and Maria looked each other in the eyes, now understanding why the evil soldiers had pursued the woman so adamantly; Realizing now that the rest of their lives were not, in fact, their own....