Fan Fiction ❯ The Soul Reaver and The Spirit Shield ❯ Lessons of Life: Rise of a Priestess ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

Raziel and Jenise emerged from the ancient edifice. The silently made their way towards the cave that served as the entrance to this cavern. Raziel couldn't help but study his new ally. He couldn't get past the idea that she wasn't…normal. There was some sort of connection he felt to her as well.

"Why are you still carrying that shield?" Raziel finally broke the silence, noting the corroded scrap of metal still in Jenise's hands.

"I hope I can get this repaired," she simply replied. "It's still a family heirloom. That, and it's the only thing I have left of my parents."

"I see. Were they killed during the attack on your village?"

"No. Unfortunately, they were killed years beforehand. My mother, to whom this shield belonged to before me, died while birthing me. Sort of a family curse I guess. The women in my blood line are unable to survive giving birth," she explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Raziel gave his condolences, though not very well, being unsure how to react to such news.

"It's okay. I never knew my mother anyway. But my father…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to-"

"No, it's fine. It happened many years ago. I was just a child, barely five years old when it happened. He was killed by a vampire…trying to protect me," she explained, her voice laced with remorse. "The vampire leader Vorador killed my father while trying to capture me."

Raziel quirked his eyebrow. This seemed unlike the Vorador he knew. "Why would Vorador go after you?"

Jenise gave an empty chuckle at what she was to say next. "After the Sarafan Lord defeated the vampire Kain, Vorador began searching for every existing vampire to create a resistance to the Sarafan movement. They were very few and far between. After many years, a rumor rose of a child with vampiric blood living amongst the humans-"

"And you were that child?" Raziel interrupted, thinking back to her strange scent. This would sort of explain why she didn't seem normal to him.

Jenise glared at him for his interruption. "No," she corrected. "I said it was a rumor. I didn't say it was true. But that didn't stop Vorador. He did, however, believe I was that child. And it cost my father's life. But Vorador's efforts were in vain. He had too few vampires with him to combat the warriors of my village. And instead of losing what few allies he had, he withdrew.

"The damage had already been done, however. I had to watch my father died. But before he did, he left me this shield. It was to be given to me when I reached adolescence, but because of Vorador, my father wouldn't be able to pass this heirloom to me at the appropriate time.

"On that day, my hatred of vampires was born. My childhood was lost. I began asking the village elders about vampires, learning all I could of their strengths and weaknesses. I watched our warriors practice their fighting skills until I was old enough to wield a sword myself. Though I was laughed at for my efforts at first, I soon began earning the admiration of the warriors for my determination.

"Finally, the most respected of the warriors, Zechariah, took me in as his pupil. He, of all the warriors in my village, was the most experienced in battle. I learned well from him, perfecting my skills. I trained under him for several years.

"When I was fifteen, a band of Sarafan knights visited my village, looking for recruits. I volunteered immediately. The Sarafan laughed at me, lacking the preferred magic abilities the women of the Sarafan posses. They called me a `weak delusional girl' for believing I would be useful with weapons.

"Broken, but not beaten, I returned to my home with a plan. I chopped my hair short and put on my best armor, hiding my face and features. Grabbing my sword and this shield, I returned to the Sarafan and the group of new recruits as they were leaving the village. Disguised, I was able to travel the long journey to the Sarafan stronghold, where I met the Sarafan Lord for the first time.

"I, of course, was soon discovered to be the girl they turned away, and not the boy they so willingly accepted. But the Sarafan Lord took a sort of amusement in my determination, and he decided to humor himself by `testing' my abilities. Putting one of his best men against me, he ordered me to prove my worth.

"It was the most difficult battle I remember ever fighting. Before that point in time, I had never had to fight for my life before. Though I did not win that battle, I refused to give up. I was wounded and bleeding profusely, but the Sarafan Lord decided to spare me. I believe he saw the hatred I held for the vampires, and for Vorador above all else. And he decided to use that hatred to his advantage.

"I became like his little pet. I knew he favored me. The other Sarafan warriors were seething with jealously over it. I was given the best training he could provide. I know now that he was shaping me into the assassin he wanted me to be. I had been brainwashed by the Sarafan Lord's promises for vengeance and by my own hatred. I had blindly murdered so many vampires, something I am very shameful of," she told Raziel of her history.

"So why is it that the Sarafan Lord decided to kill you and your village?" the former vampire encouraged. Jenise sighed.

"It was all just a chance occurrence. I was so close to achieving my revenge on Vorador. I had followed him far to the northern regions of Nosgoth to the outskirts of a Sarafan refuge camp. I had stumbled across a strange building. There were very few people around maintaining the building and its contents. But there was something strange about these individuals. They wouldn't respond to me, not even to stop to acknowledge my presence, as if they were fearful of something.

"Giving up on asking anyone for a place to stay for the night, I entered the building. What I found inside still haunts me. These creatures inside…they were hideous. What one would find in their nightmares. They were operating strange devices, and that gateway. They were trying to open some sort of portal.

"And then I saw him…the Sarafan Lord. He represented everything that I devoted myself to. And he was commanding them. Though I could not see him well from my vantage point, I watched quietly as he ordered the humans around, treating them like dogs. Slaving them to death.

"Entranced, I studied the Lord as he neared my location. His objective was a human below the ledge I sat on, barely out of my viewpoint. Drawing nearer, I could see that he was not wearing the armor he had always wore since I had first laid eyes on him. And I was horrified. He was one of these monsters. Several times more hideous than any of the other creatures I had seen thus far.

"I was too caught up in my stupor to notice who the Lord was victimizing before it was too late. Snapping back to reality, I realized that the poor human he was terrorizing was someone I had never in my life expected to see again: my father. I couldn't believe my eyes, and I doubted myself that it was really him. But I knew it was him. Vorador hadn't killed my father after all. Though severely injured by Vorador, the Hilden had somehow captured my father and enslaved him.

"The Sarafan Lord knew I was there. He didn't call his servants on me, however. Instead, he wanted to punish me for my trespassing by torturing my father in front of my very eyes. When finished, he left my father's bleeding body in its spot before leaving with his Hilden followers.

"When all was clear, I climbed down to my father's dying form. He was barely alive. When I looked into his eyes, I was crushed. There was no recognition in his eyes. The years of torture and enslavement had left him with no mind and no soul. And for the second time in my life, I watched my father die."

Raziel and Jenise had reached the first obstacle within the tunnel-cave when she finished her story. There was a long silence as the two rested a moment before continuing.

"Your story is so tragic. I can't tell you how sorry I am for your losses," Raziel attempted at comforting his companion.

"Please, you don't need to feel sympathy for me. I wrought it upon myself. And my village for that matter. I continued to pursue Vorador, but not for revenge. For assistance. For that mistake, I cost the lives of my fellow villagers."

Jenise looked down the steep rock face to the bottom of the cave below. Strapping her shield to her back, she steadied herself as she began the thirty foot decent to the ground below.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all day," she called up to Raziel after descending a few feet. She was attempting to change the topic. She needed to be a little more upbeat for awhile. The priestess was sick of all the drama for the time being.

Jenise continued her climb when she heard a shuffling and what resembled a flap of wings. She looked to her right to see Raziel, with his tattered wings outstretched, slowly descending to the ground with ease. She smirked at the sight.

"Show off."