War of Wars
If it were a human hand then it would have been incinerated. My hand crushed the very essence out of my fingers when Carlisle divulged the shocking revelation that cleared one of the very first shrouds of darkness that surrounded her. Venenum Memoria. The ancients possessed the power to take memories from other vampires by drinking drops of their venom.
My entire being shook with anger. It was like an earthquake that erupted within me and released thousands of volcanoes screeching with rage, and ignited flares of madness. How could she? Why would she? How could someone infringe on ones privacy in such a manner. I couldn't even compare her violation to my own. What I did was unintentional. I did not have control over my mind reading capabilities. Even when the voices became loudest I always tried to block them out and keep them in the minds of those they belonged to without inquiring their secrets.
The most troubling of all thoughts occurred to me instantly after Carlisle revealed this ancient secret to me. Why? For what sick purpose would she need my memories? Carlisle said that the ancients used it to gather knowledge about their enemies but she and I were not enemies. The Cullens had done nothing as far as I knew that could have provoked her. Was knowledge about their adversaries the only thing the ancients gained from this?
"Edward what's wrong?" Carlisle's hand reached forward to touch my intertwined ones. From his touch I felt waves of anxiety. I still hadn't answered his fundamental questions of why I was in such a state of unrest. I had to tell him but it wasn't the right time just yet. I had to know more about the ancients and the wars. Perhaps they would have answers that he and I both sought. I ignored Carlisle's distress.
"For what exactly was venenum memoria used for Carlisle?" As I ignored Carlisle's worry he ignored my curiosity as well.
"Edward! What is the matter? Please tell me. I have never seen you like this before." I didn't think Carlisle would continue sharing his wisdom unless I'd give him some sort of compromise first. I could not share the crescent scar on my thumb until I had what I needed. If I showed it to him now he would not be calm enough to tell me the stories. I had to know first.
"Please Carlisle. I will tell you, I promise. However, I need for you to first answer my questions. Please!" I plead miserably. I felt my own eyes glistening like the eyes of a beggar. If I could I would have gotten on my own two knees pleading with him. Never in my life have I encountered anything let alone a woman that has left such an impact upon me, and would cause me to go to such extremes. Carlisle sighed debating whether or not to proceed. He was unsure about my promise. It wasn't that he didn't trust me but that I might choke when the moment to tell the tale arrived. He closed his eyes defeated sighing noticeably, and obviously defeated. He nodded. I had won. He returned to his seat behind the desk.
"Venenum Memoria. According to those who remember it was a method used by the ancient elders in order to gain information about their antagonists. They would collect vast amounts of knowledge regarding their opponent's whereabouts, their military strategic, the blueprints of the lands they occupied and much, much more."
Their surroundings then I suppose? Hmm… That concept actually almost fit in the category of sanity. I had no way of knowing whether or not she had ever been to these parts before but somehow to me it was the most logical explanation. I knew about all the secrets of the surrounding green forests of Forks and the mountain systems.
Stay away from the mountains.
The more I thought about it the more it started to make sense. There must have been a very good reason regarding her warning. She also commented on the day we first met that she had not saved us from the nomads we faced. Apparently there was something else native to these parts that caused her trouble. Although the only being that could cause harm to a vampire besides its own kind was a werewolf. But I knew from Carlisle's just in case you run into one and werewolf 101 lectures that they were not indigenous to these parts. Werewolves or Children of the Moon as they are often called do not wander into the depth of the western hemisphere. They always remained in Europe and numerous parts of Asia. Could it possibly be that her reasons for being here refer to that of a hunt? I knew that after Caius' rendezvous with Fenrir the Volturi began hunting them to the very brink of extinction. Perhaps they fled the old world and came to the new? It was a good theory but still just a theory after all. I needed more. I needed to know more about the ancients.
"Carlisle, tell me, how did the ancient war between Egypt and Greece start?" It was a topic that Carlisle did not enjoy to discuss. The ancient feud was called the War of Wars that made the confrontation between the Volturi and the Romanians in 500 A.D seem like children fighting with plastic swords. It was an era that most vampires wished to forget and not recollect. Carlisle ran his hand through his blond hair nervously. He wished to rather not examine this headline but I needed the information. I could always read about it in the index of Vampiro but I knew that Carlisle received the tale first hand from Aro. He had to tell me. He took a deep breath and sorted his thoughts into a single strain that would appropriately address each point one at a time.
"The wars began… with two vampires that should never have met; Sekhmet and Athena." Carlisle closed his eyes while the rest of his facial features became troubled and disgusted. He recalled a clear image of Aro sitting in his grand throne in Volterra sharing the story with him. He also remembered the horror on Aro's face when he began to distribute the knowledge.
"It was dark times Edward, very, very dark times. Eons of horrific history which those who remember the final blows attempt to unhinge from their eternal minds. Though no vampires survived to fully visualize, and retell the War of Wars it has left deep and extraordinary scars upon all our history. The vampires that walked the earth then were true monsters and I do not use that term lightly son. They were monsters not because of what they were but what they chose to be. Their abominable natures and lust for power, and dominion nearly drank the ancient world dry. They threw a vast shadow across the lands and covered the entire world in darkness. They were ruthless and without an ounce of humanity left within them. They did not care for camaraderie, friendship or love. They lived for only one true purpose and it was to dominate the earth and turn the days into eternal nights, metaphorically speaking of course.
These beasts did not only kill for survival and to feed the frenzy that was within them. They murdered hundreds even thousands of innocents for the mere joy it gave them. They believed themselves to be gods. They believed that humans were vermin and nothing but food. There was no respect for life, and certainly no respect for the fellow vampire. There was countless infighting using humans as shields and armor. Each day there was death, to humans and vampires. They believed in nothing and respected nothing but the pure taste of blood. They were savages and on the very verge of being the true definition and origin for demons."
Though the images were lost to our kind I saw the with ease identifiable terror in Carlisle's eyes as he spoke those evil words. They were ancient cannibal like savages that lived for nothing but the taste of blood and dominion over each other, and humanity.
"For a time in our history the Nile did run red as blood because there was nothing that mattered above anything else than blood. It is only conceivable of course that these monsters had something like an overlord, and that they did. Sekhmet!
She lived her life as a queen. No, more than that. She lived like a god and expected humans and vampires to worship her as such. The ignorant fools that existed then of course did so without question. Sekhmet was beautiful, very beautiful and also possessed the attributes of a god; beauty, strength, stamina, speed, and everything else that defines our kind. Above all else she was capable of granting immortality or godhood as it was known then. When she flew across the lands like a scavenger and destroyed, and left flames in her presence she became the true deity of slaughter. Everything her shadow touched decayed and left pillars of salt in her path. All those that stood against her were slaughtered so horribly that her actions even repulsed her own kind. The Volturi themselves shiver in the presence of her name. She created countless amounts of immortals to build an army that would be large enough to scale a fully fledged attack upon every single vampire coven, army, or family upon this good earth.
She was intoxicated by the very thought of being a god and to be worshipped by millions of followers. Sekhmet has often been described by our kind to be the most evil entity that every walked the earth Edward.
Her crimes were so terrible that even the Volturi and other ancients that survived these wars but eventually faded almost never referred to them, and not even wished to truly remember. The way she slaughtered humans and vampires was unspeakable and would make torments of hell seem like a walk through an amusement park. There is only ever one specific mention of how she slaughtered one of her greatest adversaries. That was Odin."
I felt a cold chill travel down my spine as I tried to imagine the horror that was Sekhmet. Her crimes were so terrible that vampires tried to forget? It was difficult to imagine that there once existed such an evil being.
"During the time of Sekhmet's rule over Kemet or Egypt as it is known now there still was hope that lay towards the north. The hope consisted of vampire covens that ruled over Midgard; Europe. Those vampires were entirely different from the ones that governed Egypt. They were kind and preserved respect for their prey. They were capable of developing true bonds of love, and fellowship. However, soon enough the darkness thrown by Sekhmet eventually reached their lands as well. Foreign vampires began to enter their territories and started to ravage amongst the humans and turned them as they pilfered through the lands that belonged to the sons and daughters of Midgard.
The ancients of those lands would not allow it however and went to war with them. Many battles that were fought turned in favor for the ancient Europeans since their battle skills relied on strategy, and true control over their immortal abilities. They did not fight ignorantly like the Egyptians of that era who relied on the sense of the obvious kill alone. They were outmatched by the supreme power of the forces that belonged to the chief of the vampires in Midgard, Odin. He was a great warrior whose name and legend is still described in human myth today. Unfortunately it was tainted by the passing of the millennia and humans putting their own spin on things.
As I said, the Egyptians did not stand a chance against the overwhelming abilities of those who came from the north. Eventually, Odin and his loyal legion of immortals were victorious, and drove them from their lands and isolated the Egyptians back into Kemet. Odin was a proud warrior who at the time of the war had seen as many centuries as Sekhmet. They both would have been evenly matched if it hadn't been for Sekhmet's deceitful ways."
I leaned forward and absorbed every single vivid detail that presented itself in the edges of Carlisle's words. Though most of the war consumed a large portion of the world it was relieving to know that there was still a ray of hope that illuminated the night when it seemed the darkest. It was comforting knowing that there were once peaceful vampire's life ages ago who seemed to have left their imprint on our world in a good way.
"Odin's reign however was soon to be ended. When Sekhmet received news that the northern winds had carried to her and when she learned of the failure of her advances she murdered every single vampire that retreated back towards Egypt instead of staying and fighting till death. It was false honor. Legends rumored that every vampire who failed her she had decapitated and their heads decorated her ancient palace halls. They were symbols and reminders of what would become of those who failed her. Monstrous.
Sekhmet was no fool however. She knew that the children of Midgard could not be defeated on their own grounds and she had to device a way to lure them into the dessert. The slaughtered vampires were replaced easily by the caged humans who were nothing but dirt beneath her feet. It was said that their screams of agony could be heard even as far north as ancient Europe. She replaced her fallen soldiers easily and even carried out orders to gather more humans from the entire African continent. Soon she had an army that was large enough to launch a full scale attack on Midgard. This was not her intention though. She was very sadistic and enjoyed to see her enemy vampires crumble beneath her feet before she and her followers would slash them to a point where not even their venom could regenerate them.
There was a reason why Sekhmet did not allow love or companionship. She knew that attachment was a weakness. It is the very reason why she turned her offspring so cold that the chilly winds of Antarctica would seem nothing but a cool summer's breeze. She had to be sure that they would fight until death and in the most diabolical way possible. It is sad to think that love was Odin's greatest weakness, and eventually his downfall. Sekhmet herself journeyed to the lands of Midgard and to the mountains of Asgard that were the home of those ancient vampires. All by herself she overcame and took down the soldiers that threw themselves in her path and managed to acquire the object of her mission. It was Frigg, the wife of Odin. It was because of the love they shared that Odin died in such a horrible way."
It was unthinkable. Sekhmet used the most powerful element in the world, love, and forged it into a weapon of war. Though Carlisle hadn't ventured ahead any further I could very well imagine what happened.
"Frigg didn't stand a chance against Sekhmet who kidnapped her to Kemet. Odin was furious and became obsessed with creating a passage that would return his beloved queen back to him. Frigg was nothing but leverage to Sekhmet, a tool of war. She threatened Odin with the death of his beloved wife unless he'd bow to her. Odin's loyal followers such as Thor, Freyr, Heimdallr, and even Loki tried to convince him that Frigg was lost, and that he could not risk countless immortal lives for but one being. Odin however became empty and a shadow of what he once was and stated that he would pilgrimage to Kemet alone and do whatever was necessary to retrieve his soul mate. The other vampire's loyal him could not accept such a fate for their beloved ruler however. They followed Odin blindly. They knew that they were walking towards their death but I believe that at the same time they realized that it would only be a matter of time before Sekhmet would rule a legion of vampires that would eventually destroy them, and their ways.
The lands of Midgard emptied as every single vampire followed Odin into the evil land that was shrowded in darkness and where the smell of blood, and venom was most noticeable. I do not believe that they only followed to support their leader but also with every intention to free Frigg. She was a most beloved vampire who was a true mother to all beings that sought shelter, and love. Many on the other hand believed Odin to be a fool for risking the entire vampire domain of Midgard for one woman. But also they knew that it would have been only a matter of time before they too would have been destroyed.
Odin and his army arrived in Kemet during nightfall and to a cloudless sky and a full moon that shone high in the dark abyss over the lands. They arrived in the Sahara desert not long after departing their beloved home and the mountains of Asgard. The vast desert housed Sekhmet's palace that was alit with torches of blazing fires that made the night like day. When they arrived they discovered to their shock that Sekhmet's army was twice the size they had originally believed it to be. It was irrevocably clear that they all would lose their lives. However, if they were going to die then it would be with honor. They would die with such and end that would forever immortalize the power of Midgard, and the nobility and goodness of the vampires that once thrived there.
For Odin the scene before him was one of dread. There was a selected pathway that lead a mile down the sand dunes and ended directly before the golden stairs that advanced up to Sekhmet's palace. The pathway was layered with torches on either side that lit the way towards their doom."
What a sad ending to such proud warriors. Odin's love for his mate was so deep that he would risk everything just to recapture her and rekindle the fire that had been extinguished after Sekhmet took her. I knew that I would not like the ending of this.
"Odin along with his army proceeded down the hills and followed the wide path. They looked upon Sekhmet's palace that was forged from pure gold and was in fact a pyramid. It was a monument to the power of Sekhmet and was to be a terrible remainder of who the vampire was that drank the lands of Egypt dry of blood.
Odin and his followers were welcomed by a multitude of vampires that must have consisted of hundreds if not rivaling the margin of one thousand. They were severely outnumbered. They walked down the sandy path and were growled at and hissed at. Some vampires even dared to spit at them and clawed at them through the torched fence. Thor after Odin was the commander of the Midgard army and with all his might tried to keep his soldiers at bay. The deliberate path let to the foot of the golden stairs that lead up to a platform on which Odin gazed upon the terror striking face of his wife, Frigg. Next to her he saw evil incarnate.
Sekhmet stood atop next to Frigg of the golden stairs with a brilliant and dark smile covering her features. Through Sekhmet's teeth erupted sadistic laughter that consumed the entire atmosphere of the valley and the surrounding desert, and filled them with an apocalyptic mood. Frigg was being held back by two others of the vampire queens children, and her eyes were filled with sorrow and despair as she prophesized the end that was coming. She was much like the ill fated Cassandra in that matter. Like Alice she also possessed the power to see the future and saw the end of the proud vampires of Midgard. Her visions unfortunately could not save her from being abducted nor show her resulting in being the reason why her honorable people would meet their end in Kemet.
Do you wish your mates safe passage? Her words were pure venom and covered with the blood of the innocent. Odin of course whished nothing more but the price that Sekhmet asked for was steep. She wanted command of the entire Midgard army. Vicious snarls exploded from Odin's soldiers and even from their commander Thor himself. Odin's face was grim and his entire being shook with nothing but sadness and blame for what he had done. Though his next words surprised even Sekhmet and brought whimpers to the soldiers of his army.
Forever in a day I have lived. I have seen the white shores that lie behind the moon, sun, and the endless sparkles of lights above. I am the pride. I am the power. I am the servant of Midgard and his holy lands. Eternally will I marvel at the beauty that this world has offered me for such a long time, and forever will I weep for what you plan to do. You will never command this world, and you will most certainly never claim lordship over Mother Nature. You are nothing but an insect to her. You may destroy me but you will never destroy the essence that lies beneath this meaningless corporal form. I will become a fierce wind and blow through every leave, every tree, and every living being and become one with the soul of our world. I will sob a million tears for what you will do to the one whom I have shared so many wonders with but in the end I cannot bear to see the free spirits of my friends dipped in darkness, and be consumed with your evil.
Odin's words made Sekhmet's lips quiver with anger. They say that through her teeth she spat her venom in his face like a serpent and called him an impudent fool for disobeying her demands. Odin didn't flinch by her words or her fluid. His eyes rested solely upon his beloved Frigg who looked upon him with compassionate eyes and pride. Odin's glance looked old and defeated. There was nothing left within him now. He was ready, and accepted death as punishment for bringing his people to their doom.
Odin reached out his hand with shaking fingers and wished nothing more than to touch the face of his love one last time. They say that not just his fingers shook but his entire body. Dry sobs began to escape through this throat as he knew that it would be the last time he would see her. One of the guards that held Frigg back released his hold on her when Sekhmet motioned him to retreat back. Frigg breathed shocked but relieved and focused her eyes on her conqueror. Sekhmet's expression was blank and an empty void that showed the soul of a woman who had no sympathetic emotions and no love within her.
A final smile covered Frigg's face when she reached out her free hand to Odin. Odin eagerly climbed the steps and reached out his own hand until their fingers were but inches from another. Then…"
Carlisle sank in his chair and closed his eyes attempting not to create a visual in his thoughts of what happened next. It was obvious to me. Odin and Frigg's love ended.
"Then… suddenly Sekhmet took position behind Frigg and pierced her through the back with her arm until her claws dug their way through her chest, and her fingers were now the ones touching Odin's instead of Frigg's. A loud and despairing screech catapulted from behind Odin's lips as he saw the love of his eternity fade away into memory. Frigg quivered in silent pain as Sekhmet chuckled evilly. She withdrew her arm through Frigg's body and like lightning snapped her neck causing her to be decapitated. Frigg's body jerked as venom and blood convulsed from her neck. Her body fell to the ground and tumbled down the stairs until it rested before the feet of Thor, Loki, and all the other proud soldiers of Midgard.
Odin was immobilized. Sekhmet stood before him smiling and holding the head of his beloved wife.
One last kiss perhaps? After this assessment Sekhmet's army showered with mocking laughs. They pointed their fingers at Odin and made ill conceived remarks and spat at his soldiers who like Odin were overcome with grief by the death of their adored queen.
Sekhmet tossed the decapitated head of Frigg behind her and let it fall into a sarcophagus of fire. Frigg was gone.
It was done and she had conceived her goal. She had broken Odin's spirit and took away his reason for being. Her cruelty and evil knew no bound and it was not long before Odin joined his beloved Frigg. From beneath her white veil like robes she retrieved an athame. The athame had a golden grip with a dark ruby encrusted in its center. The blade was a very light blue with strange markings engraved in its spine, and vampires still do not know what metal could pierce the stone hard skin of our kind but indeed it did. It flew forward and broke through Odin's neck before Sekhmet sliced and decapitated him as well. Odin's body twitched and fell down the golden stairs of the palace to land next to Frigg's while their lifeless hands were touching.
The breaths of Odin's army came to an entire halt as they witnessed the death of their proud leader. Many of them crumbled to their knees and became paralyzed with shock, and froze to become living statues. Thor himself had to look upon Odin's head as it dangled in Sekhmet's hand."
I shook my head vigorously. How can such cruelty exist even for a vampire? What sort of metal could even penetrate our marble bodies? It mattered not. I now knew exactly why Carlisle always refrained from wanting to tell us the stories of the wars. They were made of pure evil.
"What happened next sickens me to my very core and is by far the tip of this very large iceberg. Sekhmet lifted Odin's decapitated head over her own and allowed the drips of venom and blood to fall upon her countenance. Her tongue tasted the cold night air and hungered and searched for drops of Odin's elixir of life, both of them. Soon enough her entire face was covered and she ran her hand over her olive skinned complexion and smeared until her entire face was painted in Odin's mixture of blood and venom. She was the most sadistic and evil vampire to ever walk this earth Edward. In the end she had no interest in the army of Odin after all.
Kill them. So many of them fell easily after having their spirits and courage shattered by the gruesome death of Odin while others still fought valiantly but were easily outnumbered by Sekhmet's forces. They all disappeared into memory but were truly immortalized by humanity. If vampires speak of the wars then they speak of nothing but the proud soldiers of Midgard who fought until the very end until the very last vampire stood. They battled and died together."
I was overcome with grief. Who knew that such honor existed and slumbered within our kind? The most incredible fact though was that they accepted death whilst they marched to their very doom in order to protect the rivers, the meadows, and the people of Midgard. This I would forever remember.
"But what about Athena?" This story was sad and terrible but there was no trace of this Athena who was Sekhmet's true equal. He said that the War of Wars was fought between Egypt and Greece, and not between Egypt and Europe.
"This was only the prologue to the story to come Edward. These events are nothing compared to what else I am about to tell you. The true war did not begin until the two entities that should never have met, met."
Nothing compared for what was about to come? My God. I had truly underestimated the ancient wars. Unfortunately though they did not have any clues regarding her, and unveiled nothing that I wanted to know. Still, I believed that this history was something that I should know. I took a deep breath preparing for the other horror that was about to come.
"Please Carlisle, continue." Carlisle looked tired as if the tale and tragedy of Midgard had exhausted him. He held up his hand motioning me to be patient.
"Give me a moment. We are about to travel much deeper into the darkness."
(Authors Note) – I hope you guys aren't bored by this history but it is vital to the story. If it wasn't then I wouldn't even bother. It's also important for explaining Bella's background story later. Please review once your finished reading. Both negative and positive reviews are welcome.
