Chapter 10.
New Leader
Cold water gushed down her throat, gagging her. Spluttering, Lilah tried to swim for the surface but the fast-flowing currant held her down. Fighting desperately, Lilah struggled; her feet touched the cold pebbles on the riverbed and she pushed off the river bed with her feet. Her head broke the surface and she gladly gulped down precious, much needed air. She began to tread water, trying to keep her body afloat or at least keep her head above the surface. The currant had racked and tossed around her body and now Lilah was forced past exhaustion. Treading water exhausted Lilah's body to its limit and the cold, murky river sucked her body back down.
Her body sank to the riverbed and was brutally dragged along the cutting stones on the bottom. Lilah knew she was going to drown. As that thought left her increasingly blanking mind, she began to panic. She writhed feebly on the riverbed. Her hands clawed at the muddy bottom and she gasped when her delicate skin was torn open by a jagged stone. Water gushed down her throat, blocking off her air supply. Losing her breath, Lilah saw darkness closing in on her and a bright light flashed. Then: nothing.
Lilah felt nothing. The icy, rapid water no longer tossed her around like a living rag doll. She wasn't certain whether she had perished in the river's death grip. Her eyelids fluttered weakly before, gasping, she opened her eyes and looked around.
She was lying face down on the muddy bank. Her body had been caught in a water chute, which had deposited her body on the bank. Behind her the water lapped at her feet and roared like a feral beast trying to drag her back into its lair. Lilah moaned softly and struggled away from the river. Her bleeding hand dripped blood onto the mud, making the muck plaster to her skin. Her exhausted body fell, and panting, Lilah eyes began to close, just as a lycan's scent reached her and on the border of her blurry vision was a dark skinned male lycan, watching her intently.
A bolt of shock jolted Lilah from her exhausted state. Her eyes snapped open and she gazed at the male, who was slowly drawing nearer to Lilah. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her looking at him. Lilah forced herself onto her knees and she started to crawl, pitifully, towards the strange lycan. "Who... who... who y... who... you?" she asked in a trembling, exhausted body. She grabbed a low hanging tree branch and used it to pull herself to her feet. The male watched her, then, turned and walked back into the trees.
"Wait," Lilah called after him. Slowly she stumbled after him. Her exhausted body wanted to drop but her determined mind and spirit kept her walking. She stumbled into the trees and saw the male waiting up ahead for her. He must be trying to lead me somewhere, Lilah thought: But where?
The lycan male led Lilah deeper and deeper into the woods and Lilah became dizzier and weaker from the loss of blood from her wounded hand. She stumbled over a tree and with a loud crash, fell into the dead, dry leaves, which littered the path. Lilah gave up and lay on the path weakly. The dark skinned male looked down at her as he appeared beside her fallen body. Lilah wriggled feebly on the ground, trying to find her feet again but her weak body, pushed beyond exhaustion, refused to stir. The male cocked his head, then, bent down and took her frail body into his arms as though she were no more burden than a feather.
Swiftly and silently he threaded through the woods until he came to, what Lilah thought, was an old abandoned mine. The male walked inside the gloomy mine and trekked further inside. After what seemed like hours to Lilah, they finally came out to a flat room.
Dozens of lycans, both male and female, were packed along the walls. When they saw Lilah they began to whisper in hushed voices to each other. The dark skinned male put Lilah's body on the dusty mine floor, gently, then he strode up to the front of the room and dropped down onto one knee, "Lucian? I found this girl by the river. She's been injured."
"Vampires," Lilah whispered softly. "Lots of them. Killed my friends... I surrendered myself to the river rather than die at the hands of a damn blood."
From out of the gloom, a homeless bearded male appeared. For a moment Lilah's heart gave a great leap, Soren! She thought ecstatically but as the male drew nearer Lilah's heart sank. It was not Soren; it was a strange bearded lycan. The bearded lycan, whose name appeared to be Lucian, knelt down beside Lilah and examined her wounds. He wrapped cloth around her injured hand, then, sat back and studied her, "What's your name?" he asked.
Lilah's reply was soft, her voice choked with exhaustion and emotion, "Lilah," she finally managed to whisper.
"Lilah? I'm Lucian, leader of the lycans. I am leading a rebellion against the vampires. When the time comes we lycans will wipe all vampires from existence and so I am offering you a place to be apart of my army. If you accept you will be trained up to be a formidable opponent and when the final battle between our two races begins you will be able to wet your claws and fangs with the vile blood of our bloodthirsty cousins. If not you may stay here until you are healed then you are free to leave. What do you choose?"
Lilah paused and studied the lycans around her. Each of them looked ready for bear. Weapons forged from iron hung around the walls and from around the lycans' waists. Lilah turned her somber eyes upon Lucian. Though he wasn't as tall or massive as the bald, dark skinned male behind him, Lucian carried himself with the air of a leader. She thought of her friends who had been slaughtered like vermin by the hateful vampires. She nodded her head, "I want to be a part of your army."
A cunning smile spread over Lucian's lips. "Welcome aboard Lilah," he announced as the other lycans clapped in jubilant glee.
X
Lilah awoke with a start and sensed that daylight had fallen. She clambered to her feet, realizing that she must have drifted off to sleep in the confines of the lycans mine. The sound of retreating footsteps drew Lilah's attention to a male figure that was leaving the mine. Curious, Lilah followed. Silent as a ghost, Lilah trailed after the lycan. Lilah saw the male slip outside the mine, into the sunshine. Lilah followed him out but to her surprise the man had vanished. Then a low voice from the shadows startled her, "You were following me Lilah?"
Lilah jumped and spun around. It was Lucian. "Lucian! Yes... I... umm... I was just-" she blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
Lucian shook his head, smiling, and "Is there anything you want to know?"
"No... Yes. Why do you hate the vampires so much?"
Lucian sighed and a look of genuine grief flittered across his handsome face. He reached inside his woolen shirt and pulled out a beautiful, golden pendant. "This pendant belonged to a woman I once loved, a vampire. She was the daughter of Viktor, one of the vampire Elders. The first time I laid eyes upon her regal beauty I was besotted. You can imagine my surprise, and soaring happiness, when I learnt that she felt the same way about me. We continued our clandestine relationship over the months but then... Sonja revealed she was pregnant."
"Pregnant?" Lilah echoed, a shocked expression on her pretty face, "But how? She, Sonja, was a vampire and you are a lycan!"
Lucian nodded, "Our child would have been something different. Something new. A hybrid," Lucian's voice hardened and a venomous streak entered his voice. "But Viktor found out. He killed her, his own daughter, because she dared to give me her heart, she loved me and... She treated me as an equal."
Lilah frowned sadly, "I'm so sorry," she whispered. She crept forward and gently touched his arm sympathetically. Lucian looked at her and gave her a shaky nod of thanks. His voice was temporarily lost, the emotion welling up inside him. He gestured to the vial around Lilah's neck.
"What's that?" he managed to whisper hoarsely.
Now it was Lilah's turn to be choked with emotion. "My lover gave it to me," she said sadly, reflecting on the moment of pure bliss six hundred years before when she had lain naked with Soren under the glow of the moonlight on the cliff. The most perfect moment of her life. A scene that still prowled through her dreams when she dared to surrender to them.
A/N: Now the story will start through Underworld. Sorry for not updating sooner. I've been busy with school and I've just started a new Supernatural story.