Back in Egypt. Sorry this is going so slow, I just had a really good idea for a later chapter, so I was working that out. It required a lot of research. I'll try to post one more time before Thursday, when I leave for a three week vacation.
Arden Kaylien: To answer your question, Nana was chosen as a priestess because everyone thought that Jager, who gave her that bracelet, was a god. So, Nana thought that too. She thought that Jager was really Pele in disguise. So that was the whole living Pele-of-the-sacred-earth thing. I hope that was helpful.
ShadowBlaze: As always, your encouragement it wonderful. I liked the idea for the "eternal death" name, except my Hawaiian dictionary doesn't have the word eternal, or death, so I, or we, need to think of something else. I avoided it this chapter, but the next chapter.
It was about mid-day in Egypt. But Nana didn't know that, the time of day or where she was. Jager had taken her into a building that was dark without windows. The floor was dirt and the walls made of stone. A girl sat in the corner, legs spread out in a "V".
She looked up when Jager appeared with Nana behind her. "You're back so soon. Have a fight?" she asked in an almost excited voice.
The man sighed. "No," he said, walking over to the girl. Nana stood where she was, in the center of the room.
The one in the corner jumped up and screamed, "You brought her here!"
"Shh!" hushed Jager, "calm down. They were going to kill her." Then after a pause, "I was thinking of changing her."
This sent the little girl lunging at Jager. Nana screamed and ran to pull her off. The girl jumped at her and wrapped her long fingers around her neck. "Fala, stop!" the man warned her.
Fala dropped Nana to the ground. "Fine, change her, but do it quickly, while I'm away," and with that, she disappeared.
Sighing, Jager dropped to his knee and whistled to the girl. Nana came obediently, huddling in Jager's arms. He pushed her head up to look in his eyes. He hadn't used this trick on her since was a child, but now it was for her safety. She bared her neck and he reached down to draw blood.
He took just enough to leave space for his own. Using the knife he had taken with him, he cut his wrist and pushed on Nana's mouth. She drank as if she had never had a drink in her life.
It felt like fire running down her throat. Horrible, burning fire. For a moment, she thought that her rescue was a dream and this was death. But she opened her eyes and saw Jager's turned face; his eyes shut tight, his wrist shoved into her mouth.
Her eyes widened. She pushed it away and screamed as loud as she could. Suddenly, to her horror, her voice faded away, Nana could feel the breath being sucked out of her lungs. Every beat of her heart was slower than it's former, until it stopped all together. Then, without another word, she fainted, hitting her head on a stone on her way down.
***
When she awoke, Jager was sitting, head bent, back against the wall, next to her. She reached out and touched his foot. His head shot up. In moments, his smile was in place, but his eyes revealed his true feelings, he was worried for her.
"Let's go feed," he said slowly, making a motion with his hand as to eat his hand.
Nana shook her head. She didn't want to eat. She was thirsty. So, with her hand she made a cup and drank an imaginary drink. Jager watched and nodded instantly. He'd have to teach her the language soon.
He reached out and took her hand. Then, by the magic that Nana still didn't understand, he took them to another dark, stone building. This time, it was a prison of some sort. Nana was scared off her wits. She held tight to Jager's hand.
They walked like that for a while, until they came to a prisoner that had much fight in him. Jager was pleased with him. Leaving the girl (he'd have to give her a new name soon), he walked over to him and touched his forehead. Instantly he quieted.
Jager lifted his head to meet the girl's eyes. Smiling, he beckoned her over, trying to make her feel safe with all the snickering inmates. When she was kneeling beside him, he slit the man's throat. Nana screamed with all her might. Immediately, Jager's hand quieted the yelp. Soon, the smell of blood almost overwhelmed the elder vampire. The newborn was gone in almost an instant.
She fed deeply, taking gulps of the life-giving libation. The power coursed through her veins, she could feel it moving there, pounding in her head. The smell took Jager too, causing him to push the girl from the man's throat as he drained the man himself.
Nana sat on all fours, watching. She had never seen a man die before, nor had she seen a...thing, like Jager. But it explained a lot. Jager was not Pele hiding in a body, but a demon, sent for her. Suddenly, her own sins came to mind. She had taken the illegal drink too. Grief overwhelmed her.
There, on the dusty, dirty floor of a prison, there, with Jager killing a man before her eyes, there, in only her grass skirt, Nana cried. She cried for her soul. She cried for Jager. But mostly, she cried for her humanity.