Research for this chapter included using Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas, by H.A. Guerber

Meet the Ancients: Chapter 4

It is 5:00 on Thursday. I arose and looked over at my cell phone. No messages. I had worried that He might show up during the daytime. Neither Pam nor I had caught sight of Him – and at least one of us was always at the bar. I had seen Magan the previous Saturday and, though I did not know when she planned to see Him, I had expected to see Him before today.

So tonight would be the night. I need to call in extra vampires for bar duty tonight – just in case things go bad and we need to glamour the whole bar, provided we survive. What am I thinking; I am planning on putting my area and vampires in danger because I want a human as mine. Of course she is a strong telepath – but somehow she has some additional type of hold on me.

I shook my head to clear it. What will be, will be. I quickly showered and walked into my closet where I grabbed a pair of dark black jeans and looked over the array of shirts I kept as bar wear. None are what I wanted – they are all meant to show off my physique and that is not what I want tonight. However, off to the side is a long sleeved black tunic. Except for the tight fitting wide cuffs it looks like something that I could have worn when I was still alive. I pulled it on and buttoned up the cuffs. Looking in the mirror I was not happy, I look like a cleric – but the tunic gave me an idea. I opened a drawer and pulled an old wooden box out of the back of it. I opened the box and inside lay a pair of old hammered gold wristbands. Embossed on each of them is the profile of a boar's head. They are my last link to my human life. I put each of them on over the cuffs of the tunic then selected a pair of black boots and pulled them on. Looking in the full length mirror again I was pleased, I looked like a modern version of a Viking.

I called Fangtasia and got Pam on the phone, "See if you can get another half dozen vampires in for bar duty. I do not like that we have not seen Him yet."

"Right Boss – will you be in soon? The band is demanding day quarters and wants a place to take fang bangers. Also, I put a final copy of my research on your desk for you to review."

Pam has been putting final copies on me desk every night since I gave her the assignment.

"Anything new that I should see?"

"Yes a website – she is also a professional jeweler and the work on her website is astounding."

I glanced at the clock – it was 5:45 and would take me about 25 minutes to get to the bar – I definitely am leaving too late. "I am leaving now. Can you or Chou handle the band? Give them what they have asked for, but no more than that – I just do not have the time to negotiate right now."

"I will get Chou on it right now. Oh, and I got you a gift, it is in your office. See you when you get here."

I got to the bar in 20 minutes, record time even for me. After entering through the back door I walked into my office. Sitting on the credenza behind my desk was a small dual zone wine cabinet. Half of it was filled with the Viognier while the Shiraz filled the other. Next to it was a tray with an open bottle of Shiraz and two wine glasses on it. Looking closer I saw that there was a note in Pam's handwriting on it too.

Erik,

My research said that the Shiraz needs to be open so that it can breathe. The cabinet is programmed with the correct storage temperatures for the wine.

Pam

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter."

Pam and Chou walked in.

Chou announced, "I gave the band use of the secondary safe house."

"Very good." I said, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No, everything is running on schedule. Is there any more you wish done?"

I looked over a Pam then back at Chou. "I want you to look out for a vampire tonight. He will be 6'3", green eyes, light brown hair, physique like mine, geometric blue woad tattoos. If you see him call me on my cell immediately, then just keep an eye on him. Same goes for you Pam." I paused, "Now I need to talk to Pam alone." Chou bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

"Are we ready Pam?" She knew what I meant.

"Everything is in place; all you need to do is read the final report."

Will it be okay if I just look over the website you mentioned?"

She glanced at the clock, it was 6:15. She did not look happy. She rolled her eyes. "Yes that will do. The web address is on the third page."

"Then go back out to the front and finish the opening procedures. In 10 minutes check the front parking lot, bring her to my office if she is here."

Pam left. I looked up the address and entered it into the computer. When the home page came up I was amazed. The pieces were stunning, inspired by Norse and Celt designs. There were tabs for bracelets, necklaces, rings, torques, broaches, hair ornaments, belts and headpieces. I clicked on the tab for torques. The items on the page ranged from simple to very ornate – but all of them were beautifully made.

My cell rang. It was Pam.

I answered, "Yes."

"Erik it looks like she just pulled into the parking lot."

I looked at the clock – it was 6:28. I thought either she is always punctual or she was looking forward to seeing me again. Preferably the later. I walked over to the wine cooler, pulled a bottle of Viognier out and started opening it.

"Well is it her?"

"Yes . . . and you are not going to believe it but it looks like she is wearing a solid silver torque."

I grinned to myself. No one wears silver to a vampire bar. She is making a statement to me.

"Let her in – bring her back to my . . . no just take her to my booth and I will be right out. Send a waitress to my office to bring the wine tray to the booth."

I waited a few minutes and then headed out the office door. As I passed a waitress headed for my office I commanded, "Bring both open bottles of wine and the wine glasses to my booth. DO NOT break anything. Then go to the bar and fetch a bottle of True Blood for me, type B+."

I opened the door leading into the bar and walked through. Pam was just seating her. She was wearing a cobalt corset top, black velvet leggings and midnight blue leather boots. At her waist was a wide black leather belt with a round silver buckle. Around her neck lay a heavy silver torque with what appeared to be horse heads on it. I walked over and sat down opposite her in the booth. That is when I noticed the mirror image tattoos on the fronts of her shoulders. They were a round triskellion Celt design of three horses, with a twist – one horse was white, one was red and the third was black. I moved my eyes to her neck. There was a single silver horse head on one side and two gold horse heads on the other, lapis lazuli stones were set in their eyes.

I grinned, motioning to the single head I said, "This one must be Alsvider and these" I motioned to the gold pair "must be Arvakr and Asvin." I continued, "Most people do not wear silver to a vampire bar."

"Well, it is nice to see you again too." She replied tartly.

"I meant it as a compliment."

The waitress arrived with the wine. I took the tray from her and placed it on the table. "Would you like the white or the red my dear?" I asked.

She looked at the labels. "I am impressed – I'll have the Viognier, it is my absolute favorite."

I poured the wine. "Your torque is exquisite." I remarked.

"Thank you. And yes those are their names."

She smiled at me. As she took the glass from me she suddenly got a perplexed look on her face. With her other hand she took my wrist and twisted it so that she could see the top of my wristband. She put the glass down and traced the boar's head with her finger. She looked up at me. "I actually brought you a present. I didn't plan on giving it to you until later but . . ." She reached down next to her on the seat and brought up an inlayed hardwood box which she placed on the table in front of me. I opened it and inside was a gold torque with an ornate boar head on either side. Set in the eyes were red flecked dark green stones.

This is stunning I thought. "It is beautiful . . . thank you. What are these stones?"

"They're called bloodstones. I named it when I made it 20 years ago. Its' name is Saehrimnir."

The boar that feeds the fallen hero's in Valhalla night after night I remembered.

I picked it up – it was heavy, it had to be made of solid gold. I started to put it on. She reached across and placed her hand on top of it.

"Be careful – the tusks are made of sterling silver."

I looked at the tusks. Besides being silver they were also very sharp.

The waitress returned and placed a bottle of True Blood in front of me. "B+" she said. I handed the wooden box to her and instructed, "Take this to my office." She took the box and left.

Magan went on, "I designed it so that the tusks wouldn't touch skin when worn."

I put it on carefully. "How do I look?"

"Like a Viking, especially in those clothes."

She had noticed.

She looked around suddenly. I looked up at the door. Bill and Sookie had just arrived. I placed my drink across the table next to her and stood up. As they arrived at the booth I said "Please join us"

I sat back down on the other side of the table. "Sookie, a glass of wine?" She nodded.

"Red or white?"

"The red"

The waitress returned as I was pouring the wine. "Bill, a bottle of True Blood?"

"Yes, O-." The waitress left to fetch the bottle.

Bill looked at the bottle of blood in front of me and commented, "Erik so you are . . . mainstreaming tonight?"

Can't pull one over on you Billy.

"Why yes Bill I am. I do not plan on feeding from . . . the tap tonight."

Bill merely raised one eyebrow and I noticed Magan looked a little surprised; she had a look on her face that said she was trying to figure me out.

She seems to have thought that I was planning to feed on her and still she showed up. But done correctly being feed on by a vampire is a very pleasurable and erotic experience. I wonder if she was planning on something else too.

In an attempt to break the tension that Bill had instigated Sookie said, "I've never seen a necklace like that before Erik, it's beautiful."

"It is called a torque and it was a recent . . . gift." I replied glancing over at Magan.

She followed my gaze, "Oh, did you buy that for Erik?"

Magan responded, "I was inspired to make it about 20 years ago. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time, so I put it away until I was struck by an urge to give it to Erik."

"You made that?"

"I've been designing and making jewelry since I was 15."

Hmmm, I did not know that. The jewelry making predated her meeting her old friend.

"Did you make the one that you are wearing too? Is it silver?"

"Yes and yes"

"I thought you didn't allow anyone to wear silver into Fangtasia Erik?"

In an annoyed tone I stated, "I am making an exception."

I decided to change the subject. Turning to Magan I asked, "How is your search going for . . . Friesian horses isn't it?"

"Well, I've found one yearling that I plan to purchase after he goes through his judging. There is also a mare that I will be picking up on Monday, and then I need to transport her to another farm to have her bred on Thursday. And I have yet another farm lined up to visit late next week where there are a couple of fillies that I may be interested in."

"May I ask how long you will be in the area?"

"You may", she said and smiled at me.

So she wants to play games does she? I can go along with that, and play a few of my own.

"So, how long will you be in the area?"

"Another 3 ½ months – but why do I think that you already know that and more about me?" She looked over at Sookie. Sookie blushed. She went on smoothly, "I deliberately showed her information about my life. I strongly suspected that you would ask her to tell you everything that she could hear from me. Tell me, did you also run a background check on me?"

Is she angry or did she also expect that of me? Or did running the check trigger some sort of warning to her? What kind of game is this?

Guardedly I decided to go with simple truth. "Yes I did, I know that you live in northeastern Wisconsin near the Michigan border. That you like to kayak and sail. That you lived in Sweden for 2 years with your old friend and vacationed there with him 3 times during the winter and 2 times by yourself in the summer. Also that you are going there again this summer to kayak. You lived in California for 5 years, Washington State for 3 years, Texas for 1 year, and Alaska for 3 winters. You have been a vendor at Renaissance Fairs on and off for 11 seasons. You have two cats and one dog. You know how to fence, and by the way I prefer a sword."

"You use Nordhast now, but have used Nordstrom and Nordlund in the past, while your true last name is Nordberg. You were 20 years old when you first met your old friend. You are quite well off. You have extensive real estate holdings and investment portfolios. Your first acquisitions correlate with your birthday and holidays from when you would have first met Him – so I think that they were gifts from Him. You later started purchasing investments by yourself, and have done well on your own. The horses that you are buying are more an expensive hobby than a business. The same can be said of your jewelry design business. "

I remembered what she had deliberately not told me about Ancients and felt myself start to get angry.

"There is more, but I grow tired of listing it all. I have an 11 page report in my office if you want to read it."

I snapped, "What I really want to know is why you did not tell me that Ancients' can incinerate others with a thought."

She was quiet a minute, "I didn't want to scare or worry you."

She glanced over at Sookie,"You are better that I thought."

Bill had wisely remained silent through all of this, but now he said, "Perhaps Sookie and I should leave the two of you to talk."

I thought for a moment and then curtly nodded. Bill rose and took Sookie's hand to lead her out. They walked over to a small table on the other side of the room and sat down.

"Erik, he did know Godric."

That got my attention

She went on, "At least he did if Godric was a 2000 year old vampire who looked like a 14 year old Pict."

"He did." I asked, "What else did he tell you about Godric?"

"Nothing really, just that Godric was his younger brother. I think that means that they had the same Sire."

"You mean Maker?"

"I'm fairly sure that Sire and Maker mean the same thing."

"Did he tell you anything more?"

"Just that he was Godrics' brother and father; and that Godric was his brother and son."

She paused, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the fire, but I really didn't want to worry you. I've only ever heard of them using it as a defense mechanism. The one time I saw it used was when a nest attacked my old friend and I and he used it against them."

Magan had actually seen this power being used!

I was curious, "What exactly did happen; what did it look like?"

She got a faraway look in her eyes;

"The leader was slightly on front, he was the first to die. He got a look of horror on his face and then started smoking. After that his skin got darker and darker until blue flames were rolling over is. He collapsed and disintegrated. It took maybe 30 seconds. When the others saw what was happening they froze as they tried to figure out what was going on. He destroyed all 6 together. They were all gone in just under a minute."

"Were you wounded?"

"A couple of scratches from when . . ." She suddenly stopped and looked over at Sookie. Sookie was looking at the door. My cell phone rang; as I answered it I turned and looked at the door.

"I see Him Pam."

In Norse mythology Alsvider is the horse who pulls the moon, while Arvakr and Asvin are the ones who pull the sun.