Hello my lovelies! First and foremost, Happy New Year to you!! I hope you all have an amazing year! I apologize for the ridiculous amount of time it's taken to post a new chapter! I have been postponing it for far too long, but I finally got around to it, and I'm so glad to see you have been amazing and loyal readers. I want to thank each and every one of you for emailing me and commenting and asking about the Dawn series! It really makes me want to write more, and make each chapter even better than the last. My resolution this year is to write and post more frequently! With that said, please enjoy!
Chapter 5: The Source
The grounds of the Vyrkaryan council were dark and deserted for the night, the ancient building stood atop a cliff with the full moon shining down on its white walls and the large golden dome in the center. The effect was quite striking, the building shone like a beacon of light in the midnight sky, seemingly floating, and the cliff blending into its dark surroundings. The windows were black blankets puncturing the serene facade, reflecting the moon and stars save for the light that was on in the vast library housed on the west side of the building. It was a warm summer evening, but you wouldn't have known it standing inside this particular room. Inside Dymas sat at a large table that ran down the length of the aisle, a single table lamp glowing over the pages he was reading. Bookcases carrying some of the rarest texts in the world ran the height of the room, towering over him on each side. The smell of ink and paper was heavy in the hall.
The Vyrkaryan collected countless texts since their existence; some were originals dating thousands of years before Christ. So vast was the collection that they could not be housed in one area, but were kept directly underneath the standard library, protected in glass rooms keeping humidity and natural pollutants in the air away from delicate vellums and parchments. The newer, less delicate books and volumes were housed upstairs.
"Have you found it?" Dymas asked, not bothering to look up from the aged manuscript laid out on the desk in front of him. Its edges were withering away, the ink faded over the millennia.
"Yes, it took some digging but it's here," a cold voice said over his shoulder.
He turned in his chair and looked up at Iffret holding an old leather bound book. He smiled wickedly. Iffret was a magician he thought, seemingly able to find anything he required.
"It's remarkable, the drawing looks just like her," Iffret whispered, her eyes focusing over his shoulder on the manuscript that he had been reading. In the center of one page was a drawing of a woman with a heart shaped face, full pouty lips coloured red and eyes that shone in silver ink. The rest of the delicate vellum was covered in small cursive writing.
"How can that be? This document is older than her, from the Creation," she said in awe.
"Yes, proving that we have the right woman. I still cannot believe how you stumbled upon her purely by chance," he chuckled in delight.
"We would have found her sooner or later, but yes it is strange how she practically landed in our lap."
"Tell me, what did you find in the book?"
"Old tales of the gods and their quarrels, mostly garbage. It never ceases to amaze me how historians write history the way they wished it had occurred," she sighed, boredom heavy in her tone, "however, there was one woman that seemed to pop up in all these silly tales, always described as the mother of everything mystical. Carythia, Olyssia, Nüt, Layal, whatever you want to call her. She is in several different tales, under different names, but the essence is the same. It is as you predicted."
Dymas leaned back in his chair, looking down at the image of the woman before him. He had been searching for years, scouring the endless halls of books, thousands and thousands of them trying to find the key to it all. In three weeks time, the Alignment would begin. He had thought himself running out of time, had almost accepted that he would have to wait another three hundred years for the next occurrence. Luck had been on his side when Iffret had spotted eyes as silver as the ones described in the books he had been reading. It was as if the universe wanted him to succeed, he thought wryly.
Soon he would have everything he needed to begin the ritual. When he was done, he would be the most powerful creature to walk the earth, and would no longer need to pretend to care about the insignificant group of vampires who thought they held power. The council, he scoffed. It would become obsolete. Three weeks. That was all the time it would take to crush every single one of them, especially that arrogant pain in the ass Mavros. He would take great pleasure in watching him lose everything before he ended his time on this earth.
Iffret cut through his thoughts suddenly, "There is something else you should know..."
He turned once again, curiosity washing over him.
"What would that be?" he asked, his eyes narrowing
"The texts speak of another...a male counterpart. In all the scriptures he is her sworn protector...and lover."
"Another?" he asked, truly surprised at this new tidbit of information she had managed to dig up.
"Yes, like her, there are many names. Sanon, Pilan, Ra, Sachiel."
"Well, this is quite unexpected. Perhaps that is what we have been missing this whole time!" he said excitedly, moving to the scripture he had just been reading, he searched for one particular paragraph, his finger running down the page, until he found it.
From the Creation, the universe was shaped by the Source. A delicate balance of cosmic forces, it is the power that gives existence to all. From it, we can see the universe in its purest form. The Source has often been described as light and dark, infinite and finite, the skies and the earth, the moon and sun. It is never singular, but always a balance of forces. The scribe to the ancient vampire King Mazdak wrote in his documentation of the kings rule, during the War of the Ten Kingdoms that "From whence came the earth, the sky covered it, from where the sun sets, the moon rises and so it was when the Source came to the king's aid. The Source holds a universal power to which all creatures will submit to. Thus is how our royal King Mazdak continued his rule upon the throne of Ibereya."
The scribe had taken the time to draw a picture too. It hadn't occurred to Dymas until now that some portions of his document could have gone missing...like another drawing of the protector.
"Yes, this is it Iffret, you have uncovered the most essential piece of the puzzle!" he said excitedly, standing to face her.
"It's all so perfect. The names tell me everything. Layal, the goddess said to be the creator of the sky, moon and stars. And Sachiel, the God whose light shone so bright it was said he created the sun and protected what lay under the sky. Don't you see Iffret?
