She hurt. All she could remember was lying on her side for the longest time with her sister and holding her hand, saying “it will be alright.” Though she knew it wouldn’t. At the time she just knew that things weren’t going to be the same.
Seremar, the name kept coming back to her, ‘he’s already dead. I killed them all.’ She could hear the metallic voice say over and over again in her head and every time it was like hearing it for the first time. The shock bore into her, the same denial. He’s lying; he couldn’t have done such a thing, Seremar can’t be dead….why would anyone… how could?
But her sense was too strong for that, logic being one of her better attribute led her to know better. Her faith was good, but it wasn’t enough to afford her even the slightest trace of hope. Seremar was dead. She just knew he was. Tears came to her eyes, yet she held them back. Not to further up-set her sister who was already crying and had been since the attack had begun.
Lilia had a weak constitution and so to see her sister weep and cry could easily break her more then she already was. So Ishiiha just held it in and held on to her, “it will be ok, everything will be ok. The monster is gone and he’ll never come back… he will never be coming back” she said again and again, but they were just lies.
At times their mother would be at they’re sides. She had dressed them in fresh cloth and laying her hands on their heads spoke to them, trying to comfort them anyway she could. To Ishiiha her words were inaudible, just nonsense. The same words Ishiiha used to calm Lilia. The same lies she knew meant nothing at all, not to her.
All her life she had sought to be an honest and noble Seirim. To obey the rules and the laws given to them by God and set by her race, yet all of a sudden, as if essence of the beast had rubbed off on her and she found herself already able to tell a lie, ‘it will be ok’ but no it wouldn’t be ok. It could never be ok, and she knew it. The village was pillaged. Everything lay in shambles. Everyone was dead. Seremar was dead, and they were no longer virgins! At 116 and 117and years old raped by a beast no one knew or ever saw coming, she knew their lives could never be what they would have been. They have been sullied, they are now impure—they are no longer eligible for marriage, they will never know the fulfillment of having a husband or to bear children, they were ruined. Their lives… their futures destroyed.
Salla and Yimura were there as well, and she could hear them whimpering. She wished they wouldn’t but hadn’t the heart to tell them to stop. She knew their pain, though their expressions was making it harder on Lilia, she held back and let them be, wishing to comfort them if she could but she couldn’t let go of Lilia. Just then she felt some warmth on her cheek as a thin beam of sun light poured over her from the door. Her mother had returned again. This time she looked up just to see a small bloodstain on her grey hoof and along the brim of her dress. Her eyes grew wide, it wasn’t her blood, she knew it—blood from outside, blood from Seremar and the others. Suddenly an image of the village in shambles and bodies lying on the ground in pools of that awful red color flashed in her mind, and she knew that is exactly what it was like outside.
The image was perfectly clear, the reddened ground the slain bodies. Like she could see it all as if from through her mother’s eyes. Suddenly she wanted to know. She didn’t know why, but she just knew she needed to see it. To know for sure if her vision was correct. But she knew she had to wait for her mother to leave before she could. Leaving her sister would be the hardest part, leaving her alone and letting go of her hand. But she had to see, so she bid her time while their mother fidgeted about and spoke, saying the same things over and over again till eventually she was called back outside for something. Ishiiha saw her chance and sat up.
Instantly Lilia began to protest, and grabbed her arm, “no,” she whimpered, as in don’t go, but Ishiiha just put her hand down lightly on her and said softly, ‘I’m just going to have a look. The others overhearing also began to protest, “No don’t.” Ishiiha put her finger to her lips to quiet them, it worked so she was about to turn her attention to the door. If she could just open it a crack and peer out then maybe she could catch a glimpse of what she needed to see, so releasing Lilia and ignoring the pain in her abdomen she crept over to the door and opened it.
Light spilled over her face though she had opened it only a crack. It was enough to see to the outside. The village was shaped like a horse shoe and the elder’s house stood just off center so she had a straight view of the village and the distant hills beyond on the south. There was some commotion, villagers, those that had survived rummaging around here and there. She could see her father the elderly figure arguing with someone among other villagers. She could not see her mother or find Seremar.
She looked to the ground where she imagined he would be, but could see no bodies just reddened areas where the fluid stained the sand and the rocks red. It was that red color that drew her out, the blood. As she opened the door further she could see more and more till before she knew it she was standing out in the open just outside the shack staring down at the body of Sekel.
He was laying just meters from the elder’s door but to the side. He was on his side and angled away from her so she he could not see any wounds, but just a pool of reddened sand beneath him. That alone told her he had been hurt and the lifelessness she could sense from the body was enough to tell her he was dead. He was perfectly still and silent. Seirim have very good hearing and could easily hear the rhythm of a demon’s core. His was silent. The body was lifeless, a stillness she only knew when any one of the goats they would herd died, being only mortal animals she would sense the stillness of their death, she never thought she’d feel the same thing, that awful feeling from a fellow Seirim, for they so seldom died.
“Ishiiha!” she heard her mother’s voice. It sounded upset. “Ishiiha…” she heard it again; “no you shouldn’t….” she then rushed over and was on her, grasping her by the shoulders, hollering, “No! You shouldn’t be out here! Get back inside!”
“What’s she doing out here,” her father the elder began to shout. “Get her back inside! This is not for her eyes!” But Ishiiha wouldn’t move she was transfixed.
“Daughter you must get back inside!” her mother insisted, but Ishiiha just looked at her, her eyes showing no trace of emotion. “Are they all dead mother?” she asked.
Ishar just stared at her daughter, unable to believe her calm. Was she in shock? What could she say to her?
“Is it true what he said about Seremar?” asked Ishiiha. Ishar’s breath drew cold; they had to move Seremar’s body only moments before. He was found not far from where Sekel lay. It seemed that the bothers stood together to protect the elder’s house, knowing that their mother and two sisters were inside. Sekel looked like he was killed instantly with a blow to the gut, but Seremer where he had lain appeared to have been thrown. His chest was torn open and left to bleed to death on the ground. When they moved his body she swore she could see his heart still intact in amongst his sundered organs. She began to shout, “His heart… his Heart! Stop, he can be saved!” But her husband argued with her and insisted it wasn’t and that he couldn’t be. That he was gone.
Earth demons though they were (many species of demons are known by their element earth, water, wind, fire), Seirim are still demons and so long as the head, heart and at least most of the body remained intact there was a chance they could be revived, but the Elder said his heart had been sundered. That the thing she thought was his heart was something else an organ he didn’t bother to name. “What would you know of a man’s organs you’ve never seen beneath the flesh of one? You wouldn’t know.” He said to her, and in all fairness he was right, she hadn’t. Though she had seen much in her many centuries, battle, and dangers and things of that sort, even anatomy she stayed away from, considering it none of her business and so knew very little.
Only this time she could not because the carnage was right before her. Now she saw beneath the flesh of a demon. Now she couldn’t say she did not know, but just couldn’t say she knew very much about it. The elder insisted that none of the men could be saved, not even the boys. The monster was too thorough. It seemed he was bent on not letting any of them live and had crushed their hearts.
Ishar was never more grateful for the decision the elders made to move Seremar’s body from the premise first. She didn’t know how Ishiiha would react if her eyes had fell upon him as he was. The thought of his bloody and lifeless body lain slaughtered upon the ground embedding itself into her memory for life—the demon she was hoping to one day to marry and love. It broke her heart. Best should she member him as he was not this. She tried to turn her away and to herself hoping to get her to look to her and not at the bodies. Not far away was the body of another young Seirim, Hether, one of Sekel’s closer friends. His head had been torn clean off and lay some meters away from the body caked in blood. It was a gruesome sight, certainly not the sight for a young girl that had just been victimized. Such things could harden the heart of even the most weathered of demons so she’s heard.
Certainly this would be too much for her daughter who was only at stage 16 of life (the equivalent of a 16 year old). She pulled her close, “come,” she said, “we must go inside,” and began to push, anything to get her back inside. Finally Ishiiha yielded, not to struggle against her mother and obeyed returning inside.
Once inside Ishar held her daughter out at arm’s length and just looked at her. Ishiiha stared back. She was searching for fear in her eyes but oddly could find none. Assuming she was in shock, “Daughter are you alright, things will be well…”
“Mother,” Ishiiha said, doing what she had never done and cut her mother off, “stop saying that, for I know it won’t.”
Ishiiha’s eyes were perfectly clear. Two large dark portals staring back at her as vibrant as she ever seen them just without the peace, there was calm but no harmony, no happiness. She was hurt, but it wasn’t pain that could cripple her or make her weak.
She strong…. She’s so strong, what a fine woman she would make, such a fine wife… a mother, when it hit her. The fate that lay ahead for her, for her sister and the others Salla and Yimura, the girls in the other houses, the other villages, all fine young women—a proud generation, ruined, lost to carnage and to rape. Defiled women were not allowed to marry, and if they can’t marry then they can’t have children. They will live as slaves to the house to which they were born, and forced to submit as lesser beings, this was the custom and laws of the race.
Her daughter Ishiiha the most promising of them all reduced to a slave within her own home… because of this. Her eyes filled with tears, she began to shake, her entire body trembling. Unable bear it no longer she pulled her daughter to her and squeezed, pressing her to her breast as tight as she could as she cried, cried harder then she could ever remember crying.
She had never known such tragedy, they were raped it wasn’t their fault, but the laws were long and old and embedded within the fabric of Seirim life and ways. The law was too high above her to deny it. She held her and held her, her crying would not let up.
At once Lilia sat up, clearly upset, “What what did you see?” she began to cry out, “What’s happened what’s going on!” she was scared, her tone louder then she meant it to be, “what’s going on… what’s going on.” Finally after a few moments of this Salla reached out with Yimura and took hold of her. “Lilly,” which is what she called her, “it’s ok!” Comforting her in the way Ishiiha did, but it did little to calm her.
For Ishar it was the same. She could do little. She was so upset and still shocked by Ishiiha’s calm demeanor, ‘Is she so strong,’ she wondered amazed, ‘Or is it just her way… Why our girls? Why so young?’ Ishiiha was indeed calm. Even while in her mother’s arms, as she wept over her she could not, she could not bring herself to lose herself. Once she saw the bodies there was no more question. “Mother, “she asked, “Where’s Seremar?”
Her mother felt her words and it drew her back. She felt her throat go dry, and her voice failed her causing her to lose the ability to speak. How could she tell her? How she wished she could say he was ok, that everything will be fine, how was she even able to tell such lies before? Ishiiha stared straight at her, unyielding. “Mother,” she said directly, “I want t see him.”
‘No,” Ishar shook her head, tears still spilling from her eyes, “my daughter Seremar is…”
“I know he’s dead. I want to see him.”
Hearing this, instantly Lilia began to cry, “What!” she cried out, clearly she has been in denial, “Seremar’s dead? No… NO!” and then his sisters Salla and Yimura also began to cry. Ishar wished their mother would return to comfort them, but she was in shambles herself over the death of her son.
Lilia wouldn’t be comforted, crying out mindlessly, “No no Seremar I loved him… I was going to mar…”
“You shut up!” Ishiiha snapped! Everyone froze.
She did not raise her voice, but she said it more vehemently with a hiss, “No!” she said, “I was going to marry Seremar. You shut up!”
“Ishiiha.” Her mother gasped as shock returned to Ishar’s face, almost drying her tears. Lilia didn’t know what to say. She had never been reprehended like that by her sister. Ishiiha has always been so kind and softly spoken that to hear the rasp in her voice and the anger was almost frightening. She recoiled daring not to say anymore. The other two were also taken back by it, Ishar as well.
But Ishiiha was unmoved even though she knew she had frightened, this just did not seem like the time for such sentiment. There was business at hand, and things to know, things to be done. She turned back to her mother and asked again, “Mother I know you know where Seremar is. I want to see him, will you show me?” Despite her renewed dried throat Ishar managed to squeeze out a response, “Daughter, no, why would you…”
“Because I need to know,” again cutting her off, “I need to see him. I need it for closure.” In that moment her mother felt her heart drop, but in relieved way. Is that all? Again she found herself taking hold of her and pressing her to herself and squeezing her closely. “Oh how do I have such a strong daughter, I’m so proud!”
After that Ishar took Ishiiha back out to show her. Figuring if she was strong enough to see and to stand to see it then she should. This was her reasoning, for why hide such things if it will only leave her wondering. Lilia wouldn’t handle seeing the mangled corps of someone she knew, but if Ishiiha could then she would be strong enough to help with the others. There would be no doubt she would have her closure.
So slowly she led her to where they placed Seremar on the outskirts of the village. There he was laying on his back with his chest torn open beside several others. Ishiiha’s eyes grazed over the others finally setting on him. She stared, completely motionless.
Her father was complaining, shouting angrily at her mother. Telling her to get her back inside that this was too much for her, but Ishar’s protest kept him at bay. If he were younger he could have tossed her aside and drug Ishiiha back inside himself but because of his age he could barely walk and was forced to settle for pointing and arguing.
Ishiiha ignored it, to her the compliant and his orders were meaningless. This was more important that simple obedience. She needed to see him. She knew she did, and there he was. Seremar the man she would never know. The future she would never have, that alone made her feel sad. Ignoring the other bodies she stepped forward till she was between him and another Seirim boy from the village, one that had been slashed across the neck. Ingoing him, if only momentarily she squatted down on her hooves, there was no room for her knees. Her mother was protesting and didn’t want to so get so close, it was improper but she didn’t care. Seremar’s eyes were still open. To her it looked like he was staring at the sky, but she knew he wasn’t. There was no sight or life in them just blackness.
The sun was directly over head and the cruel beams were pouring straight into him. Perhaps even the dead could go blind, she thought so she brought her hand down and closed his lids. Now he’ll sleep. Now he’ll rest and go back to God where he and we all belong.
She stood up and noticing that many of the others victim’s eyes were still open went to them as well and closed all the eyes, saying to her mother once she was through, “Now they will sleep. Now they’ll rest and go back to God where we all belong.” Her parents and the other villagers, those that had survived simply stood by and watched. They were amazed.
Not long afterwards a caravan was spied coming down the road. ‘hey someone’s coming,” a youth, apparently too young to have been killed called out and pointed. The elder and Samal, craftsman and father of Seremar and Sekel rushed to the gate to look to where the youth was pointing, and there sure enough was a wagon driven by two large bulls accompanied by several demons on foot was coming down the road towards them. Right away the elder recognized them as Tannim.
Tannim were a race of Jackal demons, carnivores and natural predators of the Seirim that like the Seirim lived in scattered communities throughout the Djudian lands. The nearest dwelling being about four miles away down the south side of the road, in the driver’s seat was a Tannim the elder recognized. His name was Hansikel, a large built fellow that was known to be able to catch a bull out in the wilderness by lifting it up and carrying it home on his back, and to lift boulders three times his size with relative ease.
The demons on the road beside the wagon were also Tannim but not so heavily built carrying with them what appeared to be shovels. The elder narrowed his eyes at them, why they are here? He wondered, then realizing the land was littered with blood. Tannim like any other canine kind had a very good sense of smell, they better not be here because of the bodies! His thought ran in alarm as the wagon pulled up before the village and an elderly Tannim stepped out.
It was Lazar, Elder of the southern Tannim community. He was a stately demon about the same age as Jeremiah, which was the Seirim elder’s name, with a short and course grey mane and long pointed ears, the same color as his mane that drooped apparently from age. His form wasn’t that much larger than a Seirim’s except that his belly was slightly rounder. Seirim were known to believe that the reason Tannim had rounder bellies was because being predators they had it easier, and the Tannim would disagree. As soon as he stepped out Lazar locked eyes with Jeremiah, and then held up his hand, calling out, “Greetings… old friend.”
Jeremiah let out a sigh of relief, and began to fidget around the gate trying to open it. Attempting to respond but his words were jumbled. “Gree… ah… bother wit’et.” He spat, trying to force out a proper greeting, while managing his old finger to undo the lock. The other Tannim stayed back as the elder approached. Taking one look at the village, he raised both hands waving them back down as if slamming them through the air in a disapproving manner, “Ahh, I see you got hit to.” He said his voice harsh with disgust.
The elder Jeremiah shook his head, “Ey… ey,” he said and finally managed to open the gate, and stepping out to greet his friend. “Ey,” he said, “it came from the south… it came and tore right through,” holding his arm out towards the village gesturing miserably at the carnage, the bodies, “It did all this…. It killed them all. All our boys… All of em!” His head sunk down, and began to wobble, suddenly feeling weak in the knees. The Tannim elder put an arm out as a youth rushed over to help him. Samal also rushed over.
“Eh, now don’t you be fallin, if you can’t take it standing.” Said Lazar, as Samal and the youth stabilized him pulling him back against the fence. The Tannim elder stood back but kept talking, “yeah, I see… fates ran foul today. it’s been seen all over the land. You’re the fifth village today that we’ve come across since this morning. All the village up the road got it. And maybe even a few off the ways. Their saying the thing came from the north and began working his way through, hitting every village along the way.”
Ishar, spurred by what she was hearing came rushing up, but refrained from getting too close because she still had Ishiiha with her. “Were you hit to?” she asked feeling horrified, did he attack everyone? All the land?
Lazar just shook his head, “No, just you.” He pointed, “Only the Seirim. The beast flew right by our village, didn’t even give us a look in. It seems he was only after you.” Pointing at everyone standing and then at the dead bodies. “Not even the S’ym, or the Sa’ar were hit.”
“Why only our villages, why us?!” The elder protested.
“We don’t know, but our people saw the thing. They say they believe it was some kind of renegade stray from the depths, gangly looking fella but big and fierce.”
“We saw him the bastard came right in my house! He raped my daughters! He killed our sons!” the elder went on, tears coming into his eyes.
The Tannim saw this and lowered his head, “well I sorry to hear that. The same was had in the other villages as well. They say he killed all those that opposed him and raped all the young girls.”
“All of them?” Ishar yelped in unbridled horror.
Lazar nodded, “But just the young ones,” and he looked at Ishiiha, “he left the elder women alone, even the middle aged.”
“Why would someone do such a thing?” Ishar gasped throwing her hand over her mouth, her words choked back.
“Who knows… who knows… only the Hells would know that, “Lazar added, “Anyway we came because we thought you could use some help. We have men in the other villages helping with the bodies.”
“Did you come for that? You wouldn’t ask us for the bodies?” the elder asked, not thinking strait and feeing the need to accuse, to strike out.
Lazar was already prepared for this, “Do you think we would?” he responded, “No, that would be inappropriate. We Tannim are predators we are not scavengers and won’t take the kills left by someone else. That’s prejudice talk!” he defended, “Humans accuse us of that, but you… you know better! Carrion from murder, after they’ve been sinned on… That’s like taking on someone else’s filth. You know we do not do what you do with those goats.” Referring to the goats of Azazel and taking on the sins. “We came to offer assistance, for it’s the same in all the villages. There’s no one left to do the work. That beast left nothing. We can see that. So we came to help you.”
The elder apologized and opening the gate he welcome them in. For the remainder of that day the men from the Tannim village and even men from the Jyrim, which was the tribe of the wolves came and assisted the Seirim in gathering up and transporting the dead to the regional cemetery where they erected a pier for their cremation. Bodies were never buried, so to avoid any vandalism and desecration of the demon’s remains. There was very little that separated a demon’s body from it soul. Most elderly demons disintegrated at death because their soul could very well be what’s left of them. So it was customary to burn the bodies and conceal the ashes with sand and salt so they could not be stolen and put to any wicked or vile use.
Ishiiha remained at the village with her mother and the rest of the women. Several of the Tannim women came and stayed with them, Jyrim women were there to while the men all went to work setting up the piers and transporting the bodies. Ishar kept saying how grateful she was for their help, and spent nearly half the time trying to think of ways to repay them.
Before they left the elders discussed that they would set up the piers, but they weren’t going to light the flames until they knew what the Seirim in the other villages were doing. If they wanted to gather all the dead together in one place or burn them separately? Jeremiah said he wanted a mass funeral saying the entire community should be in one place for this, since it was a disaster that struck them all and the elder of another village they met up there agreed. So Lazar sent men out to pass the request along to the other elders and their survivors.
Soon cart loads of bodies arrived from villages all over the nation. To everyone’s astonishment it seemed that the damage was worse than they thought at least twenty villages across the entire nation were attacked. In the same manner, the men killed and the girls raped, and the victims were only. They say a single Tannim was found dead on the road and then another on the other side of the country who only seemed to have gotten in the way of the beast between strikes, but that was it. There were over a thousand dead and five hundred hurt.
Survivors would speak of the wounded, that many weren’t expected to survive. Overall body count had come to 1,223 dead with more coming in and those left to pass away. The death toll was expected to reach at least 1,500 out of a population of 13,000 nationwide. The greater difference belonging to the villages of the east that were fortunate enough to have been spared, it seemed the beast had quit attacking soon after the attack on Jeremiah’s village.
Men from among the Jyrim tribe claimed to have attempted to track the beast down to head him off as he fled the nation, but he slipped right through them, “The bastard leapt right into another dimension, vanished right in front of us he did, right back into the depths.”
“Yup, returned from where he came.”
With everything set up the funeral carried on. The piers were built and finished by evening and all the bodies were lain out in position. With a final prayer and word of lament the men lit the fires and the flames went up. Normally the women would participate in the funeral services but because so many had been victimized involving them was impossible. So the entire service fell on the men and the woman from the Tannim and Jyrim communities.
After the funeral things were quiet. All the Seirim could do was pray and mourn, and try to move on. This is the way it was for several weeks until the first of the news broke out. The word passed like wild fire, several of the young girls from the first villages that were attacked were discovered to be pregnant. Later that day several more from three other villages made the same claim, at least 26 girls were found to be pregnant with more being reported every hour or so.
Ishar was worried; all these girls were turning up pregnant. She looked at her daughters, at Ishiiha and at Lilia just wondering, was it monster’s purpose to spread his seed, to make more of his kind and he used our daughters to do it? Not all the girls became pregnant just most of them, so there was some ray of hope. Please not out daughters, not them! Not us!
She prayed, but knew better, as did Ishiiha, once she began to feel the symptoms she knew. There was something different about her, her body felt off and she was often ill. She never got dizzy when she stood up before or got the cold sweats out in the hot sun, nor did she ever feel the undying craving for food. Once she heard the news about the others she knew at once what was happening. She was pregnant, and so was Lilia, for she had complained of the same symptoms, Salla from next door to but not Yimura.
They spoke about it the day before by the well, naturally hiding it all from their parents until they were absolutely sure. Now Ishiiha was, and she was certain they would all be bearing children before the year was out, so not to put it off any longer decided to break the ice and tell her mother.
The elder marched out of the house on his frail legs, weakened even more by the recent misfortunes and began to holler in a raging fit at the sky, cursing at nothing because his beloved daughter was pregnant, and soon will bear the child of a beast.
Seremar, the name kept coming back to her, ‘he’s already dead. I killed them all.’ She could hear the metallic voice say over and over again in her head and every time it was like hearing it for the first time. The shock bore into her, the same denial. He’s lying; he couldn’t have done such a thing, Seremar can’t be dead….why would anyone… how could?
But her sense was too strong for that, logic being one of her better attribute led her to know better. Her faith was good, but it wasn’t enough to afford her even the slightest trace of hope. Seremar was dead. She just knew he was. Tears came to her eyes, yet she held them back. Not to further up-set her sister who was already crying and had been since the attack had begun.
Lilia had a weak constitution and so to see her sister weep and cry could easily break her more then she already was. So Ishiiha just held it in and held on to her, “it will be ok, everything will be ok. The monster is gone and he’ll never come back… he will never be coming back” she said again and again, but they were just lies.
At times their mother would be at they’re sides. She had dressed them in fresh cloth and laying her hands on their heads spoke to them, trying to comfort them anyway she could. To Ishiiha her words were inaudible, just nonsense. The same words Ishiiha used to calm Lilia. The same lies she knew meant nothing at all, not to her.
All her life she had sought to be an honest and noble Seirim. To obey the rules and the laws given to them by God and set by her race, yet all of a sudden, as if essence of the beast had rubbed off on her and she found herself already able to tell a lie, ‘it will be ok’ but no it wouldn’t be ok. It could never be ok, and she knew it. The village was pillaged. Everything lay in shambles. Everyone was dead. Seremar was dead, and they were no longer virgins! At 116 and 117and years old raped by a beast no one knew or ever saw coming, she knew their lives could never be what they would have been. They have been sullied, they are now impure—they are no longer eligible for marriage, they will never know the fulfillment of having a husband or to bear children, they were ruined. Their lives… their futures destroyed.
Salla and Yimura were there as well, and she could hear them whimpering. She wished they wouldn’t but hadn’t the heart to tell them to stop. She knew their pain, though their expressions was making it harder on Lilia, she held back and let them be, wishing to comfort them if she could but she couldn’t let go of Lilia. Just then she felt some warmth on her cheek as a thin beam of sun light poured over her from the door. Her mother had returned again. This time she looked up just to see a small bloodstain on her grey hoof and along the brim of her dress. Her eyes grew wide, it wasn’t her blood, she knew it—blood from outside, blood from Seremar and the others. Suddenly an image of the village in shambles and bodies lying on the ground in pools of that awful red color flashed in her mind, and she knew that is exactly what it was like outside.
The image was perfectly clear, the reddened ground the slain bodies. Like she could see it all as if from through her mother’s eyes. Suddenly she wanted to know. She didn’t know why, but she just knew she needed to see it. To know for sure if her vision was correct. But she knew she had to wait for her mother to leave before she could. Leaving her sister would be the hardest part, leaving her alone and letting go of her hand. But she had to see, so she bid her time while their mother fidgeted about and spoke, saying the same things over and over again till eventually she was called back outside for something. Ishiiha saw her chance and sat up.
Instantly Lilia began to protest, and grabbed her arm, “no,” she whimpered, as in don’t go, but Ishiiha just put her hand down lightly on her and said softly, ‘I’m just going to have a look. The others overhearing also began to protest, “No don’t.” Ishiiha put her finger to her lips to quiet them, it worked so she was about to turn her attention to the door. If she could just open it a crack and peer out then maybe she could catch a glimpse of what she needed to see, so releasing Lilia and ignoring the pain in her abdomen she crept over to the door and opened it.
Light spilled over her face though she had opened it only a crack. It was enough to see to the outside. The village was shaped like a horse shoe and the elder’s house stood just off center so she had a straight view of the village and the distant hills beyond on the south. There was some commotion, villagers, those that had survived rummaging around here and there. She could see her father the elderly figure arguing with someone among other villagers. She could not see her mother or find Seremar.
She looked to the ground where she imagined he would be, but could see no bodies just reddened areas where the fluid stained the sand and the rocks red. It was that red color that drew her out, the blood. As she opened the door further she could see more and more till before she knew it she was standing out in the open just outside the shack staring down at the body of Sekel.
He was laying just meters from the elder’s door but to the side. He was on his side and angled away from her so she he could not see any wounds, but just a pool of reddened sand beneath him. That alone told her he had been hurt and the lifelessness she could sense from the body was enough to tell her he was dead. He was perfectly still and silent. Seirim have very good hearing and could easily hear the rhythm of a demon’s core. His was silent. The body was lifeless, a stillness she only knew when any one of the goats they would herd died, being only mortal animals she would sense the stillness of their death, she never thought she’d feel the same thing, that awful feeling from a fellow Seirim, for they so seldom died.
“Ishiiha!” she heard her mother’s voice. It sounded upset. “Ishiiha…” she heard it again; “no you shouldn’t….” she then rushed over and was on her, grasping her by the shoulders, hollering, “No! You shouldn’t be out here! Get back inside!”
“What’s she doing out here,” her father the elder began to shout. “Get her back inside! This is not for her eyes!” But Ishiiha wouldn’t move she was transfixed.
“Daughter you must get back inside!” her mother insisted, but Ishiiha just looked at her, her eyes showing no trace of emotion. “Are they all dead mother?” she asked.
Ishar just stared at her daughter, unable to believe her calm. Was she in shock? What could she say to her?
“Is it true what he said about Seremar?” asked Ishiiha. Ishar’s breath drew cold; they had to move Seremar’s body only moments before. He was found not far from where Sekel lay. It seemed that the bothers stood together to protect the elder’s house, knowing that their mother and two sisters were inside. Sekel looked like he was killed instantly with a blow to the gut, but Seremer where he had lain appeared to have been thrown. His chest was torn open and left to bleed to death on the ground. When they moved his body she swore she could see his heart still intact in amongst his sundered organs. She began to shout, “His heart… his Heart! Stop, he can be saved!” But her husband argued with her and insisted it wasn’t and that he couldn’t be. That he was gone.
Earth demons though they were (many species of demons are known by their element earth, water, wind, fire), Seirim are still demons and so long as the head, heart and at least most of the body remained intact there was a chance they could be revived, but the Elder said his heart had been sundered. That the thing she thought was his heart was something else an organ he didn’t bother to name. “What would you know of a man’s organs you’ve never seen beneath the flesh of one? You wouldn’t know.” He said to her, and in all fairness he was right, she hadn’t. Though she had seen much in her many centuries, battle, and dangers and things of that sort, even anatomy she stayed away from, considering it none of her business and so knew very little.
Only this time she could not because the carnage was right before her. Now she saw beneath the flesh of a demon. Now she couldn’t say she did not know, but just couldn’t say she knew very much about it. The elder insisted that none of the men could be saved, not even the boys. The monster was too thorough. It seemed he was bent on not letting any of them live and had crushed their hearts.
Ishar was never more grateful for the decision the elders made to move Seremar’s body from the premise first. She didn’t know how Ishiiha would react if her eyes had fell upon him as he was. The thought of his bloody and lifeless body lain slaughtered upon the ground embedding itself into her memory for life—the demon she was hoping to one day to marry and love. It broke her heart. Best should she member him as he was not this. She tried to turn her away and to herself hoping to get her to look to her and not at the bodies. Not far away was the body of another young Seirim, Hether, one of Sekel’s closer friends. His head had been torn clean off and lay some meters away from the body caked in blood. It was a gruesome sight, certainly not the sight for a young girl that had just been victimized. Such things could harden the heart of even the most weathered of demons so she’s heard.
Certainly this would be too much for her daughter who was only at stage 16 of life (the equivalent of a 16 year old). She pulled her close, “come,” she said, “we must go inside,” and began to push, anything to get her back inside. Finally Ishiiha yielded, not to struggle against her mother and obeyed returning inside.
Once inside Ishar held her daughter out at arm’s length and just looked at her. Ishiiha stared back. She was searching for fear in her eyes but oddly could find none. Assuming she was in shock, “Daughter are you alright, things will be well…”
“Mother,” Ishiiha said, doing what she had never done and cut her mother off, “stop saying that, for I know it won’t.”
Ishiiha’s eyes were perfectly clear. Two large dark portals staring back at her as vibrant as she ever seen them just without the peace, there was calm but no harmony, no happiness. She was hurt, but it wasn’t pain that could cripple her or make her weak.
She strong…. She’s so strong, what a fine woman she would make, such a fine wife… a mother, when it hit her. The fate that lay ahead for her, for her sister and the others Salla and Yimura, the girls in the other houses, the other villages, all fine young women—a proud generation, ruined, lost to carnage and to rape. Defiled women were not allowed to marry, and if they can’t marry then they can’t have children. They will live as slaves to the house to which they were born, and forced to submit as lesser beings, this was the custom and laws of the race.
Her daughter Ishiiha the most promising of them all reduced to a slave within her own home… because of this. Her eyes filled with tears, she began to shake, her entire body trembling. Unable bear it no longer she pulled her daughter to her and squeezed, pressing her to her breast as tight as she could as she cried, cried harder then she could ever remember crying.
She had never known such tragedy, they were raped it wasn’t their fault, but the laws were long and old and embedded within the fabric of Seirim life and ways. The law was too high above her to deny it. She held her and held her, her crying would not let up.
At once Lilia sat up, clearly upset, “What what did you see?” she began to cry out, “What’s happened what’s going on!” she was scared, her tone louder then she meant it to be, “what’s going on… what’s going on.” Finally after a few moments of this Salla reached out with Yimura and took hold of her. “Lilly,” which is what she called her, “it’s ok!” Comforting her in the way Ishiiha did, but it did little to calm her.
For Ishar it was the same. She could do little. She was so upset and still shocked by Ishiiha’s calm demeanor, ‘Is she so strong,’ she wondered amazed, ‘Or is it just her way… Why our girls? Why so young?’ Ishiiha was indeed calm. Even while in her mother’s arms, as she wept over her she could not, she could not bring herself to lose herself. Once she saw the bodies there was no more question. “Mother, “she asked, “Where’s Seremar?”
Her mother felt her words and it drew her back. She felt her throat go dry, and her voice failed her causing her to lose the ability to speak. How could she tell her? How she wished she could say he was ok, that everything will be fine, how was she even able to tell such lies before? Ishiiha stared straight at her, unyielding. “Mother,” she said directly, “I want t see him.”
‘No,” Ishar shook her head, tears still spilling from her eyes, “my daughter Seremar is…”
“I know he’s dead. I want to see him.”
Hearing this, instantly Lilia began to cry, “What!” she cried out, clearly she has been in denial, “Seremar’s dead? No… NO!” and then his sisters Salla and Yimura also began to cry. Ishar wished their mother would return to comfort them, but she was in shambles herself over the death of her son.
Lilia wouldn’t be comforted, crying out mindlessly, “No no Seremar I loved him… I was going to mar…”
“You shut up!” Ishiiha snapped! Everyone froze.
She did not raise her voice, but she said it more vehemently with a hiss, “No!” she said, “I was going to marry Seremar. You shut up!”
“Ishiiha.” Her mother gasped as shock returned to Ishar’s face, almost drying her tears. Lilia didn’t know what to say. She had never been reprehended like that by her sister. Ishiiha has always been so kind and softly spoken that to hear the rasp in her voice and the anger was almost frightening. She recoiled daring not to say anymore. The other two were also taken back by it, Ishar as well.
But Ishiiha was unmoved even though she knew she had frightened, this just did not seem like the time for such sentiment. There was business at hand, and things to know, things to be done. She turned back to her mother and asked again, “Mother I know you know where Seremar is. I want to see him, will you show me?” Despite her renewed dried throat Ishar managed to squeeze out a response, “Daughter, no, why would you…”
“Because I need to know,” again cutting her off, “I need to see him. I need it for closure.” In that moment her mother felt her heart drop, but in relieved way. Is that all? Again she found herself taking hold of her and pressing her to herself and squeezing her closely. “Oh how do I have such a strong daughter, I’m so proud!”
After that Ishar took Ishiiha back out to show her. Figuring if she was strong enough to see and to stand to see it then she should. This was her reasoning, for why hide such things if it will only leave her wondering. Lilia wouldn’t handle seeing the mangled corps of someone she knew, but if Ishiiha could then she would be strong enough to help with the others. There would be no doubt she would have her closure.
So slowly she led her to where they placed Seremar on the outskirts of the village. There he was laying on his back with his chest torn open beside several others. Ishiiha’s eyes grazed over the others finally setting on him. She stared, completely motionless.
Her father was complaining, shouting angrily at her mother. Telling her to get her back inside that this was too much for her, but Ishar’s protest kept him at bay. If he were younger he could have tossed her aside and drug Ishiiha back inside himself but because of his age he could barely walk and was forced to settle for pointing and arguing.
Ishiiha ignored it, to her the compliant and his orders were meaningless. This was more important that simple obedience. She needed to see him. She knew she did, and there he was. Seremar the man she would never know. The future she would never have, that alone made her feel sad. Ignoring the other bodies she stepped forward till she was between him and another Seirim boy from the village, one that had been slashed across the neck. Ingoing him, if only momentarily she squatted down on her hooves, there was no room for her knees. Her mother was protesting and didn’t want to so get so close, it was improper but she didn’t care. Seremar’s eyes were still open. To her it looked like he was staring at the sky, but she knew he wasn’t. There was no sight or life in them just blackness.
The sun was directly over head and the cruel beams were pouring straight into him. Perhaps even the dead could go blind, she thought so she brought her hand down and closed his lids. Now he’ll sleep. Now he’ll rest and go back to God where he and we all belong.
She stood up and noticing that many of the others victim’s eyes were still open went to them as well and closed all the eyes, saying to her mother once she was through, “Now they will sleep. Now they’ll rest and go back to God where we all belong.” Her parents and the other villagers, those that had survived simply stood by and watched. They were amazed.
Not long afterwards a caravan was spied coming down the road. ‘hey someone’s coming,” a youth, apparently too young to have been killed called out and pointed. The elder and Samal, craftsman and father of Seremar and Sekel rushed to the gate to look to where the youth was pointing, and there sure enough was a wagon driven by two large bulls accompanied by several demons on foot was coming down the road towards them. Right away the elder recognized them as Tannim.
Tannim were a race of Jackal demons, carnivores and natural predators of the Seirim that like the Seirim lived in scattered communities throughout the Djudian lands. The nearest dwelling being about four miles away down the south side of the road, in the driver’s seat was a Tannim the elder recognized. His name was Hansikel, a large built fellow that was known to be able to catch a bull out in the wilderness by lifting it up and carrying it home on his back, and to lift boulders three times his size with relative ease.
The demons on the road beside the wagon were also Tannim but not so heavily built carrying with them what appeared to be shovels. The elder narrowed his eyes at them, why they are here? He wondered, then realizing the land was littered with blood. Tannim like any other canine kind had a very good sense of smell, they better not be here because of the bodies! His thought ran in alarm as the wagon pulled up before the village and an elderly Tannim stepped out.
It was Lazar, Elder of the southern Tannim community. He was a stately demon about the same age as Jeremiah, which was the Seirim elder’s name, with a short and course grey mane and long pointed ears, the same color as his mane that drooped apparently from age. His form wasn’t that much larger than a Seirim’s except that his belly was slightly rounder. Seirim were known to believe that the reason Tannim had rounder bellies was because being predators they had it easier, and the Tannim would disagree. As soon as he stepped out Lazar locked eyes with Jeremiah, and then held up his hand, calling out, “Greetings… old friend.”
Jeremiah let out a sigh of relief, and began to fidget around the gate trying to open it. Attempting to respond but his words were jumbled. “Gree… ah… bother wit’et.” He spat, trying to force out a proper greeting, while managing his old finger to undo the lock. The other Tannim stayed back as the elder approached. Taking one look at the village, he raised both hands waving them back down as if slamming them through the air in a disapproving manner, “Ahh, I see you got hit to.” He said his voice harsh with disgust.
The elder Jeremiah shook his head, “Ey… ey,” he said and finally managed to open the gate, and stepping out to greet his friend. “Ey,” he said, “it came from the south… it came and tore right through,” holding his arm out towards the village gesturing miserably at the carnage, the bodies, “It did all this…. It killed them all. All our boys… All of em!” His head sunk down, and began to wobble, suddenly feeling weak in the knees. The Tannim elder put an arm out as a youth rushed over to help him. Samal also rushed over.
“Eh, now don’t you be fallin, if you can’t take it standing.” Said Lazar, as Samal and the youth stabilized him pulling him back against the fence. The Tannim elder stood back but kept talking, “yeah, I see… fates ran foul today. it’s been seen all over the land. You’re the fifth village today that we’ve come across since this morning. All the village up the road got it. And maybe even a few off the ways. Their saying the thing came from the north and began working his way through, hitting every village along the way.”
Ishar, spurred by what she was hearing came rushing up, but refrained from getting too close because she still had Ishiiha with her. “Were you hit to?” she asked feeling horrified, did he attack everyone? All the land?
Lazar just shook his head, “No, just you.” He pointed, “Only the Seirim. The beast flew right by our village, didn’t even give us a look in. It seems he was only after you.” Pointing at everyone standing and then at the dead bodies. “Not even the S’ym, or the Sa’ar were hit.”
“Why only our villages, why us?!” The elder protested.
“We don’t know, but our people saw the thing. They say they believe it was some kind of renegade stray from the depths, gangly looking fella but big and fierce.”
“We saw him the bastard came right in my house! He raped my daughters! He killed our sons!” the elder went on, tears coming into his eyes.
The Tannim saw this and lowered his head, “well I sorry to hear that. The same was had in the other villages as well. They say he killed all those that opposed him and raped all the young girls.”
“All of them?” Ishar yelped in unbridled horror.
Lazar nodded, “But just the young ones,” and he looked at Ishiiha, “he left the elder women alone, even the middle aged.”
“Why would someone do such a thing?” Ishar gasped throwing her hand over her mouth, her words choked back.
“Who knows… who knows… only the Hells would know that, “Lazar added, “Anyway we came because we thought you could use some help. We have men in the other villages helping with the bodies.”
“Did you come for that? You wouldn’t ask us for the bodies?” the elder asked, not thinking strait and feeing the need to accuse, to strike out.
Lazar was already prepared for this, “Do you think we would?” he responded, “No, that would be inappropriate. We Tannim are predators we are not scavengers and won’t take the kills left by someone else. That’s prejudice talk!” he defended, “Humans accuse us of that, but you… you know better! Carrion from murder, after they’ve been sinned on… That’s like taking on someone else’s filth. You know we do not do what you do with those goats.” Referring to the goats of Azazel and taking on the sins. “We came to offer assistance, for it’s the same in all the villages. There’s no one left to do the work. That beast left nothing. We can see that. So we came to help you.”
The elder apologized and opening the gate he welcome them in. For the remainder of that day the men from the Tannim village and even men from the Jyrim, which was the tribe of the wolves came and assisted the Seirim in gathering up and transporting the dead to the regional cemetery where they erected a pier for their cremation. Bodies were never buried, so to avoid any vandalism and desecration of the demon’s remains. There was very little that separated a demon’s body from it soul. Most elderly demons disintegrated at death because their soul could very well be what’s left of them. So it was customary to burn the bodies and conceal the ashes with sand and salt so they could not be stolen and put to any wicked or vile use.
Ishiiha remained at the village with her mother and the rest of the women. Several of the Tannim women came and stayed with them, Jyrim women were there to while the men all went to work setting up the piers and transporting the bodies. Ishar kept saying how grateful she was for their help, and spent nearly half the time trying to think of ways to repay them.
Before they left the elders discussed that they would set up the piers, but they weren’t going to light the flames until they knew what the Seirim in the other villages were doing. If they wanted to gather all the dead together in one place or burn them separately? Jeremiah said he wanted a mass funeral saying the entire community should be in one place for this, since it was a disaster that struck them all and the elder of another village they met up there agreed. So Lazar sent men out to pass the request along to the other elders and their survivors.
Soon cart loads of bodies arrived from villages all over the nation. To everyone’s astonishment it seemed that the damage was worse than they thought at least twenty villages across the entire nation were attacked. In the same manner, the men killed and the girls raped, and the victims were only. They say a single Tannim was found dead on the road and then another on the other side of the country who only seemed to have gotten in the way of the beast between strikes, but that was it. There were over a thousand dead and five hundred hurt.
Survivors would speak of the wounded, that many weren’t expected to survive. Overall body count had come to 1,223 dead with more coming in and those left to pass away. The death toll was expected to reach at least 1,500 out of a population of 13,000 nationwide. The greater difference belonging to the villages of the east that were fortunate enough to have been spared, it seemed the beast had quit attacking soon after the attack on Jeremiah’s village.
Men from among the Jyrim tribe claimed to have attempted to track the beast down to head him off as he fled the nation, but he slipped right through them, “The bastard leapt right into another dimension, vanished right in front of us he did, right back into the depths.”
“Yup, returned from where he came.”
With everything set up the funeral carried on. The piers were built and finished by evening and all the bodies were lain out in position. With a final prayer and word of lament the men lit the fires and the flames went up. Normally the women would participate in the funeral services but because so many had been victimized involving them was impossible. So the entire service fell on the men and the woman from the Tannim and Jyrim communities.
After the funeral things were quiet. All the Seirim could do was pray and mourn, and try to move on. This is the way it was for several weeks until the first of the news broke out. The word passed like wild fire, several of the young girls from the first villages that were attacked were discovered to be pregnant. Later that day several more from three other villages made the same claim, at least 26 girls were found to be pregnant with more being reported every hour or so.
Ishar was worried; all these girls were turning up pregnant. She looked at her daughters, at Ishiiha and at Lilia just wondering, was it monster’s purpose to spread his seed, to make more of his kind and he used our daughters to do it? Not all the girls became pregnant just most of them, so there was some ray of hope. Please not out daughters, not them! Not us!
She prayed, but knew better, as did Ishiiha, once she began to feel the symptoms she knew. There was something different about her, her body felt off and she was often ill. She never got dizzy when she stood up before or got the cold sweats out in the hot sun, nor did she ever feel the undying craving for food. Once she heard the news about the others she knew at once what was happening. She was pregnant, and so was Lilia, for she had complained of the same symptoms, Salla from next door to but not Yimura.
They spoke about it the day before by the well, naturally hiding it all from their parents until they were absolutely sure. Now Ishiiha was, and she was certain they would all be bearing children before the year was out, so not to put it off any longer decided to break the ice and tell her mother.
The elder marched out of the house on his frail legs, weakened even more by the recent misfortunes and began to holler in a raging fit at the sky, cursing at nothing because his beloved daughter was pregnant, and soon will bear the child of a beast.