Chapter 7

With a sigh of relief Celeste watched Jose return to his parked car and after a few minutes of nothing, drive off. She smoothed her silky straight jet black hair into a loose pony tail and leaned back in the drivers’ seat of her 2013 Mercedes Benz. She had been tracking Ixtab for centuries but that she-demon was as elusive as they come. In many ways she felt like a failure; however as it had already been explained to her the night her people had “vanished” into thin air, hunting gods was something that was completely out of her range. Yes she had the skills to fight them off, for she had battled many of them, however it always felt like a form of defeat because it would always end in a draw. She did not possess the sword of Oblivion, nor did she have the strength and the know-how to match. She always felt helpless when a human fell under the enchantment of one of those entities because the only sure way to severe the influence was to kill them, and that she simply could not do. She had felt Ixtab’s dark energy surrounding the Golden Gate Bridge since its construction in the 1930’s. She and Naomi were already out of the vehicle, weapons ready to engage in battle with Ixtab to save the young man’s life when Kitara burst through the sky like a falling star. Neither she nor the rest of the Destroyers had been able to locate Kitara in over 500 years after the Incan god Supai trapped her in one of the many volcanoes near the Andes River where children were sacrificed in his honor. Unfortunately, it was all a ruse to incapacitate the slayer. There were too many children for her to rescue all at once and by the time Celeste, a newly transitioned Destroyer and Syrene made it to render assistance, Supai, caused the volcano to erupt, killing all 100 children instantly and entombing the Destroyer at the same time. For many years, Celeste, Syrene, Naomi, and Sage tried every possible way of freeing Kitara, but to no avail. They knew she was alive, however based on the telepathic messages she would send to them, Celeste knew that Kitara could have easily freed herself, but the tremendous amount of grief and guilt at her failure to rescue those children consumed her. After a century, she stopped communicating altogether with the other Destroyers. Celeste and Sage had gone to that very volcano hundreds of times in hopes of convincing her that the world still needed her and the only answer they would receive was silence. The last time Celeste went to the volcano was 50 years ago and that’s when she realized that the volcanic peak was under excavation. She remained hidden in the shadows, waiting to come to Kitara’s defense when needed, and after a few hours it had dawned on her that Kitara was not there. The archaelogists and excavators were all busy with their work and had managed to dig deep into the caverns only to find the mummified remains of the children used for sacrifice. Sage had suggested that Kitara may have sought refuge in the Atlantean pyramid that was located at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle. None of the other Destroyers had been to the Pyramid. Ever. They all knew of its history and their connections to it, but from what Syrene had said, only Kitara could enter.

Fast forward to the scene on the bridge with Ixtab luring the poor human to his death, Celeste nor Naomi were ready for what had happened next. Kitara came bursting through the sky and put Ixtab out of her misery for good. The human was left in one piece and now Celeste and Naomi sat in wait for the others to arrive. Once they sent out a mental SOS to Syrene and Sage, informing them that Kitara was back, it was evident that everyone was relieved, and ready for battle. So much had transpired in Kitara’s absence, and even though they all battled the evil forces of the supernatural to the best of their abilities, they needed Kitara as much as the world did. Isis had risen over thirty years ago and was back to her old tricks. She had now taken position as a super star recording artist and used the magic of music to influence and gain worshippers. Since the fall of the ancient empires such as Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mayan, Aztec, and the like, the gods were no longer seated on thrones of worship. Thanks to Kitara when the gods fell, so did their civilizations and without prayers and sacrifices, they grew weak. Isis managed to find another platform of worship-and that was through entertainment. Celebrity worship has become ridiculous, on top of secret occults built on amassing power for global domination; the axis of evil had opened the gates of hell and demonic influences from the basic levels of demon had increased dramatically. The gods were returning to the forefront, hoping to rule over the humans as they did in the days of old. Isis had a clear cut plan to raise Osiris which was evident in the young male rapper/consort she was now seducing. Lilith was back which meant in time there would be an increase in demon populations and half breeds like during the time of the Nephilim. The human population was in trouble.

As Celeste reclined in the driver’s seat, her thoughts refocused on that young man. She felt the spirits of death surrounding him; taunting his spirit by assuming the form of his dead mother and pushing him to take hold of the noose that hung from the sky and hang himself. She witnessed this moment hundreds of times and most of those times she had been successful in defeating those fiendish spirits and preventing the person from taking that long walk over the short edge, but today she knew that if Kitara had not appeared when she did, Jose would have not made it. Ixtab was more than a spirit; and for a person such as her, who possessed the gifts of a true Spirit Walker, to go against a god was like taking a knife to a gun fight.

What she found most interesting was Ixtab attacking the boy herself. Usually it would be her minion who would do the job, but from what she gathered, Ixtab had been after him for years. Celeste needed to know more. And just why after all of these centuries would Kitara all of a sudden awaken and come out of hiding? Celeste was almost certain when Isis was foolishly released from her cryptic prison by that archaeologist 31 years ago, that energy alone would have drawn Kitara out. Yet it did not.

Naomi sat next to Celeste in passenger’s side quietly surveying the scene. Traffic was light, despite the day’s events of a couple of car collisions, and a thwarted suicide attempt. It was always intriguing to watch humanity go on and move forward with their day to day living without as much as a thought toward to inevitable cycle of life and death. To be a part of the mindless masses again was something Naomi did not want to think about. She quickly glanced at Celeste who too was lost in her thoughts. She had reclined her seat and laid back with her slanted eyes closed.  Naomi pushed a stray strand of her thick mane of curly black hair from her cocoa brown face and sighed. The others should be here shortly, being that none of them used the “traditional” methods of travel, particularly during a crisis.

Out of all of the Destroyers, Naomi was the most restless. Celeste chalked it up to it being that vampires were no longer being mass produced, Naomi was essentially “out of work”. She would assist the other Destroyers in their missions of demon hunting but there was nothing like going up against a vampire. Back in the days of old when vampires damn near eliminated the human race, and when witches were trying to take the place of the gods in the supernatural hierarchy of evil, Naomi, Syrene and Sage had been a trinity to be reckoned with. There wasn’t a night when Naomi’s glorious sword of Babylon hadn’t been in use. Kitara would make appearances from time to time whenever their paths would cross, but just before the days of the last Egyptian Pharoah and when the Celtic winds no longer blew to the call of the North, vampires and witches had been a plague. Nowadays, vampires were so sporadic and on the rare occasion Naomi came across one, they were so weak it wasn’t worth breaking a sweat. Centuries ago when witches were at their strongest, vampires were hard to kill. And Naomi loved a challenge.

She adjusted her lava colored tank top and unhooked her seatbelt. The advances in transportation technology had been slow according to Naomi. But, when someone is blessed with the ability to manipulate the shadows and move through dimensions like it’s a simple stroll in the park, operating an automobile was similar to riding a camel. “What is the hold up?” Naomi grumbled. “Perhaps they had to engage in battle?” Celeste reasoned. And that was the end of the conversation for the next few minutes. Silence seemed like a much better companion to both of them. Sage was the first to appear from a foldaway of nothingness right there in front of the car. Naomi cursed. “I keep telling her not to do shit like that where people can see her.” Celeste sighed. “Discretion is not exactly her specialty.” Sage, totally oblivious to Naomi’s stare of disapproval rounded the car, tossing her flaming red hair carelessly over her shoulder and opened the door, taking a seat behind Naomi. “Ahh ladies it has been too long,” she said, her Celtic accent thick and cheerful. Her emerald green eyes bright with excitement. “It is good to see you too Sage,” Celeste turned to face her and smiled. “Yes Sage. It is always a pleasure.” Naomi said flatly.  “Ay, isn’t it exciting that Kitara has returned?” Sage asked. Celeste and Naomi simply nodded. Sage continued to fill the car with mindless chatter about her travels and her enthusiasm for a new male suitor that she rescued from the clutches of a large coven of witches that taken root in Louisiana. Naomi cringed at the story even though none of them were ever told that they could not fall in love, but being that they were pretty close to being immortal it made no sense to even attempt to cultivate any type of meaningful romantic relationship. Falling in love wasn’t a part of the Divine Plan; at least that was how Naomi felt.

It was another thirty or so minutes before Syrene was spotted approaching the car. She wore her thick straight midnight hair high above her head in a huge bun, with black Chanel sunglasses covering her sandy brown eyes. She was covered in a trench coat and thigh high boots giving the image of conspicuously inconspicuous. Syrene was a vision and regardless of where she went and what she had on, people stared. Naomi had overheard people tell her a countless amount of times that she resembled the actress Zoe Saldana with her light brown smooth as silk skin tone and delicate features and petite body. Syrene never paid the compliments any mind and would rather spend time slicing demon guts than looking at herself in the mirror.  She slid into the car and removed her glasses. “Sorry it took so long ladies. I was in the middle of tracking Kitara’s energy signature when I got the mental SOS. She has been around for a while but for some reason she had been eluding us.” Sage stopped smiling. “But why? We need her.”

Naomi simply closed her eyes and sighed. The revelation somehow wasn’t so shocking, even though it still felt like a knife to the chest. They were all Destroyers; a select group of female warriors with the purpose of restoring the world back to its original balance of light, which in a sense made them into a sisterhood. They had all fought together at some point. They had all cried together, ate together, argued, and all had suffered tremendous loss. They all sat in silence, allowing the information to sink in and wash through them and after what seemed like an eternity Celeste spoke. “Syrene, when did you realize that Kitara was avoiding us?” All eyes turned to face Syrene who maintained nonchalant and slightly disengaged from the situation. “I think we all know that Kitara can take care of herself. When Supai trapped her in the volcano with all of those children, I think he knew she would survive and those children would not. I think he knew that even though physically he couldn’t damage her, but knowing that she could not rescue all of those children would damage her psyche…and he was right.” “But that still doesn’t make sense,” Sage said angrily. “Kitara disappeared for 500 years! No sign of her anywhere. I think we all searched every nook and cranny of this cursed planet and we couldn’t sense her.” “That doesn’t mean that she wasn’t around. She simply didn’t want to be found,” Naomi breathed. “Well clearly she wants to be found now being that she came out of hiding and rescued that boy on the bridge,” Celeste added. “How long have you been tracking her Syrene?” “I picked up on her trail maybe a year or so after Isis awakened. I was over in Vatican City tracking this demon who had plans on infiltrating the Pope when I felt her pulse. She was near. I stopped going after the demon and followed her pulse to the Island of Patmos where she disappeared again.” “And why didn’t you tell us about it?” Naomi frowned. “Because at the time both you and Sage were possessed with going after Isis and because I think she didn’t want to be forced to face any of us…” Syrene argued. “And how long have you been tracking her?” Celeste said. “Off and on for the last 30 or so years.” It was clear that emotions were on high in the car. Celeste said nothing more and turned to face the window. Naomi was so angry she could spit flames and Sage couldn’t do anything other than allow tears to stream down her lovely face. Syrene sat back in her usual cool and aloof demeanor. “To hold something that serious back from us Syrene does not sit too well with me and I don’t care what you say,” Naomi growled. “You knew all this time that Kitara was out and about and you said nothing-“ “I was just respecting Kitara’s space,” Syrene replied cool as ever. “I could have sworn there was an unspoken agreement that whenever any of us become privy to information such as that that we inform one another. I always knew you were the secretive type but never to the point where I cannot trust you. I will not speak for everyone else but I have the feeling that there is much more to the story than what you are telling and if I discover that there is any deception on your part in regards to Kitara or any one of us Syrene I will figure out a way to-“ “Lets not go there Naomi,” Celeste interrupted. “We all are a little on the edge right now. There is so much going and so much we need to discuss and figure out and we do not need you two drawing your blades on each other. That is what the Unnamed One wants, to divide and conquer. Now lets squash this spirit of dissention and move forward so we can find Kitara and do what we do best. And Syrene I think all of us are a little upset with you but I’m leaving it at that. So for now let’s agree to not fight until this mess could be sorted out. Comprende`?” Syrene simply rolled her eyes and put her sunglasses back on and laid back against the cool leather seating. Naomi said nothing else. Sage shook her head and turned to look idly out of the window. Celeste slid the key into the ignition and started the car. “Now, I think we need to find that boy. I don’t know why but I feel a strange connection to him and I need to figure out how.” “Maybe it’s love,” Sage chuckled. “Or lust,” Syrene added. Celeste smiled. “No ladies, it is neither. The good news is that we know Kitara is back which means Isis will be on high alert and what is the name of that rapper she is consorting with? I saw their picture on the cover of Time Magazine.” “That is Young Ra also know and Trenton Miller and he has been dabbling in all types of dark arts for years and has now captured the attention of our beloved Isis. He has death demons completely surrounding him.” Syrene said. “But we know you can handle that part right?” Celeste grinned. “Hell yeah! Havent had a good fight with a death demon in years, elusive sons of bitches they are. Strong as shit too, but nothing I cannot handle.”  “And Sage,” Celeste cooed. “Yes my beloved Spirit Walker,” Sage chirped. “You know that Isis was once known as the goddess of magic so you know covens are brewing and vying for her special attention.” “Ay milady yes, and I was meaning to tell you that our dearest Lilith was in the mix too, posing as a maid servant for the high priestess. I saw her on tv last night on some red carpet event on E! and she interviewed with my dream man Ryan Seacrest talking about some clothing line she was working with Young Ra on.” She is drawing the other gods out back into the forefront,” Celeste added. “Something big is coming and people are speculating that a lot of the high powered celebrities and politicians are all involved with a secret group called the Illuminati. But what trips me out the Illuminati is just the center of all this, there are dozens of other secret groups out there dedicated to satanic and pagan worship with the goal of forming the New World Order. Isis is at the center of it all. Naomi, you and Kitara come from very similar kingdoms from the days of old. Do you have anything you would like to add?” Naomi had silently retreated into her thoughts. For some reason, she still didn’t trust Syrene, and truthfully never really had. Celeste was right about everything but there was something that she should know. “We all know I come the days of Cleopatra, that wicked queen she was. And you are right about everything, but you forgot to add one thing. If you are familiar with Egyptian myths and legends, Isis raised Osiris once after Seth had killed him and cut his body into several pieces and scattered them across the four corners of the earth. Well, Kitara killed him but she didn’t use the Sword of Oblivion; she had used my Blade of Babylon which is a final death for vampires; and gets the job done on most demons but for deities such as Osiris, well there is a loophole. Isis thinks that Kitara killed him with her sword, but in the moment she had no other choice but to use mine.” Celeste took the key out of the ignition. All of the women sat in the car in slack jawed silence. “What?!” Syrene exclaimed. “Kitara killed Osiris with my blade and not the Sword of Oblivion which means there is a chance that Isis could bring him back. The only issue is Isis may not know and the only one outside me and Kitara who does is the last one any of us would want privy to that information…” “And just who may that be?” Sage asked. “Lilith.” The silence that followed was similar to that after a bomb has been dropped. “Well bend me over and spank me harder,” Sage drawled. “Sage you need to stop whatever it is that you are doing,” Celeste said slightly amused. “So I guess I am not the only one with secrets huh?” Syrene said with a slight smirk. “Whatever,” Naomi said rolling her eyes. “So what does that mean?” Syrene asked in all seriousness. “It means Lilith is up to something and Ixtab knew more than what we originally assumed being that she attacked the boy personally…it means that in order for a demonic resurrection there must be a sacrifice and that boy may be the key to everything.” Celeste said wearily. “So what do we do?” came Sage’s voice. “We find that boy first and in the meantime try to make a direct contact with Kitara, let her know what we know and take it from there.” Celeste restarted the car and pulled back out into traffic. Celeste made a silent prayer to the Almighty that they find Jose before any of the other gods did.