Sarwat Chadda - Billi SanGreal 02 - Dark Goddess (25 page)

Ivan took her hand. "Follow me," said Olga. Billi and Ivan went next, and Svetlana brought Vasilisa a few paces behind. Billi looked over her shoulder to see Vasilisa moving stiffly, eyes gazing into the forest ahead. Her breath came out like steam, in short desperate gasps, clearly petrified of what lay ahead.

"Vasilisa... " Billi wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing she could do. She knew it, and so did Vasilisa.

The camp was large—about thirty or forty tents spread across a clearing within the heart of the forest. Lavish flags and totems hung from banners in front of most of the tent entrances. Others were customized with furs and beaded curtains, their exterior walls painted with shamanistic symbols that Billi didn't recognize.

Aman with long black hair and a heavily tattooed face stood in front of a tent that had stick figures being chased by giant wolves painted across the material, a sickle-edged moon hanging overhead. The man glanced at them, then turned his attention to a golden eagle watching from a high branch. Small silver bells tinkled from tassels around its leg. The man raised his left fist, bound in a thick leather glove, and gave a curt whistle.

The eagle dived straight down toward them. At the last instant its wings spread, bringing it to a dead stop, and it landed delicately on the man's fist. The bird flapped its huge wings, tip to tip, well over Billi's height, and she wasn't short. Its feathers rippled, their sheen moving from gold to orange to deep rich brown. Its head darted from side to side, and it screamed angrily, bothered perhaps at having to come down from its royal perch high in the stars. The man gently stroked the irate bird, humming soothingly.

Next to the tattooed man were a couple of blond Scandinavians, bearded bears of men, each wearing sleeveless undershirts. They tinkered with the engine of an old Land Rover.

"All werewolves?" Billi asked.

Olga shook her head. "No. These men are merely consorts. Our bite awakens only women," she answered with a hint of pride.

"Turns them into monsters, you mean?"

Olga smiled at her. Billi had thought she'd be angry, but the old woman seemed to find Billi's comment amusing.

"Tomorrow you will feel differently, I promise you."

They left the light of the campfires and entered the surrounding forest. The darkness didn't bother Billi. Even with the moon cloaked behind clouds she could see the black roots, the frost-coated rocks, the patterns on the bark. Large boulders, dropped here from some glacial retreat, bore ancient claw marks and faint traces of paintings—strange spiral patterns and images of beasts and witches.

Women were starting to gather around a huge rock. Old, young, something in between, they stalked through the trees, covered in paint, covered in tattoos, covered in beads and skins and power. They were of all nations and races. Fair Scandinavians and dark Africans. Black-haired Mongolians and browned-skinned women from the Indian subcontinent and the East. But they had abandoned their past lives when they'd become part of the Polenitsy, part of a more ancient, primeval identity. Their long locks blew wildly in the wind. One crouched above them on a branch, feathers and small bells hanging from her golden-brown hair.

The women came close, silently watching the small group's progression toward the rock. Billi felt giddy, drunk. She held tightly on to Ivan, shaking her head to stop the silent calling that rose from the women, the Polenitsy. It wasn't audible; she could only feel it in her deepest heart.

One of us.

Deep down inside her, the Beast Within snapped at its chains, the links weakening. The clothes on her back were pulling her down. She wanted to tear them all off and go running and hunting and feasting with her sisters.

One of us.

Sisters? Billi stopped herself. No. She wasn't anything like them. They were monsters. The Beast Within was trying to trick her.

They parted as they came within a few feet of the house-sized black rock. Frost-covered moss and ivy shimmered on its surface. Billi spotted faded patterns and worn-out engravings under the ivy, but they were too weathered to make out. The Polenitsy retreated into the forest, but Billi knew they weren't far. She could join them whenever she wanted.

"Below," ordered Olga.

At the base of the rock was an opening, a hole leading into the earth. It was almost invisible under the deep shadow of the boulder. Olga led the way, followed by Vasilisa. Svetlana pushed Billi, who spun and shoved the red-haired girl back.

Svetlana crouched, her loose hair framing her face. She had deep red lips and was as tall as Billi, but more muscular. However, her powerful physique only made her more feminine, not less. Her features were strong and dominated by her green eyes, set above high, hard cheekbones.

Billi gritted her teeth and hissed. She wanted nothing more than to rip that mocking smile off Svetlana's face. Ivan grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

"We'll pick our moment," he said. Svetlana snorted with derision. But Ivan didn't let go until Billi had acknowledged him. Then he released her as she turned back toward the hole and slid down.

The passageway was too low to stand in, and the rocks it was made of were uneven and undulating, probably shaped by an ancient underground stream. The narrow channel was lit by candles that sat in small, chiseled-out alcoves. Above them was a gallery of artwork from pre-history. There were massive bulls with huge arched horns, and charcoal-outlined mammoths strolling across the ancient stone. Small, potbellied horses galloped over the rock, full of vivid detail and motion.

The animals were lavishly colored with rich shades of ocher—reds and yellows. The outlines followed the shape of the walls so they seemed almost ready to break out of the rock and take living form. Matchstick hunters darted back and forth, throwing their puny spears and darts. The animals had been drawn and painted with great love and beauty, but the humans were featureless and pathetic.

Feet scuffled overhead, and Billi realized that the passage had opened up. More Polenitsy moved along natural ledges higher up on the walls, watching Billi and her party. All women, despite the men in the camp. They were marked by symbols, bones, and decorations that were prehistoric and simply beautiful.

Polished stones hung off twine necklaces, and small carved animals dangled from their braided locks.

"Babushka," called Olga. She raised her hand, and all movement ceased.

Water chimed ahead, echoing in the large space.

Billi caught her breath. The air trembled as though the Earth itself were sighing. Ivan came next to her. His face was open with wonder as he gazed at the ancient artwork surrounding them. He touched the head of one of the bulls, tracing the curve of its horn with his fingertips.

Olga entered, and they followed. Billi gasped at the size of the innermost chamber. The entire Temple Church could have fit in here without touching the top or sides. The roof formed a high dome, and around the widest part ran a deep ledge decorated by huge crystalline formations that glowed deep ocher. Thirty-foot-long stalactites dripped water into sparkling pools.

Olga led them down the ledge to the largest pool, and they stopped at its edge. Thick columns of the same glowing crystal formed a forest of stone where the Polenitsy lurked. The walls were decorated with paintings and carvings of flying reptiles, man-beasts, huge monsters with wings and claws and humans with the heads of animals. The walls were marked with grooves where the wolves had sharpened their claws.

"Babushka," repeated Olga.

Something moved through the crystal labyrinth.
Clack clack clack
went a staff of bone. Bare feet with leathery soles shuffled along the stone. The Polenitsy hissed and went to their knees.

Red shoved Ivan down onto his knees, and he stifled a cry. Billi knelt unbidden; it just seemed right. She was in the presence of the goddess. Only Vasilisa and Olga remained standing.

Invisible waves of energy rippled across the vast chamber, and each one shook Billi to the core. She put her hands into the water, but fought to keep her head up. The weight of the goddess's presence was overwhelming.

This was why man feared the dark. From the earliest times he'd known that something wild lurked just outside the flickering flames of his cave, with the beasts and the monsters. The Dark Goddess.

She shuffled into the faint candlelight, and the shadows deepened around her. She walked hunchbacked, but even so was thirteen feet tall. Rags covered her skeletal frame—animal skins and ancient furs. Insects scuttled in her floor-length white hair, which formed a veil over her face. Only the eyes peered out. Black, shiny, ancient. Her nails— long, curved daggers—clicked against her bone staff.

"
Come
, MY little OnE."

Vasilisa hesitated and glanced back at Billi. But Billi couldn't help her. Vasilisa crossed the pool to take the withered hand of the ancient witch.

Baba Yaga drew Vasilisa into her arms and laughed. It sounded like the crackling of dry sticks on a fire, or of river water battering against rocks and cliffs. It rose, and now it was a bonfire, piled high and blazing.

BILLI ENTWINED HER FINGERS WITH IVAN'S, HOLDING tightly to stop herself from shaking. Baba Yaga shuffled through the pool and peered at them.

"WhO Are
you
, DAughterrr?" she asked. There were ten thousand voices on her tongue. With Billi's acute hearing she could differentiate some. Men, women, children. Some were nearly articulate, while others screamed incoherently. All Baba Yaga's victims. No wonder Vasilisa was terrified, standing in the clutches of the witch.

"Billi." Her own voice cracked with fear. She cleared her throat and tried again, pushing some courage into her lungs. It wasn't easy. "Billi SanGreal."

"A wolf-killer," added Svetlana.

Baba Yaga's breath rolled like an icy wind over Billi's face. Her talonlike nails
click click clicked
, and Billi was painfully aware of how any one of them could rip clean through her chest and out the other side. Ivan rose and took a step forward. His face was a mask of fear, but he stared at the Dark Goddess, determined and defiant.

"She did it to save me," he said.

Baba Yaga's attention snapped toward him, and she stroked his throat with her cold nails.

Red spoke. "They are to be punished, Great Mother. They killed Silver Paws, an elder." She glanced back at Billi, smiling. "Give me the honor, I beg you."

"Babushka, she is my friend," said Vasilisa, her small voice ringing through the cave. She looked up desperately at the old witch.

"We're here for the girl," said Ivan. "Let us take her, and there will be no more trouble. It will be better for you."

Billi looked at Ivan, shocked.
What the hell was he talking about
?

"There are hundreds of Bogatyrs on their way," said Ivan. "And Templars. With swords, axes, and guns. You will be destroyed."

It was one hell of a bluff, but Billi remembered the mural Koshchey had shown her back at the Ministry, and his tales about how the Bogatyrs of old had fought Baba Yaga before and driven her into the forests. If there was any fear in that black heart, maybe the memory of the Bogatyrs would reach it.

But if the old woman felt any trepidation, she did not show it. She swayed, her white hair trailing back and forth, and the twigs and bones knotted into the strands rattled and clattered together. She idly tapped her staff as she held Vasilisa.

"
Man
iZz a DEStroyer." She tugged a small bone in her wiry hair, a curiously childish action. "BuT so Izz Nature." Baba Yaga looked at Billi, and there was a gentleness, a pity in her stony eyes. "I gave BirtH to Maan, I DELivereD hIM to the World, OUT of his Fear and OUT of the D
AR
Knez." She glanced at Ivan. "Hlzz time iz OVER, Billi SANgreal. It is the way of THINGZZ."

"You can't just wipe out mankind," said Ivan. "It's not for you to decide the fate of an entire species."

"Is that not what you do? How many species, races, too, have become extinct because of you?" snapped Olga. "Mankind is a plague. Look at you. You rape and pillage, you suck the Earth dry and kill all your kindred. What species has prospered under man's dominion? Not one. This Earth is not
yours
. Its bounty was to be shared by all, not devoured by one species who claimed it as their god-given right." She spat at his feet. "Dominion over land and sea. You sought to enslave nature. You have poisoned the very air you breathe."

"So your answer is annihilation?" said Billi.

"Nature always wins," said Olga. "With the blight of man gone, nature will reassert itself. The Earth will be reborn. It always has and always will."

"The Law, Great Mother. What of the Law?" Red stepped closer to Baba Yaga. She pointed again to Billi and Ivan, more desperately this time. "She is a wolf-killer, and the Law demands her life."

"The
Law
, YEzzz." Baba Yaga pointed at Billi. "She IZZ Like yoU, SvetLANA. No
Wonder yOU
Hate hem" She looked Billi up and down, with no more interest than she'd look at a strange insect—curious for a moment. "YeZZ, Kill ZembOtH."

Billi gasped. She backed away, knowing it was useless. Ivan scraped up his crutch. Heart banging away, Billi turned slowly, her fists ready. The Polenitsy blocked the only exit.

"Great Mother, I ask a boon!" Olga's plea stopped the Polenitsy in their tracks.

The old witch raised her head, the noise of her teeth grinding echoed within the limestone chamber and it made the hairs rise up on the back of Billi's neck.

Olga lowered her gaze respectfully. "She has been blessed by the bite of Silver Paws. The change is upon her. She will be one of the Polenitsy by tomorrow."

Baba Yaga pointed her claw at Ivan. "AnD ze Man-ChilD, wHatt of him?"

"He is Tsarevich Ivan Alexeivich Romanov."

"RoMannoFF?"

Ivan gulped as the witch stepped up to him, so close they were almost nose to nose. Her throat rattled with a laugh.

"WEIcomme, romaNOFF." The old crone's eyes sparkled with amusement. "The blood of MaNy princeZZ and kingzz run in the veinZZ of the PoLenitsee. He wOULD make a FINE
consort
, do you not tHiNk, SVetlana?"