Let It Slip

Part XVII

Zelda snapped her fingers and The Book of Enoch rose in the air before her, flicking her index finger, the pages turned and her eyes scanned the ancient Hebrew before her quickly, digesting the words in horror. Discarding the text with a flick of her wrist, Zelda hurriedly lifted Bardo Thodol and did the same, her expression becoming more solemn with every page. Scanning the Book of the Dead, Zelda's mouth opened as goosebumps spread along her arms and she looked over its pages to see Lilith studying the Shams al-Ma'arif.

Lilith felt Zelda staring and she looked back; both witches opened their mouths and uttered the same word in unison, "Upir."

As that word left their lips, the books fell to the ground with a heavy thud and Lilith summoned a ball of fire to take them back to her chambers where she immediately started to pace back and forth. Zelda stared at the pile of books that had accompanied them, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Lilith pace.

"I....I don't understand. What does all of this have to do with Sabrina?" The question was more rhetorical than not but Zelda watched Lilith pause and turn to her, running her hand through her dark mane.

"Baron Samedi said that Sabrina was neither Living nor Dead...that she is somewhere In Between; according to the Bardo Thodol, Sabrina is in antarābhava, an existence in between, and this text may have some ideas of how to reach her. The Book of Enoch and the Book of the Dead suggest that because Sabrina has not been able to cross over to Death, she has evolved to become somewhat like an Upir, or that she would be welcomed to join them in their quest to immanentize the eschaton - bring about the End of the World." Knowing how this information would feel to Zelda, Lilith grimaced, holding Zelda's gaze.

A scholar with multiple centuries under her belt, Zelda Spellman was familiar with the texts and understood the logic behind Lilith's conclusions but the information was no easier to swallow when it included her niece. Getting to her feet, Zelda took over the pacing and joined the thought process, "And the Shams al-Ma'arif may be able to tell us how to stop it."

"Precisely." Lilith nodded.

"But why the Upir? They haven't surfaced for centuries. The Crusades sent them into hiding and I haven't heard anything about them ever since. These texts suggest they've been building an army." Zelda stopped in her tracks and spun around, pointing an accusatory finger at Lilith, "Mother of Demons!"

Lilith raised her hands and slowly walked to meet Zelda, "Yes, the First Upir were my creation Zelda, but they've been breeding ever since. It's unlikely I have any control over them at this point." Lilith offered her hands, palms up to her lover.

Hesitating before she took the offered palms, Zelda sighed and squeezed them tightly; "Damnit Lilith, Vampires are the one creature we struggle to defeat! An entire army could very well bring about the end of the world. This is not what I had in mind when you said you might be able to find Sabrina but now it appears we have a much more important reason to find Sabrina."

"As the Dark Lord's sword, even without Lucifer, Sabrina is powerful. Assuming the In Between has not stripped her of her powers, it could be that Sabrina is the key to stopping the Upir - if they are, in fact, the Bringers of the Apocalypse." Lilith leaned forward and pressed her forehead to Zelda's tenderly, "I wanted more time with you before more chaos threatened to ruin everything we didn't even know we could have."

Zelda closed her eyes and reached up to press her hand to Lilith's heart, "Take heart, Lily. We have the Queen of Hell, an extremely powerful High Priestess, and possibly Satan's sword on our side. Perhaps we could also have the Group of Fifty...or more...witches as well. There must be a reason for them to continue to live despite your desire to kill them all."