battle didn’t go too well for Szaran. At first they conquered the followers of the Gods. They decapitated all of their prisoners and impaled their heads on spikes. The legend has it that the ground ran red with their blood. But then the whole pantheon of the Gods brought their soldiers to the field. Chief among them was Utu, the Sun God, Inanna’s brother. Utu thought his sister was in danger and, according to legend, his rage was terrible. A mighty battle ensued, and when Szaran finally admitted defeat, after a battle that lasted seven years, Utu used his power over the sun to incinerate all Szaran’s followers. Szaran was cursed to forever hide from the sun and to only take sustenance from blood, be it human or animal. "
"Why the blood bit in the curse?” Smith asked.
"The battle raged for seven years, and in those seven years, a lot of people died. So you see, al l that blood for Szaran’s greed — ”
Smith broke in. "But it was Lilith’s greed that started it, not Szaran’s.”
"The God’s didn’t recognise Lilith as a cause of the war. Lilith was a demon, so it was in her nature to create havoc. Szaran, on the other hand, was a king and he should have resisted Lilith and carried on paying homage to the Gods. That’s why they only saw Szaran’s greed as the cause of the bloodshed and why he was cursed to roam the earth as a vampire, so he would then understand how precious the life blood is. Lilith was banished but otherwise untouched . ”
"A vampire?” Smith pondered . "That can’t be right, though."
"Why not?”
"Downstairs, in one of the rooms, I saw a picture of the battle you just described to me." Smith waited until Michael nodded for him to go on. "The picture showed almost everything that you described. The heads on poles, the land awash with blood and a figure turning his face to hide from the sun’s rays.”
"A nd?" Michael was casual but puzzled.
"On the knights' armour there was a symbol. It’s the same symbol used by the French underground, the Cross of Lorraine. It’s also the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church. If he was a vampire, how could he be a Christian too? It doesn’t add up." Smith spread his hands to show he didn’t mean to be pedantic but it was a valid point.
"How very astute but I have to disappoint you on this. Although it is very much like the symbol used by the Orthodox Christians, it’s not the same. This symbol was also used in Sumeria where it had the title of 'Kad,' a word that meant both king and lord. The soldiers who fought for Szaran painted it on their shields and armour to show that they were fighting for a king, for a mortal and not for the Gods. So you see, it doesn’t mean that Szaran was a Christian. He couldn’t have been, anyway. This all happened thousands of years before people started to believe in the Christian God as we know him. The tablet where I read this was carved about two thousand BC. It was found in the remains of the ruined city of Ur by a knight called Henri of Lyon. He brought it back to the library of our Order and there it has stayed ever since. As I mentioned earlier, we have access to records that no other institution in the world has or ever will have.”
"So you’re saying that my family and its entire heritage are based on legends of vampires, Sumerian vampires to be precise.” He was brisk, challenging.
Michael silently nodded.
"It’s quite a lot to accept, you know that my family were and are all vampires.”
"Th ere’s more . ' The Book of Blood,’ ” breathed Michael.
"Of course, the bloody Book.”
"Lilith and Szaran were banished, but with them went the followers who had survived Utu’s massacre. They were not many but steadily their number grew. They were people who felt that it was up to mankind to decide its own destiny and not the Gods, people who were in awe of Szaran because he had tamed a demon , and those who were in awe of Lilith because she had fooled a king. For whatever reason, they
"Why the blood bit in the curse?” Smith asked.
"The battle raged for seven years, and in those seven years, a lot of people died. So you see, al l that blood for Szaran’s greed — ”
Smith broke in. "But it was Lilith’s greed that started it, not Szaran’s.”
"The God’s didn’t recognise Lilith as a cause of the war. Lilith was a demon, so it was in her nature to create havoc. Szaran, on the other hand, was a king and he should have resisted Lilith and carried on paying homage to the Gods. That’s why they only saw Szaran’s greed as the cause of the bloodshed and why he was cursed to roam the earth as a vampire, so he would then understand how precious the life blood is. Lilith was banished but otherwise untouched . ”
"A vampire?” Smith pondered . "That can’t be right, though."
"Why not?”
"Downstairs, in one of the rooms, I saw a picture of the battle you just described to me." Smith waited until Michael nodded for him to go on. "The picture showed almost everything that you described. The heads on poles, the land awash with blood and a figure turning his face to hide from the sun’s rays.”
"A nd?" Michael was casual but puzzled.
"On the knights' armour there was a symbol. It’s the same symbol used by the French underground, the Cross of Lorraine. It’s also the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church. If he was a vampire, how could he be a Christian too? It doesn’t add up." Smith spread his hands to show he didn’t mean to be pedantic but it was a valid point.
"How very astute but I have to disappoint you on this. Although it is very much like the symbol used by the Orthodox Christians, it’s not the same. This symbol was also used in Sumeria where it had the title of 'Kad,' a word that meant both king and lord. The soldiers who fought for Szaran painted it on their shields and armour to show that they were fighting for a king, for a mortal and not for the Gods. So you see, it doesn’t mean that Szaran was a Christian. He couldn’t have been, anyway. This all happened thousands of years before people started to believe in the Christian God as we know him. The tablet where I read this was carved about two thousand BC. It was found in the remains of the ruined city of Ur by a knight called Henri of Lyon. He brought it back to the library of our Order and there it has stayed ever since. As I mentioned earlier, we have access to records that no other institution in the world has or ever will have.”
"So you’re saying that my family and its entire heritage are based on legends of vampires, Sumerian vampires to be precise.” He was brisk, challenging.
Michael silently nodded.
"It’s quite a lot to accept, you know that my family were and are all vampires.”
"Th ere’s more . ' The Book of Blood,’ ” breathed Michael.
"Of course, the bloody Book.”
"Lilith and Szaran were banished, but with them went the followers who had survived Utu’s massacre. They were not many but steadily their number grew. They were people who felt that it was up to mankind to decide its own destiny and not the Gods, people who were in awe of Szaran because he had tamed a demon , and those who were in awe of Lilith because she had fooled a king. For whatever reason, they
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