Page 34 of Inception

“No, Jemma, this is not a fairy-tale type story,” he said, frowning now. “Dacia was an ancient Kingdom that existed thousands of years ago. Today, that region is mostly known as Romania, all of which you can find in abook,” he explained, exaggerating the word.

It sounded like a dig.

“The Kingdom, like most regions at that time was under constant attack by the Roman Empire. For a while, they had managed to stave off defeat, but with Dacia’s diminished numbers and dwindling resources, they knew it would only be a matter of time before they would be conquered. Unwilling to surrender, King Decebalus ultimately took matters into his own hands, forever altering the course of humanity.”

He paused and looked out the window, collecting his bearings. “What do you know of Nephilim?”

I shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

“Not him,them,” he corrected. “The Nephilim were said to be the offspring of humans and fallen Angels. Angels who rebelled against God and whose unsanctioned union with humans resulted in the creation of new bloodlines; beings that were neither Angel, nor human, but rather something in the middle.”

“What do you mean something in the middle? Like a hybrid?”

“That’s one way to look at it,” he nodded. “Descendants who still carry that Nephilim blood today are known asAnakim—a rare people born with the strength of Angels and the Spirit of man. Earthly beings with otherworldly powers, if you will.”

“O-kaaay,” I said slowly, not quite sure how this fit in.

“It was one such bloodline—a faction of Anakim known for their magical delving and sordid affairs with the thralls of power—that were summoned by the King to come to Dacia’s aid using their ethereal magic. TheCasters, as they’re better known today, knew full well that Dacia’s greatest challenge was their army’s lack of strength and numbers, and so they set out to create a spell that would essentially wake the dead, bringing them back to life stronger, faster, and more powerful than they ever could have been before, thus eradicating both pivotal problems in one impetuous move.”

My eyes widened in horror as I knew where this was going.

“And sadly, it worked. The spell was cast, and the dead rose from the ground in droves. Only they didn’t come backright. The newly reanimated were strong, yes, much stronger than their human counterparts, and they were virtually indestructible, but they had no interest in fighting a war, or heeding instructions, or doing any of the things they were brought back to do.”

His eyes darkened into an eerie shade of smoke. “The only thing they wanted to do was feed, and the only thing that could satiate their appetites and sustain them, was blood.”

“Holy crap. It’s actually true.”

“Language, Jemma.”

“Sorry,” I apologized, though I hardly thought a little curse word even remotely mattered at the base of what he had just recounted. And, plus, I wasn’t crazy! “So thesewitchAngels or whatever—” I started clumsily.

“Casters,” he corrected.

“Yeah—why didn’t they just reverse the spell after they realized it wasn’t working the way it was supposed to?”

“They certainly tried. Upon seeing their misstep, they immediately tried to rectify it with another spell that aimed to expel the reanimated ones from our world and send them back into the Hell from which they were believed to have come.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, it didn’t work,” he said callously. “Undoing a spell is not a simple deed, Jemma. Once you create something, you have conjured a new reality. You cannot simply tap into a magical undo button. What you have created now exists, therefore you must work with that new reality, and it isn’t always easy to do.”

“Right. And since vampires are still around today, obviously they weren’t able to do anything about it.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true. Most of the initial spells went awry in one way or another, though many of them are also responsible for the Revenant as we know them today.”

“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” I snorted as flashes of my terrifying attack bouncing around in my consciousness.

“Well, yes. For one, theycanbe killed now. However difficult it may be, they’re not indestructible the wayFirst Immortalswere. For another, they no longer have free reign over this realm as they once did, further hindering their survival.”

“What does that mean, they don’t have free reign?”

“Well, quite simply, they have restrictions now. Supernatural barriers that inhibit them. As long as they have these vulnerabilities, they can be exploited.”

“Exploited how?” I asked and then said the first thing that came to mind. “Like with garlic and holy stuff?”

“Holy stu—good grief, Jemma.” He did a double take as though I were the village idiot. “Apotropaic symbols can be useful in certain instances, though they should never be depended upon. There are many more layers to their evolution; crucial confines that shaped their very existence.”

“Their susceptibility to wood, for example,” he said, flicking down a finger, “could disable a Revenant instantly if driven through the heart, and their curse into darkness forced them to hunt only with the moon. They could no longer enter dwellings without a summon, which kept them out of homes and away from families. Even their inability to hold dominion over other supernaturals helped because it prevented them from exploiting powerful beings like the Anakim, and potentially achieving ultimate reign. All of these things were helpful in containing them, even getting an upper hand at times, though it certainly did not resolve the calamity.”

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