Death's Shadow 12

“Is she alright?”Rosalie quietly asked Kate and Irina from her seat at the front of the plane watching a movie with the duo and Victoria on the large screen on the wall of the Denali’s private jet. Rosalie had been shocked learning they had a private jet as it had never been mentioned in front of her before but she did understand why they had one. Bella being Death’s Shadow would have to travel all over the world and it would be easier with her own plane. Bella also being the object of Rosalie’s concern. On the large couch at the back of the plane Bella was stretched out with her head in Tanya’s lap and Lilith stretched out on top of her. It wouldn’t have been an odd sight except for the fact Bella had her eyes closed and wasn’t breathing. She had been in that position for two hours not even twitching from what Rosalie could tell. Even Tanya reading on her tablet wasn’t bothering her. Rosalie wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“What?”Kate looked behind her.”Oh Bella yeah she’s fine.”

“What is she doing?”Victoria also thought Bella was acting odd.

“She’s meditating.”Irina told her.

“Why is she not breathing?”Rosalie asked.

“Because she doesn’t want to wake up Lilith.”Kate said.

“Do we need to turn the movie down for her?”Victoria didn’t want to interrupt Bella.

Kate shook her head.”When Bella is like this the rest of the world doesn’t exist to her. We could have a whole marching band stomp through here and she wouldn’t even notice.”

“How that could that be?”Rosalie didn’t think a vampire could ignore anything.

“She tried to explain it to us once and we didn’t really understand what she was saying but she said that when she meditates she leaves her body and enters a realm were she interacts with the gods.”Irina didn’t really understand how it worked.

“Weird.”It was going to take Victoria some time to come to terms with the gods being real and Bella was their divine messenger.

“No what’s weird is the sudden urge I have.”Bella said causing everyone except for Tanya to jump at the sound of her voice.

Rosalie glared at Kate.“I thought you said she couldn’t hear us.”

“Usually she doesn’t.”Kate didn’t know how it worked just that Bella never usually responded.

“I heard you because I was supposed to.”Bella told her.

“What is this sudden urge you have?”Tanya knew if Bella woke up from meditating with an urge that the gods wanted her to do something.

“I have the sudden urge to tell you all about how I came to be known as the goddess Isis.”Bella said.

“Seriously you are going to tell us?!”Kate was so excited. She had always wanted to know that story more than any other of Bella’s personas.

“I feel that I am being urged to tell this story to all of you because Rosalie and Victoria don’t feel comfortable or safe around me.”Bella figured that was why the gods would want her to share that particular story.

“You feel don’t feel comfortable or safe around Bella?”Tanya was somewhat insulted on her mate’s behalf.

Bella reached out and took Tanya’s hand in her own.”You can’t blame them sweetheart. They only know Death’s Shadow. I haven’t even spoken to them other than when I got home from Italy. They have no reason to feel comfortable or safe around me.”

“Still we told them you aren’t only Death’s Shadow.”Tanya hated that Bella had such a bad reputation.

“It’s alright. Now would everyone like to hear a story?”Bella asked as she carefully shifted Lilith and sat up repositioning the cat in her lap.

“I know I would.”Kate wasn’t going to miss it.

“I would as well.”Irina always liked hearing about Bella’s past.

“We wouldn’t mind.”Victoria was very interested in hearing how Bella became a goddess.

”You know I will listen to anything you a willing to share.”Tanya may be Bella’s mate but Bella didn’t tell her everything. She only knew bits and pieces of Bella’s past because most of it was to painful for Bella to talk about.

“It was the beginning of the humans starting to become more advanced when a large portion of the population settled in Egypt. They were settled all over the world but Egypt was largest settlement. I had been watching them over the years stepping in here and there to make sure they continued to thrive. It was during a time of peace that the king at the time was assassinated. Luckily he had a daughter to take the throne but she was underage. That meant that her uncle was put on throne until she was of age and could become queen. The problem was the people who assassinated the king wanted the whole royal family dead and a king of their choosing put in place.”Bella told them.

“What does this have to do with you being Isis?”Kate asked.

Tanya hissed at Kate.”Let her tell the story.”

“I’m getting close to the part where I became Isis.”Bella assured her.”Well after I investigated the situation I had come to realize if I let this coup happen that Egypt would be thrown into a civil war and the human population would be in danger of extinction. I couldn’t let that happen. So while I was working on a plan the young queen’s uncle was killed. That left her with no one looking out for because she was the last of her family.”

“Did you help her?”Rosalie was completely in awe that she was listening to someone tell them how she became an Egyptian goddess.

“I did.”Bella confirmed.”After the uncle died I reveal myself to her and told her all about my origins. My real ones not the fake vampire ones everyone thinks. I then became her personal bodyguard. Initially her enemies send demands and threats trying to get her to give up the throne. It was after I sent back the 8th messenger’s head in a box they stop doing that.”

“How did they react to you killing their messengers?”Irina didn’t think they would let it go.

“They stopped sending messengers and started sending assassins. I of course killed all of them and a few of the palace’s staff who were paid to poison her or cause her harm. To show I meant business I hung all the bodies on the palace’s gates for everyone to see what happened when you went after the queen.”Bella said.

“That’s so awesome!!””Kate wished she had lived during that time to have seen Bella in action.

“Did hanging the bodies stop them from trying to get the queen to step down?”Tanya asked.

Bella shook her head.”No but with every failed attempt the people started to believe that the queen was being guarded by a goddess. As I was the queen’s bodyguard and she named me Isis that is how the goddess Isis came to be.”

“What happened to the queen? Did you continue to stay by her side?”Victoria wondered what other figures Bella had been that she knew of.

“Eventually the people against her realized that the assassins weren’t going to kill her so they gathered other allies and formed the biggest army the world had ever seen to take the queen from the throne by force. I of course couldn’t let that happen so on the night before they were to storm the palace in the middle of the night I systematically when from tent to tent and killed anyone with any kind of leadership rank. To include the people who started it all and the men they allied with. Before the sun came up I did like I did with the assassins and hung them from the palace gates. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room so I ripped their heads off and secured them to the palace walls with their own blades.”Bella told them.

“Shit.”Kate knew they story was going to be incredible but the truth was it was even better than she could have imagine.

“What happened when everyone woke up?”Rosalie couldn’t help but ask.

“There was mass panic and everyone was afraid. No-one had seen me doing anything because I kept myself shielded the entire time. So to the ones in the tents all they knew is they go sleep one night and in the morning wake up with one of their comrades kidnapped and brutally murdered. The camp was close enough to the palace that news of my handy work reached everyone quickly. A few tried to rally the others to avenge the fallen but the majority refused to go against a goddess as they no doubt I was after what I did.”Bella hated having to kill so many but a point needed to be made.

“Was the queen able to rule in peace after that?”Tanya asked.

“Not at first. Many thought the claims of my exploits were lies spread to scare others away from trying to conquer the country. In the first five years she took the throne I put down 12 different armies that tried to challenge her. During that time was also when temples were being built in my honor and priestesses were devoting their lives to their worship of me.”Bella cringed thinking about it.”I had the queen put out a decree that Isis was not in fact a goddess and that temples were to be destroyed but that just made it worse because the people thought I was being humble.”

Kate laughed thinking about Bella being surrounded by a bunch of humans praying to her.”I wish I could have seen your reaction when you found about the temples.”

“I even ruined a few of them myself but they were always rebuilt. I think the gods found my discomfort funny because it seemed like every time I destroyed one two more would replace it.”Bella was positive the gods had influenced the humans into worshiping Isis.

“They probably did it to get you to socialize with people.”Tanya wouldn’t be surprised if the gods allowed it to happen to get Bella to talk to people.

“Regardless of why it happened it did. As to what happened with queen I stayed by her side until she died of the age of 83.”Bella had found memories of the queen and treasured their friendship.

“You stayed with her that whole time?”Irina wouldn’t have thought Bella would settle that long.

“She needed someone that she could rely on. That and noting else was going on in the world at time and if there were I would have gotten word of it and could’ve left and come back. I didn’t have to though and stayed with the young queen. I even introduced her to her wife and helped them find a child to adopt so that she would have an heir to the throne.”Bella told them.

“She didn’t have to marry a man to form an alliance?”Victoria thought that’s what all rulers did back then.

“In the beginning many men came to the palace trying to court her but then one night she admitted to me that she didn’t like the men the way a woman was supposed to and I asked if she liked woman that way and she said yes. I told then we would stop letting men come to the castle with courtship request and we will find her the perfect woman to marry. In response to that she hugged me and then proceeded to cry herself to sleep in my arms.”Bella hadn’t understood what humans found so wrong about same sex couples.

“That was very sweet Bella.”Hearing that had Rosalie seeing Bella in a new light. She would never think that Death’s Shadow would go to such extremes to protect a young girl not only physically but emotionally as well. Rosalie couldn’t imagine what the queen had been feeling being a lesbian in ancient Egypt were usually the rulers were forced to marry the opposite sex so they could from an alliance and produce an heir. Having Bella be so supportive probably made the queen’s life a lot better.

“They named their child after me. Not Isis but my real name. Although it was altered so they could actually say it and spell it.”Bella had been honored that the queen and her wife had named their child after her.

“Can I ask what your real name is?”Victoria was curious to hear what an extinct specie’s language sounded like.

“Of course.”Bella took a deep breath and spoke her name in her native tongue.

Tanya shivered hearing it.”I love when you speak your people’s language.”

“This is a small plane keep it in your pants Tanya.”Kate knew exactly what the look in Tanya’s eye meant and she didn’t want it to lead her jumping Bella in front of all them.

Tanya kissed Bella hard on the mouth.”You are in so much trouble later when I get alone.”

“I look forward to it.”Bella was always happy to spend time alone with Tanya.

“Your name doesn’t even sound like any language I have ever heard before. Did the humans that lived during your time speak it?”Rosalie hadn’t recognized any part of Bella name.

“No my people thought humans were beneath them. Teaching them to speak or read was never even considered. That’s why the humans created their own language. When the goddess changed me I was given knowledge of that language so I was able to speak with them.”Bella explained.

“It still blows my mind that you were around when humans were created.”Victoria was finding after Bella’s story that she was much more comfortable with the dangerous woman. Someone who went the lengths Bella went to save a young girl couldn’t be that bad of a person.

“I remember the first time I saw one. I was so confused because it looked like my people but it walked on all fours. Then I caught the sent of it and I thought I died and had been given the eternal rest it smelt so good.”Bella could still remember her first taste of human blood.

“Wait humans didn’t walk on two feet?”Kate hadn’t been told that. Then again Bella barely told them anything. The gods must be pushing her to share or she wouldn’t bother.

“No they stumble around on their hands and feet. I actually saw one that would just roll places. They were horrible unintelligent and none of us had any kind of respect for them. The only thing they were good for was their blood.”Bella wasn’t ashamed for the way she viewed humans initially. It wasn’t until they evolved were they worth saving.

“What changed your views on us that had you siding against your own people to save us?”Rosalie wanted to know what brought Bella to the point that she would help kill off her entire species to save another.

“The gods had started giving the humans better skills to survive. They also gave them feelings. Initially humans were almost mindless but the gods stepped in and allowed them to evolve to the point where they could protect themselves but also they were able to feel emotions. The incident that had me questioning things was when I was traveling through the forest on my way home from delivering a package for my mother. I heard a noise and went to investigate. What I found was a male and a female human hiding in a bush. They were extremely afraid of me and after some clumsy attempts to speak to each other I figured out they were slaves that fell in love and were trying to flee their master to stay together. My heart went out to them so I gave them all the money in my pockets and the basket of food I was supposed to bring home to my family and sent them on their way. The obvious love the pair had for each other is what changed my mind on humans.”Bella explained.

“See I told you Death’s Shadow is a teddy bear. True love caused her to turn on her people.”Kate had always wondered why Bella chose the humans and finding out why she was not surprised.

“It wasn’t just that. There was other things but that’s what started it. Being strapped to that table was the final straw. The small amount of loyalty I had to my people died when I felt the knife slice through my flesh.”Bella could never defend those who would consider doing what was done to her was a justifiable action.

Tanya snuggled into Bella side wanting to feel her close.”I will be forever in the goddess’ debt for saving you.”

“What was the goddess like?”Victoria asked.

“The goddess who visited me was the goddess of compassion. She has silver hair is about Alice’s height and always wears flowing blue robes. She is extremely beautiful and when she speaks her voice feels like a warm caress. When you are in her presence you feel completely at peace like no matter what is going on everything will be alright. As I was lying on the table I knew I was about to die and I was afraid then the goddess showed up and I felt almost happy. Like now that she was there I was would be going on to a peaceful afterlife. I honestly didn’t even consider she would save me. When she did I was shocked and confused because I had never heard of one of the gods saving someone before. Even when I feeling the fire from the change I felt every was alright. I wasn’t afraid of what it meant or what would become of me. I just knew that the goddess picked me and I would do all she asked of me.”Bella had been relaxed the whole time.

“So you weren’t worried about what the goddess had done to you when she changed you?”Rosalie would have been frightened out of her mind if she was in Bella’s place.

Bella shook her head.”I had come to terms with dying. When the goddess showed up and saved me I knew that my life was no longer my own. She owned it and it was at her will what I did with it.”

“Do you ever get resentful?”Victoria thought that she would hate being forced to take care of the world.

“I can’t be resentful of getting a second chance. Yes I don’t have the luxury of dictating how my life will turn out but I have received many great rewards for my lifetime of servitude. I got an amazing mate that came with a couple of ok sisters.”Bella joked.

“Hey I’m more than ok. I’m amazing. Anyone would be lucky to have me as a sister.”Kate was a great catch.

“Well as the your favorite sister I want to say we are happy to have you to.”Irina told her.

“Yes we are.”Tanya couldn’t be happier with Bella as a mate.

“Everyone we will be coming in for a landing please buckle up and prepare for landing.”The pilot’s voice said on the speakers.

Rosalie sat forward in her seat and put on a seatbelt. It was silly but they had to keep up appearances.”What are you going to do about Lilith?”

“I’m going to hold her.”Bella told her.

“She won’t freak out?”Rosalie asked.

“No she’s a pro at flying. We bring her with us on all our trips.”Bella would never leave her cat behind.

“Huh.”Rosalie guessed the Denali didn’t have anyone to watch the cat while they were away. Sitting back in her seat Rosalie thought about everything that Bella had just told them. To find out that love was the reason that Bella turned on her own species was very surprising. It wasn’t what she would expect of Death’s Shadow. Then again the more they spoke the more Rosalie was learning Death’s Shadow was just a role Bella played so that she could complete the mission the goddess gave her. Rosalie had seen both personas in action and the differences were jarring. Now after hearing about what Bella did for the Egyptian queen and the escaped human slaves Rosalie was coming to understand that Bella was a good person who believed in equality for all. Rosalie thought with what she knew of Bella it was obvious why the goddess of compassion chose to save her. Bella probably being the only person Rosalie knew who wouldn’t have gone mad with the power given to her and tried take over the world. Even Rosalie would be tempted.