The Dark-Hunters (851 page)

Shoot me now and put me out of my misery.

—Nick Gautier

When the Oneroi were cursed, Zeus stripped them of their names, as well as any sense of individuality they might have had. For that reason, the legions of Dream-Hunters take their names based on the roles they serve in the dream realm.

The prefix to the Dream-Hunter names designates their role in the hierarchy:

M
    The leaders. These enforcers work like a police force to keep the Oneroi from crossing the line … and pass judgment upon the ones that do. The current leaders of the Dream-Hunters are M’Ordant, M’Alerian/D’Alerian, and M’Adoc. They meet at the
Onethalamus,
the gathering place where all policies, peace treaties, and death warrants are fashioned.

V
    Dream-Hunters who aid insomniacs, or who save humans from nightmares. (See V’Edrix, V’Ariant.)

D
    Dream-Hunters sent to help gods and other immortals. These are the ones most often recruited to help newly forged Dark-Hunters escape the nightmares of their past, and the transition to immortality. Once assigned to a Dark-Hunter, this Dream-Hunter will usually watch over them for their entire existence. (See D’Aria, D’Ravyk.)

Skoti

Have you ever wanted something that you knew was bad for you? Something that you ached for so much that you could think of nothing else?

—Wren

Yes, which is why I always end up eating the whole chocolate bar anyway.

—Maggie

Also known as “energy vampires,” some Dream-Hunters (usually the nightmare children of Phobetor) inevitably get seduced by the drug that is a human’s emotions. They begin to instigate dreams, and alter them so as to exact more emotions from their dream hosts. Some will fall in love with their human subject, appearing as incubi or succubi. Once they build up a tolerance, they can siphon emotions and creativity for longer and longer periods of time, an act that inevitably ends in the death of the dream host.

These Dream-Hunters are called
Skoti.
(
Skotos
is the singular term.)

Just when you thought having boring dreams was a bad thing.

Most people dream in black-and-white, with lots of mist—that’s not a big draw for them. Skoti are drawn to the rare dreamers who have vivid, colorful dreams.

Certain Skoti (
Phobotory Skoti
) get their kicks in nightmares, feeding off the unadulterated, paralytic fear that they can induce in their dream host. The heart-pounding adrenaline is like race car driving or skydiving for them. Extreme dreaming, if you will.

The down and dirty baddies are called
Erotikos Skoti.
They really do have one thing on their minds, and it’s the one thing on their dreamer’s mind, too. An Erotikos Skotos will induce and thrive in dreams built on the sexual fantasies of their dream host. Such a heightened state of emotion is exceptionally addictive to the Skoti, and exceptionally dangerous for the dreamer.

Barely more than demons, the Skoti are hunted down by their Oneroi brethren and punished for their crimes. Some Skoti are tolerated only to help drain humans of excess emotions. They are not allowed to spend too much time with one person, and are deemed uncontrollable if they fail to heed the warnings of the Oneroi leaders. They are given
one
warning before they are severely punished … or eliminated from existence.

Earthbound

Feel? Why would anyone in their right mind wish for that? Feelings are for fools.

—Hades

In dreams, the Oneroi can only be fought by others of their kind. They are gods and have the full range of god-powers. And, much like the gods, both the Oneroi and Skoti can choose to take form in the human realm on earth.

When in human form they still lack emotions, but have all the powers inherent with their Oneroi blood. They are still gods and are very much omnipotent. They assume human form to “mark” a host, meaning they scope the host out and follow them with a psychic link that enables them to infiltrate dreams later. They can also manipulate and siphon while human, but they must be very careful to avoid detection.

There’s another way a Dream-Hunter can become truly human: He or she must stop eating ambrosia and drinking the nectar of the gods. We all know the result of this, don’t we? Not only will the Dream-Hunter lose his immortality, but he will also lose all of his powers. He won’t just be human, he will be
mortal.
It is a high price to pay for a Dream-Hunter—the highest price, some would say.

It is not a path that is taken lightly … or often.

Dream-Hunter Directory

It is exceptionally difficult to maintain a list of Dream-Hunters, since most go out of their way to remain undetected. You may dream of one, but was he real? Or just a figment of your imagination?

Below are some of the known Dream-Hunters, as well as a list of gods, demons, and terms relating to the dream realm. You never know when one of them might help you discern the difference between fantasy and …
fantasy.

Alp
    A German nightmare spirit often associated with vampires (for draining his victims of blood and/or energy) and with the werewolf in his mortal form. The Alp has ghastly taste in hats.

Arikos
    Nickname: Arik. Son of Morpheus and Mist, and half-brother to M’Ordant. Arik was once one of the most powerful of the Oneroi. He was called V’Arikos—a name he came to hate after he learned some emotions, since it reminded him of varicose veins—and his mission was to hunt down and destroy all the Skoti he could find. Arik became a Skotos when fighting Solin in a human’s dream—Solin turned his human victim on Arik in defense. Instead of destroying her, he tasted her lust. In the blink of an eye, Arik went from being a good guy to one of the worst Erotikos Skotos out there.

For thousands of years Arik walked the line of evil, trying to find another vivid and daring dreamer who could give him that fleeting sensation again. He found that person in Megeara Kafieri, and so became her dream lover.

He bartered Megeara’s soul with Hades for the chance to visit earth as a living, breathing, and feeling human (who went by the name of Arikos Catranides) for fifteen days. After falling in love with Megeara and sacrificing his life to Hades for her, he became fully human.

B
IRTHPLACE
: Mount Olympus

F
EATURED
N
OVEL
:
The Dream-Hunter

C’Azim
    At one time the most honored of the Oneroi, C’Azim discovered the pleasures of mortal women. Since then, he has been rather insatiable with them. Though he still performs most of his Dream-Hunter duties, he is easily swayed by his hormones. An outrageous flirt, it is said that no woman, either mortal or immortal, can deny him. His touch is hot and powerful, his kiss deadly. To lay with him is to know the most heavenly bliss.

D’Alerian
    Son of Zeus and D’Aria (one of the original Oneroi) and brother of Persephone, D’Alerian is a healer and helper to the Dark-Hunters. He is a straight man who never met a rule he didn’t love. He has an aura of incredible proportions; his presence can be felt all the way to the marrow of your bones. His real name is Nikomedes (Neco as a nickname), and he is called M’Alerian by some.

Part of the Higher Pantheon, he keeps a constant vigil over the Dark-Hunters and is quick to step in with aid whenever one of them needs it. He can easily tell when a Daimon is messing with a human subconscious. He and Acheron are close friends; he was assigned to Kyrian Hunter when he first came into the service of Artemis.

D’Alerian has a soft heart, due to the loss of someone he once loved very dearly. Because of this, he called in a favor that Persephone owed him and had her intervene to help save the human Megeara Kafieri and her Dream-Hunter lover Arikos from Hades.

D’Aria
    A known Dream-Hunter assigned to Wulf Tryggvason.

Day Dreamers
    These are the Oneroi and Skoti who don’t have to be near their host to command them. They are the most powerful of their kind.

D’Ravyk
    Son of Icelus, D’Ravyk also helps the Dark-Hunters and the gods. One of the highest members of the pantheon, he is also one of the oldest of the Dream-Hunters. A Goody Two-shoes, he is often at odds with Arikos. He likes order; he spends a lot of time counseling younger Dream-Hunters against the dangers of cavorting with humans. He is extremely solitary by nature.

Dream-Walkers (Perparti)
    Humans who can channel dreams. They can also act as Skoti or Oneroi.

Ensyneiditos
    The conscious part of a person that can travel outside the body. This is the only way Acheron can ever see Apollymi (since he can’t do it in the flesh).

Ephialtes
    A Greek nightmare demon.

Erebus
    The Greek god of Darkness. Erebus is the father of Wink, Hypnos, and Thanatos.

Hypnos
    Greek god who holds dominion over all the gods of sleep. Son of Nyx and Erebus and twin of Thanatos, Hypnos oversees the physical punishments of the dream gods. And he is harsh.

Icelus
    A son of Hypnos and one of the Oneroi, Icelus creates human shapes in dreams. He is the father of some of the more erotically addicted Dream-Hunters.

Idios
    A rare serum made by the Oneroi that enables someone else to become one with the dreamer. Idios is a dark red liquid. It is possessed by only M’Adoc, M’Ordant, and D’Alerian.

Incubus
    A male demon or Erotikos Skotos that seduces—and sometimes impregnates—a female dream host. Excessive exposure to an incubus (or its female counterpart, the succubus), can drain a human dream host to the point of death.

Incubi have been blamed for many “unexplained” pregnancies over the centuries. Many of the Greek gods—Zeus and Apollo in particular—have fathered a child on a woman or forty in this fashion.

Kallitechnis
    A Dream Master. Can move through anyone’s dreams: past, future, and beyond.

K’Allon
    K’Allon is a creature of complete sensual arts. It is said he is the father of desire and lust. To see him is to crave him; to feel his touch is to be rocked and shattered. When he is near, women are said to be blinded by his beauty. They forget any and everything except his gorgeous form.

K’Allon picks his lovers at random and has a fondness for soft, full-figured women. His appetites are robust, and he will easily play with his lover from dusk to dawn. If he comes to you, be prepared for a night you will never forget. And should he fixate on you, then prepare to lose yourself to pleasures unimaginable. Not that I know from experience or anything.

Kratos
    A Skotos who claims to be able to bring a soul out of eternal rest and return it to the land of the living. Kratos was only very recently an Oneroi, but Artemis’s handmaiden Satara summoned him in her dreams and turned him Skoti. She seduced him with her body and made him crave emotions like a drug. Now he plays Satara’s lapdog and does her bidding.

H
EIGHT
: six foot four

Krysti’Ana
    A Skotos who takes the form of a giant snake with a woman’s upper body. In human form, she is a large brunette who goes by the name Chrissy Phelps. She posed as Erin McDaniels’s friend and coworker so that she might feed off her.

Kytara
    Nickname: Tara. A Skotos Dream-Huntress. Another great mystery of the night, Kytara was killed by gallu demons when Kessar used the Tablet of Destiny to drain her awesome powers.

Liderc
    A demon lover (from Transylvania) who takes the form of a dead loved one to seduce its dream host, leaving the dreamer sick. The Liderc has the ability to enter a house through chimneys and keyholes. It can sprinkle flames from its fingertips, leaving ash and soot around its victim.

Lilim
    The demon children of Lilith.

Lilith
    In many religions, Lilith is the first wife of Adam, a demon succubus, and the mother of all demons. Her children are known as the lilim.

Lotus Serum
    A dangerous sedative. Some go insane from it, and some become so addicted they choose to never wake from their dreams. It gives some humans exceptionally bad headaches.

Mab
    Shakespeare’s tiny fairy queen, Mab rides through the dreams of humans on her chariot and grants them their heart’s desires … or brings their worst fears to life.

M’Adoc
    Son of Phantasos, M’Adoc is one of the Enforcers who watches over both the Oneroi and the Skoti. When a Skotos or Dream-Hunter steps over the line, they answer to him. He is quick to issue orders, but seldom takes them. M’Adoc is the Oneroi of last resort. He abhors profanity, but has no problem executing his “nuisances.” When he comes after a Dream-Hunter, that Hunter knows he is going to pay. M’Adoc takes the jobs no one else wants to do. And he’s happy about it … which is more than a little disturbing.

M’Adoc tried to kill the human Megeara Kafieri for what she knew of the secrets of the Oneroi, but he was stopped by M’Ordant and D’Alerian (they trapped him in a diktyon). M’Adoc then killed Arikos but didn’t bury him, so that he couldn’t pay Charon and cross over into Hades.

M’Adoc was taken away to learn compassion. He was sent to tend to the Dark-Hunter Zarek in Alaska as his punishment.

H
EIGHT
: seven feet

M’Alerian
    (See D’Alerian.)

Mara/Mare
    Female wraith believed to cause nightmares (from Scandinavia). She was also said to ride horses in the dead of night as she rode her men, leaving them both sweaty and with tangled hair.