The Dark-Hunters (852 page)

Mist
    Amorphous consort of the Sleep gods, Mist has birthed thousands of children. Not the most maternal of mothers, she turned the raising of her sons and daughters over to Hypnos and the nymphs who serve her.

H
AIR
/E
YES
: black/white, glowing

M’Ordant
    Son of Phantasos and brother of V’Aidan, M’Ordant is another of the Dream Police (despite the fact that he looks more like a Boy Scout). M’Ordant watches over both the Oneroi and the Skoti. As far as the Enforcers go, he is hard-nosed and down to business. Still, he has a certain degree of compassion that is forbidden to his kind. It was M’Ordant who took Erin McDaniels to see V’Aidan in Tartarus.

Morpheus
    Greek god of Dreams, father of many Oneroi, and the son of Hypnos. Morpheus is responsible for shaping dreams, or giving shape to the beings that inhabit dreams. His name means “he who forms, or molds” (from the Greek
morphe
).

Nikos
    Nikos is human and a Skotos of extreme sexuality. He moves like a predator through crowds and is never too busy to pass time with a willing female. Sensual and hot, he is plagued in his mortal life by women who want him. At night, he often finds them in their sleep and shows them exactly the fantasies that they crave. His legend is legion. He walks the night searching for the one woman whose touch can bind him, the one woman who will bring peace to his wounded heart and love to his lonely existence.

Nocnitsa
    Night Hag (from Eastern Europe). The Nocnitsa is an elderly woman who torments the dreams of sleeping children. Long ago it was said that the Nocnitsa could not bear the touch of iron, so many mothers would leave a knife in the crib with their children.

Nytmares
    Atlantean female spirits who run through dreams and teach the dreamer lessons he or she needs to know.

Oneirocritica
    Written by the Roman Artemidorus Daldianus, the
Oneirocritica
is considered the first book on dream interpretation. The idea was that each dream and its symbols are unique to the dreamer—that the memories and feelings that a person associates to an object in their waking life will translate over into the dreamworld.

Oneiromancy
    Dream divination; the ability to predict the future by interpreting dreams and their symbols as portents.

Onethalamus
    Meeting hall in the dream realm where the leaders of the Oneroi meet to discuss problems, share secrets, and pass judgment. The Onethalamus has witnessed and holds all the secrets of the Dream-Hunters … including the one they’re still trying desperately to keep.

Orasia
    Atlantean goddess of Sleep.

Phantasos
    Son of Hypnos and creator of nonsentient dream objects. Phantasos is the father of the more cerebral Dream-Hunters. His children are most often the Oneroi who police the Dream-Hunters. His name means “apparition.”

Phantosis
    The shadow realm between conscious and subconscious.

Phobetor
    Son of Hypnos, and Greek god of animal shapes. Phobetor is the father of the nightmare Dream-Hunters. His name means “frightening.”

Rec’Sord
    A Skotos who posed in the mortal realm as Erin McDaniels’s boyfriend Rick Sword, a psychologist who specialized in sleep disorders.

Seric
    Restless and wicked, Seric’s specialty is exotic locations. He loves to pick a woman and take her to her most forbidden fantasy. He finds his pleasure in the giving of pleasure and has a particular fondness for women who have suffered broken hearts. He was cursed to an earthly existence and tends to frequent the most unlikely locations where he can find his prey, so that he might catch them off guard. Libraries and bookstores tend to be his favored spots. He especially prefers women who read romance novels, since they tend to have a much more robust imagination. Though he appears human by the light of day, at night he really is a god.

Siphon
    Act of infiltrating dreams to feed off another’s emotions.

Solin
    A human of extraordinary talents. It wasn’t until puberty that he discovered he was the demigod son of a peasant human mother and the dream god Phobetor. Because of his heritage, he escaped the no-emotions curse that plagues his siblings.

Even so, he grew up harshly. He was sold into slavery as a child. When his powers manifested during adolescence, the Oneroi started hunting for him. He is one of the few Skoti who has ever warranted a death sentence.

Solin lives on earth by day (as Solin Catranides, the multibillionaire playboy), and runs amuck in human dreams at night. Seductive and quiet, it is said his eyes alone are enough to make a woman reach ecstasy. Those who have felt his touch have been driven to madness in search of his return.

A cousin of Arikos, Solin thinks that humans are no better than gods. There are only a few gods Solin tolerates, though he has been known to help the Chthonians from time to time.

Strobilos
    The vast black nothingness between dreaming and waking that has no sound or color. It is used by the Oneroi to locate dreamers.

Succubus
    Demon or Erotikos Skotos that takes the form of a human to seduce a male dream host. The succubae draw their energy from the dream host during intercourse. In some legends succubae also retain semen from the male host, then transform into incubi and use it to impregnate a female dream host.

V’Aidan
    A Skotos who fell in love with the human Erin McDaniels. He was allowed by Hypnos to be born into the human world so that he could be with Erin.

F
EATURED
S
TORY
: “Phantom Lover”

Vanishing Isle
    Island at the edge of the world where Greek sailors believed they would go when they died. You can see it for a few minutes at sunup and sundown, but it is unreachable. The Vanishing Isle is where most of the dream gods reside.

V’Arian
    A son of Icelus, V’Arian is one of the Monitors for human sleep. He protects humans from the Skoti who give them nightmares. He is fascinated by human behavior and studies it closely. There are those who fear he may one day turn Renegade, but so far he has done his job as required.

V’Edrix
    A son of Icelus, V’Edrix is also one of the Monitors for human sleep. He was one of the first of his kind, and feels an extra responsibility for the humans he watches over. He prefers to work with children and with women who have suffered trauma. There are some who claim he also works with certain Rogue Dark-Hunters to punish the human nightmare instigators, but there is no proof to this rumor. He keeps himself away from most of his Dream-Hunter brethren.

Wink
    A minor Greek god, Wink is the son of Nyx and Erebus and V’Aidan’s great-uncle. A puckish character, Wink is what led to the belief of the Sandman. He is sent by the gods of Sleep to induce slumber. Most claim he does so by sprinkling a magic dust into their eyes. Children are most often fond of Wink, who is said to love them best of all since they are innocent and most deserving of untroubled rest.

A chronic prankster to both the Oneroi and Skoti, Wink is often found playing tricks on them. He may be one of the oldest gods, but he has the personality of a thirteen-year-old boy. He can be found hanging out with the dead from time to time “for a laugh.”

Wink’s dust or mist is often used by Dream-Hunters to make a human drowsy, or to exert control over a human.

Xypher
    A vicious Phobotory Skotos Renegade who thrives on fear. He used to hunt down humans and terrorize them until they went mad from it. M’Ordant, D’Alerian, and M’Adoc were forced to kill him for his wicked ways, and he was damned to Tartarus for all eternity. Hades made him human for a month in exchange for helping Katra and Sin recapture the Dimme.

Zakar
    A Sumerian god of Sleep. He is the brother to their god Sin.

Squires

Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

I am technically human, though my multitude of siblings would deny it. And barring the pasties, I’m really not some kind of sicko.

—Otto Carvaletti

Shield-Bearers

When the Dark-Hunters were created back in 7382
B.C.
, Artemis made a pact with Acheron that she would provide for them everything they would need in order for them to maintain their focus on killing Daimons.

Acheron returned from that meeting with Artemis to the cave where the first three Dark-Hunters hid. With him he brought two men, because every good knight needs a man-at-arms. Armor and weapons are expensive and unwieldy, after all. Who do you suppose looks after all that when the knight is off killing things?

Exactly.

Originally, the men were called Shield-Bearers, much like those who served the warrior knights of old. Later, they came to be known as Squires.

The Squires are the helpmates and companions of Dark-Hunters in many of the same ways medieval Squires were expected to aid their knights. Something of a cross between a servant and an employee (they serve Artemis, just like the Dark-Hunters, and they are compensated well for their troubles), they keep watch over their Dark-Hunters and provide everything they need, especially in the daylight hours.

In the beginning, after their ranks were assembled by Acheron, a Squire’s job was to stand guard over the crypts where their charges slept. Today they perform a few more mundane duties, not the least of which is legally acquiring and maintaining both land and property for the unique men and women they serve who died a very, very long time ago.

Squires are bound to kill any human who poses a threat to a Dark-Hunter by exposing his or her existence. (They are not necessarily the ones who do the killing, but they are required to pass the information along to someone who will.) They are forbidden to reveal anything embarrassing about a Dark-Hunter to whom they are in service (not that it ever stopped Otto or Nick), or anything that might endanger them.

As you can see, there is a lot of gray area when it comes to Squires. Ultimately, however, they are essential to the survival of the Dark-Hunters, and their loyalty is unvarying, unyielding, and eternal. You can trust that with your life; you may one day need to.

It is up to the Dark-Hunters to fight the battles—Squires are not meant to engage Daimons. Their duty is to protect their Dark-Hunters. It helps a lot if they’re alive to do that. They also (normally) do not have psychic abilities, or supernatural powers of any kind.

The rank of Squire in the ancient world was often hereditary. Similarly, Dark-Hunter Squires are either the children of other Squires or they are recruited by other Squires and Dark-Hunters. Many a Squire has been made of a too-smart-for-her-own-britches youth who couldn’t keep her nose out of trouble and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Some of the best Squire families have descended from those whippersnappers.

Unlike their squire namesakes, Dark-Hunter Squires are not the apprentices of the Dark-Hunters. Think about it—who in their right mind would say, “Yes, please, I hope someone kills my family and friends and betrays me in a fashion so unforgivable that I will trade my soul to become an immortal superpower soldier fighting vampires until the end of time?”

Seriously.

And no, Nick Gautier is not—and doubtfully ever was—in his right mind.

Squire Council

What we deal with is bigger than spiders.

It’s bigger than you and me.

—Leo Kirby

The Squire Council is a select and secretive group of men and women who oversee the activities of the other Squires. They make the payroll and give out money to any Squire who wishes to set up a business front for their Dark-Hunters. They have a database of all the networked Squires, their hand and retinal imprints, and their dental records. It’s quite a massive amount of information—while there may be thousands of Dark-Hunters, there are tens of thousands of Squires behind them, making the world go ’round.

The Squire Council is also responsible for looking after the human families of Dark-Hunters after they have sworn their oath to Artemis and crossed over. Knowing that fact has set many a Dark-Hunter’s mind at ease.

Squire Branches

The Squires have a whole detailed organization that’s kind of like the Hotel California. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

—Nick Gautier

Today, not every Squire is assigned to a Dark-Hunter, nor does every Squire want one. They have an elaborate network of affiliates that can quickly get anything a Dark-Hunter or another Squire needs. The Squire Council has on their books lawyers, doctors, bankers, pilots, almost anyone to do anything you could possibly think of. They also found and run establishments such as hospitals, restaurants, and libraries that appear to serve humans as a front, but in reality were put in place solely to serve the Dark-Hunters and their assistants.