Wednesday 30 April 2014

AtoZ Day 26: Z is for Zealot, Zburator

Click image to visit the main A to Z
site and see all the other participants.
Zealot

noun - a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

When it comes to vampires its usually the hunters who are shown as the zealots. For example the hunters in John Carpenter's Vampires are zealots; they eat, sleep and breathe vampire hunting and its rules. At the beginning of Underworld Selene is a zealot; she lives only to hunt and kill lycans. It's interesting how both sets of hunters have to unbend somewhat before then end of their respective films.

A fictional vampire who is a zealot is Adam from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; he believes in the superiority of the vampire race and that they must bring the humans in to line and take over. Nothing can sway him from this course.

The zealot in fiction usually comes to a bad end if they do not change their ways.

If you were a vampire hunter do you think you would be a zealot or would you be a little more flexible?

Creature Feature:

Zburator


This one is a bit of a stretch because he's a dragon, but in some legends the name is also used to refer to a demon that disguises himself as a young man to prey on women in their sleep just like an incubus. (wikipedia)

Movie Recommendation:

Sorry, no rec today because I couldn't find one I had seen beginning with the letter z. Today you can have a picture of Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandrige from Fright Night to say sorry.


Blood Lust 
(#26 in The Diverse Life of Ianthe Jawara, Vampire)
by Natasha Duncan-Drake


Ianthe still couldn't move as fast as she wanted to as the restoring heat from the charm moved through her limbs. However, it only meant the priest was as fast as she was. He was ahead of her as he ran for the next flight of stairs, but she was on his heels. He would not get away.

With the chase on, she could feel the blood lust rising. The predator in her was all but in control and she bared her fangs as she ran down the hallway. The house smelled of paint and barely looked lived in as she kept the priest in sight. It was clear the only rooms he had really made his own were those in the attic. Everything else was still magnolia where some letting agent had covered all individuality. The pale walls tinged pink as her blood pounded and her vampire traits came to the surface.

She didn't bother running all the way down the stairs, she simply vaulted the banister to come down solidly on the next landing.

The priest had reached the next set of stairs because they were only a few feet away, and wild, fearful eyes looked at her once, before he disappeared downwards. She could not simply jump these ones because of the way they slid under the previous set, so she followed him. It was then she realised he was heading for the front door.

The last thing she wanted was the priest to make it to a public place. She could still chase him, but she would have to hide what she was and she was in no mood to do that. She wasn't even sure she could now that she was giving proper chase.

It was as she prepared to leap on him from halfway down the stairs that she felt it. She snarled as every instinct in her screamed that there was another predator in the house. That was when the priest skidded to a halt only a few feet from her. It felt as if the universe held its breath as both she and the priest froze and Alex stepped out of the shadows next to the front door.

"Hello, Steven," Alex said, voice deep and emotionless.

"Demon," the now named priest yelled and then turned on his heel, running towards the back.

Everything in Ianthe recognised her maker, recognised his strength. She knew she would have to bow to him if he wanted this, but Alex just stood there. Part of her was even pleased that her maker was keeping an eye on her.

"Go," he said simply.

With that permission she flew into motion, hopping over the banister and running after her disappearing quarry. Her body was her own again and her prey was in her sights.

She heard the snarl and the yell of terror before she made it to the open back door. In her haste she had almost forgotten Lilith, but clearly the hell hound was still on guard. When she ran into the garden the priest was already falling where Lilith had grabbed his ankle as he headed for the gate. The priest landed heavily, but twisted, kicking out at Lilith's head with his free foot. As far as Ianthe could tell her dog barely felt the blow.

"Good girl," she praised, "now leave."

Lilith dropped the priest's foot and stood back instantly, still snarling, but letting Ianthe walk past her.

"Now you're mine," she said and swooped on him.

The haze of blood lust clouded her vision and she grabbed him by the ridiculous white collar, dragging him to his feet. Her instincts screamed at her that this was her prey and she should feast. He was the enemy. He had dared try to harm her and retribution was hers for the taking. This zealot should die by her hand, never to threaten her or hers again. It would be so easy to squeeze and snap his neck and feast on his blood. All it would take was a simple gesture.

Only the words she had spoken earlier to Alex stopped her. She had told him she would not kill this enemy and children did not lie to their makers as makers did not lie to their children.

It took all of her will power to force down her vampiric nature. Even as she breathed in deeply to try and calm herself she could smell his fear and it called to her.

She sensed it as Alex stepped out of the house behind her and she acted before she could do something she would regret. Turning, she flung the priest at Alex's feet and stepped back, calling Lilith to her side.

"Deal with it," she said and then she ran.

The blood lust was too high; she knew she could not control it and something needed to die. She had never killed a human being; she didn't want to start now, but there was wildlife in the nearby park and it was better than the alternative.

~*~

It was hours before Ianthe returned home. Dawn was just beginning to touch the sky and she had forced her vampire nature back in the box.

The hunt had taught her a great deal about herself and her maker, but she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with it all just yet. She needed to sleep and process. However, Alex stepped into the hallway as soon as she entered the house. For a little while they just looked at each other in silence. Their relationship had changed forever and Ianthe wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You did well," Alex said eventually.

"I would have been toast without Mila's charm," she replied.

That was one of the things she really didn't want to think about too hard.

"How did he know magic like that?" she asked anyway.

"Steven was a scholar," Alex told her; "he found an ancient book and translated it. Mila has it now."

"And the priest?" she asked, unwilling to name him, which was faintly ridiculous, but she wasn't going to ask too much of her psyche this morning.

"Where he cannot hurt anyone," Alex replied.

"Just promise me your solution isn't to lock him up and throw away the key," she said.

The way Alex winced said everything.

"Have the balls to end it, Alex," she challenged; "if you can't help him put him out of his misery."

It probably wasn't fair, but neither was locking up a man who could live an indeterminate amount of time. When he would eventually die wasn't something any of them could answer.

"I can't," was the somewhat defeated reply.

For once Alex sounded like the lost and confused one, rather than her. She sighed.

"Have you thought that turning him might actually cure him?" she asked as the idea crossed her mind.

Alex looked kind of horrified.

"That is impossible," he said; "if it did not work he would still be mad, but he would be one of us. As his maker I could not kill him."

"I could."

Ianthe never wanted to have to kill anyone, but this would be a kindness.

For a while Alex simply stood there staring at her and for once she let him.

"Just think about it," she said and continued her walk to the stairs; "I'm going to bed. It's been a long night."

Lilith trotted along beside her and she took comfort in the puppy's presence. Tomorrow night she would think about things. Tomorrow night she would get on with the chaos that she called a life. Tomorrow night she would figure out what came next.

~~*~~
A few of us discovered that we all had supernatural themes for the AtoZ so we got together and did a mini list. If you also have a supernatural theme (ghosts, monsters, witches, spells etc), please feel free to add yourself to the list.

get the InLinkz code to add to your blog

37 comments:

  1. If I were a vampire hunter, I'd probably be a zealot. The two just seem to go together. I'm old-fashioned like that, I guess. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suppose you have to be very determined to be a vampire hunter :)

      Delete
  2. I suppose you have to be focused to be a hunter, so zealotry would be common trait.
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just said this in a reply above before reading your comment :) - what a shock that we share a brain ;)

      Delete
  3. I'd be a zealot. If you are going to do one thing in life, then be the best you can be at it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd be a zealot, because most hunters are ones whose lives have been adversely affected by the ones they hunt.

    Thanks for all the wonderful post this month. It sure has been a fun month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has been so much fun and thank you so much for all your visits.

      Delete
  5. I have one!! "Zoltan, Hound of Dracula"!! I loved that movie.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula's_Dog

    THANK YOU so much for all the great posts you made this month and for hosting the Supernatural A to Z. It has been so much fun and I am so glad to have found your blog.

    --
    Timothy S. Brannan
    The Other Side, April Blog Challenge: The A to Z of Witches

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't seen it, so I couldn't review it even though I did look it up. I almost bought it just so I'd have a movie to review, but in the end couldn't find it for a decent price :)

      Thank you too, I've so enjoyed this month and the Supernatural mini-hop was mostly your fault when we got chatting during the reveal :)

      Delete
  6. I don't think I'd be a zealot vampire hunter. In every situation there are extenuating circumstances that must be taken into consideration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nicely balanced view :) Thank you so much for visiting.

      Delete
  7. Good point how it's mostly the hunters who are the zealots. But I guess a half-assed vampire hunter wouldn't be all that useful. :)

    Happy Z Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm guessing a half-asses vampire hunter would probably be dead ;)

      Delete
  8. I'm a zealot when it comes to books and French. Congratulations on successfully completing the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Excellent series this entire A-Z challenge. Enjoyed it immensely. Thanks. :)

    And Thanks for hosting A-Z Supernatural. It's been fun. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and thank you for taking part in our mini-hop - it's been such a highlight for me. We should totally do it again next year :D

      Delete
  10. Whew, we did it. Another successful A to Z! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Zealot is a great Z work. My post is all about Z words. I would also be a zealot if I was a vampire. And I hope I'd be as kick-ass as Selene. ;)

    I love dragons so it was nice to learn about Zburators.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to cheat a little, but one source did say he was a psychic vampire too, so I thought I could get away with a dragon ;) Thank you so much for all your comments, it's been such a fun month.

      Delete
  12. The vampire hunters always seem to be the zealot. "The zealot in fiction usually comes to a bad end if they do not change their ways." << That kind of makes me want to write a zealous character who has a good ending but doesn't change their ways. MUAHAHAHA!

    ~Patricia Lynne~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, YA Author

    PS: Congrats on completing the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go for it :) I'd love to see that story :D
      Thanks and congrats to you too. What a great month.

      Delete
  13. And just like that, it's over. *sigh* I enjoyed the series. =)

    I have actually written a zealot hunter, but there are reasons for his zeal that totally make sense, and it's not a revenge or holier than thou motive. I need to get that one out there some day. =)

    True Heroes from A to Z

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - I'm going to be rewriting it into a novel(la) (not sure which yet) at some point - I think Ianthe deserves a proper outing :).
      He sounds like an very interesting character, I wish you luck with publishing him one day.

      Delete
  14. I would be a zealot too. Thanks for entertaining me with your stories and information about vampires. I'm sure it will come in useful one day. This is the end of the AtoZ challenge, but that's not going to stop me from visiting your blog. Michelle
    http://www.writer-way.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for visiting. I look forward to chatting in the future.

      Delete
  15. thank you for such a wonderful time. i learned so many things about one of my favorite night stalkers.

    congrats on surviving this month long journey. =D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I haven't forgotten your blog - I need to play catch up and read it all now to see how the story ends :).

      Delete
  16. Congratulations on making it to Z, I've enjoyed your theme :)
    I probably would be a zealot, I have been known to get slightly obsessed with things in the past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I really enjoyed yours too.
      Obsession is sometimes useful :)

      Delete
  17. Enjoyed the last outing of super natural order of things..scary and u have such amazing talent. Brilliant narrative:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great ending to Ianthe's story, hope you'll turn it into a book some day. Thank you for entertaining us with your knowledge of all things related to vampires, it's been amazing to learn so many new things.

    And congrats on completing the A to Z and reaching the end. I shall be a repeat returner in the future. Also a big thanks for your daily visits and comments on my posts, it has been a blast. :)

    Crack open a bottle and take a well deserved rest. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I plan to :) Thank you so much for reading.
      I have enjoyed posting about vampires so much - sharing the obsession is fun :D
      Did the bottle thing yesterday for a friend b-day, hence playing catch up today :)

      Delete
  19. Congrats on crossing the A to Z finishing line!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hmmm. Very interesting to leave it with questions and open ended like that. Nice.

    Have you seen Zombieland? Hilarious, gory and an infuriating ending. So I can't give it a full recommendation. But there are some awesome scenes!

    Congrats on finishing atoz!! :D

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for reading. I love to hear from people. Please leave your comments below.