Immortality in Abderon: A Soldier’s Tale (an excerpt)

I can hear the arterial pulse pounding in my ears. It is an intoxicating thumping that drowns out all other sound. And I can smell blood coursing beneath flesh, leaving me salivating and craving the delectable taste. As my throat burns with increasing intensity, all rational thought is lost as I give into desire and seek the source of my craving. As I follow the rushing sound of coursing blood, I spot a woman approximately two blocks from me hauling water from a well. With my enhanced vision, I can clearly see her pulse pounding in her neck from the strain of the water pale. Her eyes meet mine with recognition, and she drops the bucket to flee as I begin my advance, every nerve in my body craving the blood beneath her flesh. I begin to close the distance between us with supernatural speed, my entire focus on quenching my desire. Yet, midway through my advance, I feel the air shift around me, and I am caught off guard as a sharp, shattering pain emits from my side. Two further blows, and I feel ribs break as I am hurdled through the air only to crash land into a small cabin, bring the entire structure down around me. As I attempt to rise from the debris, a booted foot slams into my chest, re-snapping ribs that had already begun to heal. A guttural growl escapes my throat with a mix of pain and rage. I can still hear the arterial pulse of the woman not far from the well.

"Stay down, Soldier!" I glare up from my trapped position on the ground into blazing emerald eyes, ready to tear out the throat of my captor to reach my prey. As I make a swipe for her throat, the emerald eyed woman captures my wrist and breaks it with a flick of her own wrist, sending slicing pain shooting up my arm as I hear the bones snap.

"I said stay down!" she spits, pushing her booted foot further into my chest until I hear another rib break. The blinding pain finally overrides my bloodlust as I lay in a broken heap, close to blackout. As I feel my bones begin to heal, offering some relief from the pain, my coherent thoughts return. I feel my body shift from beast to human form as I gaze with shame up into Lady Aya's eyes.

"I have failed again," I state resolutely, as Lady Aya relinquishes her hold on me, allowing me to rise from the debris. I stand naked at her side, my eyes fixating on the woman by the well whom I nearly attacked. I recognize her as Morina, one of my caretakers from when I was first turned. Even from the distance, I can clearly see the fear still etched in her mortal face, and my shame deepens.

"Yet, your control grows stronger with each failure," Lady Aya states at my side. "You fought the bloodlust burning in your throat longer during this turn than your last. And you will gain control of it." There is no falter in her voice. Even after watching me fail repeatedly, she has complete faith in me. I admire her faith and resilience even as my own doubts creep in. I have been training with her for several weeks now, every night since my turn. She has me practice turning from human form to beast as we patrol the streets of Abderon. My many transformations are to teach me control of my new form and control of my bloodlust. I have mastered the transformation from human to beast fairly well. However, the control of my bloodlust has been a constant struggle.

"Do not doubt yourself. This is a battle every immortal has faced. And you will conquer this struggle." I return my gaze to Lady Aya to find her emerald eyes boring into me. Even after several weeks with her at my side, I am still not accustomed to her reading my thoughts.

As we linger in the street, I notice a shape hulking through the shadows out of the corner of my eye. I focus more closely before discerning the shape as Eradon. He shadows our many training sessions, gauging my progress in his own way. I learned after my very first transformation that he is Lady Aya's backup and assistance.

I was bedridden for two full days and nights after both Lady Aya and her consort Eradon injected me with their venom, a war between vamyre bane and lycanthrope bane waging in my veins. It was unsure if I would survive as my body fought the venom and the change. The struggle at times was excruciating. Those days passed in a haze, but I remember Morina, my caretaker, at my side many times attempting to ease my pain.

On the third night, I awoke with my entire body humming. The pain was gone, and I felt strong. I felt powerful. Both Aya and Eradon were at my side as I ventured into the streets of Abderon that night as a changed man. And it was in the streets of Abderon that my first transformation overtook me.

The pain of the venom that plagued me for two full days and nights was nothing compared to the agony of my first transformation. Both Aya and Eradon had delivered warnings about the pain of my first transformation, but nothing they said could have prepared me for the relentless agony. It was crippling and slow, not the quick fluid movements I had seen with Eradon's transformations. I remember crumpling in the street at the onset and screaming until I felt my own vocal chords would rupture as my body broke and reshaped itself into a monster.

When the agonizing transformation was complete, a thirst like I have never known consumed me. It was here that Aya offered me her own wrist, crimson dripping, and I drank heartily. From my entire human existence, I could never recall anything that tasted so exquisite. I drank until she wrenched her wrist from my grasp, proclaiming I had had enough. Yet, still my thirst raged! I felt insatiable, and all around me, I could hear arteries pulsing, brimming with blood. I lunged for the first mortals that came into my line of sight, ready to tear out their throats. Aya forcefully stopped me, but I raged. My throat burned with desire, turning my sight red and corrupting all thought. And, there, in the streets of Abderon, a battle between three immortals erupted. It took both Aya and Eradon, and multiple broken bones, to subdue. In all reality, the wounds I sustained at the hands of Aya and Eradon should have killed me. But I survived. And I healed, as I have healed many times since that night. I have truly become a predator to be reckoned with.

"Soldier," Lady Aya addresses me, pulling me from my reverie. "The night is young, and we have much to accomplish." I watch as Eradon's hulking lycanthrope form slips from the moonlight back into the shadows. Eradon has not had to intervene in my training since the first night of my transformation. But he never strays far from Aya's side, ready at any moment to intercede at her command.

"Soldier!" Lady Aya declares again, capturing my undivided attention with her slightly exasperated tone.

"I apologize, my Lady," I state, bowing my head slightly in her direction. This movement allows me to catch sight of my body, bloody, covered in dirt, and still naked, in the street of Abderon. My indiscreet nudity would have bothered me as a human, but, as a shape shifting immortal, clothing only hinders my training. I gaze back up into Lady Aya's eyes before asking, "Shall we continue my training?"

"Yes. We shall," Aya replies, a small smile creeping to the corners of her lips. "Your failure cost a family their cabin. You are going to rebuild it for them. And you are going to do it in your hybrid form."

"My Lady?" I ask, not seeing her motive.

"When shifted, you are both stronger and faster." She motions to the collapsed cabin before us. "You could rebuild this entire structure tonight. But it will take both focus and control in your shifted form, which you need to practice. This reassembly will further test your abilities." I gaze for a long moment at the debris, wondering how I am going to accomplish such a feat. I feel Lady Aya move to my side. "I will help guide you, Soldier. But you must hold your focus and control. Now, ready yourself."

I take in the entire demolished structure, readying myself mentally and deciding on a starting point. I feel a slight tingle wash over me, which I have linked to Lady Aya's entrance to my mind. The remnants of my human side are always slightly startled when her voice inevitably sounds inside my head. The beast in me is accustomed to it.

Ready? she asks, her voice reverberating in my mind. At my slight nod, I see her smile broaden to show her razor teeth. Excellent. I watch a glint enter her eyes, the same glint I always see before these familiar words sound in my mind. Now, shift!