So, I have told you about my newly claimed breed and explained how powerful we are. What I have failed to tell you though, is exactly how it happened and how old I was when it did. You would never think that a mere cup-bearer would be given a gift such as near immortality. Why would it happen, I was overlooked, poor and had no real value as a man then. Apart from the occasional quest to the nearest town of Lakeshore, my life was boring, so much, so I even contemplated death. Back then, I felt the underworld would grant me far more exciting adventures. I have never been so right and so wrong in my life, the one I once knew or the one I live now.
I remember it as if it were yesterday, the cover of night had fallen, the maidens of the town indulging in mead and attempting to capture themselves a husband. Looking back, I now know why the Katima hunted the gathers as they did. Every male from the surrounding lands came to Lakeshore, tall, strapping men with unmentionable strength. They all gathered around to watch the women dance, and bare their breast's . Honestly, who could blame them? It was not until men with weeping bladder's or a churning stomach, came to relieve themselves in the nearby woods, that people began to go missing. I was never one who enjoyed libations, I found they forced you to do things you would later regret, so I kept my distance. Perhaps, if I had stayed true to my virtues, I would still be living the dull and tedious life of a human.
I made my first mistake by falling victim to the charm of a beautiful woman. I always was weak to the beauty and rarity of amber hair. I will always remember the kiss that caused me to lose my life that night. It had been my first. Her name was Marianne, she was short and curvaceous, with eyes as green as the spring meadows in Lasmonat. Her voice was in the likeness of an angel if such things ever existed. We had come to find solace in a quiet corner away from the havoc of the festivities. Like me, she had been overlooked by nearly everyone. We fell into a deep conversation that night, and for once I felt as if I had someone who could relate to my mundane way of existence. Pitcher after pitcher of mead came to find it's way down into our welcoming stomachs. The laughter and warm embraces seemed like walking among Hailotia,for a time.
My second mistake, going into the wood's during a blood moon. My third and final, venturing into them alone, without even a torch to guide my way. I still do not understand, why they chose me. Compared to all the other men there that night, I was among the smallest and underdeveloped. Perhaps, it was my willingness to serve. I suppose we will never know. I had my made my way into the dark, an eerie feeling came to creep over me. My back burned as if something or someone was stalking me with malicious intent. Even still, I saw my trousers unbuttoned and my piss stream onto a nearby tree. I stumbled here and there, I was drunk and had enjoyed far too much liquor for someone untouched by its potency. My stomach started to churn, and suddenly I felt the need to purge every ounce of ale I had so foolishly digested. As the cramping began, I found myself hunched over and emptying my belly onto the forest floor. First came the stench, it was putrid. Being inebriated, I figured it to be what I had just left in a pile before me. It wasn't until I slowly began to rise that two glowing red eyes met mine.
They stared into my soul with an unsettling silence. It felt as if I was about to die, but to my surprise, the creature did not bare its fangs, nor did it growl. It just stood there, gawking at me, its long neck craned downward as it peered deeply into my soul from beneath its brow. At first, I thought it to be a wolf until I realized the chances of seeing an entirely coal coated canine, that was the size of a horse was near to none, that I realized it had to be something far more dangerous. At that moment, I did not know whether to run or to try and defend myself. My body was frozen in sheer terror. If it is one thing I do not miss about being human, it is the weakness and your body's own ability to get you killed.
I stood my ground, and so did it. The hound was the one to make the first move, his ears came to stand sharply like two swords atop his head. His long and silken tail rose over his back, and at last, his teeth came to gleam in the silver moonlight. They were long and serrated with a light hue of yellow adorning them. Saliva dripped from the jaws of the beast in thick beads of green. As they hit the ground, they came to glow and sear the leaves around them. The fear hit me then, I turned to run, but there stood another. I turned left, and another came to face me. I turned right, and there another stood, I had no way out, I was sure to die. My breath caught in my throat, and I began to suffocate, I hoped a lack of air would kill me before the pain of a brutal mauling began.
Each and every one of them looked as if a mirror of the next. The only way I could tell them apart was the distinctive markings each one held. The first carried a red star between his eyes, the second had sanguine markings on its toes, the third held no markings at all, and the last well, he was short an ear. They had looked among themselves before they all turned to face me. The first one I came to meet the first to speak in a language I could understand. "Farenshan," follow he commanded. I didn't have the option to refuse him,so I did as I was told. They surround me as we walked, I began to sweat. The heat that radiated off their bodies felt like the lash of summer wind. It's power abused my thin flesh, making my beads of sweat turn into rolling drops of acid. My throat became parched, I had no idea what these new beings had in store for me. In an imbecilic wish for hope, I leaned on the assumption that if they wanted me dead, they would have killed me already.
We traveled those woods for what seemed like forever. My feet began to blister, and ache. Just when I was starting to think the torture would never end, we came upon a vast cave. Standing in the center of its opening, stood another creature. He was created in the likeness of those who had captured me, but for some reason, his air seemed much different. This one stood a head and neck taller than the others, his coat of fur looked to be made of stardust and fire. It beamed in the darkness, despite its sinful hues. Something about that one, in particular, mesmerized me. I could not stop staring at him, as stupid as it was, I wanted nothing more than to walk over and place a hand on the luxurious wave of his mane. My gawking came to an abrupt end as his set of eyes turned to three. They ascended up the concave frame of his skull, their iris' illuminate in the color of blood.
My breath fled me again, I finally came to realize what had come to abduct me. Hellhounds, the Walker's of Night, the Snatchers in the Shadows. They were the most prized possession of Dovium himself, I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing so far from his side.
"Trei'es diavo utolay," Come forward human, the leader beckoned. My guardians stepped aside bowing their heads in respect to this new male. I moved toward him in all his forbidden glory, my limbs threatening to cast me into the dirt with each lumbering step I took. His form towered over me, as if I stood a child to his father. Unlike the other's he held no nauseating scent. Instead, his musk drew me in like a moth to a flame. You knew that death was mere inches from placing a hand on your shoulder, but somehow comfort allowed you to welcome the embrace.
"What do you want of me?" I remember asking him. He never gave me an answer I could find comfort in. "Istom g'enva eix k'diatot utolay," you have a purpose human he replied. All I could do was kneel, if I was to serve him in exchange for my life, I was more than willing. In those unpromised moments, I came to find that my boring life may not have been so bad. It kept me out of harm's way, and for one night of passion, I had come to leave my fate in the hands of a creature I knew very little about. As my head came to bow, he placed a paw on my shoulder. His talons nipped at my skin, the weight of him forcing me further down into the dirt. All I remember from that moment on was the feeling of fire, the feeling of teeth forcing their way into the flexible barrier I called skin. I inhaled sharply, and then, everything went black.
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