Heartworm

‘Lies spill as freely from his maw as his own breath. But in this, he speaks true. His blood would be just as detrimental to Cecelia as yours.’

You know something I don’t. What have you kept from me, Lilith?

‘A conversation. One that was none of your business.’

The lake… You mentioned speaking with him before. Now that I think about it, Nessie mentioned watching me fight with someone near the lake. I had no idea what she was talking about until now. Did you try to kill Sebil while I slept?!

‘I decided against it. Calm your nerves, fledgling. You fret over everything.’

For good reason! You tried to KILL A BANDIT! How do you expect me to trust you at all if you could murder one of us in the middle of the night? Using my body, no less! FUCK!

‘The spark plug stands before you now, little morsel. Why are you so concerned? We settled some of our differences that night. That is all you need to know.’

No. Clearly that is not all I need to know. I’m done with you keeping shit from me.

“Sebil. With me. Now.” I didn’t phrase it as a question. Why would I? I wasn’t allowing Sebil a choice in the matter. I simply walked away from the camp in order to get some space from Nessyndra and Phern. The conversation was for the two of us. Or three, rather. Thankfully, Sebil didn’t protest. It was as if he knew precisely why I was pulling him aside. When we had made it far enough out of earshot, I turned to face him. The darkness had truly swept the forest up around us. My eyes allowed me to see the features of his face clearly, but I doubted he had the same luxury for me.

“You have a lot to explain. What happened between you and Lilith at the lake. She refuses to divulge any significant information. I only know you fought.”

“We did. Briefly. I do not know how much I am capable of speaking on the matter. Lilith is a woman who values her privacy, and the conversation we had was very much between the two of-” Sebil did not get a chance to finish his sentence. I wasn’t going to give him the opportunity to finish it, since I knew exactly where it was headed.

“I don’t care if it was between you and Lilith. The conversation was had using my body, and I will be privy to that information. If there are any repercussions from Lilith, I will pay for them myself.”

‘Remember what I told you, little morsel. You’d be wise to avoid certain topics.’

“She planned to kill me. For my past… mistakes. She led me out there to close the book on a long overdue chapter.”

“So what happened? You’re talking to me now, so what changed?” I asked, hoping to get the information out of someone much more willing than Lilith.

“I-I’m sorry, has she really not discussed this with you?” His words only led to me sighing. My reaction was all he needed to continue. “I see. She decided against ending me on the spot, because it would be relatively pointless. She already succeeded in getting what she wanted all those years ago.”

“What do you mean?” What was it that Lilith wanted in the first place? I was still missing too many key details about their relationship. I know there was a third party involved between Sebil and Lilith, the person I’ve been asked (not so kindly) to avoid talking about.

“She wanted me dead. She got what she wanted. It is no longer an if, merely a when. She put that into motion the last time we met.” Sebil began to slip his large brown coat off of his arms. It slithered down the length of his arms until it crumpled up in a pathetic pile in the dirt. Sebil did not stop with his coat, however. He then began to unbutton his shirt, until it parted in the center and he once again pulled the sleeves down the length of his arms until no clothing was left to cover his torso.

It revealed a part of him that I had yet to see. Bare arms, polar opposites of one another in nearly every way you could imagine. It was immediately obvious why he hid his flesh beneath linen and leather. His left arm looked normal, albeit scarred in small ways from fingertips to shoulder. On the other hand, or lack of one, things were entirely different. Where the metallic arm attached to his flesh just above the elbow, there were sickly black lines that pulsed every few moments. The closer I looked, the more unsettling it looked. Despite the black lines looking like veins, they pulsed steadily at a different pace than his normal veins, as if they were alive and independent of the normal circulation of blood within his body.

“I am fortunate, in the strangest of ways. Had I not been able to invent my own mechanism of slowing this, I would have died ten years ago. There is only so much the power of steel and oil can do to slow my fate, however. I will die soon.”

Emotion bubbled up into my throat in every flavor. The taste of confusion washing around in my mouth, the burn of dread on the tip of my tongue, and the tickle of sorrow pressing against the roof of my mouth. I was hard pressed to push words out of my mouth around the sickly emotions that crowded the space.

“What did she do to you? How long do you have?”

‘He promised me anywhere from one to two months. I will hold the spark plug to those estimations.’

I could not stomach speaking to Lilith. Even the thought of it made my chest squirm.

‘Judge me as you will. You are ignorant to the story, but you lambast the ending.’

“A blood curse. Something born of her hate for me. I have spent years studying it and discovered very little in the way of a cure. Or even an explanation. All I know is that it destroys and decays. It pulses with the very essence of death. Death, as you well know, is unwavering and inevitable. I have perhaps a month or two by my estimates of my health.”

“...that’s why. You’ve been following along with us for a cure. When you first joined us, you told me that you were hoping for my blood in order to study. You think it could be a cure, right?”

“Potentially. It is unlikely. As you now know, injecting the blood of a Deathless into a human is disastrous. My theory is that Lilith’s blood is within me, as the core component of this blood curse. It is my hypothesis that with Deathless blood inside of my body for the past ten years, my body might have acclimated enough to survive the transfusion of your blood into myself. Of course, it is much more likely that it will be incompatible with me, and kill me shortly after.”

“But it’s worth a shot! There has to be a way to stop the curse!”

“I’m afraid there is little point in trying, Xa-Ester. Apologies, there has been enough transpiring in the past few days, and I am still adjusting.”

“It’s fine. Really. What do you mean, though? Why wouldn’t we at least try to save you?”

“Because Lilith wants me dead. If I manage to stop the curse, she will simply take matters into her own hands once more and end my life.” Sebil seemed entirely resigned to his fate. Whether it was due to the blood curse that spread slowly throughout his body, or by the demonic passenger within my mind. A passenger that I had many words for at the present moment.

‘This is not your business, little morsel. What lies between Sebil and I is our own business. I’d urge you to keep your shadow-slicked claws out of it.’

“This is ridiculous. I’m not letting the stuck up immortal in my mind decide your fate. You need to keep working on that hypothesis of yours, Sebil. We’re going to test it when we get the chance, whether Lilith likes it or not.”

‘Adorable. When the time comes, I will simply exert control once more and do what needs to be done.’

Adorable. Unfortunately for you, we made a deal. Within that deal, you are to ensure the safety of the belligerent bandits.

‘...’

“Put your shirt back on Sebil. I’ll work around not using your blood for now. It’s time for a transfusion.” I stepped past the man to walk back towards the camp. He’d catch up once he got his clothes back on.

*****

“Ready is the gown I wore this morning.” Nessyndra said, repeating the phrase that she had said before we left Uroro. It was irreverent, but cute.

“Oooo! I like that! I’m gonna use that. Ready are the little boots I step with!” Phern threw her own spin on Nessyndra’s saying. It felt right, in its own way. Nessyndra and Phern constantly reminded me of one another. My suspicions that they would get along were already being proven.

Okay, Lilith. It’s your turn.

‘Naturally. Where would you be without my assistance?’

We both know I’d be dead. I know when to express gratitude, Lilith. I only wish you’d learn the same.

‘I have only ever expressed gratitude towards one other person, Ester. You are not her.’

I relaxed my body as I heard Lilith’s cryptic and unknowable words drift through my mind. It didn’t take long for Lilith to grasp the ‘controls’ of our body as I let go. We had done this dance a dozen times at this point, and as much as neither of us would want to admit, we had adjusted to one another. There were small details that I picked up on that demonstrated just how much our minds had begun to work in tandem. Something I was only willing to think about freely now that Lilith occupied the forefront of our mind. The biggest benefit to relinquishing control of our body was knowing my thoughts could be kept to myself.

It would be appreciated if you paid close attention to the intricacies of this procedure, little morsel. Understanding is the foundation of the power we wield. The more you understand about blood, the more you can use it to your whims. You are a scholar, after all, so I expect you to appreciate the instruction.

‘I will never turn down a lesson, Lilith. It hurts you’d even consider the idea that I wouldn’t pay attention.’

Very well.

“You must both present a wrist. Stay calm during the process. The spark plug will provide you with food once you are done.” As soon as the words were spoken, I saw Sebil sit upright out of the corner of his eye. He had, apparently, not thought to prepare food for the two donors. Foolish man.

‘Remember that Nessyndra doesn’t know about you. Maybe talk a little more normal and a little less… you.’

You do not think my speech is normal?

‘As normal as Deathless eating crudité.’

You think yourself cute.

‘I know I’m cute, Lilith. Cecelia tells me all the time.’

I put the little morsels aggravating attempts at entertainment aside. I needed focus for the following procedure. The two donors had graciously put forth their wrists for me to utilize. I started with the piscine woman. I pulled her wrist closer to me with my left hand. With a steadied precision, I raised my right hand just above her wrist and slowly sunk the claw of my index finger into her scaled flesh. Shortly after, the incision began to flow opening with a steady stream of blood. I let go of the piscine woman’s wrist and moved towards Phern, the eclectic woman that seemed endlessly entertained by the thought of me. I performed the same action on her, letting blood spill freely at a slow but sustained rate from her wrist. With the two donors prepared, I let my magic firmly surround the streams of blood and raised it to the sky. Counter to the effects of gravity, their blood was now seeping upwards out of their incisions. Their blood was collecting into small spheres about two feet above where their wrists were.

‘This looks freaky as hell, Lilith.’

With the first step of the transfusion complete, I moved on to the second step. Purification, as some Deathless called it. Sterilization, as I called it. Once enough blood had been siphoned from the two, I sealed the wounds around their wrists to stop the bleeding. I hoped that this amount of blood would be sufficient for the little morsel’s lover, because taking any more from the two donors could induce complications. As of now, I had taken around the maximum amount I could take without Phern or Nessyndra suffering any side effects.

The two spheres of blood collided, in a gentle, melting sort of way. The two types of blood swirled around and within each other before my eyes. If I wasn’t being observed by so many individuals, I might partake in some of the blood myself.

‘Sterilization, Lilith.’

Yes, of course. With the blood all collected before me, it was time to cleanse it. Rid the blood of its signature. Of its essence. It would need to be blank for me to imprint the signature of Cecelia on it. With the expectation that Ester was monitoring the process, I began to manipulate the blood, pulling at the fibers that made it unique. It wasn’t a violent process, both visually and physically, but the end result always felt like the result of an attack. The manipulation came second nature to me at this point. I sheared off the imprints that both Nessyndra and Phern had left in their blood until it began to resemble nothing at all. Hollow blood.

Now all I needed was a muse. The blood that I was attempting to recreate. I leaned forward towards the unconscious woman lying on a sleeping mat. With a gentle claw, I pricked the tip of one of her fingers and brought it back to my face. It was but a drop, but it carried everything I needed. It was the canvas, splattered with the essence and the soul of the person. It was the piece of art that I needed to match. I had always envisioned the restructuring of blood in this way as recreating an existing painting. The goal is to copy the piece before you down to the smallest detail. Color matched to the finest pigment.

It didn’t take me very long until the sphere of blood before me was colored in to the exact signature of Cecelia’s blood. Transferring the blood into the woman was all that remained. I made another small incision across Cecelia’s wrist, in the same spot that I had for the two donors. With a steady stream, I moved the blood towards the opening and began to push it inside. It needed to be slow, but there was very little risk for complications at this point in the procedure. After a couple of minutes, the procedure was finished. I could already sense the state of the unconscious woman. The amount of blood within her body was less than ideal, but certainly enough to make a recovery. She was no longer in imminent danger.

With my task complete, I relaxed my body and mind to slip back into the comfortable place in the back of our mind.

She was steady… she was safe. I could feel the blood flowing through her body. It was no longer dangerously low.

“Is she stable? Healed?” Sebil was the first to speak up after Lilith had finished with the transfusion. He was already sitting by Nessyndra and Phern, providing them with some of the food that had been sitting around in a bag within the camp. It was only a mixture of leafy greens, but it was something, and given Nessyndra’s dietary restrictions, it worked just fine.

“Stable. Enough that she might even wake up.” I said. While it wasn’t a guarantee that she would wake, she was at a point where her body could start to make a recovery.

“Not healed, though. That’s where I come in.” Phern piped up. “I have plenty of remedies to get her feeling hyped up as much as a Hornback in the middle of a rainy day, but they all require ingredients I can’t find here. The second we get to a town, or even far enough away from the lake, I can help her.”

“Why did you not venture to a town for your friend?” Nessyndra asked out of pure curiosity. I couldn’t help but tense at her question, however. I was certain that Phern and Sebil had done what they did because it was the best option available to them.

“The same reason we aren’t sitting inside of Phern’s portable home right now. We couldn’t risk moving Cecelia. We dropped her here when her heart first stopped beating, and each time we attempted to move her, her health deteriorated. We didn’t want to risk moving her anymore until she was stable.” Sebil provided the more elegant response to Nessyndra’s question. Phern seemed slighted by the question just as much as I thought she would be.

“Portable home?” Nessyndra asked, latching onto what was understandably the most confounding part of Sebil’s answer.

“Showing is better than telling, and I will gladly show the moment Cecelia wakes up.” Phern answered without looking towards Nessyndra. She was far more concerned with Cecelia at the moment. Her head hadn’t moved away from her pseudo sister since the transfusion started.

As if cued by her words, a small murmur slithered out from Cecelia’s closed lips. As silent as it was, it completely silenced the group of Bandits. What had started as a murmur quickly escalated into shuffling and twitching from Cecelia. After a few moments of Cecelia seemingly crawling her way out of whatever dream she was deep within, she finally opened her eyes. It was slow, and immediately followed by many rapid blinks and she attempted to rid herself of the blur of sleep. Soon enough, she was staring at each person before her, flicking her gaze rapidly between everyone until her eyes rested upon Nessyndra.

“Did you all try to replace me with a fish?”