3. Christos

3

CHRISTOS

I stumble, catching myself on a door frame. The surface cracks under my grip, and I jerk back, startled by my own strength. Fuck. That's the third piece of furniture I've broken today.

"Easy there, newborn." Nyx's voice drifts from across the room. "You're still adjusting."

I grunt, flexing my fingers. Everything feels... wrong. My skin's too tight, my limbs too long. And these damn wings?—

"Stop fidgeting with them," she chides. "You'll only make it worse."

I drop my hands, realizing I've been unconsciously tugging at the leathery membranes. "How long until this feels normal?"

She laughs, a sound like tinkling glass. "Define normal."

I scowl, pacing the length of the room. My footsteps are too light, barely making a sound on the stone floor. It's unsettling.

"Try to focus on one sense at a time," Nyx suggests. "Start with hearing."

I close my eyes, concentrating. Suddenly, a cacophony of sounds assaults me. I can hear the heartbeats of small animals outside, the whisper of wind through leaves, the creaking of the ancient castle around us. It's overwhelming.

"Fuck!" I clap my hands over my ears, but it doesn't help. "Make it stop!"

"You need to learn control," she says calmly. "Filter out what you don't need."

Easier said than done. I grit my teeth, trying to focus on just one sound. Slowly, the noise fades to a manageable level.

"Better," I mutter.

"Now, let's work on your wings."

I groan. "Do we have to?"

"Unless you want to keep knocking things over every time you turn around."

Fair point. I stretch out my wings cautiously, wincing as muscles I never knew I had protest the movement. Nyx circles me, adjusting my posture.

"Straighten your back," she instructs. "Feel the connection between your shoulders and the base of your wings."

I try to follow her guidance, but it's like learning to walk all over again. My wings refuse to cooperate, flapping erratically and sending a gust of wind through the room. A vase topples off a shelf, shattering on the floor.

"Shit," I curse. "Sorry."

Nyx waves off my apology. "It's just a vase. Focus."

She guides me through some more basic movements before giving me a rare smile. "Good. I think it's time for a break."

I follow Nyx out of the cabin, my new senses immediately overwhelmed by the night. The darkness isn't dark at all - I can see every detail of the forest around us with crystal clarity. The scents of pine, earth, and something wild and unfamiliar fill my nostrils.

We approach a clearing where other vrakken gather around a crackling fire. I can instantly feel their magic. Their pale skin gleams in the firelight, long hair flowing in the breeze. And they all have wings like mine. I try not to stare.

"Sit," Nyx commands, gesturing to an empty spot.

I lower myself carefully, still unused to my new body. The others watch me with curiosity, like they too aren't too used to seeing others.

Nyx takes her place at the head of the circle. Her presence commands attention, her black eyes reflecting the flames.

"It's time you learned our history," she begins, her voice carrying easily through the night air. "Not too long ago, I was human, like you once were. And as a human, I was vulnerable. I was attacked, left for dead near an ancient stone circle on the darkest night of the year."

She pauses, her gaze distant. "But death didn't come. Instead, I was... Changed. Gifted with power beyond imagination as my blood spilled into the Stonehenge like an offering."

Nyx goes on to describe her transformation, how she felt something rip through her body. "It was painful, but it also healed me. And since, the magic hasn't appeared again. Just for that night, it rippled through the universe, touching Earth for a brief, powerful moment."

"We have magic?" Someone breathed next to me.

Nyx only nods. "And immortality. Nothing can kill us but a god." Murmurs start up at that, at the protest from different theologies here. "When I became the first of our kind, our god appeared to me, calling himself Akeldama. He taught me how to create more of our kind, to build an army before the next solstice."

I listen, fascinated and horrified, as she describes how she Changed humans into vrakken. "I've been across the countries, moving from England and through Europe until I've landed here, in Greece."

As she says it, my eyes sweep around the group. Despite our pale skin and sharpened features, I can still see the different ethnicities here, though it's more muffled.

"But why?" I look toward the speaker, a pretty woman with fiery hair. "Why do you need to make more of us?"

"Because Akeldama told me to share his gift." I looked down at myself, wondering if it was even a gift. "And I do as my god tells me to."

"But we're…we're kidnapping them," someone else said, clearly feeling the same guilt and turmoil I am.

"We are giving them a greater purpose," Nyx explains.

"How many?" one man says. He looks more steady, more in control. I wonder if he was one of the first one's she Changed. "How many humans have you Made?"

Nyx arched an eyebrow, no remorse on her face. "How many have I Changed or how many have survived?"

My gut churned. I didn't even consider that some people wouldn't be surviving. But the Change was brutal and hard. Of course not everyone would survive.

As if to prove her point, a piercing scream shatters the night. My head whips around, searching for the source. At the edge of the clearing, a figure stumbles forward, clawing desperately at their throat.

"Fuck," I whisper, my enhanced vision capturing every horrific detail.

The human's skin smokes, angry red blisters erupting across their flesh. Their eyes bulge, filled with terror and agony. I can hear their frantic heartbeat, smell the acrid stench of burning flesh.

My stomach churns as the person falls to their knees, body convulsing violently. Their screams turn to choked gurgles, blood frothing at their lips. The Change is failing, their body rejecting the transformation.

I want to look away, but I can't. My new senses force me to witness every excruciating moment. The human's bones crack and splinter, trying to reshape themselves but failing. Their skin splits open in places, unable to contain the internal changes.

The convulsions grow weaker, the human's movements becoming erratic. With a final, rattling gasp, they collapse. The clearing falls silent, save for the crackling fire.

I stare at the lifeless body, my mind reeling. That could have been me. If my body had rejected the Change...

Bile rises in my throat as I remember my own transformation. The searing pain, the feeling of my body being torn apart and remade. But I survived. This person didn't.

My gaze darts around the circle, taking in the other vrakken. Some look away, uncomfortable. Others watch with detached curiosity. Nyx's expression remains impassive.

I clench my fists, feeling my new strength, the power thrumming through my veins. But at what cost? My humanity slips away with each passing moment, replaced by something... other.

Part of me mourns for the life I've lost, the simple joys of being human. The taste of my favorite foods, the comfort of a familiar touch, even knowing that life has a meaning because I could easily die. All of it, gone.

Yet another part of me revels in my new abilities. The heightened senses, the raw power, the promise of immortality. It's intoxicating, seductive.

I'm caught between two worlds, no longer human but not fully vrakken. The internal conflict tears at me, threatening to drive me mad. How can I reconcile these warring parts of myself?

My gaze returns to the body on the ground. A stark reminder of the price of this 'gift.' Is this what I've become? A monster who watches others suffer and die without lifting a finger to help?

I swallow hard, trying to push down the guilt and horror. This is my reality now. I have to adapt, to embrace my new nature, or I'll be consumed by it.

But as I look at the lifeless form before me, I can't help but wonder: at what point does adapting mean losing myself entirely?

Needing to take a break, I stand, looking at Nyx. My throat was already burning, probably sparked by the presence of a human. "I need to feed."

She nods. "You'll all need a lot of blood as your body settles. Go ahead. But don't go too far."

I take off toward the woods, expanding and contracting my wings and thinking it's time to test them.