"Let me tell another story" Ren spoke, grinning like a man drunk as he stood before the fire.
Everyone quietened down, for hours without break Ren had told story after story.
"This story is one whispered in my hometown" He said, settling to seat before the campfire as it crackled loudly.
How he didn't feel the heat was a mystery to me. Even though the sun was still up, he sat right before it, causing his shadow to curl and twist with every motion he made.
By now, everyone had eaten their fill of meat. It's taste caught everyone off guard with its richness, it was tender and juicy, with such a natural oily feel that even though there was not a touch of seasoning, it left you craving more.
Ren's voice pulled me back into the story, "He is called by many names; Immortal one, The undying and, even some more unflattering names like corpse boy" He paused, building suspense.
"He had one name though, one that never changed throughout the stories." His voice dropping to a whisper as he held gazes with everyone at the campfire.
"His name was Cadavir."
By now everyone knew who Ren was talking about, in between his stories he explained everything that had happened while also finding out how the girls survived the night.
For them it was quite simple, Kendali flew them safely away from the waves.
Ren stared at the fire like he was reading words off it, even in the brightness of day he acted as though the fire was the most important thing.
"Some speak about how he was born out of flame, crawling out of it as an infant, or how he had no blood and fed on humans like a leech. Some say he made a deal with the great evils and would continue to live as long as he provides them with souls"
Some even say he was an experiment by the government, a mixture of different crearures to create a soldier that was functionally Immortal."
"But regardless of all that he was a small man, and alone.
One day, in his early years, a powerful gang leader captured him, hiring scientists to find out the secret to his immortality.
For years they kept him, starved and isolated, all the while subjecting him to cruel tests in order to break down his Immortal body, testing its limits"
Ren's words turned grim, effectively emphasising his story, even the fire seemed to quiet down.
"One day, the scientists found him missing a finger, the smallest one.
They were instantly overjoyed, believing they had found something important in the way he functioned.
"His body must have absorbed that finger." They thought, bringing up theories on how his body worked.
Ren chuckled, the sound dragging for long before he suddenly came to a halt.
"They were wrong." His rose to his feet, but his voice fell, turning grim again.
"He had chewed off that finger himself, throwing it to somewhere they could not find easily.
Somewhere the finger was allowed to grow.
From a finger it became a hand, then an arm, Until it became its own person.
Weeks passed before people started to get missing.
Sometimes the corpses were found completely drained of blood.
Over time more and more corpses turned up, their deaths unexplainable.
And more fingers disappeared, spawning a small army of murderous, bloodthirsty, Immortal killers.
On the day they attacked there was no stopping them. Guns, fire, bombs...., nothing fazed them.
Just ten men.
They burned the building to the ground.
The original Cadavir waited, ensuring the building burnt to ashes. Making sure there were no survivors.
He ordered his clones on a mad hunt, searching for those who escaped, their families, their loved ones.
In the end nothing remained of the people.
Not even their names were remembered."
Ren stopped on a solemn tone.
Of all his stories, this one... this one deeply affected me.
I stared across the fire at Dahlia.
She looked completely calm, but I knew it was a lie. As long as she was human she still had feelings.
'If he really was determined to kill her would she be able to survive?', 'If he came with an army of ten maybe twenty would anyone be able to stop him?'
"That story's not true is it?" Kendali spoke her voice sharply cutting through the silence, "I mean even if he can come back from being beheaded, it doesn't mean he can sustain multiple bodies."
Ren smiled, his grin reaching his eyes.
"Unfortunately, no one but Cadavir himself knows the truth....., till we see him again we can only guess."
And on that note the stories ended. Ren excused himself from the campfire, dragging Theo along with him.
"Where are you going" Karin asked, it was the first time I've seen here address her father.
"Preparations for the night" He said simply.
"Theodore and I would make sure we are ready for the incoming storm." He turned away, walking into the covering of trees.
He was the first person I've seen call Theo by his full name. It seemed Theo himself didn't mind, but it left me with a feeling of unease.
Dad and Kendali offered to help, but they were both turned down, I myself would have offered to help. Though only because I would rather not be seated here with nothing to do.
I stared idly at the pointed stick in my hand and the meat in the fire.
The meat was starting to burn, yet no one removed it, for whatever reason they had.
I myself didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
And so I sat alone, thankful there was no one else beside me to disturb my thoughts.