It was exhilarating, and almost terrifying.
In just a single moment, I was across.
My heart birthed a smidgen of anxiety as i approached the cliff, but once again my primal instincts took over.
It was impossibly easy to shift my body at just the right angle that I landed nimbly on my toes .
I laughed like a child, dimly aware of Hera clicking her tongue a few paces away.
I didn't care...
'What a RUSH!!!' I thought.
"Focus, Fool. We have a purpose." Hera chided.
"Oh, right sorry" I nodded a little bashfully..
"Follow me… and try to keep up!" She taunted disdainfully, and then she broke into a run.
She was faster than me. It was beyond me how she propelled her body forward at such godly speeds.
But I wouldnt give up.
I pushed harder and my legs instantly obeyed my thoughts — every new stride surpassing three of my previous.
And so like an arrow from a bowstring I shot through the hollowed grove.
Hera's movements were effortless—without the slightest exertion.
It was a little annoyed; knowing she could very easily outpace me.
Then my mind was once more occupied by the thrill.
It made no sense to me; how I could maintain a clear vision of my surroundings at such ghastly speeds.
For a few moments, while I leaped over, slid under, and smashed through the thick woodlands at a rate that should have blinded me, the wind surged around me —warm against my skin.
The human in me waited for my lungs to tire, but my breath flowed in ever more swiftly. I waited for soreness to begin in my limbs, but each leaping bound was firmer against the earth.
I let out another infantile peal.
"Mason," An irritated voice called, snapping me out of my stupor.
Hera was frowning impatiently, with her arms crossed gracefully. So beautiful that i stared without any intent.
"By all means continue North into hostile territory. Its only painful death that awaits you after all, whats the biggie?" She asked, annoyed.
"oh umm sorry," I apologized, trying hard to tear my concentration from the mesmerizing contours of her face.
It was impossible.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
She suddenly paused, closing hers crimson eyes as if she were praying.
It was hard not letting my gaze drift across her jade collarbone.
The sight instantly left a raw burn in my throat, consuming all my thoughs. The thirst was definitely getting worse.
"Be silent," she said as she brushed a satin palm over my eyelids, closing them, her own eyes snapping open. My body reacted strangely to her touch. Hopefully she didn't notice.
"Listen," She odered. "What do you hear?"
I opened my ears to the world. An action I immediately regretted.
It was too much. Too many sounds. A fray of impulses racing through my nerves.
The whistles and chortles of minute insects tunneling across the forest, the fluttering of a dozen aviary wings.
The scavenging of rodents toward their burrows, the hum of moisture suspending in the air, and the fall of every single tiny dew drop.
I was tempted to tune it all out . . . But then I found a rhythm amidst the noise.
There was an open meadow dozens of meters south —the wind was crispier there.
And there, drowning everything else, was the loud thumping of powerful hearts, pumping thick viscous streams of blood. . .
The burn in my throat intensified, my mouth watering with venom.
"An open field in the south?" I asked, my eyes still shut.
"Yes." Her cold voice carried a note of approval. "Now… let the breeze carry the scent to you. . . "
And carry it did. The scent was ripe, femented, warm and fruity. I savored a deep breath.
"What do I do now?"
She smiled knowingly. "What do you feel like doing?"
I shivered in excitement.
The more i breathed in the scent, the greater the pangs of thirst attacking my throat become.
I could almost taste it. A hot, wet fluid watering my throat.
"Let go... allow your instinct to take over," Hera cooed, finally taking her hands of my face.
I followed the scent, speeding out of the trees into the open field.
My body crouched autonomously as my prey finally came into view. I could see them, an entire sleuth of giant grizzly bears— each one much bigger than normal.
My eyes norrwed onto the big male.
My instincts told me that he would be the hardest kill —but also the most rewarding flavour.
I was emboldened by his scent, sensing the moist heat pulsing within his furry neck.
He was unguarded, and I was in range...
I tensed ...my muscles contracting, and pressure building in the soles of my feet.
It was a split second before I sprang into motion, saoring across the fields like a comet.
I landed lithely besides the grizzly.
He felt the tremor in wind and whirled towards me, roaring in fear and outrage.
Nostrils flared in anger, he attenpted to claw through my shoulder.
Drunk on the thrill, i laughed as his curved razor sharp claws grated against my skin.
With another excited laugh, I launched myself at him, barreling into him until i had him pinned against the ground.
I almost felt sorry him.
His resistance was pathetic: He broke several of his claws and fangs desperately trying to damage me.
His roars were at first wrathful and furious, then they slowly became cautious and frightened, now they were meek and pleading.
My canines easily found his neck, rendering his struggles useless and feeble.
My jaws followed the sound of rushing blood as they caressed his throat.
Then it was over.
It was like a knife through jelly.
My teeth easily pierced through his flesh.
The blood was warm and thick is it poured down my throat and quenched a dry, aching thirst as I gorged on the unlucky mammal.
A pleasant warmth gently flowed through my whole body, speading even to my extremeties.
————
'Why are we so different from them?'
.
..
...
'There is power in the essence of the living—in blood.
And our cells are eternally drunk in its vital energy, strengthening our senses, skin, bones, muscles. . .
With each passing day we grow stronger than we could have once imagined.'
...
'Where did our kind come from?'
.
..
...
'Eons ago. . .
An asteroid made of Hexite —the most powerful substance in the known world's — struck these lands. . .
Irridiating the terrain, plant life, and wildlife with its mystic power.
And when the time of the first men came, seven clans settled over it and called it . . . Nocturnis.
It was a time of great prosperty — of great technological and magical advancement.
We had purified our genetic sequences and unlocked the meta gene all while the rest of mankind lived in caves.
But our peace was short lived, for the very asteroid that had blessed us with glory hid an invader:
The blood Empress Neferti — an alien deity far beyond our understanding.
All the stories say that the she was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever come across.
She looked like the goddess of the dusk as she appeared before us; the sun withdrew in shame, its light paling in comparison to her starry white skin, no longer lending her blood colored hair its golden luster is it curtained down her back.
Her face was unnatural in its beauty, her crimson pupils hiding a grand majesty.
Our ancestors fell to their knees in worship while she feigned benevolence.
She cultured our greed and ambition, manipulating it for her own ends until we actively sought more— eternal life.
A small number of us were wiser, and left Nocturnis for the human lands— passing down the meta gene to the humans of today.
But those that remained paid a heavy price;
The darkness swallowed us, imprisoning us eternally in the night — etching into our souls this sinful, unquenchable thirst.
We evolved into sons and daughters of the night.'
'And the goddess . . .what of her fate?'
'No one knows . . . Many say she succumbed to the passage of time, while others claim she returned to whence which she came.
But if you asked me for my thoughts, then I would say . . . .
that she retreated into the darkness of these lands.
That she lies in a patient wait for the evil she sowed Eons ago to bear fruit . . . '
There was an intensity to Heras words, one that even the melody of her angelic voice could not drive out.
Earlier she had hunted with me.
While I drained a single bear she had already finished two, not a single bloodstain on her garb, not a single hair out of place.
We decimated the rest of them, this time I was not too distracted by my thirst to notice the beauty and grace with which she hunted.
And then finally, a curious question had led to this long tale.
I turned to Hera to see her leaning casually against an oak, watching the eternally dark sky with sorrowful look as she related all of this.