year in that two other Breeders had been increasing, another was ripe, and they were all gone. The millennium of careful breeding wiped out in an instant because a delusional, self-loathing Breeder-born Aradian felt threatened; had gone mad with the power of vampires.
His son squirmed in his arms, already hungry for sustenance. With a sad smile, Feryn pressed his finger against his elongated tooth. As he rocked the babe, letting the child suckle his blood, Feryn felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his twin brother Jiro standing there, a grim expression mirrored on his face. The two of them had been the first Aradians to be born of Breeders and Feryn’s son was the last. It was a painful joy.
*****
Confused and disoriented, Malorie jolted out of the Aradian’s memory, her spine slamming against the back of the chair she was sitting on. As it tilted precariously backwards, she flew out of the seat, barely aware of her surroundings: the small room, the falling chair, a nearly dead plant on the table. There was something wrong with her; she didn’t feel human. It was as if a feral creature had taken over her body and she was no longer in control of herself.
Mindlessly, her heart skipping erratically in her chest and her breathing too shallow, she looked around the confined space with wild eyes, desperate to release some of the energy that consumed her, desperate to find her equilibrium so she could think clearly once again. Her eyes landed on the plant and acting on instinct, she thrust her hands into the soil and let go.
Releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, she closed her eyes in pained relief as calmness flowed into her. After a moment, she felt the tickle of a fragrant leaf brushing her face and she smiled, once again human. Once again Malorie.
A soft gasp brought her out of her reverie and her eyes shot open and she saw the black haired man standing behind lush green foliage. The nearly dead plant was bursting with life, filling the small room with its exotic flowers and scent. Perhaps, she might have gone a bit too far in trying to find her balance. With an absurd measure of embarrassment, she yanked her hands from the soil and hid them behind her back, slowly backing up and sitting on the chair that hadn’t quite managed to fall over.
What the hell just happened? She had been captured by the Aradian, stumbling along behind him as he set a brutal pace. But then he stepped into the deepest shadow Malorie had ever seen. It yawned open and seemed to absorb all of the light surrounding it; a black hole. Inside the darkness, colors clashed and danced around her, sound was a strange cacophony of nothingness; if there was a smell, Malorie couldn’t have said for certain what it was: all of them or none of them. It was alien and uncomfortable and unending.
And when it finally stopped, her head continued to spin and her belly lurched in protest. The Aradian had released her and she collapsed to the ground, unable to support her body. On her hands and knees, she lost everything that was in her stomach and wanted to die. But then she saw the diamond covered Aradian step out of thin air, her son cradled in his arms, asleep and so innocent.
Reaching for her son, she used the last of her strength to gasp his name, “Toby.”
And then the world faded to black and she wound up here, in a small room with the Aradian’s memory swamping her head. Closing her eyes, she inhaled slowly, trying to keep the rising panic at bay. It would be foolish to give into panic now; there were no more plants to siphon off some of her nerves and she had to find Toby.
“Welcome back,” the hauntingly familiar voice wound its way through her senses, making her body clench in fear and excitement. Handing her some wet toilettes, he looked incongruously contrite. “Forgive me for putting you through that; it was thoughtless of me to keep you awake when I travelled through the Netherspace.”
She
His son squirmed in his arms, already hungry for sustenance. With a sad smile, Feryn pressed his finger against his elongated tooth. As he rocked the babe, letting the child suckle his blood, Feryn felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his twin brother Jiro standing there, a grim expression mirrored on his face. The two of them had been the first Aradians to be born of Breeders and Feryn’s son was the last. It was a painful joy.
*****
Confused and disoriented, Malorie jolted out of the Aradian’s memory, her spine slamming against the back of the chair she was sitting on. As it tilted precariously backwards, she flew out of the seat, barely aware of her surroundings: the small room, the falling chair, a nearly dead plant on the table. There was something wrong with her; she didn’t feel human. It was as if a feral creature had taken over her body and she was no longer in control of herself.
Mindlessly, her heart skipping erratically in her chest and her breathing too shallow, she looked around the confined space with wild eyes, desperate to release some of the energy that consumed her, desperate to find her equilibrium so she could think clearly once again. Her eyes landed on the plant and acting on instinct, she thrust her hands into the soil and let go.
Releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, she closed her eyes in pained relief as calmness flowed into her. After a moment, she felt the tickle of a fragrant leaf brushing her face and she smiled, once again human. Once again Malorie.
A soft gasp brought her out of her reverie and her eyes shot open and she saw the black haired man standing behind lush green foliage. The nearly dead plant was bursting with life, filling the small room with its exotic flowers and scent. Perhaps, she might have gone a bit too far in trying to find her balance. With an absurd measure of embarrassment, she yanked her hands from the soil and hid them behind her back, slowly backing up and sitting on the chair that hadn’t quite managed to fall over.
What the hell just happened? She had been captured by the Aradian, stumbling along behind him as he set a brutal pace. But then he stepped into the deepest shadow Malorie had ever seen. It yawned open and seemed to absorb all of the light surrounding it; a black hole. Inside the darkness, colors clashed and danced around her, sound was a strange cacophony of nothingness; if there was a smell, Malorie couldn’t have said for certain what it was: all of them or none of them. It was alien and uncomfortable and unending.
And when it finally stopped, her head continued to spin and her belly lurched in protest. The Aradian had released her and she collapsed to the ground, unable to support her body. On her hands and knees, she lost everything that was in her stomach and wanted to die. But then she saw the diamond covered Aradian step out of thin air, her son cradled in his arms, asleep and so innocent.
Reaching for her son, she used the last of her strength to gasp his name, “Toby.”
And then the world faded to black and she wound up here, in a small room with the Aradian’s memory swamping her head. Closing her eyes, she inhaled slowly, trying to keep the rising panic at bay. It would be foolish to give into panic now; there were no more plants to siphon off some of her nerves and she had to find Toby.
“Welcome back,” the hauntingly familiar voice wound its way through her senses, making her body clench in fear and excitement. Handing her some wet toilettes, he looked incongruously contrite. “Forgive me for putting you through that; it was thoughtless of me to keep you awake when I travelled through the Netherspace.”
She
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