No, this required stronger measures. I could not seek out Ares to help me, for this was entirely his fault in the first place. Besides, this was not his area. I had to seek out the divine assistance of one who knew of death.
I descended in to Hades.
I... do not wish to tell about my time there, but to say that Hades is Hades, in both the place and the god who over-sees it. Years passed above, though it did not feel like that long while I was there. It took me a great while, but I finally struck my bargain.
The details of the arrangement are unimportant and none of your concern, because I say that it is not. Suffice it to say that I managed the task I went down there for. It had really taken most of my time in that place to convince the god of the underworld that I would keep my side of the deal.
In the end, I got what I wanted: a way to bring my mares back.
Unfortunately, I could not simply give them life again. This was because they had been killed as well as consumed by beasts serving a god’s bidding. There were no longer any bodies to reanimate, and I could not even piece them together for they were locked in those animals by the will of Zeus. Hades could only give me their spirits. I had to supply the bodies.
It was not easy to seek out horses for slaughter, for the affinity that I have always had for the creatures, but this was so that my mares may live again. It was a necessary evil. I chose steeds from different places and in far reaching areas, so that their disappearances would not be suspicious. I used my power to lure them away to my home.
Once I had found and slain the four mares I needed, I was able to use my powers together with Hades’ blessing to call their spirits back from the underworld. They slipped upwards like mist from the ground - pale silver clouds in a night sky. I guided the four mists to settle upon the bodies of these other horses, and one by one they did.
Watching with growing excitement, I waited for them to come to life, but my excitement became dread before too long. Nothing was happening! I moved to one and pressed my ear to the cold flesh and fur and I could hear no heart beat. I closed my eyes, and began to weep with my head resting upon the corpse’s shoulder.
But then... the body twitched.
I jumped back at first, startled and terrified with primordial instinct. My heart beat painfully hard against the inside of my breast as I stared at the mare. She twitched again and then again. They happened more frequently as time seemed to creep by. I crawled closer to her head. The horse’s eyes were open, glassy and wild and of a pale white color, as if there were some thin substance covering them, yet I knew she could see. She... was alive, yet not in the ways other things were. I did not then know the term or concept to describe these creatures. All that I knew was that something strange had occurred.
Tentatively, I laid my hand on the pale fur of her jaw line. She calmed a little and let me pull her head on my lap, stroke the soft fur of her nose and ears. She turned her milky eyes towards me and I found curious depths there. She was like a child, I thought, who had yet to learn how to make her body function in the way she wanted.
“You were fire itself,” I whispered to her. “As if Prometheus had brought you to the people and not the flame we warm ourselves by. You can be again. You will be again,” I promised her. Looking in to her eyes, I thought that perhaps she understood and believed me.
The night grew long and I was tired, but I could not stop now. I concentrated on my mare with that part of me that held power, mind and spirit, urging her to her feet. She whickered a soft, muted noise through a thick throat and then shifted, twitching, stumbling laboriously to her feet. Once there, she swayed but stayed up.
One by one, each of them began to awaken and I did the same for them all until all four were on their feet. It was almost dawn by then and I lay down, exhausted. In their painful, wavering gait, each walked over to me, like children to a mother. Their noses were still cold, like death, as they sniffed me and touched my skin, but I did not mind.
I had them back.
Over the days and weeks to come, I spent most of my time with my mares. I kept them hidden during the day, lest anyone think wrongly of them and try to harm them. I took them out to roam at night, for they were most obedient to me and I had no fear they’d run away. They grew to frenzy when others came close to our home, however. This was how I knew that it was truly the spirits of my horses who were in these bodies, although they looked so different.
During this time, I could feel my power growing stronger, darker. I used it to help my mares learn better, to move better, although it only went so far. Plus, I still had other obligations to the Thracians that were a matter of my own survival, so this used some of my time and power as well.
What else occurred was my process of learning about them and what sort of creatures they were. The only thing that, at the time, I could think to call them was the ‘living dead’, for they were both living and dead. Their spirits were undiminished, but as time passed, I saw that their bodies were decaying around them. At first, they did not seem to notice, but every now and then, they would look at me in such a way as broke my heart - like they knew, but did not understand. At least they did not seem to be in any pain from what was going on around and inside them - not physical pain, at least. If it did hurt them in any way, they did not show it.
I would watch them when we would go out in the nights, moving through the sparse forests of this area of Thrace. Sometimes they would choose to roam and explore. Their movements were usually slow, but the glassiness of their eyes seemed to not affect their sight too greatly, for they did not often walk in to things. On the rare times they did, they’d pull back and look surprised. I had found that they seemed to be more emotive in death - showing more reaction and feeling than they had in life, even at their wildest. If they hit something hard enough, they would thread their way back to me and I would do what I could to ease them and that mare would stay close by me for a while, as if reassuring herself that it was all right. After a while, she would either get over it or forget it - I could not be sure which - but either way, the exploration would resume.
It was quite by chance that I discovered an interesting and important fact one night. I had learned early on that they did not need to eat to live, but I found that they could eat. Some small animal had died in their area and I happened to come upon them as they devoured it. I noticed later that the rate of decay slowed for a time after that.
I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it myself. It made sense.
The night following this discovery, I traveled for a time until I came to a village where they did not know me on sight. There was a man traveling along the road. He was alone and there was no one else for a good space in either direction, so I knew that I had found the one that I needed. I stayed behind, far behind, for a while and just kept him at the edge of my sight. It was a lot like tracking animals, which is what he was.
Since I had never killed a human, I had to think carefully about the best way to do it. I could not be deterred from my plan by lack of knowledge, though, because my horses needed me to do this. The day following the consuming of that creature, when the decay lessened, I could see it in their eyes. It made such a difference that I could not ignore this chance, even though this process would not be simple or easy, I imagined.
It turned out to be easier than I had thought.
I found a rock on the side of the road. It was heavy, but still of a size to fit in one hand as I walked a little quicker, balancing on the balls of my feet to silence my steps as I approached the man. My power of soothing was weak on humans, but it was better than nothing. He did not turn around as I came up behind him and hit him hard on the back of the head, right where his neck met his skull. I had once seen a man of medicine use this on a soldier returned from a conflict who could not be saved nor spared. There was a slightly wet, thudding noise as the two connected. He made no sound as he crumbled on to the road way. I stared at the prone body for a moment and then knelt beside him. He was dead.
I next began the laborious process of dragging him to my home. I placed my arms under his, lifting him slightly and then pulling him over dirt and stone. He was heavy, but probably did not weigh much more than I did, so that made it easier. I kept to the very edge of the road, so that we could hide if any one else passed by.
Luckily, no one did.
When I reached my mares, I presented them with their meal and urged them to eat it, which they did, all descending upon it at once. It was food and that was all they needed to know. I was simply gratified to see their condition improve following that feeding.
When they nuzzled their noses against me, not as much of their fur and skin would chafe off. It was wonderful.
Quickly it became habit that every other night I would fetch them a fresh meal. They continued to improve, although their eyes never lost that milky sheen and their movements were never completely free of the awkward halting gait. They never breathed again, nor ever had their hearts beat again. I sometimes thought that they even seemed frustrated at times, as though their spirits and bodies were in conflict, but on the whole, they improved.
I did what I could to soothe them through out it all. I used my power as well as my simple presence. Eventually, I even began to sleep outside with them. They would gather as close as they could around me, their large bodies blocking each other some what, but not so much as to be a concern - they were close. I had no fear of them and they had none of me. It was like we held an unwritten promise that we would take care of each other... I at least knew that I promised them as much.
Unfortunately, I was so taken up with my care of them that I did not see what was happening around me. People knew I was hiding something and strange noises could be heard from the area of my home during the night. They also saw that people were going missing. They put it together, although they did not understand it. They simply connected the things together and decided to act on it.
This was all information that I would come to learn by other means much later on.
It was near dawn when they came: farmers and hunters armed with tools and weapons of their homes. Thrace was a warrior nation, but the warriors all seemed to be elsewhere that night, yet even one man with a kitchen knife can be lethal if he had the will to use it as such, and it seems that they did have such will.
I only knew they were there because my mares sensed them and roused one another, as well as me, before the men could grab me. They, my horses, were rearing and dancing, biting and pawing at the men. Such grace! The noises they made were bestial, almost not like horses at all, but like the wild and magnificent animals that I had always known them to be. If no one else would be loyal to me, they would.
At first, the men tried to push their way past them, but to no use. My mares were powerful and fierce. Their teeth were sharper than the average horse’s and they were unafraid to make that fact known. In fear, the men backed up.
“What do you want?” I shouted at them over the noises of the horses while I hid in their protective cluster. It was a strange turn of events, for they circled around me like I was the foal and they were the protective circle.
“We want you to leave and to never come back!” one of the men shouted back at me, brandishing some farming tool he used to cultivate the crops that I helped him to grow.
Leave? I was in shock at the idea, but the seriousness of their demand was quite plain in the looks on their faces and the stances of their bodies. I may not have been like everyone else, but I had done good things for Thrace and this was how they treated me? I only ever wished to take care of my mares, who had as much right as any other to eat and live - such as it was. I stared for a long moment, but I knew that it was no good.
I kept my eyes firmly on the mob before us as I started backing in to the darkness of the forest behind us, using my power and connection with the horses to keep them with me, although they continued to dance in halting, frightening and powerful steps as we went. Anger seeded inside me once more as fear ebbed away and already I was adding these people to the list in my mind of those who would pay for what they had done to my horses, and to me. All things would come in time, but for now, there were more important matters to attend to.
When we were a safe distance away and there were no signs of our being followed, I turned to begin our escape in earnest and with greater speed. I only looked back once after that, only to see my home rising in flames.
It’s been lifetimes since our arduous escape to Gaul, which we almost did not survive. We migrated through that land for a number of years that I do not now wish to count, but we survived - in what ways they survive anything, being that they are not precisely alive. I suppose I can only thank Demeter herself for my own survival, and longevity.
Later I would have my revenge, but that’s another story and for another time. This one I must end here, for my mares are hungry.
* * *
About the Author: Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn't miss the snow.
You can connect with her at http://www.miadarien.com or on Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads!
* * *
Other Books by Mia Darien
The Adelheid Series (Paranormal Suspense with a Dash of Romance)
Cameron's Law
When Forever Died
Cats & Dogs (Between the Tales Short, Mailing List Exclusive)
Voracious
Family Matters (Between the Tales Short)
Written All Over Her
Welcome to Adelheid (Three Book Bundle)
Stories from Sanctuary City (Post-Apocalyptic Erotic Romance)
Sanctuary
Refuge (Coming Soon)
Turnabout Tales (Modern Fantasy/Romantic Fairy Tales)
Sub Rosa
Standalone Stories
Deeper than Skin (Historical Romance)
Steel Wings (Science Fiction Romance)
CM Doporto
Flesh Seekers
PUBLISHED BY:
CM Doporto
Flesh Seekers Prequel
Copyright © 2013 by CM Doporto
All Rights Reserved
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Published by: CM Doporto
Cover art by: Cora Graphics
Edited by: Sheri Spell
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. Any trademarks mentioned herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.
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Flesh Seekers
My heart beat rapidly. Pounding furiously within my chest. Ready to explode at any moment. I heard people talking all around me but I must have been out of it because I didn’t understand what they were saying and I couldn’t make out their faces. Death waited for me. But I wasn’t ready to die. It sucked because no one could help me since I was one of them. You know, a Flesh Seeker, and that meant the end for me.
At nineteen, I had too much to live for. A beautiful girl and a baby on the way. A baby that I might not ever see and may not get to live. I heard her voice, the cute high pitched tone with the little T
exas twang at the end. Kait’s voice. Damn, I wish she was here with me now. She was everything I had dreamed of and wanted in a girl.
Yeah, I can hear my mamma. “Are you crazy muchacho? She’s a Bolilla and her family won’t approve of you going out with her.”
I knew it would be far-fetched to get Kait to go out with me, but what did I have to lose? I was a Mexican with good looks along with a slim, muscular body and a talent for drawing. She wanted me; I knew by the way her eyes watched my every move in history class. I just needed the right opportunity to convince her to give me that chance. I still remember the day, like it was yesterday.
“Josh Sanchez, you and Kaitlyn Richardson will work together. Toby Bentley you’ll be with Susan Silverman.” The history teacher went on, going down the list, pairing us with a member of the opposite sex to do a project on Women’s Rights. I didn’t give a damn about the project, but Kaitlyn… hell yeah. She was fine! The high school cheerleader, the hottest blonde in the school, the most popular and the richest.
Even though Kait came from money, she wasn’t the typical stuck up, snobby bitch like most popular chicks. She was different and that’s why I liked her. She always made it a point to smile at me and say ‘hi’ when she passed me in the halls. I wanted to say ‘hi’ to her first, but I have to admit that she did intimidate me. So instead, I would wait for her to say it first.
“Hi, I’m Kait Richardson.” She stood in front of me, holding out her hand and smiling.
I couldn’t help but notice her perfectly straight and bleached white teeth, blaring right at me. Next to her’s, my mouth looked like Jaws, teeth all crooked and pointed. So I gave a half smile, trying to hide my messed up chompers and shook her hand. “Hey, I’m Josh, Josh Sanchez.”
“Yes, I know who you are,” she said, taking a seat in the empty desk to the left of me. She crossed her long slim legs, blocking any chance of seeing up her tight denim micro mini skirt, even though she had on some type of leggings underneath.
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