Chapter 13: The Endearing Feast (3).....

As he moved in the darkness, he could not help but recall old memories. Times he spent frolicking around, too bad he had a mission to complete, and who knows, playing here could be just as, fun if not more.

As Kean was lost in his memories. Changes were taking place on the outside.

Kyrios who had witnessed his master injure himself was quite shocked at first, because this situation differed greatly from the other feasts before. But upon receiving that signal he removed all unnecessary thoughts in his head and went to do what was required of him.

Placing the boys who had woken up sometime in between Kean's speech, on his chair he went for the ceremonial dagger that Kean had used. Holding it in his left, he used his right to seek out something that looked like a small clay pot.

Placing the pot on the table, he held the dagger to his wrist and with a swift motion he slit it. Dark-greyish blood flowed out of his veins into the pot until he felt that it was just enough for its purpose. The wound he had slit suddenly healed almost like it was just waiting for a signal. 

He then moved to the children, starting from the eldest to the youngest he repeated the same process for each of them one by one. But it seemed like they were used to this, so no one was surprised at seeing their brother collect their blood.

After he had finished collecting their blood, he stirred it three times with the dagger as he inaudibly muttered a single word in Eledrachie tongue. Though it was not as impactful as when Kean used it, it still had its voraciousness just by virtue of its origin. But on normal occasions, any mortal that dared to use the Tongue of Horrors would have descended into madness while slitting his own throat with much glee. But this clearly did not happen to Kyrios.

There were no signs of madness.

Perhaps he was being protected from its effects by Kean or.... maybe he was just beyond the point of madness that he would not be affected by it. For if he was, he clearly did not have an inkling of it.

After he was done, he approached the beast that had been undergoing tremendous changes.

A few moments back...

When the beast saw that 'abomination' holding a dagger over her body, she felt that her time had finally come, and when it finally descended, she felt the world come to a standstill.

She was ready to leave her life behind and she would probably join her ancestors. But in the next moment she felt that abomination push its hand into her heart and to say that it was painful was just....

She had never felt pain like this before. And what made it worse was that she could tell that he had left something in her body. She just could not seem to understand it, this thing felt colder than anything she had ever felt before, it was beyond just the superficial feel of temperature, it felt worse. She felt her very being warped and changed to fit its vile nature. 

If it was just cold, she could have borne with it, but when its wails begun. She wished to die, she just wanted to die, why wouldn't she just die, I want to die, I want to die.... please, please...I want to just die.

But her dreams would not just come true, the wails became even louder. But a grunt from somewhere suddenly sounded and with it came her relief.

Well, if only for short while, for 'that thing' started to caress all her internal organs, she felt like there were suddenly a thousand tiny hands caressing her insides. She felt seek and disgusted by her own body as it sought to penetrate them. And that it did.

Then pain became even worse than the one she had felt before. The was generated from her heart and with every its every pump, the pain spread to everywhere in her body, almost like as if it was replacing her blood with pain.

She wanted to scream, to tear out her own heart, to crush her own neck if possible but a certain power held her in place, it was not until the pain reached a certain threshold that her mind broke.

Nothing and no amount of pain seemed to solicit a reaction from her. She felt darkness creep onto her mind, but she cared nothing of it, and just accepted her fate.

Meanwhile her previously white organs that at times would have flashed with silver, became black or charred for a better comparison.

The transformation extended to her exterior, he previous white silver pelt of fur became darker than anything they had ever seen, she grew bigger, larger and more ferocious than before. If they had found her outside at her current state, then they would have never bothered to even step a kilometer close to her territory, they even had a feeling that she could survive the purifying Light with her power.

Her teeth became so deadly that she could crush bones with a single bite, and that was nothing compared to her claws, but before the transformation continued/

Kyrios came next to its maw, opening it, he poured the contents of the small pot into the mouth of the beast.

This time even with her broken mind she felt the pain.

Well compared to having her body changed this was not of equivalence but it was not far off. If she was in the right state of mind, she would have told you that the blood that was forced into her mouth was like drinking molten lava with a hint of molten light. It was just so excruciatingly painful. And it also came with transformations of its own.

Though it had lost its mind due to pain, the body could not just shut itself off, the pin the body felt made it tremble and eve without her consent, she winced in pain.

Once the blood had been fully absorbed into its body. Kean's blood seemed to welcome this new blood. Like a King welcoming his loyal subordinate back from an odorous battle. They fused together, with Kean's blood as the foundation. 

Suddenly a change took place that attracted the attention of the children, black bone protrusions seemed to develop from its head. the black fur on its head, that had gained hints of metallic grey created way for these protrusions. 

And like a beast crown, it grew to occupy her whole head, making her fit for beastly royalty of her Legacy. But clearly, she was in no right mind to appreciate it. The bone crown was made of thirteen bone peaks that stood like monoliths holding up the sky. The were large and excessively so, if not for their shape one would assume that they were horns.

The tallest peak stood at the front of all the others, leading them on like a general leading an army. If it was not clear now, these peaks on the head of the beast seemed to represent all those seated at this table with exclusion of Kean.

The kids grew excited, for with this sign, their food was almost ready. But they failed to notice the existence of dark sinister runes on the bones. But no would blame them, the bones were black, and it would have been hard for anyone to see them and not especially when they were darker than the bones they lay on.

Seeing this crown, Kyrios, called for attention from the other kids. and he said, his voice sounding deep and insightful, sage and serene but also forceful and wild at the same time. It was a wonder how one could so much go on with his voice.

He said, " A feast prepared by the hands of our Lord. Dine and relish his mercy, from his blood we feast. With his blood our cursed flesh shall wither, through his grace wish be renewed by his power. Time has come little ones. You earn your names today my siblings."

The children were frozen in shock after hearing the declaration, getting names has always been a dream for them, from the moment they could understand, they were told that they were not allowed to have names.

They did not understand what it meant then, but as they grew older, the weight of having no names, was like having a gaping hole in their body that no amount of happiness, food, safety and love could fill.

To hear that they would be named soon and not by anyone other than Kean. They felt elated. They would have been close to tears if not the fragrance of the beast before them.

They could not just wait to sink their teeth into it. The way they looked at Kyrios, who seemed to want to prolong the speech by singing endless praise filled them with annoyance.

Kyrios, seeing their looks took a hint and did not say all that he planned to say.

Instead, he moved to the head of the beast, hold the dagger, he swung mercilessly at it head. If not for the size of the blade. He would have only needed one swing to cleave off its head, but he refused to use anything other than the dagger.

And so, it took a little close to three hacks that the head finally fell off. If the beast was aware of its death, it did not show. it made no noise, and it did not resist, even as he hacked the second time, failing to remove off its large head.

For what happened next was something that could not be described. The children finally showed what it meant to be born as an Abomination in a broken world. Their ferocity was unimaginable for their age. The beast was eaten raw, no fire was used to cook it first, nor could it be used.

Only its bones that could not be immediately eaten were left, as for its skull, Kyrios, was using it as a cup to hold its own blood. Sipping it like it was aged wine.

Just like that the feast of destiny was concluded, next would be the moment their fates changed.