Chapter 14: Choices and Opportunities
The first thing that I noticed as I came round, was that my hand hurt. My broken wing seemed to have healed, even though it still ached a bit, but it was my hand that hurt.
That might have had something to do with the inch-long thorns driven into my flesh, as well as the death grip my bleeding hand had on the vine. Between the punctures and the exhausted muscles, I was unable to make my fingers release, I had to reach over with my other hand and gently pry each finger open. Carefully pulling those thorns out of my palm was . . . interesting. It should have hurt more, but a combination of my improved body and the leftover adrenaline kept it down to a dull ache.
As soon as I’d gotten my hand free, I took a moment to look around myself and take stock of the situation.
The clearing was a mess, no two ways about it. The grass that had once covered it was either torn up by the fight or covered by the blanket of oversized brambles. The torn-up earth had also been reduced to little more than a muddy bog. On top of that, more than a few trees had been knocked over by the fight.
But that was all background information, meaningless compared to the main detail I immediately focused on.
Where was Etienne?
His body should have been looming over me like a beached whale, and he should have still been wrapped in the thorny vines I’d restrained him with. Instead, there was no sign of the bound monster. The mass of brambles just lay there, covering the ground like a discarded blanket. Right before me was the spot where one of his tentacles had been, the one that I’d grabbed in order to make contact, but there was nothing but mud and brambles. Staggering to my feet I took another look around the clearing, trying to make sense of what was going on.
The movement made me acutely aware that it wasn’t just my hand that hurt, the rest of me wasn’t in great shape either. My head felt as though my halo had rebelled as was trying to crush my skull. It wasn’t as sharp as the pain in my palm had been, but just about my whole body seemed to be suffering from the sorts of dull pain I was normally happy for Joan to be able to heal. I felt as though Hadriel had just been using me as a punching bag. It went even deeper than just the muscles though, as I could feel my internal channels of power throbbing as magic passed through them. Earlier I’d pushed myself further than I ever had, and now I was paying the price.
But truthfully, it was better than I had feared. I remembered that horrible moment when I hadn’t been able to move after being hit by one of Etienne’s tentacles. Sure, I’d been able to push through it, but even in my most serious sparring matches, I’d never felt that . . . broken before. I’d been afraid that after this fight I’d find myself crippled somehow, so feeling sore was a pretty good result as far as I was concerned.
Just then I noticed I was almost as much of a mess as the clearing around me. The shirt I’d modified was ruined, torn, mud-stained, and barely hanging together. My trousers had fared only slightly better, both knees being ripped open and the rest of them caked in mud. Still, they’d held together, just about.
Taking another look around the clearing didn’t reveal anything else, and I wondered if the other demigod had regained consciousness first and just left. It was a good sign that he hadn’t eaten me while I was out cold. Not doing so probably meant that I’d managed to help him somehow. On the other hand, what did it mean that he’d just left like that? He’d been screaming some pretty . . . dark stuff, might it have persisted even after whatever I managed?
A groan from the centre of the clearing caught me by surprise and made me spin in place to try to find the source of the sound. Even though I was using magic to hover a bit off the ground my body still ached, and the sudden movement made my vision swim for a moment.
The groan had come from what I’d previously thought to be just a clump of the brambles I’d grown. Since it was too small to possibly be Etienne, I’d assumed that the lump was where the blanket of vines had fallen over a boulder, or some uprooted bush. Now though, the clump was moving, and the groan had become words. Irritated French words which I could understand, even though the link I’d used earlier seemed to be gone.
“Wretched plants, get out of my way!”
The voice was familiar, even though it sounded different. Before I had time to think about it anymore the hump in the blanket of leaves and vines shook, then parted as a bare arm forced its way out into the late afternoon sunlight.
A bare and distinctly human arm.
It was pale, almost ghostly, but it was human, well-muscled, and energetic as its hand was joined by another in pushing the vines aside. Unsure of what else to do I gently floated over to get a better look, not making any sudden movements since I didn’t want to startle . . . whoever this was.
A head and shoulder came out of the cleared hole, the movements those of someone who had been lying down and was now sitting up. The face that turned towards me was unquestionably Etienne’s, but it looked far different from when I had seen it before.
Like his arms he was pale, but aside from that he looked to be well. The gauntness had filled out, and the bulges and lumps that had previously marred his face were gone. The grotesque growths on his body also seemed to have disappeared, leaving a perfectly proportioned athletic frame behind. His recovery seemed to have left Etienne looking in good shape. Even his hair was revitalized, the dull and greasy grey having been replaced by a rich dark brown colour.
“Etienne?”
At my question, his deep brown eyes focused on me with disconcerting intensity.
“You . . . you’re Adam, right?”
“Uh . . . yeah, that’s me.”
He nodded, then started to struggle free of the blanket of vines. The thorns didn’t seem to bother him, as he gripped at the stems without caring about them. I was sure that I saw some of them pierce his hand, but there was no blood, and he seemed to be in no pain. This left my mind though, as soon as Etienne fully made his way out of the brambles and stood up.
I had thought that he was back to normal, but I was wrong. Below his waist, he was unquestionably inhuman, yet it didn’t seem as unnatural as the monstrosity he’d been a part of before. His lower body was every bit as alien as his earlier state had been, but somehow it didn’t feel as wrong.
Starting just below his navel the French demigod resembled a strange combination of snake, kraken, and centipede. In a way, it was reminiscent of the monster he had been, but where that creature had made me think of growth gone rampant, this new version was something else.
In lots of ways, it reminded me of a Naga from Hindu mythology, a man with a serpent’s tail in place of his legs. As Etienne freed himself, he revealed a long length of flesh and muscle at least four metres long. However, what Etienne now balanced on was nothing as simple as a snake’s body. There was some likeness, the sinuous way it moved, and the fine scales of its underbelly were definitely those of a snake. But the interlocking plates of thick chitin that protected the back and sides of the serpentine body were insectile in appearance. Added to that were the dozens of smaller tentacles that emerged from the sides of the snake-like body, further putting me in mind of the length a centipede.
Of course, the multilimbed length was not the only addition he had received. At his waist, emerging at the sides where his hipbones would have been, were two long and thick tentacles. Again, they were similar in appearance to the ones that the monster had used against me, and they seemed strong, given how Etienne was resting on them as he drew himself up, taking stock of his changed appearance.
He looked inhuman, but at the same time it didn’t look wrong on him. More than that though, he also looked healthy, vibrant in fact. He might not have regained his humanity, at least not completely, but he looked vastly more vital and self-possessed than when he’d been trapped in that monster’s flesh.
For a moment he just stood there, resting on the two thick tendrils and the snake-like centipede’s tail, looking down at himself, staring at his hands as his fingers clenched and unclenched. He didn’t look angry. If anything, he looked bemused, as though he had no idea of how he was meant to react to this. Then he looked up, his eyes meeting mine again.
“Did . . . did you do this?”
Did he mean had I turned him into this? Or that I’d freed him from the monster? I wasn’t sure, so I just told him what I knew for sure.
“I . . . there was something wrong with . . . with your power,” I explained, deciding to keep things as simple as I could. “There were blocks, broken bits that were rotting because they couldn’t move right. I . . . I fixed them, made them so they could move like they were meant to. I couldn’t see what they were meant to do, but it felt like it was better than just leaving them all to rot away, y’know?”
As far as I was concerned, I was speaking English, but clearly, he understood me without issue since he just nodded slowly in return.
“I feel better now,” he commented, his voice somewhat absent. “I feel awake, in control.”
One of the tentacles that had been helping him balance came up, the end waving in his face as he stared at it. Beneath him his serpentine length adjusted to support his weight, keeping him balanced.
“I did that,” he said, gesturing at the tentacle with one hand. “Before . . . I couldn’t do anything. It all just moved with the hunger. Sometimes I could suggest some stuff, but most of the time it just dragged me along and there was nothing I could do about it. but this . . .”
The tentacle waved from side to side, then curled up, then opened up to reveal the hidden claws before closing up again.
“I did that! Me! I’m in control of myself! ME! I’m in control!!!”
His face split in a wild grin as he suddenly turned to fully face me.
“I don’t have it inside me anymore! No more screaming at me to eat! To kill! I’m free of it now! I’M FREE!”
I think that he might have lunged at me to hug me, that was how exultant he looked. Instead whatever he intended to do was foiled as he turned too quickly, and one of his new limbs slipped into the carpet of brambles beneath him and caught on something. Watching him trip was very odd, given his inhuman lower half.
The caught tendril pulled tight like a rope, causing him to jerk to the side with a yelp of surprise. Maybe he could have recovered, but he reached over with the other tendril, maybe falling back on old reflexes from before his awakening. Doing so put too much weight on one side of his body and he wasn’t able to compensate in time. His earlier yelp was followed by a second as he tipped over, the smaller tendril legs running along his snake-like lower half uselessly grabbing at the air as he fell.
For a moment all I could do was stare. It might sound strange, but the sight of Etienne’s inhuman form falling was kind of like watching a car crash, there was something darkly fascinating about it.
“Are you okay?”
The question felt inane, but I had to ask it.
“Y-Yeah. I . . . I’m fine. I just- ouup!”
The other demigod’s words were cut off as he tried to rise, only for one of his tentacles to again go out from under him as it slipped in the still-wet mud. Without really thinking about it I moved forwards, my feet floating only a centimetre above the mud and vines, offering my hand to help Etienne regain his . . . well, ‘feet’ wasn’t the correct term, since he didn’t have any, but it was close enough. It was the polite and considerate thing to do, but even as his hand closed on mine, I realized it was also the stupid thing to do. I was in the range of any attack he might choose to use, and worse, he had a grip on me if he wanted it.
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He didn’t try to attack me though. Instead, he just accepted my help in regaining his balance, the thick tendrils propping him up until he was ‘standing’ once more.
“Okay. Okay, I think I’ve got this.” He muttered, glaring down at his new limbs as though they’d deliberately tripped him up.
I felt a surge of sympathy, recalling how I’d similarly glared at my wings several times. Etienne had it worse than me though. At least I’d kept all of my familiar limbs and just ended up with some additions. He’d gotten stuck with major changes for more than half his body. That couldn’t be easy to deal with. Glancing around I pointed to the nearest of the fallen trees, at a spot where the trunk was relatively clear. It wasn’t much, but it made for a better seat than just sitting down in the mud.
“Look, we’ve got to talk. Do you want a seat?”
“I . . . yes. I think that’d be a good idea.” He agreed.
Getting him over to the fallen trunk wasn’t too hard, just a bit slow. Once we got there it took him a moment to work out just how he could sit down, but figured it out quickly enough.
“It’s weird,” he admitted as he took his seat, the tentacles emerging from his hips pressing against the trunk to give him greater security. “When I’m not thinking about what I’m doing then I’ve got no trouble. But as soon as I do something goes wrong. It’s like I’m getting in my own way when I think about it.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” I admitted, waving a wing behind me. “It took me days before I got a handle on these guys after I ended up with them. I almost cut my bed in two more than once. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it, just give it some time.”
“So . . . how long have you been a demigod?” He asked, looking up at my wing.
“It’s been about a month now,” I admitted. “I’m still trying to get my head around it, having magic, being able to do . . . all of this new stuff. I keep on thinking that I’m going to wake up and find out that it’s all just some kind of dream. Then I get hit during training and realize it’s all real.”
It was a weak joke, but it managed to get a small smile on his face.
“Training? Did you have help? Do you still have help?”
“Yeah, I got lucky,” I confessed. “I got found by someone before I even knew I was a demigod. She told me people were looking for me, people that weren’t looking to do me anything good. She helped me get ready for my Awakening, then protected me when these demon things tried to drag me off while I was getting my powers, which ended up being a whole mess.”
“Sounds rough,” Etienne commented. “But . . . do you know who you’re descended from?”
That was an awkward question to answer. I knew that I was descended from several sources, but it wasn’t something I wanted to spread. As far as I knew the most anyone had shown so far was a convergence of two Legacies in a single person, but I was double that. On top of that, I knew that his ancestry had brought him nothing but pain, so it was probably a sore topic. I decided to keep it simple and use the only name I knew I was descended from.
“I’m descended from Bath Kol, one of the Archangels.”
It wasn’t a lie, but it left out a whole load of the truth, but for now, it was going to have to do.
“Ah, that makes sense.”
The other demigod nodded as he looked at me.
“The wings are kind of a hint, aren’t they?”
To emphasize my words I spread them slightly, barely suppressing a wince as I felt a twinge of pain in the wing that had been broken. It had healed, but it was still pretty tender. They only seemed to hurt when I moved them though, so as long as I was careful with them I should be okay until they finished getting back to a hundred percent.
“They’re beautiful.”
As soon as he said it Etienne’s eyes fell, and he looked a bit . . . shy? Bashful? Embarrassed? Envious? I did my best to lighten the mood by giving a short laugh in response.
“Heh heh. Yeah, but like I said, they can be inconvenient.”
Silence descended upon us once more, an awkward silence. In the end, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, the same thing I’d asked a few minutes ago.
“Look, are you okay?”
This time Etienne didn’t answer as readily as before. Instead, his eyes fell to his lap as his fingers interlaced and squeezed.
“I . . . I’m not sure,” He admitted. “I’m in control, you know? For the first time in weeks I can do what I want, but . . . what do I do now? I . . . I just want to go home, but at the same time I don’t.”
He paused looking at me with wide, almost pleading, eyes. It was as though he was silently begging me to understand, to be able to just get what he meant even as he started to ramble.
“I mean, look at me! I look like something that came out of a horror film! Do you think that I’ll just be able to just go back to my normal life? Do you think that I can just go back to my family, just go back home? How’ll that go for them? How’ll they be able to handle it? I . . . I can’t even go back to my room! I . . . I won’t even fit onto my bed anymore!”
He seemed to run out of steam as he came to realize just how difficult the situation was.
“I don’t want to stay away, but . . . where can I go? I can’t go home, can I? What . . . what should I do?”
“I . . . I guess you could come back with me if you want.”
The suggestion more or less popped out on its own. I’d just wanted to offer some sort of comfort to someone that clearly overwhelmed by their situation. There wasn’t any real thought behind it, but the more I considered it the more it began to make sense.
Etienne needed time. Time to get comfortable with his new self. Time to get a handle on any new powers he might have. Time to deal with what had happened to him. The simple fact that he hadn’t just curled up into a ball and been reduced to a sobbing mess spoke of his mental fortitude. I’d only been able to sense some of what he’d endured through our link, and even that had been horrifying.
Also, if he came back with me then Joan and Hadriel might be able to help him. They’d be able to train him, to make him strong, and that could work to his advantage as well as mine.
A plan, or at least the framework of a plan, started to form in my mind. If Etienne went home now then I couldn’t see things going well for him. Even if his family could accept him there was a good chance that the people around him would be less rational. If things went badly then it could lead to anything from a media circus to a riot or a witch hunt against him. However, if he came with me he might have a better chance.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
His question broke me out of my thoughts as I looked back at him. His eyes were wide, and for a moment he looked . . . younger than he had, more vulnerable. I resolved to be careful in how I answered him, it would be all too easy to break the glimmer of hope I could see in him.
“Yeah. You know I said that I had people training me? Well, I don’t see why they couldn’t do the same for you. They . . . I don’t know, maybe they can help you get your power under control, or at least show you how to use it better.”
I saw a flash of something scared and hurt in him and realized I might have made a mistake. Calling his control into question when it had to be a huge sore spot, hadn’t been smart. Right now, it had to be something of a trauma, not something you poked at.
“If nothing else, think of it as a place to take some time to just get yourself sorted out,” I continued quickly. “We’ve got some spare rooms, and plenty of food too. I . . . I don’t know how things are going to be soon, but you should be fine for the next day or two, at least. After that . . . we can work things out. At the absolute worst I could just bring you back here, if you want.”
For a moment I considered telling him that one of my guardians was Joan of Arc. But telling him that didn’t feel right. It felt as though I was using her reputation to manipulate him. I wanted him to think about this on its own merits, not on who he’d be working with if he went with it.
“I’m . . . I’m not sure,” He admitted. “I don’t . . . I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve got stuff . . . stuff I’ve got to work through and . . . I don’t know if I want anyone there while I do it.”
I could see something firming in his eyes, but there was also something else. I could feel it, something that wouldn’t let go of him, and it wasn’t something I was seeing on his face or in his stance. Instead, it was coming through the link between us. It was faint, faded from what it had been, but the fact that I could still understand his French as easily as I did English proved the link was still there. Maybe it was letting me pick up on his emotions somehow? Still, I wanted a bit more clarification.
“What do you mean?”
Etienne was silent for a little bit, his eyes looking up at me, then dropping to his where his pale hands flexed.
“I’m not sure if I want to go anywhere yet,” He tried to explain. “I . . . things got ugly here. Not just with the hunger swallowing me up, there was also . . . things that happened. I . . . I don’t think I want to leave until I feel like I’m ready . . . until I’ve got everything settled. Does that make sense? And . . . I’m not sure how long it’ll take.”
I nodded, his reluctance and inner conflict easy to see.
“Will you be alright? I mean, what are you going to do for food and shelter?”
“I’ve got a place,” Etienne replied. “I . . . I was staying there while I was . . . before, but it’s big, so I’m sure there are some smaller caves and stuff I can use. It’s dry there, and since it’s summer I don’t think I’ve got to worry about the cold. Food’s easy too, I know where there are some plants I can eat, and hunting shouldn’t be too hard, not now.”
As he spoke his arm snapped out, the speed impressive, and a chunk of the trunk we were sitting on vanished into splinters, the wood completely pulverized.
“I think I can handle finding something to eat. And if worst comes to worst . . . well, I can always head into town.” He said, a combination of bravado and confidence creeping into his voice.
“Okay,” I replied. “But are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
Etienne was strong, that was clear. But right now he was unsteady, still trying to find his mental balance after what he’d gone through. If he was here alone then he might be alright, but he might also end up stuck in memories of his worst times without anyone to pull him out.
Beyond that, it just seemed like something of a waste. He was the first fellow demigod I’d ever encountered, and he was just going to stay out in the woods? I knew that the feeling was at least partially selfish, but I wanted him to come with me. It would be nice to have someone with me, someone else learning to use their powers, someone else learning about the Legends.
I also genuinely felt that joining me would be a better option than him just hiding in the woods with only his own thoughts for company. It wasn’t as though I was planning to drag him onto a stage in the middle of some major city and then throw him to the press. But with just me, Joan, and Hadriel it would be easy enough for him to have some solitude without being just cut off from everyone.
Still, it wasn’t my choice to make.
“Look, how about this,” I offered. “I’m still tired, so I won’t be going anywhere for a bit if I can help it. So, why don’t you take some time, think things over on your own, see how you feel about things? I can wait here for a couple of hours or so, so don’t feel too rushed. If you want to come with me, then I’ll be here, if not there’ll be no hard feelings from me, okay?”
“What if I don’t want to leave? What if I want to stay here until . . . until I think I’m ready to leave?”
Etienne’s voice was small, quiet, almost as though he didn’t want me to hear him.
“Then that’s fine,” I replied, trying to be as sincere and confident as I could manage. “That’s your choice to make, and you don’t have to worry about me pressuring you or anything. Still . . . I don’t want you to just disappear, you know? Can we work out some way for you to get in contact if you change your mind?”
A wry smile crossed his face as he gestured to his unclothed state, then waved at my own battered condition.
“Well, we can’t just exchange phone numbers, so what can we do?”
“Where would you go first if you went back to . . . to town?”
“Um . . . home I guess,” He answered. “I want to see my family again, let them know I’m alive.”
“Okay, so why don’t you give me their address? With that, I can get in touch with them fairly easily, once I’ve got access to the internet or phones. I’m not sure when it’ll be, but I can’t imagine it being longer than another couple of weeks. Once I do, I can ring them up, and see if they’ve heard from you. What do you think?”
“I . . . suppose it could work,” He agreed slowly. “But how would I get back in touch with you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Things are a bit crazy at the moment. I don’t know what’ll be going on in the next few days, but I think that we’ll be moving. Hopefully, it will be somewhere I can get access to some computers, but I don’t know when that’ll be. As soon as I can contact your family, I’ll tell how to contact me, and they can pass it on. From there . . . well, let’s see how things go, okay?”
It wasn’t the best plan, but it was simple. The address Etienne gave me was easy enough to remember, but just to be sure I found a short stick and scratched it into the side. It wasn’t as comfortable as carrying a paper version, but it still fitted into my one remaining pocket.
“So . . . if I don’t come back . . . ?”
The question was hesitant, more as though he was asking for my permission than for my opinion.
“If that’s what you think you need, then that’s fine,” I tried to reassure him as best as I could. “If you want to come with me, that’s great, but if you want to take your time then I understand. You’ve got to do what you think works best for you, so no pressure, alright?”
“I . . . Thanks.”
His relief was practically palpable at not having to choose in a hurry. I’d offered him time, and that seemed to be what he most desperately wanted at the moment.
“Take what time you need,” I replied. “I’ll wait here. I could do with some time to catch my breath.”
I glanced around myself, taking in the ruin of the clearing in the wake of our fight. No feather mattress or silk sheets, but it was going to have to do.
“I . . . okay,” Etienne nodded to both me and himself as his new lower half slithered, bringing him off the trunk. “I’ll . . . I’ll try and work out what I want.”
Just before he entered the treeline he turned back, his eyes meeting mine again.
“Listen. Even . . . even if I don’t come back, even if I don’t take your offer . . . thank you. If . . . if it hadn’t been for you, I’d . . . I’d still be trapped, being swallowed up by that monster. So . . . thank you, thank you for saving me. If I don’t come back . . . well, at least I’m not a monster anymore, I’m just me now. That’s got to be better, right? So, thanks.”
He was absolutely sincere, and I couldn’t help smiling at him. He smiled in return, then turned and disappeared into the trees. His movements were smooth and graceful, so it looked as though he was getting a handle on his new limbs at least.
Glancing up at the sky I let out a sigh as I tried to think of how I could fill the next couple of hours. For a moment I considered looking for my lost spell vial, but then dismissed the idea.
I was tired, and I probably wasn’t going to need it before I got back to the farmhouse. Sure, it had some magic, but it wasn’t as though I was losing a flaming sword or something like that. I was just going to take this time to rest recover, and get myself ready to go back.