Landing in his makeshift net, Seth attempted to wrap the beast, but biting and snarling, even without wings the beast thwarted his every effort. Instead Seth simply let it tumble to the ground tangled within his tunic. Having two missing appendages the poor creature thrashed about on the ground, kicking its little legs and wriggling this way and that as if in the throes of a seizure. Seth was both shocked and appalled at the poor creatures condition, but there was no help for it. Trying to concentrate over the creature’s incessant squawking and squealing Seth took a mental note of the alteration and which pattern it pertained to, then compared it to his mental image of the human aura. Noticing a definite similarity, Seth set about performing his next test.
The whole purpose of Seth’s experiment was simple. He needed to save Sara. Stating it was easy enough, but pulling it off would be difficult. Seth knew that he could simply siphon the life from one of the bats and then pour that life into Sara, but the melding of the two could leave her forever physically changed in unspeakable ways. Seth knew he could water down the method, so to speak, by pouring into Sara the bat's life force then adding to it the many life spans of man he himself held until the physical effects were all but unnoticeable. But he was afraid that if he increased the ratio of human to bat too far then the bat's incredible healing ability would be lost to the human side of her being. So instead Seth ventured on another course. If he could alter the bat to physically resemble humanity, but retain its natural abilities, he could then increase the ratio of bat to human life within Sara, allowing her to heal quickly but remain physically unchanged. Seth knew it would not be a fast process, and he did not have near enough of the bats to act as subjects to work out the finer details of how the auras were fashioned to work together as a whole. So instead Seth hoped he could work out their major differences, and maybe later fine tune his art.
Seth next began to separate a part of his life force equal to that of the bat’s own life, then thinking better of it, he sent the portion he had separated into Sara to join her life. Then Seth removed the same portion from the woman he loved once again. feared that seeing as his aura had an added piece above and beyond Sara’s, he might inadvertently lend the creature magical abilities of his own, so instead he used a portion of Sara’s life force. Holding the small portion of Sara in his mind, Seth compared it to the life force of the creature before him. The similarities were vast, but so too were the differences. Seth noted that the larger pieces of both auras nearly perfectly mimicked one another, although the intricate details between them were quite different. Seth postulated that where the pattern had been on the bat to create its wings should be where the arms were located on a human's aura. This decided, Seth removed what he believed to be the arm pattern of Sara’s aura within him, and carefully, tediously, placed it where before had been the bat's wing pattern. Finally, much to Seth’s relief, the creature stopped its wailing for a moment as new appendages sprouted from its shoulders.
Seth watched in both horror and wonder as the limbs began to take form. First small nubs pressed out from the bat's flesh, stretching and pulling the skin of the creature as they elongated. Even as Seth was sure the newly forming bones would rupture through the skin, the flesh began to elongate and swell around the newly forming bones and muscle. Within seconds tiny hands sprouted at the ends of the arms, and together each bone, muscle and the flesh swelled and grew until it was finally proportionate to the bat's small body. The change completed, the bat began its squawking again and oddly managed to raise itself to its feet with the new floppy limbs. Unsure how to use the appendages, however, the creature ran around the stone room aimlessly, flapping its new human-like arms from the shoulder, hoping to take flight. Seth could not help but smirk at the sight, finding it more than a little amusing, but this was serious work and Seth again turned his gaze upon the creature's aura.
There were entirely too many large pieces of the greater puzzle to make the process an easy one. It was not as if the creature had a piece for legs, another for arms, another for shoulders, another for feet, one for a head, another for a neck, and that was it. Seth had simply gotten lucky amongst the myriad swirling patterns. So his next choice was no easier than the first. Seth made some assumptions, however, looking at the aura with his newly gained knowledge. The auras were a tangled mass of interwoven patterns and connections, but Seth knew there had to be a logical order to the mass as a whole if only he could find the right perspective. So looking to where the pattern of the arms had been, Seth deduced that all the smaller patterns that had linked it must have something to do with the way the arms connected to the body. Not so much as the physical connection of the arm in the socket of the shoulder, but also ligaments and tendons, muscles, veins, arteries and nerves. Comparing the human to the bat, the human had to have close to a hundred of these small patterns that had connected the arm pattern to the whole, whereas the bat had only two dozen. Now Seth pitied the beast, realizing the poor creature’s misfortune. Seth had given the creature arms but no proper way of controlling them.
Seth had to get to the details of the transformation. The bat would likely need at least some of the human traits to make the arms usable, but would also need to retain some of its own connections in order to properly supply blood and such to the limbs considering that the two life forms’ circulatory systems were likely vastly different. So Seth went about comparing each individual pattern that had connected the arms to discover nothing of use. Fortunately he had another approach already in place, although it had not worked out so well for the bat's predecessor. One by one Seth stripped each of the connective patterns from the portion of Sara’s aura and placed it where he thought it should go within the bat's own aura, connecting the pattern of the arms with another pattern within its aura. If it had no effect, Seth simply removed it and placed it somewhere else in the same vicinity. If the placement had a negative effect he quickly removed it and tried again. After all, having veins on the outside of the body connecting your arm and torso wasn’t the most attractive feature one could have. So Seth worked placing and moving intricate pattern after intricate pattern for over an hour until he believed he had accomplished his goal. The once bat now moved his new arms with intent, flexing muscles, bending the elbow, clutching his small hands into fists and again relaxing his fingers, discovering his new appendages in earnest. It was a huge improvement over the creature flapping its dead limbs from the shoulder. Seth all the while made mental notes of each of his failures and successes before attempting another major change of the creature.
Through working out the interconnectivity of the patterns within both the human and bat auras, Seth had been able to make some other discoveries. He now could distinguish between patterns of muscle, tendon, ligament, bone and blood vessel, though plugging them into the right places still proved difficult. It was time to tackle the next big alteration, so using this knowledge, Seth looked for a pattern that was connected by all the above, hoping he could next distinguish the legs. Searching with his magical vision and his memory alike, Seth sifted through the bat’s aura once more. Locating another large pattern that met his criteria he gave it a tug. As the pattern snapped out of place, the bat creature collapsed, ceasing all sound and movement as its head began to shrivel and disappear. Seth snapped the piece back into place as quickly as he was able, but it was too late. The beast had already expired.
"Dammit," Seth cursed.
* * * * *
Ishanya peered through space and time watching the puppet called Seth dance upon the stage she had created for him. It was to be an extraordinary show, of that the goddess was certain. She watched him struggle with his newfound powers knowing the child was not up to the task of saving his lover. Ishanya took great pleasure in seeing him fail time and again with a task as easy as the one he was trying to perform. She knew no mortal could fully understand the intricacies of building a creature of flesh and blood out of life energy. Yet Seth struggled time and again to grasp things that to Ishanya were basic and si
mple principals. She realized he may reach some small level of success, but never would he recreate perfection as the gods had done countless times when building the world. Ishanya did not need perfection though. What she wanted was just the opposite in fact. Perfection was understood by her peers upon the immortal plane, but imperfection was not. That which they did not understand they would study for eons before reaching a decision to act. For this Ishanya needed Seth. Not only would he build a great new generation of followers for her, but also, through his pathetic responses to challenges, he would create for her the distractions she would need to destroy her enemies.
Had Ishanya been wearing mortal flesh she would have smiled to herself, reassured that everything was going according to plan. Her puppet moved according to the strings she pulled and he showed no signs of rebelling. In fact, the goddess was certain her puny human minion had no inkling of an idea that Ishanya was involved at all.
* * * * *
Committing his previous failure to memory, Seth looked up to the ceiling. Picking a target he reached within the creature and stripped its wings away. This time Seth did not bother with his tunic, he simply caught it out of the air and plopped it on the ground to begin wriggling around. Seth started the process all over again, pooling a little more of his immense life force into Sara, then extracting it again, giving the creature arms and connecting each of the tenuous intricate patterns bringing the limbs to life. Finishing the deed in short order, avoiding the head this time, Seth went to work finding another pattern to try and by accident located the rib cage. This poor creature crumpled down in a heap, apparently either breaking its spine or crushing a vital organ and as such Seth was forced to start over again once more.
Seth’s third attempt at the legs was a success, and once he had snapped the bat's leg pattern out of place, the creature fell, smacking its head hard upon the stone floor, knocking itself unconscious. Although Seth had been rather thoughtless as to how losing its legs might cause such a problem, at least for the moment the creature was quiet, allowing him to work. Using the comparison method that had worked for the arms, Seth removed a pattern from his portion of Sara’s aura in the same location, and putting it into place within the bat, he watched as the creature slowly sprouted new human-like legs. Then comparing its connections to those of the arms, Seth was able to create a patchwork of connecting patterns that had no visible ill effects. However, to be sure of his work, Seth now had to wait for the creature to regain consciousness, which fortunately, having the ability to rapidly heal, happened nearly as soon as Seth had completed the transformation. The ensuing reaction from the once bat was priceless from Seth’s perspective.
As the bat regained consciousness it realized it had undergone yet another transformation. Managing to sit up, the blind creature appeared to stare at its legs and scream over and over again as if horrified. Seth knew that the sounds were somehow how the beasts were able to see, but just watching it scream at its legs, pause as if waiting, then scream again, then pause again, then begin the process anew was rather comical. In due time, however, the small humanoid bat began to move and flex its new legs and feet and even wiggle its toes, and shortly thereafter it even attempted to stand which resulted in more comedy, but Seth simply didn’t have the time to enjoy it.
Seth took his mental notes, and then took a moment to relax and listen to Sara’s heartbeat and breathing. He now felt he could pull off what he planned so long as he had enough time. Not even sure if she could hear him, he told her he was working on a solution and hoped that soon he would be able to help her further. Then Seth, knowing he hadn’t the time to take a break pondered what change he should perform next. He had already located the ribcage and head. Knowing that he would have to tackle these eventually he went for the easier one first. His previous failure on the ribcage he believed was due to his being ill prepared and the bat creature’s upright position. This in mind, Seth grabbed his tunic and tossed it over the beast that still attempted to stand, but wobbling like a toddler, would fall once again. Seth quickly wrapped the tunic tightly around it and using the arms of his tunic like cords, secured the beast’s new legs together with one sleeve, and bound its arms with the other. But even bound as it was, the bat would not remain still enough for Seth to feel safe removing the protective ribcage from its body. Seeing no kind solution, Seth simply repeated what the creature had already done to itself earlier. Grabbing the bat creature's head, Seth firmly bashed it into the stone floor until the beast lost consciousness. It was a wicked and crude method, but it worked.
Seth knew it would not be long before the creature managed to heal itself, so working quickly he located the matching patterns in both auras and quickly replaced the bat's ribcage and watched as the old one withered and another grew to replace it. There was a moment when Seth thought he had failed, when the new ribs began to form and were so small they squeezed the creature's chest cavity to an unbelievably tiny size. However, as they expanded the pressure was reduced and the creature thrived. Seth had his work cut out for him. For although the ribcage seemed a rather simple structure of stacked bones, each of those bones was interlaced with muscles and blood vessels, added to which the new ribs came complete with abdominal muscles that would need to be properly connected through an intricate patchwork. The number of connections to the ribcage pattern in the greater scope of the total aura was immense. The human body had hundreds of connecting patterns here, and the bat had numbers near equal to those of the humans. But being able to distinguish the various connecting patterns, Seth was more easily able to compare the two and sort out their differences. Making a few minor adjustments, several dozen swaps and a couple of small alterations, in less than two hours Seth had himself a miniature batman with humanoid torso, legs and arms. Overall, if Seth could get the creature to wear a hood, it could pass as a small child, but the head was still a problem yet to be solved.
Seth had identified the location of the head pattern already and had found out that he could not remove it as a whole. Instead he would have to work with the smaller patterns within it. It was a daunting task, for inside the head were hundreds of tiny patterns, and within some of those patterns were thousands of interconnected miniscule patterns, and within those were thousands more and Seth did not have the time to sort out millions of minute details. He would have to instead work to change the creature’s main physical features. Seth had no idea how he could alter some of those without catastrophic results. The shape of the bat's skull differed greatly from that of a human, but Seth could puzzle out no way to remove and replace it without instantly killing the beast. So for now Seth ignored the skull in an attempt to try and locate some of the actual facial features.
Upon close investigation, Seth realized that most of the smallest and tiniest patterns were similar to those of nerve connections, and so associated them with either the spine or brain and as such steered clear of them at all costs. Some of the larger pieces, however, had their own connective patterns to both muscle and bone and so could be the mouth, lips, eyes or nose, but there were more puzzle pieces than the creature had facial features, so it was a process that cost Seth four more bats. He had already dwindled the population of bats in the room down to only nine more. Seth worked smart after losing the most human of the bats. He began with the facial features of each of the ensuing bats, saving him immense amounts of work each time and he finally worked out all the facial features and inner mouth and throat muscle structure. Seth re-mutated this final creature’s arms, legs and ribcage as well.
Although very happy with his progress, Seth simply could not get his mind around the alteration of the skull. He could attempt to locate and change the bat's own skull pattern, but the slightest mistakes could cost him several more of the few remaining bats, if not all of them, and if they were all lost, so too was Sara. Seth believed he had located the swirling web representing the skull, having had to attach the connective patterns of muscles from the facial features all to the same bone connections. But just kn
owing where it was, was of little use. Seth pondered the dilemma for hours as his miniature man creature worked out some of the finer details of using his new arms and legs as well as sight. This, however, forced Seth to close his eyes to better concentrate without the distraction of an apparent toddler in the room. Seth was lost deep in thought pondering his predicament when he was struck simultaneously by both his solution and a great pain in his leg.
Opening his eyes to see the cause of the pain Seth was momentarily frozen in shock and disgust. The small bastard had apparently managed to crawl or waddle his way across the room to Seth, and apparently had chosen Seth as an acceptable food source. It had sunk his little razor sharp teeth into Seth’s calf muscle where he now began to gnaw viciously. Appalled at the beast’s actions, Seth kicked out at the creature with his other leg, sending it somersaulting across the floor to crash in a heap against the far wall with a scream of pain and a crunch. Seth, fearing his work ruined, watched the creature a moment to assure himself he had not killed it before looking to his own leg.
Seth bled from the dozens of small penetrating wounds, but overall the damage to his leg was not major, so retrieving his tunic he wrapped it around the injury and cinched it tight to keep pressure on the wound. Returning his gaze to the creature, his solution in hand, he simply waited for the bat to heal before he continued. But before Seth had the opportunity to progress further, the creature revealed its true nature. Seth had in fact witnessed the process before but hadn’t thought too deeply into the implications of how it could affect his work until now. For not only had the creature fed upon his flesh, but in doing so the beast had somehow siphoned off a very small portion of Seth’s immense life force. Without giving Seth the time to react to the realization, the bat creature twisted and altered Seth’s life force creating of it a small replica of its own original life force before allowing the two sparks of life to intertwine and become one. The beast began to mutate again.
Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) Page 63
