The Godsend Backfire: The Beginning

by Harold Straugh

  I turned back to the trail and kept on going, the sun was setting to the right of me and watched it set. I loved watching the sun set. I noticed the territory looked too familiar and then noticed a pine tree, it was odd and out of place, but there. I got off my horse and investigated it. It didn’t take long for me to find a carving I thought was there.

  It was from one of mine and Noemi’s adventures, she thought it would be interesting to carve a bow and arrow into the tree and see if I would ever find it again on my travels. There was I was, running my fingers over it’s roughed-up edges, tracing it’s outline. I smiled, I think Noemi would have kicked my ass if she would have known I was on this adventure of trying to reattach my sworn enemies head.

  “Reminder of good times?” I heard and turned to see Yura wide awake and staring at me.

  “Good times come and go, I am forever so there will be plenty,” I said and turned away from the tree.

  “Hopefully many good times with me,” she said, I didn’t know if she was making a statement or posing a question.

  “Hopefully,” I said and left it that and headed back to the horses. Mylicous was off his horse and stretching and looked at me, maybe he saw the angst in my face, I don’t know but he spoke.

  “Sorry for sleeping so much, we haven’t exactly been feeding like we should and shedding our skins takes a lot out of us.”

  “Then go eat, I don’t need you two sleeping on me, the graves are getting plenty, which last time I was around this area, there weren’t any. I guess the people of this area didn’t listen to me last time I was here,” I barked.

  “Once night falls, we will go find us some of the wild around here,” Mylicous said, putting his long hair into a pony tail and tying it with a long thin piece of leather.

  “Once night falls, the vampires will be out, I didn’t think they would be worse around this region, but they are,” I said, confused. I was getting back to where it all started, but it came to me that Derium’s off spring were more infectious than I had thought.

  “Roldian, I have a feeling that once we restore Derium, he will put a stop to this,” Mylicous said, referring to me by my name and not brother, so I knew he was serious.

  “I hope you’re right, at least you’ve had enough decency to not go create a bunch of your kind,” I said.

  “I’ve created but like I said, they have to survive the bite. The more I make the more I must worry about. I only know of a hundred or more packs. We are spread out and hardly over here, mostly across to the new land. It seems that Derium has no rules set into place and lets his offspring do what they please.”

  We got on our horses and started to travel again. I was loving the change of scenery once more. The next two nights went as expected, numerous vampire attacks, transformations and bloodshed. The last night was the worst by far, we battled until the sun came up and the vampires scurried off before they burst into flames. Once everything settled down, I could see the Carpathian Mountains.

  The mountains had an ominous fog about them, I found it beautiful, but Mylicous did not, “Are those where we are going?”

  “Yes, there is a small village at the base, then we climb up a bit,” I said and looked back at Mylicous, who had a concerned look on his face.

  “Of all places to leave his body, you couldn’t have found a better place?”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly looking for a better place when I popped his head off,” I sneered.

  I didn’t want to hear any more of his whining, so I nudged my horse with my heels and trotted towards the mountains. Yura kept close to me and Mylicous stayed near the back. As we traveled I noticed and eerie change in the scenery. The leaves on the tree started to die off, then the trees themselves started to change color. They went from a nice lively brown, to a leafless, moldy black. The sky started to cloud up and a heaviness formed in the air. Yura voiced a change a in temperature, then Mylicous trotted up to the other side of me.

  “What is going on here?” he asked, obviously as puzzled as I was.

  “Well, if his head could infect the ground and a hut, imagine what his body could do? Derium is evil Mylicous, and you’ve been too blind see it,” I gave Mylicous a cross look.

  “I’m actually starting to think you’re right, but evil can become good. Look at me, look at Lucifer, I’d say look at you, but you’ve always been the better of us,” his words struck a chord in me, but a good one.

  “If we bring him back and he’s worse than before, can we remove his head again?” I asked, catching a puzzled look from Mylicous.

  He was silent for a minute, I could tell he was thinking, “Only if he’s worse than before, he will be angry, so we will have to calm him down.”

  “Of course!” I said, I expected Derium to be angry with me, I took his head and left him dormant for a long time, what was he going to be happy about?

  We continued our journey with hesitance as the atmosphere gave off a feeling the bothered us all. As we got closer, I noticed there were abandoned hut and wagons. The horses started to get nervous and tried to turn around on us, so we all got down and walked the rest of the way, Mylicous made sure he grabbed Derium’s head.

  Soon, the Carpathian Mountains were hovering over us, covered by a fog so thick that I could only see a quarter of the way up the mountain. We were all looking up when I heard a shuffling noise behind me. I turned around, through the fog, I could see a looming figure moving back and forth. Mylicous and Yura turned around as well and watched as the figure came into view. It was the old, Gypsy lady I met when If first arrived. How she was still alive, was a mystery to me.

  She had twice as my wrinkles on her tanned face. Her eyes were covered in film and the fact she had a walking stick, solidified my belief she was blind. She sniffed the air and anger took over her face, she said a few words before I was able to translate, “I had a feeling it was you,” her voice cracked, “You said you took the curse away, but you only made it worse. I’ve watched everyone I love die or move away, forgetting about me. I’ve waited a long time for this.”

  I heard a small rumble in her throat, that grew louder. She forced something up in her throat and before I could even speak, she launched a liquid attack on me. Whatever nasty, phlegmy, rotten, lung booger she worked up, shot through the air and landed on my face. It stretched from the top right of my eyebrow, across my nose, to the backside of my bottom, left jaw. She then, fell over, she wasn’t breathing, her eyes stared off into fog, she had died right there on the spot.

  “I don’t know what’s more amazing, that fact she just died or the size of the lung worm she spit on your face,” Mylicous and Yura both laughed as I peeled the lung snot off my face and flung it on the gypsy.

  “What did you do to her?” Yura asked trying not to laugh.

  “I promised her a long time ago, that I had gotten rid of a curse, it appears that I simply replaced one with another.”

  “So, where is his body, so we can attach his head and figure out what is next?” Mylicous asked as he patted the burlap sac that contained Derium’s head.

  “It’s up there,” I pointed into the fog, “A few leaps and we should make it.”

  I looked back at Yura and Mylicous who had a look of confusion, then Yura spoke, “We can’t leap as far as you, even in wolf form.”

  “I can take smaller leaps, not to worry.”

  I took the first leap, the fog was so thick I couldn’t see the mountain side and just about slammed into it. A thick, black sludge had formed on the mountain side, which made it hard to grab onto, I almost slipped off. The sludge was rancid, if I had any nose hairs, they would have been singed off at that point.

  “BE CAREFUL!” I yelled down through the fog, only to hear two small grunts, then Mylicous and Yura appeared through the fog and landed next to me. Yura slipped off and I was quick to grab her hand before she fell back down the mountain.

  “Thank you!” she mustered out, visibly shaken and then grabbed back on to the rock that she slipped from.<
br />
  It took three more leaps before I entered the cave that I had hoped to never enter again. I assumed the sun was going down, it was getting darker by the second. Then when we entered the cave, it got pitch black. Mylicous was smart enough to pack a small torch in his belt and lit it. The thick, black sludge was everywhere, and it covered a mound in the back of the cave. That mound was where I left Derium’s body. I was hesitant, but I had come far, so I wanted to finish it. Mylicous took Derium’s head out of the bag and the sludge flowed off his body and to the sides of it. Derium’s body was skin and bones, even the clothes he was wearing appeared to be dried up. Black tendrils grew up from his neck and wriggled about. I looked back at Derium’s head and there were tendrils growing out if it as well. His eyes, blood shot and yellow, were focused on me at first, then shot over to his body.

  Mylicous and I walked over to the body, the tendrils picked up in their flopping as we got closer. Mylicous sat the head down about a foot away from the body and the tendrils connected and started pulling the head in. It was almost connected when I acted and put my hand in between the head and neck. I could feel the tendrils go through my fingers and try to pull down anyway.

  “What are you doing?” Mylicous asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

  “I’m going to make him promise something before we do this,” I said.

  “He can’t even talk!”

  “IIIIII CANNNN!” Derium spoke, I could feel the air passing around my hand as he spoke again, “III PPPRRROOMMISSSEEE ANNYYTHINNNGGG!’

  “If we do this, you must not harm us, you must slow down on making others, in fact, you must stop and control the ones out there.”

  “IIII WILLL, PLLEEEAASSEE!” he begged, and I finally removed my hand. His head pulled into place, but the wound didn’t heal up all the way, Mylicous and I helped sit him up.

  “I’m hungry!’ he said, of course the first words out of his mouth.

  “We will take you to get food in a minute,” Mylicous spoke up, “First, an apology is in order, or I’ll remove your head, this time,”

  Derium looked at me and in his raspy voice, “I’m..” he cleared his throat, “I’m sorry brother, but I really must feed.”

  “We will take you down to get a meal, but mark my words Derium, if you act out or do anything like before, I will end you myself,” Mylicous said. There was something in his voice that told me he was serious. It was then I noticed he was staring at Yura.

  “Don’t even think about Derium,” I said.

  “I’m sorry, I’m just..so hungry.”

  Together, Mylicous and I took Derium down the mountain as Yura followed at a safe distance. It was a bumpy ride, but we got him down safely. He first went for the old gypsy, he sank his fangs in, then jerked back quickly, “Ahhhhhhhh!’ he screamed, “Her blood is bad, she’s been dead too long.”

  “Stay here, we will go find you someone,” I said, watching him writhe in pain was saddening. I legitimately felt bad for him, “Better yet, Yura, why don’t you go wit Mylicous and I’ll stay here with him.” I said. I had a feeling the minute I left Yura out of my sight, Derium would attack her.

  Mylicous and Yura left and left a torch for me. Derium and I had a staring contest for a minute before he spoke, “I didn’t think you had it in you Roldian, I thought you were going to bluff and let me be, I was wrong.”

  “You didn’t go through what I went through, something like that changes you, usually not for the better.”

  “I want to move past this, I don’t want to live, knowing that I wasn’t forgiven for what I did to you. I should have done something Roldian, but I couldn’t, you felt her grasp, you know what she was capable of.”

  I did know what she capable, she did have a power, but it seemed it was more powerful over Derium than myself, I was able to break away, he had to run away. I put my hand out, he took it and I pulled him up and embraced him. I heard him sniffle and I, myself felt tears in my eyes. We both realized each of us were crying and pulled back. His face was smeared with blood, I wiped my face, my tears sparkled like my blood.

  “Well, don’t go kissing on each other now,” I heard Mylicous say.

  Derium and I turned to him, Yura was by his side. He had ahold of someone, I can’t say a local, there wasn’t any one around to be considered a local. He looked ratty, unbathed, hair unkempt, beard loaded with debris. Mylicous didn’t even have a chance to let him go before Derium got ahold him. His suckling noises were horrible to listen to, but luckily it didn’t last long. He rolled over on his back and I watched as some color came back to him, his film over eyes cleared up a little and the wound on his neck began to close.

  “I’m going to need a few more, but I have the strength to feed on my own,” Derium said and got up off the ground. He frowned and looked down at his clothes, “I look horrible, maybe I will find some clothes as well while I’m out, bathe even.”

  “Will you come back?” Mylicous asked.

  “Yes, I like it here, these mountains are vast and full of caves, I was making a place to live out of them before….” He trailed off, “before things went bad. I will be back before sunrise, anew and ready to rest for the day.”

  He was gone before I could say anything to him. The remaining three of us, looked at each other and shrugged. I wasn’t hungry, but I was craving the taste of food, my mouth was bored. I used the torch to make a fire, Yura found some long sticks and fashioned them into long spikes. Mylicous disappeared briefly and returned with some odd-looking rabbits.

  They looked like a mix between a rat and rabbit. Their snouts were longer, like a rat as so were their bodies, but they were round as well, their tails were brownish-white. They had more of a claw-like hand instead of a paw. They smelled a little weird too, my excitement or food went away.

  “I found these smelly little things,” he said and tossed them down. They taste better than they smell,” he said and it was then I noticed some fur in his beard.

  “Did you eat one without changing?” I asked.

  “I took a bite out of one, never seen one, I was curious,” he said and picked the fur out of his beard and flicked it from his fingertips.

  I simply rolled my eyes and stared off. I started to wonder what Derium was up to. I hadn’t heard any screams off in the distance. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and watched as Mylicous and Yura took the fur off the rabbits. Yura used a fingernail that she grew out to field dress her rabbit. She was quicker about it than Mylicous. She then, rammed the pointed end of the stick through the rabbit and held it over the fire.

  I was confused to say the least, how sometimes they eat the meat raw and sometimes they would cook it, it didn’t make much sense to me, but it wasn’t me and I shouldn’t have cared about it so much. They ate away though, as I went back to thinking about Derium and I realized I could sense him again. Mylicous must have seen the look on my face.

  “You can feel him again, can’t you?” he tore into a piece of the rabbit.

  “I can, I haven’t felt him in so long, it’s almost bothersome,” I said arching an eyebrow.

  “I think I feel a little more complete,” he said and smirked.

  “I think you’re a little messed up to be honest,” I chuckled and Yura joined in.

  “I agree with him, Mylicous,” she said as she also, tore into the cooked rabbit.

  I looked back up that the sky, the fog had all but disappeared, just a lingering coolness, but I believe it was getting to be around fall time. I wasn’t looking, towards the winter coming along. Even though it took longer for me to get cold, I didn’t like winter. I was almost saddened at the thought of winter coming up.

  Yura scooted closer to me and put her head on my shoulder, “Are you coming back with us?”

  The question threw me off guard, I hadn’t thought about it for a while. The thought of staying in a permanent winter wasn’t something I fancied, but on the bright side, I would be staying with Yura and I could always try to convince her to move to a warmer cli
mate.

  “I don’t know yet Yura,” I said as the her eyes instantly swelled up with tears, “I want to, but we need to talk about living somewhere that’s not so cold.”

  She wiped the tears from her eyes and Mylicous was giving me strange glare, so I addressed it, “What seems to be problem brother?”

  “I was hoping you would come back, you are part of the pack.”

  “I know this, are you going to make Derium part of the pack and take away his free will? Or does he get a pass?” my question was harsh, but to the point.

  He, somewhat, angrily took a bite out of the rabbit, what was left of it anyways, “I didn’t take away your free will, you can leave whenever you wish. I was, as well as Yura was, hoping you’d come back and stay a little.”

  I felt instant regret for my harshness, I could feel Yura’s heart racing with anticipation of an answer, which made me feel even worse, “I will stay a little while longer.”

  “I would like to visit your place,” Derium said, startling us, appearing out of nowhere.

  “Anytime brother, need I warn you that the people in my pack are not meals?”

  “You won’t have to worry about it, I promise,” he said and stepped closer to the fire. His clothes were more modern, britches and shirt from that time. He also wore a grey robe, that was made of wool. He still stood out with his pale skin, but surely not as much I had stood out.

  Derium was different, I could sense it. When he promised things before, you could tell he was lying. His whole presence was better, I didn’t get that feeling of evilness when he was around.

  There wasn’t much left of night but I could feel vampire activity all around us, they wouldn’t ever get close enough to be seen, by me anyways, they’d scurry off. It was like they were coming to see a show, but knew better than to get too close.