Page 5 of Relyn
He had no way to respond. He still hadn’t figured out how to communicate, but at this point, he was quite sure that he’d rather end his own existence rather than comply with the commanding voices.
A sound vibrated behind him, and suddenly he was wracked with pain. He clung to the form below him, which suddenly shouted.
“Mahdfel will kill every single Suhlik Devil! We will never surrender! Death to-”
It gurgled and a warm liquid spilled out over his form. As his pain receded he realized the form below him had stopped moving. The devilish voices had killed it, but left him alive. The life blood drained out of the form and absorbed into his. The feeling was indescribable. But his shape was learning, filling out holes in his existence, forming organs and taking shape. He suddenly knew how to create eyes, noses, horns, and hair. He could breathe and maintain a heartbeat.
But something inside him told him not to use this information yet, to hold and hide it away from the… what had he called it? Suhlik? His enemy that would strike down a helpless form and try to push him to kill without provocation. Yes, he would hide everything he could from them.
Time stretched out. It was hard to tell how long he sat there, absorbing the life blood from the form, the Mahdfel, the warrior that had faced his enemy bravely. There was no change in light or sound and it could have been hours or days. These things were only beginning to have meaning for him anyway.
Then another form was thrust into the space, landing practically on top of him.
“Balcore?”
It spoke. It- he was another Mahdfel. The new form reached for the dead one and muttered a curse under his breath. He moved away to allow for the inspection.
“What the-”
The new Mahdfel shoved at him, sinking his hand into his fluid body, trying to wipe him away from the form. He moved back as fast as he could, withdrawing until he hit a corner of the room.
The Mahdfel cradled the head of his friend. “Oh, Balcore. I swear that I will kill as many Suhlik as I can in the memory of your name. It shall be the last thing they hear.”
Yes. That was his thought exactly. Balcore would be avenged. How he would go about doing that, was yet to be determined. But this Mahdfel and he shared the same goal. They were allies.
He sat for a moment, before making his final decision to reveal himself. He coalesced his fluid, forming eyes, and lungs and teeth. Soon he had created arms and legs as well. Then he could open his eyes and see.
“What bloody sacrilege is this? Wearing Balcore’s face!”
He struggled for a moment to use his new mouth, to navigate the tongue and lips to form the words he instinctively knew how to say.
“I have no other face.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“I don’t know. I have no name. No memories past this space. They wanted me to kill him.”
The Mahdfel growled at him. His purple skin bulged as if his muscles were ready for a fight.
“But I would not. That is why they came and did it for me. When his life blood spilled onto my form, I… learned how to take this shape.” This didn’t seem to put the Mahdfel at ease.
“I will fight them with you. We will kill them instead,.” he said.
The Mahdfel blinked and squinted his eyes at him. Clearly, he did not trust him.
“I do not know what I am, but I know that I will not be their slave,” he said through Balcore’s face. Had he another choice, he would wear another, but if it meant claiming more lives of anyone but Suhlik, he would refuse.
“That is true Mahdfel thinking. We were all slaves to the Suhlik until the rebellion. Our fathers and forefathers were created, just like you. I am Caldar, and together we will slaughter them.”
Caldar held out his arm and he grasped it in friendship. It was the beginning of a bond, a friendship, that he would honor until death, which given the circumstances, might be sooner rather than later.
“You have no name?” Caldar asked.
“Not that I remember.”
“You must be named. My father was named Relyn. He died in glorious battle. I plan to name my son this as well. Of courseif we do not escape, I will have no son to name. I shall give you this name.”
It was a statement, a fact, and he pondered the name. Relyn. He had no exception to it. He had no liking of it, but it was a good name. A good Mahdfel name, and he was Mahdfel.
