Page 24 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species
“Apparently, some people are nosier than others,” the manticore said. “Since when do I need to explain myself to anyone?”
“My mistake,” Zacharia said with a slight bow. “I didn’t think a beautiful woman like you would willingly stay with a man in a wig. Good day.”
His interest in the fight diminished and he left the bar.
“Hey, hybrid!”
Zacharia stopped outside the bar’s doors at the manticore’s shout. Folding his arms over his chest, he faced him once more. “What? Decided it’s not beneath you to fight a hybrid, after all?”
The actress had followed him and grabbed onto his arm once more, her tone pleading. “Mr. Korovin, please, let’s avoid trouble. Please, don’t hurt him!”
“Trouble?” the manticore asked. “I’m not here to fight but to offer you a job. I want you to be my guard.”
That was how Mikhail Korovin, from a family with manyenemies, had hired Zacharia to keep him out of trouble while he indulged in excesses and enjoyed the luxurious life his family provided. Despite his reckless behaviour, Mikhail was wealthy and generous, often engaging in deep discussions with Zacharia.
Their association had lasted twenty years. Afterwards, Zacharia hadn’t seen Mikhail for over a hundred and fifty years. When the manticore had founded the Hospital for Immortal Creatures, Zacharia had sought him out to offer his services once more. After decades of doing ad-hoc work for him and the Hospital, he’d been offered a security position eventually and had moved to live inside the Hospital.
Mikhail’s death would mean not only the loss of a friend but also the failure of Zacharia’s promise – to keep him alive at all costs.
The Lexus wound its way up the darkened road to the Hospital, the city’s lights fading behind them. The mountain loomed, its ancient forest watching with eyes that glowed in the dark.
The towering concrete fence of the Hospital finally came into view. Relief washed over Zacharia, but it was short-lived.
“Zacharia…” Amelia’s voice was a broken whisper.
But he already knew.
“His heart stopped.”
7
Viktor began the autopsy, meticulously adhering to the protocol. During the initial inspection of the body, he noted numerous protrusions across the torso and limbs. On the lateral side of the skull, there were signs of impact with a dull object and a fracture, which had likely caused death. As far as his official duties were concerned, the findings were clear. Determining the identity and motives for the murder fell within the scope of the Tribunal agents.
But he wasn’t done. Viktor opened the skull to inspect for brain damage, which confirmed his initial theory, and proceeded to examine the abdomen.
From a criminological perspective, the death of this woman held no interest for him. However, Mikhail Korovin had mandated that all deceased creatures undergo thorough examinations for malignant formations or other abnormalities. Viktor viewed Mikhail’s directives as somewhat excessive, especially since they had not encountered another creature with carcinoma since the vampire a few months prior. Nevertheless, he appreciated the frequent autopsies because they allowed him to indulge his curiosity for the unusual.
Unlike Mikhail, Viktor was not searching for pathological deformities but rather anatomicalirregularities– traits that did not disrupt the organism but differentiated it from the other six well-known immortal species. He was on the lookout for something that might align, even slightly, with the description of the eighth species from the mysterious Journal of C.
Even now, he went over the passage in his mind:The reptilian is a rare immortal species, notable primarily for its dual tongue, utilised similarly to a whip. What’s particularly fascinating is that the reptilian tongue, akin to a nymph’s claws, a vampire’s teeth, and other species-specific traits, can transform irrespective of the body’s form. It does not, however, achieve its full length, which, based on my observations, can extend up to six feet in certain individuals. The texture of the tongue is meaty and slimy to the touch, featuring rugged outgrowths at the tip. This organ is remarkable for its agility, and a strike from it can inflict considerable damage. Some specimens even secrete a poison, which they can project at their prey by contorting their tongue into a funnel-like structure.
The corpse on the table lacked such a tongue. The oral cavity, teeth, and tongue were the very first things Viktor had checked – he always examined them first. Dead immortals’ bodies reverted to their so-calledhumanform, which anatomically was almost indistinguishable from that of humans. Only a few peculiarities betrayed their species affiliation – the distinct upper gumline and pale digestive tract of vampires, the black colour of the circulatory network of witches, the poisonous glands in the armpits of nymphs, the quadripartite stomach of lycanthropes, the unusual structure of the muscle fibres of manticores, and something Viktor had not seen in a long time, because both living and dead creatures of this species were rare – a real third eye, nestled within the cranial cavity of necromancers. Additionally, each species always had a residual scent which Viktor, as a lycanthrope, could often detect.
Viktor continued to mentally recount the notes he’d read in the journal.Another peculiarity of the reptilian is the skin on its face. It took me a long time to realise many of the individuals of the eighth species have spots on their faces even in their human form. To cover them up, they hide their faces with somethingthat gives them this exquisite, sinister look. Having removed the substance on the face of a reptilian I captured, I discovered the skin underneath is very pale with minuscule black dots, unevenly scattered across the cheeks and temples. The freckles can be found along the reptilian’s body as well, where some creatures have intense spotting, while in others the markings are subtle and hard to detect. Some reptilians do not have these freckles and do not need to cover the skin on their face… With time, I found out some reptilians have a certain intolerance to sunlight.
Viktor’s touch on the dead woman’s shoulder was cold even through his glove. Yet, he could bet this was not a reptilian skin. To confirm his suspicions, he made an incision in the armpit area, where he found the poisonous gland typical of nymphs. The toxin, which could be released through their nails, was lethal.
With a long cut along the torso, Viktor opened the abdominal cavity. How could there be an immortal species that had eluded him for over a thousand years? Stranger still, he’d only heard of this species a month ago. Raphael, his mentor, had never mentioned it, yet he’d known everything.
Lately, Viktor thought often of Raphael – far more than he had in the last two hundred years – which was not good. His mentor was a sacred piece of his past, one that he turned to only when he was in dire need of mental support. He was afraid the more strength he drew from those memories, the weaker they’d become. Until he drained them.
Viktor pushed thoughts of Raphael aside. According to the so-called C., the reptilian was‘a manipulative, evil, and dangerous creature, which was unsurprising given what I learnt about its origins.’What origins was C. referring to when the stories claimed that all immortal species, except witches, shared a common ancestor from whose children the other species hadbranched off?
Given how the journal had come into his adopted daughter’s possession, Viktor had a feeling someone was either trying to help them or mislead them. Alex, on the other hand, was convinced of the journal’s authenticity and often quoted C.
As if that motherfucker is some kind of demi-god…
Sentimental rubbish!
