"You'll get used to it, eventually," Camilla snickered as Adam was sick for the second time in ten minutes.
He emerged from the bushes for a moment and groaned, "is this what Undying smell all the time?!" He heaved forward and was sick again.
"Yes," she chuckled, "but, eventually you adjust to your heightened senses and you'll find that you'll come to enjoy them."
"Hard to enjoy the smells around me when I'm puking," he grunted, wiping his mouth, "I can hear everything in this park! How the hell aren't you going insane right now?!"
Camilla shook her head and then lunged at him with startling speed. Before he could react, she grabbed him and forced him to his knees. He felt his stomach lurch at the sudden motion, but managed to keep what little remained in his stomach from coming out.
"Close your eyes," she commanded, "and breathe in slowly through your nose. Good ... now let that breath out through your mouth, and keep doing that until you no longer feel sick. If you throw up on my coat or shoes, I swear on the Last Lords that I will kill you."
Adam did as he was told and felt immediate relief. He continued to breath in deeply through his nose, allowing the cold air of night to envelop him in its dark embrace. He could hear the movements of hundreds of animals darting in and out of the trees, and could hear the blood pumping through their veins. The scent of the city mingled with the fresh grass and foliage, overwhelming his senses. He retched and Camilla placed a hand on his shoulder, "keep breathing, let it pass. You are more connected to the world now than you were before. Do not fight your connection; embrace it. Come, sit with me."
He rose from his kneeling position and opened his eyes. The darkness receded and he could see almost as well as in the daylight. Camilla sat down on a nearby bench and waited for him, her foot tapping impatiently as he made his way over to her, his movements slow and calculated so as to settle his aching stomach. He sat down on the bench and breathed in, trying to still his pounding heart. He looked at her closely for the first time and felt his breath catch in his throat. She was pale like Ben, but had a slight glow around her, as if surrounded by a slight, haze of light. Her red hair fell around her face and shoulders like a frame of blazing fire, and her green eyes seemed to pierce through him like a knife. He felt his stomach flutter as he met her gaze and looked away, his cheeks flushing. She seemed not to notice, brushing her hair off to one side to better converse with him.
"Are you feeling any better?" she inquired.
"Yeah, thanks," he nodded as he focused on anything other than her probing eyes, "I-"
"Good, because I need you to listen closely, and I hate repeating myself. It will be easier to teach you if you're not constantly being sick."
"... thanks for your concern."
"Stop talking," she snapped, "and listen. Save your questions for the end, and I will try to answer them."
"Okay."
"First thing's first, if you are to be one of the Undying, you must know a little more about our people. Most Undying learn these things when they are toddlers, so I do hope that this will be easy for you to understand."
"I'm actually pretty smart-"
"Stop talking," she clicked her tongue in disapproval, "and listen. The first thing you need to understand is the difference between the Families ... which Family do you belong to, New Blood?"
"... Peaks?" he guessed, knowing that his answer would not be correct.
"Good God," she blinked at him, "you don't know anything."
"No, I know my family!" Adam grumbled, "my mother-"
"The Families are not related, not in a traditional sense," Camilla interrupted with a sigh, "the Undying are the pinnacle of the Fae. The Undying as a whole are stronger, faster, and better than all other creatures in almost every way. As with all other species, there are sub-species to our people. Families are defined by their methods of feeding, how we replenish our energy-"
"Wait, so the Undying don't drink blood? Why was that Corvis guy drinking blood?!"
"Do not interrupt me again," Camilla groaned, "there are six Families, and you need to know these things if you're going to survive the City ..."
"The City? Do you mean New Alexandria? Are there a lot of vampires here?!"
Camilla smacked his arm, leaving a bruise, "shut up. If you interrupt me again, I will leave you tied to a tree, I swear to the Last Lords."
"Shutting up."
"Good. There are six Families, and each of them are equally important, despite what ... certain members might say. No matter which Family you belong to, remember that we are all Undying, and your loyalties are to all of us, not just one Family. Understand?" she glared at him when he refused to answer, sighed and rubbed the bridge of her slender nose, "you may speak when I ask you questions, New Blood."
"Okay, yeah," Adam nodded, "six Families, each one's defined by the way they ... feed, and they all think they're better than the other five, but all of them are pretty much the same in the eyes of the Fae. Is that right?"
"Hm, perhaps there is a brain hiding in that thick skull of yours," Camilla quipped, "yes, you're correct."
"So ... are you going to tell me about them?"
"Patience," she warned him by raising her index finger, "the six Families are the Nelluth, Balluth, Fohmor, Adarbu, the Durg ... and the Cursed. It will be hard for you to tell some of them apart at first, but there's a fairly simple way-"
"The eyes, right?" he interrupted and winced as she raised her hand to strike him, "sorry, sorry!"
"Yes, our eyes," Camilla nodded, "the Nelluth, for instance, have yellow irises, and the Durg have blood-red, like Ben and Corvis. I have green eyes, like all Adarbu. You ..." Camilla peered into his eyes, making him shiver, "you have ... hazel eyes. Hrm, they didn't change after your Awakening ..."
"Is that a bad thing? What does that mean?" Adam felt his throat contract.
"I ... it might not mean anything," she replied flatly, "as I was saying, the Families are all different in culture and feeding."
"O-okay," Adam gulped "so ... are you going to tell me about them?"
"I will share with you information about my Family," she smiled, "because we do not have all night, New Blood."
"Kind of self-centered, but alright."
"The Adarbu, my Family," Camilla ignored him, "we feed on the energy of the mind. We consume dreams and can bring the impossible to life. We are the shapers of reality, and the bringers of fantasy made manifest in the living world. We are the Undying upon which most of human understanding of the Fae stems. We are weavers of enchantments and all things mystical. Like the Durg, we appear human, but-"
"The Durg are what Ben and Corvis are, right? Tell me about them!"
"The Durg," Camilla rolled her eyes at his excitement, "are perhaps the most familiar to humankind. I suppose you could consider them traditional or classic Undying; they feed on blood and can perform rituals of great power. Blood is important to all Undying, but the Durg revere it. They are the ones you so crassly referred to as vampyres."
"Ben mentioned the Cursed-"
"... he did, did he?" Camilla pursed her lips, "why?"
"He said he thought maybe I might be one of them," Adam replied quietly, noting her sudden silence, "he, er, he s-said that my ... change-"
"Your Awakening."
"Yeah, that. He said it was really bad. I don't remember any of it, but he said I was thrashing and screaming at them. What are they?"
Camilla reached into a small satchel and produced a leatherbound book. She turned it to a page and flipped it around. The image nearly made him jump out of his skin.
"What the hell happened to him?!" he pointed at the image of a man whose face was missing its nose, one of its eyes, and was covered in boils.
"That is one of the Cursed," Camilla frowned sadly, "humans have many names for them: goblins, orcs, The Boogie Man ... they feed off of luck and potential and many of them are seers. They are possibly the most powerful of all of the Families, but their power comes at a cost. The Awakening of a Cursed is a dangerous undertaking. A body can only take so much power before it breaks, and so every Cursed is left horribly disfigured. Many do not survive their Awakenings, and the ones who do ..." she shook her head, "are left physically and mentally scarred for the rest of their days. They may be powerful, but they have little control over their powers, and many die in tragic accidents."
"Are there many of them?" he shuddered as he glanced down at the creature staring up at him with sky-blue eyes.
"No, they are exceedingly rare," she whispered, and then snapped the book shut, "and I do not think you are one of them. Be extremely grateful that you are not forced to shoulder their burden, New Blood."
"Yeah ..." he glanced off into the woods, "so, which Family do you think I belong to?"
"Well, you're a child of humans," Camilla sighed, "so your powers are likely still developing. Your eyes haven't changed, and you haven't fed yet, so until you have your blood tested I'm going to consider you no more than a rather lucky human."
"Great," he sighed.
Camilla leaned closer and he felt his stomach contract pleasantly, "wait a second," she grabbed his right arm and pulled up his long sleeves, revealing the many jagged scars coating every inch of his skin, "hmm, did you have those nasty scars before your Chrysalis?"
Adam jerked his arm away from her more forcefully than he had intended, the sound of screaming metal echoing in his memory, and pulled his sleeve down, "yes, I've had them for years."
"Ah, good," she paused and examined his deep frown, "not good that you have scars. I mean, they're not that bad ... I mean that it's good you're not one of the Cursed. They are good people, but their magic is too chaotic-"
"Magic?" his expression softened and his eyes lit up, "holy shit, that's right! Ben said that he casted a spell on my house! The Undying can do magic?! Tubular, man!"
"Of course we can," she closed her eyes, "have you not been listening?! Where do you think all that drivel about wizards and witches comes from, New Blood?"
"Where can I learn more about all of this?" he asked excitedly, "this is a lot to process ... is there, like, a school for all of this?"
"A ... a school?" she raised an eyebrow and snorted, "a school in which Undying can learn how to feed like babes, and to cast cute, little spells in the safety of a classroom environment? What a ridiculous idea. This is real life, not some bedtime story!" She rose from the bench and stretched, pushing out her chest. She caught Adam watching her and scowled, closing her coat with a disapproving glare, "come, New Blood. We have much to do, and the night is almost over."
He followed her off of the trail and into the wooded area of the park. He felt as though the world was closing in around him, surrounding him with trees and other foliage that compounded the darkness of night. She wound her way through the trees, expertly dodging branches and thorns that jabbed at him as he passed.
"What are we doing?" He whispered.
"Looking for a good spot," Camilla replied softly, "we must go deeper into the woods, to a place where you can create your catalyst; you will not be able to enter the City without one."
"A what now?"
"A catalyst, and no, it is not a type of feline."
"Wow, you do have a sense of humour!" He remarked. Camilla stopped walking and reached out to pull the branches standing in their way aside, "I'm not an idiot and ... oh, wow."
The two Undying stepped out into a clearing bathed in moonlight. He stared up at the sky and marvelled at the seldom-seen stars twinkling above. He felt a primal need to feel the grass beneath his feet. His heart soared and he breathed in the clear air greedily.
"You don't get out of your house often, do you?" Camilla smirked, "this place will do nicely."
She led him into the center of the clearing and ordered him to sit. He complied and glanced around at his surroundings. He could hear the animals chattering just beyond the clearing, and could smell them as they darted in and out of the trees. None of them approached the clearing, and he realized that they instinctively knew what had entered their clearing.
"Close your eyes," Camilla commanded, "and empty your mind ... a simple task for you, I'm sure."
"Uh-huh," he grumbled but did as she said. He pushed his thoughts away and tried to focus on his heart beating.
Thump-thump.
He took a deep breath and counted each pulse.
Thump-thump.
His heavy heartbeat dominated the world.
Thump-thump.
He continued to breathe in and out as Camilla moved closer. His heart started beating faster as her scent entered his nostrils, distracting him from his counting.
"Now ..." she whispered somewhere close to his ear, "reach out. Feel the forest around you. The Fae are connected to this world, the Undying most of all. Tell me what you feel, New Blood."
"I feel ..." he gasped, "I feel life ... animals. Deer, rabbits, squirrels ... so many squirrels."
"Good, do you see the Path?"
"The ... the path?"
"Listen to the forest. Let it guide you onto the Path, and it will let you access your magic. The Path that you have been placed onto by life winds its way through the forest, through all things. You must take your first steps on the Path, or you will forever be lost. Focus, New Blood."
He breathed in and out deeply and felt something tug at his core. He relaxed and let his mind drift, as if floating along a road. Different animals flashed in his mind's eye, examining him for a moment before moving on. A mass of birds, insects, and mammals gathered in his mind, and he felt overjoyed and at peace. He frowned as a chill ran up and down the length of his spine. One of the animals rose up above the others and skittered forward. The spider was enormous with long, black hair and grey splotches coating its legs and body.
"There are animals and insects ... one of them is," he found that he was unable to open his eyes, "one of them is coming towards me."
"Good, let it," Camilla smiled, "it's trying to guide you."
"I ... I don't want it to," he shivered, "I ... Camilla, I don't ..."
The spider reared up and regarded him for a moment before skittering past him, as if annoyed that it had wasted it's time. He let his breath out and felt his body being pulled past the darkness, into a secluded, dirt road that lay just beyond the animals.
"Do you see the path?" Camilla whispered.
"Y-yes."
"Good. Now, keep it in your mind. Do not let go of the feeling you have now. Open your eyes, it is time for you to craft your catalyst."
"Okay," he nodded, "er, what do I do?"
"You will be creating a focus through which your feelings become power, and that power becomes magic," she explained, "your catalyst must be an object of great personal significance. All living creatures have energy, and it is on this essence that our people feed. When we are full, so to speak, we can funnel the stored essences within us through our catalyst to perform acts of magical prowess."
"So ... it's like a wizard's staff? From Lord of the Rings? Tubular!"
"... if you wish to over-simplify things, yes," she groaned, "now, do you have anything significant with you? You will have it on you always; all Undying become fixated on something. An item that you cannot live without, something of immense importance to you?"
"Yeah," he raised his left arm and pulled back his sleeve, showing the round, simple face of his watch, "this is ... it's the most important thing I own."
"Hand it over," she said as she presented her palm.
He hesitated and then slowly unclasped his watch and dropped it into her outstretched hands with great reluctance, "please, be careful with it."
"I will ..." she squinted at the watch's face, "are you aware that this watch is broken? It's stuck at seven twenty-two. I can fix it before we begin, if you'd like me to-"
"NO!" Adam shouted and then calmed himself, "sorry, no thank you. It's fine."
She shrugged and handed the watch back, "very well. Pay attention, New Blood.
Her green eyes flashed. She pulled a necklace from her blouse and held it aloft. The emerald embedded in its centre glowed and then started humming with power. She breathed in through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. A small light flashed around her hands and the emerald shimmered. A gout of flame burst from the tips of her fingers and arched out into the sky, fizzling out into nothing as she stopped the flow of power from her catalyst.
"You see?" She smiled as she tucked her catalyst back into her top, "focus your energy into your catalyst. You try."
He nodded and closed his eyes as Camilla placed the watch in the palm of his hand. He focused on the weight of the watch and tried to force ... something into it. Several minutes passed and nothing happened, much to his bitter disappointment. Camilla tutted and shook her head. She snapped her fingers in his face, and his eyes snapped open.
"I ... I don't understand-"
"Then don't," she shook her head again, "don't try to understand it. This is not something that can be thought about, New Blood. Magic is something that must be felt. Magic is not a factual thing, nor is it a science to be learned; it is an emotion to be felt and expressed. Focus on everything this watch means to you, everything it represents, and let your feelings flow into it. Try again, New Blood, and this time I will add some of my own energy to help guide you."
"Okay," he focused on the watch again and waited for Camilla to do something. She raised her own hand and the slightest hint of green light wafted from her necklace and enshrouded his hands. He looked down at his watch and felt his heart beating faster and faster as fond memories came flooding back to him. He smiled and the watch started to glow. A cold weight appeared in his stomach, and he gasped. The chill spread from his stomach and crept along every nerve in his body, "woah! Camilla ... this doesn't feel right, I-"
Camilla shuddered. Her own breath was coming in ragged gasps, frosting in the air around her mouth. She recoiled and withdrew her hand, "stop! Stop now, New Blood!"
Adam glanced over at her frightened expression and then looked back down at his watch. It shook in his hands and glowed brighter and brighter with each passing moment. The air was heavy around his face and he could sense a strong, buzzing energy growing in his palms. The watch shuddered and he felt fear spark in the pit of his stomach. Camilla raised both of her hands to shield her eyes as the light coming from his Catalyst intensified. There was a loud bang, and the watch exploded, throwing him backwards into a torrent of light and darkness.