Book of Venoms - 16. Transformation Complete

“Umnios, God of Wisdom and God of Shifters, I call upon you in this hour of the night. Hear my call and hear my prayer.

With the life energy of a shifter, my body has been imbued.

Allow my spirit - my other form - to come forth, for I am ready to serve you.”

--

The sorcerer laid on the floor, clutching the wound on his stomach as the blood spilled out and stained the thick, ivory-colored carpet. Above him, Xaviel stood, holding the bloody dagger in his hand and looking at him with a strange mixture of fear and relief on his face. Fear - because he had now crossed the point of no return, and relief - because he would finally be free and on the cusp of tasting true power.

“Why?!” the boy repeated after his father, as if shocked that such a question even had to be asked. “Because now I can finally be free! No longer imprisoned in this forsaken desert, and by my own father!”

Macarius coughed as he looked at his son with sadness and horror. Even though the physical wound hurt like hell, the pain of Xaviel’s betrayal was infinitely bigger. How could his own son do this to him? They fought, that was true, but surely things weren’t so dire that he deserved to die at the hands of his child? All he ever wanted was to keep Xaviel safe. And now, after everything he did to save him, thinking he had lost him for good, it turns out he had already lost him a long time ago. The guilt he felt at that moment was overwhelming; it came over him like a massive tidal wave and he was unable to escape it.

“You… you planned this?” Macarius struggled to utter. “The bite…”

“Of course I planned it,” the boy replied. “You may be smart, father, but so am I. After all, I learned from the best. You see, there was no spider bite. Just a dose of Fiend Bat venom, enough to put me in a coma.”

The old man’s eyes welled up as he realized the lengths to which his son had gone to get rid of him. But something still wasn’t clear to him - if Xaviel had wanted to kill him, he could have done it anytime. He could have entered Macarius’ chambers and kill him in his sleep. Why go to the trouble of pretending to be at the brink of death just so Macarius would try and save him?

“I don’t… understand. Why all this?”

Xaviel kept his distance. The pained look on his father’s face was making him start feeling remorse, which was something he could not afford at that moment. He had come too far to let himself get emotional; he had to see things through.

“Because I needed you to do the hard work for me. I knew you would do anything to make the antidote to save me.”

As the realization hit Macarius, his son snickered with pleasure.

“Did you think you were the only one reading the Book of Venoms? I know all about the universal antidote and the ritual to become a shifter. I am now immune to everything! And since I have shifter blood within me, I shall finally complete the ritual!”

Macarius shook his head in despair, realizing what Xaviel was about to do. The ritual for becoming a shifter was never perfected, it went against Gods and the very laws of nature. Only people blessed by Umnios could become shifters - he was the only one who could bestow such a gift upon anyone. It was not something meant to be artificially created or played with by anyone. Count Divinus was the prime example of what could happen when a man took it upon himself to play a God.

“No… don’t,” he tried to warn Xaviel, but the boy merely smirked and shook his head, rejecting his father’s cautioning.

“I have everything I need, thanks to you. But unlike Divinus and all the others, I shall not fail.”

Realizing he could do nothing to stop or discourage his son from the perilous experiment he was about to perform, Macarius felt more powerless than ever. He could only pray that Xaviel would be alright. Even though the sting of betrayal hurt, father’s love was far stronger than that.

“I… love you,” Macarius whispered. Despite everything, he needed Xaviel to know that. He needed those to be his final words to his son. As he uttered them, the sorcerer closed his eyes and his head gently touched the floor, his whole body motionless.

Xaviel briefly took in the scene before him, but found himself unable to look anymore. He quickly turned around, his heart pounding harder than ever. He could feel it in his chest, in his head and ears. It sounded like a bell, strong and ominous, signaling the end of a chapter in his life.

That was the turning point and there was no going back. He was finally free, that much he realized, but he didn’t quite feel it. He mostly felt scared, anxious for what was to come. Deep down, though, there was something else - a feeling that disturbed him the most, but he was in no mind to analyse it just then.

Hiding the blade under the couch, he rushed out of the room. He hated his feelings, they were just getting in the way. He just wanted to go on with his plan and leave as soon as possible.

Cassandra stood at the other end of the hall, observing him. As soon as he laid his eyes on her, Xaviel felt better. His heart felt lighter and he could feel his lips drawing into a big smile. Somehow, things didn’t seem that scary and bleak anymore. He rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The girl mirrored his movements, hugging the boy as tears trickled down her pale cheeks.

“You… you’re back.”

“Yes, my love,” Xaviel whispered. He couldn’t hold back the tears either. “I told you I’d come back to you.”

“You did… Praise the Gods,” Cassandra spoke, leaning away and looking at her beloved in the eyes.

Even though she had faith in him, seeing him lay unmoving in that glass casket for weeks was incredibly difficult. Every day, she would visit his room just to make sure he was still there, wishing he would wake up. Now that she had him back with her, Cassandra’s relief was immeasurable.

“You look… beautiful! I feel like I haven’t seen you in years,” Xaviel gushed as he caressed the girl’s face.

“I visited you every day, spoke to you, read you from your books. How I yearned to hear your voice again, see you paint, hear you laugh.”

“I’m here now,” he assured her, smiling. It felt good to hear that he was missed, that someone was concerned about him, eagerly awaiting him.

Their heartfelt reunion was interrupted when Xaviel noticed five strangers emerging from behind the corner and walking toward them. He looked at Cassandra questioningly and whispered: “Who are they?”

“Three of them are shifters the master brought for the antidote. The other two are their friends, I believe,” the girl explained in an equally quiet voice.

As the group approached the reunited couple, Xaviel separated from Cassandra and faked a big smile, observing the five strange faces.

“Xaviel?” Cyr stepped forward cautiously, a frown on his young face. “I saw you in that casket. So it worked.”

“Yes, it worked,” the boy exclaimed, nodding energetically. “And it’s all thanks to you, you saved my life! Thank you so much for helping my father with the antidote,” he added, looking at each of the five people in front of him. Only then did he notice the two dark-skinned boys looked identical.

“Ahh, you’re twins!”

“Yeah, I’m Castor. This is my brother Cyr,” Castor giggled and introduced the two of them.

The rest of the group introduced themselves as well, all shaking hands with Xaviel. Now that they saw the boy was alive and well, they felt slightly relieved after the ordeal they were put through. They helped a man save his son’s life, and not a lot of people can say they did something as noble as that. They served a good cause. Castor was especially glad his venom was used to save someone’s life.

“Where is Macarius?” Jarin asked, wondering why the man himself was not appearing. He should be there with them, celebrating that he finally got his son back.

Cassandra, who up to that point had been completely focused on having her lover back, also realized she hadn’t seen her master. Like everyone else, she turned to Xaviel, awaiting his reply. Killing his father was the one step of his plan Xaviel didn’t share even with her.

“Father is too exhausted after the spell he had to perform to awaken me, I’m sure you understand. He just wants to rest for a while and regain his strength. All of this has been very difficult for him, both physically and emotionally” Xaviel explained, doing his best to look sad and sympathetic.

“Right,” Dymia muttered and nodded, though not completely sure if she believed him. There was something about the boy she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Father will be with us shortly, once he has calmed down a little. He suggested we wait for him in the dining room, said he had an important announcement to make,” Xaviel said, leading everyone upstairs and away from the crime scene. “And besides, I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks!”

As they all filed into the large dining area, Xaviel remained at the entrance, with Cassandra close by.

“Please excuse me now, I should really go wash myself and get a change of clothing before we eat,” he said politely and left the room.

As soon as Xaviel was out of sight, his smile turned to a serious frown and he rushed up the stairs to get the Book of Venoms from the laboratory. He had already wasted too much precious time on pleasantries with those people. When did his father suddenly become so welcoming and start receiving guests? For as long as Xaviel knew him, Macarius never had any friends. No one ever came to visit them in their remote fortress other than healers that his father would teleport whenever Xaviel or him would fall ill or get injured.

Perhaps these strangers were instrumental in saving his life, but at that moment, Xaviel didn’t want to waste any more time on them. He had to perform his ritual while it was still dark or he would have to wait for tomorrow. And that was something he would not do! He had waited too long for that moment to come, and now that he was so close, no one would stop him.

After retrieving the book from Macarius’ laboratory, Xaviel went to his astronomy tower, locking the door behind him. Cassandra was the only one with a key, but she knew not to disturb him until the ritual was complete.

The boy took seventeen candles from a shelf, one for each zodiac sign, and placed them on the floor in a circle. One by one, he lit them all and then took a large Void Crystal in one hand, and the Book of Venoms in the other. As he sat in the middle of the circle, Xaviel placed the book in front of him, opening it on the desired page. He then took the crystal and placed one end of it in the flame of each candle.

When he finished, he pressed the hot end of the crystal in the palm of his other hand, feeling the burn on his skin. It hurt more than he thought it would, but he knew he couldn’t stop.

Thanks to his father, he already had shifter blood coursing through his veins. All that was left to do was to read the lines from the book. Once he saw his blood flowing from the wound on his palm, Xaviel read the incantation, calling upon Umnios, the God of Shifters, with every fiber of his being.

Finally, he set the crystal down and closed his eyes. The ritual was complete. His heart was racing as he waited for a sign. Something, anything to let him know if it worked. He had waited for so long and went so far to get what he wanted. He couldn’t fail now. It was the moment of truth.

Suddenly, the boy felt a strong chill in the room and began to shiver. It lasted merely for a moment, though, and when he opened his eyes, he found that all of the candles had been extinguished.

He slowly stood up and looked at himself to see if anything had changed. As he inspected his arms and legs, he felt a searing pain coursing through his body and fell down on the floor. Doubling over in agony, he screamed as his chest heaved rapidly. Xaviel realized his body was changing, as fear and excitement battled within him.

It was working.

~~

Sawyer was sitting at the table next to his beloved Castor, eating fresh bananas and mangoes served by Cassandra. Even though they had had a proper feast when they arrived to the Citadel earlier that evening, he was always hungry. Ever since people learned he was a sorcerer, they believed he must be using magic to keep himself thin, since he had such a healthy appetite. Of course, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Even if he knew such magic, Sawyer would never use it.

Cyr sat on the other side of Castor, catching up with his brother and Sawyer, while Dymia and Jarin were seated across the table. Everyone was quickly getting restless as there was no sign of either Macarius or Xaviel.

“Where could they be?” Dymia asked. She knew she wasn’t the only one to find the whole thing odd, but she didn’t want to mention anything, not in front of Cassandra anyway. The servant girl was a mystery to her, with the strange way she treated them since they were brought to the Citadel.

“Maybe they wanted some time alone together,” Castor suggested. “They hadn’t talked in weeks, right?”

“Yeah, but still…”

All of a sudden, horrifying screams coming from somewhere nearby startled them. Everyone looked at each other in shock and confusion, but Cassandra was scared the most, her face turning pale as if she had seen a ghost. She knew something horrible must be happening to her lover.

“What the hell was that?” Jarin asked, jumping up from his chair. Dymia and Cyr were quick to follow.

“I’ll look into it, you stay here,” Cassandra ordered, immediately leaving the room and sealing the door behind her. She couldn’t afford to have those nosy kids meddling in Xaviel’s affairs now. They could ruin everything.

The servant girl rushed up the stairs to the astronomy tower, fearing the worst.

However, Jarin paid no attention to Cassandra’s orders. He went for the door, but couldn’t open it. No matter how hard he pushed, the heavy wooden door wouldn’t budge.

“That bitch locked us in again!” he grunted, banging on the door. “Open up!”

~~

Xaviel writhed on the ground from the excruciating pain that seemed to set his every nerve ending on fire. He screamed and kicked the candles around, not caring about anything anymore. The physical torture his body was going through was too much, he could barely withstand it. He just hoped it would be worth it in the end.

Every part of his body was shifting, until the transformation was complete. The pain finally began to subside and Xaviel knew he had successfully shifted for the very first time in his life. Picking himself off the ground, the boy approached the large oval mirror on the wall and beheld his animal form in the light of the moon and the few torches burning on the wall.

His eyes gleamed yellow in excitement. He was magnificent!

Thank you all for reading! Xaviel sends his regards!