Chapter 1:

Vitamin D

The Immortals


Searing pain from deep within her body was felt as Aer gained consciousness.

Slowly focusing her vision, Aer felt the blood rush to her head as the sight of the moving gravel floor welcomed her. She realized she was being carried over someone's shoulder and began to squirm in an attempt to escape.

"Stop, woman!"

Aer recognized the voice of her captor. It was Cillian, the man who had snuck into her room earlier and destroyed the golem that was patrolling the village.

"Where are you taking me, you nutjob!?" She asked, angrily smacking his muscular back, albeit in a weak state due to having the wind knocked out of her earlier.

"Talking would've been a waste of time," he replied, "this was a much more efficient manner."

"Put me down, NOW."

Aer was met with silence as Cillian continued to march on, gripping her waist tightly so she could not move.

They were well outside of the village now, approaching the main road connected to a long canal which was the primary method of commute for merchants and suppliers from the Engineers Domain. A strong smell of chlorine and other chemicals lingered in the air, as the water in the canal was sanitized at the request of the Engineers as part of preventing any diseases from entering the Domain's waterways.

Cillian stopped as they reached the end of the dock.

"You better not struggle, or you'll fall into that bleach-filled water."

Aer panicked as he suddenly jumped onto a boat, grasping tightly onto him as he maneuvered through the deck that was swaying back and forth from the heavy movement. They entered the small cabin where she was finally put down, but not before having her hands tied firmly together with some rope.

Aer glared at her captor.

"You're an Immortal, aren't you? So why are you working with the Engineers?"

Cillian ignored her as he began preparations to un-dock the boat. Then, noticing her frail body shivering, he threw his cloak on top of her guiltily before making his way back to the boat's wheel. Aer did not take her eyes off of him the whole time. In fact, he could feel her stare drilling into the back of him.

"At least tell me where you plan on taking me exactly…."

Her question was met with silence once more. The boat was in full throttle now, and from what she could make out, they were about three days away from the Domain. There was no doubt she was afraid, shivering from both the cold night air as well as her sudden kidnapping. She did not have any time to warn her neighbors of her intruder as it was in the dead of night. Furthermore, her adoptive granny had passed earlier in the year, leaving Aer the sole occupant of their small home.

Aer looked around the boat to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon. But, of course, there was none; this man seemed skilled enough to have made sure there would be no opportunity for escape. She winced as the rope began to sink deeper into her flesh.

"The rope is hurting me, untie it, you crazy... I clearly can't go anywhere."

Cillian put the boat on auto-drive and sat down next to her.

"Get some shut-eye. This will be a long journey."

"Like I can sleep tied up and being watched by a kidnapper or possible rapist!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but those flat pancakes aren't doing much for me."

"What-"

Aer gasped as she looked down at her chest.

"You fucker!" She cried, flabbergasted at his commentary of her breasts, "Untie me! I'm gonna beat your balls blue!"

Cillian closed his eyes and appeared to have dozed off. Aer wasn't sure if she should be offended that he felt she was so risk-free and slept so unguardedly or if she should be thankful for the opportunity to look for an escape route. Unfortunately, though, escaping was probably futile on a moving boat.

Instead, she decided to study the sleeping man next to her. Sure he had a handsome face and the same striking colored hair as hers; however, their eye colors were completely different. Aer knew that Immortals all had silver-colored eyes, so she was always confused about her bright red ones. In addition, some villagers suggested that she didn't present as an Immortal and was most likely born with albino traits. However, there was never really an opportunity to test these hypotheses.

Suddenly, she noticed a small folded knife attached to his belt.

No way… he'd 100% wake up... She thought to herself.

She looked around the boat. There really was no other option. Luckily her feet weren't bound, so perhaps she could use them to slowly detach the knife from the belt. For once, she applauded her usual laziness at home on the couch, training the use of her feet to grab things when she couldn't be bothered to get up and use her hands.

Fuck it...A chance to use my one and only skill!

It felt like everything moved in slow motion, or she was actually moving in slow motion, as a matter of fact. Aer moved at an excruciatingly slow pace, daring not to breathe as she gently placed the tip of her two feet on the top of the knife. She looked up to check whether Cillian had noticed, but he appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Aw Yisssssss! Come on, feet skills!

Aer wrapped her toes around the knife, making sure they were steady and ready. She was definitely sweating at this point, but that actually helped with the grip, to be completely honest.

Slowly…Slowly…

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her right foot. As if the situation wasn't dire enough, the damn foot had begun to cramp.

Aer could only curse herself and her lack of vitamin D. She decided to retreat, attempting to release her cramping foot's grip on the knife but not before Cillian's hand suddenly grasped her ankle.

NoooOOoooOOo it's over…damn it, you useless feet!

Taylor Victoria
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