***
The black ichor filled his senses and sent his thoughts tumbling into an abyss of pleasure. He wanted more, much more. He desperately wanted as much as he could of the rich substance which made his body tremble and shudder with delicious sensations. His fingers bore into the cold hard flesh and he pressed himself as close to the source as possible. But despite his need and the urgings inside his body, the wave didn’t break; instead it continued to rise until there was no other thought in his mind. For a brief blissful moment the pleasure became pain until he couldn’t bear it any more.
Gasping, he pulled away, his breath juddering in time to the pounding in his chest. Almost instantly the urge to try again came upon him and he moved forward once more. He clamped his mouth against the cool skin around the bloody hole and sucked with all the strength he could muster. Somewhere, he was aware of his maker, holding him close and whispering encouraging words. Maybe this time he would feel the changes he so desperately wanted to experience. Once again the desire began to grow and soon it overwhelmed his senses, leaving him with the animalistic pleasure that consumed his whole being. He could still feel the cool flesh of Isher–Dan against his own warmer body and the similar need growing inside his would-be maker.
He wasn’t surprised when the Kin leader pulled him off and pushed him down onto the floor of the mine and bit into his neck and drank down Junius’s life blood. The young Roman moaned with pleasure and urged Isher–Dan to take his fill. Somewhere in the back of his mind lurked the knowledge that he had to talk to Isher-Dan about something, but he couldn’t remember what and anyway he decided it could wait until much later.
Finally sated, Isher-Dan lay beside him and asked what he’d been so desperate to talk about.
Junius was savouring the coolness that was finally filling his body and the painless tremors playing across his skin. He opened his mouth to answer, but instead there was a tingling in his upper jaw which indicated that something was changing. A slow smile spread across his face, as he realised with delight that he was finally entering the last phase of Becoming.
“Marcus, what was it?” Isher–Dan asked again and there was a tone in his internal voice that indicated he was worried.
Junius struggled to remember, but it was hard. That evening as the sun had set, the leader of the Kin had awoken and immediately he’d begun the transformation process, Junius had wanted to say something then and had tried to speak, but the Kin had been determined and had finally succeeded in driving all other thoughts from his would-be progeny’s mind.
Now Isher-Dan wanted to hear but Junius was floating blissfully in a cloud of wellbeing. The leader was leaning over him and he could feel the Kin’s presence inside his mind. He didn’t like that. In fact, Junius didn’t like that at all. His mind was his own and not for everyone to share. But he remembered that being Kin meant being linked in with everyone. He could feel them all, but until now his thoughts had still been his own. His brain recoiled and instinctively pushed Isher–Dan away.
The leader smiled. “It’s part of what we are. We have no secrets. You were part of that last time. Why do you fight it now?”
The sensation of wellbeing had left him and Junius raised himself so that he was resting on his elbows. “I don’t know. The first time I didn’t know what was happening, but now I do. I’ll share the thoughts I want to, but my mind is my own.” He felt the leader push his mind against his own, but Junius was able without much effort to push him away. Immediately the Kin tried again, but to no avail Junius was able to deflect him easily.
“You shouldn’t be able to do that,” the leader growled. Junius shrugged, quite happy that he could. “It must be to do with your resistance. It’ll go soon enough when you fully join with us,” he decided dismissively.
Now that Junius had been dragged out of his stupor he was anxious to discuss the other more pressing matter. “Isher, we have to go east. Marius was the one killing them at Apulium today. Tomorrow he’ll come here and destroy everyone. They know who we are now. We have to go.”
Isher-Dan shook his head. “You worry too much, Roman. Some of the men of the fort are with us. Even if your friend has told your general about us, we can infiltrate elsewhere in the Empire.”
Junius shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. Rome has a strong central government. Orders will go out from the Emperor to be cautious and on the alert for any one displaying symptoms. They’ll be looking for you, expecting you to try again. Isher, you have to go east. There are great civilisations there, some richer than Rome, where no one knows about you.”
The leader of the Kin studied him in the darkness of the old mine. “You promised us Rome and that is what we want.”
“You can’t have it. The chance has gone. They all know about the Kin, they’ll stop you, and destroy you all. Marius couldn’t have done this by himself. The ones in phase two are trapped in cells in the fort. They’re isolated. That means that all the soldiers and the residents of Apulium know what they are and how dangerous they could be.”
Isher-Dan looked away and Junius realised that he believed him and understood what he was trying to say.
“We should leave tonight,” Junius added, pressing the point “They could arrive here tomorrow; if they ride they’ll be here by mid-morning. They might come straight to the mine and the caves without going to Salinae. Anyone here during the day tomorrow could be a sitting target.”
The leader met his eyes. “I will suggest that we leave and go east as you propose.”
Junius waited as Isher-Dan’s voice echoed across the collective minds of the Kin. He felt the leader’s words and the persuasive tone. But almost as soon as he’d finished, other voices rose up in protest.
Junius looked questioningly at the leader, whose face was set in anger.
“The new ones. They are auxiliaries from the fort and their families. They don’t respect the old ways.”
Eventually amid the clamour one voice rose out amongst them and became their speaker. It was Felix, the prefect of the Salinae.
“We will have Rome. You are too cautious Junius Silanus. We have watched you Romans and know your ways. We can still take the Empire.”
“How?” Junius challenged. “They’re watching for symptoms and know what the Kin look like now. You won’t get far, I assure you.”
His words were met by mocking laughter. “We’ll attack the men who come here and destroy them, then we’ll disappear and come back through Germania. No one will expect us and we’ll infiltrate through the leaders. They will protect us.”
Junius stared across at Isher-Dan and shook his head. “He’s wrong,” he said to the Kin leader. Then he spoke through the combined link to Felix. “All Romans will be looking out for you. Everyone will be aware. Even in the chaos that is Germania. Have you ever been to Rome? Have any of you?”
Only a few muttered that they’d been there. Junius rolled his eyes. “You don’t know how the administration works. The Empire is organised and information passes quickly from one corner to the other in a matter of days. It would fall apart if it didn’t. You’ve only been on the outside, I’ve been part of the court and involved in the running of a legion. I know how many orders come from Rome and what goes back. Even if you do destroy the men who come to Salinae, the word will have gone out already. The governor will know and soon the Emperor will have heard about you and the threat you are to his Empire. The only chance you have is to go east.”
“No. we have worked for Rome all our lives and have been promised citizenship. Rome will be ours. You have too much faith in your Empire. You saved us, that is true, but your real loyalty is to Rome and not to the Kin.”
Junius glanced at Isher–Dan, who was listening to the exchange but his expression was closed. Junius knew that he was losing the argument, though he still might be able to persuade the Kin leader that to go east was the best course of action.
“It’s true, I do have mixed loyalties. I serve Rome, it’s in my blood
, it’s what I was born to do. But I am loyal to the Kin as well. I’ve chosen to return to you, so that I could warn you of what was coming. I’ve saved you before and now I’m trying to save you again. If you stay you will be killed. The man who will be leading this force knows how to destroy you and will stop at nothing to do that. You’ll be up against men with stakes and fire. And what will you have in return? Nails and teeth?”
Felix’s reply was instant. “We are soldiers, Marcus Junius Silanus. We’re trained as you were. We will go up against them as trained troops.”
Junius hissed through his teeth, and glared at Isher-Dan who remained impassive. “You have too much confidence in yourself and your men. It’ll be the death of you and all your kind. But then you’ve brought that upon yourselves with your carelessness and arrogance. You didn’t try to hide what you were at all, and that brought the situation to the attention of the Emperor, who sent us here. Your only chance of survival is to leave, and I’m advising you all to do that and preferably tonight.”
“Thank you for your concern. But my men will stay and we will fight.” Felix broke the connection and silence reigned amid the collective thoughts of the Kin, but within moments the voices began again clamouring to be heard.
“Will you take those loyal to you?” Junius asked Isher-Dan.
The leader sighed. “I agree these young ones have brought this upon us. They’ve been careless and taken people against their will without asking if they want to be Kin. They also broke up families, which we have never done. They have taken too many and within too short a space of time. By doing this they’ve drawn attention to themselves. But I can’t leave them. They’re Kin and connected by blood. We have no choice but to stay with them. If we survive the Romans arrival we’ll consider what to do then. But we can’t leave our own.” Isher–Dan reached out and touched Junius on the shoulder. “You are a soldier, you must understand.”
Junius turned away, angry and frustrated, but he had to admit that deep down he did understand and if he had been fully Kin himself he would probably have done the same.
For a moment there was silence between them. Junius knew that Isher-Dan was waiting for him to speak. Though the Kin could probably sense something of what he was thinking, but not all, his mind was still his own.
Eventually Junius turned back. “Promise me that if you wake tomorrow night and they haven’t attacked, then you’ll take the ones loyal to you and hide in the furthest caves from here and in the deepest parts. Once in there, don’t leave again until several days have passed. I’m going to have to go back and try to intercept Marius, and try to persuade him to go to the fort first and not to attempt to kill you before night fall.”
“No, Marcus. You are almost Kin. Going abroad in daylight would undo what we’ve achieved tonight.”
“I know, but there’ll be time for that later. This way you can stay with your people, and yet at the same time be safe in the furthest caves whilst the new ones and the Romans fight each other. And you’ll be out of range when the Romans come to kill any Kin left alive the next day. I’m sorry, Isher, I have to go and persuade them to go to the fort, it’s the only way I can save some of you from destruction.”
Isher-Dan was thoughtful. “You are certain that Marius and his Romans will win?” Junius nodded. “Then this is a sensible thing that you propose to do. The others will understand. At least no one will be killed like sitting targets and they’ll have the honour of fighting tomorrow night. But what will you do? At nightfall you’ll become Kin.”
“If that happens, I’ll come to you and we can go to the furthest caves together.” He stopped. “I don’t want to leave you again, but you realise that I have no choice. I might be able to stop Marius.”
“I understand. We all do. But if you are inside the fort, be careful that your friend doesn’t kill you.”
Junius stood. “I’ll know before that, Isher. If I can walk in daylight without covering myself then I won’t change. But if I can’t, then I’ll make sure that I’m away before nightfall and with you again. We can decide then what action we take.”
The leader looked up. “And if you don’t become Kin?”
Junius shrugged. “As you said, we then try again without interruptions. You have my word that I won’t kill any of our people tomorrow night.”
Isher-Dan smiled. “I believe you. Until the next time, my friend.”
Junius nodded, then turned and moved silently down the passage that led to the mine’s entrance.