The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 48 ~ Electric Avenue

Not everyone rejoiced at becoming a Csa. Romena Virvaine stood in the grass, staring at the deadly blade she was given. Her own emblem was a rowanberry branch with bright red berries and green leaves. Most Csa were happily relishing the sunlight, relieved to be free of former vampire weaknesses while keeping all the benefits and disadvantages of immortality.

But Romena didn't see this as a gift. She continued looking down at the blade, mesmerized by the vampire blood held suspended inside the blade like a lava lamp, the glittering unknown white liquid adding a sparkle effect to the blade. Fond of weapons, Romena considered the sword a very uniquely crafted weapon, but with a severe catch: the blade was to be used on its owner.

Romena wished for simpler times, times when it was just Romena and her lover Ardai. Things were so different when it was just us. Then Ardai started sympathizing with the humans. I realized too late that he was in the right and I was in the wrong. I've seen for myself the consequences of division between two similar but very different kinds of lifeforms. I've seen how important it is to uphold peace in the land.

She could still see vampires disintegrate before her own eyes, could still hear , their love torn apart so brutally. Romena knew the pain Mallen was going through; she had felt the exact same when she watched a dragon's fire burn Ardai, turning him to charred ashes in only a matter of minutes. It still gave her nightmares, still gave her sleepless nights when she remembered his death.

Romena looked in Mallen's direction. She watched Blaise converse with him before walking off, leaving Mallen alone. He sheathed his blade, looking to where the group of vampires had disintegrated. She could see his shoulders start to shake, could see him struggling to hold back tears.

"Hey," said Romena, suddenly appearing beside Mallen. She was pleased to learn the Csa kept their almost-instantaneous vampire speed, making their movements look almost like teleportation. "I'm sorry about your wife. I too lost someone I loved, back when the dragons attacked the land."

Mallen turned to face Romena, his face solemn, devoid of tears for now. "I know you loved Ardai. He shouldn't have died."

"But he did. And so did ."

Mallen slowly took a deep breath. Romena saw he was trying hard to hold himself together. She was all too familiar with grief and knew he was going through the initial shock, having somehow bypassed the five stages of grief by going straight to acceptance for some reason, but she knew he would soon be dealing with all five relatively soon.

She put a hand on his arm, feeling the slight trembling within. "Perhaps we should leave this planet," Romena said quietly. "Leave it all behind. It will help you move on."

"I was intending to leave this planet anyway," Mallen said in response. "I want to go as far away from it as possible. But we're not going to Iredescent; I refuse to go there unless under dire circumstances, and even then I would seek another planet elsewhere."

"A habitable one, of course. You wouldn't want to land on a planet we can't survive in," said Romena. "Tell you what, Mallen. I bet we can ask one of the electric people for a database so we can seek out a planet."

"Davai," said Mallen, eagerly jumping to the idea. Davai means come on or let's go in Russian.

A smile touched the corner of Romena's mouth. She was secretly thrilled by the idea of going out with Mallen. She had always found him attractive, but she was involved with Ardai. Now that they shared the pain of losing a loved one, Romena thought it would be a good chance to get together with Mallen.

They walked side by side through the cyberpunk city streets, neon lights shining on the skyscrapers and setting the streets in various colors. Synthetic electronic rock music played in the electric avenue. Flying cars maneuvered in the sky amidst the skyscrapers as people walked in the streets. Romena loved it, but Mallen thought the city was too chaotic, preferring the peace and quiet of the forest.