《The Poisoner》 Chapter 1- Heavy Rain Chapter 1 The sky darkened, as the grey clouds, covered the bright rays of the sun. Rain began to fall, but Kyra trudged through it, protecting the food that he recently bought from the butcher with his tattered clothing. Hopelessness and grief plagued his very being. The pillar of the family; his father was no more. He died on the battlefield, fighting for his kingdom and his family. But just like any flame on a candle, his life soon came to an end. With his father gone, there was no one left to provide food on the table, certainly not with his mother stricken with grief. Ever since hearing the tragic news, she would face the wooden front door, staring at it blankly. Her eyes almost without a soul. Clutching my father¡¯s garment within the confines of her arms, hand clenched tight on his article of clothing. Kyran knew what she was doing. She was waiting. Waiting for him to come back home. Unable to believe the news that he was gone from this world. He laughed cynically to himself. Nothing feels real. Every step he takes, it gets heavier. Kyran felt so empty and numb; devoid of feeling. He stopped, looking at the rundown house just in the outskirts of the village. He pushed the door open with his two small hands. But what greeted him wasn¡¯t the distant eyes of his mother. Instead, it was her limp figure dangling on thick piece of rope, coiled around her neck attached to the wooden beams on the ceiling. He dropped the parcel in horror. ¡°No! No!¡± he cried out. Face contorting in pain, he grasped his chest tightly. Heart beating abnormally fast, causing him to be unable to breathe for a moment. Crumpled on the floor weakly, he clutched at her dangling feet, swaying slightly because of the fierce wind, caused by the growing storm. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Don¡¯t leave me!¡± he wailed in anguish. Curled up on the floor, utterly cold and alone. The darkness gnawing in the back of his mind. Threatening to consume what little sanity, he has left. ¡®What am I going to do now?¡¯ he wondered, tears pouring out my eyes. Kyran did not bother to wipe the tears, hoping they would wash away the pain. Being a ten year old, there¡¯s really nothing much you can do, except begged on the streets and hope that a couple would take pity on you and take you in. Joining the army was not an option. He was too young to attempt to join the army. Even if he was of age, he knew he would not be accepted, especially with him being born sickly. His bones weak and fragile. * After a few hours of mourning his mother¡¯s death. Kyran cut the rope, holding her up and gently laid her body on the stone cold floor. He grunted with effort, as he attempted to carry her body. Seeing that he did not have the strength, especially with the sickly constitution he was born with. He opted to dragging her instead. Finding an empty space, behind the rundown house. He attempted to dig through the wet soil, using an old spade. Hoping to create a hole deep enough to bury his mother''s corpse. Suddenly, a hissing could be heard in the distance. Without warning the two inch snake, sprang into action. Lunging like a speeding bullet, the Hell Viper, buried itself into his heart, and took one final breathe, before it died. Kyran¡¯s body fell with a thud. His terrified expression, frozen in time, as darkness took over his consciousness. Chapter 2- Changes Chapter 2- Changes Pain shot through his body, making him convulse in agony. Even though Kyran is unconscious, he could still feel the poison travelling into his blood stream, spreading throughout his body, disassembling his cells individually. It was hell. The pain simply too unbearable, his agonising howls and blood curled screams, could be heard from miles away. He was dying. He could feel his body decomposing from within. The pain was eroding his sanity. His senses were overwhelmed by the poison that was inside of him. He could feel nothing but its burning wrath, not allowing him to slip back into the land of dreams. It felt like eternity, but during this time, whenever he felt like giving up, he held on. Using the fierce determination, he never knew he had. Deep within his subconscious was a stubborn core, formed from being mocked his whole life by the other children, for his weak constitution and sickly constitution. He ignored their jeers and insults, but deep within his heart, he bottled his pent up frustration. ¡®He would show them one day!¡¯ he promised. ¡°NOOOO!!!¡± he shrieked in agony. Instead of shying away from the pain, Kyran embraced it, let it consume him. Willed his cells using his stubborn mentality, to force the poison to submit to his will. Opening his eyes, his body suddenly felt very light. He could feel the blue particles, hovering in the air. ¡°M-mana.¡± He uttered, voice physically weak. He closed his eyes again, trying to extract the mana particles in the air, to strengthen his already weakening cells. The cells began to greedily suck in the mana, allowing them to momentarily over power the poison and attempt to bond with it. Kyram shrieked in agony as his cells began to transform. The Hell Viper poison, embedded itself in its DNA and blood. The corpse of the snake embedded in his heart turned into a ball of mana and bonded with his transforming soul. His eyes fluttered open, turning serpent like for a short period of time before returning to back to its original, hazel like colour. His bones began to harden and more flexible, the colour of his blood became a darker shade of red. His facial structure change, becoming more streamlined. He grew retractable fangs and his body became covered in obsidian scales, before disappearing completely, hiding underneath his human skin. He began to slowly shed his skin, completing his transition into a completely new creature. The process took a whole month. Nobody dared to step foot near the area, as it was covered in a dense poisonous fog of mana. Any living creature who came near, would die a very painful death. His mother¡¯s corpse began to decay and rot at an incredible fast rate, thanks to the poisonous mana hovering in the air. Her body returned to the ground and her frigid cold corpse was no more. * Kyran woke up with a sudden jolt. The dense mana covering the area was no more. He opened his eyes slowly, his sharp eyesight made him wince in pain and he blinked a few times to get usedto the new sensation. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. His eyes widen in shock as he could the fell the slight tremors and vibration within the ground. He could see the water flowing underground and the many insects and creatures living there because of his seismic sense. He sniffed the air experimentally. ¡®What is this smell?¡¯ he wondered. A cluster of information invaded his brain, each living creature has its own genetic smell, and he could tell them individually apart through his sense of smell. He shook his head in disarray. He looks at his naked body in confusion. His tattered clothes were no more. ¡°What happened to me?¡± he wondered. As soon as he uttered those words, memories came rushing into his mind. Kyran can¡¯t help but let out a small sobbed, as he remembered the tragic fate of his mother. He glanced from side to side frantically searching for his mother¡¯s corpse. He leaped up in a fluid and precise movement. He glance at himself in surprise. ¡°How come I didn¡¯t die? Wasn¡¯t I attacked?¡± he mumbled. He held his head in pain, as he tried to remember. But no matter what he tried, he could not recall anything except the agonising pain, coursing through his sickly body. His jaw suddenly unhinges and he drooled uncontrollably, his stomach growled loudly in hunger. His instinct as a hunter took over and immediately he was racing towards the source of the delicious smell. With inhuman speed, he traverses the rocky road, towards the forest, where dangerous beasts resides. A pack of wolf could be seen hunting,trying to bring down a gigantic mammoth. They snarled its teeth, while slowly surrounding their lone victim. The mammoth stamped its feet in anger and trumpeted in challenge, its trunk swaying back and forth, like a cobra, readying to strike. Its ivory tusk, glinted dangerously, preparing to impale, any of the wolves that gets too close. Kyran was high up on the tree, looking down on his numerous prey. He hasn¡¯t eaten for a long time, and the hunger was already consuming him. He jumped down from the top of the branch he was perched on, using the force of the fall as leverage, he rolled and sprang forward like a sling shot. His fangs grew in length, dripping with venomous poison. The beast quivered in terror, but couldn¡¯t move. They were rooted to the ground in fear, their muscles too rigid to allow them to move and run. His nails grew sharper as he delivered a swift attack to every single beast in sight. The mammoth fell to the ground, creating a small tremor. The pack of wolves yelped in pain, as the poison entered their system. Kyran began to devour his food, hungrily. His muscles became flexible, allowing to swallow the mammoth and pack of wolves all at once. His stomach bulge to unimaginable size. He burrowed deep within the ground. Waiting for his food to be digested as he slumbered once more. Chapter 3- Stranger Chapter 3- Stranger A young boy could be seen walking alone, naked as the day he was born. His brown hair fairly long, but brushed off to the side, his face stream lined and snake like, his eyes sharp but innocent, retaining its semblance of childlike innocence. He wrapped his arms around himself, as he shivered, the cold wind frolics around his body, enveloping him in a cold embrace. He looks around frantically. ¡®Why am I here? Where am I?¡± he wondered. Looking around his unfamiliar surroundings. He looked at himself and saw copious amount of dried blood all over his body. He looked towards the dark sky, he sniffed the air. ¡°It¡¯s still dawn.¡± He muttered. Suddenly his sharpened senses picked up something in the distance. West from where he was, was a familiar smell. Using his seismic sense, he determined its location and followed, with his eyes closed. His snake like instinct coming into play. Kyran didn¡¯t know that he was doing this subconsciously. His transformation changed him in more ways he has yet to know or understand. Like in strange a trance, he let his senses take over, his body swaying from side to side, as his feet made a thrummed as it made contact with the ground as he walked. Feeling that he was close to his target location, he stopped, just a good distance away. Opening his eyes, what greeted him was the warm crackling of fire, a tent pitched between two tall trees and a man, dressed in thick dark green mottled cloak hiding his stature and appearance. A sinister long bow was strapped to his back and a Saxe knife on the side of his hip. He was facing forward, busy brewing coffee his morning beverage. ¡°What do you want?¡± he spoke without turning around. His voice grim and unfriendly. Kyran was tongue tied in the presence of this cloaked stranger. He remained quiet and still. Turning around, his eyes widen in surprise, seeing a ten year old, naked and alone covered in dried blood. ¡°What are you doing here all alone child, where are your parents?¡± he asked, his voice still unfriendly, distrusting. Kyran let out a small sobbed as he shook his head wearily. ¡°Gone.¡± He said softly, voice trembling. The cloaked stranger, let out a small sigh, he studied the boy closely with sharp trained eyes. ¡®He doesn¡¯t seem to be lying. And my horse ¡®Abelard¡¯ should have notified me, if anyone else was nearby.¡¯ The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. A ranger¡¯s horse was trained to notify its owner, whenever they notice someone unfamiliar approaching their location. The stranger knew that someone was coming and scouted, to see whether it was an enemy or just an adventurer passing by. But seeing a young boy from a distance, he relaxed a little and went back to the fireplace to resume brewing his coffee. The stranger pulled the cloak off his thin and wiry body and handed it to the naked boy. Kyran accepted the cloak gratefully, and put it on himself. He let out a small ¡®thank you¡¯ expressing his gratitude. The stranger merely nodded in confirmation and faced the fire again. Kyran, decided to sit near the fire, across the stranger. He looked at his uncovered face for the first time. The stranger''s hair was black-grey, his eyes dark and steady. He is very strong due to his arms being toned through the years of training with the long bow. Glancing up slightly, he rummaged through his sack which was on the side of him, taking out two cups, he poured him a cup coffee which the stranger handed to the young boy. Kyran reached to grab the drink with his small hands and smiled as the delicious smell of coffee overwhelmed his senses. He put his face near the cup, to let the hot smoke from the mug warm his face. ¡°Name?¡± the stranger suddenly asks, now taking out dried meat and bread from the sack, handing half of it to the boy. ¡°K-Kyran.¡± He answered timidly. As he gratefully, took the food handed to him. The stranger nodded. Muttering something to himself, after a few minutes, he looked to the young lad, wearing his cloak. ¡°Do you have anywhere else to go?¡± the stranger asks. Kyran shook his head sadly. The stranger barked out a laugh and patted the boy¡¯s shoulder reassuringly. ¡°Then come with me. Your small and athletic figure, seemed to fit my kind of trade. I¡¯ll take you back with me as an apprentice, what do you say?¡± Kyran hesitated, unsure of this stranger¡¯s offer, but still for an orphan who was lost and alone in the world, this offer was better than none. ¡°Okay.¡± He answered, with a determined voice.