Necrosis (The Omens of Gaia Book 1) by H.C. Damrosch

Author:H.C. Damrosch [Damrosch, H.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2017-11-17T07:00:00+00:00

Akar spent the night in the temple, as befitted an honored yokai guest. He knelt on the cushions the hanshi had occupied, seeking that state of meditation which holy men seemed to achieve so easily. The Necrow knew the state of mind such prayer was meant to invoke, and yet found it impossible to imitate. So he sat motionless, waiting for the dawn, eyes closed but not in sleep.

All around, as if through shadows, he saw the village sprawled over the foot of the mountain. He saw the great waterfalls, distantly glimmering as they tumbled over the cliffs. It was curious that the waters on the surface of this land had the same effervescence as those beneath the earth. He could see them far below: great reservoirs and currents of light that fed and illuminated everything above.

Curious…Akar had sensed the doubt in Keren’s mind ever since the first villagers had related their tales. Apparently it was easier for some humans to believe in unusual states of death, but not unusual states of life. It would have been humorous, had the Necrow had a sense of humor.

Akar experimented with twitching his lips upward in the semblance of a smile, but the action aroused no emotion. Perhaps he was merely a doll, as the girl had supposed? But then, as far as he knew, dolls did not have memories from before they were created.

Faintly, he could smell the clouds of incense wafting through the temple. The hanshi had claimed the scent was pleasing to the yokai. He supposed they hoped it would appease him as well.

There was a rustle of wings in the rafters. Akar had no need to look up; he merely re-oriented his inner sight in the direction of the sound. A web of life hovered over one of the beams. Its center was fixed in a wooden vessel, with rays emanating from it in delicately twisting strands. These strands manipulated the matter they imbued, re-arranging it on command. The web was restless, ever-changing.

This was quite unlike the flow of energy through humans and animals, which was largely inert and changed only very slowly. Akar wondered vaguely whether the same results could be observed in a very young animal, or perhaps a pregnant woman. Surely the results would look similar in a Necrow that was in the process of regenerating itself, drawing threads of energy from surrounding life in order to repair its injured vessel.

Curious, he extended his inner sense and plucked at one of the wriggling threads.

There was a loud squawk, and a frantic rustling like dried leaves. A large gecko with the wings of a dragonfly tumbled out of the rafters, its pudgy limbs flailing, trying to free itself from his ghostly grip. Akar released the web, and watched as the creature splattered onto the floor. Hmm. Keren might not appreciate that…or the elders, if the creature’s fluids left too much of a mess.

The yokai righted itself, popping its joints back into place, ruffling its veiny wings in offense.

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