Interlude III - Sojan’s Journey

  Sojan loved the new body. It reminded him quite a bit of the jellyfish form, but with a lot more agency. Unlike blood, where he had to resist the urge to consume constantly, the ichor running through the golem kept him satisfied but not constantly craving more. Inferior to blood? In almost every way. But still he felt good.

  After taking several samples, Kizu was working on developing more of the ichor in his potions workshop. Currently, the only other options offered to Sojan was a child version of the gnome body he’d worn before that currently floated in a vat. And a second infant version of Aoi, which was even younger and therefore worse. Far less than ideal than the golem. He doubted that body produced enough blood to sustain him for long, even if he abstained from casting spells with it.

  In contrast with those lackluster options, this body’s utility was excellent. His time in the jellyfish seemed to have improved his skill piloting strange bodies. He could turn invisible with little more than a thought and the venom dripping from his claws was extremely handy when hunting. Injecting the venom into prey made it invisible.

  Enjoying the freedom of movement, Sojan patrolled his home, Owl’s Respite. The ship had been updated in many areas and he wanted to refamiliarize himself with the environment.

  “What are you cooking?” Sojan asked Kizu. “Something interesting?”

  The mage glanced up from his cauldron. “I’m developing something to extinguish souls.”

  “It won’t work on me,” Sojan scoffed. “I am invincible! Inevitable!”

  “Not meant for you. I’m preparing it as back up in case my other plan fails. But do me a favor and don’t spread its existence around.”

  Sojan stepped closer then leaned over the cauldron. A thick, gray slop bubbled and churned inside. Black smoke tendrils drifted up from the liquid. Thankfully this body couldn’t smell.

  “This looks unappetizing," Sojan said. “You should go back to experimenting with my ichor. I only have a couple days until this body fails.”

  “It’s on my to-do list,” Kizu replied. His focus returned to his concoction.

  Sojan sauntered off, wondering where to go next until his body’s legs carried him over to the crew’s quarters where several skeletons played cards. They were in worse shape than Sojan last remembered. He poked one and got no reaction. He wondered if they recognized him in this new body.

  Then he continued to examine the rest of the room. Hammocks lining the walls, blood stain on the floorboard. Since Kizu was on board the ship, that meant the portal he’d built in the corner of the room was active. Having now thoroughly scouted out his home, Sojan decided to pay the village a visit. He’d never actually explored it while in the gnome body.

  Invisible, he strolled through the house. They’d recently discovered that slathering the physical dagger with the ichor granted it invisibility as well so he was entirely undetectable by the naked eye. Sadly, the process required constant effort for him to not consume directly off his blade. But being invisible granted him a lot of extra freedom so it was worth the extra bit of effort. So long as he didn’t go clumsily knocking into people, he had free reign to do pretty much anything.

  Anything, except eat.

  His mood soured at the thought of his current body’s restriction. Even inside the massive jellyfish, Sojan had never been robbed of the joy of eating. Consumption. The greatest action of them all. Sure, he had the golem’s ichor, but that wasn’t the same as taking more for himself. He missed sitting on the deck of Owl’s Respite and reeling in fish. The excitement of something new to drain dry of blood.

  “You’re not even trying!”

  Sojan rounded the corner to find a group of children spread out on the floor of the living room. One with a bushy red fox tail stood, glaring at the rest of the children, with her little fists planted on her hips.

  Anata tried to signal something with her hands.

  “She’s down there!” the fox girl said. “We need to go get her! Your father is hurting her!”

  Sojan scratched his chin with a long claw. Anata’s father was that insanely powerful Blood Lord Kizu had stabbed a while back. The most powerful entity Sojan had ever pierced. If this fox girl’s father was in his clutches, then it was lights out for her. Too bad.

  Crossing the room, Sojan wondered if the front door suddenly opening would be suspicious. And then he wondered if he really cared.

  “I saw her!” the fox girl insisted behind him. “She came to me in a dream! We need to plan a rescue mission!”

  “That’s amazing!” the human boy declared. “So much adventure after meeting you guys!”

  “It’s not an adventure!” The fox girl stomped her foot. “My mother is in danger.”

  A white fox pup over to the side started growling. At first Sojan assumed it was because of the girl’s anger, then he realized the fox was staring in his direction.

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  Oh, right, invisibility sadly didn’t also grant scentlessness. The fox probably smelled the ichor oozing off of this body. Sojan wondered what it smelled like. Lack of smell was another defect of this body. Not as critical to him as tasting, but it was still sad the golem had so many limitations.

  “Eh, whatever,” Sojan said. Apparently his attempt for stealth had been compromised. No sense in being silent anymore.

  At the sound of his voice, the group of children all turned toward the suddenly ajar door, just in time to watch it slam behind him.

  As Sojan wandered through the town he wondered what each of the people might taste like. He saw several races he’d never seen before. Different Kemon people, plenty of sad Tainted, humans of course. Even an incorporeal ghost girl in an academy uniform. And another gnome too! Like his last body. If he had the capacity to drool, his chin would be soaked at the sight of such a bounty of blood.

  Nobody paid the invisible Sojan any mind as he walked amongst them. Humanoids were always so self-obsessed. There was a bit of charm to that, but it also was a bit baffling they’d survived so long as a species. Especially when filled with such rich, delectable fluids.

  Sojan had to stop himself from going down that mental path. Restraining himself took enough effort when not thinking about the deliciousness of humankind. Better to distract himself from the idea altogether.

  He decided to make his way up to the academy Kizu spent so much time at. He was curious to see what all the hubbub was about.

  On his way up the hill, he discovered another useful aspect of the golem body. Fleshy bodies often required him to force them to meet their full potential. But this body had no mortal requirements. He bounded up the hill at a tremendous speed and the effort cost no extra blood or even muscle pain.

  Once at the top of the hill, at the gates of the academy, he looked down at the little town below. The sun set on the ocean’s horizon. Very pretty. He took a minute to admire the scenery.

  When he turned around, he noticed something oddly familiar. One of the students exiting the academy moved a bit like he used to centuries ago. Before he’d properly familiarized himself with new bodies. The body maneuvered just a tad bit jerky, like an external force piloted it. Sloppy work.

  Then he spotted his main reason for coming up to the academy. A golem watched over the academy’s front gate.

  The golem remained at stiff attention as Sojan approached it. There were lines on its skin from the wood’s grain. Meticulously crafted and purely based in enchantments. No ichor like what ran through Sojan’s body. Pity. He had hoped to maybe take control of one of these after the ichor in his current body depleted. Alas. It seemed he’d need to return to either a flesh and blood host or oblivion if Kizu didn’t crack the recipe soon.

  He continued to observe the other golems in the academy. They were nearly identical in design, with only the smallest differences like minor scratches or a slightly different grain of wood.

  “You must be Sojan! A pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance!”

  Surprised, Sojan turned away from a gardening golem to examine the man suddenly addressing him, despite the invisibility in full effect.

  A dark skinned man with twinkling eyes. He wore a striking black suit with shiny gold buttons and a sharp tailcoat. He’d removed his tall top hat to bow to Sojan, exposing a receding hairline and a balding crown.

  “Hello!” Sojan said in his body’s grinding voice. “Who are you?”

  “I’m the man who sent Kaga Kizu to fetch that new body of yours. Call me Gizrim! How’s it treating you so far?” Gizrim flashed Sojan a white smile.

  “Decent enough. Exceeds some expectations with some additional limitations. Can’t complain. It functions. I’m happy with it.”

  “Glad to hear it. Do you mind if I pick your metaphorical brain for a moment?”

  Sojan shrugged, remembered he was still invisible, then also remembered that it didn’t seem to matter with this human.

  “Excellent. I’m something of a scholar and find history fascinating. You’ve likely existed longer than most, save for a few of the Calamities. Tell me, Sojan, what are the furthest back memories you can recall? I don’t suppose you can think all the way back to your creation?”

  “Nah. Nothing like that.” He considered the question. What was his most distant memory? “The time I drank the blood of Dragon,” he recalled wistfully.

  “You drank from a Dragon?” Gizrim’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Surely you couldn’t control something so powerful? Do you have no limitations?”

  “Got booted out of the body fast. I was still young at the time. Nearly forgot about it.”

  “What exactly expelled you? A physical force? Mental fortitude?”

  “The soul. Those things are no joke. Dragons are even more powerful than that Blood Lord I stabbed. Something truly special about them. Their blood is delectable.”

  “Interesting.” Gizrim considered. “You mentioned the Blood Lord. Have you attempted to control any of the other Calamities? Oozes, Kitsune, or the Shades?”

  “Not that I recall.” His memory beyond the last few centuries was hazy. It didn’t help that one of his previous owners had kept him awake for ages by drip feeding him blood at a state of near starvation. Everything from before those horrible decades was difficult to recollect. “What about you? What’s your earliest memory?”

  Gizrim’s face went blank for a moment. “My mother handing me an oil lamp.” His tone lost its jovial tone in favor of something more grim.

  That was a boring memory. Not nearly as great as drinking Dragon’s blood. Sojan grinned in triumph at winning the memory competition. Well, he tried at least, his mouth wasn’t quite as flexible as a fleshy body’s.

  “Well, if that’s all for today, I should probably end my outing and head back to the ship,” Sojan announced. “Need to get Kizu back on track, focusing on making my new artificial blood. Mages are always scatterbrained.”

  “The pleasure was all mine,” Gizrim said, his bright smile returning. “One final question before you depart?”

  “Sure.”

  “How does Kizu juggle so many magical subjects?”

  “Oh, that’s simple. He’s just like me. We drink blood.”

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