Chapter 10: Rebirth

  Julien

  Julien awoke to a cave. He was cold yet strangely warm. He tried to move but only managed to partially move his hand. He

  could immediately tell he was half submerged in water he could feel it gently lapping at the side of his face. An underground pound of some kind?

  “Genetic upgrade complete, mana fusion delayed for adjusting period… complete, filing report.” a voice that was definitely feminine but cold and unfeeling.

  “Error… genetic material usage exceeds acceptable levels…. Analyzing… damaged genetic material supplemented with mana… stabilizing…” a warm golden glow hit the edges of his periphery vision but he could turn his head or move at all to see its source.

  The light swept closer then over him only leaving a slight warm tingle in his chest.

  “Stabilization complete. Procedure complete, prepare shut down sequence.” Julien could do nothing while the voice continued to spout words he didn’t know the meaning of. So he focused on the little of the cave he could see. For it was definitely a cave though he didn’t think it was natural.

  Far above the cave came to a domed ceiling far to smooth to be natural and carved with arching geometric designs.

  His mind was struggling to make sense of his location. Confusing as well as fear was fogging his thoughts, making it hard to think.

  “Just breathe,” he told him. He repeated it over and over. His lungs didn’t seemed to be impaired by what ever had happened to his body. A picture of blood and a hole the size of his fist through his chest flashed into his mind filling it for a second. His breath quickened and he knew he was on the verge of panicking. With every bit of effort he could muster he threw the feelings aside. He couldn’t, wouldn’t panick. Not now, when his friends needed him.

  That thought sent a shock through his mind. His friends, where were they?” He pushed that thought aside as well he needed to move. That was the first thing he needed to figure out.

  “Shut down procedure beginning,” the voice was saying. The words caught his attention and held it as the voice continued. “Restoring main functions of The Grotto Facility…” there was a shift a slight rumble that sent the water splashing on his face he tried to but again he failed to move. I’m he didn’t hurt or anything it felt more like his brain was telling his body to move but his body wasn’t receiving the message.

  “Primary functions online… Mana stores and functions online… storage and authority functions online. Assigning Authority… Error multiple subjects detected within the genetic material pool. Analyzing solutions… solution discovered, Authority split equally… completed… clothing storage opened… complete. End of procedures… deletion of sensitive data… beginning. Good luck… Ascended.”

  The moment the voice ended there was a loud thrum and light flared in his vision. Like a soft sigh his body seemed to unclench all at once. Experimentally he wiggle his toes and moved his fingers. Then he sat up. Liquid rolled off his body splashing back into the pool. He sat up much easier than he had expected to. He had expected some sort of pain.

  He immediately looked down at his stomach only to find no sign of any injury. However that wasn’t the only surprise, something flopped down from his head and covered his eyes. It only took him slightly longer than normal to realize it was hair. His hair, and also not his hair.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He reached up to his head and grabbed at his hair. The hair felt silky smooth as his fingers trailed paths through it. Most of it went all the way down to his neck. He pulled a few strands in front of his eyes and nearly gasped at the sight of it. It was a light golden color, not blond, no it had almost metallic sheen to it.

  Forgetting anything else he thrust himself onto all fours realizing quickly that what he had been lying in was not water at all. It was some kind of golden liquid. It looked like it would be as thick as honey but when he trailed his finger through it it held no more resistance than normal water.

  “Well that sucked,” Aramin said from beside him. Julien immediately recognized his voice. He slowly began rising out of the liquid as he turned toward the source of the voice.

  “Do you know what happened to us? My last memories are hazy at best.”

  “I think I have an idea but hey listen something is very wrong with my bo…” he stopped cold as he finally met Aramin’s eyes. Aramin met his eyes at the same time and they both froze. Shock and disbelief played across the big man’s face. But a different thought rose up in his mind a question that seemed to rush out of his mouth.

  “Why are you naked?”

  …

  “So you mean to tell me that elf pretty much killed us all?” Carlouse asked for the thirtieth time. Julien really didn’t want to repeat the story again so he only nodded. He looked up at the roof of the cave, there was no hole or opening in the rock of any kind. He returned his gaze to the ground the cave was massive. He really couldn’t call it a cave. The ground was as smooth as any tile and the walls while bare stone were covered in geometric designs. Aside from the massive pool of liquid at the center of the the room there were two sets of doors off to the right side and a set of giant sized stone doors off to the left. There were crystals set into the ceiling far above glowing with soft white light. They lit the whole cavern easily.

  “And what about how this happened?” Carlouse gestured down at his changed body. They had all changed all five of them now had the same golden eyes and long golden hair. None of them felt any pain from their injuries from before Altaya’s arm had even grown back somehow. Their skin was no longer the pale it had been. It now had a slight golden color to it as well.

  Julien didn’t miss the undertones of panic in Carlouse’s voice. He couldn’t blame the guy either. The only reason he was able to stay focused was he just kept refusing to think about it. All of their bodies had been changed. They had woken up with their injuries healed as if they had never happened. They were also naked which had caused some interesting problems with Katrina and Altaya. Both of the women had fled the room to the only open doorway one of the two sets to the right. They hadn’t returned yet but the guys had decided to stay right where they were.

  Julien was pointedly not thinking about how exposed they were.

  “We shouldn’t have let them leave,” Aramin rumbled as he pulled his now long hair back shins his head.

  “Let them go?” Carlouse asked. “Did you want us to try and stop them? How bold of you Lord Langley,“ he said it with a joking lilt to his voice but when he looked he couldn’t even find a hint of amusement on the mousey man’s face. Carlouse had changed just like them. He now had the same golden eyes and hair but his face seemed more gaunt his body more lithe than before.

  “You know what I mean Carlouse,” Aramin all but growled. “We don’t even know what is behind those doors, this whole place could be trapped.” Julien considered that, the thought of traps hadn’t even crossed his mind.

  “Look, I’m sure they can take care of…” Carlouse was interrupted when through the cracked doorway three dusty brown robes were thrown to the floor just inside the room. “Themselves,” he finished. Julien glanced at the others both of them suddenly alert, before moving over toward the door the others following close behind. They sidled up close before he put his head close to the opening.

  “Altaya? Katrina? is that you guys?” Apprehension and curiosity warred in his mind. What if something had taken them and this was a trap. Or what if this was someone’s home and they were being greeted.

  The thoughts all vanished from his mind when he heard Altaya’s unflustered tone from the others side.

  “Yes it’s us,” she said. Her voice caused the tension in his shoulders to relax just a bit. “You guys can use these. Hurry up and get dressed because we have a lot to talk about.”