Chapter one
The streets were beautiful. All life-forms felt relieved at the leaving of the Necromongers. And I was among them. New Mecca was slowly returning to normal, but I was not. After seeing the affair between Riddick and that grotesque Necromonger, I was haunted by unsettling dreams. Three words and a glowing, blue palm encompassed all of my senses, I could smell, feel, taste, see and hear it all at once, but I could also feel it burning inside of me, trying to break free or take me over, or both.
You Are Furian.
I had no idea what it could mean. and I had no hopes of finding out.
The Necromongers who had been left behind were pulling women into the street. Eleibe, the only friend I had, was kicking and screaming as one of the fiends dragged her by her hair.
I couldn't just stand by and watch the horrible things being done. So, I stepped out of my small shack guns in hand and knives in boots.
That choice was the one that would so impact my life that it was turned upside down.
I dropped three of them before they found out where the shots were coming from. A fourth before they reached me. My father, the only family I knew, taught me how to kill. He had told me that it was in my blood. He said that the skills, the patience, the insight, the giving over of my self to my senses, the observational skills, was a trait of my people.
The men formed a circle around me, all of them staying out of reach, circling like buzzards around a carcass, looking at me with the same lust and hunger as said buzzards.
I took three shots, and hit my marks. My father would be proud. "One shot, one kill."
And then the remaining four were upon me, my guns were out of my hands, and I took a blow to my gut and gave one to a face. I felt the sting of impact tingle up my arm. A kick behind my knee sent me to the ground. I saw black when I took a kick to the side of my head. I pulled a knife out of my boot, and plunged it into a leg.
And then there was pain. And darkness.
I woke up in Necropolis being held up by two angry looking Necromongers. I had no idea how I had ended up there, because all Necromongers had left the Helion system two weeks before. But there I was.
Before me stood a Necro with a Mohawk, his dark eyes glaring at me with malice and ill intent. I was used to seeing the underlings, the pawns, the extras. But this man, if the Necros could be called that, carried himself like a general.
My head was just starting to clear and I was taking in my surroundings when I was startled.
" what are you doing with this?" he spat, his teeth clinched together.
The not-half-bad-looking Necro on my left answered, " She fought well, we thought she should be converted. That is why we had her when you returned instead of just killing her, General Vaako." Ah. So he was a general after all!
He glared at the men for minutes before finally speaking to them, his voice full of gravel
" No, no conversion for her." he finally looked at me, his eyes taking in every inch of me. " take her to Dame Vaako to be made over into a woman for The Lord Marshall. And tell Dame Vaako to make sure that she will have no chance for escape."
" So do either of you have names? Or does everyone just treat you like nameless mutts on the street?" I was half being dragged and half walking. I memorized every turn, my back trail, and the scenery. One of them grunted, out of annoyance or amusement I couldn't tell.
After five more minutes had passed the Necro on my left, the one who had spoken to the General, finally answered me. " I am called Meiratus Decrol and this ugly bastard is Megeiro." Megeiro grunted and Meiratus continued, "he hardly ever speaks, but when he does you would be wise to listen."
"So who was that ugly jerk that was bossing you around?" I knew I was pushing my luck, but I didn't care, I was about to belong to The Lord Marshall and no longer to myself. It was an unsettling thought.
"He is no ordinary jerk!" Megeiro snorted at Meiratus' humor. "He is Lord Vaako, first general of the Necromonger race, an unholy demon, but our second in command none the less. We owe our respect to him."
We stopped, suddenly, outside of a large, black door. It opened and I was bathed in warm sunlight. The sun on my skin felt warm, like it never would again for these Necromongers.
A willowy, lithe, dark-skinned woman stood before us. She looked at me and I was, for the first time during this ordeal, afraid. She was cold, calculating, soulless. Even Necromongers still had souls, but this woman, this she-demon, was without one.
"What annoyance have you brought me today, Meiratus?" There was a hiss to her voice, a cold, snake-like hiss. "What use have I for a breeder woman?"
Meiratus stood taller, pulled his shoulders back. I could tell he didn't like being addressed thus by a woman, especially this woman. "General Vaako instructed us to bring her to you. She is not to be converted, but instead made into a woman for The Lord Marshall." and as an after thought, Meiratus added, "He also said for you to make sure she has no chance for escape."
When they let go of me, suddenly, I fell to the floor. My knees were weak and I was light headed. I managed to keep my eyes on the woman only out of sheer terror. She towered over glaring from under her thick lashes.
"So." she said, walking around me. "You have been placed in my charge by my over reaching husband" she never blinked, which unsettled me further. "I am to turn you into a woman for The Lord Marshall, which shall be no easy task."
My vision cut out for a moment, and when I regained it, it flickered at the edges. I could hear her monologing and then a thick thud as my head hit the floor.
I woke up in a lush, thick bed. A bolted upright to a throb in my head. The room I was in was incredibly large, my whole apartment could have fit inside of it. The stones in the floor were all shades of green, the walls sage and the large window seat was a thick forest green.
It was odd to see so much color when I knew I was in Necropolis. The demons normally preferred blacks and greys, keeping colors to crimson red or navy blue.
I saw my clothes at the foot of my bed and it was then that I realized that I was completely naked. I began to wonder if I had been given to The Lord Marshall in my unconscious state.
The door opened and I reached for a knife that wasn't there. A light skinned woman came in baring a tray of food. So I was to be treated halfway decently while I stayed here. She sat the tray on my lap while never meeting my gaze.
"My name is Éiraen." I said to her, trying to calm myself. I had been flung into hell.
"My name is Radienwren. When I was human and I had friends, they called me Wren. You may address me however you wish, since your station is much higher than mine."
My station was higher than hers? I was confused beyond reason.
"Wren, I'm so confused. What's going on here? What are they going to do with me?" I had to choke back a sob & a tear rolled down my face.
She took a deep breath like it pained her to think about what she was about to tell me. When she finally met my gaze, her eyes were silver with a faint trace of violet.
"You are to be fed, bathed and educated in Necromonger ways. And then you will be taken to the bed chambers of The Lord Marshall."
"As a… as an…" I couldn't choke it out. " I will die first." I could tell by the way she looked at me that she believed every word I said.
Despite what others who had met Necromongers and survived had said, Wren was decent and happy. Most of my dealings with Necromongers had been with the warriors, not the underling serving women and regular people.
I had never had such a bath in my life. Hot water and good smelling stuff were very plentiful. Wren washed my hair with something that made it feel like silk. I had never been so clean in my life.
After I was bathed and dressed in a silvery gown I began receiving instructions in the ways of the Necromongers from Dame Vaako.
Riddick, The Lord Marshall, was supreme ruler of the Necromongers. She gave me their entire history in 4 hours. What was odd was that I actually remembered everything. When I was in school when I was younger, the missionary school for street urchins, I remembered everything then too.
Dame Vaako informed me of how well she thought I was learning, though it could have gone faster if I hadn't stopped to ask insolent questions. But I took that as the best compliment I could ever receive from a Necromonger so I didn't complain.
She further informed me that the following evening I was to be given to Lord Riddick.
The following evening? I didn't want to belong to him! I didn't want to share a bed with him or to let him touch me! But I could find no way around it, no way to kill myself and spare myself from the atrocity that was about to befall me.