The Soulless Soldier
#2 of Bloodless Soldier
"He is awake? How is h... there's not even any sign of activity on the readouts..." The doctors, or what appeared, now that my eyes were open, to be doctors were rushing around, looking at devices and making notes.
I raised my head as far as I could and looked down at myself, I was a fucking mess, barely human was my best estimate, that mage had really done a number on me. I took another breath and said, "Ok, seriously, what's going on? Where am I? What happened to my squad?" I tried to lift my arm and found it restrained, I tested the restraints a little and found them pulling away from the bed.
I sat up, still a little uneasy about the fact I didn't seem to need to breath except to be able to speak. Standing, I shook my head once to clear the last feelings of confusion and made for the door. "Stop him! He mustn't get loose!" One doctor yelled.
I don't know why, but I needed to get outside, there was something out there I needed to see. Pushing the door open I nodded to the two soldiers who had been guarding the outside of the door, I knew they should be trying to stop me, but obviously the same thing that was calling me was holding them from hindering me.
I was outside in the Scottish rain again, and just ahead there were three women on the road, the soldiers had, apparently, tried to stop them, but hadn't gotten any further than one or two steps before they were frozen in place.
I was almost to them, when suddenly another presence made itself known, it was a beautiful woman, she was standing behind the three and they parted for her as she walked closer.
"I am Brìghde, be at ease warrior, you are not in any danger here." She spoke, and I could swear, when she spoke, the whole world stopped to listen. "You and yours have fought here to free my people of a foreign tyranny, for that you have my thanks. That you would fight to your last breath to ensure that my people will still have their land, I am in your debt. Your god" and at that moment, a giant serpent seemed to uncoil from within my very body, flowing around the camp, growing larger, its pattern a rainbow of colour, the Rainbow Serpent, "protected you to the utmost but at the end the twisting magic of the magi was too much for them, especially so far from their home land. Seeing such a god cry over a lost child who died fighting for my land, I could do nothing short of intervening. I wove a mix of power around you, it will sustain you, the amulet you carry will grow along with your strength, it will keep you fuelled. In short, your body will never give out, but it is your mind where your true power now lies. Know that you have the blessings of not only your own god, but you carry mine too." With that she faded, and the serpent coiled itself around and around and finally dove back into me, when the last part of it entered my body, the real world came back into focus.
The three women in front of me all smiled, the eldest, a wizened old woman, said, "Son of the Great Southern Snake, know that you are welcome in our lands, take freely of our magic and we will aid you in defeating our foes.", The youngest, barely into her twenties if I was any judge, and possessed of the same fiery red hair as the others, handed me a nettle flower.
I looked down at the flower and my vision seemed to be a little skewed, the more I looked at it the more I noticed a glow softly around it, after looking up to confirm, I realised I was seeing the life force of the flower as it slowly seeped into the seeds. "We called upon the goddess' to thank you for your life spent here." She spoke, her voice sounding very proud of what they had done.
"If your gods have awoken from their slumber, the fight here will be much easier." I said diplomatically, no sense telling them their gods are just manifestations of the collective image of their myths. Regardless of what the gods are, I was proof they have power.
The women faded, disappearing slowly and the rain, the camp around me and a thump to the back of the head intruded.
"Ow, that could really hurt you know!" I turned to face the soldier who had hit me with the butt of his rifle. "Could you please not do that again? All I want to know is, where my unit is, what happened and what's the plan for me from now?"
"Stow that weapon soldier, he's on our side!" A loud 'sergeant' type voice bellowed from just out of view, and by the way the soldier in question snapped to attention, he was an officer.
The man walked into view, wearing a brigadiers uniform, the six foot soldier commanded respect, I snapped to attention immediately.
"Now soldier, to answer your questions. No, the private will not do that again. Your unit has been rotated off the front line for now, they had too many casualties, and if it wasn't for you, would have been wiped out. The plan for you now is you have been put under my command. What I am going to do with you is the question." He frowned now, "The doctors here think you should be studied. One of the Koori Elders speaks otherwise, he says for you to go to him and talk. I think what would be good right now is for you to do just that. Follow me soldier."
His order brooked no room for argument, and if it meant not having those doctors poke and pry at me, all the better. The Brigadier led me to the outer edge of the camp, where a set of tall tents had been erected, as opposed to the pre-fabricated buildings the rest of the camp consisted of. He ushered me inside and followed, pulling the tent flap behind himself.
"You have come." The old man sitting down said, it was a statement, not a question, so I held my tongue and let him continue. He chuckled and said, "And you know when its best to listen, that's a bonus. Well boy, I have a tale for you."
"While the Rainbow Serpent was moving around the world, making the springs and water holes that allow us all to live, he noticed that some of the smaller water holes had dried up completely, and glared up to the sky, but try as he might, he couldn't scare the sun away for more than half the day. Finally, he managed to use the moon as a stepping stone and grabbed the sun, swallowing it down, but the next day it rose again, and after that time the sun always, for a short time every few hundred years, will disappear briefly."
I listened, trying to work out where this little explanation for solar eclipses was going.
"What I did, when this war man came to me asking for help, a suit of armour to give our soldiers, I asked the serpent to give me a small part of that sun, which I imbued into it, giving you all the raw power of the fiery ball of anger if but for a short while. That mad woman tried to tear it from you, but ripped away too much, in digging the sun from your very soul, she also dug out your life force."
He paused again, letting that sink in, if he was right, whatever I had fuelling my body now wasn't me...
"One of the gods of this land, a great lady, escorted one of her allies down to you, and told it to breath its power into your lifeless husk. Moments before your mind would have been passed on completely, the ' Bean-shìdh' gave everything it had to you, it breathed its entire existence into your form. If you had been alive merely the touch of its finger would have been your end, but to one as close to your final death as you were, it gave you a new energy."
I lifted my hand to my chest, tensing all my muscles up and down my arm and briefly, felt something more pour down those channels built of meat.
"Yes boy, you are no longer alive, you are not dead either, your something else. The 'bainshee', for want of a better name, gave itself completely, you wield the same powers as their kind, but you are bound by a physical shell still. Know this, the only thing that limits what you can be now boy, is your mind. This trinket" and he tapped the amulet hanging against my chest, "is just a fuel source, you could still survive without it, but like the death-spirit that birthed you, you could only survive on the energy given off when a soul passes on."
I was concentrating on the amulet now, and for a brief moment thought I could see silver ribbons of light flowing into it and from it into me.
The old man laughed softly, "You are becoming more. You may wonder at your appearance, the Serpent itself told me that story. That mad witch tried to change you into one of their beast animals, no more than anger, claws and teeth. The Serpent would not have that, it warped the spell, pulling fourth the form of one of the lands protectors, the native wolf, the striped hound. You are the embodiment of protection, the Serpent has given you to the world. What can you do for it?"
And with that, he closed his eyes and would not continue, the officer beside me escorted me out of the tent and he closed the flap behind me. "Well, if I follow that, Sir, he suggests a local god had one of her minions save me, and between her and the Serpent made me what I am now. Apparently a protector of this world..." I almost couldn't believe what I was saying, but deep down, it rang true, as only a completely improbable story will.
"About what I got from it too soldier, question is, what does that mean for you and for 'us'?" He asked.
"When is the next attack on a mage held area?" I asked, with a grin to my long muzzle.
"Well, since you were the first to successfully kill one of the bastards without using a nuclear weapon, we were holding back, but if I put the word through that you will be up for a repeat performance I think we might be able to get something together in two days."
"Sign me up Sir." I snapped a salute to him, and something finally dawned on me, I was completely, stark, naked.
"Ah, Sir?" I asked, at his nod I continued, "Any chance of a uniform?"
He just laughed and ordered a private to show me where the stores were, commenting, "I have a fight to pick."
You know I don't think I have ever seen Aboriginal/Celtic mythos mixed before? Fun fun fun :)