BLOODLINES: ANGELO MARKADO

THE IMMORTAL AND THE SERPENT

Having immortality and youthful beauty is the punishment Kein has to endure as he is surrounded by pathetic creatures like humans and his konxelda demons for eternity.

1921 Anno Bhiasti (The Year of the Beast). Standing naked in his castle sculpted from a massive iceberg found in the middle of the Antarctic, Kein, the immortal god, felt warmth as his konxelada demon devoured his erection. Two more caressed and kissed his body while Caiphaiz, his son, instructed other servants to prepare the clothes he will use on their long journey to the City of Ruinae.

The tongue massaging Kein’s manhood expertly sucked him tightly. He moaned exuberantly. He may be bored, but his body couldn't help but react. His servant knew when and where to push and pull to his satisfaction. Kein let out a deep sigh as he neared ecstasy. 

He then felt the tongue wander away from him, licking his testicles while another mouth engulfed him, continuing his pleasure. When he looked down, two of his beautiful servants were crawling on his feet and fighting over whose turn it is next to suck him. 

His servants looked human enough, but the missing ridge on the skin between their noses and upper lips, their philtrums are smooth and flat. This distinctly sets them apart from hot-blooded humans.

His body reacted again to the one licking his n*****s; he squeezed her breast in return. She is rigid in his hand, not as soft and arousing as humans. This is not how he usually wants to gratify himself, but Caiphaiz kept reminding him that it is time for them to go. 

He has no time for long s****l exploitation, his favorite pastime while living in eternity. As the mouth sucking him quickened its rhythm, he released himself till he's drained. That's when he felt the sudden vibration from the fruit he’s been holding in his right hand since time immemorial.

"Father!" Kein exclaimed and quickly pulled himself out of his servant's mouth while looking at the fruit intensely.

Caiphaiz was alerted and ordered all servants out of the room. He then put a thick robe over Kein’s shoulder, who immediately went outside his genetically modified garden. The garden in the middle of Antarctica is a sight to see, but with Kein being the god of the new world, nothing is impossible.

It took hundreds of years and thousands of his konxelada demons to work on his castle and garden before the place was built entirely and became his private paradise on earth.

Being a known farmer in the old times, Kein used to have the power to grow green anywhere he wanted. Now, he experimented with technology to go against one of the curses bestowed upon him -- that he can no longer grow plants organically. Green nature loathed him that the ground becomes infertile and the living things planted on it wither and die as soon as he steps on or touches it. What a pity.

Yet, Science became his ally.  Now, the exquisiteness of his creation surrounds him. Much like how Adonai spoke His garden to its existence, Kein created his immortal garden, frozen in time using his brilliant mind.  

At the center of his garden stood a unique tree that could sustain the fruit he’s been holding. Kein knelt before it after joining the fruit in one of its branches. How long has it been since he last saw Serpens? He longs for his father’s wisdom and guidance so much. 

He watched as the fruit changed its color from brown to amber and finally bloody red. Kein took hold of the fresh fruit that siphoned the tree’s life and energy, which now stood dead and dry. Then, something moved inside the fruit as it wiggled slightly in Kein’s hand.  A worm-like silhouette struggled to find a way out as it protruded from the fruit’s glistening skin.

A smile formed in Kein's beautiful angelic face, excited for what is about to happen next. A small hole was dug open from the inside of the fruit’s crown, and a green serpent's head slowly appeared. Its tongue tasted the air as it continued to wriggle its way out and cling to Kein's hand.

Like any newborn creature, it felt its surroundings through its flickering tongue in and out of its tiny mouth. Then finding confidence in itself, it comfortably slithered its way to Kein's fingers, wrist, and up to his extended arm.

As the serpent moved, its size changed. From worm-like, it grew to anaconda size and settled on Kein's shoulder and neck.

"Father, I missed you," Kein welcomed the serpent’s tongue inside his mouth. It then licked his lips before twisting itself tightly around Kein's neck to find his ear.

"How long has it been?" The serpent hissed.

Caiphaiz, who was watching from afar, trembled at the sight of intertwined bodies of Kein and a giant serpent.

"Over a thousand years, abba. The fruit started to rot and I had no idea… I didn’t know how to stop it... I thought..." Kein’s voice trailed off, unable to continue.

"That we failed?" Serpens finished Kein’s sentence for him.

The fruit started to rot after the mutation of his konxelada demons. To prevent this, Kein cloned trees that bear the same fruit. Then, he temporarily kept the fruit fresh for centuries by feeding it energy from the genetically altered cloned trees.

The tree that just withered and died was the last remaining mature one to sustain the fruit. It will take years for Kein to grow a new set of cloned trees to feed the fruit its energy, ensuring that his father can continue his hibernation inside.

Silence.

"It took a while before I understood that we were tricked by Adonai," the snake hissed in fury that even Kein trembled in fear, hearing it so close to his ear.

"T-tricked?" Kein looked at the serpent’s eyes.

"Yes! My transition should have been completed by now, yet I'm still in this despicable form, slithering on the ground, lower than your ankle instead of meeting you eye to eye and walking with you side by side," Serpens’s jealousy was quite apparent as it tightened its grip to Kein’s body. As he heard the breaking of his bones, Kein gasped in pain but did not utter a word of complaint.

"H-how? The vaccine… SKi22 was..."

"One of your immortal demons is still bleeding. Adonai will use that konxelada to end your reign. He will be the death of you and the ruin of my plans," Serpens didn’t let Kein finish his sentence.

"Impossible!" It was Kein's turn to be furious. His voice was equally menacing.

"But it’s true! So find him! Turn the earth upside down if you must! I need to find out what Adonai did to make my transition fail," the serpent’s long and thin split-tongue went inside Kein’s ear, screaming at him. Blood went out of it, and Kein grimaced in pain.

"Y-yes, father," Kein promised.

"Good," then the serpent twisted itself tightly on Kein's body, slowly breaking more of the immortal god’s bones. Kein gasped in pain, and blood trickled down from his eyes and nose.

"I missed you, my son… I missed your mother," the snake hissed before letting go of Kein's neck.

Kein sighed deeply and let his robe slip on the ground. Now he stood naked in preparation for the ritual that he always had with Serpens whenever he was around. 

Caiphaiz turned his back. He couldn’t watch anymore of his father’s pain.

As the serpent slithered into Kein's naked body, it became smaller and smaller again until worm-like in size. Then it entered Kein's navel.

"Ahhhh..." Kein gasped again and found himself hard.  Inside his castle, the konxelada demons felt aroused as they heard Kein moaned in ecstasy.

Then the moans turned into deafening howls of excruciating pain as the snake grew inside Kein's body, making them one while tearing him apart.

"AHHHHHH!"

Caiphaiz fell on his knees, feeling his father's pain of being ripped apart from the inside out.  The konxelada demons lurking around transformed into green, scaly monsters too. As Kein suffered, his creations also howled in pain.  A cacophony of terrifying cries filled not just Cintru, where Kein’s castle locates, but also the world.

Then it was over.

Caiphaiz is the one who first came for Kein, followed by their chosen servants.

Kein was lying on the frozen grass.  A wild boar appeared to have ravaged his open torso.  The immortal god is, again, holding the fruit in his right hand. In the years to come, it will change color and rot. But, for now, Serpens is happy and satisfied inside it.

"T-thank you, father, for your blessing," Kein said despite the suffering. Then, drowning in his blood, he lost consciousness.

The servants were quick to feast on Kein's delicious blood as he slowly healed. Even Caiphaiz did the same, unable to resist. He sucked Kein’s blood and licked him clean.

"My lord, it’s time," another servant approached Caiphaiz. He then carried Kein's lifeless body in his arms and brought him to his room, where a naked human girl, barely twenty years of age, lay sleeping on the bed.

Caiphaiz placed Kein's body next to the sleeping girl and left, locking the door behind him.

A while later, everyone heard the girl’s terrifying scream.

******

In Zapad, all konxelada demons felt Kein's pain that they knelt and prayed as they changed form. Then, large green scales appeared all over their bodies, and their faces became grotesque, resembling that of a serpent.

While in her kitchen for breakfast, Vahitna lost her balance and laid down on the ground screaming in pain. She tore her clothes off and revealed her very pregnant belly. The baby inside her feltl the pain, too, as it thrashed uncontrollably, ripping her insides but never coming out of her womb.

******

In Xego, humans were horrified when konxeladas started falling on their knees and changing forms. Terrified to be eaten, the humans ran away screaming.

Hugo and Augusta were looking at baby Nzo from his crib as he cried in excruciating pain. Of course, no baby should cry that way, but the two couldn’t do anything about it. Nzo now looked like a baby monster, green with snake scales all over his face and body.

"Grandpa!" Augusta just cried, not understanding what’s happening.

******

In Perlaz, blind Bufe, a ninety-eight-year-old konxelada demon known as hukluvan,  saw a vision while writhing in pain because of what’s happening to Kein in Cintru. He lives in a cave near the center of the boundary of Perlaz and Xego. The dense forest provides him tranquility to think and be at peace with who he became. But, most of all, it makes him feel like he can sleep.

The vision was of a beautiful virgin human lady, a berhen, bathing naked near a well. In his mind, Bufe could see her clearly and smell her purity. The hukluvan moaned because the vision made him remember his lovely wife and miss making love with her.

Vhinoe, his human great-great-grandson, was awakened by the noises Bufe was making.

"Grandpa? What’s wrong?” Vhinoe rushed to the hermit who was meditating near his bed.

Bufe grew quiet as he continued to peep through his vision. The woman's back was on him, showing the lovely shape of her body as the sun shone through her glazed skin. She was perfect from her wavy dark hair down to her heel. The woman leaned forward to get something inside the well.  

The hukluvan needed to understand what this vision was all about. Bufe has been daydreaming of this berhen for hundreds of years now. Then he gasped upon seeing what the woman retrieved from inside the well.  

The vessel was ancient, cracked, and stained, but he shuddered with excitement as he looked at it. The woman lifted it from inside the well, filled with water. He watched as she bathed, pouring the water from the vessel on her naked body.

"Huh!" Then Bufe tried to stand up when the vision was over.

"Grandpa? What is it? A nightmare? Wha...ouch!" Vhinoe got knocked on the floor after Bufe shoved him. Vhinoe stood up and just scratched his head. He is used to the hermit's violent temper.

"I don’t sleep, doofus! How can I have a nightmare?” Bufe groped his way to the bed.

“Then what is it?” Vhinoe put more pillows under his grandfather’s head.

“A beautiful vision. We have to find her,” Bufe closed his eyes, trying to remember details of his vision.

“You mean I have to find her, ‘cause you know you’re blind, right grand...ouch!?” Vhinoe winced as Bufe punched him on his stomach. 

“Yswah, forgive my grandson, for he is not the brightest one in the bunch,” Bufe prayed, making sure Vhinoe heard him.

"Find who?" Vhinoe chuckled. He was just pulling his grandpa’s leg. He must stop, though, else he’ll end up in the hospital.

"The berhen with her sacred vessel," Bufe said, ready to hit his grandson if he plays dumb again.

"W-what berhen? W-why?" Vhinoe figured that he is always confused because his grandpa talks nonsense to him most of the time. So it’s that, or because he was a battered child for all the beatings he got from the hukluvan.

“The berhen! A human female virgin! Don’t you learn anything at all?” Bufe screamed, feeling where his cane is so that he can hit his grandson with it again.

“Grandpa, I know what a berhen is! What do you need a berhen for? Y-your...you’re old and it’s weird that you want to have s*x with… ouch!” Vhinoe didn’t see it coming.  His grandpa moved too fast and hit his head with a cane.

“To end the reign of Kein!” Bufe lost his temper again.  He always does when he talks to his grandson, who seems to like getting beaten.

“Oh,” Vhinoe scratched his head.

"When the reign of Kein ends, I can finally rest and die," Bufe sounded happy.

"Okay, I like that... I mean, the berhen… I mean, the berhen ending Kein and all,” Vhinoe gets ready for another beating.

“You mean, you can’t wait for me to die?” Bufe settled his back on the soft pillows Vhinoe had provided him.

“No grandpa, of course not. I love you.  You’re my favori… ouch!” Vhinoe got another slap from his grandpa.

“Stop goofing around and be serious!” Bufe tried for his cane again.

“Fine!” Vhinoe got hold of the cane first and hid it far away.

Vhinoe is the 60th general to serve in the Brigada, the army of humans headed by the hukluvans and the channaks of Perlaz. When he was young, he already knew his role in protecting the human colony. Moreover, his duty to serve his fellow humans is already embedded in his DNA, being that he hailed from Bufe’s bloodline. 

Vhinoe remembers Bufe being kinder to him as a kid, but when he became a brigada general, his grandpa became strict that he couldn’t tease him anymore. He thought about his pregnant wife and sighed. Soon, his child will serve Bufe too. It’s a life filled with difficulty and danger but an honorable duty nonetheless.

"We must bring the vessel to the one who still bleeds," Bufe had prior visions of a konxelada demon revealed to him as Angelo Markado, but other things are still unclear. All he knows is that his visions connect to the death of Kein. Therefore, the demon, the vessel, and the virgin must come together to fulfill such visions.

"Oh… so we are looking for an old vessel now?" Vhinoe stopped messing with Bufe.

"Yes,” the hukluvan shivered, feeling the chill coming from outside the cave.

The inside of the cave looks like a modern home despite its outside appearance. Bufe has everything he needs aside from a bed that is not used for sleeping. He has a dark corner where he prays to his deity, Yswah, and a conference table where he holds important meetings. Through the years, the cave walls were shaped organically due to the formation of karst dissolved in the presence of naturally acidic water. Each c***k and fracture on the wall keeps the cave breathable. 

"Fine, I will tell my men to look for it. Maybe in the market, we can find a vess..."

"No! Find the berhen, and you will find the vessel," Bufe interrupted Vhinoe to clarify his mission.

"Okay, we will buy the vessel from the berhen and look for the one who still blee….ds!" 

This time, Vhinoe found himself outside the cave as he got himself a flying kick.

“Grandpa! I’m human, you know! I can die! Stop abusing me!” Vhinoe went inside the cave with a dirty shirt. His men guarding outside tried not to laugh, but they are so used to him having fights with the hukluvan.

“Okay, I should just kill you instead. Yswah, make Vhinoe’s son smarter than him please,“ Bufe looked up to pray. Vhinoe frowned. He may not be as bright, but he is strong.   

"The berhen, with her vessel, must meet with the one who bleeds," Bufe slowly explained his vision to Vhinoe this time.

"Whew! You could have told me that earlier, you know! Instead of smacking me around..." Vhinoe quickly stepped back to caution himself for another attack.

"So, how exactly will Kein’s reign end again?" Vhinoe asked, standing from afar.

Bufe sighed deeply.

"I don't know... I still don't know," he laid down on the bed to sleep, but he knew he couldn't. So he just closed his eyes and waited for more visions from Yswah to come.

******

In Zapad, demons gathered together in the city square after recovering from the pain of united transformation.

"It's been a long time since the same had happened to us," one of the demons commented.

"Does it mean that Kein has forgiven us and will return us our blood?" Another one added.  

The noise of the crowd grew louder. 

"Ouch!" One demon cuts another demon beside him. There's no blood in the demon's flesh.

"Nope! That's not it!" said the demon while putting away his knife.

“It can be a new mutation,” another one continued.

“Or a new punishment, ugh!” The crowd groaned in anger and disappointment.

Amidst the complaining and noisy crowd, Elliad looked for Ehud and found him quietly listening to the demons arguing amongst themselves. Being small in stature and built, one would not have mistaken Ehud to be a very influential demon.

"The delivery is here boss," whispered Elliad. Ehud excused himself from the demons he was talking to and followed his man.  

Hours later, they were in Ehud's warehouse, where hundreds of delivery trucks were parked. Elliad led him to the center of the warehouse and opened the back of the truck. Hundreds of human corpses piled up inside; the smell of rotten flesh filled the air.

"Hmmm..." Ehud sighed as he pulled out the corpse of a beautiful woman with no heart.  He bit on the dead girl's thigh and closed his eyes as he chewed, savoring the flavor.

"They will do. Put them in the freezer and sell them immediately before they rot completely. Elliad nodded, closed the door of the truck, and tapped its side loudly. The engine roared, and the vehicle began to move.

Ehud missed the days when he could openly eat the fresh meat of living human beings. Beggars can't be choosers though, he is still grateful for his connection in Xego, especially now that their partner is back on board.

******

“Ahhh!” Hendrix leaned forward the bathroom wall upon feeling his skin burning.  He screamed in agonizing pain as if a fire ignites his body.  It has been a long time since he felt such awful sensation that it shook him to the core. 

His naked muscular body glistened as the hot water from the shower hit his skin. He did not change form, though, except for the thing between his legs. His enormous manhood became erected as it changed its shape. First, its head became alive, and Hendrix had no control over its movement. Then its shaft grew green scales and sharp spikes. Finally, his erection resembled that of a humungous angry porcupine.

He didn’t mind the pain, though. He just hated being sexually aroused while feeling electrocuted.

"F*ck!" Hendrix punched the wall in front of him in frustration that the tiles cracked and broken pieces fell down the bathroom floor.

In the mirror across the room, Hendrix failed to see his body lighting up, and distinct marks of different shapes and colors appeared on the surface of his skin. Then as the cries of pain of other konxeladas that he could hear even from afar stopped, the marks all over his body disappeared, and his erection went limp.

Hendrix was oblivious to all of this because he was looking intently at the blood on his fist. Then, washing it away with water flowing from above him, he also cleaned the blood on the bathroom wall tile that cut his hand when he punched it.

He waited for his hand to heal, and then everything went back to normal. Normal? What a word! Though he has forgotten his humanity for about two thousand years, being an immortal demon known as konxelada, the frozen one, is never normal, especially when all the demons around him are dried of blood while he still bleeds.

I'm not normal like humans, and I'm not normal like demons. F*uck! What am I then? He asked himself quietly.

"A freak!" He answered loudly as he toweled himself dry.