WINEKOVE, 1020 AD. 

Desmond 

I could hear the sounds of my breath bounce off the walls of the cold and quiet cave. Mother had given me instructions not to leave until she had returned. She was gone for a long while, and all I could do to kill time was to listen to the sound of my breath on my knees.

I looked around the cave to gather knowledge from my surroundings. It was so dark, and all I could see was a tree at the far end on my left and a large puddle of water a few feet before me; it looked more like an oasis.

After what seemed like forever, I heard footsteps coming through the entrance. It was my mother with my twin brother, Solomon. She let him kneel beside me, and he gave a smug look. Only the spirits knew how I would love to slap that smile out of his face.

"Susana! I have brought them", I heard Mother shout. "Let us keep the end of our bargain."

Susana was the chief priestess of our village and also a very powerful witch; I did not know why Mother would strike a bargain with her.

Suddenly, everywhere became bright through the fire that caught the torches on the stands on the cave walls. Susana appeared in front of us in her usual attire; a red robe with a long stick on her right hand decorated with pomegranates and white beads.

"We shall, Philomena," she said calmly.

She looked down at me and then at my brother, smiling. She dropped her stick on a rock as she walked past us and returned to where she came from. After a few moments, she returned with a wooden bowl and a dagger. The dagger was somewhat covered with blood already.

She walked over to us, chanting some words. I still could not understand what was going on. The torches flickered, and a great wind blew into the cave. Fear gripped me, and I trembled while my brother laughed at me.

Susana stopped chanting, and the wind and the torches stopped dancing. She spread her hands, which held the bowl towards me. I collected it with trembling hands and looked into it.

It was blood!

I was terrified.

"Behold," I heard her say," The blood of the Quetet."

I looked at her, confused.

"Drink, boy, and be filled with the power of the impossible; speed, agility, strength, immortality, and hunger," she said.

"Drink it, Desmond," Mother, who knelt beside Solomon, ordered.

I grimaced and gulped the blood down my throat. I gave the bowl to Solomon, and he drank it too, same as Mother.

Susana picked up the dagger and raised it in the air, chanting once more. The wind returned, and torches began dancing again.

When she was done, she approached me and slammed the dagger into my chest. I felt the cold metal of the dagger pierce through my heart, and then she dragged the dagger out forcefully. I fell to the cold, stony floor, and everything went dark.