Born of the Abyss

An ill-begotten son discovers his questionable origins.

Dear Reader: This week I have put together another podcast for you. I hope you enjoy reading the story or listening to the audio drama, or maybe both! If you have questions or feedback, let me know in the comments.

My mother locked herself in her bedroom on the eve of my thirteenth birthday. There would be no party, cake or gifts. That was normal for all of my birthdays. This year it was her reaction that was different. Not only was there no celebration, but she looked at me with fearful resignation. Whatever was approaching led her to believe an end was near. The end of what, I didn’t know. 

I had no other family to speak of, so no one to ask about her odd behavior. My dad was absent from the beginning. He walked out never knowing she was pregnant. When I asked, she said she knew of him, but never really knew him. There was nothing to describe, no background, no pictures and nothing that could bring him back. It was best to forget. I tried and failed, especially on birthdays.

It didn’t help that my birthday fell on Lauda Lôtān, the biggest annual celebration in our port town. I was never allowed to go. I missed getting candy from the shop owners, tricking the neighbors and most of all the parade of vanities at midnight. Tonight, however, she allowed me to go, alone. From behind her bedroom door, she said her goodbyes and I ran as fast as I could to greet my friends. I hoped that this would become our new tradition.

Music could be heard as I wandered down the gravel road leading into the village. The sweet sounds of singing and instruments echoed in the air. It was trance inducing when combined with the slosh of ocean waves a short distance away. The closer I got, the more I blocked out the surroundings, fixating on every note. They were lifting up those melodies just for me.

Darkness was pierced by torches lining the crossroads. Citizens, dressed in elaborate, colorful costumes and masks were moving into the center of the festivities. I felt out of place, never having participated, dressed in commoner’s attire. The crowd grew in numbers. Several of them laughed and played games. All of these sights were an invitation that pulled me further into the middle of it all.

Midnight was near and I shoved my way through so that I could be close to the crackle of fireworks when the clock tower struck twelve. A ferocious excitement welled up inside me, and although the night was cool, my body was sweating. My heart pounded so hard that I could feel it in my head, throbbing between my ears. It took me a moment to gather my senses as everything blurred. Rest wasn’t going to fix the sensation. I needed to get into the center.

When I finally pushed through, to the disdain of a few fancifully dressed women, my mind cleared, and I focused. There was a great stone fountain. The heart of it was a pedestal and on top was a bronze statue of Lôtān, cast centuries ago by our founders. It no longer maintained its golden luster and was dripping green with oxidation. Water was spitting up from thirteen locations in the basin that surrounded the deity.

Lôtān was a serpent creature, its head and body scaled, with giant wings spread out and over the width of the fountain. It sat upright on its lower body, which grew into a long, massive tail with horns down the spine. The tail circled around, in and throughout the water basin. The mouth was open, bearing long, sharp teeth and a serpentine tongue hanging out to one side. The eyes were the only material that was not bronze. Those were black onyx, buffed to a shine.

The eyes drew me in while a steady excitement built among the people. Midnight was approaching and the countdown in unison began. I did not count, instead doubling over in pain as my stomach lurched. Nobody noticed me crouching. They were all fixated on the clock, ready to scream in jubilation. Muscles and bone throughout my body ached, pushed to their limits, moving out of position, cracking and breaking. 

When the clock hands aligned and the chiming had stopped, a deluge of fireworks were set off, and the crowd danced and shouted. My arms sunk into my rib cage. Bones and cartilage began protruding out from my back. I could not contain myself any longer. Screaming from the pain was all I could think to do, but what came from my throat was an awful, guttural growl that silenced everyone.

Backing away, some looked on in disbelief, while others ran or fainted. My transformation was nearly complete. The wings now attached to my spine flapped by instinct, and my long tail swept back and forth, knocking over several men, who crawled away on their backs.

The fountain rumbled and shook. The stone and mortar around the basin collapsed and the stagnant water poured out onto the ground. The bronze statue crumbled into pieces. Two black jewels dropped from their sockets and rolled away. The pedestal was all that remained. I flew onto the base and looked out, expecting to find a group of faces staring back in terror. Nobody was in sight. All were faithless.

The abyss called out to me. Where men fear to sail over deep ocean waters, I will call home. This town was where I was born. It’s not where I will live out my immortality. I’m going to find the creator — my father.

I know who I am.

I am the son of Lôtān.

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Licenses

• “Shadowlands 5 - Antechamber” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

• “Myst on the Moor” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

• “SCP-x1x (Gateway to Hell)” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

• New Year’s Fireworks http://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/212645 by Iwan ‘qubodup’ Gabovitch http://freesound.org/people/qubodup under CC-BY 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode with sounds by Raffa Jaffa and recqxxxx.