Chapter six: Winged.
Hadrian bit down on the boiled chicken meat. It was hot on his tongue and the meat, little as there was, came off the chicken bones like soggy paper.
It was the best thing he'd tasted in a long time, saltless as it was.
He ate it with the pieces of bread Alia's mother had come with.
Alia's mother ate with her eyes closed, no pause between bites.
Hadrian's heart warmed at the sight then guilt slithered in.
I cannot stay here or with this woman forever. I have to leave. Bringing her with me is not an option. Her daughter is dead. Her grandson is dead.
Abandoning her is no different. I will simply be removing the lie I have created for her.
Hadrian gave Alia's mother a glance through baby Hadrian.
But then why does it hurt me to think of it? Have Alia's emotions mixed up with mine despite me thinking otherwise?
Hadrian sighed.
The least I can do is leave her in a better state than this.
His eyes looked around the dirty smelly room once more.
Hadrian stood up.
"You need something? I'll get it for you." Alia's mother spoke with haste.
"A walk, mother." Hadrian said. "Could you watch the baby for a short while?" Hadrian made Alia's voice shrink with every word.
Alia's mother's eyes darted between baby Hadrian and Alia. "I don't think that's a good idea." She shook her head.
"I'll be close."
"Then I'll go with you."
"No. I…. I need to be alone." Hadrian protested.
"You can't expect me to — "
"Please." Hadrian cut in with Alia's pleading voice. In Alia's memories he learnt she had grown reclusive ever since they left the lord's property. Despite what had happened to her, she truly believed the lord's son had loved her.
This could not have been the naivety of youth. Hadrian had thought. I was only a year older than her in my previous life and even I can see what that relationship was.
Alia's mother did not argue further and after a long moment of silence, Hadrian took it as a 'yes'.
He took some of the ragged clothing with him. Alia's mother simply observed. Her brows pinched.
Hadrian had also taken a piece of chicken meat with him.
It was noon and the sun was hot on his neck. He wrapped the pieces of clothing around Alia's left arm and walked around the area.
He maintained his at most a hundred meter radius from baby Hadrian such that he wouldn't lose control of him.
After a quarter of an hour, he found a big rat gnawing on some filth. It was nearly the entire length of Alia's arm. It didn't seem to mind humans as it paid Alia Hadrian little mind.
Hadrian went to his left knee and grabbed its long thick pinkish tail. The rat's head jolted back, causing Alia Hadrian to jump back startled.
As he did, he'd already altered his sight and called at the rat's fog. People passing only gave her glances and went on their day. It wasn't so rare for people in this place to resort to eating rats.
The rat sensed something wrong and thrashed back with a bite. Hadrian put Alia's left hand in front of where the large rat meant to bite so that it bit down on the clothes instead.
Alia's facial expression twisted, its jaws snapping force was still great and it sent electric pain up her hand.
Twenty seconds later, the rat let go of the bites and clawing intending to run but it was too late. It became Hadrian's vessel.
Finally.
Hadrian sighed, he'd surprisingly missed the utility of having a rat body.
Now, I need more to bait the hawks and that stupid dog.
He sent the big rat scurrying, following its memories to find where more of its kind hid.
The rat could go a hundred meters in the opposite direction of baby Hadrian from Alia Hadrian. If Hadrian were to switch his main vessel to the rat, however, he would lose control of baby Hadrian.
With the chicken piece in rat Hadrian's mouth, he used it to bring some rats back within the radius.
Since most of the rats would run out of the radius, he'd only made seven new vessels in half an hour.
That should be good enough?
He went back to their makeshift house. This way he could lay on the bed and transfer some of Alia's strength into another rat vessel.
Mother Alia slept on the piles of clothing on the other side of baby Hadrian, snoring like mating ducks.
As Hadrian lay on his back, hands across his stomach, Alia's eyes twitched.
A hawk had swept down and dug its talons into one of rat Hadrians. Its talons dug into his guts, causing intestines and blood to flow out while its force broke rat Hadrian's spine.
To achieve what he needed to, Hadrian could not loosen control to a mechanical one since he could not do that with his "main vessel". As such, he was experiencing all that hellish pain to its fullest.
He immediately focused on the bird's essence fog.
The hawk flapped its wide wings to lift off the ground but it fell forward instead. Rat Hadrian had suddenly become too heavy for it.
Hadrian had "substituted" all of his vessels distributed weight to that rat vessel the same way he could essence or life state.
The hawk was trying to fly away with a teenage girl, her baby and seven rats.
It failed, but didn't let go. Suddenly it turned around and attacked the rat with its sharp beak. Tearing through its flesh with each poke.
The black hawk had sensed something threatening with the rat.
Naturally, Hadrian substituted the flesh of his other Rat vessels to lessen the pain.
At a certain point, the hawk's fight attitude turned to flight and it was filled with horror telling it to fly away.
It let go of the rat but rat Hadrian bit down on its leg with all his vessel's weight making sure it went nowhere.
Three. Two. One.
The black hawks' chaotic wing flapping stopped. It had become Hadrian's vessel.
Before he could celebrate, however, small hands jumped on his back grabbing his wings tightly together.
Some street kid had thought they'd found their meal.
Hawk Hadrian moved his wings and the kid's face puzzled at the strength. He pressed down on the hawk with his entire wait as more street kids ran up.
"Hold it down." They shouted.
Hadrian paused for a moment then turned to the kid with violent talon and beak attacks nearly scratching his eyeballs out.
Breaking free at the last moment. He flapped his wide wings and jumped into the air.
Hadrian felt the wind slam against his feathers. He felt his light bones and felt his heart race inside him.
Wind came into his lungs fast and he flapped his wings. Not too far up, he saw the entire stretch of the district, the sprawling blocks of wooden and stone buildings, people moving on the mud road streets doing all sorts of activities. He saw past this all and onto a sprawling city.
Hawk Hadrian circled in the air and looked back down at a small wooden house next to a sewer river.
Skreeer!
A harsh screech cut through the sky.