It wasn't the first time she was seeing the shaman, but it was the first time she had spent time with him, and he already felt like an old friend. Family even.
She was comfortable with him, which was also unusual. Normally, it took her a long time to get used to someone, and that only happened after she got to know them quite well.
There had been a few exceptions, though. She and Amanda had hit it off immediately, but that was probably because they were such complete opposites.
Amanda was such an unapologetic extrovert to Syssi's introvert, a powerhouse of bubbling energy to Syssi's calm. When Amanda decided she liked someone, her exuberance just swallowed that person whole, and that was how it had been with Syssi.
Annani had just enveloped her in love and acceptance from the first moment they had met and had declared herself Syssi's second mother.
With Eluheed, it was probably their shared paranormal ability that created the sense of connection.
It was like finding a mirror, someone who saw the world through a similar lens, someone who understood the confusing nature of visions and their effect on the seer.
There was an otherness to him that probably had to do with his shamanic abilities, but it didn't bother her. On the contrary, she found it appealing. The best way she could describe it was that his soul shone bright.
Eluheed took a deep breath, seeming to gather his courage. "I shared part of my story with Kian when I met him on Tuesday, which was a big step for me since it required the bending of a vow I made to keep this information a secret. I had him swear that he wouldn't reveal it without my explicit permission, and he graciously agreed, but he suggested that I speak with you because you were probably better equipped to help me than he was."
She smiled. "After such a preamble, I'm bursting with curiosity. Your secret sounds monumental."
"It is, and I needed to meet you face-to-face to decide whether I can trust you with it."
"I hope I passed your test."
"It wasn't a test." He smiled. "I trust my gut feelings, and my gut tells me that my secrets are safe with you."
"They are."
"I'll start with the basics. I was not born on Earth, and I'm much older than I look. I came from another planet, and I've been here over a thousand years."
He was immortal, but he had none of the visible characteristics of an immortal male. That explained the sense of otherness, the feeling that he didn't quite belong in this world.
"You don't have fangs," Syssi stated the obvious. "I assume that you don't have venom either, and both are necessary to transition Dormants. How can you be an immortal without them?"
"I'm a different kind of immortal. Perhaps the gods who created your ancestors created my people as well." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "But not the same way they created you. My people are indistinguishable from humans, and the vast majority have the same limited lifespans. Only a select few of us are granted immortality, but don't ask me how. It's one more thing I'm prohibited from revealing."
That was disappointing.
"Was it a shamanic thing?" she asked, figuring he could at least answer that question. "Are all shamans immortal?"
He considered her question for a moment. "Shamans are selected from a group of people who are immortal. I can't tell you who they are or why they are chosen or how they are turned immortal." He paused for a moment. "But I can tell you that it's genetic, the same as it is for you, and the trait also needs to be activated, but in a very different way than your activation is done."
Kian leaned forward. "How is it done?"
"That's a part I cannot reveal."
"You are keeping all the good parts to yourself," Kian said. "At some point, I will need to know the rest."
"I hope you won't press." Eluheed looked anxious. "The truth is that I don't really know the exact mechanism of the change. We don't go through a transformation like your Dormants. It's a very gradual thing."
"How did you get here?" Syssi asked.
Eluheed smiled apologetically. "I can't tell you that either."
Perhaps he couldn't tell her, but she could find out. She wasn't bound by vows like he was, and she could summon a vision about him. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask her to promise she wouldn't do that.
"Can you at least tell me why you are here?" she asked.
Looking relieved, he nodded. "I escaped enemies seeking my people's extinction. Our land is located high in the mountains, and it is not hospitable, but it's defensible. To a point. Our enemies vastly outnumber us, and they want to annihilate us."
