Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Turbulence

Read chapter 7 of Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

Unlike regular locomotives, the Witch’s Train had compartments at least twice the size of private first-class carriages that even the twentieth century’s most luxurious trains had to offer. After all, space wasn’t an issue when size-altering charms existed, and some passengers were quite literally the size of a horse. The entire carriage was eight seats wide and twelve cabins long, with two-person tables on one side of the corridor and tables for four on the other. Duncan had chosen the two-person table out of consideration for the other passengers, although the opposite compartment turned out to be empty as well. After helping to keep Hilda’s bag in the overhead compartment, he sat across her and leaned back against the soft sofa. The train barely rumbled as it pulled away from the station and eased its way through the discrete tunnel boring a hole in the space-time continuum. “So, uh…” Hilda fiddled with her voodoo doll as streaks of white and gold flashed past the window. “How’d all this happen?” Duncan raised an eyebrow. “What, the train? Our compartment?” “Yeah, yeah, I really like the whole interior design of this cabin— No ,” Hilda replied sarcastically before gesturing to him. “I mean, how’d you become… like this? Immortal, I mean. Are— Are all witches immortal? How old are you?” “Being a witch doesn’t make you immortal. No, I became an immortal in another way,” Duncan replied monotonously. “I’ve been alive since thirteen eighty-four.” “How did you become immortal?” Hilda asked again, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “It’s a long story, girl.” “We have time.” The man rested an elbow on the table, looking out of the window with a faraway look in his eyes, before drawing a glyph in the air. A golden pill materialised in the centre of the glowing pattern, and Duncan plucked it out. “The elixir of life.” Hilda listened intently as Duncan recounted the story of how he became immortal, from his patient who dashed herself on a dagger to the years he spent getting his addiction under control. Although Hilda remained silent throughout, it felt good to talk about his past, as painful as it was. Perhaps it was because of the kid’s innocent expressions while he talked. Or perhaps she somehow reminded him of that warlord’s daughter, Yuri Kitagawa. Either way, he was grateful for the weight lifted from his chest. God, it felt like it had been suffocating him for centuries. “What happened to me was an accident. Necessary, but still an accident,” Duncan finished the story. “No sane witch wants to be immortal.” “Why not? Eternal youth sounds rather lovely to me.” “It isn’t natural, and the consequences are heavy,” Duncan said grimly. “Immortals can’t have children, so we’re cursed to outlive our loved ones. No matter how many families we lose, the pain never lessens.” Hilda’s expression softened. “That must be lonely.” The immortal chuckled. “You have no idea. The worst part is that this is the end for us. Immortal beings have their souls’ immortality transferred to their physical bodies. Without a soul, we have no afterlife. All we have after death is oblivion. Only fools or the desperate would willingly choose immortality over an afterlife. Those who know better would rather have eternal rest after death than spend forever walking in the world.” Hilda looked away this time, allowing the awkwardness to fill the air. Duncan couldn’t blame her; her life had barely begun. What would a mere seventeen-year-old know about death? What would she know about pain? Duncan Ward was an outlaw, a rogue living eternally outside the natural laws of life and death. But while his body healed quickly, his mind never did. Wars, loss, suffering… Everything blurred together after so many years. But the people he saved? The people he couldn’t ? He would remember every single one of them forever. “That woman earlier,” Hilda spoke up after a while. “Is she your lover?” “Nosy little girl, aren’t you?” Duncan simpered, grateful for the change in topic. “No, s