all humankind is a mystery. That we are part of the cycle of this world, and how and why we must discover on our own."
"Yes," said Margon. "There are many of us on this earth and there have been at times many, many more. Immortality as we use this word is a grant of immunity from old age and illness; but not from violent annihilation. And so we live with mortality as do all others under the sun."
"How many others are there?" asked Stuart. "Oh, don,t look at me like that," he shot at Reuben. "You want to know these things, you know you do."
"I do," Reuben admitted. "When Margon wants us to know. Look, there,s an inevitability to the way this story unfolds."
"I don,t know how many others there are," said Margon with a little shrug. "How could I know? How could Felix or Thibault know? I do know this. The danger we face in today,s world is not from other Morphenkinder. It,s from men and women of science like Klopov and Jaska. And the greatest difficulties we face in day-to-day survival have to do with the advances in science - that we cannot now pass ourselves off as our own descendants to a world that requires DNA evidence of parentage or affinity. And that we must more than ever be clever as to where and how we hunt."
"Can you father a child?" Laura asked.
"Yes," said Margon, "but only with a female Morphenkind."
She gasped. Reuben felt a sudden shock. Why had he been so certain he could not get Laura with child? And it was true. He could not. But this new little revelation was stunning.
"Then the female Morphenkind can bear, obviously," said Laura.
"Yes," said Margon. "And the offspring are Morphenkinder always, with very occasional exceptions. And sometimes ... well, sometimes a litter. But I must say that fertile couplings are extremely rare."
"A litter!" Laura whispered.
Margon nodded.
"This is why female Morphenkinder often form their own packs," said Felix, "and men tend to club together. Well, it,s one of the reasons, anyway."
"But in all fairness," said Thibault, "tell them it seldom happens. I haven,t known five born Morphenkinder in all my years."
"And what are these creatures like?" asked Stuart.
"The change manifests in early adolescence," said Margon, "and they are in all other respects very much like us. When they reach physical maturity, they cease to age, just as we have ceased to age. If you give the Chrism to a young child, you will see the same thing happen: the change will come with early adolescence. The child will mature, and then become fixed."
"So I,m likely to keep growing for a while yet," said Stuart.
"You will," said Margon with a sarcastic smile and a roll of his eyes. Felix and Thibault also laughed.
"Yes, it would be very considerate and gentlemanly of you if you were to stop growing," said Felix. "I find it disconcerting looking up into your big baby blue eyes."
Stuart was obviously exultant.
"You,ll mature," said Margon, "and then you will not age."
Laura sighed. "One couldn,t hope for anything much better than that."
"No, I don,t suppose so," said Reuben, but it was only just hitting him, the obvious truth that he would never father normal human children, that if he fathered a child, that child would likely be what he was now.
"And this matter of others out there," said Felix. "In time these boys should come to know what we know about them, don,t you think?"
"What," asked Margon, "that they,re secretive, often unfriendly? That they seldom if ever let themselves be seen by other Morphenkinder? What more is there to say?" He opened his hands.
"Well, there,s a great deal more to say and you know it," Felix said softly.
Margon ignored him. "We are all too like wolves. We travel in packs. What do we care about another pack as long as it doesn,t come into our forest or our fields?"
"Then they,re no threat to us basically," said Stuart. "That,s what you,re saying. There are no wars for territory or anything like that? No one seeks to gain power over the rest?"
"I told you," said Margon, "the worst threat to you is from human beings."
Stuart was pondering. "We can,t shed innocent blood," he volunteered. "So how could we fight each other for power? But has there never been a Morphenkind who went rogue, or started slaughtering the innocent, who went mad perhaps?"
Margon considered for a long moment. "Strange things have happened," he conceded, "but not that."
"Are you contemplating being the