Still Alive

Syres is cursed.

    His family was sacrificed to some heathen desert Gods, taken and butchered in front of him because he dared to fight back. He could hear the screams of his wife, the cries of his children, and the outrage of his brother as they burned alive. It didn't end there because what these devils had done afterward was truly torture - they made him immortal.   He'd spent multiple weeks since then trying to kill himself; hanging, drowning, jumping from cliffs, and even cutting his own throat but nothing worked. Nothing lifted the endless years of rage, regret, and sadness as he was further separated from the hope of ever seeing his family again.   After being betrayed, left for dead, and branded as less than human, he had given up all hope. He swam ashore, adrift in the sea, finding himself a tropical and solitary island somewhere off the coast of Cilicia. It was here, in the hills and caves of an uninhabited island, he became a hermit. He learned to control and mold his immense physical power, testing his limits and cursing the Gods for his fate.   It did not matter to him what happened in the outside world, only emerging from his island sanctuary after centuries of constant battle within himself. The curse continues as Syres is taken prisoner by a Roman General. Determined to never be a slave soldier, he makes the journey to the Roman capital of Constantinople and begins his trek toward mortality.   In the ancient city, a bastion of culture and knowledge, Syres hoped he would find the ending he wanted. If not, what could it hurt to take advantage of his indestructibility? He'd rather live hundreds of comfortable lives in the bosom of nobility and royalty than one more day as a slave. After all, any comfort was infinitely better than the alternative.   A multi-volume historical fantasy series focused on key moments in history that shaped our modern world.