The light was too bright, the mists too white, the wind much too cool and clear as it made the swirling fog dance and twist beneath gnarled branches and twisting trunks. Pearly light seeped down through evergreen canopies to caress blackened scales and thin, gaunt features, glistening wet with water dripping in beads from every sharp angle. Like a creature from the depths it had ascended from the ocean, clambered and crawled up the steep walls along the narrow path once found by the son of a king - a different king, in a different time. Now it slipped through the forest on silent feet, claws gripping around rocks and roots, scaling fallen trunks ad traversing the rise and fall of the landscape with all the practiced ease of one who belonged there.
It was tired. Elation had long since left the beast and with it went the erratic eruption of power, forced out by a mind too elated by creation and destruction, too ecstatic to consider the toll demanded for such pleasure.
There is a price to pay for everything.
The voice in its mind was dry and to the point, almost thoughtful in its quiet observation. It made the beast toss the neck in agitation, restless and annoyed; thoughts were painful, feelings were painful. It hated the pain, it hated the fear and the weakness and the guilt and shame that came along every time such notions surfaced. It much preferred the elation of destruction, the exhilarating sensation of pushing the body to its limits and feel it break, the wonderful, nauseating taste of blood as it gushed between jagged teeth, ran down the throat and splattered down scrawny underweight legs in rivulets and streams...
The beast had done things the thinking part would never have even considered. It had run until the legs broke and slaughtered packs of beautifully tainted creatures for the pleasure of the kill. It had laughed as it tore flesh from bone, burning the ground in blinding explosions that left nothing but ash and dust in its wake, destroying any living thing around. It had forced the children of nature itself to grow and expand beyond their limits, conjured saplings and shrubs into fantastic shapes.. only to laugh in deranged mirth as they succumbed to the fury of flames again, and again, and again...
It had even brought them to the very edge of this cliff and tumbled over the rand, testing the diminished, frail wings protruding from bony shoulders - just in case they might be able to carry it. They didn't. Instead the dreaded monster, the beast, the wraith had felt its bony container break against the rocks far below, its skin tearing and peeling off as it was thrashed against sharp edges. It had drowned a thousand times and been brought back again by this amazingly durable body that just kept repairing itself, endlessly...
and on the bottom of the ocean, glittering in the dull glow of moonlight sifting down through the foam and bubbles - nesting ever so comfortably atop a slimy rock overgrown with seaweed - it had found a crown.
It rested snugly atop the scaly poll now, whole and glittering as light played over the obsidian surface. It was heavy, the weight like lead pressing down upon the skull - yet for some reason the beast felt that it was appropriate. A heavy black crown for the black-skinned ruler of the world, as thorny and prickly as itself. Something about it made a foreign sensation awaken within; a feeling like vines constricting around the chest, glass shards piercing a bleeding heart and the ache of unshed tears heavy in the throat... But those were sensations that belonged to the Other, the thinker, the existence that sat like a prickling silver thorn at the back of the mind - watching, waiting, commenting dryly on things as it searched for an opportunity to take over.
It stirred as the sound of voices came drifting on the wind. The beast immediately reacted, long, sticky tendrils of drool leaking from jaws too wide as it surged forward; silent as a shadow, a wild creature stalking through the forest that left trails of death and disease in its wake. It came upon the speakers much too quickly and hid behind a thicket as it watched, quivering nose sniffing the air greedily for the scent of flesh. The hunger was always there, always present - never sating no matter how much it gorged on red meat, on salty blood and bodily fluids. It ate and ate and kept starving to death, a slow wasting that deflated muscle and turned the once beautiful creature into something gaunt, malnourished, thin and pathetic. It wished to devour, and the sight of a Flesher moving through the forest was too much to resist...
Yet even as it gathered the waning strength to pounce another critter came running and spoke words with a voice so bright and cheerful that it sounded like sunlight through raindrops a summer day, and the Other within screamed out a 'NO' so violent and loud and powerful that the beast recoiled, cowering and hesitating where it lay hidden, unseen by the flame-colored Flesher. It struggled against this sudden interruption, fighting need and fear and hunger and pain - but the Thinker, the other, the existence was unyielding.
This intrusion... it shouldn't happen. It wasn't right. Unable to contain itself or endure the contact, the awareness of this other side that felt joy upon seeing the two animals reunite in front of it... it was too much. With a vicious snarl and movements so brusque and sharp that they rattled the entire copse of young evergreens the hellish creature spun around and ran off, tail whipping and lashing as it went; in its wake were trees left blackened and bruised, clawed and scraped.
It was a telltale sign that the world was not yet safe. It was not yet completely healed, and though the sun shone brighter and the wind felt cooler than before, not even the lands of the gods were completely safe.
As the beast ran a droplet of water fell from the glass grown and landed at the corner of a yellow eye. Stinging and salty it rested against the bulging orb for a moment, before slowly rolling down a torn, bruised, emaciated cheek... like a tear, shed by whatever part of the creature once known as Lace that still remained as he fled to save family and friends from... himself.
L A C E
there's .b l o o d. and .g o r e. on the floor |
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[O] REBIRTH :: Herd Meeting - Return to the Edge!
