Hand

 The house had been swallowed by the woods, surrounded on all sides, as though a private war was brewing that only its master knew about. Hounds bayed, frolicking in the yard as their owner sat, sipping afternoon tea in the garden, intense eyes watching the house rather than the woods. No smile touched his lips as he surveyed his home, before glancing back to his guest.

I sat beside him, sipping the spruce herbal tea that he provided. It was sharp and medicinal, bringing comfort and healing. I winced at the strength of it before looking at him. The blue eyes locked with my own, temporarily seeing me before he returned his gaze to the windows of his study.

“You seem nervous,” I said softly, fingers playing with the napkin he had set beside the sweetmeats. 

“I am unaccustomed to guests,” he replied, looking back at me. I glanced over his beard and hair, well kept for a farmer but lacking in presentation for the noble he was. “Had I not found you whilst hunting, I would not have seen a person in nearly a year.”

“No staff?” I asked, brows raising in question. 

The hunter shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “They come and leave before I return. I prefer the quiet.”

“Do you?” 

He glanced at me, grimacing. 

“Or is there something you’re afraid will hurt others?”

His lordship gave a sharp look and then rose his teacup to his lips, sipping thoughtfully. I turned away, looking at the dogs that wandered over to us, floppy ears dragging on the ground as they laid down, panting heavily. Silence settled around us as the dogs rested, the forest chirping melodically as the noble gathered his thoughts.

“Tell me,” I finally said, disrupting his wandering mind.

The man shook his head, eyes lowered in shame. “I have made terrible decisions, my friend.”

I let the silence hang, knowing he would fill it if it lingered too long.

“I was always a hunter. Traveled for it. Across the world.” He gestured broadly. “Any story I heard, I followed it to its conclusion, gaining an ever growing collection of trophies of my kills.”

My head tilted as I glanced at him, suddenly looking for the mark of the hunter. Yet there wasn’t a tattoo I could see on his flesh.

“When I saw you, you had wounds. Claw marks down your back.” He gestured to my shoulder. “Yet nothing remains, and but two days have passed since I watched you in the woods, near the abandoned home.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. Worry touched my stomach as the pieces began to fall together. 

“No human could heal as you do. So,” he paused, leaning back while looking at me. “I thought to do as I always do. Stalk you. Follow. Discover your immortal secrets. But you are not the first I have seen as such.”

“Are they still alive?” I asked, despite myself.

He chuckled and finished his tea, nodding at me to do the same. “Hunting men is its own sport, my friend. Hunting things… that are beyond men, creatures like you, are where true skill comes in.” 

The man stood, offering a hand to me, eyes glancing to the last of my tea to myself. I grimaced and finished the tea before taking his hand and standing. Like any gentleman, he moved my hand to the crux of his arm and guided me into the home through elaborate french doors. 

“Yet three kingdoms from here I heard of the most magnificent creature. More terrifying than anything I had beheld before. More horrific than Count Szémioth,” he added with a smirk. 

Inside, the house was the home of a noble, in its fine appointments, mahogany furniture, and plush cushions. Silver and gold accents bespoke generational wealth. Yet the home smelled of dust and time, with a hint of something sinister. Beautiful tapestries bespoke his adventures, as he called them, showing terrifying monsters and beasts alike he had claimed 

“I followed it for days, driving it to ground until it had nowhere to escape. We fought for days. It was massive, bigger than any man I have ever seen, with bloodlust in its eyes.”

He paused beside each tapestry, giving me a moment to see and understand his prolific skills. I inhaled sharply at the image of a wolf caught beneath his knife. Throughout the home, well placed blades rested. Swords were on walls, blades in holders on mantels, spears leaning in corners all greeted me as we walked to the great old door to his study.

“Let me show you,” he purred. 

The door opened to a mortal hunter’s lounge, all leather furniture and animal heads on the walls. A great desk sat near windows overlooking the garden. On every surface an exposed knife waited, ready to be used on a whim.

Yet in the middle of the room sat a podium with a great hand resting upon it. It was larger than any human’s, with elongated fingers and necrotic skin that suggested it had been dead for some time. The wrist was a ragged stump, sawed-off rather than cut with one swift motion. 

At the stump a chain was wound, so tight it bit into the flesh. The chain looped up and around the hand itself, moving around the thumb and back down to the wrist itself, before being embedded into the wood of the podium. 

Despite its deathly look, there was no smell of rot in the room. Just leather and herbs. I glanced around, noting the blades conveniently placed. The man released my hand and then closed the door behind him, locking it with a key he slipped into his pocket.

“This is the creature.”

“That’s a hand. A dead hand. You don’t think the chain is overkill?”

The man paused and walked towards the hand. “No. It constantly tries to escape.”

I blinked and followed, approaching the hand slowly. My fingers touched the cold iron of the chain, grimacing at the bite of it before sliding over the skin of the hand. It was dry and rough, as though it had been set in salt. I let my fingers slide upwards, touching the long fingertips before the man grabbed my hand.

“Be careful.”

“Is this what you’re afraid of?” I asked, looking up at him.

“It will be my death, I know it.”

“Then why… keep it?” I pulled my hand back but kept my eyes on the man. 

There was a quiet moment of contemplation as he considered. When no answer came to him, I sighed. “Pride is a stupid reason to die.”

A chuckle escaped him and he sat in his chair, pouring himself a drink. I didn’t move, standing beside the hand instead. My fingers touched the chain, silently navigating how it attached to the wood and how it could be freed.

“You clearly fight monsters, too,” he said, nodding to my shoulder as he sipped the amber fluid. 

I tilted my head, realizing he had not seen me in the woods. I shifted, moving around the podium so it was at my back while he watched me, a bemused smile on his lips. 

“Tell me, how did you kill the Count when you carry no weapons upon you?”

A smile tugged at my lips as I moved my hand behind my back, touching the long fingers of the hand. Softly, I stroked them, petting each digit gently, urging life back into them. There was a chance the lord was simply telling a tall tale, which would be a kindness considering the hand was so far from its originator, or that he was telling the truth, and that it was a creature unto itself. 

“With my body,” I replied coolly. 

He paused, glancing over me with renewed interest. “Have you fangs or claws then? Do you transform?”

I shook my head. Behind me, the fingers moved, lifting to caress mine in return. Their callused tips lifted upward, gently brushing over my wrist in a comforting touch. I shivered at the stroke. “No. Just me,” I finally answered.

“Yet you heal…”

“I’m not human,” I replied. “I’m a monster. Like any other. I seek my own kind and ensure people like you stop hurting them.”

A smirk touched his lips as he stood and moved to stand before me. “So you save them, then? These things you call monsters.”

“I show them they’re not monsters.”

“How? Smash all their mirrors?”

The hand shifted behind me, pulling on my clothes to climb up my back. It was slow, an attempt to keep the chain from making a sound. I leaned back, making it easier, as my hand slid around the chain, ready to tug it free. 

“Give them love.”

His hand moved upward, holding my chin as he examined my face. “You aren’t lying, are you?”

“Not at all.”

“Then how would you stop me, hm?” I felt the tip of a blade touch my stomach and wander upward over the fabric of my dress and swallowed, feigning fear. 

My hand moved to touch his hand that held the blade, caressing softly. “I wouldn’t,” I whispered and leaned forward, brushing against the man. “I would let those you hurt stop you.”

His eyes widened only for a moment before I grabbed his wrist and twisted, stealing the knife from his hand and turning. The blade slid into the chain, and I turned it, making the link break open. The hunter screamed as the hand pushed off of my back and landed atop him.

I knelt, knocking the hunter on the back of the head with the blade. His body fell limp as the hand closed around his throat. I grimaced, gently touching the overlarge appendage and gently stroking. 

“You’re free,” I murmured. My fingers slowly unfastened the chain, pulling it from the wrist and thumb as the hand stilled, as though considering. It crawled back from the hunter and seemed to be watching me as I pushed the chain into my bag.

“You can go.”

The hand shifted, moving to crawl onto my thigh before up my chest, overlong fingers caressing my throat and jaw before tenderly touching my lips. I kissed them, softly, as they brushed against my mouth. 

The pointer finger ran along my bottom lip before pressing inward. A soft moan escaped me as I sucked on the large digit, tasting the earth and flesh that it was. It moved deeper, pushing in and out, before adding a second finger. 

Within my mouth, it quivered as my tongue played over the dried flesh. Life began to return to it, the skin moving from dead to alive and warm. The desiccated skin filled out, returning to full size and filling my mouth with each stroke. Drool covered the fingers and dripped down over the palm and back of the hand, landing in my lap from the wrist.

I whimpered as the fingers plunged deeper before suddenly pulling out and rubbing against my face, getting drool over my jaw and cheeks. Pressure formed on my chest as the hand pushed against me, urging me back. I obeyed, laying on the ground as silently commanded.

Long fingers pulled at the fabric of the dress, yanking it upward in haste, as though it hadn’t felt flesh in a very long time. The hand crawled beneath the soft fabric and slid up to my breasts, kneading and massaging each of them before pinching and teasing the nipples. I shuddered, stroking the hand through the distended fabric covering my body.

A moan escaped my lips as it explored further downward, one long fingertip circling my belly before sliding lower. It traced the lips of my opening, tickling the tender flesh before slowly parting them with two fingers. One finger flicked against the sensitive nub of flesh, pulling a whimper of delight from me as my hips slightly bucked.

The flicking continued, steady and rhythmical, pulling sounds of delight from me before it pressed firmly downward and began to move in circular motions over the skin. I gasped, shuddering as the fingers picked up speed, pushing me closer to a precipice of pleasure. My hand grabbed the wrist, grasping for anything, and held, pushing my pelvis up against the skilled fingers. 

My moans became more frantic as the hand picked up speed, playing my body as an instrument with estranged ease. I cried out, shuddering and whimpering as that pleasure grew into overwhelming pressure and exploded. My body tremored as I gasped, releasing the hand and shuddering beneath the touches.

Panting, I shifted, moving from the floor to kneel. My fingers pulled the dress up and my companion crawled beneath me, laying palm upward with two large fingers poking upward, teasing my entrance. My eyes slid closed as I lowered myself atop it, feeling the fingers slide upward and inside, thick and long.

They pushed against the back of my entrance, a twinge of pain and pleasure mixing as they filled me. I pulled in a breath and then began to move up and down on the fingers, moaning as my juices coated them while they slid in and out of me. My hips rocked as I moved, the fingers pushing upward to meet my every downward motion. 

One finger moved backward, slipping into my back entrance and stroking inward. I cried out, new pleasure soaring through my body with each stroke of the thick, strong finger. We moved together as I rode the hand, a third finger sliding inside with the other two as a thumb maneuvered to caress the sensitive nub it had released before.

Cries of pleasure filled the hunter’s office as the hand filled me in every way. I dug my nails into my thighs with each movement, teeth biting into my bottom lip as the pressure built once more, driving me wild with hunger and need. I let my skirt go, grabbing my breasts and tweaking the erect nipples through the fabric before the wave of pleasure ripped through me.

I twitched and shuddered on the hand as it kept thrusting, even when I stopped moving and just moaned atop it, core tightening around the thick fingers. My hand touched it, whimpering as sensation pushed me over the edge and further, to realms of pleasure where time became strange and pleasure became consuming.

Gasps left my parted lips as I laid back on the wooden floor, the hand slowing its teasing before finally sliding out of me, covered in my wetness. It crawled over my body, stopping to tweak a nipple before touching my lips. My tongue licked it, tasting my fluids as I cleaned them off.

A soft sound of pleasure left me as the hand softly caressed my cheek. “I suppose I need to find your body and say thank you,” I murmured. The fingers touched my chin, tapping once in quiet agreement. 

My eyes wandered over the unconscious man, his eyes flickering as consciousness threatened to arrive. I nodded towards him. “What do you want to do about him?”

As I sat up, the hand gently pushed on my thighs, gesturing with two fingers for me to leave the room. I pursed my lips and then nodded, stopping to touch the hand softly. “It’s your choice, but do what you need.”

 

The door closed behind me as I left, the sound of a murderer choking the last sound I heard in that house. 

Lokis

 

The manor glowed eerie orange in the setting sun of the summer day. Great trees surrounded it, hiding the Count’s home within a forest few dared enter. The abandoned home had once been glorious, faded curtains and broken windows whispering of a time when parties lived behind them and of secrets long since forgotten. 

I inhaled the smell of earth and timelessness as nature slowly reclaimed the land that once belonged to nobles, their familial line ended by nature itself. My boots made rough suns on the ground, even as I avoided broken branches. Birds and wildlife shifted in the trees, moving into the property of the manor, even braving moving into the home.

As I walked around the home, I turned to the side facing the North, eyes wandering up to a wide open window nearly torn off its hinges. Aged dried blood lined the window sill, drips showing on the brick below. The moth eaten curtain rustled in the breeze, undisturbed by the carnage that it had once witnessed.

From within the woods, a snarling heavy breath echoed, as though the woods itself held the hunger of nature. I paused, turning towards the darkness beneath the trees, and watched for a sign of a moving shadow. Nothing stirred, save a few of the birds that picked at the grounded, small bodies hopping from spot to spot.

Yet the woods promised that something waited and watched, peering back into me as I studied the great trunks of coniferous trees, their dead needles scattered all over the forest floor. Between the trees, a strange path emerged, like a deer path but wider. It cut through the once manicured gardens and wound its way to the courtyard of the manor and eventually to the broken door.

My brows drew together as I walked down the stairs to the courtyard, following the premade path. It was too wide to belong to a deer or even a pack of feral wolves, but something wandered daily across it, as though drawn back to the manor. I tilted my head, glancing at the door that had been broken pen, great claw marks through the wood, to the path that led into the heart of the wood.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the woods, following the path in. The trees were tall, their lower branches broken by time and wind. Sunlight filtered in through the needles, warming the cool air as I stepped inside, listening to the birds as they moved from branch to branch. Spruce and cedar filled my nostrils, mixing with the decay of the forest floor and the cool wind from the North.

The path led deeper, pulling me towards the heart of the forest. It passed between the trees, ignoring small ponds and caves, moving with a single purpose to a destination I could not imagine. Now and then the trees were gouged with deep claw marks, marking the territory of the man I sought.

As the path went deeper, the forest grew denser, ferns and foliage filling in the empty space between the trees. Fresh smells entered the air, mingling with the coniferous trees. I smiled at the bunches of herbs and plants, mushrooms poking out here and there. Some had been harvested, deliberately plucked.

I ran my fingers over the mushrooms, touching the rounded teeth marks from where they had been bitten. My thumb brushed against a stump where a sharp edge had been used to cut it free. I hadn’t thought of what would bite it with canine like teeth but also cut it off so thoughtfully, other than perhaps two different harvesters had visited the plant. 

The dwindling sun turned the sky orange to pink, brushing the plants with warmth as I stepped into the darkest part of the ancient forest. Branches had been broken and destroyed to mark a clearing beneath the boughs of cedar. A cave nestled itself between trees, dark and forbidden. The pathway I had been following led to the cave, promising that whatever stalked it was waiting. 

Scattered around the cave were hints of the manor. Curtains rested in a pile by the entrance, likely abandoned where they ought to have hung. A picture frame of a painted portrait sat broken and abandoned beneath a tree. The odd sparkling trinket glimmered in the low light as I approached. 

Low light filtered into the cave as I entered, creating a golden warmth against the cold stone walls. It was shallow, not extending further back than thirty paces. An old but well made wooden table sat on one side, silver cutlery sitting beside porcelain decorative plates. I gently caressed the fork, grimacing at its tarnished beauty. 

A pile of sheets and covers made a strange nest upon the ground, dirty and covered in mold from its damp home. Great rips were in the sheets, showing where a clawed creature had once attacked. I let my fingers wander over the shorn fabric, but found no blood. 

Whatever had attacked had missed the occupant. Despite their best efforts, claw marks showed against the stone of the cave wall. I wondered if a strange heated fight had broken out, yet I could find no evidence of blood or wounds. Great paw marks lined the earth in mud, ending in clawed tips. 

My lips pursed as I looked over a small shelf with trinkets clearly taken from the manor, including a hunting knife. Its hilt was decorative, functional but made for a lord or noble. Even as I caressed the dulled blade, I knew it was once a gift to someone of status. 

With a sigh, I turned from the inside, giving one more glance around before I walked back towards the forest. A branch snapped, echoing around the woods as I stepped out from the shadows, sunlight blinding me briefly. 

I heard the growling breath before I saw the creature, his open maw panting with rolling huffs that made my body tremble with the instinct to run. He was tall, a few heads higher than I was, with a massive hairy body. Great fangs showed in his maw, half ursine, half human features looking down at me. Long claws extended from each finger as he stood on two massive feet, erect as any human would walk, yet with the girth and shape of a bear.

I gasped, stepping backward as he stepped forward, an angry snarl coming from his lips as he lowered his head, lip curling back to expose his fangs. The forest suddenly seemed dark and dangerous as I stared at the creature, eyes wandering to the human visage that looked at me from behind the bear’s roar.

“Count Michel?” I asked, voice faintly quivering as I watched him taking a hulking step forward, his weight pushing into the earth so that the long claws on his does gouged the forest floor.

He leaned his head down. I winced, doing my best not to flinch away from him. The head tilted, nostrils flaring as he inhaled my scent. He snorted, blowing damp hot air over my face. Slowly I looked up at him, concerned meeting his eye would have him believe I was challenging him.

“Everyone thought you were killed,” I said softly, remembering the broken window and blood. “But I heard your mother was attacked by a bear-”

The creature snarled and stepped away, paw moving out to strike the tree. It splintered, pieces of it flying off. I stepped forward, reaching out to touch his shoulder, fingers sinking in to the coarse fur. He smelled of musk and wildness, a hint of pine, and a touch of beast.

In an instant he turned, roaring at me, paw moving out to swipe at me. I ducked, then moved to the side to better stay out of his reach. “Is that your plan? Just throw your anger at anyone who realizes it was you that killed her?”

Another roar. He was fast but lumbering as he staggered towards me, mouth open to grab my shoulder. II pushed his head away and slipped around him, moving into the woods to put a tree between us. 

“You’re more than a beast, Michel, you can control yourself. You’re just as much a great, kind man as you are the king of the woods.” I took another step back, eyes following his with each step. I touched the bark of a tree behind me and slid around it, increasing the distance as he walked steadily towards me.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt her. You were changing. Becoming your true self. I can’t imagine how horrible that was for you.” He paused, panting as he stared at me. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

The werebear didn’t move, but instead, watched me with a strange sense of remorse and hunger. “You can control it,” I said softly, walking towards him one slow step at a time. “You can be you, without killing anyone.”

He made a soft grunt as I finally stood before him. “You can be wild. You can be rough. You can be yourself, without killing me. Is that what you want? To be both? To be yourself?”

Michel starred, long and hard, as thoughts swirled in his mind. He breathed heavily, panting with a low growl for every breath. We looked at each other for several lingering minutes. His muscles tensed as his thoughts raced. 

I finally smiled. “Should I run?”

The werebear growled and gave a curt nod. I smiled again, briefly, before turning and running. The woods flew by me as I moved through the trees, hearing nothing behind me until an infernal roar echoed through the woods.

The ground trembled beneath me as the bear thundered after me. My heart raced as I changed direction suddenly, feeling the beast slide past, unable to turn as quickly as I did. I turned again just as claws hit the air behind me, touching the tips of my hair. 

As I passed a large tree, needles fell down atop me as he caught up. The tree cracked and creaked as he crashed into it, nearly breaking it in half before I felt a great paw push against my back, propelling me forward. 

I slammed into a tree, falling to the ground at its roots. My lungs burned as the bear was on me in an instant, great hands picking me up and throwing me against the great cedar. I coughed, trying to catch my breath as he approached, claws slashing at my chest and stomach.

Burning pain ripped through me as the claws sliced through my shirt and underclothes, breaking the skin with frightful ease. Blood dripped down my chest and over my stomach. The cuts weren’t deep enough to hurt me, just enough to sting and draw blood. I whimpered, crying out as the pain sunk in.

He lifted me by the throat, pinning my back against the tree as his muzzle touched my cheek, teeth nipping at the skin without biting. A long tongue tasted my jaw and then my collar bone, before dipping down to flick over an erect nipple and lap at the blood he had released. 

The other claws ripped into my pants, pulling them off of me without hesitation. They dropped to the forest floor, leaving me naked before him. Teeth sunk into my shoulder as he pushed up against me, pinning me with his body, massive paw closing on my throat. 

I cried out as the teeth closed, ripping into my shoulder and compressing the bone. The pain intensified, leaving me gasping as I struggled through it. The muzzle released, lips covered in blood as he lifted his nose to look at me. I shivered, pain filling me before I nodded, giving a simple small signal I would be fine. 

With renewed vigor the bear roared, pulling my legs apart with one hand and pushed his hips against my own, my body tiny compared to his massive size. A thick, powerful length pushed inside my thighs, pressing against the lips of my entrance and probing upwards. He rested there, letting me feel the size of him, the threat of pain to come.

The paw on my throat closed tighter, cutting off my air as I whimpered against the tree. The bear watched my hands claw and fight at his own, scratching him to no effect as the predatory eyes stared at me. Teeth glistened with my blood as he snarled and then pushed forward against me with one powerful stroke. 

His size slid up inside of me, spreading me apart without remorse. It burned and stung, stretching me around his girth. I gasped, barely managing a sound as he gripped my throat. The bear pulled back, giving me no time to adjust before he snarled and thrust again.

Pain and pleasure shot through my body as he began to slide in and out, stretching the skin with every thrust. I shuddered as tears slid down my cheek, the bear moving within me with one purpose only, the instinct to fill me with his seed and create a new generation within me. 

The paw released, enough that I cried out, filling the woods with the sounds of my ecstasy and horror. Teeth once more bit my shoulder, holding me in place so that I didn’t slide up the tree with his rutting, but stayed to feel the full power of his massive size. 

He sped up, thrusting fast and hard, sending wild waves of pleasure through me. I screamed them out, fingers pulling on the long fur, using the bear as an anchor in the euphoria of his attention. Blood slowly leaked from my shoulder where his mouth clamped down, dripping down my chest and mingling with his fur.

My cries grew louder as the pleasure of his massive size overcame the pain, my own wetness letting him slide in and out with ease. My hips bucked against him as the pressure built, filling me up with each powerful stroke. His clawed finger closed around my throat before he pulled back and threw me to the ground.

I landed face down in the dirt and pine needles. His body was on me in an instant, pulling my hips up to meet his immediate hunger. My teeth closed around the back of my throat, drawing blood and compressing the bone so that I held perfectly still as he began to assault my body.

Claws raked over my shoulder and back, stopping at my hips to dig in and hold me still. Growls were muffled by my neck in his teeth as he began the fast, wanton thrusting of before, filling me deeply and painfully as he stretched me to make room for his length. I cried out, nails digging into the earth.

The teeth bit harder, sending new grinding pain from my bones through my body. I whimpered, gasping, and moved one hand to touch his face. The bear didn’t stop, his body slamming up into my own as he grunted his pleasure against my skin, but the jaw lessened. 

We moved as one, the thrilling pull of pleasure helping me forget the blood dripping down my throat from his teeth or the claws digging into my hips, but instead filling me with a mounting pressure that left me gasping and wanting more. Hee pushed harder, filling me until it ached profoundly. I cried out as it erupted, spilling through my body and sending me over the edge.

He roared in response to my scream of delight, hips stilling as seed exploded inside. I felt him fill me, and the remnants leaked out as my body failed to hold all of his release. He panted above me, teeth releasing my throat. I shuddered and collapsed on the ground, panting as my mind became blank and peaceful in the euphoria of his lust.

I barely noticed when he lifted me from the dirty earth but moaned in soft thank you as he lowered me into the nest he had built. As night fell around us, the bear curled around me, giving me his warmth as his tongue cleaned the wounds, caring for me as tenderly as any lover could.

Grim Reaper

 

Eerie silence hugged the shoreline. No footsteps lined its white sands, nor gulls picked at the washed-up debris from the water. The moonlight flickered on the water, pulling and pushing the waves that soundlessly caressed the white sand. Wind moved softly, stirring the air. Sand drifted within yet there was no whisper with its dance. Instead, preternatural silence held.

I walked along the beach, mind pushing against the silence. My steps made not a sound though I made no effort to walk quietly. The cave awaited, carved into a cliff miles high. No vegetation clung to the cliff nor washed up from the water. I had seen places where life faltered, and failed to thrive. Here it simply didn’t exist.

My eyes wandered over the cave as my steps faltered. I had been in dozens of caves and yet had never been to one where so much was at risk. A quiet unknown hugged the edge of the opening, inviting uncertainty, yet it held confidence in the outcome of such a journey. A grim portent of doom to follow, hidden behind the mundane surface of the stone.

Candles sat in the entrance, each of varying height and lit so that the golden light danced in the entrance. The air smelled of snuffed wicks, a thousand candles blown out at once. I paused to look at the dancing lights, tilting my head when it was obvious candles had been piled on top of candles, the base set atop a pile of melted wax from candles before.

Brows furrowed as I stepped inside, moving along a narrow path crowded in by the candles that began to grow more numerous and plentiful. They covered every surface, rising in layers, all sitting upon old wax from candles now forgotten. A strong smell of burning wax lingered in the cave as I began to move deeper, its darkness forever illuminated by the hundreds of flickering lights within.

The deeper I walked the more impossible it became. The path was not made for humans to traverse, nor any living thing. I shifted, moving carefully as the candles began to crowd over the single path. My feet avoided the candles, moving silently. The flickering lights made no noise as I passed, leaving me breathing in the silence that haunted the cave.

I passed through a strange opening to a winding tunnel that moved steadily downward. The candles lessened as I moved through the opening, the air becoming thick with smoke leaking off of each of thee wicks. I coughed soundlessly, raising a hand to my mouth to help protect myself from the swirling fog. 

A large, massive cavern opened before me, stretching long and low below an outcropping of stone I stood upon where the tunnel opened. I gasped, looking out over thousands of candles. They were so bright it was nearly blinding, filling the cavern in every free space that could be found. My eyes squinted, taking in the breadth of magic that lived in the space before I stepped back and pressed my back against the wall.

There was no path to the pool of candles below, nor a way through them. I saw the opening to another cavern in the far wall, a way to lower levels, Hints of light reflected out of the faraway tunnel, promising more of the brilliance below. My lips pursed as I inched forward, eyes trying to find a way to move through the cavern.

I whispered to myself but heard nothing. A soft panic touched my mind as I considered if I was now mute or if this place, despite the depth, was cursed. A shaky breath escaped my lips and came out soundless in the cavern. I shifted, slipping down from the ledge to land, feet resting on small spaces where extinguished candles sat.

Every step was slow and careful, the wicks flickering as I passed by. I hopped from spot to spot, touching the empty cavern floor and the few extinguished candles I could see. Long moments passed as I focused, balancing yet holding true as I moved from place to place, finally coming close to the tunnel. With a final jump, I landed within, slipping on the stone to slam against the stone.

A soundless groan came from my throat as I steadied myself against the wall. Light reflected from below, flickering before a great shadow passed, casting me in darkness. My breath stilled as I watched below, listening for a clue only to remember there was no sound that lived here.

My feet moved forward, stepping around the few candles that lined the downward spiraling tunnel. The shadow once again hid the light, sinking the tunnel into darkness. I stepped down, moving towards the opening and crouching down to stay out of sight.

Another massive cavern opened below, just as the last, with countless candles illuminating the dark. A figure moved silently about, long black cloak floating about them in the shadows. His garb never caught fire, even as he moved around the candles, checking each one. Sometimes his head would tilt, as though considering.

A great scythe rested in his hand. With an unnatural grace, he would strike with it, an exact movement that snuffed out an individual flame with one fatal sweep. The air in the tunnels disappeared, before returning in a burst. I shivered at the sudden gravity and stepped out of the tunnel to the small space available to my feet.

The reaper turned, hood dark and void of any face I could see. His head tilted, as though considering if I was to be snuffed out as well. I waited, a look of curiosity and wonder in my own eyes as I risked another step forward. 

“Are you lost?” he asked, gravelly voice penetrating the silent world around us.

Sound came rushing in from all around. A thousand candle flames flickering, the dripping of moisture somewhere in the cave, the soft whisper of wind, and my breathing, all touched my ears at once. I looked around, stunned at the noise generated from the flames, but more so from the quiet whispering of memories that came from each.

Voices, conversations, prayers, tears, and laughter echoed from each candle. Every life witnessed in its candle. I touched my chest, suddenly aware of the intensity of the sound. 

“I am sorry,” he said softly. “I keep it quiet here so I do not listen to every moment.”

I turned, looking at the reaper before closing the distance between us, mind adjusting to the noise I had not expected. “I’m not lost.”

“I cannot undo what has been done. Death is not reversible.”

“I’m not here for you to save someone I love.”

His head tilted again. “Nor can I spare you. Though…” he paused and moved a skeletal hand to touch my cheek. “I can find no candle here that belongs to you that can be extinguished.”

I paused, a strange longing for the eternal quiet touching my heart. “I don’t need you to spare me either.”

“Then do you wish for death?”

My head shook.

For a moment the reaper looked at me, mind swirling with possibilities though I could not see his face or his expression, only the looming darkness that lurked within the hood. He looked down at the hand on his scythe. 

“Then what is it you want?” he finally asked.

“You. If you’re willing.”

The reaper turned his head to the side, looking back at the candles that glimmered in the cavern. “I don’t understand. You cannot possess death.”

“You cannot possess anyone, not really. I’m here to know you. To see what you need. Your job is unending and your life solitary. That sounds… isolating.”

I could feel his stare more than see it. A tense moment passed between us before he turned away suddenly, the scythe moving through the air and extinguishing a single candle. Smoke drifted lazily from the wick towards the ceiling of the cavern. “It is my purpose.”

My hand moved out, an offering. “Our purposes may be rewarding, but they are always better celebrated with company. Tarry with me, even if only briefly.”

His hand closed around mine, bony and thin, phalanges caressing the back of my hand. I blinked and we were elsewhere, a smaller empty chamber, a strange light coming in from a hole in the ceiling where the moon shone through. Not a single candle was here, nor anything else.

“Home?” I asked, listening to the waves crash outside that were silent before. 

“Just a place without them,” he replied, watching me looking to where the moon shone. “You were overwhelmed by the voices below. I thought you’d wish to be somewhere quiet.”

My eyes looked to his shadowed face. “You’re very considerate. Does it bother you? How much people fear you?”

The reaper shrugged and turned, moving to sit on a rocky outcropping. Behind him, a few cold wax puddles sat, remains of candles that once were lit. “Rarely. Although I would be lying if I said never. Their mortality makes them eager to live. I do my best… to comfort them through this transition.”

I walked to him and sat beside him, nodding to the wax. “Family?”

“Ah,” he mused. “You’ve heard the stories.”

My fingers moved to gently touch his hand, stroking the bones softly as he watched. “Thank you,” he said softly. “It has been an eternity since someone has touched me with kindness and not fear… or hatred.”

I smiled and moved my hands to the hood of his cloak. “May I?”

The skeletal hands rose to touch my own. “I am not a person. Beneath this isn’t… human. I am Death, personified. My name is different to every human. As is my appearance. But you are not of a people and have no ties, so I cannot say what you will see. It may be nothing at all.”

My head shook. “I will see you, I hope.”

His hands moved with mine, pulling the cloak’s hood off to rest on his shoulders. There was no face beneath and yet many faces, features changing and morphing rapidly between different visages. I watched as there was nothing but bones, yet sometimes the face of an aged woman, other times that of a god, and still sometimes an animal I couldn’t place.

“Well, do you see me?” he smiled, almost coyly.

“I think I do.” I touched his cheek, caressing skin that changed beneath my touch. It faded away to a skeletal jaw and exposed teeth, then reformed with skin and then with scales. I smiled at the shifting enigma beside me. 

His eyes slid closed and he leaned into my hand. I smiled again. “There you are.”

The eyes opened and he looked up to me. “I am not threatening or harming anyone, guardian. Why here? Why now?”

“You mean why you?”

The reaper nodded.

“Because I wanted you to know that I see the work you do, how much you care, how you give yourself to this life… and forget yourself in it. I go to those who need me, not those threatening people.”

He looked at me in quiet regard. “Your purpose.”

I nodded. 

His lips met mine in soft curiosity, tender and gentle. My lips touched his, then teeth and bone, and back to flesh. A tongue tasted mine and then vanished yete was still present. I shifted, climbing atop his lap and deepening our kiss.

Soft sounds of delight escaped him as I straddled him, mouth teasing a trail down his jawline, over the bone of his mandible and to his neck, sometimes kissing skin and other times just dry bones. He rocked beneath me, hands sliding up my back to press me against him.

I moved my hands down to my dress, hiking it up to my hips as we kissed. I pulled back, looking at his face, all bone and empty eye sockets as he shivered. “You don’t have to do this, guardian.”

“Do you want to?” I paused, leaning back to look at him. “This is only if you want it,” I murmured.

The reaper looked at me, a hint of fear and hesitation. “I could kill you, the wrong movement, or gesture. A moment of carelessness.”

“Remember my lack of candle?” I asked.

He laughed. “I am death, guardian. With a thought, I could give you a candle and snuff it out without meaning to.”

“You won’t, but if you do, that’s fine.”

“You aren’t afraid?”

“Not at all,” I replied. “But, more importantly, do you want this?”

He looked at me again, then grabbed my hips and shifted, laying back on the stone so my knees rested on the ground. Skeletal hands pulled his robe up and off, body naked beneath me, all bones and joints exposed. 

“Show me what the humans feel that I can never,” he finally whispered to me. “Please.”

I leaned over him, kissing his mouth again, tongue playing against the teeth and down over the jaw. He gasped and moaned at every touch, bony fingers digging into my hips as I kissed down his chest, sucking on the ribs as I moved further down. 

My tongue explored the curvature of his hips, fingers caressing ribs and sternum, playing over the manubrium and xiphoid process. I lapped at the pubic symphysis and let my mouth wander up to the spines of his pelvis, circling each with my tongue as the skeleton moaned and bucked beneath me, fingers grabbing my hair and entangling them in his bones.

He gasped without breathing, pulling on the tendrils of my hair as I sucked on the head of one femur, fingers stroking along the length of the other as my mouth explored ever lower. Teeth gently nipped at one patella and then another before teasing the gap between the tibia and fibula. The reaper shuddered as I licked the tiny phalanges of his feet and then shifted to work my way back up.

There was an audible shudder as my mouth returned to his pelvis, playing over the sensitive periosteum with a dancing tongue. He cried out, bucking up against me, bone pressing against my mouth. I moved forward, licking a trail up his sternum to return to his mouth where his teeth opened to greet me.

Our kiss was teeth and tongue, wild and hungry as I straddled him, grinding against his bones with my body. His hands explored, bones caressing and pinching lightly, touching what he had never touched before. I pulled one hand to my face and sucked on a phalange as he moaned and writhed.

The reaper pulled me back to his mouth and moaned into our kiss as my hands continued to caress and stroke him, finding new ways to drive him ever onward. A great cry escaped his lips as he writhed and bucked, twitching beneath me as my hands moved faster and faster.

His hands caught mine, holding me still as he lay, bones shivering and clattering together faintly. Finally, he sighed and relaxed, lying beneath me with a sense of contentment. “Thank-”

“Was that what you wanted?”

His head nodded then shook. “It was nothing like I thought and was everything all at the same time.”

I shifted to let him sit beside me. Fingers interlaced with mine. I looked into the empty eyes and gave a small smile. “You can always find me if you want company. I can’t imagine how lonely you are.”

The reaper shifted and brushed my knuckles against his teeth where lips would be. “And I, you. I have seen your life, you are just as alone.”

We watched each other, a quiet understanding passing between us. The sound of waves grew louder and I turned, looking behind me to the cave entrance. A few candles flickered, the stories echoing in the entrance. 

My hand felt suddenly empty as I looked back to where he had been. A small smile tugged on my lips as I turned, walking out of the cave. A hundred thousand voices echoed up from the cave before abruptly sound ended and I sighed in silence, alone once more.