Those Whom Dream of Mortality

Cold, everything felt so cold; especially his body and the blood that flowed through him. Already her corpse he had drained was congealed, and the skin turned pale.

He collapsed into a kneeling position beside the corpse; long black hair spilled out over his bare shoulder. His golden eyes gazed into those lifeless pools of sapphire. His cold, slender fingers traced up her cold face towards those blue eyes. Those two fingers slowly closed the lids of those vacant eyes for all eternity. They would never open again, and all because he had needed her blood. He had felt so thirsty for it. She had willing went into his arms. She had willing given him everything that she had; her heart, her soul and even her body. And he had taken everything. He hated himself for that. He had acted; but in truth it was what she sought. Only those seeking death ever found their way to his kind.

He had felt the other's approach even before hearing it. Greir stood up from kneeling at the corpse's side. He turned towards the solitary, dead cherry tree as he heard the sound of flapping wings. Greir's golden eyes gazed into the golden eyes of the raven resting on the branch of the cherry tree.

The raven's voice spoke harshly into Greir's mind, "You touch far too easily, Greir. In time you shall learn to accept what we are. Perhaps you will even find your....."

Greir snapped, "Shut up! You wouldn't understand, Munin! You were never human."

The raven swooped down from his perch. He grew larger as he came at Greir, his long, black, scaled feathers flowing out behind the bird into a mantle. A loud cawing shriek escaped Munin's lips as he came at Greir. The cloak of black, scaled feathers wrapped protectively around Greir's barely clothed body. Munin's body transformed into that of a human; only his body was sleekly built and gray skin toned, with long tapered ears that ended in sharp points. He felt that hard, cold, nude body of Munin's pressed up against his own backside.

Munin whispered into Greir's own sharp ears, "Have you forgotten that this life was your own choice?"

He scowled as he felt it. Munin was using his powers to force him to remember again. He hated this memory. It cut so deeply into his old wounds. He felt them appearing on his body. The blood dripped all over both Munin and himself. He didn't want to remember. But it came rushing back up on him against his wishes; the memories of his mortality, the memories that he had Munin seal away from him so he could bare his existence a little easier.

Tears flowed down the sixteen year old boy's face. It mingled with the blood dripping from his bruised hands and legs. He couldn't walk. He didn't understand what had happened. It had all happened so fast. It felt sticky beneath his little body. He looked towards the damaged car. He felt his whole body filled with pain now. And he didn't understand why he couldn't move.
He felt something land upon his chest.

The adolescent struggled to lift up his head. His smashed face looked into those golden eyes. The beak of a blackbird cawed at him. It was odd. He heard it speak into him through some strange form of telepathy.

"You have come here seeking death. Do you think if you die that you will be taken to them? Is that why you jumped out in front of that car. You don't even remember, do you?"

It was a struggle to speak, "No. I...don't want...to die. It's so cold and hurts."

"I can grant you immortality if you wish it, but to gain it you will have to leave behind this world."
"Without them....this world is already...dead to me." The youth had replied to the raven sitting on his torn open chest.
The black bird spoke again, "Think carefully and quickly. Already your soul is ready to enter into the Nether Worlds. Do you desire to leave this world behind and become immortal?"

The memory slide away as his mouth voicelessly worded 'yes'.

He pushed Munin away from himself, "Stop it! I hate when you do that! It's my only memory of my mortality; my death. You have no right to do this to me."

Munin's hands cupped his chin, and then stroke him hard across the face. He felt the stinging mark still upon his face as the harsh words came from the raven demon, "You are mine, Greir. I gave you new life. I shall play with you and love you as I desire. Your life belongs to me and me alone. Remember that."

Greir told him sternly, "I hate you. Stay away from me."

Greir shivered as he felt those cold hands upon his own icy flesh. Despite the youth of Munin's body those ancient golden eyes filled with wisdom and age beyond his youth always gave Greir a chill worse then the cold he felt about himself. Munin's hand held him so that the two looked deeply into each other eyes. He saw the antiquity of eternity in those golden eyes of Munin, and wisdom and knowledge that Greir didn't think he'd ever understand.

Munin's words were soft as he spoke now, "Still you cling to such sorrows. The emotion is strong so it draws them to you whether you require nourishment or not. It is not my fault that woman died tonight. It is your own. I told you before that you must throw away the death. You cannot allow it to seep into your body. It will drive you mad."

Greir was caught in those words and in a trance from them. He let the other do it. Those soft, freezing lips pressed against his own. There was a spark for a moment. For only a brief moment he felt alive again. The hands on the sides of his face holding him close. Greir couldn't stand to look into those ageless eyes while he kissed Munin. He moaned softly as he felt that tongue enter into his mouth; exploring over each part of his inside.

Munin pulled back then. He smiled darkly. "Perhaps I shouldn't let you out of your cage. It gives you to much time to brood." Munin rubbed his brow against Greir's as he said those last words; his hands still holding onto the sides of Greir's face.

Greir pulled the hands from the sides of his face, "I like my freedom."

Munin replied, "I have already clipped your wings to make your new life bearable. The last thing I can do for you is to put you in a cage, and keep you only for myself; only allowing you to only feed from those that I bring back with me from my own travel.”

Greir replied. "You should've let me die. I didn't understand at the time."

Munin snapped growing bored with this, "You think I had a choice! I was born this way. And you say you'd rather die. You had that choice I never had before you long ago. You choose your path, so stifle your pathetic whining. I have had no one until you came along. And always you speak of dying. For two decades I have had to listen to your whining. It no longer amuses me. This sorrow will drag us both down into oblivion."

Grier smiled at him, "Perhaps that's where we belong."

Munin slapped him harder this time, "Wake up. You are what you are. Learn to live with it. You have an eternity to learn."

Cold, almost frozen like blood dripped down the wound on his cheek from Munin's strike. Munin moved forward; towards Greir. His tongue licked up the blood. The wound soon closed in on itself as though it had never been. Pain was something that Greir rarely experienced. Only the pain of sorrow, and longing for death filled him. He felt empty inside. His only memories were those that Munin allowed him.

He walked away from Greir, and sat beneath the dead cherry tree. Munin's gaze looked towards the ground. He looked so tired to Greir. He wondered where he had gone. He had left him for a year to wander alone through the streets. He had killed over thousand people with the absence of his creator. They had been drawn to him. He wondered if they had been drawn to him by what Munin had said earlier. He doubted it. They were in pain so they sought the beings that released pain; the Sidhe.

The young Sidhe walked over to Munin, and knelt beside his elder. He looked at that downcast, worn face. It was a face that had seen death countless times and still lived; a face that feed from the death of others to continue living.