A dark fairy tale about traps, lures and falling for shadows.
When you see an eldritch dark horror made of shadows by the side of an old cursed trail that no one dares to go, you expect it to be less charming as it tries to trick you with deceitful...
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Art by James Fenner (@JMFenner91 on Twitter)
There was no other way, so I pulled the knife off me in one swift move.
Blood gushed and spilled out of my chest like an open fountain. I tossed the knife quickly aside and the boy was already running my way, ready to tackle me. Before he could get me, I rolled on the grass, towards the forest.
Towards the shadows. To Erebus. To the fate I had chosen.
I rolled one time, two times, and then I felt him catching me in his arms.
I glanced up at him, eyes filled with awe and blood pulsing out of my heart as he held me. He smiled softly at me and trailed an ink-dipped black talon along the side of my face, running it down the line of my jaw in a caressing manner. He continued trailing it down my neck, then to my collarbone until he reached the wound in my chest.
I tried to cry in pain, but no sound came out of my mouth, only blood sputtered out. Erebus paid no heed to my anguished gurgling sob, there was only a determined look on his face as he sunk his talons deep into my wound. A cold sensation sipped inside me, spreading into my chest and then, my whole body; turning searing pain into blissful numbness, and all the fear and pain I was feeling slowly ebbed away.
I let out a sigh of relief and only then I realized that I couldn't hear the boy's enraged screams or feel the howling wind anymore, there was only blissful silence wrapped around me now, peaceful and cozy like a warm, safe cocoon. The leaves and flowers had frozen in mid-air, as if time had been suspended for a moment, holding its breath, watching over us.
Erebus gazed down at me, lips inviting and soft looking. His beautiful ethereal face flickered in and out of sight. He vanished for a second and the butterfly-wing monster was back in his place, a dozen small attentive eyes staring down in unison at me.
'I am here.' he murmured inside my head, his voice gentle like the rustle of butterfly wings close to the ears and calming like a soothing balm washing over you. I reached out and cupped his chin with my trembling and blood-covered hand, smearing red all over his pale skin.
'This is me.' he told me as he leaned over and drew his winged face closer, moving ever so gently, like a flutter of butterflies would. I smiled at him, tracing my fingers lightly from his chin to his lips.
'Are you not afraid?' he asked without voicing the words, plump lips slightly open, inviting and offering, nearing closer to mine.
"I'm afraid of dying. Not of you." I told him in a frail murmur. "Never of you."
One by one, he closed all of his glinting eyes. The dark of his butterfly wings merged with the dark surrounding us, and he vanished from sight. All I could see was the gray of his lips getting closer and closer until they touched mine.
