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So there was once a very secluded sect, a group that feared death above all else. They searched all across the world for ways to stave off its clutches and to postpone the inevitable. They chased myths and legends of artifacts that made the bearer immortal. All to no avail. As part of their teachings, the oldest and wisest of the sect would perform rigorous tests upon their disciples, to test their mettle in facing death. To see if will alone could sustain a spirit and prevent the life from leaving the body. To outsiders, it looked as if they were systematically killing them. Disciples, mostly boys who ranged in ages as little as 5 and as old as 20, faced off with many beasts, poisons and extreme weather conditions. They were tested, again and again, to see if they could conquer death. And yet, through all their efforts, they continued to fail.

Their leader was getting desperate, having gone to great lengths and promised his followers much in the hopes that their diligence would one day unlock the secrets to being free of their mortality. He truly believed that one day, their following would rise above their mortal coil and become beacons for their kind, rising to another plain of consciousness and wisdom.

One night, he was visited by an unlikely source who promised the answer to their questions. It was after the daily burning, where the sect had finished their ritual cremation of the dead that had finished or failed to face and rise above death. The leader was alone in his quarters preparing the scrolls that would send out more relic search parties.

"Why do you fear death so much?" a voice purred from the shadows. At first the leader jumped, his hands reaching for a candle to light the room.

"Life is a gift, one too precious to waste. Why should we let death take it from us? There is something that it does not want us to know. Something that would make us more powerful than anything else in the universe," he replied.

The voice chuckled as its owner steps forward. A woman, naked and scaled in emerald and pearl faced the man who trembled in both lust and fear at the sight. She was a demon, of that he had no doubt. One of the many temptresses that sought to stray them from their path to the truth. Be it through treachery, or guile, they would seek to destroy all of the covenant.

"Away with you beast, this is no place for you to be skulking about."

"Oh, but it is. I've come with a proposition for you," she purred again as she took slow purposeful steps around the room, like a tiger circling its prey.

"There is no business that I will do with you," he stated firmly, but his hand holding the flame shivered and he did his best to not stare.

"Oh, but I have a feeling you will. See, I've been watching your little blood factory here and I find it interesting that you haven't found what you're looking for yet, after all of that effort. It's just keeps staying just out of reach, doesn't it?" The demon continued moving, running her fingers along the lace curtains, the bookcases and the desk that occupied the space.

Watching him watching her, the demon smiled a wicked smile and stepped towards the man, her hips swaying so seductively. Staying just out of reach, she puts one hand on her hip and poses to amply show off her curves.

"I can tell by your lack of words that I'm right. So here's the plan. I'll tell you how to beat death. I'll show you what lays beyond the veil. What's at the end of the tunnel with the bright light. The secret that will allow your kind to outsmart the ages and stay out of deaths clutches for all time. I can free you of your fear."

The man swallowed visibly.

"And there's only one thing that I ask for in return. Something that I think will be an easy trade off considering what I offer."

A child.

The deal was deliberated in secret later, but little did anyone know, it had already been made. The demon promised that she would show all in their sect the truth of death and allow all to bear witness to it at the birth of her child. She claimed it was only right, that a new life be brought forth when death was brought to kneel.

No one saw the demon until that day. But the time in between allowed for much word to spread and many fears to raise their heads. It was an abomination to lay with such a beast, and those who knew of it hated the man for being so weak. Yet, despite that they did not kill him, knowing that this may be their only real chance to learn. In that regard they admired his will, and were jealous of his favor.

On the flip side, whereas it was an poor taste and a sign of stupidity on behalf of the human, the demon was seen as both a traitor and degenerate. She was powerful among her kin, but as whispers of her deed drifted, others wondered just what sort of game she was playing at. Demons and humans did not make good bed mates. It wasn't until it was almost too late, that they realized the real agenda.

The sect had gathered, the largest gathering since its creation. The elders devoted themselves to prayers and study while the disciples cared for the decrepit and crippled.

"Today we will shed ourselves of the mortal bindings. No longer will we bend when time says to break. When the reaper comes to our door, we will not be bound to let him in. If we go, it will be our doing."

"If I go, be it by my hand. My time. I will decide. And I alone will decide if to stay. My death is not my end, only my door." The sect chanted in return.

The man who lay with the demon walked in front of the gathering like a preacher doing a sermon, speaking irreverently, spouting the wisdom and the knowledge and the pledges they had developed and gleaned over the years. All they knew that they taught to the disciples in preparation for their trials. So little. So little, but it drove them onward to test their limits and see just how close they could come to the edge without leaping into the abyss.

The she demon appeared above them out of sight. Her belly was swollen and glistening from the many candles reflecting her scales. She had tried to hide away til the last moment, but she knew that her bretherin were onto her. Not that it mattered, for if she succeeded then there would be nothing anyone could do to undo it.

At the moment she could wait no longer, she dove from above, massive wings spreading above the masses heads. In one lunging motion she made to swing her spear-like tail around and impale the man. However, before she could connect the fatal blow, several demons appeared and tackled her back to the ground between the isles. Shocked and surprised, the people sprang to life to fight the demons, but their sheer size and ferocity kept them back.

The she demon shrieked but could no longer keep the child within her and let the welp fall from her womb as she fought off the demons that attempted to haul her from the hall. They fought bodily until finally the she demon was forced from the hall. She managed to kill off her attackers, but at great cost. Limping down a soft sandstone hallway, she looked out to a soft green quart yard.

Several disciples walk up and around her, but she barely notices them.

"Why did you want to kill him?" a young dark skinned girl in orange robes asked.

"There's only one way to truly cheat death. It's to face it," she responded, eyes still straying unfocused.

"Are you looking for your baby? He's here," the girl replies, holding out a bundle of white clothe. Inside a beautiful baby boy coed softly.

"He's no good. No good. Had to have death touch him before he could live. Take him," she ranted breathlessly. Then she looked down at herself as if just realizing that she was outside. A puddle of blood was trailing behind her.

As she collapsed to her knees, the young girl handed the babe to another before kneeling in front of her.

"Please tell me the secret that you meant to tell us."

At first it seemed as if the demon wasn't going to tell. She laughed cruelly, but then it turned pitiful and ended in a whine. Tears rolled down her scaled cheeks as she looked to the girl with a final flame of interest.

"To beat death, you must first give him what he wants, then take it back again. Rebirth is something beyond the fabric of time and the balance of life and death." Having told her secret, the demon then died.

With this new knowledge a few things have changed at the temple. No longer are relics and artifacts a thing worth collecting and dissecting. And many now have found their way to true life without the fear of death on their shoulder. Indeed many have become masters at escaping the reapers grasp.

Their methods, however are still considered extreme and very few new members are ever allowed to join. The disciples can be seen throughout the temple meditating, distinct by their shortly kept hair and their bright orange robes. And in the afternoon they gather at the fountains that stream from the side of the temple and down the mountain. They go in pairs, some with rigs and some without. Some are dangled, some are strapped, and some are held. One of the pair will in some way be forced under the water. And they are not to be taken out until they have been declared by their partner.

They all die in the water. Some come back. But not all. Not all.