Well, it had felt like the edge of the world. The plateau was amazingly high, and after his old alpha Hephaestus had pushed him over the edge, he thought his world was about to end, and Krishna's foul prophecy had come to life.
But no, he was a god, and such a thing could not kill him. His great strength had kept him alive when mere mortals would have perished after striking the massive oak that had cradled his battered body for 3 days.
And then she had appeared, sitting below the tree, watching as his blood dripped slowly to soak into the earth with such an intent stare that it made him shudder painfully.
The female had been the most unnerving of the three sisters, even more so than the one that had predicted his fall from grace. Her fangs were immensely long, wicked points and he was sure the wound bleeding now into the ground had been inflicted by those massive canines.
Lachesis, he remembered her sisters' calling out to her in battle, had watched him for another day as he grew weaker from pain, thirst, and hunger. She had never once moved, nor slept. He doubted she had even blinked, and at one point he had questioned his sanity. Eventually, his fitful slumber had turned into a blackness so profound, it could never be sleep.
And her unblinking eyes were the last thing he had seen . . .
When he'd woken again, the ground was sun warmed beneath him, his body protesting any movement he made. Being stuck in a tree for 4 days had cramped his limbs and he was as week as a newborn. His crusted eyes had fallen upon a small trench in the ground, filled with seepage water. It was then that the constant roaring in his ears had made sense to him: the river plummeted over the plateau and the waterfall it created roared out of his eyesight.
There had been no sign of the female . . .
Now he wandered, his body mending itself slowly, painfully, and every day he felt a presence behind him. He knew he was being followed, but could never catch sight of his stalker. Thanatos wondered if hunter had become the hunted . . .
A few squirrels and unwary rabbits met their end in his powerful jaws, and that was the only reason he still walked. Resilient until the end, Death refused to die.
After all . . . he was a god.
She watched him, constantly on his heels though he was too weak to catch sight of her. Lachesis, a clever femme, always kept downwind, never let her paws stray over betraying twigs or leaves.
The words of her sister danced in her head, unheeded, but remembered, and she thought back on them again for the dozenth time as she followed the broken alpha of a pack that had nearly destroyed her sisters and the unaware pack dragged into the foray.
Lachi! Don't go, please. Please listen to Clotho. She can see! She knows what will happen if you follow him! Atropos had pleaded, even going so far as to set her teeth to Lachesis' gray fur in an attempt to drag her back.
Clotho, silent, unspeaking Clotho, had looked terrified after spilling the words dooming her sister's future. The surprise of Clotho speaking at all barely showed on Lachesis' face.
Silence, Atro. Her words do not scare me. They never have. That male...interests me... After that, she had bid them farewell and snuck away into the night.
And now she followed him. The pain he suffered sated some twisted part of her inherited from her mother, and the game of playing stalker made her feel alive.
But soon, the game would end and a new one would begin...
-o-o-o-o-o-
Thanatos awoke with a start, not remembering falling asleep in the first place. But for the first time in uncountable days, even weeks for all he knew, the pain of his head was gone and a relieved sigh gusted from him. His limbs had healed, his bod slowly growing stronger, but still so very weak.
And for the first time, he remembered his brother. Remembered that Hypnos wasn't here, and Thanatos couldn't recall his last memory of seeing his brother. Sometime during the fight, but . . . he could recall little of that night.
Had that part of the prophecy come true? Had Hypnos underhandedly betrayed him? Purposefully held back in the fight to watch him disappear over the edge?
Thanatos hated the unease that ripped through him, the doubts. He loved his brother, deep down. And yet, he couldn't help but remember the power of deception all creature's maintained.
A snap of a twig had him jerking from the ground, wary. He flicked an ear, knowing it had come from behind him.
So his stalker was toying with him . . . He knew it to be true, because never before had the presence made a sound. Never. The crack of the wood had been deliberate, and he cautiously sniffed the air, doubting he'd sense anything.
A flash of gray out of the corner of his eye had him whirling, but it was too fast, always keeping out of his sight, spinning him in circles as he fought to catch it.
Suddenly dizzy, he berated himself for falling for the game and stopped, tongue lolling in a light pant.
"I will only play this game a short time more, my little stalker. Best to come out now, and we can play another," he growled, sitting on his haunches to daintily lick his paw with an unworried mien.
Lachesis' maw curled into a smile, her eyes flickering in the early morning sun. The self-proclaimed god was a clever one, and she felt her heart beat faster in anticipation for the possibilities to come, remembering Clotho's words.
"Mmm, but I so enjoy this game, little prey. It is like...playing with Death," she murmured as she stalked from the shadows to his right, her entire body languid and her slow movements full of meaning.
His bi-colored eyes flickered open, the skull-clad half of his face covered in dark shadow as he watched her circle him, her lithe gray form screaming predator as her eyes glinted with malice.
Never had a female toyed with him before like this, and it sent a zing of adrenaline through him. "Did your mother never tell you that Death is not something to toy with? It usually gets you killed."
She let out a biting laugh, bitterness tinging her liquid voice. "My mother wanted me as a slave. The only thing she taught me was to listen to the voices in my little head," she said, laughter edging her words as she continued to circle him, her eyes on his back now. Keeping his back to her was either a show of his arrogance, or his stupidity, but either way, she tensed, readying to spring.
Thanatos followed her with his ears, listening to the sound of her paws touching so lightly to the ground, many would never have heard her. But she was close, and intent on sinking her teeth into him.
Whirling he met her as she lunged, rearing up and colliding with the swift female. Tumbling to the ground, they fought, biting and snapping at one another, tearing at each others fur with vicious snarls that sent roosting birds into flight. Blood flew as her fangs slashed his shoulder, his teeth ripping at her ear, claws digging into flesh . . .
And then suddenly, 10 feet separated them, and he stood stiff legged, panting as his still present weakness made itself apparent.
"The best of us hear voices in our heads, my little stalker. It is power speaking to us, reminding us that we are above the rest of this world and all that live in it."
Blood dripped into her eye from her ravaged ear, but she ignored it, letting out an almost purring laugh as she listened to him.
"You are even more delusional than my mother. A god? You think divinity sings through your veins? That you have any more power than the rest of us pond scum?" she let out a short howl of a laugh. "HA! You are a fool so wrapped up in yourself, the world could end and you'd never see it. Blind to the truth of things."
Thanatos stiffened, his hackles raising. A silent snarl curled his lips over his gleaming, blood soaked fangs. How dare she question his godhood. How dare she call him a fool!
"I grow weary of your child's game!" he snarled, stamping his foot into the dirt.
Sauntering forward, she watched his cool, arrogant expression alter with each word she spoke, listened to his outburst, and she knew she had him. "You . . . " she said, coming close, hearing his breathing grow fitful in anger. "You are nothing. Nothing but a crazy wolf like me," she whispered into his ear, before tearing into his throat.
Roaring in anger and pain, Thanatos pulled away from her before she could do much damage, the thick ruff of fur around his neck saving his life. Ramming his shoulder into hers, his larger size sent her back, but she was like a demon, ripping and tearing at him with those razor sharp saber fangs an instant later.
And then she was gone. Surprise had him stumbling, and he caught sight of her tailtip as it vanished into the trees, her laugh echoing around him as the little lacerations she gave him dripped his blood to the ground.
Just like that, she had manipulated him back into her game. And just like that, she had ended it, and begun another.
Snarling at the foolishness he obviously harbored, Thanatos gave chase.
FIN
