I saw your blood pour down into the abyss, it danced like a river of abundance. I saw them opening their jaws, drinking it like water of vitality. I saw them leap for joy as they bathed in your crimson rain. You laid there beside me, pale and cobalt.

You lay so free, you lay so pure. I touched your skin and my fingertips froze, your soul had fled. I felt sorrow, I felt pain. That night I died with you,

I stuck the knife to feel your suffering, I stuck it deep without any shame. My eyes fogged as my final exhale misted the black air.
This was sanctity.

~🩸~

I found it,

seemingly rummaging through a bush of succulent red berries on the edge of the expansive lake. If I was to fight it, I was to fight it now, before I lost a single ounce more of my strength. The fires of revenge lit in my heart again at the sight of the wraith, they would keep me moving — even if the cold was trying hard to turn my bones to ice.

My desire to slay the beast was all my mind's eye was fixated on; that, and getting to the juicy berries on the bush behind it. We farmed these berries all the time. They grew on the slopes of the mountains just outside the village in abundance, although most were unreachable up the side of great, snow-covered clefts. They were delicious and hearty. They'd keep me going a little longer. With my heart pounding and my palms sweating despite the bitter, bitter cold,

I drew my sword with a clatter of steel. Ready to attack

The wraith spun around in a smooth, gliding motion, its glowing blue eyes immediately found me. They were empty, soulless; without any humanity or emotion. They just glowed a hollow glow. Its eyes were set inside a narrow, elongated and pointed skull, grey and bare. A skull more like an ox's than a man's.

From the skull grew a spine, of large bones as big as a fist that slowly trailed off into smaller pieces, until one, pointed bone hung about a foot from a ground. Just below its head, two arms sprang seemingly from nowhere. Attached not to shoulder blades nor its spine. To the arms were fixed giant claws, each longer than my forearms, thin, curved and sharp.

There was no muscle, flesh or skin on the wraith. Nothing holding its bones together but a thick fog of glowing blue dust that clung to its form. Legend has it that a stroke of a sword through the spine would severe the magic that bound this ancient monster together, and the wraith would simply crumble.

I was about to find out if that were true.

As it approached, the beast's gaze bore into me. It moved slowly, seemingly cautious. Stopping and starting, edging closer. I gripped my sword with both hands, raised it as steady as I could and prepared to swing. But about ten feet away, the wraith stopped. It let out a hollow snort. Again, the noise was metallic, an unusual sound for a living creature to make. To my surprise, it didn't charge, leap or race towards me, slashing its talons.

The wraith simply turned and started to glide away. Ignoring my presence, my stance, my willingness to fight. It was just leaving. I was frozen, not by the cold, but by disbelief. Where was it going? Why wasn't it trying to tear me apart? My confusion turned to anger. Did it think it could just kill my father and get away with it? Did it think I would just let it float away?

"No!' I screamed, my voice echoing across expanse before me.

It didn't even turn around. It just kept moving towards another patch of berries nearby. I'd had enough. I started to run. The snow thinned by the lake's edge, allowing swifter movement. I held my sword high.

I was going to kill it. I was going to take my revenge. One slice, across its back. It was too easy. But I was going to do it. For my Father. For my companions. For th...

My foot caught the lip of a concealed rock beneath the snow and I tumbled forward, sword flung from my hands. I landed face down in the snow, and my strength evaporated in that moment. My body was so battered, so achy, so cold that it hurt. I couldn't bring myself to rise. I could just lay here and die.

I steeled what little resolve I had and rolled over to face the sky. Above me I saw blue, but I wasn't the soft blue of a clear sky. It was darker, and shimmered in the sunlight. The wraith was above me, its long, gangly, claw-ridden arms either side of my head. It gazed down, arching its spine, peering at me. I prepared myself for the end.

Yet again, the wraith shocked me.

After a moment of curiosity, it moved on, far more interested in the berries than me. Hauling myself to my feet, I grasped at my sword on the ground beside me, dug it into the ice and used it to prop myself up as I stood panting, watching the ancient being.

I didn't understand. The wraith leaned over the bush, using its claws to cut away thicker branches and dead foliage. Taking a long, jagged breath, it made a sound like howling wind blasting through a cave.

How it breathed without lungs I'll never know, but it seemed to do so all the same. The bush rustled as the wraith inhaled, and began to wither, the berries turning from a cherry-red to mouldy black. Their plump and juicy shape sagging and oozing.

The wraith moved on to yet another bush. There were plenty in this exposed part of the mountains.

~🩸~