My Old Fiend

I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation; and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light: And they did live by watchfires—and the thrones, The palaces of crowned kings—the huts, The habitations of all things which dwell, Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd, And men were gather'd round their blazing homes To look once more into each other's face; Happy were those who dwelt within the eye Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch: A fearful hope was all the world contain'd; Forests were set on fire—but hour by hour They fell and faded—and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash—and all was black. The brows of men by the despairing light Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits The flashes fell upon them; some lay down And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smil'd; And others hurried to and fro, and fed Their funeral piles with fuel, and look'd up With mad disquietude on the dull sky, The pall of a past world; and then again With curses cast them down upon the dust, And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd And, terrified, did flutter on the ground, And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd And twin'd themselves among the multitude, Hissing, but stingless—they were slain for food. And War, which for a moment was no more, Did glut himself again: a meal was bought With blood, and each sate sullenly apart Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left; All earth was but one thought—and that was death Immediate and inglorious; and the pang Of famine fed upon all entrails—men Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh; The meagre by the meagre were devour'd, Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one, And he was faithful to a corse, and kept The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay, Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead Lur'd their lank jaws; himself sought out no food, But with a piteous and perpetual moan, And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand Which answer'd not with a caress—he died. The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies: they met beside The dying embers of an altar-place Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things For an unholy usage; they rak'd up, And shivering scrap'd with their cold skeleton hands The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame Which was a mockery; then they lifted up Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects—saw, and shriek'd, and died— Even of their mutual hideousness they died, Unknowing who he was upon whose brow Famine had written Fiend. The world was void, The populous and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless— A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still, And nothing stirr'd within their silent depths; Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea, And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropp'd They slept on the abyss without a surge— The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, The moon, their mistress, had expir'd before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air, And the clouds perish'd;
Darkness had no need Of aid from them
—She was the Universe.

Darkness LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)

Said the Darkness

Said the darkness to the light
as she waved him aside
You are too hot on this arid day
Go ... go find some place to hide
and the little flame waivered
and crept further from sight

Said the darkness to the light
as she sheilded her eyes
Dim or extinguish,
Your brightness, I dispise
and the little torch flickered
and faded into the night

Said the darkness to the shadow
I'm cold and oh so lonely
She grabbed a smoke and looked around
I'd offer you a toke if only
I could find a light

Cinder and Ash

I don't think I've lost my faith in humanity. I don't think I'd ever invested in it. I am removed from it, perhaps in the splicing of DNA, perhaps along the path to this moment. It may have been the precise moment it was explained to me that I am not human or not considered worthy to be by the members of such a prestigious club.
I watch them in their busy world, with their busy all importances as if watching flies gather on fetid meat. They buzz. They swarm. All without knowing the reason for their existance though always seeking validation in it.
I watch them with gelid reticence and coat them with a hoary ambiguosity.
No poking, prodding or even shaking will stir the components together as a mix of emotion for them.
Thus far not one have I found worthy.
I hear the cries and feel nothing. I am removed from it.

Trophies

I thought I had seen him here in the sullied streets. I know that it could not be but still I'd called to him. I wanted it to be. Everything felt ... real. Something had broken through the impassiveness ...


The bulbous eye visable even from that distance, swollen with the festering of imflammation only superficial as was the writing on his skin.There was something in the avian mannerisms that was familiar. Then there were the symbols, the marks of the Island, the signature of our creator. He wore them as if boasting our beginnings. All that I've kept hidden per the training,

written,

there

for all to see.

I want to carve it from him as a trophy, wear it as my own skin
but if ...

no, I can not allow myself to believe.

If he is not, then was he still kindred? Had he been crafted too in the likeness of our maker? Is he another of Racselis biological warfare?

Or is he the ... next?

I touched my cheek and wiped away a dampness, a brine that has never been mine before. I am not capable of remorse ... I am not ... I am not ...

not ... ( tic) not ... (tic) not

why now

is there moisture on my face,

seeping from my eyes.

Vertigo struck and the world spun in on itself. Bile rose in my throat and my stomach though empty continued to heave until the world went black again.

Lullabies

He came to me, in the variances of lights and darkness. I could hear him crying. I watched as his mouth opened in a scream so deafening that it rent my heart in two. I was reaching for him, reaching out to pull him to me. To hold him once again. To protect him from the monsters that lived in his dreams. My Septus. The ache for him pierced through the icy taloned fingers that held me suspended in nothingness.

A flood of memories raced havok between a long ago and my now. Much my own twin he could have been, not in physical attributes but of mind. The genetic spiralling doubled then split in half. He was a tortured creature, wrenched by the gruesome derivations created within us that only the songs of our sister could soothe. When they silenced her, he could no longer be contained. The keys no longer worked. They took him from me and the tear stained eyes blood red became etched on my own.

I would find a small gift tucked beneath my pillow. Loving signs that he had escaped. An ear, a finger, a sliver of a spleen. Sweet treasures. Then they stopped. They stopped long before I left Acresius.

In my dream, I could hearing him screaming and I reached for him.


Hush little seven don't say a word ...
Sister's going to find you ...


I woke in the darkness unsure of where I was.

I dare not dream ... I dare not dream

I dare not dream sam I am I dare not Dream at all

I'm too afraid of all I see I'm too afraid I'll fall

I saw you dark against a backdrop red

I saw you standing in the midst of the neverliving

There in the alley of the dead

I held you tight I held you true

and whispered in your ear

I dare not dream my little sweet

For when I have awakened

I fear that all I dreamed I will find I am mistaken

and had you for dinner as my treat

There was one more

I felt as if my veins were on fire, the throb behind my eyes pulsing my sight in shades of red. The sleeper was awake and still hungry. There was one more.

I found a writhing slave to send on the errand. She would know who to look for, she had served him before. Her masochistic need would throw her at his feet begging to be allowed to please him this time. I'd given her the anedote. She would tell him his slave had been taken and where.

Finding a darkened spot within the alley of a different district, I waited.
He came alone.

I knew he would.

The anger dissipated from his face when I stepped from the shadows. Relief flooding the squared features as he fell to his knees. The embrace of my waist was almost touching. Tenderly brushing his dark hair from his temple as he buried his face in my belly, I looked down at the man who had been my cruel keeper. Clutching his hair tight, it was a quick wrench of my hands until I heard the crunching snap. It amused me that I'd had enough strength. My thumb held against the side of his throat, counting the fading pulse until I realized it was my own that I felt and nothing more.

My timing had been precise, it was payday and his pouch was heavy with coin. Too, those in the streets would be in a hurry to pay their tabs or celebrate. No one noticed the fair featured slave as she stepped from the alleyway.
Each stride now seemed heavier and the apartment in the Anbar district seemed a million pasangs away.

With the last bit of adrenaline I had, I climbed the firewalk to the roof of an abandoned insula halfway back, crumpling into a small heap.