Master of Valravn

A field of white and grey. Hands filled with red. No words escaped his lips. Not even a hint of being cold. Not even a hint of being scared. The body that lay before him was limp and cold. No life remained. He stared up at the creature as it tore, croaked, and clicked.

Veins were torn apart. Arteries slurped down. Nerves that once carried feeling now carries substance. The coronary artery was pulled apart in delight. The creature was starving. He couldn't blame it. After it was finished it looked down upon him.

It unfurled large black skeletal like wings. Two pairs of red eye focused on its prey. He saw himself as prey. Its giant talons began to dig into what remains of the splattered red mess. Blue and purple like spinal vines slashed around the space it inhabited. It let out a large croak victorious croak. He stood his ground.

It opened its beak revealing razor like teeth. It smiled at him. It was blood stained. It's blue and violet feathers were blood stained. It croaked and then bellowed. It echoed across the field.

"I thank you small one," it said stepping closer to him. His gaze never left the magnificent creature. It towered over him smiling. It leaned over closer to him. He lifted his arm up to the creature. The creature pecked at it, causing blood to spill.

He continued to stand there unflinching. The creature continued to peck causing more blood to spill. More gore to fall. Revealing bone and muscles. The sound of crunching bones and wet skin falling was never interrupted. Not a whimper. Not a cry. Not a sound interrupted their moment.

When the deed was done. The two of them stood there staring at each other. His head was light headed. Yet he stood firm.

"Small one…" the creature began "…who was the offering?"

"My brother," he said.

"Family?" the creature asked. He nodded. The creature looked closer at the corpse below them. It took a step back. It gave an expression that was both of shock. And of glee.

"It's another you!" the creature exclaimed. He shook his head.

"My twin," he said.

"Twin?" the creature asked. He nodded. The creature croaked in excitement. He stumbled a bit. The creature walked over and propped him up with a vine.

"So, two creatures like yourself…can look exactly the same?" the creature asked. He nodded back sleepily. The world was going dark. A sharp sensation squeezed his other arm. His view returned to focus. His arm was entangled in vines.

"Does it have a name?" the creature asked. He nodded.

"Malcom," he responded.

"A Malk Kom…I've never heard of a Malk Kom…Malcom…it's funny to say," the creature began it looked down at him ", and what about you small one…"

"Jack-son…" he responded weakly.

"Jax son…A son of Jack's…how interesting…I've never met one of Jack's sons…" the creature bellowed. He started to black out again. He looked down and saw he was in a pool of red. His arm was now a husk of its former self. It reminded him of freezer burned meat. It was up to the butcher to throw it out.

"And what would you call me?" the creature asked.

"A Val-ravn…" he responded slowly fading.

"No…what would you call me…what would be my name?" the creature asked. He didn't see the creature, he only saw a face. A face of someone he had only remembered. A face now dead.

"Nash," he said. The world went dark. He heard the flapping of wings. The croaking of celebration. The smell of iron. The smell of burning wood and burning sulfur.

"Nash, I'm a Nash…A NASH!" the creature began excitedly ", oh glad morning it is…I've been fed…I've been named…I've been greeted by a son of Jack's…therefore I must stay with you little one…Forever."

He fell asleep in a world covered in ash.

It was a world with leftover iron and lead. A world where man's inventions no longer matter. None of this mattered now. He was carried away into the dawn by a knight clad in twilight. Leaving behind a hemorrhaging and screaming world.

And only leaving a copy of a person who once existed there.