In the distance, I could hear the faint barking of a dog. A stray of course, one that roamed the quiet dirt pathways that were etched through the village. At this time, everyone was asleep. Everyone except me. 

I stopped for a moment when I heard the rustle of leaves behind me, making sure there were no busybodies following behind me tonight. Tonight was important, and I could have no interruptions. As I walked through the dead grass, straining my eyes to see past the darkness, I thought about the first time I had made this trip.

*

It was late autumn, exactly two weeks ago. It had been the middle of the day when I first trekked into the woods, saddled with bags full of food and supplies. I was to deliver it to the village’s healer, a solitary man by the name of Rashad. That day was especially cold, and I remember when I stepped into Rashad’s cabin, I couldn’t help but notice how hot it was. I looked at the fireplace and silently noted it looked no different than the ones in the lodgings in town. 

“It’s quite warm isn’t it?” I remarked as I yanked off the cocoon of cloths that kept me warm.

Rashad stared down at the discarded layers before looking up at me with a faint smile, “I suppose you’re  just cold, aren’t you?”

I held his gaze for a moment before looking away, “I suppose so.”

Rashad handed me a warm mug, “I see you’ve brought my things. Thank you, I know the trip can be difficult and it is quite cold today.  Take a seat and rest.” He sat across from me and took a tentative sip from his mug before he spoke again. “I don’t think I’ve met you before.”

I shook my head, “No, this is my first trip up here.”

We sat silently for a moment. I expected Rashad to be many cycles older than me since he was a healer, but he couldn’t have been more than a few seasons older than me. Instead of a wrinkled and writhing man, he was tall, lanky, and sat exceptionally straight. His tightly curled hair was grown out and seemed to encase his head with a puffy halo. His beard was past his chin, but trimmed meticulously into a slight point. When Rashad leaned backward into the beams of sunlight, his brown eyes seemed to glow like hot glass. 

“What is your role in town?” he asked casually. 

“I tend to farm animals,” I replied.

Rashad nodded, “So you do the job of a tiresome parent nurturing their children, a stoic midwife who brings life into the world, you are a person of the soil as a farmer would be. And at times, you are a reaper of life.”

“That is a romantic way of looking at it,” I said dryly before taking a sip from the mug he handed me. The drink inside was hot and spiced, but bitter. I held back the urge to make a disgusted face.

Rashad laughed, “It’s in my nature to notice the realities of people, as a healer. We have to be able to think romantically, as you’ve described it, to understand their pain and their solace. I think you understand what that’s like, don’t you? I’m sure you’ve had to comfort an old goat, one that is way past its prime, into death. You, for a moment, are the reaper themself. Do you think it’s any different with humans?”

I shrugged, trying to hide my uneasiness. “I guess not.” 

Rashad leaned forward and offered a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry, I know these things are not easy to talk about. But, you know as well as I do that the burden of these things is… hard to carry.” He took a long drink from his mug and prompted me to do the same. 

As I tried my best to politely drink the bitter tea, Rashad continued to speak, “For example, I know that Ozar, the man who owned the farm you work at, died horribly of disease a few days ago. Tragic isn’t it?”

I squeezed my mug tightly and forced a smile and could only manage a slight nod in agreement. 

Rashad nodded along with me, “He died in his home alone, covered in his own shit and vomit because he was too stupid to take medicine to ease his stomach. Tragic, but in the same way a dumb goat dies in a trap because it’s too aggressive to let you set it free.” 

A sense of ease washed over me and I leaned back into the chair. Rashad seemed to have more sense than most of the folk in Gray Oaks, especially if he saw the irony in Ozar’s death in the same way I did. “Ozar was a piece of garbage,” I confessed, “he paid me a fraction of what I deserved.”

Rashad nodded, “Horrible man. I see now that he has no heir to his property, yet the elders in Gray Oaks do not wish to relinquish it to you. Why is that?”

I took a deep drink from the mug and tried my best to choke down the grainy dregs before I replied, “They want to split the profit amongst themselves. I am from out of town and stumbled upon this dump a few cycles ago, I am not connected. I have kept to myself and have been saving money to take the ferry out of here. Regardless, rightfully that land should belong to me since I am the last living person on the grounds.”

Rashad rubbed his palms together, “You are not only humble but honest, not something that can be said about the rest of the people here. I am mostly a traveller, and I’ve spent almost two cycles in Gray Oaks, and I can say with confidence it is a festering wasteland of fake superiority that breeds ignorance. Most of the people I see here die anyway and do you want to know why? They turn their nose up at my work because I am not a man of the community and I do not participate in their feasts and rituals. Tell me Osiris of Arillia, where do you want to escape to?”

I froze and suddenly sat up, “I’ve never told anyone where I’m from.”

We stared at each other for a moment. Rashad’s expression was calm but amused. “I know,” he replied smoothly.

“Then how do you know?”

Rashad stood up, “I know a lot of things. For example, when you were eleven, you got excited when you had a sleepover at your friend Celeste’s cabin and you watched her older brother undress for the night from his doorway. To this day you still get aroused by the smell of cedar, don’t you?”

I stared up at him and tried to find my voice but faltered. Despite the panic, I still felt glued to the seat. 

Rashad stepped forward and placed his soft finger against my lips, “You don’t have to speak. You’ve had to do so much fighting and defending, I am not here to cast judgement. The same can’t be said for your father though, he is the reason you are in Gray Oaks to begin with, isn’t he? You came here with nothing to your name after he caught you and Celeste’s brother in the barn.” Rashad clicked his teeth and brushed a stray curl off of my forehead, “Such a capable person trapped within the realm of idiots. You toiled away with your father and he left you with nothing, much like Ozar and the rest of Gray Oaks.”

“How do you know all of these things?” I repeated. 

Rashad got down on his knees in front of me and took my hands into his, “Does it matter? I told you, healers must know the realities of a person to heal them. I have met everyone in this village and you are the only one that isn’t a blind sheep following the wind. You are the one that can be saved.”

The warmth of his hands and the way his thumbs slowly circled against mine began to make my body blossom with warmth. Rashad stared at me with a charming smile on his lips. I watched the rhythmic motion of his broad chest dipping up and down as he breathed. Although he wasn’t that close, I could feel his warm breath against the exposed part of my neck.  How is that possible? I tried to steer my hungry mind back to the conversation, “And what would you be saving me from?”

Rashad scoffed, “Ozar died in his own filth because he didn’t believe in medicine. He cheated you out of money, and everyone in this town sees you as an outsider degenerate that kisses all of the Priestess’s heirs. Oh yes, I’ve heard about that too. But as I’ve said before, I am not here to cast judgement. I want to free you.”

“And how would we do that?”

Rashad began to trace his fingers along my wrists, “I asked you where you wanted to go, let’s start there.”

I smirked and began to rub my hands up and down the length of his muscular arms, excited by the idea of leaving Gray Oaks, “I didn’t plan that far ahead, I just want to get out of here.”

He laughed softly, “Urgency does cloud direction. Tell me Osiris, when you are in bed at night, tortured by the agony of loneliness and lust, what are you wishing for?” Rashad began to trail his hands up my legs, stopping halfway as he began to trace aimlessly once more, “You are wishing for someone to come rescue you as they should have done long ago. Someone to...take you to paradise.” 

I began to breathe heavily, feeling the heat of excitement radiate through my whole body. Every nerve was tingling and felt as if it was on fire.  I began to speak but Rashad placed his fingers over my lips, “Shhh, just listen. You have only just met me yet I’m the only person that knows you for who you really are. You are a lustful creature full of life and reason stuck within the confines of ignorance and judgement. I want to open your mind. And you can make your choice after we are done here. The tea that I’ve given you will take effect soon, and I will show my true self to you.”

Rashad leaned down and kissed me, his plump lips drawing me closer to his body and pressing against me with a sense of urgency. It felt like he was willing himself to merge us into one. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders as he hoisted me up with ease. As I slung my legs around his waist, Rashad’s fingers slipped through my hair until he held a handful. Suddenly, he jerked my head back forcefully and his voice boomed louder than humanly possible, dipping into a distorted deep tone. “OPEN YOUR EYES OSIRIS, AND BEHOLD ME FOR WHO I TRULY AM”

When my eyelids snapped open, I beheld a thousand faces shifting and morphing, each equally as terrifying and beautiful as the last. Long, twisted horns on either side of his head stretched towards the ceiling and seemed to extend endlessly into the darkness. His torso was inhumanly wide and muscular, covered in patches of coiled black hair. His legs were replaced by a set of heavy hooves covered in a meadow of perfectly groomed, long hair. Sprouting from his curled bodily mane, like a monolith fit for the gods and stars above, was his throbbing staff; webbed in dark veins and glistening with excitement.

“Osiris, flesh of the earth, I have come to you as he, The Prince of Pleasure and Darkness. Do not be afraid, for I wish to bless you with things your mind cannot begin to comprehend. You and I are one in the same, caretakers and reapers to insignificant life. What awaits you outside of Gray Oaks is a paradise filled with your darkest wishes and your deepest desires. I ask not that you make an agreement at this moment, but that you relinquish your body and mind to me so that I may give you a taste of what is to come. Do you accept?”

Rashad let his arm slip from my waist, and my body floated ethereally in front of him. I was held in place only by the fistful of hair he held in his hand. The ghostly shifting of his features began to make me dizzy, and I closed my eyes. “You scare me.”

Rashad’s deep voice rumbled in a way that resembled laughter, “It is normal to be afraid. As I’ve said before, we are all much like animals, terrified of what we do not know. Open your eyes when I am speaking to you.” He paused for a moment as his face drifted lazily into the one I had met earlier in the day, “It is better to take the risk than to not have taken any at all. Let me rescue you as someone should have done cycles ago. Allow me to show you what true freedom and bliss feels like.”

He held my gaze. His once brown eyes seemed to be engulfed in fire from the deepest pits of hell. The hand that held my hair was radiating heat and seemed to make every nerve on my body burn and blister. My eyes trailed up and down his body, lingering at his massive, throbbing dick trying to comprehend what I was truly looking at. Rashad lifted his hand which now seemed to be larger than my own head and gently stroked the side of my face. His finger trailed along my jawline before slipping it into my mouth. I suckled on it softly for a moment. Rashad let out a sign from deep within his chest. The vibrations from his voice made my body tremble. His finger hooked the inside of my cheek as he drew me closer, my body drifting effortlessly to him until we were nose to nose. The smell of cedar and burning wood stung my nostrils, filling me with such arousal that I felt as if I would burst. I knew I had no choice.

“I accept,” I whispered clumsily through the grip on my mouth.

Rashad smiled, his features fading into the cloud of endlessly shifting faces, each as horrifying yet captivating as the last. His grip loosened on my hair and he held out his hands in front of him. Suddenly, I was blasted by the force of a thousand winds before landing on the cushioned mattress in his backroom. As his heavy hooves thudded loudly towards me, I watched as they caused his cock to swing back and forth furiously, slapping the inside of his thighs and his stomach. I began to undress when Rashad held his hand up. When he spoke, his facial expressions froze into one clear face.

“Do you want to see a trick?” he asked. 

Before I could answer, he snapped his fingers. In an instant, all of my clothing was ripped from my body and flung carelessly around the room. I covered myself, shy from the sudden nakedness. Rashad leaned forward and took hold of both my ankles before he yanked me to the edge of my bed. He fell to his knees with a heavy thump and draped my legs across his shoulders. 

“Look at me,” he commanded from between my thighs. 

I peered down to see Rashad’s haunting face drift back into one before extending his tongue out. It was inhumanly long and pointed into a sharp fork at the end. He waggled it back and forth playfully as his eyes drilled into mine. He leaned forward, his tongue beginning to dance back and forth, the forked end running along both sides of my swollen clit. I moaned out in pleasure and pressed myself harder against him. His tongue began to lash harder, whipping down and back up again before swirling around once more. 

“Just like that,” I whispered as I gripped a fistful of his coarse hair.

Rashad yanked my body tighter against his mouth, and although the sensations felt like too much was happening at once, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for mercy just yet. I held his head as tight as I could to me, wrapping my legs around his neck as if I intended to kill him. My body began to tremble and writhe against him, the excitement beginning to rise. Rashad seemed to sense this because he slowed to a rhythmic swirl, his tongue ebbing and flowing along every throbbing part that begged for his touch. I looked down and our eyes met once again. Lifting his head ever so slightly, a second tongue slipped out of his mouth, thicker and deeply forked. I felt my heart skip a beat and I willed myself to hold his gaze although fear began to rise.

“Do not be scared. At this moment, I am here to serve you beyond your wildest dreams. Your mind will need a moment to catch up with your heart.” Although Rashad had not spoken, his voice rang clearly through my mind. He stared, unblinking, waiting for an answer. 

I nodded silently and laid my head back. Before I could prepare myself, I felt his thicker tongue slip tentatively inside me, pressing and probing for a reaction. I gasped and pulled at the sheets, arching my back, begging for more. The air was ripped from my lungs as he slid deeper, the girth of his second tongue impossibly large. The forked end swirled and rolled inside, pressing against my walls and filling me deeper. Then, he began to pump his tongue in and out slowly.  Whimpering in pleasure,  I watched Rashad. He never took his eyes off of me, his blood-red stare fixated on my gaze any time I peered down at him. 

“Don’t act so shy now, I know you are so hungry for more. I can see it in your eyes, desperate to be filled even more although you can’t fathom how your fragile body can handle it. You are weak, but I will break you and make you stronger.”

His second tongue began to pound me faster, each stroke harder than the next. I watched as Rashad’s face began to drift back into endless cycles of expressions. In the light of the setting sun, the room seemed to be set ablaze. All the colors seemed brighter and more vivid. As each stroke jolted my body, sparks of light emitted from everything around me. I felt my limbs lock and begin to spasm with the threat of climax. Rashad pulled his tongues away from me slowly and rolled them into his mouth. He clicked his teeth sympathetically as he ran his fingers down my inner thigh.

“You are so impatient,” he lamented as he walked around the bed until his throbbing dick was inches from my face, “You haven’t even tasted this and you’re already drooling and whimpering to cum. If you are so hungry, open your mouth so that I may feed you.”

I rolled onto my stomach and obeyed. When I looked up at his haunting face, I could see a wicked smirk beyond the flowing curtain of expressions. The only thing about Rashad that was unchanging were his eyes which stared unblinkingly down at me. He pulled my hair back into his fist and guided my head down, stretching my mouth beyond what was possible. As he pushed his hips toward me, he slid in easily until he was pressed against the back of my throat. I began to gag and pull away, but Rashad held my head down firmly and let out a soft moan. He thrust against the back of my throat a few times before pulling my head away. I gasped for air as thick lines of saliva trailed down my chin and chest. 

“Breathe out your nose, you greedy little pig.” Rashad said gently as he yanked my hair back, “Now, open your mouth for me.”  From his nightstand, he picked up a  cup and filled his mouth with its contents before spitting it into mine and pinching my lips shut. It was the tea from earlier, and I fought the urge to gag at the taste. Rashad’s grip on my hair tightened, “Drink it.”

As I swallowed, he took his hands from my lips and filled his mouth with tea once more, but this time leaned down and spit it into my face and began to rub it into my skin roughly.

“You’re going to need all this tea for what I’m about to do to you.”

Before I could respond, he hooked his finger into my cheeks and yanked my mouth open before thrusting himself back inside. He began to pump as he held my head firmly in place. His balls knocked at my throat as if urging me to allow him deeper inside. I tried to relax my throat and forced my lips down until my nose was pressed against his fuzzy, coarse hair. 

Rashad began to moan, each lustful howl louder than the next. My eyes began to burn and sting as I held back my gags, the rims of my vision beginning to blur and blacken. Through the mist, his face drifted back into one as he groaned again, furiously thrusting into my mouth before pushing my head down as far as he could. He stopped and held it there. I began to choke but stood firm as my nostrils flared desperately to breathe. Placing his other hand behind my head, he rocked his hips, rattling his cock deeper down my throat. Just when  I felt as if I could no longer bear it, Rashad pulled my head back to allow me to breathe. As I struggled and gasped, he guided my head down and began to thrust once again, this time banging my nose against his body with each stroke. The grip on my hair tightened as he pounded.

“I love the way you look when you are gagging and whimpering for air,” he grunted as he yanked my head back, “but this is nothing. You will need to understand true pain to know true pleasure. I will give you both.”

Before I could respond, Rashad thrust himself deep in my mouth and held my head against him, my nose pressed so hard against his body I couldn’t breathe.I began to tap frantically against his legs, urging him to let go. Instead of letting go, he pressed my face down deeper and pinched my nose shut.

“Shhhhhh,” he moaned as his dick twitched inside my throat, “Let yourself go to the edge of the abyss and look inside, tell me what you see.”

I began to choke and gurgle for air as my vision faded. Rashad’s glowing eyes stood fixated on mine as he filled his mouth once more with tea. He yanked my head back and spewed it into my face, rubbing it gently afterward. “Breathe through your nose,” he cooed as I slumped back onto the mattress. 

In the darkness of the night, all I could see were his eyes and his dazzling white teeth when he spoke. The little moonlight that spilled into the room was strangely dim and glowed a subdued shade of red. It seemed as if everything was fading farther away with each exhale, only to rush back into view when I breathed in again. Although there should have been the singing of crickets and the crackling of fire, all I could hear was Rashad’s steady breathing as he watched me.  As I began to breathe normally once more, the room slowly came to life, and colors seemed to radiate and dance off of everything I looked at.

“Do you intend to kill me?” I whispered as I turned to look at Rashad, who now laid next to me on the bed.

“No, I could have done that the moment you walked into my home. I want to please you, but as I’ve said before, humanity is quite weak, which is why you need the tea. It allows your body and mind to do things you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Yes, allowing me access to your body hurts, but it also feels so good, doesn’t it?”

Rashad began to kiss my neck softly, his beard scratching against my skin. I moaned and leaned into him, planting soft kisses along his shoulder. He climbed on top of me and began to run his long tongue across my neck, pausing to kiss and nibble roughly as he made his way downward. One of his hands trailed and opened my legs before he crawled in between them. He leaned back on his furry legs, his throbbing cock twitching with anticipation. 

“Will it hurt?” 

Rashad smirked, “Only when you’re ready for it.”

I bit my lip and looked away before nodding. He reached out and gripped my chin firmly and turned my face to him before slipping himself inside of me. “Look at me,” He commanded.

Rashad leaned his weight on me, pushing himself deeper, stretching and filling me in ways I never thought possible. I dug my nails into his back and gasped. He began to slowly thrust, making sure I felt all of him as he slid in and out. My hands made their way down his back and grabbed him roughly before shoving him deeper as I began to grind. Rashad snatched my wrists into his hands and pinned them on either side of my head.

“Look at you, arching your back and panting like an animal in heat, rushing me to fill your greedy body.”

He began to roughly kiss my neck as he pounded harder. I tried to speak but the only sounds that escaped my lips were the wild cries of bliss. His balls slapped loudly against me as he hitched my legs on his shoulders until my knees were against my chin. He pounded furiously, curling me into a tighter ball with each thrust. The weight of his body began to press harder on my shoulders as he held me in place. The bed slamming against the wall was overpowered by Rashad’s hungry, animalistic moaning. More of his weight fell on my shoulders until I was buried underneath him. He continued to furiously thrust as beads of sweat dripped from his face and onto me. Our eyes met for a moment, and it seemed as if I could see the reflection of my body being consumed in lust. Rashad yanked away just as I felt myself ready to beg for sweet release, leaving me empty and on edge. 

“Your body drives me fucking mad,” he grunted as he turned me on my stomach, “I want to break you in half.”

He pulled my hip into the air before shoving my lower back down. As the tip of his dick pulsated against me, his hand pressed my head deep into the mattress. Rashad let out a shaky moan as he slid inside until his hips were pressed firmly against me.

“There is nothing in this world more beautiful than the way you look right now, impaled and thirsty for pain,” he whispered. 

He began to slowly grind. 

“Please, give me more,” I begged.

Rashad began to grind harder, letting his heavy balls swing and send shocks of pleasure up my spine when they slapped against my clit. His hand snaked down and placed a finger in my mouth, “Yes, that’s right, suck on it, “he said with a deep sigh, “I know your mouth is desperate to be filled too.”

My head was suddenly jerked back when he hooked his other finger into my mouth and pulled. He leaned down and kissed my forehead gently. Out of his nose, purple plumes of smoke began to trail out. 

“Breathe it in, you will need it.”

I inhaled deeply and held back the urge to cough. The smoke smelled sickly sweet and burned my nose and throat. Immediately, I felt lighter, as if my body was becoming weightless. Every nerve began to tingle and my ears started to ring. I fell forward onto the bed with a thump, barely able to lift my head to look back. Rashad continued to stroke in and out,  slowly this time as his heavy hands rubbed my back. 

“I feel like I’m floating,” I whispered.

Rashad thrust his hips against me until he was as deep as he could go before leaning down and kissing me tenderly on the cheek, “Enjoy it,” he whispered.

I felt Rashad climb off the bed before pulling me to the edge. His strong hands yanked my hips to him, and he began to furiously pound me once more. I began to cry out and squirm away when he firmly gripped my shoulders and bounced me harder against him. His fingers tightened around my muscles and bone the faster he went until he was pushing me down into the bed with all of his weight, willing my body to stay still as he ravaged it. We both began to moan and pant in ecstasy, our bodies colliding together so forcefully the wall in front of us began to crack and spew out puffs of dust. It felt as if he was the only thing keeping me in this world, and if his body wasn't mercilessly pounding against mine, I would sink into the bed and never return. Underneath his hands, I could feel my bones creaking and begging to be let go of. I arched my back deeper, searching to be filled deeper and harder. 

“I’m going to snap you like a branch if I don’t stop,” Rashad moaned as he pumped fiercely.

“Please, don’t stop,” I begged. 

One of his hands let go of my shoulder and slipped in between my legs. Against me, I felt the sleek, cool metal of a ring.

“This is a little device I like to call “the hive”,” he whispered.

Before I could ask any questions, I felt a sudden, strong vibration against my clit, causing me to cry out in pleasure. He pressed it against me with one hand as the other pinned me down deeper into the bed. With each stroke, he threw his weight against my body until I could feel my bones beginning to slowly crumble underneath his fingers. Although the pain began to feel unbearable, so was the pleasure. The vibrations seemed to shake my entire being as Rashad slammed into me, holding my body against his so I had nowhere to run.

As my shoulder began to cave and give out I could feel an orgasm rising, throttling my body in waves of pleasure. As hot tears began to stream down my face, Rashad leaned down as he thrust until all his weight was on top of me and his lips were against my ear. His forked tongue snaked out of his mouth and began to dance around my ear. Finally, my shoulder bones snapped, sending hot flashes of pain through my body.

Just as I thought I couldn’t bear it anymore, my senses began to spill over as I climaxed. The lights began to dance around the room at a dizzying pace as my body trembled and twitched. Rashad’s body tightened as he let out a moan before I felt the rushing warmth of his climax. He laid on top of me, his cock jumping and spasming before slowly sliding out. Although my shoulder had seemingly been broken moments before, the pain began to fade. 

We laid still for a moment, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. Rashad stroked my hair gently and nuzzled his beard into my neck, “Are you thirsty?”

“Yes.”

He stood up, and in place of his otherworldly body was the one that stood in the doorway of his cabin when we first met. He grabbed a flask and handed it to me, “It’s just water.”

I accepted it and drank from it deeply before collapsing back on the bed. The vivid color and pops of light began to disappear as I stared out at the moon. The ecstasy I had felt before was replaced by fatigue.

“Won’t the others suspect something has happened? I’ve been gone for quite a while.” I asked as I turned to Rashad. He laid next to me, staring at me intently. 

“No. I told the elders I had a number of errands I needed to tend to and they gladly offered your assistance for free.”

I felt a sinking feeling as I remembered all that awaited me at Gray Oaks.

“How kind of them,” I muttered.

Rashad pulled me onto his fuzzy chest and began to stroke my hair, “Helping me wasn’t so bad though, was it?”

“It was amazing, but I don’t understand how you revealing your true self to me is supposed to help me in any way. If anything, it puts a target on my back.”

We sat in silence for a moment before he responded, “Are you religious? You don’t attend Mass at the Temple, follow the rituals, or do the blessings. Those things don’t exactly work, or else no one here would have been able to set foot in my home.”

“How can those things not work if you say you are an ageless entity of darkness and pleasure? I have never really been a believer, well, until today.”

“Do you think leaves and herbs can harm something as powerful as me? I have a thousand faces and the ability to break your shoulder with one hand, it takes weapons as old as time itself to even scratch me. No such things exist in this realm.”

“Then why are you here?”

Rashad looked down at me, and for the first time his expression seemed troubled, “ You wouldn’t understand what things are like outside of your realm. Trying to explain it to you would be like trying to explain humanity to a bird.”

“You said you would fulfill my desires, so answer the question; why are you here?”

For the first time since I had met him, I only now truly noticed that he never blinked. He stared at me with an amused expression, but his eyes seemed to watch me with such intent it was unnerving. I laid my head on his chest and looked away, focusing instead on the way his naked body rose and fell when he spoke.

“To put it simply, my realm became boring. Day in and day out, nothing but mindless indulgence. We are very powerful yet terribly simple creatures. Humans are fueled by a wildly unpredictable mix of… primitive emotions. Although you all have such fragile and short lives, I think I prefer the company of beings that can appreciate things like sunrises and fruit. Although you are able to feel content at the way a sunrise looks, you are at times full of wickedness and debauchery, it creates a balance I enjoy.”

“And what do I have to do with any of this?”

“Staying in this realm is not easy. It requires...energy. Like I said, you humans live for such a short time. Every 20 cycles, I need someone from this realm to help me perform a ritual to keep me tethered here. Unfortunately, you all only live for about 60 cycles. It’s a painful experience, to watch someone who loyally serves you leave their physical form and go on to the next. But, it’s the only way I am able to stay here. It is almost that time again, and you are the human I want to assist me.”

I stood silent for a moment before looking up once more, “What do I have to do to get away from all of this?” 

*

I knocked on Rashad’s door gently to keep the sound from echoing down into the trees. In an instant, Rashad appeared in the doorway. He wore nothing but a thin black robe that was untied, exposing his naked body.

“You are not only punctual, but tonight you are a paragon of life and death itself. Come inside, we have much to do.”

I stepped inside and set the small basket I carried onto his table and sunk down into a chair near the fireplace. It only took a few moments for the heat to become unbearable, forcing me to claw off the woven layers of linen I wore. Rashad walked over and began to go through the contents of the basket.

“I see you managed to collect and bag all the personal trinkets I asked for, how did you manage to get something from the Priestess? She is quite private.”

“Her eldest heir was quite easy to convince. All I had to do was tell him that it was for a harmless trick.”

Rashad turned to me with a smile, “Perhaps you had to do a little more convincing than that, hmm? Nevertheless, everything is perfect.” He handed me a warm mug of bitter tea and beckoned me to sit. “So, before we begin, I want to go over what this ritual is for, what we have to do, things of that nature.”

“I’m listening.”

“This ritual is a transfer of energy. We are going to take the life out of everyone in Gray Oaks in exchange for my next 20 cycles in this realm. You have agreed to assist me in this. All I needed from you was a small token of each person’s existence, which you have provided. We will have to cast all of these things in the fireplace, including your blood.-”

“Wait,” I interrupted, “You said the blessings and spells on earth don’t affect you, why are we doing exactly the same kind of thing you claim doesn’t work.”

“I said they couldn’t harm me, I never said they didn't affect me. None of you know how to do these rituals correctly either, I do. Let us start with that and I will explain the rest afterward. Take off your clothing and come to the fireplace.”

I slipped out of my clothes and knelt next to Rashad who kept his eyes fixated on me the entire time. He placed half of the trinkets in my hands. 

“I will talk, and you will listen. Do not interrupt, and cast these things into the fire only when I tell you to.” His eyes rolled back into his skull as he turned to the fire to speak, his normal voice replaced by a deep and distorted one.

“Into the shadows, I, Prince of the Dark Realm, offer to thee the lives of the Gray Oaks. Accept these tokens as a fare to the bridge between our realms.”

Rashad threw his pile of trinkets into the flames and turned to me. Although I could only see the whites of his eyes, I knew he was still looking at me intently. “Repeat after me: I, Osiris of the Earth Realm, offer thee the lives of Gray Oaks. Accept these tokens as a fare to bridge between our realms.”

I repeated after Rashad, careful to say each word as he had. He motioned for me to toss the trinkets into the fire. I obeyed and turned to him afterward, unsure of what to do next. He faced the fire once more and held out his arm. 

“Into the shadows, I offer thee a taste of flesh, so that you may know who is calling upon your presence.”

Rashad picked up a pointed dagger that sat at his side and sliced his arm before sticking it into the fire and letting the blood splash into the flames. He turned to me and urged me to do the same. 

I repeated what he said once more. When he handed me the dagger, I turned my head away as I cut into my skin, trying to hold back the sting of tears. When I stuck my arm into the flame, it felt only as if I had held it above a boiling pot of water. I watched the blood drip onto the wood below and couldn’t help but notice the way it seemed to hungrily absorb every drop that fell. 

After I sat back in my place and silently waited for more instructions, Rashad stood up and stepped in front of me. His dick was humanlike now, only standing solid and disproportionately large to the rest of his body.

“Get up,” he commanded. 

When I complied, he lifted me off my feet and pulled my legs around his waist. I felt the tip of his cock pressing against me, teasing me to let him inside. “This is the final step of the ritual, an act of debauchery while the shadows consume our offering.”

I leaned down and kissed Rashad, tentatively pushing my tongue in his mouth as I strained my body against him, urging him to fill me. I sank down onto him, feeling the blissful pain of him stretching me out. He began to bounce, his strong arms flexing as he lifted me up and down. We began to pant as our bodies ground and bucked each other. In the distance, I could hear the soft singing of crickets and faint screaming.

“Do you hear that?” Rashad grunted as he yanked a fistful of hair back, “I want to hear you scream in just the same way, agonized and begging for mercy.”

Before I could respond, Rashad’s head dipped and his teeth closed around on my neck, biting down as hard as he could. I cried out in pain as he began to slam into me harder, sucking the blood out of my neck with each stroke. Our bodies tipped and swayed until my back collided with a wall, sending a painting to the ground and splintering only a few paces from where we stood. My body was pinned firmly as it was ravaged. Rashad pulled away only when I began to scream, his lips tinted red and his teeth stained.

“You taste as good as you feel.”

He stepped closer until his hips cradled me securely against the wall and slipped one hand down and began to massage my clit. Each thrust sent my head crashing into the wall, causing the lights around me to spark and dance with every collision. We pounded against each other, joining the cries of the dying village below us. Soon the night was ringing with dozens of voices, all crying out for mercy. I began to do the same, begging for more pain and bliss. Rashad’s hands trailed up my chest and around my neck, squeezing roughly with each thrust. Before I knew it, my hands were around his neck, gripping his Adam’s apple so tightly it felt like it would cave beneath my thumbs. Rashad let out a strained laugh and pressed his lips to mine, sucking the air from my lungs into his own as he squeezed my neck harder before yanking his head away. All of his body weight crashed into mine and he bucked into me; his coarse hair rubbing so furiously against my clit it seemed to hum beneath me. 

I felt his lips press against my ear, his forked tongue dancing out and licking the inside as he spoke, “You are mine now, Osiris, bonded in the flesh between two realms. You will serve me, and in return you may indulge your greedy little mind and body to its limits.” Rashad slowed down, sliding in and out as he began to massage in between my legs once more, “I want to hear you beg for relief. Tell me how badly you want to cum.”

I tried to speak but the only words I could say clearly was, “Please...break me….again.”

Our lips met as puffs of purple smoke flowed from Rashad’s mouth into mine. The familiar sense of weightlessness consumed me as my head began to bob from side to side with each rough stroke. Rashad wrapped his arms around me and sped up as he squeezed. His grip tightened like a snake as he ravaged my body, crushing the air from my lungs. Underneath his forearms, I felt the bones in my body begin to buckle and groan as pain shot through my limbs. I fought the urge to gasp for air as I felt the wet crunch of breaking bones, sending my body into trembling spasms as I climaxed. As pain rolled through every part of me, I felt like I would crumble into dust if let go. Rashad’s body tensed as he dropped to his knees heavily, his muscles flexing violently as his body gave into relief. The lights and colors began to fade back to their usual dullness. This time, I could feel my bones slowly shift into place as the pain subsided. 

“Are you thirsty?” I asked. 

Rashad smirked and nodded wordlessly before slumping down onto the floor. I fished a small canteen of water from the basket and took a sip before handing it over. In the distance, the frantic cacophony of screams had died down to an occasional cry for help. I barely heard Rashad when he spoke.

“Where do you wanna go?”

“The ritual is over?”

His face twisted in amusement, “You came, didn’t you?”

“We are in the middle of night, there won’t be another ferry for hours. It will be hard to explain the dead bodies piled in the pathways to them anyways.”

Rashad scoffed, “You watched me open a portal between two realms, do you honestly think we are going to wait for the ferry?  Now I’ll only ask you once more, where do you want to go?”

I stared into Rashad’s unblinking eyes, no longer unsettled by the way he hungrily stared at me, “I don’t know, maybe somewhere with a sunrise and some fruit?”

*