Page 11 of Delectable Soul

“How can I serve you?” she asks in a scratchy, unnatural voice that echoes through the trees.

“Revive my Wild One, so she may always be by my side,” I command. I don’t ask Death, because she fears me. All the Unseelie faeries and creatures of the lore know I’m the baddest, most depraved being that walks the earth.

She kneels to Fiadh’s side, her cloaked head dipping to examine her wounds. “I cannot resurrect her as a human, as her soul is gone. I could make her a Sluagh like you, but she would be doomed to walk the earth for eternity, consuming ill and broken-hearted souls to sustain herself. Is that the life you want for her?”

I nod. “Her place is beside me. I consumed her soul so she could always be with me.”

“So be it,” Death declares before disappearing.

Fiadh’s wounds close, fading to scars. Her chest rises and falls again, although she’s still asleep. I cradle her prone form in my arms, grinning. It’s time to start our new lives together. I unleash my wings and carry her away into the night.

Epilogue: Fiadh

On Samhain all those years ago, my life forever changed. The Hunt released me from the pain and sorrow of my mortal life, allowing me to start anew.

I no longer cower in fear of my own pain.

My life is no longer dark and desolate.

Death isn’t a shadow that clings to me, begging me to succumb to its glittering promises.

I haven’t felt those feelings in a long time, and am finally at peace. Now I help others find the same peace, a reality that isn’t tainted by suffering.

My hair is no longer blond–it turned black the moment my soul was ripped free. Shadows encase my opal skin like a robe. I have my own set of black, feathered wings and my fingers are tipped with razor sharp talons. No longer am I the scared prey. I’m the ultimate predator.

I am The Hunt.

Together, we act as one. Together we are stronger than I ever was before alone.

Now we roam Ireland hand in hand, consuming the souls of those who are too sick or melancholy to carry on. We still haunt the woods around my late Granda’s cottage. Now I know what the ravens truly are. I know the creatures of night.

My name is no longer Fiadh. The humans, faeries, monsters, and all those who fear me in this land call meWild One.

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