Author's Note: I'm a bit nervous as this is my first time ever posting to this site and this is my first time ever writing a story of this kind. Constructive comments both positive and negative are greatly encouraged and welcome.
Also, I want to thank Khasy for editing this for me!
I'd like to mention that this story is a work of fiction and any similarity between the characters and any live person is coincidental. If it is illegal in your jurisdiction to read material containing m/m romance between consenting adults then LEAVE NOW AND NEVA' COME BACK.
Enjoy! -Freedom
Copyright Disclaimer- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any unauthorized use of this material is prohibited. No part of this story may be reproduced without express written permission from the author.
It looked as if a thousand sunsets had passed before her empty eyes here, though she couldn't have been dead for more than a few days. Her brittle shape, shadow less, weightless, encrusted with maggots, was adorned with silken webs of spiders, weaving intricate patterns in her spinal column.
Darling, how scandalous of you to reveal your secrets once so aptly hidden beneath sinew and bone,
I thought as I gazed at her white-washed skull. It glittered becomingly, iridescent in the light of the late afternoon sun, her yellowing teeth forever bared in an obscene smile.
I'd never seen a sight so lovely.
I was abruptly brought out of my silent revelry by the sound of heavy footsteps. I gazed over my shoulder as long legs strode towards me, coming to a stop next to my crouched form. I let my eyes slowly travel up the well-muscled legs, trim waist, wide chest and broad shoulders of the detective assigned to this case. When I reached his eyes I was met with bright blue irritation. I sighed and gazed back at the object of my admiration, the dead body of the fairy girl in front of me.
"Tell me what you know, necromancer," the detective's deep voice growled. I met his eyes again and he broke the contact to look at the fairy's dead body, shuffling uncomfortably. I saw him roll his shoulders, no doubt itching to get the chance to stretch the wings he kept veiled. The Phari, fierce, beautiful winged beings that had fueled the images of angels for centuries, were never quite comfortable around me or my kind. Though I had been working with him in the missing person's unit of the New Parais Police Department for several years now, the detective, Cassiel Anson, had never gotten used to my presence. He'd made very little attempt to.
I reached forward towards the skeletal remains of the fairy and carefully ran my fingers across a split rib bone where a miniature seed of nature's decomposing miracle had begun to bloom. "Despite her appearance, she hasn't been dead for very long. She'd been missing for seven days, most likely dead for five of them. It's very interesting, her state. It's not natural, even for the Fae, to decompose so quickly," I offered reluctantly, nervous to admit what I was really thinking. But Cassiel narrowed his eyes after a seconds' thought, hearing what I didn't say.
"Abhorredson" He hissed, using the derogatory term for Necromancers that had been adopted after the Dead Man's War. I stiffened. The war had seen the rise of eight vainglory Necromancers called the Bone Eaters. Greedy and prideful, they had sought to conquer the world by using their extensive powers to sacrifice the living, human and supernatural alike, to bring the dead from the Wait, a limbo where confused souls stayed, and build an undead army known as the Horde.
For decades, the Bone Eaters terrorized the world, leveling cities and decimating entire populations. The living fought valiantly but to no avail; the undead could never die. It wasn't until the Magicians rose from anonymity that the tide of the war changed. There were only two Magicians, an old, wizened man named Bael and his young apprentice named Max, but two proved to be more than enough. In a matter of weeks they defeated the Horde and freed the enslaved souls back into the Wait. The Bone Eaters, sensing their imminent doom, fled to all corners of the world to grieve their setbacks. In the aftermath Bael outlawed necromancy, and those whose very nature it was to practice it were persecuted. His crusade against my kind lasted for many years until his death and left an ugly scar. The world hated us.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, smothering the feeling of worthlessness and misplaced guilt, calming myself before I looked at Cassiel again.
"Yes. This is the work of a necromancer. They most likely used her blood to bring several souls back from the Wait. Though I couldn't imagine the reason, they must've known the risk if they got caught."
Cassiel heaved a heavy sigh. "Well do your work, Mars. We don't have all goddamn day."
In truth, I hated this part. Entering the Wait and learning the secrets of the dead was no walk in the park. I would have to hold on to her until I was beneath her, around her, and consuming her. I would have to be her and hope within a short time she would in turn embrace me and tell me all she knew.
I softly caressed one of her knuckle bones before wrapping my fingers around it and closing my eyes. I took a deep breath and focused my whole being on her cold, stiff, and wondrously lifeless bone. I murmured beneath my breath, "Oh, beauty, reach for me. Come to the one that is so like yourself." I felt the ink of the ancient runes carved into the skin of my hands and back grow cold and shift slightly. My sight shifted, and suddenly everything was awash in colors most would never see on a visible specter.
Then all the world was gone.
*******
In the cold and heavy mists of the Wait she candidly denied my touch, her spirit darting here and there until finally coming to a stop and turning to face me. Large violet eyes of the most uncanny hue regarded me curiously, alive and wanting. Her skin was colored a beautiful peach and her figure was petite and willowy. I liked her less this way.
"What will you want of Laeyah, Son of Sin," she asked me in a voice imbued with the peculiar enchanting resonance of death. I could just make out the sing-song lilt that many of the fairy kind had when they spoke.
"You have been taken from the world before your time. Only you and one other know who did this. Share with me their name, and I will leave you in peace," I whispered back to her. Through her transparent form I could see other spirits wandering around idly. I wished to leave before they noticed me, a living thing, here. The dead were a nosy lot.
