They walk in the shadows but live in the light, far away from human concerns, always watching over the world.

They keep an eye on those who survived, those whose fate was not their own.

They come down in the darkest months, when the ground is soaked.

They come-close again-to take care of the weak and punish the wicked, claiming the right their warrior-like deaths entail.

And for them, he waited. They came. A beautiful and terrifying reminder of his sin.

He offered himself to them. There would be pain. He knew it. But there would be absolution as well.

She was dead. He had abandoned her. His weakness steering him away.

His life is worth nothing now. Not to himself. But to them, beautiful and terrifying them, his death is life away from darkness.

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