Chapter 3 - Death

With a snarl, more beast then man, Ezekiel charged into the mortal.

He clamped his hands around the mortal's smaller right wrist that was holding the blade, and slammed him back into the tree.

The mortal screamed in agony, and Ezekiel smelled more blood rush into the air, but the mortal wasn't done in by Ezekiels attack.

A fist, small, and hard cracked into the side of his head. Once, then twice.

Ezekiel tottered to the side as blood blossomed inside his cheek and his hold on the mortal slipped. And then the mortal started rush him.

Ezekiel quickly retreated. With his hands out to his sides, and his knees bent he stepped back as the mortal ran at him.

The intruder slashed the blade back and forth. He knew what he was doing with the blade Ezekiel soon realized as he looked for an opening and failed to find one for the first few second.

Close and centered to the body. The mortal held himself in a tight ball of rage and perscision. And Ezekiel didn't want to risk tackling him and getting cut. But there was something. The blood. The more that the mortal moved, the more that the blood on his side ad pants began to deepen. Fresh blood soaking his body and still he kept going.

Ezekiel found himself getting increasingly upset as they continued to move around each other.

The mortal was going to make himself bleed to death.

Abruptly between a strait thrust of his blade,that had Ezekiel jumping back too keep from getting disemboweled, the mortal stumbled over his own feet.

Ezekiel saw the hiccup and shot back in.

He slugged the mortal in the jaw and even though Ezekiel pulled the blow, the intruder promptly crumpled onto the pine needles in front of Ezekiel and didn't move again.

Slightly guilt stricken. Ezekiel stared down at the mortal.

Shit.....did I kill him so easily!? He asked himself as he dropped his fists and stood up strait.

Panting Ezekiel didn't waste one moment, he crouched down next to the mortal and tried to feel his pulse and that's when the mortal hit him with the blade. With a broken scream the mortal sat up startling Ezekiel with the sudden move.

Flashing in the moon, the mortal turned and slammed the blade deep into his chest. So close and so deep by his heart that Ezekiel swore that he felt the cold metal brush against it. And then, before Ezekiel could recover his wits ,the blade was ripped back out and the mortal cocked back to drive it into him once more....

***

Ezekiel roared.

No!

The beast inside of him roared out in rage.

Energy flooded his body, pushing the pain back for a moment, allowing Ezekiel to snap his body back. He dropped out of the blades way, back onto his hands, and then he raised his leg and slammed it down into the mortal's stomach and ribs. And this time he didn't hold anything back.

The mortal screamed in true agony.

A sound that made Ezekiel hate himself a little bit coming out of his bruised mouth, as the mortal dropped the blade into the soil. Then the mortal rolled over onto his stomach and tried to crawl away, coughing and hacking for air.

"Jesus Christ, just stop it already!!" Ezekiel found himself snarling as he scrambled across the earth and struggled with the mortal once more. "Calm down." The Shifter in him growled as the mortal elbowed him in the cheek.

Finally fed up, Ezekiel grabbed the mans wet clothes and flipped the man over and turned him onto his back. Then he had to straddle the intruder to keep him still and to negate any kicks he tried to deliver. But the mortal kept right on fighting him.

The mortal screamed some more, his green eyes wide, but unseeing. His panic and pain and blood all like a blanket around them. It was suffocating. The mortal kept kicking and punching. Fighting for his life. Tears running down his cheeks.

"Dammit! Stop! Clam down." Ezekiel's hand closed around the man's throat like iron.

The mortal went still beneath him for a second. Then the intruder clawed at his hand, gasping for air, then choking on a wordless sob as he found that he couldn't pull Ezekiel's fingers away.

It was horrible sound. His fear was impossible to ignore. His struggles so weak now compared to his earlier more aggressive movements that Ezekiel wanted to lessen the strength of his hold. "Just clam down. I dont want to hurt you.... " he said softly looking away from the intruder and over to his shoulder.

Sharp pain shot out of his chest and shoulder feeling like fire from the knife wound , but even though the wound enraged Ezekiel and caused him considerable agony, something kept Ezekiel from actually breaking the intruder's throat right then in retaliation.

Something about his eyes. His smell.

Ezekiel didn't want to give the mortal the chance to attack him again, but the mortal made another wet gurgle, and somehow Ezekiel found himself releasing the mortal abruptly.

Then Ezekiel put a hand to his chin and held his face steady so he could get his first clear look. The darkness still kept him from really putting a face to this strange man ,but his eyes stood out in that mask of dirt, made of blood and pain.

Mint green eyes opened and closed as the mortal hacked, his voice was light but hoarse. And for the moment the mortal was docile beneath him. Ezekiel tried to let him catch his breath before he began interrogating him, but the mortal had other plans.

"Who are you? Why are you here!? Why'd you attack me!?" Ezekiel soon hissed at the mortal staring him in the eyes.

Ezkeiel could see that his skin, beneath the dirt, was pale and his body was shaking. Ezekiel felt it, against his legs. He felt the warmth too. Blood, flowing out of the mortal's side, coating his inner right pants leg. Soaking in a big crimson circle that worried Ezekiel.

The smell of it pinched his nose still. So strange to him. He'd never smelled such a smell before. The mortal didn't respond to him, but Ezekiel could feel his strength flowing away as the mortal kept blinking and watching him.

"Who are you?" he asked the mortal again softer, his throat clogged with the scent of the man. The mortal's eyes moved along Ezekiel's face, then his jaw and then back to his eyes. His eyes lids fluttered closed then opened again slowly.

Is he going to pass out? He doesn't seem lucid.

The mortal gazed up at him for a few long moments not speaking, or moving and Ezekiel let him. Then suddenly Ezekiel had his wet bloody hands on his face. Staining his cheeks. Ezekiel would have jerked back, but the strange man's hands were gentle as they slide past his cheeks and ears and up into his scalp and stopped there. Ezekiel swallowed as he had the strangest urge to lean back into the touch. A quiver traced his belly and spine.

Then the man was pulling on the back of Ezekiel's head. Forcing him down.

Until they were nearly nose to nose. The mortal looked him right in the eyes and said simply "Finally come to claim me...take me away? Its strange that you're beautiful." He whispered, his voice wrecked with exhaustion, but strong and enchanting. "I thought Death was supposed to be ugly, but your breathtaking..."

Cloudy green eyes drooped and then the mortal leaned in even more. His eyes closing and shockingly Ezekiel felt something soft and warm brush against his lips. A thrum of excitement and shock took Ezekiel's breath and senses away as the man kissed him soft, then hard. Desperate and weak, a sob clashed between them as the man suddenly ran his tongue past Ezekiel frozen lips. Confusion took hold, but noting was confusing about the deep wave of satisfaction that crashed over Ezekiel's inner beast when the strangers taste registered on his tongue. His senses scattered as his inner beast mewled in delight, and a moan bubble past his lips as he felt the creature inside of him pull the stranger closer, clambering against his body, pushing Ezekiel to deepen the kiss.

What the hell!

Ezekiel jerked back in surprise once his senses returned and the mortal's hands fell off of him. They landed in the earth next to the mortal, who had in fact passed out.