The wind whipped around me, sending the cold to bite against my skin. I didn't mind the cold much, I was dripping with sweat anyways. Chopping wood would do that to you. We used a lot of wood at the bakery to fuel our ovens and stoves, my parents claiming that old fashioned wood-fueled fires gave our breads and pastries better flavor. My little brother had miscalculated the amount we needed for the week and, well, the end result was me alone in the woods. In the dead of night.

I hated to say that the forest was eerie. I made a mental note to get back at my brother for making me be out here this late, but my parents needed the wood to get through the night's baking.

The wind whistled, making the trees creak and groan. Animals chattered. I tried to pay them all no mind, focusing on the weight of my ax and the sound of splitting wood. A great caw sounded, screeched really. I threw my ax into a stump, looking to the sky for the offending bird. I spied nothing in the dark, moonless sky. Grabbing my ax, I realized that the forest had gone silent. No owls hooted. No squirrels chattered. Even the wind had ceased its groaning.

Creepy. I thought as I gripped my ax tightly. I scanned the clearing, wandering close to where the caw had come from.

My knuckles turned white from my grip on the ax. A twig snapped. I gulped, walking towards the sound like the dumbass I was, but if anyone or anything was trying to sneak up on me I'd get them first. Or at least I'd try. I wasn't a particularly good fighter; I mean I was a freaking baker! 

Great I'm going to die because my parents like sweets! I thought, heart racing. Why couldn't they have been like blacksmiths or guards or soldiers?

Lost in your thoughts turned out not to be such a good place to be when trying to get ahead of something that possibly wanted to kill or maim you. I rounded a tree only to be greeted by a shadowy figure. Without thinking, I rushed towards it brandishing my ax with my eyes closed, hoping for the best. I hacked at it with fervor, hoping that whatever it was it would go away. Opening my eyes, I found that the figure I had seen and was currently swiping at was a thin tree.

"Fuck, great job, Kylan. Really great, you killed a menacing tree." I muttered to myself, breathing heavily from the effort of fighting off my woody enemy. I was just glad no one was actually around to see me make a complete fool for myself. Shaking my head, I stepped backwards to return to my chores only to trip painfully onto my back.

I would have been embarrassed by my clumsiness, but all thoughts of humiliation dissipated into terror as I looked up from my spot in the snow into the amber eyes of a lion.

The lion. Death.

I felt my chest being to rise quickly but it could not bring enough air into my lungs. Death's hot breath warmed my face, a snarl reverberating from his snout. I could imagine Curtis' blood on his golden maw. I was paralyzed, there was nothing I could do as I lay there under the face of Death. He was different than I thought he would be: there was an animal in his eyes, but there was also a human, though slightly hidden.

Death dipped his head down towards me and I felt my heart stop dead in my chest. So this is the end of Kylan Farre. I thought. They would write ballads of my stupidity. "He tripped into Death and his own!." The singers would say while everyone laughed at my dumb-ass self.

I prepared myself for Death to rip into my skin with his wicked teeth. I closed my eyes and braced for Death to bestow his namesake onto me, but after a few long minutes, or perhaps it was seconds, nothing came.

I wretched an eye open and saw Death sitting a few feet away from me, tail curled around his massive paws. He looked at me, head tilted as if to say your move. Again, a caw resonated through the forest, only now I could see the sleek black raven that had caused it.

Spy.

He swooped down, landing on my chest. He tilted his head back and forth, considering me. I stared at him as he unfurled his wings and took flight only to land once again, this time on the head of Death. The lion somehow managed to looked annoyed that the raven was now perched on his head. Spy cawed, if it was possible he almost sounded amused.

Despite the fact that two thirds of the Triad of Hell sat before me, I laughed.

Death rose from his spot, though I could have sworn he was careful not to disturb Spy from his perch. My laughter was immediately quelled as he stalked closer to me, lips pulled back to reveal those awful teeth. Once again, he was over top of me. Maybe laughing had been the wrong choice. Stupid, stupid stupid! I cursed myself.

I was so worried about Death that I didn't notice Spy had hopped off of the lion's head and was now beside me. Without so much as a warning caw, Spy slammed his beak into my temple. Pain reverberated through my body and darkness crept into my vision, overtaking it completely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My head pounded, it felt like someone had been playing my head as a drum. I was distantly aware of voices, loud voices, arguing. I peeled my eyes open to find myself on my back in the snow. Two men stood a few feet away. One was motioning wildly with his hands while the other listened with crossed arms. One was a tall brown-skinned man who was a little less than a head taller than the other man. The shorter of the two was lighter but not the same pale white of my own skin; he had pitch-black hair and pleasant mono-lid light brown eyes. Both were in partial states of undress. Despite being in the cold, wet snow, my face warmed. Lovers.

I took a deep breath, but it turned into more of a wheeze. The man whose arms were crossed--the taller, darker one--head snapped towards me. His lover's eyes soon followed, they were so beautiful in the dark of the night. They both came up to me and slowly helped me rise to my feet.

"What?" I murmured still out of it.

"We found you." The man with almond eyes and lighter skin said, though this close he was more like a boy, closer to my own age. "You were just lying here..."

I nodded and immediately regretted the action. It made the pounding in my head ten times worse. "Death..." I mumbled, rubbing my forehead.

"You're not dead..." The boy said gently as if not to spook me, like I was some scared kitten or child.

It was an effort not to glare at him. I tried to take a step forward, but nausea gripped my stomach, twisting it in knots. My head began to spin. The world turned upside down and once again the blackness took hold.