Light floods behind my eyelids, and I slowly blink them open. I sit up, the leaves falling away as the willow sighs with the wind.

“Hello.”

I turn, hand reaching for the sword at my hip. A boy stares at me, a tiny smirk on his lips. He can’t be much older than I am. Oh. I almost forgot. I turn eighteen today.

Who are you?

“My name’s Erysichthon. You can call me Erys, though. What’s your name?”

Janardan. I watch as he casually leans back against the trunk of the willow.

He tilts his head, giving me a confused look.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

What do you mean? I’m talking right now, aren’t I?

“That’s okay. I probably scared you, huh? Hell, if I were you, and I woke up to some rando in my face, I definitely wouldn’t wanna talk.”

You can’t hear me? I don’t understand…

“So, you’re not from around here, are you? I’ve never seen you before. What’s someone like you doin’ out in the forest alone? This is vampire territory. You don’t wanna be found by a vampire in the middle of a hunt. It’s dangerous.”

I shake my head, then drop my chin into my palm, considering.

Willow, why can’t he hear me?

The willow chuckles, and the boy seems confused.

Come, my child. You speak the language of life. Only the angels use it now. It is a language spoken by the earth herself, one all creatures know deep within their souls, but unfortunately not many have the power to understand it.

I look up at the boy, who seems to be seriously reconsidering his decision to introduce himself. Slowly, I take his hand and pull it towards me. He lets me, though he is clearly becoming more and more confused.

I am Janardan.

His head snaps up, and he looks around wildly. I snort, and his eyes focus on me again.

“You…? That was… you?”

I nod, then adjust my grip on his hand, intertwining our fingers.

I apologize. It appears this is the only way I am able to communicate with you.

“That’s…” he starts, then trails off, unable to find the right words. “Well, I hate to ask, but what’s a girl like you doing this deep in the forest?”

I cock my head to the side. I’m not a girl.

His eyebrows shoot up and he blushes, quickly turning his head away.

“I’m sorry, I just assumed because of your…” he stops short, motioning to my chest. I look down. “You’re a boy, then.”

No.

He looks at me again, eyebrows furrowed. “Oh. Now I feel like a dick.” His eyes wander for a moment before he blushes again and turns away.

No, it’s fine, really. I’m part angel, and they’re genderless. Being raised around them, I guess I forgot it’s not normal. I do seem rather feminine, though, I’ll give you that. But other than that, there’s nothing about me that could tell you what my gender is.

“An angel? That’s amazing. How do you, like, go to the bathroom? Or have kids?” He freezes for a moment, then buries his face in his remaining hand, groaning. “Forget I said that, please.”

I laugh. We don’t, actually. I guess it is pretty weird, now that you mention it. And as for your other question, I’m not entirely sure how it works, but we can decide whether or not we wish to take on a certain gender. Most stay genderless, though. It’s easier.

He looks up. “Wow. That seems fucking awesome. Wish I could do that.”

Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool. I’ve never thought about it from the perspective of someone who isn’t an angel. I look at him for a moment. What are you, anyway? If that’s not rude of me to ask.

“Oh. Yeah. I’m a vampire, actually.” He frowns, staring off into space. “Having an infinity to live just doesn’t seem like a good thing. Can’t make friends with anyone, can’t fall in love unless it’s another vampire. I mean, you could, obviously, but then you’d have to watch them grow old and die while you stay exactly the same.”

Angels are immortal, as well. Forever does seem like a very lonely existence, doesn’t it?

“I guess you have it worse than me. It’s impossible to kill an angel. If I really wanted to, I could always kill myself.” He looks up at me, pursing his lips. “Sorry. That was a bit dark.”

I just look at him for a moment, and then turn my gaze to our hands.

Angels… can be killed. There is one person capable of killing an angel. Their soulmate. It’s why the population isn’t overflowing. Most choose not to fall in love for fear that their soulmate might kill them.

There’s silence for a moment, and then the boy- Erys, stands up.

“That’s pretty fucked up.” He pulls his hand from my grasp and jumps down from the tree, and I sit in disbelief, staring at my cold hand. “Hey. Janardan. You coming?”

My head snaps up and I peer over the branches at Erys. His arms are outstretched, like he’s offering to catch me. I slip from the tree and he catches me like a princess.

“Holy shit! You weigh, like, thirty pounds!”

He drops the arm holding my legs, and I land on the ground silently. He offers me his hand, and I take it.

Yeah, well, we have to be light so our wings can hold us. Hollow bones.

He looks down at me, and I realize he’s a good foot and a half taller than me.

He leads me to the gazebo and we sit down facing the water.

“Where are your wings?” he asks. “And how old are you?”

Eighteen. I suppose I’m still really young by immortal standards. And my wings are hidden. I didn’t want to risk someone finding me.

I glance at him.

Well, there’s no point in that, now. But my wings are a bit flashy, especially down here.

“Eighteen,” he repeats, voice barely a whisper. “I was just talking to you about death. You’re still so young. I’ve been alive for a couple hundred years. You’d think in that time I’d have learned not to talk about depressing shit with people I’ve just met.”

He looks at me, and from here I can see that his eyes are a deep emerald green with hints of amber.

“Please disregard my entire death speech. You’re way too young to hear that. I’m really sorry.”

Part of me is slightly disappointed that he keeps treating me like some sort of child.

I grew up in an orphanage, I tell him, my grip tightening. I’ve heard and seen much worse. I’ve thought worse. And quit calling me young. Time passes differently for angels, so I’m a lot older than eighteen in your years. Plus, you’re still pretty young, too.

“I… didn’t realize…” He runs a hand through his short black hair and tilts his head so the dappled light shines on his freckles. “I’m sorry, Jana.”

I pause, staring at him.

Jana…?

“Oh. I just… your name’s kinda hard so… I mean, my name is super confusing, so I always shorten it to Erys…”

I smile. I like it. I’ve never had a nickname before. Ah. Besides Thana.

“Thana?”

It means ‘the death.’ I was always called that because of my wings.

“Are they scary or something?”

I shake my head.

“Well, if they’re anything like the rest of you, they’re bound to be gorgeous.” After a second he realizes what he said, and blushes twice as hard as before.

I smile, staring at the ring.

You want to see them. It’s not a question.

He nods. “If you’re okay with it.”

Sighing, I slip the ring off my finger. I might as well scare him off now before I get to know him any better. That way it hurts less.

Right?