Elements - 2. Death

Death

(An excerpt from the journals of Rishala Pwate'er)

I am the chill in the still of the night.

I am the whisper in the shiver of the wind.

I am the howl through the cowl of the dark.

and I am the last embrace when you end your race.

-Silva Darnthrall, Queen of Clan Derish Vall

Inexorable. Undefeatable. Ineffable.

Constant. All Consuming. Inescapable.

Cold. Grasping. Binding.

To the one who fears the end, the last embrace of Death is all these things.

Accepting. Calming. Caressing.

Encompassing. Understanding. Beautiful.

Blissful. Warming. Home.

To the one who accepts that all things must have a beginning and an end, it is all of these things.

Death can be both a lover’s last touch, or an enemy’s last strike.

She is the last smile of an Elder’s farewell, and the cruel smirk of a Demon’s hello.

The debt that all must pay, and the cost at the end of time.

Death is the most mystifying of all the Primal Elements known, not known to any but in the moments of the last breath.

Powerful, Unshakable, Beautiful; Death.