Blood and graves (heavy violence warning)

I cannot say this had been one of my best days... but I cannot say it was all together terrible. It had been a long afternoon, only soured by the need for a challenge, and the lack there of. I had overseen a few fights between other deer, though I had not been involved in their minor scraps. I had grown weary and particularly irritated as no stag dared face me for as much as a friendly spar. As the evening began to paint the sky with natural hues of red, I returned to the ruins. It was there, that I was able to release my irritation.

I had stopped at the patch of poppies growing around the pagan idols to gather a few for the departed. Somehow there I managed to sit and try to let my nerves cool their selves. The lingering spirits of a small flock of cardinals began to sing in the dying sunlight, until my eyes closed. I began to catch up on some rest, until the sound of hooves broke my trance. I grimaced slightly, sensing that familiar faith nearby. Looking up, I watched him scraping one of the idols with his antlers. I watched in silence for a moment. The priest noticed me shortly afterwards, and began to slowly back away. I stood, and watched the priest curiously for a moment. He stopped.

I made a faint attempt at politeness, and bowed. "Can I help you?" I asked, somewhat amused by the priest's behavior, but partially irritated. I began to approach him. His reaction, I admit, caught me off guard. "Flee, you... Beast! Go away! You cannot exist here!" he shouted. With that, he dropped his antlers. My eyes narrowed and I pulled my skull into a grin. The world began to fall away into shades of red and black, dotted with the fuzzy images of ghosts and tombstones.

My restlessness surged into adrenaline, simply at the sight of the Priest's aggressive stance. I cracked my neck slightly. The Priest reared, and I rose to match the action. My chains clicked loudly as my hooves slashed the air, and my head threw back as I roared. His hooves struck back into the dusty earth, antlers dropping again. I charged toward him... just a few yards... and swung my head down to match his antlers against my own. Flower decorated tines caught against blood stained points, and hooves surged off the ground to strike flesh. I hardly feel it as his hooves caught fur and flesh. Pushing forward with my neck, I found the room to strike his chest with my bloody hooves.

Rising again, he pulled his antlers free of mine, and attempted to strike down on my cracked skull. I dropped my antlers and lunged directly forward, shoving him back and stabbing with both my remaining antler and the fawn's. He stumbled back, and swiftly turned, then ran. He stopped several yards away, with the trees to his back, and began to cower. I stuck out my tongue, and licked fresh blood off my skull before laughing. "Did you really think I would be so easy... to vanquish?" I wheezed, chuckling between heavy breaths. He dropped his antlers again from where he cowered, and I twisted my head around to flash mine. To the side of the ruins, I heard a doe's voice. "You didn't hurt him too bad, did you Dark?" she asked. I turned away from the priest, casting a gentler look toward her...

Laghodessa...

I trudged toward her grave, deciding to ignore my now cowering opponent. I stopped before her and sighed, her offering a cold nuzzle. I slowly sat, then laid down beside her dust coated grave. She suddenly recoiled, and I turned to see the Priest returning for another round. He put his back to the ruins, once more displaying his antlers. I stood again, and sneered. So foolish a move... to place himself between a wall and a demon's wrath. A new, unforgiving laugh escaped me. This was becoming too easy. "You treasure this crippled place more than your own life? Perhaps as much as you foolishly worship your false gods?" I growled, eyes locking on him as I stepped toward him. Antlers....

I reared, and slammed my hooves between those antlers. He resisted the blow to some extent, and pushed back, tines drilling into my front side. I roared, feeling them this time, and twisted my head to bite into him in revenge. My teeth catch onto fur momentarily, before he raised again, antlers pushing deeper into flesh. He was muttering something about the ruins being his... a holy place. My grin remains. Demons dwell in holy places, more often than not, remaining unseen or overlooked. This was my residence as well... As long as her spirit lingered here... until I can tell her… who the true god is… and set her free.

And I would not die... before that is done. I stepped back and threw my hooves into the air to throw off those antlers. How I wanted to snap them clean off... make him look worse than myself...

I thrust my hooves forward again, tearing... spilling blood over the gravestones... both his blood and my own. My forelegs ached terribly, and had begun to swell under the pressure of combat. Shackles dug harder into flesh, causing my limbs bleeding to intensify. Indeed, the ground began to develop a pool of crimson, which mirrored the sunset. He seemed to be weakening in his resistance, and I soon stepped back. "Leave now! I'll let you... survive... this time." I hissed. He slipped past me and into the forest. I stood, rasping for a calming breath, and soon curled back up beside her grave.

He would return... I would be waiting. This is the fate of the cursed, and the blessed.