Lantern

The little fawn shivered in the cold of the night, fur illuminated by soft glints of the moon, high above. He had never really been that fond of the night, though it was nice that the two little candles above his head lit up.
He stood up on spindly little legs, brown eyes searching for something. Searching, searching, searching-Ah, there. He caught the scent of the doe on the night breeze, whispering softly past. He instantly took off running for her, nearly crashing into her when he stumbled upon her. She wore no fancy pelt, just a dainty butterfly mask. He happily snuggled into her side.

“Aegle...” He smiled. She was the one of the few that could chase away the whisper-deer. The strange voice was talking to him nearly every day now, whispering more and more things that he didn't understand, couldn't quite hear. He was coming more often too, multiple times a day now. The little fawn tried to push the voice away, but it wouldn't stop.

The doe next to him stirred and looked startled to find the little fawn right next to her, though her gaze softened. He nuzzled into her soft fur, warm in the cold night. To him, she was almost like a mother. He was sure that she respected him, though. She understood. He lay down next to her, closing his eyes against the soft, brown pelt.

As he closed his eyes, he found his thoughts drifting to her eyes. Thee was something strange about them, something glassy and distant. The little fawn felt that it definitely was not a good thing, whatever it was.

She stood and he followed her lead, opening his eyes. Another figure stood there in the moonlight, giant white antlers curving above his head, dark pelt marked with bones, wearing a night-dark pelt striped with white. Bones, he thought. He looked admiringly at the stag.

“Aegle? Who-”

He glanced up at her, catching that strange look in her eyes, stronger now. He backed away from her as the emotion increased until it burst out into her taunting the stag, rearing at him. She motioned him to follow her, away from the scene. He ran behind her, but the stag slowly followed, even as she lay down in the ruins like they always did.
More taunting and rearing. He didn't really like that. It was so scary. He could imagine the hooves crashing down on him, the antlers scraping into his sides. He shivered involuntarily, following the doe as she walked off again. The violence wasn't turned on him, though. She would never do that.
The doe led him to a bare patch of land in the middle of some graves. He sat next to her, closing his eyes again, feeling safe and happy. She and Oisín, who he'd just met two days before, were the only two deer he knew so far that he felt safe with. Both of them had such nice light brown fur. Maybe he'd grow up with light brown fur like them.
Then his thoughts led to the deer who had attacked him. Dark blue pelt, strange ribbons of orange light emanating from his head, face covered by a golden mask; the little fawn doubted he'd forget that deer. He couldn't understand why he was being attacked, why the other deer's face was etched with hard lines of what he guessed to be anger whenever he came near.
He couldn't remember much of how it started. From what he could remember, he'd been minding his own business when this stag had suddenly come up and begun rearing and lowering his antlers at him. He'd run, hid behind the stag who was called Oisín. He'd protected him too, tried to comfort him when the voice whispered “wrong” into his head. All he got when he tried to approach the stag with the strange ribbons coming from his head again was anger. He'd have to avoid him, no matter how curious he was.

“Memento mori..."

The fawn's eyes jolt open and he bolts up, ears straight in the air, listening for that sound. He doesn't have to listen very hard. The voice gets louder and louder as he turns towards a place in the bare ground. He shivered and bolted, running as far from the place as his little legs will carry him. The doe followed, but so did the voice.

“Remember you will die. Remember that you are not immortal. Remember that I will see your sins...”

He reared, searching for the source of the voice, but no corporeal deer appeared before him. The voice continued on, chanting in a surprisingly clear voice, murmuring so close to him, almost in his ear. In his head. The doe ran up and reared at where he was looking, where he thought it might be, bellowing and rearing in time with him. The voice became softer and less clear, blurring in his mind until it faded away completely. He collapsed against the doe, pushing the voice away from his memories. They sat together in the flower patch he had stopped in, watching the moon and stars high above. He looked down at his pelt, turned pale by the moonlight, and shuddered.

Soon he was following the doe again, this time to the hill which the strange statues rested upon. They emanated power and he was almost a bit nervous around them. She walked up to a strange figure, sitting on the hill and not moving.

The little fawn looked it over. Swirling mist, liquid-like, covers the body. From what he could see, it was twisted and elongated. He looked at the mask, shivering, though curious. Wax had melted to it and is dripping down the antlers, like little runnels of fire. Red eyes hid behind a cracked mask, just above a mouth that was much too wide, resembling a jack-o-lantern's. He looked between the antlers.

His own pictogram rested there, pumping and swirling in time with his heartbeat.

“Remember your past. Remember your future.
“Memento mori.”

The fawn's eyes widened, showing the whites around the brown irises. He bolted, only coming back when the doe calls him back, not wanting to hurt her. She attacked the vision, but it did not go away. It stayed beside the Twin Gods in all its horror. Only the voice faded away. She came down from the hill and he looks at her with wild eyes.

“Memento mori...” He repeated, laying next to her, just as he fell asleep.

((If anybody doesn't know, "memento mori" means "remember you will die", I believe.))