Warning: Sharp Edges

	I always knew I would die under the moon’s light. I had seen it deep in my dreams at night, and felt it within my heart whenever I would gaze upon the night sky. I would go to my final rest illuminated by those pearly beams. Of course, I’d always assumed it would be sixty years later and of old age, but hey, you can’t be right about everything. So instead of peacefully slipping away, I found myself tonight facing my bloodthirsty crimson death.
	The face it bore was familiar, making it all the more haunting. She was gone, dead for years. But it stood before me now wearing her face, her hazel eyes widened in an inhuman madness, her cherry lips spread so wide across her face that even the more hellish monsters might run in fear of her. Her movements as she had cut down the guards and chased me into the fields were so different from the girl I knew once. Their grace belonged not to a person, but a predator, one which would not rest till its kill had been made.
	I couldn’t hope to match such a perfect killing machine, though I tried desperately. I ran until my legs collapsed beneath me, and then I crawled as far as I could before she caught me, stabbing that familiar and evil blade into the dirt before my face. Her feet swiftly rolled me onto my back, leaving me to look up to her lithe, deadly form.
	“It’s not nice to run, you know. It took me soooo long to find you after you left me,” she crooned, clearly intending to draw this out. “Oh, but I don’t blame you, sweetheart. Anyone would have assumed I was dead. I mean, how could you not? And besides, you had to get back home, you had people who loved you, who would miss you. And all I had was you…”
	Her voice softened and trailed off, and I looked up to see her dark hair had fallen over her face. I took advantage of her momentary blindness and tried to make another dash away from her. I barely managed to stand before a chitinous hand grabbed my shoulder in a vicegrip and turned me to face her once again.
	“Oh? Leaving so soon? But I didn’t even get what I came here for. You haven’t even said hi yet, dear.” The words came out in a mocking pout, and the last dear sounded particularly venomous. “Well, I know how busy you get. You must have some important work tomorrow, right? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure this is quick. In fact I want to do this pretty quickly too, I’ve been wait so dreadfully long for this moment.” A small giggle escaped from that smile slashed across her face.
	Slight pain registered in my mind as I found myself tossed to the ground once again. There was a streak of red and black around her as that accursed blade moved into position. It raised up, moonlight running off its surface reminding me that this was the end. And in an instant, it was finished. The blade was thrust so swiftly I couldn’t even see it happen. In one moment it was poised to strike, and in the next it was embedded in my torso. Her strike was true and sure, right to the heart, for in a moment my consciousness faded and I was gone, her unhinged laughter acting as my departing chorus.
---------------------------------------------------
	Before he finishes dying, each man is made to relive his life again. I always wondered why until it happened to me. Then I understood, man is forced to relive his sins and be confronted with the cold truth of what he has done and who he has hurt.
	Therefore, I found it no surprise to be back there, the day she had died. It was right there at that cave, her and I were face to face. She flashed me that innocent smile; I just gave her a light push into the cave to get going.
	I hunted treasure, not for myself of course, but for rather wealthy clients. Today's foray was like any other. The target was a sword, supposedly a magical one that could make a man an incredible warrior. Honestly it was nothing to bat an eye at, everyone thinks they’ve found the next Excalibur every other week. But the job paid well, so I saw no reason not to take it.
	She came with me as an assistant and earned a cut of each find. Her family had died of illness a few years back and so she had to earn a living to keep her home. I’d known her since we were children together, and so I had no problems hiring her to accompany me. After all, two pairs of eyes are better than one.
	We spent hours searching the cave. Numerous loops and dead ends lay in our path. We’d even discovered some secret passages, though it looks like their bounties had long since been plundered. I wondered if the sword might even still be here. But persistence paid off and we found ourselves in a room with an intact chest. There was no lock, but it appears as though it had been sealed by magic until recently. The wall behind it was painted in large runes. Large cracks ran through them, likely caused by the recent tremors. Examining the chest, it turns out the cracks broke the seal.
	Opening it, I pulled the sword from within. It was certainly no Excalibur. The framework was black as pitch, and seemed to absorb light from around it. The blade was a deep crimson, and for a moment I swore the metal was swimming around like blood. Not even the armies of the Demon Lord had ever been seen carrying something so demonic. For a moment, I considered putting it back. But then, it was just a sword. Unless the client could use it well it surely wouldn’t do him any good. I turned to leave before a small voice interrupted.
	“M-may I carry the sword back?”
	I looked over at her to see her eyeing the blade, curiosity and wonderment in her eyes. She knew nothing of swordplay, so she must have been admiring it’s dark beauty. Seeing no harm in it, I handed her the sword and we pressed on.
	Or we would have, had a tremor not wracked the earth around us. Cracks in the walls spread and dust and rock shards rained down from the ceiling. Not wanting to be trapped, we worked our way out as fast as we could. In a few minutes, light was visible around the corner. I turned to tell her we were almost there, and saw her looking at the ceiling. Cracks widened and several large boulders dislodged themselves, heading right for us. A pair of hands pushed me out of the way, and the stones came cascading down on her, burying her in an instant.
	I panicked. There was no way she had lived, the stones were too large for me to move, let alone her. She had died to save me, and there was nothing I could do. I ran from the cave. I ran from the job. I ran out of town and away from the questions of where she had gone. I found a new home, made a new life, and I worked my way up from the bottom again, leaving her, the sword, and the cave far behind. And for my cowardice, I was punished by whatever gods were in charge these days.
------------------------------------------------------------------
	I woke up tied to a tree. No, not tied, pinned. She’d dragged me to the edge of the fields and stabbed me into a tree. Blood ran from the wound. I warmth ran through my chest, and I was thankful to my body for hiding the pain of dying from me. It seemed her strike had not been as true as I thought. She must want to get more from this revenge first. Looking around, I see her at my feet, sitting below me against the tree.
	“I saw the cave,” I called out to her. “I tried so hard to run from it, but it seems I’m not allowed to forget.” She stirred from her place of rest and stood to face me. “I’m sorry,” I confessed, “I really am sorry. I doubt it makes much difference to you now, but what I did, running from it all, was selfish and wrong. Before you kill me, I thought you deserved an apology.”
	“Kill you?” Her crazed eyes dialed down, and her mania was replaced with genuine pain and sorrow. “You think I want to hurt you? I love you! I looked for you for so long so we could be together again.” A few tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she kept them in.
	She pulled the sword from my chest and I sank to the ground. To my amazement, no would could be found. In a flash, the sword was gone and her right hand was covered in a pulsing red glove. She slithered into my arms, running her hand across my cheek.
	“Back then, I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t save the both of us, but I could save you. And so I faced my death knowing that you were okay, that you could keep going without me. Only I didn’t die as fast as I thought. I woke up in pain to the sound of moving rocks.
	“Turns out we weren’t the only ones after the sword. A group of three had come after we did by about a day. One of them used magic to move the stones and get me out. But they didn’t care about me, they were just going to leave me and take the sword. Oh, but I couldn’t let them take it. It was the last thing I had of you. Something came over me and I swung.
	“I killed them. Or I had tried to. But it turns out, the sword is useless for killing. If only our client had known, this might not have even happened.” She lets out a wry laugh. “They bled, but not blood. Energy. And with every cut I recovered strength. I had been saved, given another chance to be with you. But I went back to town and you were gone. No one knew where you went. I asked more and more people and each time was met with no answer.”
	The heat that was in my chest spread throughout my body, and concentrated in my groin. I hoped she wouldn’t notice my erection, but those hopes were dashed a moment later when she tore my pants off. Her ungloved fingers coiled themselves around me and began slowly stroking as she continued.
	“I snapped on the 20th person. She didn’t know where you had gone either, so what use was she? I cut her down where she stood. She died a woman, and arose again as Dragon, fearsome and strong. She ran home to her husband, I’m told their mating lasted a week.”
	Perhaps out of jealousy, she picked up the pace, stroking harder and faster.
	“And so I continued, searching for you, cutting down those who couldn’t bring us together. And I grew. I grew lonely without you. Your voice, your smile. I grew hungry, desiring every second to bring my blade down on someone else. Sometimes the questions even stopped and I would ‘kill’ without even a thought. And I grew strong. With every body laid at my feet I had more power. If I could just get more, I could get to you again, my love.”
	By now the handjob was starting to be more than I could handle. Precum dripped from my penis as her arm swiftly but smoothly continued to pump up and down. I knew I couldn’t take much more of this. Her eyes went wide again with perverse excitement.
	“And then I found you! I had been thinking about attacking your town, surely one more town could give me the power I needed. I watched the gates to see when the best time to attack was. But then you came through them! I followed you back to your home. I didn’t know what to say or what to do, so I thought I could just show you what happened to me. And now here we are. We can live together forever now!”
	Pleasure built up and I knew I was about to release, when suddenly her hand stopped moving.
	“But first, let’s make our love official, hm, darling?”
	In a small flash of red, the chitin on her body rearranged itself, and her breasts and womanhood were revealed. Before I could even react, she thrust herself upon me. Her insides were insanely warm, and her fold gripped tight, threatening to never let me part from her again. Waves of pleasure rolled over me, and judging by the ecstatic moans she wasn’t immune either. Using her strength, she sent us into a tumble away from the tree, still pulling me in and out of her.
	When we stopped moving, she pulled me into a sitting position, her legs wrapped around my back to that I couldn’t pull out of her. She brought her arms behind my head and pulled me into a deep kiss. Her taste was indescribably sweet, and she whirled inside my mouth, as if to memorize every detail. Keeping me in the kiss, she lowered her arms around my back.
	By now our laps were soaked in a mixture of indecent juices. She continued to bounce with her inhuman strength, and her walls continued to grip and squeeze, hoping to coax out my seed. Her moans grew so loud I knew they could be heard from the house, and her wide eyes began to roll back in pleasure. Neither of us was going to last much longer.
	She stretched her arms straight out behind my back, and exchanged her gauntlet for the blade. Without a moment’s hesitation, she impaled the two of us together.
	Our pleasure reached its zenith. I released my seed deep inside her with one final thrust. Her folds convulsed and sucked, draining everything they could into her hungry and waiting womb. The rest of her body convulsed as well, and I could feel the sword vibrate inside my chest, multiplying the pleasure tenfold.
	After several minutes, we came down from the pleasure. Tears of joy streamed down her face and she held me in an embrace. Shortly we were both asleep.
	I awoke at dawn, arms wrapped around her. I sat up and looked around. She was still in a deep sleep. I found my clothes by the tree and put them on. The fields were wide open, and I had a head start. I could run and warn the town, then put as much distance between her and me as possible. If I stayed on the move she might never find me. I took a last look at her demonic, chitinous form, resting their so deceptively at peace, and made up my mind.
	Gently, I carried her sleeping form into the house. The guards she cut down seemed to have dispersed, but didn’t matter now. As you lay her into your bed, her eyelids flutter and she stirs from her slumber.
	“So,” I propose, “how about after breakfast, we go for round two?”