Red Snow

Disclaimer: I do not own Darksiders.

A/N: Yep, you guessed it! Another dream inspired by the snow we had the other day here. While it may not seem like much to anyone else, here in Louisiana snow isn't all that common.

I woke up and regretted it almost immediately. I shrank deeper under the covers on my bed and pulled them over my head. I so didn't want to get up yet with it being so cold even with the heaters on. I knew when I had gone to bed last night that they had canceled school because it was snowing. I smiled to myself at that thought. I knew that my niece would enjoy playing in the snow that probably covered the ground.

Grumbling softly I threw the covers back and hissed at the cold air that greeted me. Suck it up buttercup, I told myself as I danced on tiptoes across the cold hardwood floor. I had to get dressed and go bring firewood inside so that I could get a fire going to help out the heaters. I pulled my clothes on quickly so that I could go get the firewood. I made sure to throw on some extra socks before I pulled on my boots.

Opening the door I gasped, there was more snow than I had thought possible. I had never seen so much snow here in all my life. I smiled as I heard the squeal behind me. "Well looks like you get to go play in the snow Grace." My niece gave a whoop of joy before charging back to her room to get dressed. I rolled my eyes heavenward and shook my head before stepping out into the calf deep snow to get to my pile of firewood.

I growled out a curse as I came back inside after stomping the snow off my boots on the porch. "Can I go play now? Will you play with me?" I nodded my head with a smile, "Go on and play, I will be out after I get the fire going and some soup heating up." She gave me a grin before shooting out the door. I flinched when the door slammed shut then shrugged and went to the set the firewood down on the hearth.

It didn't take long before I had a nice fire roaring in the fireplace. I went to the kitchen and took out the chicken soup I had made the night before. I added some water to it before setting it on the stove to heat up. I glanced out the window and smiled as I saw Grace dancing in the still falling snow. I shook my head, "They are so easy to make happy sometimes." I thought about how my poor niece had come to live with me but I shook those unhappy thoughts away. Today was a day to be happy in season.

I turned the stove down on low and pulled on my thick jacket before walking outside. I giggled at the sight that greeted me; Grace was throwing snowballs at Rowan and Willow, our two horses who were waiting for their feed at the fence. The look on their faces was of disbelief, I don't think either of them had ever seen so much snow in their lives. "You know for being 10 you sure are acting like you're five, girl." I said with a grin which earned me a pouty face from the little girl.

"Aunt Susan, I was just playing with them." I threw the snowball at her that I had been hiding behind my back and it hit her right on target. She screamed and ran behind my truck, presumably to get ammo of her own. She poked her head up with a grin before chunking a snowball at me that got me right in the forehead.

I gave a mock growl and started chasing her. We chased each other for probably a good hour, lobbing snow balls and rolling around in the snow before we both collapsed laughing to the ground. I pulled her up and dusted her off before dusting myself off. Suddenly I threw my head up and looked at the tree line behind the horse pasture. Something, though I am unsure what, caught my attention. I shrugged before offering my hand gloved hand to Grace. "Let's take a walk in the woods." I had to go check this out.

We walked around the pasture and into the woods behind the house. The calm and muffled quiet of the woods was only broken by the sound of the wind blowing through the trees every now and then. I sighed in contentment as we plowed through the snow that was a little more shallow here in the trees, though not much. "Aunt Susan, the kids at school say you are a witch. Is it true?"

"Hmmm." I murmured in answer not sure how to answer that one. Yes I was but I didn't think that I needed to tell her that just yet. It could wait until she was a bit older. "No, honey I just enjoy nature more than most." She stopped and I had to stop to look down at the look she was giving me. My heart stuttered in my chest for a moment, she gave me a deep knowing look. I wouldn't be able to hide it from her much longer; she was so much like me sometimes. Thankfully she let it go at that.

Once again something stopped me in my tracks. It was an odor that came strongly on the breeze but not something I had ever smelled before. If an odor could have a feel to it this one would be oily. Grace glanced up at me as I looked down at her. Something wasn't right and she sensed it just the same as I did. "Grace, get behind me." She nodded and moved behind me while clutching at my jacket.

I stared at the trees all around us; they made it impossible to tell where the odor was coming from. Then I could heavy hear the hissing and heavy crunching of snow; this too seemed to come from all around us. I was more than a little frightened as I glanced around nervously. Then it emerged from the trees. We both screamed and when we did it roared. It was horribly ugly, like a huge disfigured hairless dog with a smashed face. Its mouth was a forest of spiky jagged teeth.

"RUN GRACE!" I yelled before turning and giving her a shove towards the house. I turned to look over my shoulder to see it moving faster through the snow than we could. I sent a silent prayer up to my patron goddess, Andraste as I made a decision. "Grace keep running and do not look back." I gasped out before I turned and headed off to the side away from her. I spared another glance and sure enough it followed the bigger prey. At least that part of my idea worked but now what? I had nothing to fight with nor did I know if any weapon I had could hurt this thing. What the hell was it anyway?

I forced myself to keep running as long as I could to keep it away from Grace and give her time to get safely inside but that was easier said than done. The snow was deep and I was getting tired. Suddenly I was hit from behind and went sprawling face first into the snow with agony burning sharply into my back. I screamed again as it hit me again and this time I landed, panting, on my back. The fire in my back burned despite the cold snow pressing into the exposed wounds on my back. Now my side and stomach burned in that same white hot agony.

I turned my head just enough to see the beast stalking towards me on the crimson dotted snow. I tried to rise to get away when it sprang forward and grasped my entire other side in its mouth. It gave a shake and I screamed again as pain was all my entire world consisted of. Suddenly it let me go and I dropped into a gasping bloody heap at its feet. It nudged me once more before it left with its snout to the ground.

I could only pray that Grace had gotten safely in the house though I didn't know what good it would be against that thing. I looked out over the snow to distract myself from the searing pain as I started to shiver. The snow was more red than white now and I saw the steam rising in the air from the blood that pumped from my open wounds. I was no fool and knew that I wouldn't last much longer. I felt the breaths getting harder to draw as if there were a weight pressing down on my chest. My vision started going black before that blackness was all I could see.

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Death's P.o.V.

Death stopped Despair and looked around. The Earth was covered in snow in this area where he was called by the Council to go to. A pack of Hell's hounds had gotten loose somehow. He had found all but the lead demon and he was tracking it through the silent trees now. Despair snorted beneath him, "Stop, we have been in realms with more snow and cold than this." The decaying horse gave a pitiful whinny before dropping his head to sniff at the snow.

The large black crow that had an eerie green tint to it suddenly landed on Death's shoulder and cawed at him. "I see you have made it back, did you find anything?" The crow gave another caw before sharing what he had seen with his master. Death cringed and gave a nod. Humans could still surprise him with their strength which was contained in such fragile shells. He turned Despair towards the direction Dusk had indicated and urged the horse into a trot.

He found the first traces of where the human and her child had fled from the demon. He slowed down and carefully followed the tracks in the snow. "Smart girl." He murmured when he saw where she had led the demon away from the child. He stopped Despair to gaze at the house in the distance and noted the demon's tracks following the child's prints. He decided to go ahead and kill the demon before it could get away. Maybe he could find the other human later.

He found the demon clawing at the door of the house and dispatched it easily enough. Despair nickered softly, "Yes a tremendous waste of time apparently." The horse snorted again and turned at Death's silent command. Death stopped when a tiny voice sounded from the doorway that now stood open, "Aunt Susan?" He turned a glance over his shoulder and met the soft green eyes of the dark headed little girl standing in the doorway.

She caught sight of him and screamed before slamming the door shut. He could hear her heavy breathing on the other side of the door. Finally she cracked the door open again and peered out at the burnt spot on the ground where the demon had died. She stepped out onto the steps and stared at him for a long moment. "You killed it?" He wasn't sure how to deal with the girl yet so he nodded slowly.

The little girl gave him a gentle smile before approaching him. "My aunt, where is she?" He shook his head slowly, "I do not know." She hung her head and went inside leaving behind a trail of sniffles. Death shook his head and turned Despair back towards the trees. His own curiosity led him down the trail of footprints left in the snow by the woman who had fled that way earlier. She had fled purposely away from safety to save the child.

He found the first patches of crimson still clearly visible under the fresh dusting of snow. He looked up when Despair gave a nicker from where he stood in the snow pawing at a lump on the ground. Death figured that the human was most likely dead already and called to Despair. The horse shook his head and pawed at the ground once again. "Leave it Despair." Death turned to look at the horse when he didn't immediately respond to his rider's command and saw the pile move slightly.

He shook his head and reached into the pile to drag the woman out of it. She was pale and her lips were tinted blue but somehow she still breathed. The slight rise and fall of her chest was the only sign that she lived. The large claw marks on her back and stomach were deep but now gaped bloodlessly open as the cold seemed to have stopped the bleeding. There were large punctures in the flesh on the other side; the human wouldn't last much longer. It was amazing that she had lasted this long he mused. While these wounds were nothing for him or his kind; they were often fatal to humans. He looked back at the house and then down at the woman.

Dust landed on Death's shoulder and cawed, "Well what do you think Dust? She sacrificed herself to save the child that isn't hers and has lasted this long. Does she deserve to live?" The crow cawed again and fluffed up his feathers. Death looked down at the human struggling to breath and carefully brushed away the strands of blonde hair blowing across her face in amusement.

He pulled a small glowing shard from his belt, something that War had given him before he came on this mission in the first place. He didn't even know what it would do to the human but he would try it. He jammed the shard into the human's chest and waited.

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I felt hot and then cold. I listened to the sounds around me since I hadn't worked up the nerve to open my eyes yet. I could hear the wind moving through the trees and I could feel the snow drifting down on my face. I realized at that point that I wasn't burning in pain anymore. As a matter of fact there was no pain only coldness where my skin was exposed to the snow.

I heard something heavy step close to my head and the memory of the creature from earlier popped into my mind. I tried to force my breathing to slow down as warm breath wafted across my face and I couldn't keep my eyes closed anymore. This things breath stank like an open grave.

Opening my eyes I found myself face to face with not the creature from before but a half rotted horse that was standing over me. It shook its head and green vapor poured from the stringy mane while the same vapor clouded around its hooves, tail, and nostrils. Its eyes were the same sickly green color of the vapor. It regarded me silently until I let out a scream that made it rear in surprise.

I scrambled back as fast as I could in the snow until my breath was slammed from my lungs when I met something hard. I glanced up and saw a pair of legs clad in strange materials. Following those legs up I came face to face with the owner of those legs. I screamed again and took off as fast as I could in the deep snow.

When I realized no one was chasing me I stopped to look behind me and the only thing I saw was my breath fogging in the air. I let out a sigh of relief; it must have all been a dream. I turned back around and there was the guy from before with the same pallid dead looking flesh, mask, and stringy black hair. Those eyes held me rooted to the spot; they burned with an amber fire in them. I screamed again and this time he reacted.

Once again I found myself pressed into the snow but this time he was crouched over top of me. "Stop screaming." It was an order and there was no mistaking it. I swallowed the scream bubbling up in my throat as I nodded slowly. "Where is that thing?" He tipped his head as he regarded me, "So you do have a voice."

"Yes I have a voice, smartass." I snapped at him trying to sound intimidating which is really hard when pressed onto your back under someone. I felt the low growl coming from him more than I heard it, "Human just because I saved you doesn't mean that I cannot change that. My name is Death." I shook my head in disbelief as I pressed myself further away from him.

"Oh hell no, I am not going anywhere! I have too much to do here so you just get the hell away from me." He sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment while muttering in some language I didn't know. Finally he looked back down at me before moving off me and extending his hand to me. "I haven't come to take you anywhere human. I was sent here for my own reason but you are safe and so is your little one."

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief then, "Thank Andraste." That earned me a look from him. I disregarded it and began the long trudge back through the snow towards home. He fell in step beside me, "Humans still worship the Old Ways?" I cut my eyes to him, "Some of us do, yes. Why? Is that so odd?" He chuckled softly and I tilted my head to look at him more fully.

"Well yes actually; your race continues to surprise me. Most humans have forgotten things they should have remembered." I couldn't resist baiting him; it is just in my nature. "Like you?" He got quiet for a few steps before answering me. "Yes, among other things. So you worship the warrior goddess?" I nodded.

"Well what symbol of hers do you carry little human?" He sneered and I could hear the disdain dripping in his voice. "I have several actually. Would you like to see them?" He chuckled dryly again as he looked down at me and I stopped to face him. I pulled the sleeve of my tattered jacket back so that he could see the words tattooed there. He grabbed my wrist to look examine it, "This is odd, it doesn't smudge but looks like ink. Parole d'honneur…interesting."

"It is called a tattoo and yes it is ink placed under the skin to make it permanent. Do you know what it says?" I asked smugly. "Word of honor is what it translates to." I blinked in surprise, "You speak Italian. How many languages do you speak?" He looked at me for several seconds before answering, "Countless. So this is but one; are there others?" I nodded before turning my back to him so I could pull up my jacket and shirt to show him my left shoulder.

I heard his sharp intake of breath a moment before his fingers touched my skin and I flinched slightly at their coldness. "This is the symbol of my brother…where did you see this?" I turned once more to face him and looked at my feet. "My guardian showed it to me in a dream. I decided to get it tattooed so that I wouldn't forget it."

He seemed to be digesting that as he continued to walk with me towards the house growing closer and he seemed to have forgotten all about the other 'marks' as he called them. We didn't speak much more after that and I tucked my head against the cold that was seeping into my skin. I blew on my hands to try and warm them up as I marched onward. I wanted my niece and I wanted to hold her so I knew we were both still alive.

I stopped outside my door and turned to regard the large person standing at the edge of the porch. I wasn't sure if I should run into the house for safety or invite him in. He saved me the trouble as he inclined his head in my direction before summoning his horse to him by some means I couldn't see. "Human, be well. Listen to your goddess and listen to your guardian."

He vanished in the increasing snow fall and I stared after him before the door was flung open. I turned just in time to catch Grace mid jump as she latched onto me in tears. "Oh Aunt Susan I thought you would never come back." I shushed her softly as I held her close, "I will always be here; not even Death can keep me from you."