She From Whom None Can Escape

You bore me, demon, she says with arrows in her eyes /Tearing her shirt to bare her breasts in loving welcome /Her lips teasing at sharp, raw teeth /And her black eyes reflecting the riches of long-dead empires

The demon falters, blade limp in hand/They were sent for a woman/Not something with claws and fangs and wild eyes/Molded from the curl of an ocean wave /A grandfather’s acceptance /Air cut by an axe made from mines deep beneath the earth /A father’s strength

A mother’s kiss that gives tight sickness in her stomach /And terrible warmth throughout /You have another power, still, the kiss tells her /Her hips curve, her lips pout, her hair thickens /Her bodice becomes tight as she grows /And soon she will understand /Her mother’s gift /Her mother’s warning

Well, look at you, her sister hisses /The evil deeds of men fill her heart /Her teeth become sharp and her eyes curdle the blood of iron-clad men /Her sister rakes razor-brands over her heart /Down to that stolen innocence between her legs /Take them deed for deed, Nemesis whispers /Never forget what they’ve done /Never lose what I’ve given you

Molten-ice hate and amaranthine-strength bends her bones /Tears her veins and twists her heart to change that she can survive /Her skin is not armor but the pain makes her wild /Carves her teeth and curls her lips up up up /Threatening to shred at the corners /She’d just smile more

Sing, O Muse, the follies of men, they beg /But they have never known her /Andraste, sister to Nemesis /Daughter to the God of War /And the Goddess of Love, of Beauty, of Pleasure

What is there to Love, but the taste of brilliant red /The screams of horror still throbbing in her mind /What is there to Beauty/But the sight of the objects of her hate/Torn apart

Skinned,

Broken,

Rent asunder

What is there of Pleasure, but dying scrambles /Fumbling against her skin /Armor around her body and between her legs /The rod of her weapon against the palm of her hand /Her eyes burn hot and her lungs swell and shiver /Her skin trembles and sweats and heaves

She is vengeance and anger and retribution /She knows war and runs alongside her father, Ares /Feet flying over the ground and teeth bared /Ready to tear the throats of already dying men

She listens when Nemesis whispers in her ear /And soon she whispers back /Black giggles, gurgled with blood, over man’s great fall

Aphrodite waits with patience for her daughter’s reckoning /For with men’s violence and treachery comes something else /Something warm and light and changing /Someday her daughter will meet it /Her daughter will be born again

You bore me, Andraste murmurs to the demon /Smiling with comfort and death /The demon screams when he dies /Satisfaction paints her lips/Curls around the laugh in her throat /Slides into her lungs to make a familiar home

- death is caught between her teeth and you will never escape