Greater Love

I stood on a dry and barren ground.

The chalky red earth stirred restlessly around me.
...The sand slithering along the dunes...
One dark, dead, scraggly tree marked the horizon.

One...dead...tree...

Then I saw it there, flying fast against the wind. A form.
Beautiful. Frightening. Free.
Like a lion, but feathered like an eagle; the air swelled with the rhythm of it's wings.


A Gryphon from the East.
The brightness of the Sun was harnessed in the glint of its bronze coated feathers.
The fluidity of the wind governed its movements.
Awe inspiring and magnificent; I watched as it flew nearer.


But then suddenly...a great darkness came upon us...
Thickening the air with a haze that could be felt, I heard the being as it fought against the power and felt its struggle.

...And then witnessed its descent from the heavens.

Wings torn but triumphant, its body hurled to the ground.
Its impact shattered the world...and something changed.

As I drew closer to the wreckage of the body I saw that, among the broken and torn wings, lay a man. On his side, his back toward me, and breathing laboriously.
His back bloodied...his body bruised...

Hesitantly I reached out to him, and turning his face towards mine, saw that he was Love.
Where his heart had been there was a deep wound; and before I could react I felt the knife in my hand.

...and the warm stickiness of his blood between my fingers...

He opened his eyes, clear and nearly white, and spoke fondly as he placed his wings into my arms:

"For you..."