“Icarus” by Yuri Leonov
alastair’s new to the pit; fresh off ten years establishing himself as a menace in scottish clan warfare, in years to come people will talk about Sawney Bean and other cannibals, because the thought of men eating the flesh of other men is more comforting to consider than Alastair’s cruelty, he made a Deal with Lilith after seeing most of his clan and their home destroyed, and as he stretches out on her rack; as she hangs him upside down with hooks in his ankles, all he can think is that the trade was worth everything she can do to him, he even starts to like the pain after a while, he loves the feeling of her talons digging into where his internal organs used to be, he keeps no secrets from Lilith; only pretends to do so, so that she can give him the pleasure of her worming around inside him and unearthing them, so that she can enjoy that process, because she tells him that it’s a chore and that he isn’t worth her effort; but he knows she’s lying, he knows it’s all a game for both of them, after centuries he finally climbs off the rack to torture souls himself; finally picks up a razor, and that’s when the final change takes place, he’s been broken; beaten; carved up; reset; bled dry; put back together just to suffer again; he only barely resembles himself anymore, and as soon as his feet hit the floor they crack and break and become hooves, his legs adjust themselves into a faun’s, bent at the knee and able to walk on his new feet, and then the wings sprout from his back: black and gnarled things, like a bat’s — but not any bat from the earth; his wings are too scabbed to be that clean, and that’s when he sees the ones that lilith has; all white and scaly and fluttering, whatever new kind of beast he is; alastair sees the world with new eyes, and it’s more beautiful than ever before
