Aliester
Aliester drummed his fingers heavily on the rough stone sill, as he forced his eyes to remain fixed on the brightening horizon. The sun had not yet climbed into view -- a good thing if he were to avoid being burned to ash -- but enough morning light had chased away the darkness that the outline of the town below could be seen with crisp clarity. Eighteen years. Eighteen years had passed now since he had sensed the return of his true love to the mortal plane. Eighteen years of anticipation, to follow the four score years of abject loneliness.
Aliester's physical heart may have stopped pumping in the dark ages of mankind, but it was a mere fancy of poets that love resided within the heart. Humans are blind creatures -- so strongly attached to the physical world that they see not that their bodies are mere shells, carrying around the precious souls within. Aliester knew better. He could feel his own soul distinctly -- pouring energy from the beyond into his physical form, a body capable of feats of strength and celerity far beyond that of any mortal. Power comes not from the body, but from the soul within.
His eyes were watering now, and the sensitive skin on his face was starting to blister. But he wanted to see her. Needed it. But he could take no more, he turned his back to the window, and strode back into the darkness of his castle, whispering "soon, my love".
Kat
Kat yawned as she rose from her bed and stretched. She drifted serenely to the window and looked out to see the glowing orb of the sun lifting above the cold earth of the plains which surrounded the town. She smiled and lifted her face to the warm caress of the sun's rays. She shuddered suddenly, feeling a tingle of... something. And briefly a darkness crept over her heart, making her look back at the sun, reaching out to it as if it might be the last sunrise she would ever witness.
Suddenly she laughed -- a soft, merry sound. And chided herself at her childishness. She dressed quickly, and made her way outside to start on her chores.
The Crone
The crone glared at Kat from her kitchen window, before shifting her gaze to the castle on the hill. She had been waiting a long time for a chance to destroy Aliester, and it seemed that today she would have her chance. Her wrinkled and chapped lips curved into a wicked smile, exposing the rotted stumps of teeth within her fetid pit of a mouth.
Aliester