Her
'
'If nothing is born, nothing can die.' I watched Him for evidence of any chinks in His armor. There were plenty.
'
' He shouted, clenching and releasing His fists so that blood squirted out between the fingers of His slick gloves.
'To stop change is in itself a change. A change in change.'
That got to Him. He flung His arms around in wide, haphazard motions.
'
'
'I'm alive,' I said quietly. I waggled my fingers at Him just to prove it. 'I was born. Plants and animals were killed, fed to me, and converted again into living substance. That's what life is-change. Death is change, but it too leads to life and birth. It's a never-ending-'
'
'
He screamed and threw His hands in front of Him. The blood dripped from His elbows. He jerked His head so that the mirror dropped in front of His face.
I said casually, 'I was only going to say that it was a cycle-'
'
'
'Like a wheel.'
He shrieked the most horrifying yell I'd ever heard. The blood on His gloves curdled.
I had Him on the run.
'Ever-turning,' I continued, 'around and round. Circular. No beginning, no end-'
He stumbled backward over a mountain of corpses. The sky reddened to the same hue as before. A breeze whipped up behind me, carrying a scent of pomegranates and apples.
'
' He cried pathetically. '
'
'Even You,' I said, 'are part of the Wheel.' I grew to match His height. The wind blew even stronger. 'Gods are born, and They die. Their influence waxes and wanes. You have reached Your own particular end.'
'
' He shouted, seeming to shrink away from me. The blood on His hands dried to brownish streaks. The wind seemed not to push at either one of us, yet the top layer of bodies began to roll with its force. They bounced past our legs. He tried to grab for them, to hold on to them.
