Yesterday was the anniversary of his death, and I felt a surge of power coming from the east.  I could not help but think it was Ash, coming for me, and not one of my sons, strong and proud.  I did not have any fears; I knew all about Crows, they heal like a vampire, supposed to have no weakness, except for the actual bird that is connected to him.  You kill the crow, and then the Crow is as weak as a mortal.  Other than that, he was as strong, maybe even stronger, than I was.
      Finally, he did come, and I was excited, to have a real challenge was hard to find.  I polished up my Soul Reaver and sharpened it, though it did not need sharpened.  I was ready when he came through those doors, the crow swooping in on his shoulder.
      “KAIN!” he screamed at the top of his lungs
      “ I’m here Ash, let us finish this quickly, I don’t think I’ll need more than five minutes with you…” I mocked.
      “But don’t you remember?  You killed me over a year ago, and now I am undead-“
      “ Just like the Vampires you hate…”
      “Oh, but I am not one of you.  I do not need to feed on the innocent, nor do I pillage whole villages for the fun of it.  I am only here to seek revenge for the death of my family and I.”
      I looked him down.  A leather vest and leather pants, with a long leather coat and huge leather boots.  His face was all white, and his lips were black with lines from the side, and on his eyes was the same thing, only these were going vertical, and perched on his shoulder, was his crow, his only weakness.
      “ Oh Ash, you are so stupid, bringing your pet birdie for support… how sweet, a Crow and his pet crow…” I once again teased.
      “ You will regret damning the world, you monster!” At this he charged, a blunt and ignorant move.  I quickly dodged it and shot at him with an orb that would sear the skin off a regular mortal. It did not work though, even though I knew it.  He got up slowly, and turned to me and smiled,” You’ll have to do better than that, Kain.”
      His crow finally left him as he readied for another attack. I countered with fiery orbs about the size of a bullet, which he just let hit him, laughing all the way, as though they tickled  him when they went through his body.  His coat was full of holes, and so was his chest, but when I blinked, they were gone.

      Finally, I tried his crow. I looked at it and forced it to come to me.
     With the crow in my hands, Ash began to look like he had gone mad.  I merely jumped up to a higher level, which he was forced to climb.  I then proceeded to get small daggers out of my belt.  I held the bird down, and finally pierced the bird’s left wing. I heard a scream of total pain come from Ash, and I knew that it was true, the crow is his only weakness. I could not help but smile as I plunged my other dagger into the bird’s right wing, and hearing another scream of agony from Ash.  With the bird pinned down, I turned around to see Ash almost up.
     I went to the other side of the table, not wanting to miss this, and plunged the final dagger, through the crow’s chest.  I looked and saw Ash, blood seeping through his mouth, fall all the way to the first floor, I heard a sickening crash, and looked to see the Crow, finally dead.

      I believe there is a place where the restless souls wander, burdened by the weight of their own sadness, they wait for the chance to set the wrong things right, only then can they be reunited with the ones they love. Sometimes, a crow shows them the way, because sometimes, Love is stronger than Death.