The name means "cursed of the Graiae," and it is said that the first of the graisha was a hapless mortal unlucky enough to earn the wrath of the three Sisters. His name was Ferrin, and on a moonlit eve, in the deep of the wood, he stole into a secluded clearing where a young woman was bathing.

She was one with the affinity. Her gifts were in healing, and she had dedicated her life to the Sisters so that they might show her how to control her abilities. Young and innocent, she was also beautiful to gaze upon, and gaze Ferrin did, until she became aware of his presence.

She cried out in fear, but Ferrin sought to calm her with soothing words. He promised he would not harm her, and beckoned her closer. The maiden, innocent as she was, believed that his intent was honorable, and she emerged from the pool, hoping to don her clothes and hasten back to her home.

But Ferrin's intentions were not honorable, and he took the maiden's innocence there in that secluded clearing. And while he was deaf to her pleas, others were not...

The first to appear was a white hawk, that swooped in on silver wings as swiftly as an arrow shot from a bow.

The next was a rust-red owl, that momentarily blotted out the fullness of the moon.

And the last was a raven, silent and black as death.

By the time the three had converged in that clearing, Ferrin had released the girl, who sat huddled by the pool's edge. Her eyes were dry; she did not weep. She watched as the birds fluttered down to surround the young man, and she knew that her prayers had been answered.

The moment they touched the earth, the birds' feathers melted away to flesh, and three women rose to gaze upon Ferrin. He gazed back, first upon the youngest; a maiden clad in white doeskin with hair as pale as moonlight and silver eyes. Then he looked upon the second, a mother heavy with child, whose hair was blood-red and whose eyes were as deep and dark as a forest pool. And finally, fleetingly, he glanced at the last, the crone. Her face was as stark as a skull's, and he could not meet her fathomless black gaze for long. He knew he could not flee, nor could he fight. He faced the condemnation in their faces and tried not to show fear.

They spoke in one voice. "Violator," they called him. "You took what was never your right. Now hear our curse."

"Governed by animal passion when you took her innocence, so shall you be as long as you walk this earth," said the first, the huntress. "Rage, lust, fear, grief; all these shall be yours tenfold, for that is the lot of all beasts without the reason or knowledge for control."

"And like a beast in manner," said the second, the Judge, "so shall you be in form. Ever outcast from your kin and kind; neither one nor the other, for you are not fit to dwell with either. On this night, I will watch as all that is human in you is stolen, just as you stole the innocence from your accuser."

And saying this, the full moon's silver light lanced down into the clearing, and Ferrin let out a cry of anguish that became a howl of rage. His body twisted and re-shaped itself until he was something between man and animal, but not wholly one or the other.

"And the last," said the final one, who has been called many things, "is my promise to you." She walked closer, and her black, pitiless eyes fixed on his feral golden ones. "That everything you love, I shall take. And it shall be by your own hand."

And then the Sisters vanished, and the maiden, who had witnessed it all in silence, now rose and gazed without fear or pity or compassion upon the creature that remained.

"They left you your pride," she whispered. "Which is more than you left me. Keep it, for it is all you have."

Ferrin closed his eyes and threw back his head as she walked out of the clearing, and his howl echoed after her on the night breeze.

FIN  

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