A/N: This is a completed one shot song fic. No current plans to expand this story… it is meant to be a standalone vignette.

Inspired by the song 'Shrike' by Hozier. Give it a listen… it's what I listened to to set the mood for this one.

Bit of info before the story… about thorny trees and the Vlad the Impaler of birds. Zero kidding. Shrikes are little badasses.

Normal disclaimers apply. No ownership of any recognized materials. No association with Hozier (Unfortunately). Or with SM.

Honey Locust Tree

AKA thorny locust - deciduous tree native to central North America, mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. The trees, which can reach a height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft), commonly have thorns 3–10 cm (1.25–4 in) long growing out of the branches with some reaching lengths over 20 cm (8 in). Thorns may be single, or branched into several points, and commonly form dense, dangerous clusters. The thorns are fairly soft and green when young, harden and turn red as they age, finally fading to ash grey and turning brittle when mature. - Source: Wikipedia

Loggerhead Shrike

AKA butcherbird - only member of the shrike family endemic to North America. Due to its small size and weak talons, this predatory bird relies on impaling its prey (upon thorns such as those of the Honey Locust Tree) for facilitated consumption. Its nickname comes from its carnivorous tendencies, as it consumes prey such as amphibians, insects, lizards, small mammals and small birds in a violent fashion; often their prey end up displayed and stored at a site, for example in a tree. - Source: Wikipedia

Sharp & Glorious Thorn

I sat alone in my tent. For the millionth time, I stared at nothing. I tried to feel nothing. Instead, I felt like nothing.

No one except her had voluntarily come to see me here since Peter… and I'd let him and Char leave years ago.

Her scent wafted to me before I heard her and I was instantly on alert. Next, I heard her swishing skirts and pronounced footsteps, purposely loud for a vampire. She utilized noise to show her dominance; She didn't fear her underlings. Her approach always caused fear.

I braced myself. Maria's arrival could mean any number of things. Sometimes it meant work. Sometimes it meant punishment. Sometimes it meant her warped and tainted love.

Work, I could handle. Her love, I used to crave. Now, it scared me more than the punishments.

Whatever her arrival meant… it would leave its mark. Interactions with my maker were always like that.

I once worshiped the very ground upon which she walked… thought her to be truly great and glorious. That was before… before I realized that she relished in the damage she caused. Even praise was a weapon for her. She pierced my pride as often as possible on sheer principal alone.

"Mi amor," she purred as she parted the tent flaps and entered, "you did not come to me last night."

When I failed to respond, she continued, outwardly undaunted.

"You always come to me after our victories for our… celebration."

I had not even looked at her yet and she was growing increasingly worried, insecure and angry.

Maria was most dangerous when she felt slighted or unsure. When she felt the least bit powerless was when she was most likely to lash out, when she was her very sharpest. I'd often felt the pain of Maria's internal emotional issues… inflicting every kind of pain on me was one of her greatest pleasures.

Over the years, I had become increasingly immune to her torment. As a result, she'd upped the ante. It was becoming harder for her to get a reaction from me and while part of her hated it… the sadistic part of her loved finding new and inventive ways to hurt me… physically, sexually, emotionally.

Her ruby eyes hardened. Years under her thumb told me that whatever came next would be yet another painful barb. Before she could act, the nearby growls and screeches of rendering vampire flesh gave her the excuse she needed to save face and extricate herself from the situation.

"See to that, Mijito. When you've punished the pendejos, you will come to me, yes? You don't want to disappoint me… again. You know what happens when I get disappointed." She didn't wait for a response as she turned on her heel and left.

Finding the feuding newborns was easy and I didn't wait for an explanation before I simply burned the both of them. I had neither the time nor the patience for insubordinate troops that fought with each other.

So they both died.

There was once a time… a time I barely remembered anymore… when I'd have given my own life for one of my own soldiers. There was a time when I was once a kind and compassionate man. I cared. I was a good man.

That was before Maria. When I was a man.

She'd ground all the goodness out of me. Decades ago. Burned it away… every bit of my blood with her venom and every bit of my humanity with her carefully calculated cultivation of me as her tool… her Major… her ultimate killing machine.

Now, thanks to her, killing my own soldiers not only came easily, but was routine. Getting attached to anyone was rarely worth it.

Peter had been worth it. Char, too. That's why I'd let them leave.

It was thoughts of them, my friends, that filled my mind as my feet flew away from Maria's camp to the place Peter used to call "Major's Preyin' Tree" - a Honey Locust tree under which I would escape the chaos of the emotions of camp. The peaceful valley with it's sparse trees and the sounds of the small nearby creek and songbirds were a balm to my chronically injured soul.

Peter had once come here with me.

I settled under the thorny branches of the tree and inhaled the familiar scents of death and decay. Another familiar scent, one I'd hoped to never smell again, wafted closer and I closed my eyes.

As happy as I wanted to be to see him… he shouldn't have come back…. I'd told him as much when he fled with his mate.

I sighed.

"Do you believe me now?" he asked as way of greeting.

I knew what he was asking. My last bit of pride kept me from answering.

"It ain't love. It ain't right. She is selfish and cares only for herself." He stopped talking when I didn't answer or interrupt. Before he left, we used to talk and debate just for the sake of doing so. Maria had been a common topic… and there had been a time when I never failed to argue in her favor or defend her actions.

I didn't tend to speak much in general these days. I was certainly done using words for her.

I felt his resolve grow and he continued on. "It is different up north, Jasper," his use of my first name shocked me. No matter how close we'd been, he'd only ever called me Major or Sir…

"She's… broken you. She knows it. Always has. You're finally startin' see it."

That... I couldn't argue. I knew I was only just discovering how broken I was. Looking into his face and seeing the understanding pity was more than I could handle.

Instead, I looked up into the branches of the tree and saw one of the small, dangerous songbirds that loved to inhabit the thorny tree.

Though I could still feel how he felt, I chose to try and distract myself from his feelings by focusing on the predator in the foliage above me.

The shrike had in it's small talons a horned lizard that wriggled in vain right up until the point that the bird impaled its prey onto the chosen thorn. The bird chirped merrily as the lizard slowly started to die. The shrike then hopped to another branch and took a few bites from one of the multitude of previous carcases that littered the sharp thorns of tree and then flew off to allow its most recent victim to time to die and start the decay process.

Peter followed my gaze.

"She's like the tree… and she's trained you to be like the bird. You keep bringing her offerings, but it'll never be enough. How many of her enemies have you already defeated? How many new ones keep poppin' up?"

I knew I didn't want to be her tool any longer. I'd started giving up…

"Come with us, Jasper. She needs you, you don't need her. You know it."

I looked into his red eyes and felt every bit of truth and honesty in his words and emotions.

I knew he was right. She did need me, yet, she feared me more and more each day. She never handled fear very well. Peter could surely see my emotions laid bare on my face. My inner conflict was quickly becoming resolved… in his favor. He pressed on.

"How long until she tries to have you culled? How long until you outlive your usefulness?"

When I thought about it, I knew I was tired and near giving up… I'd been hoping she'd end me soon. It was why I didn't respond to her like she wanted anymore. It's why I wasn't afraid to provoke her anymore. I was just… tired. I was done. Why I hadn't considered leaving… I didn't know. Maria was all I knew. Peter could show me something different. Different was probably better than dead…

"Come with us. See what life without war is like. See what making your own choices is like."

Each word he spoke served to further cement my resolve, but I knew that Maria would never just let me go.

She'd carved and cut her marks into me time and time again to ensure I knew who I belonged to. Her lessons were always so very… thorough.

She would only let me go one way.

"I gotta go..." Peter made to interrupt me but my look stopped him. "I will be back here in ten minutes. If not..."

This time Peter was silent as he simply nodded. He settled under the tree and smiled as he took in the pelts, carcasses and exoskeletons that decorated the thorns.

"Ya know, this thorny tree wouldn't be so morbidly festive without the bird. Much as I enjoyed our time here, time to get you to a new tree...one of your own choosing. Maybe even a tree that's not decorated by death and destruction."

I knew that Maria's ultimate rise to power had been my doing. Her trophies were her massive territory and the heads of her enemies.

It was Maria that made me her trained killing machine. It was Maria that darkened my heart and soul. It was Maria that twisted things like love and devotion into hate and loathing and back again in a never ending cycle.

It was Maria who turned me into the monster that ran toward her now.

My run back felt shorter than it was. I was resolved that one way or another, this trip to Maria's quarters would be my last.

Her guards made no move to stop me as I sauntered past their posts near her tent door. I knew that neither was a great fighter and would be too easy to take out when the time came. I had, after all, trained both and catalogued each strength and weakness… and had inflicted many of their scars myself. Like all of the soldiers I trained, both flinched internally each time they saw me. They averted their eyes.

"Amor," Maria purred as I entered, "I knew you'd come." She was sprawled on her bed, the cloying scent of her arousal heavy in the air.

A scent that once caused such pleasure now only repulsed.

As much as I wanted to take my time to hurt her, give her a taste of the suffering she inflicted on me, neither time nor numbers were on my side.

Instead, I used my gift to push more arousal at her and sped to her side. Her burgundy eyes slid closed and she tilted her small face up at me and parted the crimson lips that would likely haunt my memories for the rest of my undead existence.

I brought my hands to her face in the gentle caress of a lover and then I tightened my grip behind the curve of her jawbones and pulled.

For someone who seemed so utterly dominant and unbeatable, she was as easy to disassemble as the countless vampires I had killed at her command.

I was surprised when her guards did not interrupt at the sound of her tearing flesh.

I was flabbergasted when I lit the pile of her parts on fire and they still hadn't left their posts.

Their emotions told me why they hadn't interfered when I exited her burning tent…

They were plain shocked.

They were certain it was me they heard being destroyed in the tent. Truthfully, if Maria had torn me to bits, it wouldn't have been the first time. One of her favorite pastimes had been disassembling vampires in her private quarters.

Maria was unbeatable in their young minds.

Their shock at my exit turned to awe. The awe was quickly morphing to a twisted sort of fearful hero-worship that all of Maria's troops felt for her. The last thing I wanted was what Peter had warned me about…

I know that if you stay, you'll become her.

A crowd had gathered and murmurs of my overthrow of Maria were rippling through the onlookers.

"Maria is no more. Her army is now disbanded." Their collective shock was so strong that my words would have wobbled if I'd been talking when it hit me. I took a deep breath. My next words were more cathartic than I'd ever thought they would be. "I am leaving. Stay or leave - the choice is yours."

Their flurry of disjointed emotions pelted my back as I turned and ran back the way I had come.

Away from the chaos of everything I'd ever known. Toward my friend.

The fire fueled by my maker crackled in the air, her purple smoke rising behind me. For the first time in decades, her sounds and her smell in the air brought a genuine smile to my face.