At the apex of the full moon, a lone woman, draped in a white robe, knelt before the shattered remnants of a once-sacred statue. The cathedral around her was a desolate ruin, its grand walls, which had once depicted the merciful gaze of a goddess, now lay broken, their splendor lost to time and destruction.
Her hands, clasped tightly in prayer, trembled, betraying the storm raging within her. Tears cascaded down her face as she whispered, her voice quivering with desperation, "I beseech you," she cried softly, her words barely audible in the vast emptiness of the ruined sanctuary. "My Goddess supreme, of the Dao, keeper of Eternity, source of benevolence."
Her voice echoed through the hollow silence, a plea that seemed to vanish into the void.
"Protect us."
"Protect us from all that is corrupted."
"Protect us from the clutches of the fallen."
"Protect us from the Acaritas and the forbidden lies they spread."
As her prayer filled the air, a dark shadow began to spread across the ruins, creeping over the ground like a virulent disease. Everything the shadow touched started to wither and dissolve, not from heat or acidity, but from some unknown, malevolent force that seemed to defy the very laws of nature.
"Protect us from sin and cleanse our hearts."
"Protect us from the mark of the baleful beast."
"Protect us from the unspeakables and their whispers."
Her hands, once clasped tightly, fell apart as she lowered herself fully to the ground, prostrating in sincere worship. Her forehead pressed hard against the cold, crumbling stone floor.
"Please protect u—"
She stopped, the word catching in her throat as the realization dawned on her that there was no one else left here, no one but her. The rest had been lost to the horrors that now loomed in the shadows.
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"Protect me, holy mother, protect me from the prying gaze that lies beyond the void."
She looked up at the starry sky, now almost entirely consumed by the encroaching darkness, leaving only a single shooting star to streak across the heavens before it too was swallowed by the shadow.
"Protect me from creatures enshrined by fear, from what I know not!"
Her hands began to convulse uncontrollably, and her voice faltered, cracking under the weight of her terror.
"Forgive me, my dearest holy mother. I have seen that which must not be seen, protect me! My fated monarch eternal!"
The shadow, thick and malevolent, bore into her ears, its presence made known by a bone-chilling, eerie voice that whispered, "Protect you? A forged goddess of a D)c*v#(r…."
The woman's fingers dug into the stone, her nails breaking and tearing away as she tried desperately to claw her way into the earth, seeking refuge from the darkness that consumed her.
"PLEASE PROTECT ME FROM THINGS I MUST NOT KNOW!"
The tears that fell from her eyes turned a dark, sinister hue, corrosive as they splashed against the stone, hissing and sizzling as they ate away at the ground beneath her.
"How will she protect you? She who was born of the eternal b*t(#y#*r. The spawn of a marauder, a usurper," the voice continued, relentless in its assault on her mind.
With a sudden, violent motion, the woman jerked upright, her hands flying to her ears as she tore them from her head. Dark, viscous tears continued to flow from her once-bright eyes, now dimmed and lifeless, their gold and silver light extinguished by the shadow's influence. Exhaustion and despair etched deep lines into her face.
"Prot-protect me, my brightest mai-maiden of l-light, protect me from the D—"
Huah
Her plea was cut short as she doubled over, clutching her stomach as a torrent of blood spewed from her lips. The blood was vile, lifeless, its color drained, pulsating with the dark essence of the shadow. Within the congealed mass, tendrils of the malevolent force swirled like living shadows in a sea of death.
"From the Da#."
Huah
"The Dao()#(@."
Huah
"From the pain and from persecution, from death and despair, the truest of saviors."
She collapsed onto her back, her voice reduced to a faint whisper as she drowned in a puddle of her own blood, her life slipping away.
"My eversweet holy maiden, shelter me from the Daoless..."
Her final words faded into the darkness as the blood congealed around her body, her frail form melting away into the very pool that had claimed her life.
As the shadow withdrew, it seemed to pause, as if in a moment of reflection, before speaking again. Its voice, cold and emotionless, held a faint hint of pity.
"Fragile creatures..."
"Born of deception..."
"You will know..."
"All will know..."
"The truth..."
The shadow's presence lingered for a moment longer before it, too, vanished into the void, leaving nothing behind but the faint echoes of its final, chilling words.