Struggling to get off of the floor, he stared at the burning hearth, its fire burning softly in the dimly lit house. His breath ragged and tired, he has been working out intensively, trying to improve his physical conditions.

“I’m home” his mother had returned, bringing home a basket full of fruits and vegetables, she had been with the others to forage in the forest. Strangely enough, this village has no ‘farmland’ to speak of. Most of the food they had was either foraged or hunted, and the villagers would somehow always have enough food to not just live but thrive in this dangerous forest.

His mother, upon seeing the state of him. Could not but soften her gaze, “Come now Basira, you’ve been training constantly for the last few days. You need rest. And no, remember what your father always said..”

“I know I know, even steel would break if bent too fast.” He interrupted, sighing as he thought back to that giant figure that was his father. Still racking his mind on how to get stronger, he turned over to his mother.

“Mother, how did you become an initiate?” receiving a sigh from her in return.

“I trained, like you are right now. The only difference is that I trained for three months before I was deemed ready, and again. You can’t become an initiate with just barely a week of physical training.” She lectured.

“Now enough mopping around and help me cook dinner.”

After a quick dinner, the two cuddled on the hay bed and as usual, and Basira faded into sleep. But this would be the last time, he would have such a night

Darkness, that was all Basira could see. Dazed and confused, he walked on the blackened ground beneath him, surrounded by dark smog.

He stumbled through the smog with no directions in mind for a time.

Minutes, hours, days, all of it seemed to mesh in his head as he wandered in confusion, not fully comprehending what was happening, feeling like a dream that he had no way to wake from.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He could hear the whispering from… somewhere, guiding him to some unknown place, following the whispers like a puppet.

Within the dark abyss that he traversed, somethings had come into view. Pillars, six in total.

Each of the cracked and broken yet standing strong amongst the desolate landscape, each of them bounded in gigantic chains the size of people.

His eyes followed those chains, mindlessly observing them converge on a single spot at the center of the pillar. All of them leading down to a single being, a mound of flesh, eyes and teeth.

Every crevices, every fold of this thing was oozing black tar like substances, dripping down onto the dirt. Their eyes followed his every move, watching him, observing from the distance.

Step by step, inch by inch, he got close and closer, lead by the whispering of the smog and wind. Until he got face to face with the creature itself.

Its eyes watching him expectantly, as if waiting for him to do… something. Looking up at the eyes, Basira did the first thing that came to his mind, and bit into the creature.

The thing was slimy, and stringy, it tasted bitter and spicy. And yet, satisfying. He could feel it squirming in defiance, but the chains was locking it place, stopping it from moving.

He didn’t care, he just wanted to feed, with each bite more voracious than the last.

His hands tearing in to the gelatinous tar, he ate till he was full.

In the dead of night, Jarek had left the meeting and returning to his home, the moon could be seen high in the sky, in spite of the thick fog. It was Sigrid’s turn for patrol today. He gazed at the dozens of homes within the little village, this place was built a little over 5 decades ago. He remembered the first time he was here, the fog was much thinner and the natural world was much less hostile.

Back then they could even cultivate and grow some food of their own. Now the plants would some times mutate and turn hostile if they tried. He shook his head and wondered how this would end, the old world was gone, broken when those things attack from the void. Their corruption had tainted everything, making the live of all living beings miserable.

While he was wallowing in his own thoughts, a loud scream wretched him from his stupor, it was his sister in law’s home. A sense of dread forming within his mind and he rushed down the streets. Smashing through the door, what he saw terrified him.