Leoy’Shaah had mistakenly thought the axe had missed, but she felt something hard strike her nape. “What are you? Blind!? Do it again, do it right!” Quon’s voice rang out, “Hold her down properly!” There were murmurs among the crowd. Leoy’Shaah blinked. She had not perished yet, but her end would come quickly for sure.The guard protested. “But you did hit her chief–!”

“Do you take me for a blind man?!” Quon demanded, “I know what I saw with my own eyes! She moved away from the blade! Your folly, not mine!” Quon glared around at the rest of the guards, muttering under his breath, his gaze fell upon the captain.

“My son, come forth and hold her down for me,” Requested Quon. “With pleasure,” replied Kaqu as he shoved the full weight of his body onto Leoy’Shaah’s back once more. She gasped for air. At this rate, she would probably die from the lack of air than a chop to the head.

“Damn it, my shoulders hurt. Pray let it be done in one swing.”

Leoy’Shaah felt the pressure of something slamming into the back of her head. It hurt, bad. But she did not lose her grip on her mortal plane.

What sort of thing are you trying to do here, Quon? You’ve obviously missed your stri– Wait a moment.

That wasn’t her voice she was hearing, it was someone else’s voice.

Something else’s voice.

“What the– Son, what sort of game are you trying to play here? The axe just missed her head entirely!”

Captain Kaqu stuttered, “I-I… Father, have my eyes deceived me, or did the blade not cut her skin?!”

“If you can’t do one simple thing, then get out of my way!”

Quon seemed to make some sort of prayer that Leoy’Shaah had never seen him do before. At least, one that she never saw anyone else do. His lips moved fast and abruptly, his beard shaded orange in every angle.

“Oh god, just finish the job already,” Leoy’Shaah muttered. She didn’t know where the confidence came from, she just felt it there.

Gladly. She thought she heard someone whisper.

Quon finished his prayer, for he had his arms on the axe.

“Get up.” He spat at Leoy’Shaah, then he addressed the crowd, “May all bear witness to this day, and may it leave you with a loving kiss rather than a scar. A reminder to never take God's protection for granted.”

Oh, how flattering. Why does something feel off…?

There was the voice again. Was Zayno still around?

Are you going to let this happen, Zayno? I thought you loved me.

She was met with bitter silence.

“Look at me, Leoy’Shaah, may I be the last face you see,” Quon said menacingly.

“Then let me allow my tongue to dance. Phuck you.”

Then Quon swung the axe. He was an old man, perhaps only a few strokes from senility, but he had been a warrior in his youth, Leoy’Shaah saw the blade move towards her throat.

She didn’t close her eyes, instead, she looked him in the eyes and saw little soul left, similar to a stash of meat that had been hidden, but not cleverly enough, from wolves.

Craakkk!

Clang!

The axe handle flew off, shattering in the process and silence became dwarfed by an absence of sound that had yet a word to encapsulate it.

Everyone gasped again.

Did you see that?

It looked like…

The axe was crudely made… Must be…

Quon took a shaky look down at the handle of the axe he held. His breath also shook with confusion and… No… A feeling all too familiar to Leoy’Shaah. He stood still. She had no idea what divided him, but she was beginning to suspect something wasn’t quite right with him to begin with.

Finally, he spoke, “Take this woman to the pit of stones.”

The guards seemed shocked, “Sir?” They addressed the captain instead of Quon. Kaqu seemed just as shocked as the guards. But he made his decision swiftly, “You heard the chief! Take her to the pit of stones!” The guards hurried and grabbed her by the arms and legs and dragged her through the icy streets.

What was that!? What happened!? Leoy’Shaah thought.

Kaqu kept his distance from Leoy’Shaah, as if she might explode any minute, he eyed her with confusion and fear.

Leoy’Shaah had never had never known the feeling of being feared, but in the times to come, she would find it to flow like the sap of a maple tree. Oh, the horror that awaited!

Leoy’Shaah remained quiet throughout the journey, snow began to fall ever more. She could hear more people marching behind her. Quon and the priestesses, and perhaps some of the other villagers.

The stone pit. An axe had many faces, wood, rock, animal, and of course, human. But this stone pit only served one purpose, not to be mistaken for simplicity over cruelty, for this area had been carefully crafted to seat man as well as death himself. The Pit had been used only once: A legend of a man who had… Transformed into a beast and developed a taste for human flesh and a thirst for blood. He only met his fate when he was crushed ‘neath the stones that fell upon him.

Leoy’Shaah then turned her attention to the stones that laid above. No mistake for nature, it had been manipulated by men who aimed to turn death’s whim of life into a killing mechanism.

Quon’s voice boomed, with another voice echoing behind his: “Throw her into the pit.”

In a flash, she was discarded into the hole in the ground like a deer carcass that had nothing left to provide to its hunters. She tumbled in, hitting rocks and sticks as she bounced down. Only the strongest of people could survive their stoning. That was why the fire was much preferred.

That was why Wanu was killed.

That was why Leoy’Shaah knew of these horrific practices.

Because Wanu told her.

When the rolling finally stopped, Leoy’Shaah raised her head, shaking and cold, catching a glimpse of Kaqu handing her raccoon coat to one of the guards.

Bastard…

She rose up and realized that everyone was here already, looking down at her with worry and pity. And she saw a man out of the corner of her eyes that she recognized: Hayden. He had shoved his way through the crowd to get a good look at Leoy’Shaah. The look on his face was one that Leoy’Shaah dared to look at. Foundation built upon lies came crashing down, and rightfully so.

Gretel. He mouthed.

She looked away from him, really anywhere to set her eyes upon. Yes, Quons eyes would suffice. She would not look away, even in death.

Quon seemed to struggle with every breath. But he glared at Leoy’Shaah with bitter hatred she didn’t understand. She had done nothing of harm to this man. She had been but a thorn in his boot, a small inconvenience that he chose to ignore. Why now…?

“Bring down the stones!” Quon shouted. May this demon perish where she stands!”

The sound of crumbling and crashing came from above. She looked up, watching what appeared to be small pebbles, though she knew them to be boulders the size of houses, bouncing and crashing down the steep slope they had rested upon the cliff of. And they seemed to accelerate with every breath taken. They barreled towards her with lightning speed.

She tore her gaze away from the chief and set it on Hayden. He had a look of horror and despair on his face. Upon seeing Leoy’Shaah mirror his emotion with a refraction of anger ‘neath, he came to be the one who looked away. He could not bear to watch another human perish, even one he barely knew.

She glanced back at the rocks. The rumbling had melted away in her mind in place of clear thought.

Then, she took one last look, a survey if you will, at the crowd. The last thing she saw before death's hand took his spear, was an entity standing in the crowd. She could barely make out its face, or its sex. It had male features, but its face twisted and turned into variations of wrath. Its face ceased its transformation when it saw her, as if surprised that she could even see it. In a blink, it was gone, and the rocks came to her.

“It is done,” Quon said to himself under his breath, “It is done.”

Kaqu turned and vomited. “Apologies, it was simply bad food,” he explained to the people who surrounded him. But none really showed any sign of reception. They stood frozen like that of a statue. The stone pit had not been used in their lifetime, and they had not expected it to be used. The priestesses, especially the head priestess, were beyond shocked, and maybe even revolted.

Meanwhile, Quon stared off into space, trying to get over what had happened earlier. Had the axe truly missed like he had assumed. It had to have been

“Done like a true coward,” The entity spoke, “Now, what do you plan to do with the Unbon?”

“Is now really the time?” Quon hissed under his breath, “I suppose it is. We need the people to forget of–”

Quon suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell to his knees.

I sense she is still alive. How was I wrong? I have never been wrong! I blame you–-

“Who…?” Quon sputtered.

And there she was, standing as if nothing had happened. She perched upon the magnificent boulders like a hawk upon the tallest trees. Her eyes filled with nothing but the will of God.

“How is she still alive!?” Quon seethed to the entity, “How?! Is this your doing? Do you intend to mock me–?”

Quon looked over at the entity. He wished he hadn’t. The thing was twitching and seemingly having some sort of erratic episode, it stumbled and rolled and made retching sounds, then it crawled into a fetal position and clutched its face.

Its head and body began to solidify into a coherent form. It was a man… And his features became more defined by the second. His chest inflated and compressed.

The light! The darkness! The Black Sky! The Black Sky is coming after me!

Quon took a step back

I made a deal with the devil! God, what is this that I witness!?

“DON’T SAY MY NAME IN VAIN!” The entity rose and shook the world with his booming voice, “YOU HAVE NO WAY OF COMPREHENDING MY NATURE!!! YOU HAVE NO POINT OF REFERENCE FOR POWER; NONE STAND AGAINST ME! NONE EXCEPT YOU. FINISH THE JOB! KILL HER!”

Quon did a double take down at Leoy’Shaah, who cocked her head in defiance. Quon closed his eyes.

Burn her with fire. Burn her with fire. Burn her with fire.

He stopped and shot up.

“Burn her! Burn her with fire!” Quon screamed. The priestesses yelped at the sudden outburst. “Purge that abomination from my sight this instant!”

The eldest priestess swallowed and approached Quon. “My chief—” She rested her hand upon his shoulder.

“Unhand me you wench!” Quon shrieked, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her near the edge of the cliff. “Please! My chief, I only wish to see what you see!” She said through labored breaths. He dragged her close to him with the strength he had left. “No. No, you do not!” He then threw her to ground, mere inches away from a fateful plummet, and she promptly scurried over to safety of the others.

What is that? A… Another god?” Leoy’Shaah thought.

“No!” Screamed the entity, “Don’t let them look at me Cennend! Let me choose who I want to be! Not them! They don’t know what they want of a god! They don’t know! I do! Let me choose!”

Quon felt compelled to do three things: Walk away, throw himself off the cliff, and investigate the entity further.

He felt the strongest of the third. He took painful steps toward the entity.

“Wrath, fire! Despair! What do I want to be? Let me choose…!”

“You must have something left to give me!” Quon shouted. The priestesses gazed upon him like the madman that he was.

“That’s it! Make fire exist from nothing!”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“N-No!”

“You are a god, then prove it to me!” Quon shouted.

“I have no strength left to fight it!” He gasped. His arms steamed and morphed. He screamed in pain. His face finally came into view. But it was a mortal face. Taking the form of a man with orange hair… His skiing came into place as well. Tan. his nose short and his eyes full of hate.

“How did she become what she became? She did not ask for it! I demanded it!”

Then his body began to cool. But just as Quon thought it was over, one last transformation happened. His body stiffened. “I know my name. It was to be Manipu!” Then, a thick barb began to sprout from his body. One with many legs, no arms moving about. But his skin flew over it like a cloth and the many small hands disappeared under his skin.

Nrrrhaaaaaaaahhhh!!!

“Help me! Fill me with the power you gave me before… do it again!”

I have many children, many children who you may worship… I am the Black Sky, I turn what you understand into something you cannot comprehend… In return, I feed on this world.

Manipu coiled backward, but just as he was about to jump onto Quon and kill him, he stopped and fear stroked his heart. A woman's voice only he could hear: Careful my pseudo-brother, you made a deal that you have to honor, regardless of how worthless you are… Manipu wiped his bloodied mouth, “Then your family will pay.”

But Quon didn’t listen

Leoy’Shaah stared up at the silent scene that was on full display, but only to her. None of the other villagers paid it any mind. They simply stared at Leoy’Shaah in shock. Some had even fainted. Leoy’Shaah wanted to see what sort of horrors were taking place far above the pit, but she already knew what was going on: Quon was having a conversation with his god.

Quon jerked forward over the cliff and screamed. “SHOOT HER WITH FIRE! DO IT!”

Leoy’Shaah saw dim glows around her, arrows being lit, and logs, sticks and leaves being thrown in. She knew what was about to occur.

I feel so calm… and yet–

The air became painful. Not even heat, just pain. As if she were flaying upon the sight of a thousand suns. But she knew that such a grandiose comparison meant nothing if had not the means to comprehend it.

She collapsed to her knees and cried from the excruciation, her tears simply boiling away. Eventually, the pain became nothing to her. Served a plateful, she could only eat so much. She shakily rose from a blackened spot on the ground. Her clothes had been completely eaten from the flames, and her hair blackened at the ends. She took a step forward, then another step, then another.

Slowly, she made her way up the curved edges of the pit. Villagers screeched in terror and ran away. She marched agonizingly, as the smoke began to clear, she saw three figures. The priestess, Captain Kaqu, and Quon.

Quon’s cowardice returned. “She’s still alive? Nonsense! Fire cleanses the wicked soul… She is nothing but wicked! There shall be nothing left of h–”

Then Leoy’Shaah emerged from the shadows, her feet the coals and the ground a pair of feet. She clutched her bare breasts and the wind picked up further, trying to reunite fire and ice. Leoy’Shaah melted a path that then smoked, leaving not an inch to survive the blazing encounter.

Such an ungodly sight it must have been! Quon was seemingly frozen with fear, even as the heat increased to him with every step. Kaqu flinched, as if about to turn and run, but caught himself before leaving the scene. He leveled his spear at Leoy’Shaah, it trembled in his hands.

Meanwhile, Leoy’Shaah’s pain was decreasing steadily, yet with time it had sapped her will to stay conscious. With the last of her strength, she launched herself forward. Kaqu immediately dropped the spear and retreated at the sight of her rapid approach.

She shot her hands forward to Quon, grabbing him by his coat collar. The fire was glad to spread, emanating smoke from his clothing. She pulled herself closer to see if there was any soul left in this man, and was surprised to find a human behind his eyes. After all he’d done, Leoy’Shaah would have assumed a monster to be wearing his skin.

Quon yelped in pain and tried to punch Leoy’Shaah. His fist burned upon contact with Leoy’Shaah’s face, and she finally gave out. She fell and curled up into a ball, setting the grass ablaze around her like a ring. Meanwhile, Quon was thrashing in the snow like a dying rabbit, throwing his clothes off in hopes of ceasing the pain. But fire and ice were a divorced couple, and they beat their children regularly. So now he was met with frost that kept him in the ground.

Soldiers and medicine men, including a shaman that had been staying from his travels in the east, arrived from the retreating crowd. They wrapped him in cloth and carried him away. A few minutes later, Kaqu and the guards returned. Kaqu was furious. He approached Leoy’Shaah and paced around her, waiting for her to cool to the desired temperature, then he stomped and kicked her. When the guards finally pulled him away, they took her by the arms and legs, like they did earlier.

“What shall we do with her?” The guards asked, still bewildered by such a sight.

Kaqu looked divided. Pondering what he could do with this seemingly unkillable woman.

“Take her to the dungeon.”

“Sir… Do you mean the prison… Or–”

“I mean the deep dungeon!” He yelled, sending a puff of warm air through the blizzard, “Throw her there, and let her rot!”

The guards obliged, dragging her to a location unknown even to them; Kaqu guided them.

When Leoy’Shaah awoke, she was in a dark room, with a little light through a crack.

She knew immediately that she was in the dreaded dungeon, where people were taken and forgotten about.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/W1kPGpzk/kld-ksad-lk-lsdk-removebg-preview.png]

Abeer opened the door and saw her husband. He laid in a bed, with two medicine men on one side, and the Shaman on the other side.

No… Nononono…

She pushed her way past the guards at the door, but one of the medicine men stopped her. “Please, Miss Abeer. Do not come any closer. Your husband is ill–”

“He is cursed,” the shaman said in a deep hoarse tone, “I sense he has set a chain of events in motion… In his own life, and possibly yours.”

“Let me see him!” Abeer growled, “He has yet to have a child with me! I am forced to take care of children that aren’t mine. I deserve this!”

Before the medicine man could respond, Abeer shoved her way past him too. She stood over his sick bed, as she stared at him in anger.

“What have you done! She seethed at him, “Have you no brain left in that thick skull of yours? You talk to yourself every night to no avail! I never hear any of it.” She leaned down. “I want a child, and I don’t care how I get it. I’ll choose a different father then. You are a failure.”

The bed creaked as Quon rose. “I wish I had not married you.”

“I will take what I must. She seethed, I don’t care what you did. This was our paradise. And now you ruined it. You came here and you promised us glory. You said you trusted god, and now look where that trust has gotten you. Our marriage is as good as dead.”

“It's all the sky's fault! Spat Quon, but she didn’t listen, she walked away without a word.

When she arrived through the door, she immediately felt a presence that should have not been such. “Who is here?” She asked, but not sure to who exactly.

Slowly, the figure of a man came through the other room. He was handsome, not the most handsome man in the village, but he was certainly attractive. His hair looked to be made up of shards. Though she was not sure what color they were, she didn’t care. He was certainly a pleasant sight. As for the man's body, he was astonishingly fit and well fed. And he glowed a mysterious light.

“I hear that you want children. Would you like to have a god’s children?”

She stuttered for a few seconds, unable to form a sentence.

He moved forward in a blur, pushing his finger up into her jaw. She kept it closed after that. “Think of this as revenge, whether it be yours or mine…”

“Ahh ah ah.” He stopped her when she began to take off her clothes. I have one thing you need to do for me.

“Whatever it may be, I shall do for you,” She responded.

And so the last thing that Quon’s other wives and children saw was… Well, nothing. They were asleep when Abeer plunged a knife into their necks.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/W1kPGpzk/kld-ksad-lk-lsdk-removebg-preview.png]

When the day came around Leoy’Shaah found many small feces around her. Brushing them off, she looked to her left. A wall.

Then she looked to her right. Just a few feet away was a man’s rotting corpse.

Leoy’Shaah screamed and moved away. “Who’s there!?” A man’s voice rang out from the other side of the wall. She shuffled away from the wall. She didn’t respond, but the voice didn’t let up, “I know there’s someone there! What’s your crime?”

Leoy’Shaah shakily turned back to face the deceased body. It was shriveled and dried up, mostly a skeleton with a few pieces of flesh here and there. Leoy’Shaah saw the skull had a large crack in it.

Then she knew how this man died.

She got up, fearless, although she knew she could still experience pain. “Who’s asking?” She replied.

Something in the shadows moved, a wood plank it seemed. It fell from the wall like a bunch of rotting plantains. Its sound echoed through the walls.

“Come here.”

She crept closer, trying not to give away her exact location. It was a hole, and on the other side was more prisons.

And more prisoners.

“Tell me your name.”

“Leoy’Shaah,” she responded without hesitation. The hole was big enough that someone could easily fit through.

“Ahhhnnn… That’s a nice name. Tell me, Leoy’Shaah, why are you here?”

“I challenged the authority of Quon, and the power of god.”

The man took another labored breath. “The man in your room was a shaman. He refused to heal Quon of his old age. He was put here when he was forty, fifty years ago. I watched him die. I hope what you did was worth it Leoy’Shaah, because you’ll be staying here forever.”

Suddenly, Leoy’Shaah realized that somehow, the man was in the room with her. She shot to her feet again. “Do not fear, I am not here to harm you.” A man stepped out of the shadows, a very old man. His face was wrinkled and his skin as white as snow from lack of sun. He had no hair and almost no skin on his bones.

“How did you get in here?” Leoy’Shaah asked.

“There are many holes we’ve created. It's how we get around.” The man did not smile, but his voice was still lined with attitude, “Everyone in this prison is here for a reason. Any vile or disgusting thing you can imagine, or, like you claim, a simple act of defiance. Everyone tells their story here.”

“Or?” Leoy’Shaah questioned with more dismissiveness than she would have liked.

The man shrugged. “Then we kill you.”

“I’ve told you my name, at least tell me yours.”

“Eleren,” The old man said. He pointed to the other cell, “Pajek.”

“Who’s the new condemned?” Shouted a voice from further on the man’s side, causing Leoy’Shaah to remember there were more prisoners. Eleren turned back, “A girl named Leoy’Shaah!”

“What do you even want with me?”

Eleren’s face was completely static, but he spoke with mixed emotion, “Me? A few answers about you,” he jerked his head to the side where the other prisoner had spoken, “He, on the other hand… Wants to have his way with you, so I suggest you put this on,” he took off one of the clothes he wore and tossed it to Leoy’Shaah, who tied it into a robe.

“Oh, I just want to look, that's all!” Pajek exclaimed.

The Eleren leaned in close, “He’s blind, love. He sees things by touching them. Now, I hope you don’t mind telling me exactly why you’re here.”

So Leoy’Shaah told him, leaving out a few details, like Zayno, her strange visions, and meeting God himself. Luckily, Eleren seemed to buy it, and he left Leoy’Shaah in the shadows once more. Even though she was relieved, she still wondered why he didn’y question her story.

After a few days… Or was it a few hours? Leoy’Shaah’s stomach growled yet again. Hunger persisted. Normally, It would go away if she did not eat. As it did when she was stranded in the wilderness. But her mysterious transformation had many surprises. Pain never went away. hunger never went away.

Zayno’s words never went away.

You will live longer than anyone else. You will outlive your people. You will outlive your friends. You will outlive your enemies. All will be but a blur to you in the times to come. No harm shall come to you until I see you fit to carry your own mortality. You shall have no other ability besides immortality. You shall walk across all lands, sail across all seas, fly across all skies, and jump between stars and galaxies. You will see it all, Leoy’Shaah, you will see the evil and the good in the world. And… It is the universe.

Am I truly immortal? Leoy’Shaah thought, raising her hand. She had survived being cut, crushed, and burned. To what extent this power preserved her life, she did not know, and did not want to test, though she knew that no man nor beast fabled could survive such an event.

“I’m hungry,” Leoy’Shaah complained, her voice bouncing around the chamber like a wooden ball.

“Then eat something!” A voice shouted in the distance, followed by laughter.

“These people are delirious Leoy’Shaah. You think you and I have it bad, they have it worse! Their cell has no windows or holes, they are trapped in the shadows forever. Kept alive only by the food…” He raised his head up to the ceiling, “Sometimes I wish they would just stop giving them food… but they usually remember.”

Leoy’Shaah felt sick to her stomach, this was a place full of rot and death.

“Haven’t you eaten?” Eleren asked with a sort of kindness, “I received my meal yesterday, and although I would have to be on a different interval, I am most certain you would have to be fed by now.”

There was a bit of silence for a moment, for Leoy’Shaah sensed he was not done talking.

“I think that you are not here to be tortured… I think you are here to be killed.”

“Do you want some of my food?”

“Yes.”

Leoy’Shaah came to discover that Eleren was quite a generous man, for he had given her an amount of food that she sensed was the largest part of the ration. It would be simply foolish to believe that what she had been given was even half of an amount. No, it was the full amount.

Leoy’Shaah suspected this man of being suicidal.

She didn’t question it, of course, but it made her wonder, why now was he choosing to end his life and not years before. Was It the knowledge that he would have to sleep next to yet another suffering individual, and a young girl at that, that filled him with nihilism?

“Do you believe in God, Leoy’Shaah?” He asked as she was about to have another spoonful of what she suspected was animal slop. She set down the plate to an audible clatter.

“I have seen him with my own eyes.” Leoy’Shaah said abruptly. She awaited his response, but she became impatient, and spurred it, “Eleren, are you going to kill yourself?”

He shuffled, “No. The choice is not mine to make, unfortunately. I set my plate down. Every prisoner, excluding you, I suppose, gets a plate. Every plate comes in different sizes, and with different sizes, comes the amount of food you get. But back to the plate… Every plate has your crimes listed on it, and you see it every time you finish eating.”

“Haha! Too bad I can’t see! They can’t get me! Ahahaha!” One of the prisoners blurted.

Quivering, Leoy’Shaah took the deformed, rusting piece of silverware, and scraped away the slop.

Betrayal.

“B–”

“I suppose it's time to tell you my story. You know of a man named Quon, yes?”

Leoy’Shaah froze.

“I suppose you have, he’s still alive isn’t he? But he was not always this way. A few decades ago, before you were born, people in my town began to notice a black patch in the sky, and the weird anomalies that came with it.”

“My home village, If I remember clearly, we had several gods. They had the heads of animals, and we believed they possessed the souls of animals, making them divine, however, we began hearing voices, ones telling us our gods were fake and he was real. So we all became afraid, and things began to change. Our king was killed and a man took his place named Hrukain. He claimed to be the son of god and ordered the death of all who opposed him… So me and Quon fled. But as we trekked, Quon began to talk to himself and whisper strange things. I didn’t suspect much at first, but one night… We came upon a tribe. They were untrusting at first, but somehow, Quon managed to talk with them and convince them of things. At first, I thought he was making up a strange religion to gain their trust… But as the years went by, I began to realize that we were not alone.

“I had a sick feeling in my gut. This was not the Quon I knew. So I left the village, and ended up going back in the same direction I came. I found a few guards, luckily part of a rebellion. And they recognized me, as did I. One of them was my friend Rhuco. But, I made a shocking discovery, Rhuco had aged greatly, even though it had only been a few years! I was as shocked as he was. Rhuco told me that it had been many decades since he last saw me.”

“And then what?” Leoy’Shaah asked, losing her appetite.

“I was horrified, Leoy’Shaah. I have no clue as to what is happening in the world, but I know that it will only get worse.After I talked with a few witches, and they told me of whispers of heaven, that there was a black paste coating the cosmoes, and wreaking havoc. They said that these whispers came from God, the real God. The one we and others we have met worshipped all the same. But this black malice was giving birth to abominations, horrors… That should have never graced our eyes.”

“And these witches. Witches before had no real power. But now, it is an art form. People are learning these terrifying new rules, and they are using them as they please.”

“When I told Rhuco of my adventures, he told me that Quon was incubating a god. Not God… But a new god. One that was rapidly growing in power.”

“Rhuco was old when I last met him. He is probably dead as we speak, but I saw that face. A face that had witnessed horrors tenfold more than I! He saw men go insane and become monstrous… not even human. He told me that some men and women were promised power, wealth and life by incubating a god. They raised these gods, and they became unpredictable.”

Leoy’Shaah recalled what she saw at the stone pit. Quon talking to a humanoid creature.

“There is something I wish to tell you…” Leoy’Shaah said.

\

Eleren scoffed, “I knew you were hiding the truth from me! Come now, tell me your story!”

And so Leoy’Shaah told him everything. She told him about Quon, about the god that she saw, about her childhood, her dreams…

And about Zayno, and how he met god.

“What did the god say to you?”

“He told me that I will live forever.”

“Rhuco told me that no matter how powerful each god is, they cannot make anyone immortal. Rhuco waged war against Hrukain for decades, and his soldiers were anything but immortal. They were stronger, faster than normal humans, but they were certainly not immortal.”

Eleren was silent for a bit after that.

“I don’t understand.” Leoy’Shaah said, simply, “What does any of that mean?!”

Eleren simply looked at her in sadness. “You, and every one here, were a simple mission project. You’ve been lied to. And Quon has prayed to another god to fight the one that held a leash on him. But now, if what youve told me is true, those strange men who visit every so often… they are preparing to take what their god says they have inherited.” Then Elenren began to do something that Leoy’Shaah didn’t expect: He began to cry.

“Do you believe in God, Leoy’Shaah?” Eleren asked again, when he was finished.

“Yes.” Leoy’Shaah replied simply.

“Do you think he is who he claims to be?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think he is benevolent?”

“I hope so.”

“Then let us hope he is the one.”

Later that season, the Unbon and other unknown forces drove the lizal-beasts away, resuming the travel of many, both good and bad.

Later that year, a woman, pregnant with three children, fled the village, where she gave birth in a remote settlement.

Later that decade, Leoy’Shaah was released from her imprisonment. She would come to find the town she knew had completely changed. Old wounds healed, but new ones were created.

Would she finally find a place in this society? All in due time, perhaps.