Almighty Amaranth stared into his open palm.
There sat a miniature blue sun.
Pulsing...like a heart. Glowing and dimming. Growing and shrinking.
By his will.
The entire throne room was lit by its azure light, all at once turning every hue into blue. Black marble and lapis lazuli walls were cast in blue light, as were the priests, lords, and guards in their glamorous robes and heavy armor. The marble floor, along with the six foot-wide canal that were flanked by rows of palm trees on each side, all were cast in this holy light that emerged from the Pharaoh's hand.
If only its surface was unmarred.
Nearly half of the azure star was covered in inky darkness. Not the kind that provides comfort in the night, not the kind where the night sky would exemplify all the stars in its cover.
This darkness was death. An evil and uncaring death forever imprisoning anyone it caught and never giving them peace.
His Divine Will still stared into the miniature star in his right hand.
He clenched his palm into a fist.
The azure star obeyed, and phased into nothingness.
The Pharaoh looked to his court.
"My vassals, what you just saw is a secret the royal family, my family has been harboring since the beginning of our glorious empire. It represents the life of all of my subjects. It shows me their suffering, it shows me their hunger, it shows me their contentment. It is why my family has never been dethroned and why I hold your sincere loyalty." he informed them while using his left hand to point at his right hand, his left index finger stretching towards its counter part.
“but it seems that our end is nigh. As you all undoubtedly know by now, we have been hit by a plague. A plague that not only takes our loved ones and subjects away, but brings them back and makes them its harbinger. A plague that by all means, appears sentient.”
"You and your clergy may continue from there, Holy Priest," Pharaoh Amaranth replied while gesturing her to do so with his open right palm.
"The plague seems to be not only intelligent but specifically tailored to us. It has taken the ports and economic centres first then is moving inland slowly and methodically towards the capital"
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“it has left lands barren and even animals are unable to avoid its grasp”
“It has collapsed tunnels known only by those who constructed them”
“it has cut all avenues of escape across the border”
“it has filled the very air with its vile magic and prevents us from using even the very basic of spells”
“the death of the empire is nigh”
“but even in death none if its citizens shall find peace ”
“””it has been foreseen”””
“thank you, my love”
“some of you may still want to hold them in doubt. But you have borne witness to it yourself.
There is no one in this hall that has not lost a family member and seen them shamble forward towards you as an unkillable monstrosity. None within the confines of the empire will survive, of that I am certain. Thus I bring to you a proposal.”
“We fight it and accept an honorable Death, so that none are affected again”
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Marduk had always been a martial man. He had loved conflict for as long as he could remember.
It got his blood boiling like no other. This was not conflict. This was not war. It was a pity really. He would have enjoyed himself if his opponents were humans or even monsters. Not shambling monstrosities of flesh which only know to advance and kill-- advance and kill-- advance and killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill----
He took a deep breath. It would do no good for the lord protector to go into a blood rage right now and go for a suicidal attack now would it.
Having virtually all of his descendants on the shambling side certainly didn’t help.
“the formations all over the city have been set up My lord” Ludwig dutifully informs me, the reliable right hand man he is. Never understood really why he cant hold a family properly—
“my lord?”
“ah yes Ludwig sorry about that. I’ve been brooding too much recently”
“that does tend to happen when one needs to take all of his subjects and walk towards their own death”
“do you think we will be allowed rest after this?” marduk asked.
“we are soldiers my lord. We tied our souls to its people when we made our oaths. But, I do not know. You can always hope though”
The estate seemed more desolate after that.
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To a normal human being, the skies represent the unreachable, they represent the gods, in all of their unfathomable power and cruelty. They also represent freedom and humanity, for all their flaws, for all their diversity, for all their greed, has always, always craved freedom. Freedom of all kinds,
Even death.
If one looked at the Kersalte empire from the skies at night recently, one would see a wave of black reaching inside from its borders. But tonight, tonight one would see splotches of fire. Fire slowly burning through the black to leave the land scorched and barren, unable to harbor life for thousands of years. Fire that burned with the souls of willing citizens with only the wish of cleansing the filth that had ailed them so thoroughly as to never ail any other being again. Fire addled with the screams of countless tortured souls ending in almost a sigh of relief as they were annihilated.
On the ground, the once grand empire burned and turned to ashes.
In the skies, their god wept. Wept for the innocence that was lost and the anger that was created.
The god wept, wept and entered slumber.