The tires screeched, the bus halted at a nature preserve.

Emma paid the toll with old coins and crumbled notes.

As she stood outside, she took a light breath of hope.

She knew how close she was to an unparalleled discovery.

Through bush, shrub, and swampy waters, she marched.

She needed a spot, a place, to perform her magical rune.

Behind Emma, the creature stalked under every shadow.

It waited with dark teeth, its lips eager to whisper to her.

Yet it knew better, magic only works with concentration.

They sealed their lips so they shouldn’t disturb Emma.

New secrets weren’t necessary, not when she was so close.

Far from civilization, far from any soul, Emma sat alone.

She found her spot to perform her corrupted and dark spell.

On a large stone, she pushed away leaves and muck.

She wanted the surface clean, clean of anything wrong.

‘Truth requires the absence of flaws,’ for that was her belief.

She noticed she had forgotten her tool, a curved blade.

A minor inconvenience, Emma knew she didn’t require it.

She bit the tip of her fingers, blood gushed out violently.

Then she looked at her wrist, her nails tore at flesh and vein.

With her blood blackened by corruption, she drew a rune.

A ten-pointed star, each point a time, place, and concept.

Each line is a symbol, every space a realm of horrific truth.

A rune of power, one to help her understand, to find answers.

As the rune glowed and sang with energies with her chants.

The creature, far away, watched intently, its eyes widened.

The more Emma chanted, the closer she felt to the source.

Each chant a word of power, each syllable a ward of terror.

The rock shook and rattled as the rune’s potential grew.

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Without warning, the rune’s light broke into Emma’s eyes.

She wanted to see the future, worlds beyond, possibilities.

Emma dreamed of a world of beauty and a land of hopes.

Yet all she saw was darkness and a world of broken bodies.

All gods were dead, slain by a man claiming to be human.

She saw empires rise and fall, how the histories changed.

Emma desired the future, but all she got was humanity’s past.

Horror, unmatched horror, the world burned and reborn.

The people shackled, butchered, reforged, and molested.

A world of suffering, a species impotent and undeserving.

Emma’s visions showed her that humanity needs to die.

It is a species of rot, its achievements bathed in blood.

But behind it all, humanity was defended by one man.

A person who never aged, who stood with humankind.

A defender of humanity and warrior against horrificas.

But a murderer, faith breaker, kinslayer, evil incarnate.

A true mirror of humanity, the embodiment of all its flaws.

He is humanity's wrath, the first of destruction and death.

As the rune’s power died, so did Emma’s unholy visions.

She collapsed, her body weak, her bones brittle by magic.

The flies feasted on her wounds when her eyes melted.

Her skull lay bare, her teeth all shattered from the spell.

But the creature was disappointed, breaking its hopes.

She failed to find truth; she failed to gaze into the future.

It looked at her body before it left without turning back.

Alone, and unwanted, Emma died without being found.

Everyone would believe she disappeared for no reason.

As the city’s lights flared and the horns of traffic sang.

The creature of secrets returned, under the dim streetlight.