“What you have witnessed just now was the fate of the original team sent to stop the call,” Artificer said, as the wall behind him turned back to normal. “The Dominion kept their word and let our forces go back to our borders. We sent a drone to negotiate the release of the prisoner, but it got broken shortly after entering the Desolation. With two crises on our hands, Iterna’s resources are stretched thin, leading to the government’s unwillingness to spend any more manpower on such an insignificant task. So here we are. While the mission has the full blessing of Iterna’s government, technically I fund this operation out of my pocket.”

“Worry not. Rho Biotechnology Enterprises has pledged full support to the case,” Augustus added. “Any injury will be taken care of upon returning,” He turned to look at the sitting people. “If you feel uncertainty after learning the full scope of this mission, it is understandable. If needed, I will go alone…”

“I already said, I am going.” Smar slammed her palm against the table.

“No way am I missing this adventure and letting you risk your necks alone.” Ratcatcher nodded, feeling excitement despite the horrifying scenes she just witnessed. A true test of her skills! Do or die! And the Elite himself trusted her enough to bring her on the team! What could be better? “But, eww, RBE, really? Last time I visited them, their doctors had advised me to reshape my body into something more human.” She gestured at her face. “Not sure if I am willing to trust them with my body and not mess up something. How about the usual clinic?”

“No,” Artificer replied sternly. “If worst comes to pass, I myself will keep watch to ensure your safety in their hands. You are not turning down the best medical services in Iterna, Elisa.”

Hearing the loud snap of bones, everyone looked at Kayleen. The moment the recording stopped, the Wolfkin returned to stuffing her belly, reaching out for seemingly never-ending food like a starvation victim, crushing roasted piglets along with bones, mixing soda with chocolate cocktails, and gulping down kebabs along with bread and a wooden stick. Sensing the attention, Kayleen moved an ear.

“What?”

“How can you eat at a moment like this? Don’t you feel bothered by what you just saw?” Ratcatcher demanded to know, pointing at the wall.

“Sure I am,” Kayleen belched, drinking that disgusting mix of soda and chocolate. “I’d like to be there to test my claws and fangs against this peacock. Also, I’ve never tasted flesh from either a Changed or a Naturalborn...”

“Is this all you care about? What about people dying out there?”

“What about them? The state frowns when we eat human flesh…”

“I meant their deaths! These people died, Kayleen! Their families and friends will never see them again!”

“People are dying all the time, Ratcatcher. It’s sad and all, but I don’t know them and will not insult their memory by pretending to care.” Kayleen waved her paw. “Anyway. The Dynast had already given me an order. I’m in. But I am keeping the prosthetics after the mission.”

“Impossible,” Artificer quickly replied, walking to the table and ignoring the angry stare. “This is not negotiable. Should your body grow, the prosthetics will be in need of adjustment. Imagine seeing a doctor after each ‘reward’ from your power. No, it is better to allow the doctors to fully restore your organic body…”

“Liar.” Kayleen spat a bone, and it ricocheted against his visor. “There’s no way you’d send me with the team if I could be a liability. You and I both know that I reached my peak years ago. What you see is what I am, no more, no less. No, I think you are worried about our doctors copying these wonderful toys, ain’t cha?” She spread her metal arm to the left, allowing claws to slide forward. “Listen, if this is the reason, fine, I agree, not like I have any say in this. Just stop lying, okay?”

“I apologize.” Artificer sat next to Augustus, tapping at the table with his fingers. “Your suspicions are true.”

“Ha! Knew it!”

“Also, I have taken the liberty of taking your power armor and shardgun apart and bringing them up to Iterna’s standards.”

“Son of a whore!”

****

When Mother walked into the private praying room, the blackened pillars on the far side of the room filled her with awe. A simple-looking steel brazier decorated each column, currently leaving the chamber covered in darkness. A series of crude stone slabs rose from the floor, the masons involved in the construction of this temple had chopped this entire room out of a single, gigantic block of stone. Everything, from the stone pillars and a pit before them to the ceiling and floor, was interconnected. Words of prayer decorated each curve of the columns, barely visible under the thick layer of ash.

No priest has ever stopped in this small temple, located deep below the capital city. No mason had survived this construction, Mother had seen to that. Let others in the Dominion shape their own superstitions, the one true God belonged only to Mother and her beautiful, stubborn son. In time, Brother will inherit this place, becoming the high priest of a new, proper world.

She walked across the room without noticing the slaves’ muffled screams. Her steps made the ash fall off the columns. With her index finger, she touched a male’s chest, bulging it down and causing the man to spit crimson at the gag. Through the pitch-black darkness, her eyes picked up the slave’s panicked expression, saw his eyes that were about to fall from eye sockets, and how his gag quickly turned wet. Unwilling to wait, she pressed further, collapsing the chest and the organs within. After a gurgle, the man’s body twitched violently, steel chains deeply cutting into his wrists, and he went limp forever.

First sacrifice. Mother lifted her finger to her lips and licked off some of the blood from her nail. As amusing as this was, the time has come to honor God in a manner befitting his status. Looming over the sacrifices, she touched their bodies with a light tap that led to all of them screaming at the top of their lungs. Mother changed their bodies, turning on every single pain receptor in their bodies. With no way to turn it off. Surrounded by the muffled screams, Mother walked to the dais before the columns and prostrated herself, almost feeling how the room became thick with agony.

One by one, the screams went off. Without dealing a single wound, Mother had killed forty-nine people by inflicting grievous torture potent enough that a human’s heart stopped on its own, unable to keep living through the pain. This was the gift that the God bestowed upon her and what cemented her position as a queen of these lands. God had chosen her, and Mother will never fail him.

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

“Distracting the boss, eh?” She jumped to her feet at the sound of this rough voice.

How did he get here? She cursed to herself, witnessing fingers grabbing one column on the western part of the room. A truly gigantic, six-meter-tall body squeezed itself through a narrow passageway. Where she wore a regal gown and golden trinkets to honor God, the intruder was dressed only in ragged shorts. His rough gray skin bulged with barely hidden muscles that ran like ropes all across his torso. A tail came from behind the man’s back, and a hissing snake at the end of it looked at offerings with barely held back hunger. With a chuckle, the intruder moved the long, reddish-scaled tail, and feasting has begun.

“How dare you intrude in this holy place, Horseface?” Mother’s fingers twitched at the barely held rage.

“You didn’t mind me the last time we were here.” Horseface came closer, his head and jaws protruded forward, granting him distorted facial features, his brown eyes were set too far to the sides, the nostrils were located far too far from the lips. Smiling with his perfectly normal teeth, Horseface lustfully licked his lips with his purple tongue.

“Is this why you came?” Mother bit down on the rage, striding to him and allowing her fingers to caress his mighty, impressive abs. Just like she was looming over the slaves, so too he was looming at her, a predator eager to tear down and devour. Enduring his breath filled with a smell of rotten meat, Mother almost had the thought of trying to rearrange his organs, knowing full well that this would spell her doom.

“Maybe. Or maybe.” Horseface grabbed her hand, nearly breaking every bone with the lightest push. “I came to test a little pipsqueak and see if he is worthy of a sperm I wasted on you.”

“Worthy? Horseface, he’ll kill you!” Mother laughed in his face, enjoying the scowl on his face when she appeared two steps away from him. Little Brother would be venerated by eating the guts of this shit of a father… But no, not now. The struggle between the two would destroy the capital. “Where have you been, anyway?”

Horseface disappeared from her sight, and she felt his disgusting breath at the back of her neck. Struggling not to run, she held her ground, hearing the sound of rustling bones behind her. Horseface’s tail slithered into the pit and now helped itself with the bodies of offerings and her former husbands. One day. Mother promised herself, clenching her fists. God can’t have a need for this degenerate for much longer. Whatever he could do, Brother could do better.

“I did the usual stuff. Walked around the planet, throttling the life out of every human I met. Recently I had paid a visit to the north,” The rough voice changed, and he grabbed Mother by the head, making her look at him. “You should have seen it. A single pillar that connects an entire island with the ocean’s floor. Tough enough to support the island itself and the three cities above it. And I tore through this pillar. In one move, I had shattered this mix of stone and ice and grabbed the upper end, turning the island to the side,” Horseface’s lips spread in a blissful smile. “Thousands of voices screamed in unison, panicking, trying to escape… Oh how I longed to stay and kill them all, silencing this part of the miserable blight known as humanity! But alas, our boss told me to come back, worried that I might attract an Elite.”

“Because you are not strong enough.” A voice spoke in their heads, and braziers came to life, spilling fire on the ground and creating walls of flame around the room’s edges.

Mother broke free from Horseface’s embrace, prostrating herself before the pit. There, behind the pillars, stood God, a shadow walking behind the furious, cackling flame, weaving around fiery tongues that licked the pillars. Like before, she felt his touch in her mind—a blessing and calming communion. God, the true God, has come.

In the days after the Extinction, she was lost, like so many others. The world in which she had built her career and reached incredible heights simply disappeared in a single flash of destruction. The cities turned into death traps, food became rotten, and water evaporated, leaving her hungry, broken, and weak. A piece of glow fell from the skies, ending her family but changing her into something better, stronger, and more worthy of life. Like always, she exceeded where others failed, but to what end? Humanity, this blasted, useful relic hellbent on dragging even the lowest dregs of society to the supposed better future, had finally grinded itself to a halt. No doubt some degenerate somewhere pressed a button, unleashing hell and triggering a chain reaction across the world.

God found her. He offered her a purpose and a place in his new, better world and gave her a new power. She became a godsworn. Humanity had its chances. It was their job to remove the parasites from the planet so God could start all over again. With his blessing, she had created Naturalborns and Changed, tools to be used and discarded to bring about his will.

“I can break them, boss.” Horseface slapped his hands together, producing a sonic boom that sent Mother a few steps away. “Just let me have a go at them. If you’re worried, just give me another power and…”

“You dare?!“ Unseen fingers slapped Horseface across the lips, drawing blood, ethereal fingers grabbed him and flung him back, landing him on his knees. “I gave you power once, when you begged me for salvation, and now you dare to ask for another boon? Know your place, Eustas, and follow your orders, forever and ever.” Mother felt God’s gaze falling on her. “Report. Is Brother ready to swear the oath?“

“The boy is still stubborn, but it will pass, my liege.” Both she and Horseface received their blessings from God. Brother was born through their union, the single strongest Naturalborn to ever walk across the Desolation. God spoke to the boy, both inside his egg and outside it, trying to steer the young king to accept his blessing and reach his true potential. Alas, Brother saw no divinity in the God, not yet anyway. “We had an intrusion, sire.”

“An intrusion? Into my domain?“ She felt her very bones being pushed into the stone floor.

“We have punished the interlopers! We did, sire!” The pressure left her, and Mother gasped for air, sprawling across the floor. She rose on her trembling arms and continued, trying to keep her voice even. “They were Iternians, oh supreme one.”

“Curious…“ She heard footsteps and a shadow fall on her. Despite the raging fire, the merest touch of the shadow made her cold. “This can only mean that they, too, are aware of this call. Have you found its source yet?

“No, oh, the most terrifying one,” Mother whimpered, feeling her eardrum getting ruptured at his displeasure.

“Search everywhere. The sand, ruins, and underground—dig through mountains but find and quench the source of this disruption before it can attract Ravager.”

“Let her come, boss.” Horseface stood up, walking closer to the pit. “Her spine will shatter against my knee, and her heart will serve as my offering to your eternal glory.”

“Is this why, in all these years, you had taken such careful precautions not to engage her, Dominator or Devourer?” The shadow behind the flames grew bigger, almost swallowing the flames. His voice turned from a whisper to a roaring tornado in their heads, forcing Mother to almost lose her conscience from the sheer pain. “Don’t think I am without eyes, servant.”

“My liege… Please! A moment of your time!” Mother begged, and God looked at her. A perfect hand came from the shadow, touching the pillar. “I have called you because my augur assured me that Iterna will send another expedition.”

“Summon your court. Find them, capture them, and squeeze everything you can out of them. Brother is not to leave the capital!” His voice lacerated her brain like no other whip could. “Horseface, stay near the Desolation, and ensure that Mother won’t be disturbed. Aside from that, feel free to indulge in your natural urges.”

“Of course, my liege! For the sake of the new world, your will shall be done!” Mother felt her body reinvigorated, the blood stopped coming from her ear, and the usual clarity came back. Standing up, she clutched both hands, looking with sheer adoration at the shadow behind the fire. Horseface only grunted in approval.

“Where humans suffer and die, there you will find me,” God chuckled, disappearing along with the flames.