Death is not my domain to rule. It already has a master, a Hound that governs that final journey one takes in this lifetime.

A final journey that fuels its power and invigorates its Concepts.

Oh, the Hound of the Withered Moon. One of the few intact gods left in the Fathoms—and what a god at that. This one has been here longer than I by far. Eons and eons, with countless trillions feeding their abyss, with accords struck with existing powers like the Unfallen, and the dread of the Dying Queen…

A story, dear Sinner. When I first became the Harbinger, I tried to do something foolish: I tried to cage the Hound and usurp their power. I succeed—and lived to regret it, for though you can bottle the avatar, you cannot cage a Concept, and when you cannot control the rules of death…

Things in life grow very difficult to manage indeed.

Thankfully, the Hound is a creature born of cold indifference. No grudges burn in that frosted vacancy where their heart should be. Ah, but they always demand their due, and though you can clench the strands of life, all death veers toward the Hound, and everything before the end passes over his precipice.

Yet, they are also not unreasonable, and all lives end as flavors on their tongue, it is they who decide when the story ends… and if you get a little bit of an extension.

-Mepheleon the Harbinger

II-50

The Offering

“What?” The word left Agnesia as a whisper, but Wei felt her arms tremble. She staggered toward the Hound, still bearing him in her arms.

“Agnesia,” Wei groaned. “Wait…” Then he saw her face and knew it was useless. Her eyes were distant — locked entirely on the Hound, on the river that deposited her mother into the God of Death’s grasp. He tried to move, and this time his limbs responded more than before, but he was still broken in several places and in no condition for another fight.

“No, stop! Put her down! Give her back!” Agnesia’s strides grew greater, and the draconic avatar that represented her power flared around her person, searing the very air itself. Her eyes were hollow pits that brightened with dots of roaring flame, and Wei could feel the Essence pouring out from her.

Despite this, the Hound barely regarded her, choosing instead to hold Ellena’s unmoving body aloft. The way the former queen’s limbs dangled made Wei’s stomach turn. He didn’t want to see her like this, he didn’t want to believe—Mepheleon promised. The Harbinger saved her. Why—why else would he have called out to Wei? Perhaps this was all an illusion created by Bishop to help him.

“Hmm. An unfinished phylactery. One of those bastard Resurrection Skills designed in mimicry of my Concept. I see. That is how he held onto her Mind. Quite the feat. Quite the insult.”

“Put her down!” Agnesia repeated. Her voice trembled with the tenor of a crackling firestorm, and tendrils of burning pain rather than comforting warmth burrowed their way through Wei’s shattered armor and into his flesh. But before she could reach the Hound, Wei felt a thread of Psionic Essence zip out from Bishop and pierce her mind. The burning flames leaking from her eyes went out. Agnesia let out a gasp as she twitched, face contorting with effort.

“Agnesia,” Wei hissed. He turned his attention to Bishop with disbelief. “Bishop! What are you doing?”

“Making sure the deal goes through without any more tragedies or setbacks,” Bishop said.

A link connected him to Agnesia, and he offered Wei an apologetic look. Didn’t want you to find out this way, kid, but the big players have to cash in their checks sometimes, and all too often, it’s the little ones that pay the price.”

Wei mustered his Ambition and formed his scythe once more. “Release her. Release—” His words cut off as a pulse of psionic energy pulled William Yu into this realm as well. Wei felt his mind go blank for a moment as he saw his father standing next to Bishop. The man displayed a naked grimace on his face, clearly displeased with the unfolding scene as well. More than that, though, he already had a link connecting him to Bishop. “What is this? Have you been planning—”

Then, a crushing power pulsed out from his father, and Mepheleon’s voice emanated from William Yu’s mouth. “Oh, no, I just needed a vessel to communicate through.”

“Harbinger,” Wei growled. He planted a hand against Agnesia’s shoulder and, with a considerable effort, clambered out of her arms. He nearly collapsed as soon as his feet touched the ground, clinging to the girl’s arms just to remain upright.

The sound of footsteps crushing supple snow and ash foretold William’s approach. Wei’s heart tightened. This felt like a betrayal, yet Wei didn’t even fully understand what was happening. Again, he was just a bit player in the scene, lost to the whims of greater powers. Again, he failed to guard what was his, and now found himself used as an instrument for someone else to achieve their means.

“Weakness is the highest sin,” the Shell muttered within Wei.

“Oh, do wipe that furious expression from your face, boy. I’ve come to make your life a merry one. As merry as I can make it, anyhow.” Hearing Mepheleon’s voice echo out from his father continued to be an unnerving experience. “With this, perhaps a new bargain can be struck. An arrangement of sorts between two System-hosts and an old god.”

“I don’t understand,” Wei said, scythe still aglow between his fingers.

Mepheleon stood next to him and grinned. He grinned with William Yu’s face. “Before anything else, you have my condolences. It is rare that someone suffers a Shakespearean tragedy of your magnitude. Your father… he agreed to so many things just to see you protected. In the end, he still cares so much for you. Just not as much as he does for himself.”

Wei didn’t understand why Mepheleon was telling him this.

The Harbinger reached out and touched Wei’s arm. A surge of restoration poured through, flooding Wei with a spike of Healing Essence. The young master let out a ragged cry of surprise as strength poured through his veins and made his muscles felt like they were about to tear from his bones. Yet, he was standing of his own accord, of his own power.

Blessed with [Surging Might]

“Come along,” Mepheleon said, walking right past the young master. Wei shot a look at Agnesia.

“But—”

“She’ll be fine. It’s just her mind that’s been seized. Oh, a thing of recommendation: Do remember to have your so-called disciples get mind-protecting abilities. That, and other means of shoring up their weaker Aspects. There are many Skills and Invocations that target what one lacks. Vicious as the princess is, she is no sophisticated thinker, nor does she have your Will.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Wei shot Agnesia a final glance and found her eyes affixed on him. He swallowed. “I—I will do whatever I can to… to…” He turned a glare on Bishop. “We must speak after this.”

“Sure,” Bishop said. “But you’re going to want to speak to the actual people that matter here right now.”

Following Mepheleon to greet the Hound, Wei felt his spirit squeezed between two colossal presences. Yet, it also felt like they were keeping their powers restrained. Or like their present bodies only held slivers of their true power.

“Greetings, Hound,” Mepheleon said, offering a bow to the God of Death. “You are a hard one to locate. Why, it took gathering a Scion of Ignium, the last known Concept-Breaker in the Fathoms, and two beings that escaped your final judgement to keep your interest and stop you from fleeing.”

“Speak plainly, Serpent-Tongue,” the Hound said. They brushed Ellena’s face with fingers of jagged frost. Each motion was at once dangerous and delicate. With any bit of force, he could have torn into her, flensed her body open. But he took special care when observing her corpse, as if an artisan observing a faulty piece. “You will start by explaining to me the meaning of your insult. And how you managed to steal back her Aspect of Mind and entomb it in this vessel when I have already claimed the rest of her.”

“Oh, it was no boast-worthy feat. It just required another one of your Scions was all.”

The Hound froze and when it turned its hollow eyes on Mepheleon, Wei caught a sense of tangible anger radiating from the God of Death. All of a sudden, the Hound’s control slipped slightly, and the young master gasped as what felt like a falling world slammed down on his chest. There was weight… so much weight that darkness crept along the corners of his vision. Just standing next to the Hound required a Herculean effort. And just like that, even Mepheleon’s spiritual presence was dethroned.

Hound of the Withered Moon: God of Death Lv. [Pillar]

“Pillar?” Wei breathed.

“Some entities are not quantifiable,” Mepheleon answered. “Some are more a part of the world: An avatar that serves as the embodiment of a set of Concepts. Some called them gods, but the Antediluvians called them Pillars. Pillars that were meant to hold the structure of the Fathoms.”

Wei’s mind was still reeling when another part of their conversation struck him. “Wait. He said you managed to steal an Aspect back from him. Lady Ellena’s mind…” Wei’s breath came faster, misted the air.

“Yes. The other parts of her were relatively easy to replace. I simply attached a small portion of myself to her. But though one’s Will might be the expression of a spirit, it is the mind that defines you, that allows you to express yourself for how you are. It is also not essential for your dietary demands, is it, Hound?"

“It is still mine,” the Hound of the Withered Moon growled. Within the opened jaws of its snarling helmet, the Bastard’s eyes snapped wide, and he noticed Wei briefly before his gaze glossed over again. “The Final End will not accept an incomplete spirit.”

“Do not think of it as incomplete,” Mepheleon grinned. “Think of it as a temporary delay—and an invitation.”

“I have no interest in whatever you offer,” the Hound replied. “There will be no bargains struck. You took what is mine. You now return what is mine. And I will try to feed from your bones, host. For this transgression goes again the parameters of my functionality.”

“But I didn’t come here offering bargains. I simply wanted to keep your attention long enough so I could give you something rather than taking more from you. Tell me: How would you like access to Earth?”

The Hound went very still at that. “The Vault of Origination is barred to us.”

“For now. But should someone reach Earth and access the vault… they could change the rules. And release the restrictions placed on you and the other pillars. After that, you might be able to shape yourself into whatever you wish to be. Or stay the same. Either way, your parameters will no longer be bound to your original design. That, and you’ll have a whole new set of entities to process. I understand that Trespassers cause… issues when you try to claim them?”

“This is beyond your power to promise,” the Hound said.

“But not his,” Mepheleon laughed. He gestured toward Wei, and young master looked between the two. Once again, everything tilted toward Earth. Everything. “The last Concept-Breaker. Or least, the last we have on hand. With him, the vault might as well be open to us.”

“Us,” the Hound said. “We are not of an allegiance.”

“No. We are. You are going to agree because I am going to offer you something: My spirit. My spirit in exchange for the queen being returned — at least for a while — and your assistance in war to come. And before you protest, don’t worry, I know about the bargain between you and the Unfallen. I will not force you to turn your blessings from the Deathless Lords—nor can I.”

Following his shocking statements, Mepheleon held out a hand and offered it to the Hound. Atop his fingertips combusted a contract—one potent with Essence and aching with power. Wei could feel it: So much authority it made his spirit ache to behold.

“This is… irrational of you, Realm-Shaper,” the Hound said. Their hand twitched, however. Their interest was piqued. That couldn’t be denied.

“Rationality is a most overrated trait. This game is played best by the made and selectively reckless. So. Are you interested in hearing more? Or did I go through all this trouble to meet with you for nothing?”

The Hound didn’t respond immediately. Instead, they returned their attention to Ellena again, and from the sheer fall behind them rose a surging eruption of darkness. Wei beheld the abyss with his Omniscience, but his mind reeled as flickering numerals and other symbols began to climb higher like an inverted waterfall.

Concept Origination detected…

From the rising pillar of darkness emerged the outline of a woman—Queen Ellena of Dawnrest. Her body was fused back together, mote by mote, bit by bit, until an Essence replica of her being was projected out from the darkness and back into the Hound. As her spirit fused with his being, the Hound’s jaws expanded, and a tide of blackness poured out of the Bastard’s orifices, tunneling into Ellena’s unmoving corpse.

Her spirit returned as if a cup being filled with water. Wei felt her coming back together, a complex interplay of powers melding with the single facet Mepheleon stole from the Hound. In seconds, Ellena was returning to herself, and Mepheleon sported a gleeful smile at the sight. A sudden gasp sounded from the queen’s form, and she writhed in the Hound’s grasp.

They placed her upon the ash and snow before taking a few steps forward. As they craned their head, gargantuan form looming over Mepheleon’s borrowed vessel, it let out a huff of coldness. “The contract requires an amendment.”

“Oh? What kind?”

“I demand another entity as collateral as well in advance. Something of value to you.”

“Of course, there are—”

“Him.” The Hound pointed to Wei. “The Concept-Breaker. I wish for him to enter into a pact with my Scion. This is non-negotiable. I wish to confer with the Breaker as well—there is something I will demand of them.”

Mepheleon fell silent and looked at Wei. “Well, now. Thrust into the spotlight again. Come along, young master. Time for you to come to the table with the adults.”

Wei licked his lips and did his best to hide his nervousness. “I… I dare not offend you, great god, but I wish to know what you want of me. And what harm agreeing will inflict upon me?”

“No harm. You were meant to be mine.” The Hound spoke their words with casual coldness. “Alongside your parent—” Darkness cascaded around the Hound’s form, and its form changed. Changed into a face Wei knew all too well, sporting green eyes the same hue as his, and a regal bearing he saw in his nightmares. Wei’s gut twisted into a knot of pain. “In fact… would you like to speak with her again, once more?”

A note of casual amusement tinged the Hound’s voice, even as it spoke using his mother as an avatar.

Wei swallowed. “More than anything. I… I consent. To whatever you demand of me for this bargain. I consent.”

The Hound nodded. The former Matriarch of the Drowned Sky Sect smiled. And darkness spread out from her. A darkness that wrapped around her, Wei, and the Harbinger, drawing them tighter into a realm within a realm…