Juddken knew it none of it was real. So many unusual things had happened. Okkan had to be testing him, putting his body and mind to the brink. Heikk becoming the Healer. The Manor erupting into flames. Demons ripping the faithful to pieces. His father, eyes blackened and mouth agape, commanding him to turn back. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t have been him. It had to have been a monster that replaced his father.

Since then, the voices shouted unceasingly. They were his punishment.

“ mimimimimimimimimimimimi ”

The high-pitched voice mumbled incessantly. Even as Juddken covered his ears it persisted. What voice was Okkan speaking to him as? How did he recognize it?

The throne room torches had dimmed, and Juddken would have to relight them. Water leaked from the triangular passageway now, flowing into the canals on his side of the room. Unless it was another vision, of course. Even now, as the water pooled around his armor, he was no longer sure.

“ mimimimimimimimimimi ”

Juddken looked up at his shrine, that magnificent tower of flesh and bone. He had done a marvelous job flaying their skin. He would soon lay it over the arms, draping them in a flag that Okkan would approve. But why had the voices continued? Why could Juddken not recall who made the high-pitched voice? Was it not enough?

Stolen novel; please report.

He accepted his father was a false conduit. He accepted his followers were impure. Okkan had reduced them all to cinder and dust. Juddken was all that remained.

Juddken closed his eyes, hoping the visions would go away. Instead, he saw his mother cradling a swaddle of centipedes and spiders. His mother flicked her lips repeatedly, cooing the festering abomination.

“ mimimimimimimi ”

Juddken opened his eyes in fright. He'd heard the corpse of a mother. If he still had his dagger, he would have driven it straight into his ears. The centipedes crawled on his skin now, underneath his armor. His attempt at a scream ripped into his throat, and in defiance of pain, he tore off his armor.

In a few minutes, the voices calmed. The throne room remained flooded, but the clanging of the armor overwhelmed their calls. Juddken, now stripped to his undergarments, heaved his chest. He looked into his armor, trying to see himself in the reflection, finding nothing.

It all became clear to him then. He had been selfish. He drew as much passion and pride from it as anyone else. As punishment, Okkan sent him his most powerful visions and chants. He would need to correct his course now, before he became his father.

Juddken looked back to his shrine. The High Priest and his sister were a good start, and the guard and the caregiver were excellent additions. But he needed the traitors. If Juddken could add them to the shrine, he would obliterate the curse. He would be the one true conduit. If Okkan sent any more visions his way, Juddken would conquer them and add them to the shrine.

And they would come. Then Okkan would save them all.