Book One – Chapter 10

Gods were not fallen from pride. Gods were not powerful beings that acted against their nature by overwhelming and tricking lesser beings. They were not predators misleading prey, nor did they act to be acknowledged by such prey.

 It was the opposite. With this new piece of essence she had received, with the newfound, pulsating hunger coursing through her veins, Midnight now believed that the defining characteristic of Gods was a different nature. They were not predators, or trappers, or prey. No, they had a unique nature — it was inherent in them to impact other beings. Gods did not act to be acknowledged by lesser beings: they were the ones who sought and acknowledged lesser beings, as the DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ had done with Midnight. Gods existed to make lesser beings more.

The DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ had demanded a sacrifice, yet they had also acknowledged Midnight’s  request. Something new resided within her, accompanied by this insatiable hunger that the surrounding energies could not satiate.

Midnight pressed forward, compelled by a sense of purpose intertwined with the dark currents and the breath of the mountain flowing through the heart of the Albweiss Mountains. With each step, she felt more attuned to the darkness, her ability to follow and direct it becoming more natural. Unlike before, where she fed the entering darkness until it left her, now the darkness within responded to her commands even before being infused with her energy.

Within minutes, the singular tunnel leading out of the narrow cavern expanded, revealing grotesque remnants — the bones of humanoid peoples and beasts neatly sorted by size, stacked and lined up against the walls like a macabre tapestry. They were the remnants of hundreds of creatures, yet all the skulls were missing. The air hung heavy with the thick scent of decay, death woven into the very rocks. Soft echoes of distant drips reverberated, blood and water slipping along the walls like serpents.

Cautiously passing the bone display, Midnight focused on potential dangers hidden amidst the piles. Ever so often, she slowed to navigate past individual bones that protruded from the stacks, their surfaces etched with scratches and grooves from the passage of time. With every step, the lingering scent of decay intensified, revealing an undercurrent of something more, something alive. She sensed the darkness responding to her needs, caressing the stone walls and bones like an extension of her whiskers.