The devouring light illuminated the second more unsettling reason for her approach: It was hunger. Midnight craved essence. It had surfaced and stirred during the clashes she had observed earlier; a deep, primal hunger within her, an insatiable hunger beyond her control.

In the vast expanse of her mind, the [HUNGER] emerged, weaving its own web of want and need around the failed fiator hunt, entwining it with the knowledge that all beings held essence — beasts, orks, and wizards. The wizard’s withering form stirred a dark curiosity in her: would his essence, elusive in life, become accessible upon death? Might that which she had failed to grasp in the fiator slip from its bond to the body and Rothar when life ceased? If he but died before the golem exhausted him fully, could she claim what remained within him?

But this

           was

                             a wizard.

        It was

                          not

                                          her wizard.

Midnight had seen familiars consume parts of their dead wizards before. At Emery Thurm, some familiars had simply departed, leaving the wizard’s remains to the Ritual of the Dead. Others had consumed a piece — a sliver of flesh, insufficient to satiate any real HUNGER, serving more as a mere echo of what had once been and belonged. Some had taken a heart. Always one, never both. Midnight had never understood why. She did not know what she would do with her own wizard, what she would feel compelled to do. Would she feel the same [HUNGER] she felt now?

               Yet, as broken as he was,

                                                   this body in front of her

                                                                    was

                                                                    still

                                                      a wizard

                                                       with lingering life,

                                                                    one that was

                                                                                     not

                                                                         HERS

                                  As a familiar

                                              of one belonging to the wizardkind

                        Midnight  must

                                                    never

                            KILL

             a wizard

                                                                        without reason.

                           She must                                                      never

  from a wizard

                                                                                                                      that was not her own.

       There was                                                                                                        hardly      any

 

 left in him

                                                                                                        not

                                           Should   she

                              She     wanted to                                                                                              She          should

                                                            Should   she

 help herself                                       She should                                                       She     should

                                                                                                    She    should                  Why
                                                                                                     Why      Why?

     She needed to                                                        Why  help?     Why?        Why?          Why?

                                                                                                                                  Why?                   Why?      
                                                                                                      Why?   Wh y?                                   Why?

 HELP   HERSELF                                                                                             Why                                         Why?         

                                                                                                                   s hould 

                                                                                                   She

                                                                                     he l p  him

The devouring light illuminated the second more unsettling reason for her approach: It was hunger. Midnight craved essence. It had surfaced and stirred during the clashes she had observed earlier; a deep, primal hunger within her, an insatiable hunger beyond her control.

In the vast expanse of her mind, the [HUNGER] emerged, weaving its own web of want and need around the failed fiator hunt, entwining it with the knowledge that all beings held essence — beasts, orks, and wizards. The wizard’s withering form stirred a dark curiosity in her: would his essence, elusive in life, become accessible upon death? Might that which she had failed to grasp in the fiator slip from its bond to the body and Rothar when life ceased? If he but died before the golem exhausted him fully, could she claim what remained within him?

But this

           was

                             a wizard.

        It was

                       not

                                               her wizard.

Midnight had seen familiars consume parts of their dead wizards before. At Emery Thurm, some familiars had simply departed, leaving the wizard’s remains to the Ritual of the Dead. Others had consumed a piece — a sliver of flesh, insufficient to satiate any real HUNGER, serving more as a mere echo of what had once been and belonged. Some had taken a heart. Always one, never both. Midnight had never understood why. She did not know what she would do with her own wizard, what she would feel compelled to do. Would she feel the same [HUNGER] she felt now?

              Yet, as broken as he was,

                                                this body in front of her

                                                                 was

                                                                 still

                                                 a wizard

                                                   with lingering life,

                                                             one that was

                                                                               not

                                                                     HERS

                             As a familiar

                                         of one belonging to the wizardkind

                    Midnight  must

                                            never

                        KILL

              a wizard

                                                                without reason.

                    She must                                                  never

  from a wizard

                                                                                               that was not her own.

     There was                                                                                      hardly      any

 

 left in him

                                                                                               not

                                             Should   she

             She     wanted to                                                                                  She          should

                                                            Should   she

 help herself                                 She should                                       She     should

                                                                                         She    should                   Why
                                                                                                Why       Why?

     She needed to                                            Why     help?     Why?      Why?      Why?

                                                                                                            Why?                 Why?      
                                                                                              Why?   Wh y?                       Why?

 HELP   HERSELF                                                                           Why                                            Why?         

                                                                                                        s hould 

                                                                                       She

                                                                              he l p  him

The devouring light illuminated the second more unsettling reason for her approach: It was hunger. Midnight craved essence. It had surfaced and stirred during the clashes she had observed earlier; a deep, primal hunger within her, an insatiable hunger beyond her control.

In the vast expanse of her mind, the [HUNGER] emerged, weaving its own web of want and need around the failed fiator hunt, entwining it with the knowledge that all beings held essence — beasts, orks, and wizards. The wizard’s withering form stirred a dark curiosity in her: would his essence, elusive in life, become accessible upon death? Might that which she had failed to grasp in the fiator slip from its bond to the body and Rothar when life ceased? If he but died before the golem exhausted him fully, could she claim what remained within him?

But this

          was

a wizard.  

    It was

      not

          her wizard.

Midnight had seen familiars consume parts of their dead wizards before. At Emery Thurm, some familiars had simply departed, leaving the wizard’s remains to the Ritual of the Dead. Others had consumed a piece — a sliver of flesh, insufficient to satiate any real HUNGER, serving more as a mere echo of what had once been and belonged. Some had taken a heart. Always one, never both. Midnight had never understood why. She did not know what she would do with her own wizard, what she would feel compelled to do. Would she feel the same [HUNGER] she felt now?

Yet, as broken as he was,

this body in front of her

was  
 still
a wizard              
with lingering life,  
          one that was
    not
HERS    

    As a familiar

        of one belonging to the wizardkind
     Midnight  must

never

     KILL

   a wizard

without reason.

   She must                  never

  from a wizard

that was not  
her own.

  There was

hardly   
an

 
 left in him                     not
 

Should   she

      She    wanted to                                        She  should  
      Should   she

 help herself        She should
          She     should
   She  should           Why

  Why       Why?   

  She needed to                Why   help?    
               Why?    Why?      Why?  Why?         Why?     

          Why?   Wh y?          Why?
 HELP  HERSELF       Why?

Wh       
     s hould
She                
 he l p  him

Pages: