Prologue
I sat in front of a fire which gently crackled and flickered a blood red light onto the black sand that surrounded me. I had absolutely no clue how I had gotten here or where I was, but I felt a sense of dread deep in my chest that I hadn’t felt before, like the fire itself was burning into my soul.
Around me was a vast desert of black sand, I could’ve sworn it was made by pure volcanic obsidian. The atmosphere was a dark red color, as if the fire in front of me was the only thing keeping the entire area illuminated.
In the distance, what seemed like almost half a mile away was some sort of black structure, like an obelisk. The feeling of dread seemed to multiply when I set my eyes on it, so I could tell there was something off about it.
Despite its off-putting feeling, I felt the need to go closer to it. As if the structure itself was beckoning me. Like all the yearning I ever experienced had been put into one place.
I attempted to get up so I could approach the obelisk, but as soon as I put my weight on the sand my foot would slide forwards and make me fall back into it. I attempted to stand up once more and was able to gain some purchase against the sand, allowing me to stand up. I began to walk towards the structure.
Each step I took felt like a chore, after only a few steps my legs felt as heavy as lead, but the obelisk beckoned.
Closer… I heard a voice I could only explain as a thousand snakes hissing at once. A strong and piercingly cold wind followed the voice, carrying the putrid smell of rotting meat, which burned into my nostrils.
As I walked, I had sunk deeper into the sand, as if I was wading in water. Each step got increasingly harder to take as the sand reached my knees. That was when I noticed something new; the obelisk wasn’t just black, there were two points of light the same color as that blood red fire. It was a pair of eyes, and even from this distance, I could feel their glare searing into me.
The eyes were so distracting that I hadn’t even noticed that I was completely stuck in the sand, I looked down to see that the sand was already at my waist, holding me firmly in my place. Then I looked up.
I would’ve jumped out of fear, but I wasn’t exactly able to do that right now. About twenty feet in front of me was the obelisk I was looking at before, except it wasn’t an obelisk, it was a throne the size of a building, occupied a by a fittingly large deity who seemed as if they were made of pure shadow, besides the huge eyes which were two fires studying me closely, their gaze burning into my neck as I looked away.
Girl. The voice spoke loudly, bringing the cold wind once again, but this time much closer and much more potent.
“My name is Zion.” I retorted, fully aware that I should not be speaking back to whatever this was in that tone. Did I care? No.
You do not speak to me that way, little one.
“Who even are you?” I asked, I didn’t enjoy hearing people speak down to me the way they did.
Patience, you will know that soon enough. Very soon.
I wanted to speak again, but something held my mouth shut this time. I had no idea what this guy even wanted from me; he hadn’t really made any points during this entire conversation thus far.
As if they read my mind, they spoke once more, Your future is grim, the fate of many lives will lie on your shoulders, and you will crumble.
Each word they spoke weighed my heart down as if my mind already knew what they were saying was true, but I didn’t necessarily believe what they said. “Says who?” I asked, once again with a tone I probably would regret using.
The deity simply bellowed and replied, You remind me of your father, how pathetic.
“You know my father?” I asked, there was no way they knew my father, my father was dead.
You ask too many questions, girl. Heed my warning and stay away, I wouldn’t want to have to crush you myself.
I skipped past the ‘crush you myself’ bit, and wanted to know more about my father, “Tell me about my father—” I yelled, but before I could finish, I flew through the ground as if the sand wasn’t even there, and as quickly as I found myself there, it all faded away.
