[P] this black terror and turmoil

[Raum]

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

 


Knock
 
And the air echoes with the cry of hoof and wood.
 
Knock
 
And the world slows to hear the echoing beat.
 
Knock
 
And Solterra begins to tremble.
 
The doors creak open, whining on their hinges and dragging through the dusty earth. They do not wish to open unto plague, but these are monstrous times. The world has begun to turn so differently now.
 
The poison king stands before the gates as if he has been awaiting her. In silence he drinks Eshek in and wonders what binds her together. Is it the eternity of universes strung together like the silk of an ancient web? Or is it something worse: the dreadful magic of a goddess who reaches beyond comprehension? In her gaze he beholds death – has it come for him at last? Is she his reaper brought forth from the forges of existence and sent out to reap the sinful?
 
Her eyes are the silver glow of metal: sun metal, moon metal, metals flung far, far into space. Is her stare enough to conduct the sparks of his own electric eyes? The echoes of Eshek’s last knock finally fall away to nothingness and only the idle clink of metal breaks the silence as soldiers shift, uneasy.
 
The girl is a god among men and Raum stands bold before her judgement. He did not balk before his own god, why should he cower now? Death is upon him and it is him. All of Novus now resounds with his misdeeds. Raum and death are one and Acton’s blood made it so.
 
Did Acton send her? Did she shed her chains and slip the bonds of Purgatory to find him here? Eternity laughs, universes burn bright, bright, bright. She moves and she is little more than the cloud of dust that stirs at the foot of the gate.
 
“If you have come for my soul you shall remain hungry.” For oh his soul is a long lost thing. Inside him is a swallowing chasm. Its maw is large and black, its appetite insatiable.
 
“Or,” The silver Crow hums, his voice a satin thing, doused in gasoline and dripping poison like acid. “Is it vengeance you wish to taste?” Slowly that skull tilts, his blue eyes bright as sparks and deep at the drowning sea. He studies the girl corvid and fearless, for what do crows fear when the sky is theirs?

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@Eshek