1 Death
In the vast nothingness of space, a myriad of stars glittered upon a grotesque form. In a mangled beast of foreign geometries. It's putrid mouth devoured stardust and its writhing tentacles slowly extended out. As the stardust diminished, the beast disappeared reappearing by the source star. Its tentacles grabbed globs of starlight devouring with haste and flying into the star.
As it landed on the star, its tentacles seethed with excitement. It rapidly released the tentacles to expand along the star. Slowly devouring the light and energy as it grew. Its body becoming further and further estranged from human comprehension.
The star slowly withered, what a strange notion! A beast devouring a star, with its intense nuclear forces becoming nothing more than a feast. The beast slowly grew atop this star with only one observer.
At the precipice of a snowy mountain, was a bygone cottage. Its wooden planks were strangely held secure by foliage. If one were not looking closely they would suspect that it was nothing more than a tree.
But one artificial thing stood in opposition of the natural order of things. In front of the cottage was an immensely large telescope. The kind used to observe galaxies from beyond, large and striking as it was. Exiting the cottage, was an emancipated old man using a cane to walk. His steps wizened, and his eyes were deep pools of mystery and obscurity.
He walked ever so slowly, at his own pace certain of his destination. As he looked at the telescope his body tightened for a moment. His breathing heavily and his eyes dimmed a little. As hard as he tried to suppress there was fear in his heart.
But he took a deep breath and calmed himself. The pressure and stress left with his breath, and he breathed in courage. Courage to gaze upon the stars once again before his death. He brought his face close to the telescope and investigated it.
In his eyes appeared the horrifying scene, a beast devouring a star. He watched in horror as the monstrosity slowly expanded along the star. He had seen this type of scene before, 10 years ago he had started astronomy.
"I have finally found it!" He mumbled to himself as he looked away and walked around excitedly.
As death approached he took on the hobby in passing, but one night he saw a vision of a beast in the stars. He took on the hunt to find the beast, and so moved out to the mountains and built a telescope.
"I am resolved to die in peace now." He said as he stood more firmly, the weight of curiosity no longer on his shoulders.
He didn't take up this craft for fun, nor did he do it to save the world or teach anyone. He did so entirely for himself, and his curiosity which drove him. So, he felt no need to divulge this information before death, he endeavored on this trip for the sake of self-verification.
He brought his eyes upon the telescope one last time and centered on the beast. Looking at the tentacles expanding. Then he felt a cold sweat on his back, and his throat started to dry. He couldn't stop shaking and fell back in fear.
The sky split apart, as fiery hell seemed to emerge from it, and at the center of it was a predatorial eye. From the corners of the world, there were desperate cries of help and fear.
"What the hell is that?" Many cried as the fled
"It's a monster!" Some screamed as they hid in their homes.
"The sky is falling." One advised to onlookers unsure
"Run and hide the kids." Fathers shouted to mothers and daughters.
The eye looked down upon the earth with cold indifference. The expected malevolence was unapparent, rather it seemed almost machine-like. If eyes are the mirror to the soul, then this being was soulless.
As the eye fully opened it created a terrifying vortex of dark energies. A mass of eyes and tentacles emerged from it as it descended upon earth. After it passed a certain point in the sky, it hit an obstacle. A bubble of glimmering golden energy stopped its advance.
At the moment of the beast's halt, around it appeared 4 men. The first was an old man dressed in white garbs, inscribed with holy symbols. The second was a black-garbed handsome middle-aged man, his graying hairs, and bloody eyes ascribing great wisdom to him.
The third was a wraithlike man, donning a black iron mask as he released an eerie presence. The last was the most terrifying of all, he was an ordinary looking man, but he wore a 9 colored crown that radiated intense energies shining like a rainbow.
The 4 men stood equidistant from the beast, as they raised their palms simultaneously.
"Hah." The breathed out as a flurry of phantasmal colors burst onto the beast. It roared as the energies corroded its flesh, seared it, soul, devoured its blood, and diminished its dark energies.
"Aim for the Stargate." The kingly man commanded as they all turned towards the gate. Releasing an even larger volley of intense magical powers. It flew through the skies, leaving trails of various colors. The sky became an aurora of various lights, as it struck the eye.
The eye seemingly dispelling the energies looked drained. But it shined with a red light as it regathered its energies. Then he shot it with a massive of beam of light, that burst down from the sky like heavenly judgment. The 4 men responded in turn with their own attacks lighting up the sky.
At the cottage, the old man sat it fear as the eye's gaze landed on him for but a second. But fear flooded his body until he fell, then a glob of putrid blood and tentacles appeared in front of him. With the final attack and the eye disappearing, the golden shield faded away and the 4 men dissipated from the sky.
As the lights calmed in the skies, the old man at the cottage sat still terrified to move. In front of him was still the writhing ball of tentacles. The tentacles moved apart, as it revealed an eye like the one that was in the sky.
The tentacles dashed out as they gripped the old man's limbs. He couldn't he but shriek in fear and try to cut away and run.
"LET GO!" He yelled as the tentacles piled on and pulled him in. The eye gave way to a portal, to a strange terrifying land.
"Goddamnit." He roared as he tried to rip away, but the tentacles were too strong, they pulled him in and then a voice spoke.
"Do you not seek for eternity, weary one?" A voice whispered from the portal
"What the hell!" The old man said as he nearly pissed himself.
"I have a poem to mark your end." The voice chuckled as it read in a soothing tone that sounded of beautiful melodies.
You are far too lonely
Uncertain of your position
A meteor could be your end
The search for cosmic meaning.
The maddening of a million souls.
They are united by blood and flesh.
They are controlled by soul and heart.
They are ruled by the light and their lord.
A monarch, prince, lord, and king to rule all.
The sentiment of the poem embedded in his heart, his life had been lacking so he searched for meaning. He had been a scientist for much of his life, in search of truth. But it was lacking, and when he had retired he searched the world. He loved and lost, he met many manners of people, seen the entire world for what it was.
Then he came to rest and gaze on the stars as he always had as a child. When he gazed as a child it was out of curiosity, as he grew and his melancholy with he saw vast loneliness. The coldness of the universe and the loneliness in his heart resonated.
"All my life I have been searching for something greater than myself. Morality, science, and the world were not enough for my heart." He couldn't help but say.
"I have always been in search of the eternal!" He screamed as the portal devoured him. The writhing tentacles turned to ash as the portal disappeared. The only remains of the old man were his cottage and his telescope.
The world moved on, with no one to remember of this old man's existence. It prospered with no stranger phenomenon and advanced technologically. The world of the old man was just starting on technology, and this world was rapidly developing to the peak.
But some things will never change. The belief in the spirit is still the same, people still fear the beasts lurking in the dark, belief in a higher power is still an opiate, and men are still ruled by the cosmic pursuit!
