The Journey to Godhood

A lone sandy cairn, lost amidst the abyss; immortalizing this day forever. The first sun's glow shining through the cracks of aged stone.

The marker of a fierce battle, left by the few survivors of the atrocious event. Depictions carved dutifully in the parched sandstone by a trained hand.

To the naked eye, such is no more than scratches in cobbled stone, but to those poor souls who were there that fateful day. They're so very much more.

Wrought into stone ages old, is the untold legacy of the reawakened wyrm.

~~~

In the lush greens of a dreamt upon garden, Verity bides her time. Sitting on an iron bench, she places one leg over another.

The tranquil forest; oh so peaceful. And yet, no birds dare sing there.

Someone sits next to the frowning Verity. Offering a hand, they extend their boney, flesh ridden fist to her.

Verity turns to the welcoming figure, though, she sees only the faintest of form within the dark shadow it hides behind. 

Shunning the outstretched hand, Verity shoves herself up from the pristine bench; favoring the foreboding forest in its stead.

The dark figure turns its head to her as it slowly pulls back the elongated hand it so prides. Displeasure seems to be emanating from it as it watches Verity's turned back disappear into the green nightmare of a woodland.

~~~

Eyelids flicker open; questioning eyes look out... What was this place again? Ah... that's right... 

A sandy wasteland appears before the sequestered. An arid breeze rolls over her, attacking the wyrm's sensitive eyes.

Blinking seamlessly, Verity looks out upon the now apparent plateau of sand. An ocean of hate looks back.

"Back here again, are we?" Sighed Verity as a stray gust of wind blew past, jostling her nonexistent hair.

Verity chuckled,"I can't say I'm surprised, though. Things like this don't magically change overnight."

"Most wouldn't accept this as their reality so quickly, but most, also aren't me." Her mouth quivered a bit.

"So yeah, I don't give a shit." She added, shaking her head.

Verity trailed her eyes across the baren desert. She caught a glimpse of a small lizard scurrying past, along the pointed dunes of sand so aged. 

Completely mindless, but also incredibly inspiring to the somber Verity. A not-yet-legendary wyrm who's so, so very easy to hurt.

"I've had a lot of time to contemplate it, in my dreams; sitting on a bench." 

"This is an opportunity, one to repent. Living a life only to pull others under is not a life... I have a second chance now, one to make up for my past wrongdoings." Verity's voice was coveted in that of a subtle sorrow, silently speaking that which she would not.

A rolling plant steadily danced past the large wyrm, looking shockingly like that of a tumbleweed. This seemed to shift the lone Verity's attention to that of something much less somber.

"Ah... Well, now that that's over, I have a destiny to achieve." 

Verity looked up at the golden heavens above, her face forming a slight smile on that cold, heartless exterior, "I don't know if it's just me or, perhaps something to do with this body, but... I wouldn't mind killing some of those bastard gods up there." Her finger trailing up to the sky and slicing it apart.

~~~

A wyrm lies among the waste's graded sands, her eyes filled with a sense of utter hunger. Despite how strong one is, impure mana simply isn't capable of replacing food.

The blistering desert is a harsh place, and not at all for those with little motivation to keep their little hearts beating. This, Verity realizes.

A spider is fresh meat, energy enough to keep one's body afloat in the shifting world. A monster should eat another to survive, no?" 

Well, in a wasteland such as this; one doesn't get the luxury of choice. Snack on that of blighted flesh or join the forgotten fallen.

So consume, Verity does. Pulling apart carapaced legs and hardened joints with exceedingly sharp teeth.

The squishy flesh was easily skewered apart by the starving Verity, being torn into chewable fragments with ease.

Blood fills Verity's mouth, a surprise to her that it tastes most sublime.

Such an amount of blood was a common sight for Verity once; the sight isn't exactly welcome now though, it's like an old friend you've parted ways with saying a passing greeting.

Continuing to feast on the tender organs, Verity felt a strange sensation all throughout her body. At first, it was minor, but then... it started to burn as The Eye glowed brighter.

For Verity's god given eye had begun to shine envious purple, deep as can be. Though unbeknownst to her, this was just the first step among others to a much greater future.

Her newly acquired body convulsed as century old muscle knitted together with the power of The Eye. Old threads and pathways were being restored at ages last.

Under such strain, Verity felt her conscience dip back into the realm of dreams; for such an event needed to be undisturbed from that of sentience. The physical world slowly faded as the immaterial world took hold.

And then, the opaque figure was back. Standing over top of the confused Verity with a slight smile forming on its lips.

It offered its hand to her, almost confident that she would take it. The solid mist, just a pinch more human this time.

Verity carefully considered the alluring offer. Though, such got increasingly difficult, for with each passing second, it got more and more tempting to take it.

She shook her head. From that of her prior experience, a tempting offer is the one that'll get you shot.

Seeing her answer, the figure let out a quiet snarl of disagreement. Its recognizable teeth curl into a deep, deep lower.

Pulling back its hand with unprecedented vitriol, it sank back into the darkness. Eyes glaring at the motionless Verity until it finally vanished into the Stygian darkness of below.

Verity stares down at the murky darkness to which the shadowy figure had departed from. She wonders if she has made the right choice... one way or another, she'd have pissed someone off.

"What the hell is going on... this is starting to be a bit too much for me to handle. I just wanted to retire for fuck's sake!" Exclaimed Verity as the black abyss around her morphed into a vision of peace and tranquility.

Before her eyes, people formed from nothing and trees appeared into existence. One of the figures looked suspiciously familiar.

"Come on Eiden! We have to go!" A young lady shouted as she pointed towards a nearby village and grabbed the one named Eiden by the shoulder.

Eiden looked out upon the distant desert and spoke somberly,"...I wanted to watch the sand worms migrate... one last time." 

"Please... just this once... as a friend."

The lady hesitated a moment before forming a slight smile, "So, not as a lover, huh. I think I can do that."

Verity observed as the two sat down on a fallen log and watched a couple of worms jump through the sand, completely oblivious of the world around them. 

As day sank into night, the pair got up from the log and headed back to the village so distant but also near.

A blissful time for the blooming couple; Verity felt a pang of loneliness deep in her chest. She had never found true love before, just empty promises and loveless nights.

The world seems to flicker for a moment, as if something not supposed to happen occured. Static bloomed in her eyes, Verity couldn't see much at all.

All of a sudden, the world was a mess of fire and ruin. Eiden sat with their dying lover in hand. A hostile god standing atop the sky.

This was never supposed to happen... Avery, one of the four pure gods, had died before even reaching godhood.

The crooked god was grinning ear to ear. Like he had just won the lottery three times over; he just stood there, watching Eiden's missery with utter ecstasy.

And exactly like that. Eiden, the future queen of the gods was set on a path that would ultimately lead to ruin.

A path that would lead to such aghast, marbled faces and the deaths of hundreds. A path that many know well.

Though, this is not the story of Eiden. This is not the story of a peaceful end where order reigns supreme.

This is the story of The Reawakened Wyrm. A time where the gods attempted to destroy all reality for the sake of pure greed without Eiden's guiding hand there to stop them.

A tale of bloodshed and sacrifice, of love and arduous decisions that will decide the fate of billions. Would you be willing to pay the ultimate price for the lives of all others?

The real question. Would Verity?