The elf woman’s ears were red, her eyes swollen and puffy from crying.
Yes, Sylvia was a grown woman now.
Then why couldn’t she hold back her tears?
Her frustration.
Her helplessness.
Once again, she looked down at the book.
Damon was still there on the page, a sword impaling his chest, despair frozen in his eyes.
She had not forgotten to study the blade.
Sylvia morized every detail of it. The runes carved along its length. The shape of the hilt. The craftsmanship of the tal.
What the book did not show her...
Was who held the sword.
Soone would betray Damon.
But that was not why she was crying.
Sylvia’s true fear was sothing far worse.
That she would be the one to betray him.
In all her attempts to change prophecy, the to of the Unknown God had made one thing painfully clear.
Every effort to alter fate only ensured that the prophecy ca true.
For all she knew, if she tried to stop this future...
She might be the one who drove the blade into Damon’s heart.
Her fingers tangled into her hair as she pulled at it in frustration.
Her teeth ground together so hard her gums began to bleed.
"Haha... hahah..."
Soft laughter slipped from her lips.
It sounded delicate, almost like pearls scattering across glass.
Yet there was a hollow sting behind it.
The cruel thing about betrayal was that it only hurt because it ca from soone you loved.
Soone you trusted.
And when that trust shattered...
It pierced the heart deeper than a thousand daggers.
Sylvia stared down at the book again.
As if speaking to soone unseen, she whispered:
"What do I do?"
For a mont, nothing happened.
Then the pages of the book suddenly flipped on their own.
They stopped on a blank page.
Sylvia heard it clearly.
The scratching sound of words being written.
Her eyes widened as letters slowly appeared.
"Betray him."
That was all the page said.
"Betray him..."
Sylvia stared at the words in shock.
Then her brows slowly drew together.
This felt different.
The will of the book was usually distant, indirect, almost chanical.
But these words...
They felt intentional.
Focused.
Like soone was speaking through the pages.
"You..."
Her voice trembled into a whisper.
"Are you Altair?"
The mont his na left her lips—
Sylvia felt as though her throat had been torn open.
Blood burst from her mouth, staining her dress crimson.
The world around her seed to collapse.
When she looked toward the window, the Moon Glades were gone.
Everything outside had been swallowed by darkness.
Endless darkness.
Or perhaps sothing deeper than darkness.
Yet within that abyss were countless shimring lights.
Stars.
They glowed across the void like scattered diamonds.
It was beautiful beyond words.
The longer Sylvia stared into it, the harder it beca to look away.
Then—
Drip.
Drip.
Drops splashed against the floor beneath her.
Looking down, she saw a growing pool of blood.
It was flowing from her eyes.
Because what she was looking at was not the heavens.
This was the abyss.
The true nature of the Unknown God.
Hideous yet beautiful.
Sinner and saint.
Present and absent.
Divine and demonic.
God and demon.
Her hands trembled violently as she forced her gaze away.
The pain was unbearable.
Her eyes burned as though they were being torn apart.
When she looked back at the book, new words had appeared.
"Do not take the Lord’s na in vain."
Sylvia bowed her head, teeth clenched tight.
Her stomach twisted violently.
Then sothing crawled from her mouth.
Worms.
They spilled out onto the floor, writhing in pale, sickening piles.
More followed.
Thick, black maggots coated in sli.
Her body convulsed as she gagged and spat them out one after another.
Finally ca clumps of dark hair.
Sylvia reached into her mouth and pulled them free as they tangled against her tongue.
She did not resist.
This was the price.
After several long minutes, the flow finally stopped.
Sylvia collapsed slightly over the desk, breathing heavily.
"Forgive ..."
Her voice was weak.
"I did not an to disrespect the God of the Abyss."
Slowly, new words ford across the page.
"No matter. It has been many cycles since soone of your likeness called by my na."
"I do not wish to rember. It hurts to rember."
Sylvia blinked in surprise.
She had not expected that response.
Perhaps speaking his na had triggered sothing.
She knew the Unknown God hated his na.
She did not know why.
Only that he had once allowed the Goddess to erase it from the world.
Did he despise it?
The answer appeared instantly.
"No."
"I loved my na once."
"And those who were allowed to call by it."
"Now those mories are chains that bring anguish."
Sylvia’s eyes widened.
"You can read my thoughts."
"I am a god. I can do things you cannot fathom."
She nodded slowly, though her gaze remained steady.
"What did you an earlier?"
"You rarely speak to mortals. Surely there must be a reason."
New words appeared.
"Your boldness is amusing."
"I suppose it would not make for an interesting conversation if all you did was cower."
Sylvia stood her ground.
She reminded herself of sothing important.
The Unknown was a god.
But he was also a demon.
She decided it was safer to think of him only as "Unknown."
Even thinking of his true na unsettled her.
The book responded again.
"I am a demon."
"More so than I am a god."
"Though so would say I am equal parts both."
There he was again.
Reading her thoughts as easily as turning pages.
There was nothing she could hide from a god.
Especially not this one.
"I won’t betray Damon," Sylvia said firmly.
"I won’t fulfill the prophecy."
Then sothing unexpected appeared on the page.
A tiny image ford beside the text.
It resembled a crude human face.
And it was laughing.
The expression looked almost mocking.
More words appeared.
"I never said you had to."
"This too is your choice."
"There are no absolutes before the Demon God."
"All things exist before ."
"Therefore, there are no absolutes anywhere."
It was a declaration of power.
One that placed him beyond every rule.
Beyond fate itself.
Then new words appeared.
"I wish to make a deal with you."
"You will betray him for ."
"In order to save him."
"This is equivalent exchange."
"A betrayal for a betrayal."
Sylvia froze.
Did that an she would not be the one to betray Damon in the prophecy?
Or was this simply another step in the chain of choices that would lead to that fate?
She bit her lip, tasting blood.
"If there are no absolutes..."
Her voice was quiet but steady.
"Then that must an even you are bound by that rule."
User Comments
0 comments from readers