Member-only story
From Light to Dark
Lightning illuminates a magi picking through the rubble of a ruined tower with frail, spidery hands. His tattered robe snaps and cracks about him from the violent force of heavy winds. His eyes open wide with fear and hunger.
He unearths the faces of two corpses and collects his lantern from the ground to examine them. They are twins, one male and one female, bodies twisted together from the impact of their fall.
He pulls back their eyelids, hoping for signs of tomorrow in their eyes, seeing nothing but his own shadowy form reflected back at him.
Howls erupt from the surrounding landscape.
He turns to see hundreds of dogs running towards the mound of rocks on which he stands. Some are wolves and coyotes, others appear to be domesticated breeds, all now moving in a baying pack.
He stands and holds the lantern directly overhead with one hand while withdrawing a rise from his robe’s inner pocket with the other. He touches the rose to his forehead, kisses it, and drops it to his feet.
As the dogs close on him he balls his free hand into a fist, holds it tight to his chest. He closes his eyes, whispers Leviathan.
