Prologue
The night after the Blood Moon,
Darkness bled into the land the night the creature awoke.
At first, it didn’t understand what was happening. Centuries had gone by since the last time it drifted into an awakened state. Generations had lived and died, leaving their mark on the world while the creature rotted in its tomb, not bothering to open its eyes.
After all, there were only so many times one could look at pure, inky darkness before madness set in.
The moon’s silver glow was far removed from the creature’s mind, and light itself was nothing but a distant memory.
Long ago, the creature used to wake and moan, agonizing over the cursed dead-but-not-dead, aware-but-not-aware state in which it found itself.
No longer.
Now, it just existed in this black hell.
Once, when the creature had first been cast into this awful, ancient place, aches and pains haunted it.
Everything had hurt.
During those first few centuries, the creature screamed, yelled, and cried, desperate to catch someone’s attention—anyone willing to free it from the magic binding it to this undead state.
No one answered.
No one came.
Eventually, despair drove the creature to gouge the stone of its forever tomb.
Nothing worked, and it became more despondent.
The rocks were too thick, the tomb too strong, the curse too powerful.
Centuries passed.
The creature’s voice grew hoarse. Its bones became brittle, and its flesh dried, sticking to its frame. It lost track of time.
Every so often, the creature woke from its deep, nightmare-filled sleep. No matter how many years passed, it followed the same routine each time. It pried open its eyes, only to be greeted by endless darkness. It didn’t moan. It couldn’t. At some point, its voice had stopped working altogether.
Its heart would beat once, maybe twice. It was irregular at best.
Minutes would pass. Hours?
It didn’t matter.
Eventually, the tomb’s magic would press down against the creature, a massive weight forcing it back to sleep, waiting for a death that would never come.
That had been the creature’s fate for as long as it could remember, but tonight…
Tonight, something had changed.
The creature’s ancient black eyes blinked open in surprise. Instinctively, it took in its surroundings.
The magical binds remained around the tomb, but they were weaker than before. The darkness wasn’t as thick. The air wasn’t as stifling.
And then, the creature saw it.
It had been so long that it could barely comprehend what was happening.