I watch as my friends mingle with the other races, being all friendly despite the fact that none of them want to be here. The feeling is mutual, the other beings don’t seem to like it in this cold, desolate place either. The Tavrans seem to live similar to us Rethans, but the Thropes are much less willing to talk. When it comes to the other races though, there’s far more mystery. The Sangens appear to be blood-sucking beings, like a hideous cross between a Bayvak and perhaps a Zonta. The Raptai are sentient predatory plants that look creepily reptilian, almost like Thanatians. The Anarkex are the most unusual, they are Thrope-like, upright and proud, but their males are short and their females tall, both genders covered in heavy metal plates hiding their true forms.
These creatures are all strange yet also familiar, they are all beings who killed their own gods.
Beings who exist purely to kill beings such as myself.
“Tenuk, are you going to stand there on your own all day?” Elksia shouts at me from across the gold, hovering platforms. She’s been chatting with the Raptai. They seem to like her. I can see why, they’re rather young and masculine and she’s the only obviously feminine being here that is similar to them.
I hesitate before I answer Elksia’s call. There’s been something bothering me ever since we got here. You see, I thought this was just some other race summoning us. There are some pretty powerful mortals out there, and plenty of powerful Deitics too. But the being who summoned us is something else.
“I’m alright, Elksia. You go have fun.”
“Aw, why?”
“I’m observing.” I have to dismiss Elksia and work all this out. This is all so… eerily familiar.
The creature that summoned us, which calls itself Stasis, suddenly pops into being in the middle of the crowd, welcoming everyone rather coldly and organizing us into groups. I can tell by the way he moves and acts that he is definitely a Deitic. Living spaces spring from the various platforms, one of each team of beings.
“Before we do anything, I wish to inspect each and every one of you. For… health reasons. Would not like any nasty surprises now, not lest Her tendrils take you!” Stasis announces. “I shall start with the Tavrans. If you could please come this way…”
Both Stasis and the Tavrans fade away, leaving everyone else alone. Most of the beings wander around and begin chatting again, although with far less confidence. All of them are wondering what this inspection might mean.
Without warning, I realise why I’m so confused and worried. That phrase Stasis said. “Lest Her tendrils take you.” I remember hearing that when I was a little child, growing up. My carers used to sing it to me. A Deitic lullaby against the existence of Death and the Cycle. A chorus of tales about the stopping of existence, the destruction of Death, the purity of a single, stationary existence, of gold worlds against a sky of-
My trail of thought is interrupted by Retvik.
“Tenuk, I shouldn’t be here.”
“I know, brother…” I put my arm around Retvik, bringing him closer to me. “I’m amazed you didn’t try and run…”
“They arrested me. Not everyone can teleport.”
I sigh. “Sorry. But I have some… news. I’ve worked out who this being is.”
Retvik gives me a funny look. “How? All we know is its name.”
I explain what I remember from my childhood. How all the fairy tales pointed to everything we are experiencing now.
“Retvik, this being is Stasis. The opposite of death and the Cycle. The opposite of conscious life itself!”