CHAPTER 7
"The Book of Counted Shadows"
"...Feel the lick of, bad Religion..."
- The Toadies; Rubberneck; "I Burn"
"Of The Eyeless God"
There once was an ancient planet that spun aimlessly through the lightless abyss. With rivers and seas of acid. Barren and lifeless. From the cracks and chasms noxious and poisonous fumes endlessly bled. And upon it's dark soil and limestone peaks even the dead dare not tread.
For the world had existed since before the birth of the stars. And spun through the outer voids where even their light dare not shine. Then on the darkest day time and space has ever known. The world's howling winds, changed to a sorrowful moan.
And suddenly from the bowels of the planet erupted a blasphemous melody. A cacophony of noise. A pounding of drumheads made of stretched flesh. And flutes made of hollowed bone. And the whole of the planet began to shake.
Great geysers of acid erupted from volcanoes. And mountains tumbled into the dead, burning seas. Cracks began to quickly spiderweb across the planet's surface. And from below emanated an unholy purple glow.
The cacophony of blasphemous music reached it's crescendo, as the shaking of the nameless planet reached it's own climax. And then suddenly in a violent explosion of ghostly purple light the planet was undone. The world shattered in a titanic silent explosion in the airless frozen night.
And the Eyeless God. The Ebony Dragon. The Black Serpent Yog Sothoth was born. And the God gazed out onto the Universe and beheld the stars. Their light was appalling. They were a blasphemy. An affront to the infinite darkness that once reined supreme. And the Ebony Serpent also beheld the miniscule fragile mortals that had made their homes around the warmth of the stars . And the Black Dragon gave it's decree.
"What is this sinful light that I behold? These fragile tiny lanterns that now hang in the abyss? Never before have such terrible objects existed. And lo! Look at the pathetic insignificant creatures that thrive beneath their lantern's heat! They're existence is a sin unto itself. And I, Yog Sothoth shall see them all extinguished!"
And so the Eyeless God streaked across the abyss. Destroying star systems and their inhabitants with reckless abandon. Until one day the Ebony Dragon came to Androa, the Yautja's homeworld. The God alighted on the highest peak of the Allardace Mountains and let lose a roar that shook the very foundations of the world. So terrifying was the Eyeless One's voice, that the deadly creatures of the Allardace fled and hid within the mountain's cracks and caves.
The Eyeless God first came to the great city of Illium. The home of Princess Amara. And the Black Dragon brought great sorrow to it's ivory walls. The defenders had detected the God's approach from the Allardarce as he moved East across the vast Behanzin valley. Arranging themselves along the mighty mile high ivory walls, the city guard prepared to give battle.
But the acidic aura that emanated from Yog Sothoth defeated them before the Serpent even arrived. Within moments all that remained of the city guard were smoldering bones. Yog Sothoth stood towering over the mile high walls. Casting Illium in divine shadow. Then the Eyeless Serpent let lose a terrible roar, and spewed out a a sea of acid that cut the main gate in two.
And with that the Eyeless Serpent strode into the city. As Yog Sothoth began to reign destruction, the Princess's Royal guard were escorting the Royal Huntress down into the catacombs below the city. Having been ordered by Queen Andwele to escort her daughter from danger, and back to the capital city Seychelles.
But the Princess had not gone willingly. Her warrior spirit crying out for death in battle alongside her people. She had resisted her guardians. Breaking tusks and bones. But her love for her people stayed her hands from her blades. Amara relented. Sparing the royal guard, and allowing herself to be escorted from the dying city.
It was there in the lightless catacombs that Amara and her guardsmen came upon yet another horror of the Eyeless God. The Magenta Host. Hordes of hulking parasites that had made they're homes within the Black Serpent's land of ebony scales. They had begun to leap off their God as Yog Sothoth had entered the city. Attacking and devouring Illium's inhabatants, and one another in a mindless feeding frenzy.
Their body's were twisted and bent at unnatural angles. Their once natural insect like forms having been horrifically reshaped from the evil that they lived off erupted out of the darkness of the catacombs, and a terrible battle was fought. The Magenta Host we're a terrifying enemy.
They were impossibly swift for their size. They moved in short, quick jerking movements. Convulsing and spasming with hunger and madness. Their bodies in a constant state of rejection. For nothing is meant to feed off of a God. And these creatures had been poisoned to their souls by the darkness that they lived off of.
They grinned insaneley as they rushed in. Sharp teeth stretching ear to ear. Impossibly wide. They possessed no sense of self preservation. And their movements were unpredictable. A parasite would come charging. Twitching and howling at a Yautja, only to turn and attack one of it's brethren.
They were utterly mad. No science could ever heal them. No technology could ever have brought back their bodies or their minds. They were the hopeless. They were the damned. Those who were born within the darkness of Hell. The Children of the Eyeless God.
Melee weapons were useless. The evil the Magenta Host had lived off of having built up so tightly within their bodies, that every cut, every slice the Parasites received resulted in a veritable explosion of acidic blood. And their claws and teeth sliced through the Yautja's armor like paper.
Their constant cries were terrible. Gargling, croaking, and shrieking not at the Yautja; But at the darkeness around them. As if the air of the catacombs was filled with creatures only the Parasites could see. Their bodies, and movements. Their mindless grins, and terribly wide eyes. Their cries and their convulsions, all bespoke of a deeper, terrible truth.
To the Yautja the Magenta Host were the very embodiment of the terrifying truth of the Universe. In the Parasites, the Yautja could see the hoplessness of Infinite Sea was cold and unforgiving. And her depths only grew darker. Their bodies bespoke of communion with the Yautja percieved all this and more in the Parasites, and were shaken to the depths of their souls.
In the end the Magenta Host within the catacombs were slain. But at great cost. All that remained were Princess Amara herself, veteran guardsmen Akoko, and young Adisha. The rest of her guardsmen lay in shredded, and steaming heaps.
The trio's rage was unquenchable, and their sorrow a bottomless well. Together they built a pyre from their dead companions, and roasted the heart's of the slain parasites. And they sat there in the darkness. Eating the heart's of their enemies as the city above shook in it's death throws. And the three made a death pact. That together they would see the destruction of the Eyeless God, or die in the attempt...
Much later when the city above had fallen silent and the two suns of Androa were waning, they exited the catacombs through a secret door that lay several miles away and below the dead city of Illium; Leading out to the Enoch Valley. The trio's intent was to head West into the hills of Burandai. Where they would cross the Alawai river, and continue on to the city of Seychelles.
Upon exiting the catacombs the three companions were greeted by elements that were strange and unseasonal for the time of year it was. For it was the summer months and the lands East of the Allardace Mountains were naturally hot.
The sky was overcast with swirling, angry clouds. Strong winds blew through the valley. Miles of tall grasses bent and swayed. Occasional cold droplets of water fell out of the sky.
Soon they found that their communicators no longer functioned. The God's evil aura having disrupted communications all across the planet. And so they set out cautiously. Stealthily moving through the tall fields of grass, lest they we're spotted by more of the Magenta Host, or worse.
But the Black Dragon had been waiting. Resting lazily atop the heaps of smoldering rubble, and bones that was once Illium. Sothoth's divine gaze easily spotted the trio as they moved quickly through the tall grasses. And the Eyeless One called out across the miles of land to the Princess. The God's voice booming in her head.
"Hear my divine words puny princess Amara. Yes you are known to me, as are all your kin. For their is nothing that the Eyeless God does not see. You're very existence is a blasphemy to the abyss. I will lay low your world, and feast upon your people's bones. Go now! And spread the divine message of Yog Sothoth!"
And it was in that moment that the Royal Huntress Amara's mind came unhinged, and she shrieked. "I will almighty God! I shall spread your message of dread throughout the lands til your blessings of death and destruction rest within every Yautja's heart!"
And with that she sprinted away from her companios, laughing maniacally. Adisha and Akoko gave chase. But the Princess even if not under the spell of Sothoth's madness, would have easily outdistanced them. She sprinted away blindly. Heedless of her companion's cries.
Up ahead to the West the Enoch ended in the Cam Por Canyon. There the valley ended in a sheer drop of many miles, and then to the raging water's of the Molopo river. It soon became evident to Adisha and Akoko that Amara, lost in the throes of madness would run straight off the edge and plummet to her death.
It was in that moment that the young Adisha in his wisdom did the unthinkable. He unsheathed his Tingua Linja and fired upon the Huntress. Amara was already very far away, but Adisha was already an expert marksmen.
And so the Princess was brought down, and thus saved. She thrashed about the ground, laughing maniacally. Heedless of the razor wires that bit ever deeper into her skin in response to her struggles.
Soon Adisha and Akoko caught up to their charge. It was clear that she would bleed to death before she ceased her efforts to free herself. The two guardsmen were greatly disheartened to see their princess in such a state. For the male Yautja are not only weaker in body to the females, but in mind as well. And it was during times of crisis that they looked toward the female clans for guidance and courage.
Their next act was yet another unthinkable one. But an action that both deemed necessary. The two guardsmen unhooked and fired their ted'diqui. And soon the Princess lay unconscious.
In the distance they heard the deep rumble of the Eyeless God's laughter as the Ebony Serpent took to the sky. Yog Sothoth disappeared into the swirling angry clouds above. A black mountain range with wings dissappearing into the upper atmosphere. Adisha and Akoko waited for their unconscious Princess to awaken...
...
Machiko Noguchi put down the book and blinked. In the distance Bak Khan busied himself with some piece of monitoring equipment. "What the Hell am I reading?" She wondered for the thousandth time, as she stared down at the book. It was more like a tome actually. A giant's tome straight out of Jack and the Bean Stalk or some other fantasy.
Bound in some material that resembled leather, and stained a deep crimson. It was a little over a foot tall, and just a little less wide. It was packed full of what she could only assume were ancient illustrations that made the blood run cold.
"In order for us to make the most of our information sharing, I believe it would be best to first give you some insight into our people." Bak Khan had said after a brief tour of the front chamber of the laboratory.
Machiko had been astonished when the Bio-Vizier had produced the tome. She had never even seen a Yautja book. She couldn't even believe that the Yautja had books! Bak Khan had opened the book somewhere in the middle. Flipping a few pages and quickly coming to an excerpt that betrayed his familiarity with the massive tome.
"I'm sure that none of your friends among my people have ever offered you such insight before." He said. "This is the story of how the Khande Amedha came into being. Please read and you will come to a better understanding of the cosmos."
Machiko was speechless as she accepted the heavy tome. Placing it on the table before her. Bak Khan excused himself. Claiming that they had not yet detected the Laughing Meat within the world below. And that he must turn his attention to the task of finding the monster, lest they commit unwarranted genocide.
The book was written in the common Yauja tongue, so Machiko had not had much trouble desciphering it. Now after that first segment she paused. For a moment she just sat back. Staring up into the darkness above. Listening to the whirrings, tickings, and bubblings, and clickings of the dark laboratory that surrounded her.
She was reading something of be true meaning here. Some fundamental truth awaited her. She knew in her bones that whatever she discovered in this book would stay with her for the rest of the life. Maybe even longer... She took a deep breath and turned her eyes back toward the tome...
"Of the night of Dancing Shadows"
...As the last of the two sun's light fell away from the western hemisphere of Androa, Adisha and Akoko moved cautiously through the lengthening shadows of the Enoch. Amara had not yet awoken, and the two guardsmen out of fear that her madness would return, had bound her arms and legs tightly. They created a makeshift plank from the branches of a tree, and laid her down upon it. And carried her through the tall gently swaying grasses.
The storm that had seemed so imminent had abated soon after the Ebony Serpent had flown off. Now the sky was clear, and the stars began to appear in the darkening sky above. And young Adisha wondered aloud how many of those stars were already gone. Destroyed by the Black Dragon.
"If the void is infinite, than how can the Dragon hope to extinguish all light? The stars may die but their light will continue to move through the void forever will it not?"
"Unless existence ends somewhere." Akoko answered. "Perhaps where existence ends there will be something for the star's light to bounce off of. And all the light of the stars will simply bounce back and forth through the universe for all eternity."
And in that moment Adisha had a divine revelation. And he came to a deeper understanding of the cosmos. "There is far more darkness in the Universe than light. The great stars for all their nuclear vastness are but tiny specks in the fabric of time and space. And yet the light from those stars even after they die will shine on forever... This is the plight of the enemies of the light. The light is an insurgent in void. And it's enemies can never truly be rid of it. The absolute darkness that once was, can never be regained."
And Akoko found himself looking upon Adisha with newfound regard. The young warrior's spirit was more perceptive than Akoko had thought. His soul was attuned to the Universe, Akoko had no doubt of that.
The two guardsmen buckled and stumbled beneath the weight of the Royal Huntress, but continued to make good time. There was a strange sensation in the air. And as the shadows began to overtake the land the two guardsmen felt an inexplicable apprehension of the oncoming night. It was Adisha, young and brash, who spoke first.
"Master Akoko, I fear that the darkness will bring us more trouble." He said.
Akoko surveyed the land. Jata was waxing gibbous, and Sarraqa was full and bright in the clear sky, casting the grasslands in their glow. All was unnaturally silent. Even the insects it seemed, dare not make a sound.
"We are many miles from Illium now master." Adisha finally said. "Let us find a tree to make camp."
Akoko was quick to agree, and soon after the two guardsmen made camp beneath a massive tree. The night was unnaturally cold, but they dare not make a fire. The Princess began to stir, and soon awakened. Her madness seemed to have abated, but not entirely. She stared out passed the guardsmen, and into the surrounding darkness. Seemingly unaware of her companions presence.
She began to shiver violently. Her body cold and clammy to the touch. The Eyeless One's words seemingly having left more than a mental mark on the Royal Huntress. It soon became readily apparent to the guardsmen that being out in the elements, the Princess may die. And so they reluctantly made a fire.
After awhile the Princess began to warm, and she lay back against the tree trunk. Laughing softly and muttering to herself in an unknown, unholy Black Language that made the blood run cold. Adisha and Akoko shuddered in fear from those alien words.
Soon after the fire had been started they were spotted by a squad of Queen Andwele's elite warriors. They had been sent in search of the Princess. Upon finding the remnants of Illium they had expanded their search to the Enoch.
The soldiers led by Commander Burundi, trusted and one time concubine of the Queen, descended upon the trio's camp with hostile intent. Having spotted the bound Princess, they assumed the guardsmen had betrayed the empire.
It was only when the two guardsmen found themselves at the ends of blades, that Akoko convinced Burundi to look closer at Amara. They were aghast, and soon weapons were lowered and words exhanged. Burundi and his warriors would escort the three to Seychelles. Where the Queen and her healers would work to recover Amara's mind.
"You were wise to stop and make camp Master Akoko." Burundi said. Ignoring Adisha who was too young to be addressed by Burundi. "Something unnatural haunts the land this night."
"It was my young companion who suggested we do so." Akoko said. Never one to take credit that was not his own.
At this the Commander only grunted. "We will set up a defensive perimeter, and move out at first light."
And so the Princess's escort set about the task of fortifying their camp. Burundi sent a dozen and a half warriors out into the darkness to make an external perimeter. And then another dozen to make an internal perimeter just outside of the firelight. Keeping his remaining five soldiers at the camp.
It was late in the night when the Princess ceased her mumbling and laughter, and began to sing in a low voice. A wordless melody that spoke of infinity. Frozen and black. Of the inevitable dying of all the stars. Of soul crushing distance, and the unyielding progress of time and mortality. And of the monolithic things that shuffle through the far reaches of the Universe where the light of the stars dare not shine.
The others were disconcerted, and unable to look upon the Princess for long. As the the Huntress's voice began to rise in terrible beauty, the shadows that danced around the fire began to take on an unnatural rhythm. Seemingly dancing with the Princess's melody. Subtley at first. Then belligerently defying the laws of nature as they twisted and turned to that Black Song. Akoko was the first to notice the oddity.
"I fear this dark melody will bring us trouble this night." Burundi said. But the Princess would not be silenced. Soon the faint sound of drums could be heard somewhere out in the darkness, and Burundi began to receive reports of furtive movements outside the outer defensive perimeter.
He ordered the defenders to fall back to the first perimeter, but received no reply. The sound of approaching drums grew louder, and the first perimeter was ordered back to the camp. The sound of approaching drums drew closer, and was joined by the piping of countless flutes. It was Adisha who made the terrible discovery that the approaching music, was impossibly following along with Amara's voice.
"More of the Eyeless God's devilry. Some unholy thing comes this way. We must regroup, and move out now." Burundi said. But soon realized that none would ever return from the inner perimeter. Blades were raised, and plasma weapons readied. By now the sound of approaching drums was all around them. It was as if a host of musicians had encircled the camp, and were closing in.
Amara in her madness sang on, despite the pleadings of her companions to cease. And the music of the surrounding countryside impossibly followed along with her terrible voice. The companions around the fire only now noticed that the long shadows stretching across the land, were twisting and writhing beneath the moonlight like the shadows around Amara. Then out of the darkness shambled the first of the musicians.
They were the slaughtered Yautja of Illium. Mutilated and still smoldering, they beat on drum heads made of their own stretched flesh. And piped through flutes made of their own hollowed bones. They danced maniacally to their blasphemous melody. Twisting, undulating, and jerking spasmodically.
Burundi suddenly howled like a rabid animal and flung himself at the oncoming musicians. The Commander having forgotten his obligation to the krown upon spotting his only brother, who was a native of Illium. And who had awoken dead, in the cold night. And crossed the dark land, pounding a drum head made of his own skin; To find his still living brother.
Burundi slashed apart his dead brother, and drove deeper into the crowd. Consumed by madness he was whirlwind of death even to the dead. Heedles of his companion's calls. But when he was deep within the Horde, the other Yautja saw a great hulking shade rise up from the darkness within the ranks of dead musicians, and crash onto the Commander like a wave. And Burundi, one time concubine to the Queen, was never seen by another living soul again.
"We must flee this madness!" Akoko cried. And he led the remaing group in a desperate charge. As they cut and blasted their way through the ranks of dead dancing Yautja the music began to diminish. Losing strength as it lost players.
Within moments the remaining group with the Royal Huntress in tow were free. But two more of the guardsmen were lost in the desperate attack. And so the remaining five Yautja fled through the darkness with their charge. The dead gave chase. But the living proved faster, and soon the music began to fade.
Terrible shapes darted across the night sky in great flocks. Their massive black forms outlined by Jata, and Sarraqua. At this distance they reminded Adisha and Akoko of the blasphemous Magenta Host they had battled in the catacombs beneath Illium. But the parasites they had seen did not possess wings.
It was whilst observing these winged monstrosities that the warriors beheld a sight more terrible then the walking dead. In the space of mere hours the moons of Androa had shifted impossibly. Jata was now in it's first quarter, and Sarraqua was just now Waxing. The Yautja knew their could be only one terrible explanation for this. The Eyeless God had altered the very rotation of their planet.
The Black Music still drifted on the air. A testimony that the dead still pursued them. The five warriors and their charge continued to put distance between themselves and the undead, until they reached the great ridge that led down into the Akondia Basin.
It was there that they beheld yet another aspect of the Ebony Dragon's madness. Far below the Akondia was teaming with massive shadows that twisted and writhed to the distant music of the dead. The shade's having abandoned all pretense of being born of nature. They defied the light of the moon's as they twisted, and leapt high up into the cold darkness.
Even at this distance the warriors could see that the shadows belonged to nothing of this world, but instead acted on their own accord, needing no living being of substance to justify their existence. The Yautja stood frozen in place as they beheld the scene. Soon a titanic shadow of no discernable origin began to rise out of the center of the writhing mass.
The shade at first resembled a growing mountain that swayed as it rose into the night sky. The companions watched in horror as the monolithic shadow reached a height of a half mile and began to unfold. Taking on the uncanny shape of a titanic tree. Terrible flowers made of shadow began to unfold beneath the moonlight. And the Yautja's waning courage was undone as they smelt the unholy scent of the shadow blossoms that came wafting on the night wind.
Hell had come to their world. There was no doubting that any longer. To her companion's dismay, Royal Huntress Amara in her madness began to sing loudly to the shadows below. And the host of shades in the Basin took notice. Suddenly like a black, raging river, the shadows began to crash up the slope of the basin toward them.
Akoko quickly lead them across the ridge of the basin. They stumbled as they fled. The oncoming host of shades closing in on them with every second that passed. The companions dared to look back, and beheld the approaching shadows.
The monolithic tree of shadow remained in it's place. Though it continued to grow, and was now nearing a mile in height. And to their horror they now beheld monstrous shades akin to giants that swung about on great black vines below the canopy.
Then in that terrible, breathless moment Royal Huntress Amara spoke. "Behold the great work of Almighty God! On the first day, he brought shadow. A horde of shapeless darkness that would spread out across the land of the Eyeless One's first landfall!
The darkness born here this night will fill the land below. Then it will spill across the land like a tsunami. Covering our world in darkness even as the Eyeless One drags our planet away from the light of our suns!" And with that the Princess abruptly ceased speaking and began singing that Black Melody once again.
"The Eyeless One has taken our world! We must abandon our oaths and flee!" Abiole, one of the Elite Guards cried out in horror.
"You bring great dishonor to your family name, Abiole!" Akoko shouted, as the group continued to flee through the night. "A great darkness threatens our Princess and you succumb to fear rather than come to the Crown's defense?! Redeem your honor by throwing yourself against our pursuers, and slowing them down for your brethren who still retain their courage!"
Realizing Akoko's words to be true, Abiole's spirit was filled with a rage born of shame, and he let loose a howl that caused even his comrades to shudder. For Abiole's tribe was one of hight esteem, and his sudden lapse in courage brought him a great anguish that he could not bear.
"Away shades!" He cried. "Away from my land! You shall not pollute my people's world with your presence! Not while Abiole lives!"
He charged down the steep slope of the basin. Firing into the writhing mass of shadows. The blue plasma bursts of his shoulder cannon, and plasma rifle defying the encroaching darkness. The remaining Yautja fled, as Abiole's cries faded into the depths of the basin.
It was only after Abiole's cries ceased that the others witnessed the full extent of his mad plan. He had set the self destruct sequence on his gauntlet, and it exploded as he dove deeper into the sea of shadow. In an instant the black horde vanished in a flash of brilliant light. The Yautja were thrown to the ground as the force of Abiole's sacrifice washed over them.
When the companions finally raised their heads and looked backward they beheld no Sea of Writhing Shadows, but only smoldering nuclear desolation in the depths of the Akondia Basin. Abiole's sacrifice it seemed had destroyed the Eyeless Dragon's Sea of Shades...
"Thanks for reading! And please check out Chapter 8!"
