Chapter 3
Creature
Time has no meaning here. No steady flow or form. But it's all I've had for centuries, time and the echoes of the living.
For eons, I have remained motionless. A statue in truth as well as form. Void of all dreams or desires. I simply exist to absorb the sounds of the world, resigned to the hollow existence I deserve.
But lately, something... lingers at the edge of my consciousness. A flicker. A pulse.
At first, I wanted to ignore it. I have before. It's not the first time some piece of humanity brushed against me—guilt, grief, need, hope—emotions so strong that eventually, even I, in my slumber, can feel them. But they all fade, leaving me alone in my abyss once more.
But this?
It glows. Insistent in its vibrance.
Every moment it shines brighter, like sunlight filtered through stained glass. A soul that gleams so brilliantly it makes me ache and fills me with a feeling I never thought would work its way through my chest… need.
I can't see her. Not yet. But I feel her. Every night she draws closer, her presence brushing against my skin, her phantom caress stroking me into a frenzy.
I long to know her, touch her, hear her voice. Breathe her in until her essence fills every part of me, until I know her scent as well as my own.
For the first time in my life, I crave something—her.
But I can't reach her.
Days bleed into weeks as I try to shift, to break through the stone, to fly to her, but it's been too long.
My wings ache to unfurl. My claws twitch beneath the stone. Every part of me strains toward her. But I constructed my self-made prison too well, and I can't escape, not yet.
But I will.
I will.
Nothing can stop me from meeting her, my sunlight, my precious dawn. I’ll come for her and do her bidding. My goddess, my place of worship, my sole devotion, my everything.
Should she have prayers, I will answer them. Should she have dreams, I will ensure they come true.
She has awoken me, and no matter if I am blind, deaf, or dumb, if my wings and limbs are ripped from my body, I will find a way.
She is calling for me, searching for me, and I will always come when she calls.