Chapter 1: Kharis

Purpose came in the shape of a jagged stone, my goddess’ golden power bleeding into my veins. Some say her power tasted like iron and smelled like war, others swore it savored like rage and ignited like fire.

For me, it tasted like despair.

Kill the rest.

Do it slowly.

Until there’s no monsters left.

Her distant voice whispered to me as it did to every Dynami who wore her stone on their chest, digging into our flesh, sharp and unyielding. It spiked through my arms and legs, my veins aglow in the darkness of Lhaal Forest.

A stench flooded my senses—it was acrid; sulfuric.

Monster’s blood.

Jumping over a fallen tree, I landed in a small clearing. I dug my boots into the dirt, shifting my blade’s weight into my dominant hand. Despite all I’d done to avoid this outcome, the monster had followed the caravaner’s path—the people I was tasked to protect—and now the beast’s fate would be sealed in my goddess’ power and under my blade.

Twelve red eyes glinted in the moonlight. The monster’s long fangs dripped with black poison, its eight legs punctured into the ground, a grating chitter fell from its mouth.

It intended to fight, yet its short hair shivered in the wind; it knew its fate.

“Stop,” I breathed, a moment of clarity escaping my goddess’ powerful clutch, “turn around and I’ll lay down my sword. You’ll go free.”

Instead, the arachni lunged for my heart.

My muscles shifted underneath my skin, the power gripping my chest so tight black spots burned in the corners of my vision. Time came to a halt; the forest’s mist stalled, the gusts of wind ceased, and the monster suspended in the air as if it would live its entire life before it touched the ground.

Rot and sulfur filled my nostrils as I stepped forward and slashed my sword through the arachni’s neck. The squeezing in my chest released and time returned, mist swirling, wind blowing, and the arachni screaming. Black blood spewed everywhere, covering my hands and face. The monster’s shriek died out with a low garble, its eight legs convulsing until its body slammed to the forest floor with a thud.

I fought for air as I kneeled on the cracked earth. Chest heaving, blood pumping, and arms shaking, thoughts rushed through my mind. I fought to ignore them. Yet, just like this dying ground yearned for water, there was no satisfying them:

Kill the rest.

Do it slowly.

Until there’s no more monsters left.

This scene is subject to change and may or may not make it in final, published story.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. AI was not used in the creation of this work, and this work may not be used for AI training purposes. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. This is an unedited version, but still protected by US copyright law.