WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book Thirteen: The Endless Void
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CONTENT WARNING: This series contains explicit sexual violence, human sacrifice, psychological torture, murder of innocent characters (including children and family members), ritualistic killing, and extreme horror. No character is safe. Read at your own risk.
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Chapter Two Hundred Ninety-One: The Voidling's Hunger
Year 300 – Two Hundred Eighty-Nine Years After the Curse
Three centuries.
Three hundred years of blood. Three hundred years of hunger. Three hundred years of endless, aching need that could never be fully satisfied.
The voidling in the west had been born from the emptiness between stars.
Not literally—she was only seventy-six. But she had been born as if she had existed for millennia. Every day. Every night. Every nothing of every kind.
She believed she could challenge the queen.
She believed she could win.
She believed she could kill her.
Her name was Nyx—another echo, another coincidence. She was ancient now, her form shifting, her power growing, her hunger endless.
She had seen many things in her long existence.
She had consumed many worlds.
She had failed many times.
But she had never faced anything like the queen.
The queen was different.
The queen was darkness.
The queen was eternity.
But Nyx had found something.
A shard.
An ancient shard, torn from the heart of a dead universe, imbued with the power to annihilate anything, to erase anything, to end anything.
She had hidden it for eons.
She had protected it for eons.
She was ready.
This is it, she thought.
This is the answer.
This is how I annihilate her.
She did not see the shadows gathering.
She did not hear the whispers growing louder.
She did not feel the darkness closing in.
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The Western Void – Morning
Nyx drifted through the void, as she always did.
The emptiness was vast. The silence was absolute. The darkness was comforting.
Life is hard, she thought.
Life is cruel.
Life is short.
But I am not short.
I am nothing.
I am eternal.
Or I was.
Until I was born.
Until I failed.
She did not see the shadows.
She did not hear the whispers.
She did not feel the darkness watching.
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The Ruins – Morning
Liora sat on the throne, listening to the whispers.
Three million and fifty-five souls now served her. They flitted through the shadows, invisible to all but her, reporting on everything they saw and heard.
They told her about the voidling.
She is nothing, they said. She is hungry. She is dangerous.
She has a shard. An ancient shard. Torn from the heart of a dead universe.
It can annihilate anything.
Erase anything.
End any thing.
She believes she can annihilate you.
She believes she can win.
She believes she can kill you.
Liora's smile widened.
A voidling, she thought.
Nothing. Hungry. Dangerous.
A shard that can annihilate anything.
Erase anything.
End any thing.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
But I am not a thing.
I am not anything.
I am eternal.
And no shard—
No voidling—
No nothing—
Can annihilate eternity.
She stood up.
She walked down the steps.
The shadows followed.
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The Western Void – Night
Nyx prepared for her journey.
She held the shard.
It glowed in her hand.
It was cold.
It was alive.
It was hungry.
Tomorrow, she thought.
Tomorrow I go to the ruins.
Tomorrow I face the queen.
Tomorrow I annihilate her.
She did not see the shadows gathering.
She did not hear the whispers growing louder.
She did not feel the darkness closing in.
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The Void
Liora appeared in the emptiness.
White dress. Black eyes. Pale skin.
"You're here," she said.
Nyx looked up.
"Who—"
"I am the queen."
"The queen?"
"Yes."
"Please—"
"Shh."
Nyx raised the shard.
Liora moved.
Faster than Nyx could follow. Faster than she could react.
Her hand closed around the voidling's wrist.
"You won't need that."
"Let go of me."
"No."
Nyx tried to pull away.
She could not.
Liora's grip was like iron.
"What are you?"
"I am what comes next."
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The Feeding – Nyx
Liora reached into the voidling's mind.
She tried to resist.
She was nothing. Hungry. Dangerous.
But she was stronger.
She pushed past her defenses.
She found her memories.
...the shard...
...the annihilation...
...the hope ...
...that she could be the one...
...that she could stop her...
...that she could annihilate her...
She pulled.
The memories flowed into her.
The nothing.
The hunger.
The soul.
Delicious, she thought.
More.
She pulled again.
Nyx gasped.
Her body convulsed.
Her eyes rolled back.
She pulled again.
Nyx went limp.
She withdrew from her mind.
She looked down at her.
Still "breathing." Still "alive." But empty.
The voidling was no more.
Just a shell.
Another victim.
Another name for the list.
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The Shard
Liora picked up the shard.
It glowed in her hand.
It was cold.
It was alive.
It was hungry.
Interesting, she thought.
Very interesting.
She raised the shard.
She looked at its reflection in her eyes.
Her eyes were black.
Her skin was pale.
Her smile was wide.
This shard could annihilate anything, she thought.
It could erase anything.
It could end any thing.
But I have no need for annihilation.
I have no need for erasure.
I have no need for endings.
I am the annihilation.
I am the erasure.
I am the ending.
She crushed the shard in her hand.
The glow faded.
The cold died.
The hunger ended.
No one will ever use it now, she thought.
No one will ever try again.
I am safe.
I am eternal.
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The Three Million Fifty-Sixth Sacrifice
She performed the ritual in the void, surrounded by nothing and silence.
The whispers watched.
She spoke the words.
She made the cuts.
She collected the blood.
And when it was over—
The darkness roared.
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The Power – Three Million Fifty-Six
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Three million and fifty-six sacrifices. Three million and fifty-six souls. Three million and fifty-six streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming her.
Three million fifty-six, she thought.
The hunger is quieter now.
But it will return.
It always returns.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at the body.
A voidling. Nothing. Dead.
No one is safe from me, she thought.
No one.
Not even the nothing.
She smiled in the darkness.
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The Disposal
There was no body to burn.
The voidling dissolved into nothing.
Her essence scattered into the void.
No one saw her.
No one ever saw her.
She walked back to the ruins as the sun rose, smelling of smoke and blood and darkness.
She washed her face in a broken fountain.
She braided her hair with her fingers.
She wore a white dress she had found in a forgotten wardrobe.
She practiced her smile.
Eyes wide. Innocence.
Mouth soft. Gentleness.
Head tilted. Curiosity.
Perfect, she thought.
She sat on the throne.
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The Empty Throne
The throne room was open to the sky.
No walls. No roof. No protection.
Just Liora.
And the whispers.
You are alone, they said.
Yes, she thought.
But I am not lonely.
I have you.
I have all of you.
Forever.
She closed her eyes.
She listened to the whispers.
They told her about the world.
The new kings. The new heroes. The new legends.
They told her about a young man in the east. A time traveler. Lost. He had been jumping through time for centuries, trying to find a way to stop the queen, to save the world, to fix history.
He believed he could go back to the beginning.
He believed he could kill her before she became powerful.
He believed he could win.
Liora smiled.
Let him jump, she thought.
Let him try.
Let him believe.
I have time.
I have forever.
And when he comes—
I will feed.
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End of Chapter Two Hundred Ninety-One