Page 53 of Obsidian Dream

Chapter Twenty-Three

WAYFARER

The wayfarer slowlyshed his old skin as he stepped away from the shadows.Each step was agony as his body became flesh and bone once again.He had been granted a gift—to travel as a shadow and smoke—but each time he used it, he felt a small part of him disappear into the darkness and never return.It was a small price to pay to serve his queen.

“What do you bring me?”The voice was female and seductive.The words slithered through him and coiled around his beating heart, squeezing it until it was hard to breathe.She smelled of pomegranate and sweet nectar entwined with a hint of violence.On her, violence had the scent of ash.

“Do something with yourself.Your appearance is displeasing.”

He closed his eyes, willing his bones and flesh to regenerate faster, to allow him to once again please his queen.

Arching his back, he hummed as each cell was regenerated in painful ecstasy.He rarely took his original form when in the catacombs, much preferring the freedom of becoming part of the darkness.But his god demanded it, and he would not disappoint her.

After agonizing minutes, he stood, straightening as bones broke and adjusted, reaching his full height.

He lowered his eyes so he would not offend his queen.

Tsk-tsking, she lifted his chin so he could stare at her intoxicating beauty.Over seven feet tall, she towered over him.Skin the color of unblemished alabaster, untouched by sunlight, glowed in the darkness.Her midnight black hair fell to her waist, covering her breasts.Reptilian green eyes stared at him as she trailed a black talon along his cheek, breaking his skin.He licked the droplets of blood off his face.The green snakes inked on her arms blinked at him.

“Your eyes remind me of the sea that surrounded Atlantis on the night it was destroyed.”

She trailed her hand down his chest, moving lower.He didn’t breathe, nerves tingling in anticipation.

She cupped him, her long fingers wrapping around him.Her talons bit into his sensitive flesh.She slowly caressed him, his penis hardening instantly.

Moving forward, her mouth caressed his ear.Her warm breath tickled his neck as she slipped a dark curl behind his ear.“You may continue to be useful.”

Stroking him, first gently and then squeezing him until pain threatened to overwhelm him, his body silently convulsed as his hips moved of their own volition.At his tip, she swiped a droplet of cum, not before letting her claws pierce his flesh.

She lifted her hand to her mouth, her pointy tongue swiped at her fingers.“What is your name?”

He swallowed, his tongue thick in his mouth.“I remain unnamed until you bestow one upon me.”

She snapped her fingers, and he fell to the ground, landing with a hard thump.His body shook as his skin was sliced with thin cuts, each overlapping with a previous one.As each wound healed, a new one, deeper than the last, would appear replacing it, until there was no area of his body that was not a blistering mess.The ability to scream was torn from him.

She snapped again.The pain intensified as small dust particles swirled around them, entering every single cut.

“I once was worshipped as guardian of the mountains and the earth.From the dirt and your blood, I call upon those who have served me.”She spat on the ground, a mixture of blood, saliva, and cum.

The ground beneath them vibrated.Dust particles drifted from the ceiling as hands took shape, clawing out of the ground.First one pair, but then two, three, seven pairs before he lost count.They appeared animal-like at first, scooped with singular digits, until their humanoid shape became noticeable.White shiny bones emerged.Each piece held together by the god’s will.A sense of pure euphoria washed over him.Just outside of his reach, muscles, tendons, and ligaments slowly stitched together, covering the bones.He could not look away, instead he pulled himself onto his elbows, transfixed by the macabre birth—it was both horrifying and magnificent.

Ninhursag had created life from nothing.Just like their stories had whispered.