Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I am now truly a god.
More than any of my brothers. More than my Father-Creator. More than any beast or spirit from any realm.
I can rule and conquer them all!
I laugh into the emptiness of space.
And then I remember. Whatever power I have just gained for myself can never be mine alone. I do not own my body. I’m just a temporary passenger, forced forever to share.
It’s not fair! No one would endure this!
Then I laugh again, a great, body-shaking chuckle. Because, of course, I don’t have to endure it. I am a god, for the moment in control of this godly body.
I have the ability to divide cell from cell. My brother and I have been at war from the day of our birth, but now I know how to conquer him. I finally have the knowledge to simply cut him from my body.
I will destroy him and be left in blessed solitude, alone to my own thoughts and all I want, with no one threatening to take it from me the moment my eyes close in sleep!
I shut my eyes and fling my arms out once more. A buzzing starts in my ears, and I see it so perfectly, what I could not before. Perhaps it is the bursting energy inside me; perhaps I was willingly blind out of some misguided affection or reliance on the parasite who was only ever holding me back.
But I see him now, my body in golden outline projected perfectly in my mind and the exact lines demarcating where I can cauterize the neurons that are him so that only I remain. In my new godly state, what seemed impossible is now child’s play. His outer face will be easy to slice off, then I can grow hair where he once was so that finally, I will be a whole man.
I breathe in satisfaction, imagining how her eyes will glow when she sees me flying down to her in a triumphant return. Just like the first moment I met her.
I remember the moment so well as it is burned in my memory. Eyes wide in shock and then interest, she all but glowed when I announced my intentions and raised her hand as a volunteer to be my consort. The only brave one as everyone else fled.
Her bravery has only continued to impress me, never once turning her face or embrace away from me, no matter what the circumstances of being with me have thrown at her. Not missiles or strange creatures from other planes of existence or. . .
Or him.
I frown, the first moment of doubt I’ve felt since I began destroying the Devourers.
What will she say when I return without Romulus? I could tell her he was lost in the battle with the creatures.
Immediately, I reject the thought. A god such as me does not need to resort to deceptions.
Also, it feels wrong to lie to her. It has never been that way between us. We have always laid bare our truths to one another. I frown again. Mostly anyway. It’s true; I did not tell her how homicidal I’ve felt lately toward Romulus.
I wince at even thinking his name.
If I do not lie to her, what will she say when I reveal I have destroyed him with my newfound powers?
At first, my anger only sparks hotter. What should it matter what some mortal thinks of what I, a god, do? I do not bow to the whims of a mortal from this inferior plane!
But then, in my mind’s eye, I can imagine the disappointment in her eyes. Already, though the deed has not even been done, I feel her withdrawing.
My arms fall, and the light inside me seems to go cold.
Reminding me how cold and lonely I have been these many, many millennia.
What use is it to have all the power of the most almighty god, ruling the whole world or all the realms, if one rules alone? Haven’t I seen enough earthly despots make the same mistake?
I will be different!
But I’m already shaking my head.
I don’t want to be alone.
The devil’s voice in my head, which sounds very much like my Creator-Father’s, whispers, And when she chooses your brother like everyone else does and you’re alone anyway?
I roar into the silence of space and crash my fists against my head.
What if the Devourer’s fire within me goes dormant, and I lose this one chance to excise Romulus from me? I’m a fool to give up the opportunity when it’s finally within my grasp.
I lift my arms again, shaking my head as my fury rises. I cannot be weak now. Everyone knows who I am. I’ve been told often enough throughout my entire life how I’m an untrustworthy asshole. How I’ll always fuck everything up. How destructive and selfish I am.