The gods did not vanish quietly.
They screamed.
The sky cracked, mountains shivered, and oceans churned with their rage. Temples collapsed, altars split, priests fell to their knees, clutching ears that bled as divine voices tore themselves from the world.
In the border village of Aerin's Hollow, a child was born the same night the screams ended.
Rain pounded the thatched roofs, and women whispered prayers that had no listeners. Inside a small mud house, firelight flickered wildly while the midwife froze, her breath hitching.
The newborn did not cry.
Her eyes—too clear, too aware—reflected something not of this world.
A symbol burned briefly across her chest, silver and bright, before sinking beneath her skin like a brand swallowed by flesh.
Outside, the sky fell silent.
The midwife stumbled back. "This child… she is marked," she whispered.
The baby finally screamed.
Far away, in ruins older than memory, something ancient stirred—smiling.
Eighteen years later, the mark still burned.
Mireth tightened her cloak as she moved through the forest path, boots sinking into wet earth. Night pressed close around her, thick and watchful. The trees leaned inward, twisted branches clawing at the sky as if aware of her presence.
She ignored them.
The mark beneath her collarbone pulsed faintly, heat crawling across her skin. Pain followed—sharp, familiar, unwelcome. She bit back a hiss and kept walking.
Stopping was dangerous.
The mark only reacted when death was near.
Her fingers tightened around the dagger at her side as a low growl echoed between the trees.
Not one voice.
Many.
Eyes flickered in the darkness—yellow, hungry, wrong. The creatures stepped into view slowly, limbs bending where they should not.
God-touched beasts.
Mireth swallowed.
"Of course," she muttered. "Now."
The mark burned hotter, screaming against her skin, and something deep inside her answered.
Power coiled in her veins—cold, violent, eager.
She hated it.
She needed it.
As the creatures lunged, the forest lit up with silver fire.
And somewhere beyond the stars, a dead god opened its eyes.