House of Gears
The dream begins with a sea of black fluid, and a white sky above it. Both are calm, devoid of blemish, untouched by light, or wind, or sound.
A head breaks the surface of the Wither, spreading ripples. She appears with hair and skin covered in ooze, her features blurred, her face indistinguishable. When her eyes open, there is only more Wither behind them. When she smiles, only the reflections mark the edges of her smooth, black teeth. Her gills flex, breathing in the sickness, and she exhales more of the substance from her nose.
Only her voice labels her, gives her identity.
Abelina Tremont.
Abelina Tremont: "I am without strength."
In response, hundreds of voices chant behind us, as if we stand at the front of a crowd.
???: "Save that which I am granted."
Abelina Tremont: "I keep no secrets."
???: "Save what I am given by the Masters."
Abelina Tremont: "I take what is offered."
???: "Save what is offered by false gods."
Abelina Tremont: "Ana-men."
???: "Fester and set."
Abelina Tremont: "Breathe." An intake of breath, and the sea rises higher, swallowing Abelina and the pure white sky. There is the rush of pressure as Wither pools into our ears, and we go to place devoid of life, and light, and hope. There is the fetid smell of corpses left to fester, and the dark music of a final scream. Then an amber light, displaying Abelina strapped into a cockpit made of flesh, the beating heart of some great beast pounding in her hands. Stop!
Abelina Tremont: "Kill them all." Above Abelina's headrest, a face sloughs out of the flesh wall. Jun Zhao glances down at the controls, and smiles with ooze-covered teeth. Jun Zhao: "No mercy!"
Fight it!
Abelina Tremont: "No fear..." The monster made of a good woman and a creature most foul twist at the heart, and our viewpoint shifts out of the cockpit, showing the whole of the slimy, eldritch mech. Starships painted in dark grays and yellows fight with the stark green of the Azlanti Star Empire in the distance, but dozens of the former force — which the Haze identifies as the Shadari Confederacy — are on the approach. Run! The mech raises a fleshy hand, and globules of black flame lance out from its fingertips, melting the ships they hit, and clinging unnaturally to those that survive. In seconds the contingent of starships is in shambles, pilots dying in their cockpits from the radiation and corruption around them. Abelina's warped, high-pitched laugh can be heard despite the lack of air, set over a deep, pitiful sobbing. The drums of the Horseman of War pound. The vision fades.
Abelina Tremont: "I keep no secrets."
???: "Save what I am given by the Masters."
Abelina Tremont: "I take what is offered."
???: "Save what is offered by false gods."
Abelina Tremont: "Ana-men."
???: "Fester and set."
Abelina Tremont: "Breathe." An intake of breath, and the sea rises higher, swallowing Abelina and the pure white sky. There is the rush of pressure as Wither pools into our ears, and we go to place devoid of life, and light, and hope. There is the fetid smell of corpses left to fester, and the dark music of a final scream. Then an amber light, displaying Abelina strapped into a cockpit made of flesh, the beating heart of some great beast pounding in her hands. Stop!
Abelina Tremont: "Kill them all." Above Abelina's headrest, a face sloughs out of the flesh wall. Jun Zhao glances down at the controls, and smiles with ooze-covered teeth. Jun Zhao: "No mercy!"
Fight it!
Abelina Tremont: "No fear..." The monster made of a good woman and a creature most foul twist at the heart, and our viewpoint shifts out of the cockpit, showing the whole of the slimy, eldritch mech. Starships painted in dark grays and yellows fight with the stark green of the Azlanti Star Empire in the distance, but dozens of the former force — which the Haze identifies as the Shadari Confederacy — are on the approach. Run! The mech raises a fleshy hand, and globules of black flame lance out from its fingertips, melting the ships they hit, and clinging unnaturally to those that survive. In seconds the contingent of starships is in shambles, pilots dying in their cockpits from the radiation and corruption around them. Abelina's warped, high-pitched laugh can be heard despite the lack of air, set over a deep, pitiful sobbing. The drums of the Horseman of War pound. The vision fades.
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