The hole extended down into the earth until he could even see light coming from the mouth of the tunnel. He wondered what life Siddil lived to have ended here with his body intact, he had heard of great monsters being banished to hell. The type that wanted to eat a city’s worth of people and then burn it to the ground. He hoped no cities would be harmed from their unholy union.

Kolost could see the bottom of the hole, it was much brighter than above which took him by surprise before he realised what it was. It was the SUN! He could only see clouds below him but even that made him ecstatic.

“Beautiful even though the clouds don’t move, they help hide the gods’ realms.”

Kolost turned around to face Siddil and saw him smiling, his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Well, are you ready to start?”

Siddil didn’t let him finish and turned to walk into a small crevasse carved into the tunnel’s wall. It was a circular space just high enough to stand in, just an empty grey chamber. Kolost wondered if he lived here for all his time in hell, also did he make this hole or did he find it like this? How has a hole leading outside not been discovered?

“The ritual will be very painful, maybe the most painful thing you’ve ever done. I don’t have to tell you that fusing souls together is going against several laws of nature. Try and calm your mind to speed up the process.”

“The most important thing however is our plan for the next steps. Who are going to possess? We aren’t going to have a new body waiting for us on arrival. We can make do with an animated corpse for a few days with my help but me working independently will make our union fragile. So, I’m going to need your help with whatever we have to do to make the most of our second chance.”

Kolost had made a lot of life changing choices since he’s met Siddil and now he’s asking him to make the hardest one yet. Would he kill another to ensure his own survival? His hatred seemed more than ready for it. It would do anything to get revenge, but Kolost was hesitant to take a life. He has no reason to fear as the gods will punish him anyway and he was sure Siddil would do it even without his permission, he had to be desperate to escape now after being imprisoned here so long.

Kolost turned and floated into the centre of the room instead of answering SIddil. In truth he was dreading the ritual, not just the mind-shattering pain but what came afterwards. He was determined to make the best of his second chance.

Siddil stepped before him and without a second look or word he started chanting. A complete foreign language echoed around the room. This got Kolost wondering on how he’s been able to understand him, they definitely hail from different a place and a different time. So then how come he spoke Eroan?

His pondering was cut short when SIddil’s body collapsed on the floor and his soul floated before him, then the ritual started to build in volume. He felt his soul vibrate with energy as the ritual reached a crescendo. Then the two souls touched and Kolost felt a mind shattering pain. Like an invasive parasite was eating him, dissolving his being while he slowly watched it all frozen in despair. The smaller and smaller his being got the lass worried Kolost became, when the last wisps of ego were consumed, he fell asleep.

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Kolost dreamed of great city standing tall and proud, its people content and safe behind it’s sturdy walls. The leader of the City was a great man, capable of bending the earth to his will. Rivers were rerouted to make fertile farmland and mountains raised to form a valley around the city. He saw him make sturdy walls for his new home, then when the slums got too big, he pushed the walls back like a child kicking a snowman. Kolost never even considered that a mortal could be so powerful. He saw the might this man wielded, he wanted it.

Kolost saw the clean streets and tall temple spires which worshipped an unknown god. He walked into the temple and saw a mass in progress. The statue of a naked man his arms spread wide, in one hand he held a spear and fire in another. His shoulder length hair looked incredibly detailed with his head and eyes trained upon the sky in longing. His body looked fragile, too human for a deity. But he was clearly the one these people were worshipping.

The believers were sitting in the darkness on narrow uncomfortable pews. They were singing in another language, encouraged and led by the plain looking holy man at the front. The temple was quite small for a city this big, no steps leading up to the altar, no embellished chandeliers, or long stained-glass windows. Clearly these people weren’t Eroan, or any peoples Kolost knew of.

Then a low rumbling sound reverberated in the temple halls. It gradually grew in volume and the building started to almost shiver, that’s the best he could describe it. A slight movement of the walls. The worshippers didn’t seem phased, so he didn’t give it a second thought. Then it got worse, much worse. The temple should’ve collapsed by now and he could hear screaming outside so the city certainly was collapsing. He looked outside to see rubble heaps where the city once was, but the tremors didn’t get better. In the distance the walls collapsed inwards, and the earth opened.

A scar spread across the city toppling anything still standing, people and buildings alike. Kolost saw the opening swallow everything in sight, including him. Thousands of people and rubble fell together into the ever-expanding abyss. As Kolost fell he saw the blue sky above him sun high in the sky. A beautiful day all things considered. Then with a sickening crunch Kolost awoke.