Page 101 of Cursed By the Dawn

They floated weakly above the dais, eyes closed and unmoving. Even Fenrir, usually so combative and strong, was a lifeless husk of his former self—cheeks sunken, lips gray, ruby-slippered feet dangling. The crowdparted for me as I made my way to the dais. To the two demons atop it. I had no plan. No strategy.

Justrage.

Mithras stood next to Silas—or rather, Raelion stood next to Estaroth. Several horns jutted from Raelion’s scalp, and his mouth was twisted in a triumphant smile. Even his eyes radiated triumph—glittering red jewels that burned with the fire of two suns. He was dressed head to toe in crimson armor, and bony wings protruded from his back, the thin connective tissue swirling with the shadowy faces of screaming heads. Estaroth wore similar armor, and twin horns protruded from his black hair, curling toward his ears.

Monsters.

Raelion’s eyes found mine through the chaos. My muscles tightened, spasming, and Raelion’s grasp left my skin like barbs being ripped from cloth.

“I wonder how you will use your last moments of freedom,” Raelion mused, his voice wrapping around my mind. “Will you scream? Cry? Perhaps you will beg.”

I stormed toward them both, unsheathing my sword again when they fixed their smiles on me.

The closer I got, the more horror unfolded. Two chains were laid out upon the platform, chains I hadn’t noticed before. Two figures lay slumped awkwardly on the jagged stone, faces twisted in pain as their chains squeezed them tightly. One was already unconscious—Elliot. The other was still awake—Erebus.

Monsters.

I halted just before the dais, shadows rising around my body in a thick, deadly sweep. Erebus struggled to stand, but the chains dragged him down again. Instantly, my shadows responded, lapping against his legs and coiling around his wrists. Wondering, seeking, searching. Desperate to release him but unsure how. But at once, Erebus’s eyes flashed red, bloody—and the shadows dropped away, no longer recognizing the man who stood before them.

“What did you do to them?” I demanded, scarcely recognizing the menace in my voice. “Elliot—Erebus!”

Elliot did not move. Erebus merely gave a strange smile and tilted his head—a gesture that Raelion was mirroring perfectly. When Raelion’s clawed hand rose, so did Erebus’s. When Raelion bade him to kneel, he did.

“Welcome to the remaking of our world,” Raelion said grandly, widening his arms. At once, the Revelers—thousands of demons around the coliseum—sat, eagerly awaiting what would happen next. “Once the second Shadow Weaver has taken the place of her brother, the ritual can begin. Nine Weavers and one god. Together, we will merge Noctis with the Dream Realm. Together, we will tear down the veil and take our rightful place upon mortal soil.”

The arena shivered. The sky blackened.

“Do you feel it, the fabric of your reality fraying at the edges? The dreams these wicked mortals sought to suppress slipped through the cracks of their fragile world—my whispers, burrowing deep into their hearts and minds.” Raelion’s voice was thunder, his eyes lightning. I was frozen in place, unable to do anything but listen. “For too long, this ‘veil’ has stood between the Dream Realm and the waking one, acting as a prison for beings of true power. Beings like us.” The crowd roared, snarled, shrieked in affirmation. “But no prison lasts forever. Every thread has its weakness, and I have found it.”

Slowly, the chained Weavers began to float higher, forming a tentative circle around the arena, just as the glossy floor began to turn entirely transparent, revealing a well of demons—a well of thousands of demonic, monstrous bodies—roiling underneath our feet. My stomach dropped. These monsters weren’t demons—these werepeople. Citizens tucked inside the bodies of their monstrous hosts as their own bodies were overcome by the demons themselves. Demons that were now standing around me, posing as citizens of Noctis.

“Soon, the Dream Realm and reality will become one. The walls that separate them will crumble, and the illusions of mortal safety will burnaway. Oh, the chaos that will follow!” Raelion laughed, and so did the demons. “Demons, creatures of nightmare and pure despair—the skies will bleed with our arrival, the rivers will run black with our Corruption.”

He peered down at the horrific well of broken souls beneath his feet.

“And you, mortals—what purpose will you serve? You who squirm and twist like worms, clinging to your Maker’s lies of dreams and salvation. I have already severed you from His light and stripped you of His love. What’s left for you is the Beyond.” Raelion turned his face toward the sky. The clouds churned wider, faster—much more and I feared the coliseum would snap apart and crumble into the Nocturne. “Do not mistake this for injustice,” Raelion continued, leveling his crimson gaze at me. “No, this is perfectly just. Your Maker created a world of division and constraints. I will free it. Free us. And by the time the last bell tolls, there will be no more waking or sleeping—only an endless, perfect union of darkness and power. And I will reign over it all, the first and final sovereign of both realms.”

Gong.

The first bell vibrated through my bones, a sound more menacing and consuming than anything I’d ever heard. With it, Fenrir seized, body going rigid as fire poured from his eyes, nose, mouth, and hands.

Gong.

The second bell clattered my teeth. Nephthys straightened as if shocked by lightning, a river of blue water pouring from her exactly in the same way Fenrir’s fire poured from him. Eyes, nose, mouth, hands.

Gong.

Ceres was third. Vines, flowers, and earth shoved from her throat, from her hands. Cloyed around her eyes and nose.

Gong.

Lelantos was fourth; wind, rain, and lightning spiked from his body.

Gong.

By the fifth bell, I was viscerally sick. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think—not even as Somnus snapped straight, a torrent of bone-white light rushing from his limbs.

Gong.