And it came to pass that Thane beheld the world undone.

Thane had a strange dream that day. He stood upon the edge of a cliff, and a shadow covered his heart. The wind howled, but it was not the song of the living; but as Thane watched, he saw the sigh of a dying world. He turned, and behold, what lay behind him was a land stricken by a curse.

The plains were gray and split like the cracked lips of the thirsty. The trees no longer breathed; they stood as hollow sentinels, their branches clawing at the air in silent supplication. The leaves that clung to them were as thin as paper and fluttered not in wind but in despair.

Once-green fields had become carpets of ash. Rivers that once sang had become slithering threads of mud, their waters evaporating into steam that smelled faintly of blood.

The earth itself seemed weary of living. Death and decay was evident everywhere.

Bones, blood, and echoes of howls and weeping's could be heard.

Thane saw the strange world and walked towards the cliff.

Every step Thane took left a dark imprint that smoldered faintly before fading. The sky was brass, unyielding, a dome that neither stormed nor smiled. No sun pierced it, only a dull light that shone as if from a dying lamp.

"The world is withering..." Thane spoke.

Thane turned toward the abyss below the cliff, and what he saw made his soul tremble.

Below him stretched a world that burned with eternal torment. The land had become a pit, and the pit a furnace. The rivers ran with molten metal; mountains bled magma from deep wounds. The air pulsed with the sound of screams.

Thane could feel it.

"The land cries out... The blood that has been spilled here has never been paid avenged..."

Fire cascaded through canyons like waterfalls of judgment. The skies were split by lightning that struck downward and never returned, stabbing the ground like spears of divine wrath.

The more Thane marveled and saw, the more he felt an immense anger from the flaw of the land.

Beneath the firelight, he saw towers built from the bones of beasts and men, bent into grotesque cathedrals that reached for a heaven that no longer listened. Lakes of oil shimmered black as mirrors, and within them, faces blinked up. It was countless souls frozen in the moment of remembering what mercy had once felt like.

Thane stepped back, but the cliff gave no comfort. The heat of that hellish plain reached even him, scalding his spirit more than his flesh. He tasted ash, and it tasted like guilt.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

From the east, west, south, and north came mighty figures that created tremors and ripples across the land.

Powerful presences stirred across the dying land, vast and ancient. They moved not with feet but with will, like storms with thought. And soon, he saw them: five figures moving upon the horizon, wreathed in light that did not bless but accused.

Four bore the shapes of men, though their divinity was a perversion. Their wings were dark as smoke, trailing sparks of corruption.

And above them all slithered a fifth being, a serpent vast enough to wrap the horizon.

The five searched, gazes sweeping the plains like hunters seeking prey.

Then one who looked like a man spoke, creating a thunderous sound.

"I was sure I felt it! Did you not sense it? Are you not the lord over that region?!"

Thane turned toward the speaker. The figure was tall, draped in black, his body marked by plates of chitin that gleamed faintly red. The air trembled around him.

From his shoulders hung chains tipped with hooked barbs that twitched as if alive. When he moved, the sound of scuttling echoed faintly. He had six stingers behind that looked like a scorpion's tail. His eyes burned like coals submerged in oil.

He pointed toward a terrible sight that made Thane cover his mouth in disgust as he saw the figure.

A pillar of flesh and blood that rose from the plain, composed of countless faces screaming into silence. Their mouths were open wide, their eyes sealed shut, and their cries flowed upward like smoke.

Thane's stomach turned as he saw the smallest faces! These were the faint outlines of children frozen among them, the tower pulsing like a living wound!

"And what are you accusing me of, you half-elf?!" The tower of flesh called to the one with six scorpion tails.

But before their bickering could grow any louder, the serpent, largest and most domineering of the five, moved down from the great heights of heaven.

"No... Something is masking and covering Libra. But it is as you all claimed. After all these years, Libra's seal has broken. He has returned."

Thane's breath caught.

"They can sense Libra?"

The five drew near to one another, and their forms grew clearer as they came.

The fourth member of the group was a bearded man with the body of a tiger, his stripes pulsing faintly like molten gold. His human face was noble and cruel, his eyes yellow suns that saw only prey.

The fourth member was a woman, human in form, but clothed in near-nothingness, her body adorned with jewels that glowed with the pulse of sin. Her eyes invited ruin; her smile promised it. Even the air around her trembled with indulgence.

And towering behind them all, the serpent, massive, endless, regal. His scales were like mirrors reflecting the heavens, and his eyes were galaxies, spinning slowly, each blink older than the age of stars. His presence was suffocating.

"The Serpent... This could be the member of the Zodiac...! Serpentarius!" Thane identified the being.

But he turned to the other beings. They were unlike Libra. With the Serpent, Thane felt a familiar eerie and undivine power similar to that of Libra. But to the rest, Thane couldn't see it.

"What happened to Libra?! Which one of you took him?!" roared the tiger-man, his voice like a drum of thunder.

"As if it were I who took him," hissed the man with scorpion tails.

"You are the Devourer, are you not? You feasted upon him, beast!"

"None of you took them," the serpent said again. His words came slowly, each syllable weighing like a judgment.

"Neither was it I."

The four raged against the serpent, cursing and accusing, their voices shaking the broken sky. Yet the serpent did not answer them.

He only stared downward. And the very direction that the Serpent looked towards was towards Thane.

Its eyes pierced the haze of the dream, and for a moment, Thane felt seen, but not entirely. The serpent squinted, as if looking through layers of glass.

Then, it spoke again, almost softly.

"Someone has taken Libra. Not one of us. Another god will soon rise and walk with us in this world. I cannot discern where that Libra is. The location of his Temple was hidden from us. We might have to scour his entire continent if we want to find it!"

The four false gods froze, horror flashing in their eyes.

"Another god?! Ha! As if there will be another one of us! We have risen to this power with unimaginable odds! Never will there be another!" The woman howled in laughter.

The tiger also laughed. But as he did, Thane could see that the figure was slightly different and monstrous. His face and features looked more similar to the orcs that he met!

"Tell us, Serpentarius! How is Libra going to become one of us? Or are you just stalling so your other friends can figure out how to ascend to godhood?" The Tiger-orc laughed.

"Hmp. Just because you mortals have risen, doesn't give you the right to be cheeky. Who among you would dare face me in combat? You are gods, but so am I."

"Why don't we try it? I have yet to fight since I've become a god.

Thane clenched his fists. The group spoke of such arrogance and blasphemy. Especially since Thane could feel the death around the world rise up.

"You call yourselves gods? Like men, you shall die!"

The heavens trembled as they heard the cry. It echoed from all around them.

The five turned toward him, startled.

"Who dares?!" the tiger-man bellowed.

"A mere bound angel dares to insult me?!" spat the elf as his tails writhed and erupted to cover a great expanse around him as he sought for the voice.

"A prisoner dares to speak to us thus?"

Thane stepped forward, righteous fire in his veins.

"What gods are you?" he shouted.

"Look upon your creation! Look what you've done to this world!"

The woman sneered.

"What accusation do you bring before us!? Do you not have eyes, Libra? Our creation is glorious!" The woman laughed.

"Glorious?" Thane thundered.

"You call this death-glow glorious? Your fields are graves, your cities are wounds, and your heavens weep blood! Even the dust cries your name in curses!"

"What nonsense do you speak, Libra?! The grass thrives! The mountains grow!" The pillar of flesh and blood cried out.

"What grass?! Can't you see the scorching earth?! And you! You pillar of rotting flesh! Did you rise to power by killing babies?! You forged crowns from children's skulls and called them laurels! You lift your hands in worship to yourselves and wonder why the heavens are silent!"

"WHAT?!"

BOOM!

The pillar of flesh roared at Thane.

"HOW DARE YOU?! YOU ROTTING BONES! YOU LIE! MY APPEARANCE IS ANGELIC! MY APPEARANCE EVEN SURPASSED THAT OF AERIES!"

The raging anger erupted, and Thane was stunned.

"...Master." A weak voice spoke out.

"They do not see as you do... But you have to get out of there! They might soon find us!" The voice spoke from within.

Thane remembered the voice. It was Libra!

"We brought balance and life to this planet! What the angels tried to destroy, we have restored!"

"Balance?! Life? You brought stillness to growth! All of you! I now see you as your forms! Aires. Scorpio. Virgo. And Leo! You took their powers and wear them like a garment! But you will all... die! I have made my judgment!" Thane vowed.

A booming sound echoed as all of those that Thane identified, the man, the half-elf, the orcish tiger, and the woman, all felt a great anger as they howled to attack.

A strange energy from each of the four shot towards Thane.

But before it reached him, a mist arose around Thane.

"Master! Get back!" Libra called out.

Libra's mist coiled around Thane like a guardian's embrace.

But Thane did not retreat.

"All five of you! Including you, you overgrown snake! Await my wrath!" Thane vowed in righteous anger as he met the attack.

Then all faded, the fire, the ruin, the sound all grew dim.

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