"F-Father, forgive me, for I have sinned."
"Tell me, Alric. What troubles you?"
They sat on the wooden benches of the chapel. Father Barentas clutched his cross tightly in his lap. Dim candlelight flickered across the quiet hall.
Alric looked at him with tear-filled eyes—yet what burned behind them was more than sorrow.
"I bear a deep hatred… toward the Aviditors. I want nothing more than their death."
Father Barentas looked at him with confusion before a soft smile formed on his face.
"My dear Alric, the Aviditors are not real. Surely you know demons like that would never be allowed to roam our world."
"But Father, I remember it as clearly as day."
Alric sighed and paused for a long moment before speaking again.
—————————————————
"My father was drafted into the war—a simple farmer who didn't even know how to wield a sword."
"I'M TELLING YOU! I'M ONLY A FARMER! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE A SWORD!" the imperial recruiters shouted, ignoring his protests. They shoved him to the ground and slapped him across the face.
"WE ARE SHORT ON MANPOWER, SIR! IT IS BY THE REQUEST OF HIS MAJESTY! WE ARE ABOUT TO BE DISSOLVED! DO YOU NOT LOVE YOUR COUNTRY?!"
One of them turned toward the young Alric.
"Unless… you want us to take in young blood instead."
"My mother covered my ears and embraced me, while my father panicked and agreed in an instant to take my place."
"But in the end, we not only lost the war… we also lost my father's life. On top of that, the king vanished without a trace."
"Why… why my husband… why my family…"
"I had never seen my beautiful mother cry like that. She knelt beside her bed—the side where my father used to lie.
She wailed in deep sorrow:
'PLEASE, IF ANYONE… ANYTHING… CAN HEAR ME! BRING MY HUSBAND BACK! EVEN IF I MUST DIG A THOUSAND CORPSES! LET ME SEE HIM AGAIN, HOLD HIM! ANYTHING!'"
Her hands trembled. Her breath was unsteady. Her tears were pure.
"And then… it appeared."
"A woman whose figure seemed ripped from a tale. Eyes like the full moon, pale as snow. Rows of teeth sharper than steel. And a smile wider than an arc. My heart pounded louder than the march of a thousand soldiers. I felt like I was about to vomit."
"Mira chil, vira caretha for whata ven visha."
(My child, be careful what you wish for.)
Her eyes suddenly widened as she turned toward me.
"ALRIC—"
"The creature grabbed her. Its arm twisted and expanded into a sack of flesh, and it forced her body inside."
"It turned toward me and smiled."
"My stomach sank."
"I blinked—and she was gone."
"I was alone."
—————————————————
Father Barentas sighed and gently tapped Alric's shoulder.
"Perhaps your eyes deceive you, my dear. Only men exist in these plains."
His smile widened far beyond any human's.
Alric stared at him silently. His expression slowly went blank.
Then he scoffed.
"Then what are you, Father?"
Father Barentas' smile faded instantly. The confusion disappeared, replaced with something colder. His eyes resembled those of a dead fish.
"Alric… what are you talking about—"
Alric cut him off.
"Don't play the fool."
His eyes burned with restrained fury.
"I've studied your kind. Ancient scriptures describe you as the highest members of society—wolves in sheep's clothing. Demons wearing the skin of angels. Creatures as old as the stars above us. Demons who feed on the desires of men."
Alric suddenly stood and grabbed the collar of the priest's robe, shaking him violently.
"BRING MY MOTHER BACK, YOU DAMN DEMON!"
The candlelights that once flickered suddenly went out.
The chapel fell into silence.
Only the wind outside remained.
Father Barentas smiled.
The scent around him changed—from sweet flowers to rotting flesh.
The pores on his skin smoothed into porcelain. His fingers elongated.
Then his body twisted grotesquely.
In a moment, the priest was gone.
In his place stood a nude man—beautiful in a terrifying way. Long white hair fell down his back, and his amber eyes gleamed like reflected starlight.
When his mouth opened, rows of unnaturally sharp teeth were revealed.
The Aviditor pushed Alric violently.
Alric crashed through the stone wall of the church and slammed into the ground outside. He clawed at the grass, dirt covering his body as he coughed violently—blood spilling from his mouth. The gust of wind took his breath away as the grass rustled with it.
The creature slowly approached.
Moonlight spilled over the chapel grounds, framing the creature like a halo of dread. But the shadow it cast was a lie—twisted, elongated, and impossibly large, swallowing the walls, the benches, the very earth beneath it. With each step, the shadow seemed to ripple like liquid darkness, crawling forward, devouring everything in its path.
The wind twisted around it, carrying the scent of rot and something far older than death. Every movement the Aviditor made stretched the night itself, bending reality, making Alric feel smaller than a bug beneath a giant's looming hand. His pulse hammered in his ears; the ground beneath him seemed to quake with the weight of the shadow.
It stopped a few feet away.
"Yra veneth var morakel viir entiza me."
(Your desire for the death of my kind entices me.)
It licked its teeth, smiling as it watched Alric struggle.
"Entera me in valeth, as ven watcha overa tu. Ve mayra… ven giva tu matra bkca."
(Entertain me in that place, as I watch over you. And maybe I will give your mother back.)
Alric spat blood at the creature's face.
Slowly, he forced himself to stand, gripping a handful of dirt.
"Ven kera mori evran daem."
(I will kill every one of you demons.)
The Aviditor smiled.
The Aviditor smiled. Its right arm convulsed, swelling grotesquely, stretching and folding into a fleshy sack. The sound was wet, sickening, like tearing skin and snapping sinew. The arm lunged out—rubbery, alive, and impossible—and swallowed him whole..
"Vira caretha for whata ven visha."
(Be careful what you wish for.)