So it ever was. So will it always be. Such is the nature of evil.
The Shade had slumbered for so long that Underidge had thought he had died. That or the god had abandoned him, disgusted at his failures. So the silver-tipped beast had faded into the memory of Molodian, sticking to his dank den deep in the heart of Glorall, pacing the paths of Glorall in the nighttime for sustenance until the radius around his den had become a black hole. The small creatures of the world did not enter there – they fled outwards, towards the beach and inward to the mainland. Underidge ate and ate, gorging himself on their small bodies, filling his insides in hopes that the gaping emptiness would be sated.
In the middle of the night he had felt a jolt. A return of presence that burned like a fire, his jaw opening on the pain of it, his eyes burning bright in the shadows, a gasp of relief filling him. The Shade returned, vengeful and hateful. And so very, very hungry.
The Shade returned and Eden left. At least, his scent began to fade, quicker than seemed possible after so many years. In it’s place was something more pungent and fresh. Younger and stronger. That is what struck Underidge the most – how weak Eden’s had become, and how Underidge had never noticed because his own being had become weaker.
It is what finally drives the Thorn from his hiding place, a dragon rising from slumber. Daylight burns his eyes, coasts along his greasy fur as he pads jackal-like onto older paths that his paws had not pressed upon in many moons. The heat suffocates him. It has been so long since he had risen during daylight and he abhors it. The way it reveals everything. The caress of moonlight was simpler, sweeter. This burns.
Was it any wonder that Underidge found Matianak? No. She was much like him even as she was not. The change was an upheaval after years of the same. His eyes find her and he comes to a halt a good distance away within the shadow of a tree.
”Where has he gone?” His voice is cracked, hoarse from lack of use. He means Eden – for he has forgotten about his son for the moment. Blackthorne and his abhorrent child had left Molodian some time ago and, if luck had it, would never return.
UNDERIDGE
THIRTEEN - MALE - NO HEART – KAMALA’S SOUL
OF GLORALL - ENDERLY X BANSHEE - KILL COUNT (IIII)