A beast in the night

[Dark Hellion]

She ran, pumping her arms and legs in furious motion. Underbrush was pushed aside in the rush. And his shape crept ever closer. She ran with all the animal instinct she still had. Flee it said. Flee from him. He saw within her mind, the fear. Delicious. The words. Over and over and over. "I must run away, I must run away, I MUST RUN AWAY!"

He sped up a bit, just a bit. Not too much. Never too much. He used to go to fast. No time to savor it. No time at all. But then time wasn't a concern. Not out in the backwoods. And she was so much fun. All the women had been fun. Soft flesh yielding. The cries. Moans. Sobs. All the fun to be had. They were weak. Never fought back. Not seriously at least. Never enough to spoil the fun. Men sometimes died with so much pride. Sickening. But women. All the terror. The fear of knowing that life was over. They'd never love again. Never have another child, breath another breath, think another thought. The darkness would take them. And he would feed in that darkness. Their bodies offered such succor and treatment to life's harshness. And they broke the boredom so well.

Her fear deepened. Her heart pounding. Boom, Boom, Boom. He'd make it race faster. Boom Boom Boom. More, more, more. This was it. The rain soaked his face. It soaked her body. It was cool, refreshing, and she speed up. More fun.

Crash.

Thunder. Another bolt struck the ground. For a moment, night became day. And something was there. A deer perhaps. Something watching him, for just a second. But it was nothing. Nothing at all. She was here. She was waiting for him to make his move. Fear, fear in her head. Fear of him. Of his terrible power. "I must run away, I must run away!" and she ran harder.

Her breath came in gasps, and she had slowed. The pace was slackening, and the end was coming. Anti-climatic, the moment before the pounce. Just waiting... until a flash. Like lightning. And it was there again. Watching. Stalking? A big cat? Nothing to be afraid of. Not with her in front. And a broken tree. A ways down, but she had to make a choice. Over, under or... turn! She nearly fell. It was adorable, bare feet sliding on the mud. Run, run precious thing.

And the journeys end. Little more than a cul-du-sac of thick undergrowth. Nowhere to run. She turned, and backed away, unable to find him in the darkness. A final stroke of lightning, a perfectly timed ending. She saw him in the light. The terror took hold. She turned away and fell to her knees. Sobbing. Broken. Perfect. Perfect. Her tears glinting in the small fire of the final bolt. Closing, closing. Another human life ended.

And something odd happened. That feeling, stronger than ever. He stopped... for a second. Just to look around. And he felt her mind change. A decision took over. "I won't run away." She brandished a flaming stick. So crude. Inelegant. Clumsy. She swung, and then she ran. He turned. And stopped. Stopped.

No moving was allowed. It wasn't power, just will. Immutable will. The universe wouldn't allow him to move. And it appeared before him. Tall and thing. The impossible joints. Emissary.

"What do you want Emissary? Why would your kind stop me? On a backwater world like this? Don't you have a multiverse to rule?"

'You play such boring games Balindal. What sport do you find in hunting such lesser species? Perhaps I should experiment. If I give you a headstart, would you feel that fair? As fair as you give to them.'

"Why do you care? I can have my fun, and there terror is so delicious. I want to feel it over and over again."

'I don't care. I can't. There is no compassion within me. I can burn out your nerves to prove it. I can watch you squirm in pain. I can watch your fear. But that is not fun.'

"Ah-hah-hah-hah! You think I fear death? Balindal beat that fear a million years ago. Not like these apes. They fear everything. The dark, the night. Death. Such simple fears. So stupid, and so tasty."

'Oh. A fool. I knew this would happen. But still, to script such events. I guess I wanted to join the game as well, but alas, it seems only I have the rulebook. So let me read you something. In a million years your species will be extinct. These little apes will kill you all. Well, all of you minus one.'

"You preach genocide. From these little beasts? To paralyzed with fear to act?"

'But they aren't paralyzed. Not anymore. A million years ago they fled from fire like craven animals. In a million years they will spread fire throughout the stars. They where afraid of the dark outside. Now they carry that darkness within. It will cover this universe. And death. What is death to a mortal creature? Is it some great weakness. Eventually they will cease. Forever. Beautiful. To cease. To not have to live for this eternity, knowing that all there is is this. Functions. Waves and energy and chaos. It isn't life. There is not life. Not in this universe. There is one thing. That is void. It is all nothing meaningful. Nothing. Nothing special. And they have made something from it. Already at this low state. You did it once, but forgot in time. You once had life. And then you had to face it. The nothingness. And it was so frightening wasn't it? Just raw happenstance. That is all we are. We lived because a few decimals where right. And you couldn't work through it. Too terrifying. You couldn't invest the years. Billions. Ages. Everything. To carry the void within yourself. To empty everything out. And to wait. In boredom. To win the war on the universe, and then wait out retaliation. You didn't even try. Pathetic. No, humans will go on. They will conquer the void. A trillion years down. And we will be proud when we get to erase them from existence. You understand now don't you. You are failures. We don't waste our time on failures. Aren't you ashamed your species is still alive? We would have given you that bit of glory. We would have remembered you. But this is all. I am going. Good-bye.'

He looked into that face. Blank. Infinitely deep. And he saw it. For that second. Nothing, staring back. Just the universe itself. Power. This was the god machine. This was the Xylyx. It feared nothing. Nothing at all. It shouldn't be, couldn't be. Move. Move. Move. "I must run away, I must run away." And blackness. I must be dea...
...

And back to her cave the girl ran, carrying the worlds first torch. Bringing fire to the people. To face the darkness. Persist. Persist. Burn brighter. Never run away.

[Zixinus]

Rather interesting, I admit. Deliciously Promethean in many ways.