Demonworld by Kyle B.Stiff

Eragileak must do the thing himself. It was bad timing, to be sure, what with human invaders running loose in the oasis, but when winter came Serpens Rex would surely bury himself and they would not see him again for months. And if these humans were only the beginning of a major incursion, they could be sure that they would need progeny based on the seed of Serpens Rex. He must be found and dealt with now.
     
    Dealt with? Eragileak imagined finding the lizard-thing sleeping, his belly fat with kill. He imagined bringing a rock down and crushing the monster’s head with it. He saw its eyes pop out under the pressure of a deflated skull. He wondered if Blindness truly meant for such an amazing thing to come to pass.
     
    Blindness sighed, his shadow shivered, Eragileak saw the mist of his breath in the cold air, then Blindness said into his mind: Yes, but first… we need a little squirt of that seed, dear uncle!
     
    Eragileak nodded at the wisdom of it, then turned and loped back into the forest. Bilatzailea slid down from the altar, her little naked feet tapping on the glass, then she went her own way.
     
    That seed , said the voice of Blindness through the broadcast. I tell you, an ounce of that slime, with all its many gifts, will open the door of the coming Coagulation .
     
    The great Coagulation! Blindness thought for a moment on the Final Ritual Sacrifice, the Holy Glutting, the worldwide act of violence that would end the age of man and usher in a new aeon of love and eternal peace. Man had been a blight upon the earth and a scar in the vision of heaven for so very long. But now, at last, the Great Mother, the Queen of All Flesh, had her house in order. In a few short years all the children of God would bubble up from the homes down below in three beautiful hosts of the holy and they would speak to mankind face to face in the only language that mankind understood. They would crush the bodies of men and women and pile them up like a mountain of agony. Blindness could see the twisted limbs, the runes of blood written on soft flesh, and in their eyes…
     
    Those eyes would be open, and they would finally see a vision of a universe black and beautiful and eternal.
     

Chapter Six
    River Crossing
     
     
     
    Marlon woke in the morning feeling famished but ready to tackle the day. He saw a sharp, blue sky through the network of black limbs. He saw Peter lying in a hollow above him, mouth open, snoring like a pig on its back. Iduna was curled up beside him, a disturbing sight. Marlon plucked a handful of the gray leaves, stuffed them in his pocket, then realized the rest of their group was nowhere near.
     
    Startled, he looked down. He saw Hermann standing and staring at the base of the tree.
     
    “ Hermann!” he hissed. “What is it?”
     
    Silence. Annoyed, Marlon climbed down, huffing and catching on tree limbs. He dropped to the ground, then gasped in alarm – Hermann was watching a strange man sleeping at the base of the tree. Marlon turned about, fumbled for his club, realized he had left it in the tree, then quickly dug through all of his pockets and pulled out the combat knife.
     
    “ Who are you?” he shouted. The old man did not stir, so Marlon turned to Hermann. “Who is he?” Hermann continued to stare, a look of dull hatred on his face. Marlon turned back to the old man, kicked his leg, shouted, “Where’s Wodi and Saul? And why is Hermann acting like a retard? Answer me!”
     
    “ We’re down here.”
     
    Marlon turned and saw Wodi strolling up the hill. Saul sat down below, near the base, where the stream turned about a pile of wide, jumbled stones. Saul looked distant and exhausted. Even Wodi, who usually seemed alert, looked deeply disturbed by something.
     
    “ Where the hell did you and Saul get off to?” said Marlon. “You know we need to stick together! I thought this old guy killed you!”
     
    “ Last night, we…” Wodi paused and looked at the sleeping old man. “Me and