The Drowned God Rises

The explosion made no sound. It was a implosion of silence.

The fire on the pyre turned green. Then it turned black. Then it turned into water.

The wooden stake shattered. The ropes dissolved.

Elara stood in the center of the pyre, but she wasn't burning. She was floating. Her skin had turned the color of obsidian. Her eyes were two white stars.

The ground beneath the square cracked.

Saltwater geysered into the air.

* I AM HERE.*

Xylia didn't manifest as a woman this time. She manifested as the ocean.

A colossal wave of black water and tentacles erupted from the earth, smashing the Holy Wards like glass. The golden dome shattered.

The sky turned purple. The stars came out, even though it was noon.

"Kill it!" Kaelen screamed, drawing his sword. "Kill the witch!"

The guards charged.

Xylia’s tentacles rose from the new lake that was once the town square. They didn't strike; they simply touched the guards. Where they touched, the men vanished, pulled into the deep reality of the Void.

Kaelen stood alone. The water swirled around his knees.

Elara walked toward him. She walked on top of the water.

"Elara," Kaelen gasped, backing away. "Please. I did what I had to do. For the kingdom."

Elara stopped. She tilted her head. Xylia’s massive form loomed behind her, a mountain of eyes and starlight, waiting for Elara’s command.

"The kingdom is a lie," Elara said. Her voice was calm. Terrifying. "And you are just a man."

She didn't use magic. She reached out and took the sword from his shaking hand.

"You wanted to be a King," Elara said.

She drove the sword through his chest.

"Now you are nothing."

Kaelen gasped. Blood stained his white uniform. He fell back into the black water.

Before his soul could flee to the afterlife, Xylia descended. A massive jaw of starlight opened in the water and swallowed him whole.

* He is gone,* Xylia purred, the sound vibrating in the ruins of the square. *Deleted. Digested. Mine.*