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The Dark Lore Digest
The Prophet’s Mercy
Prompt #2 — The Invisible Character
In a village deep in the mountains, news of the world’s end arrived in the form of a dying stranger. His mangled body told one story; his crazed words spoke another: a beast devoured his people.
“First, its shadow drank the sky. Then came the sound,” he gasped, “like a whisper from the earth’s bones. It grew until it filled your marrow, your mind, your soul.” Blood trickled from his nose. “I watched it take them, split their skin like paper, twist the bones inside them while they screamed. It kept them aware as it peeled them apart.” His wild eyes fixed on something distant. “When you hear it, it’s too late, fore it’s found you.” His gaze dimmed. “Prepare, for it follows.”
Then he died.
The people knew the ancient elders had written in scrolls of a darkness, of a sound that would herald the end. The stranger was but the last sign.
Soon, a shadow covered the mountain above the village that daylight could not touch. Each morning, it spread until it blocked the sky. Then came a vibration like the buzzing of a bee, but soon it burrowed past their ears and nested in their minds.
Day by day, the sound grew into madness. It threaded through their thoughts and made their…
