A Twist In Reality

The world was silent. The world was still.

Nothing moved, yet so much changed.

The deserts trembled, as something new had appeared.

The sound of stones grinding came from the dungeon, loud yet silenced by the world.

The wildlife marking the world grew vibrant, new plants appearing in normally uninhabitable places.

Animals never before seen appeared in the world, growing from a child to an adult in the blink of an eye.

And the world grew more dangerous, as creatures unknown to the world showed themselves.

Some changes were more subtle than others, yet they were all noticed by the unfrozen Gods, who watched the changes with interest.

And soon after the world froze, it unfroze just as quickly.

-Back to Talon-

I flew in the sky, enjoying the feeling of the wind passing me by, without a single clue of what had just occurred.

I looked around the vast skyline, enjoying the view of the vast forests, plains, and deserts.

And then I saw it.

It was a quick flash, and a tear appeared in the sky.

When I looked into it, all I saw was darkness and nothing but darkness.

And then It appeared. A gigantic armored worm that soared through the air, flying towards a herd of wandering animals.

I could only watch in terror as the titanic worm swallowed the helpless creatures. It was humbling to see the sheer power the creature exuded.

And then it turned to me, its empty void of a mouth staring straight into my soul.

It uttered a single word, yet the power that the word gave off sent shivers down my spine.

"Weak."

And as soon as it appeared, it was gone, the rift it came from snapping closed.

I was stunned, and at a loss for words.

The silence lasted for several minutes, with the only sound being the buzzing of the bee's wings and the wind passing by.

After those tense minutes, I finally regained my voice.

"What the fuck was that."

I had never felt so scared in my life, the feeling ingrained into my mind as a reminder of where I stood compared to that being.

Only moments ago, I looked at the world and marveled at how large it was.

Now, I look at the world and lament how small I am.

My enjoyment of the flight had been ruined, and I decided to go home and get some rest for once.

It would be quite a while before I saw the being again.

And at that time we would be enemies.

-Somewhere undefined-

The Gods stared at the scene in silence, but the silence was quickly broken by the first.

"I never expected him to encounter the devourer so soon." He spoke.

The second shared their two cents on the event.

"At least this will make them realize how far they have to go. Perhaps this will be a new motivation for them as well."

The fourth had an opposing opinion, though.

"I believe that this will become a trauma for them, as they were nowhere near prepared to handle the mere presence of a being on the level of the devourer. The terror may push them forward, but it might pull them back as well."

The first and second nodded, but the third stayed silent, a thoughtful look upon their face.

The other three turned to the third, a questioning look on their 'faces'.

"What? I'm thinking about how cool it looked when it appeared." The third defended.

The first, second, and fourth looked at each other and sighed.

A single sentence went unspoken between them.

'You're not wrong...'

-Back to Talon-

I flew back to my home, which was easily noticed due to it being placed in the middle of a clearing.

Even as I watched the world pass me by, my thoughts constantly wandered to that gigantic armored worm.

'Just what the hell was that?'

I soon returned home, but I never stopped contemplating the topic of the worm.

I never even noticed Amidias approach me, and I only noticed him when he tapped on my shoulder.

My first reaction to that tap on my shoulder was a startled jump.

"You good there? You've been sitting there with a worried look on your face for the last 5 minutes."

I looked up to the former sea king and shook my head.

"No, I'm definitely not okay right now. I just saw one of, if not the most terrifying things in my life, and it helped me realize just how weak I really am." I spoke, not bothering to hide my true feelings.

The sea king grew slightly more serious at my confession.

"Can you tell me what you saw?" He asked with a seriousness I had not heard before.

I complied with his request.

"Sure. It was a gigantic worm, adorned with some extremely intricate armor along the length of its entire body. The armor was various shades of purple and blue. That's about all I can describe though." I said, trying my best to remember the more important details.

Amidias nodded at my description, his face growing grimmer and grimmer as I described more of the creature.

"I understand why you feel the way you do now." He abruptly commented.

I glanced back to the former sea king, a questioning look in my eyes.

"What you saw was something you could never defeat, let alone stay near, as you are." Amidias paused for a moment, possibly making an effort to dramatize his next words.

"What you witnessed was one of the few enemies I warned you about. That worm was the Devourer of Gods." He spoke with a deep tone of voice.

My eyes widened at the revelation, an understanding dawning on me.

"So you're telling me that I saw one of my final enemies?" I asked, still shocked at the identity of the worm.

Amidias nodded, his face still locked into a serious gaze.

"Indeed. You encountered what shall one day be your opponent." He stated.

It was then that I realized that I needed some time to relax.

I was way too high-strung to deal with this revelation.