Story 729: The Hunger Beneath

The ground trembled beneath Selene Nocturna’s feet.

She could hear the cathedral walls groaning, the very foundation crying out in protest. The Harbinger stood before her, twisted and reformed, their body pulsing with dark veins that did not belong to any mortal flesh.

Selene’s grin widened.

"You think to challenge me?" she purred, stepping forward. Her cloak billowed, revealing the ritualistic scars along her arms, etchings of alchemical mastery long forgotten by the living.

The Harbinger said nothing.

Instead, they raised their hand, and the walls collapsed inward.

The Rotting Cathedral screamed as shadows erupted from its core.

Selene’s eyes flickered. She extended a hand, fingers curling into an intricate sigil. The moment the first wave of darkness struck, her power surged outward, forming a barrier of necrotic fire. The flames did not burn—they consumed.

The Harbinger staggered but did not fall. Their body was beyond flesh now, beyond pain.