The God That Bleeds

Ashren

The clash of steel and shadow tore through the Hollow Throne.

Ashren moved like a storm, his blade a blur of fury and divine rage. The Queen danced through every strike, her steps laced with centuries of slaughter. Her fingers left trails of flame where they passed, her voice weaving spells that cracked the stone beneath them.

"You fight like a child," she sneered.

Ashren answered with silence—and violence.

His sword tore across her arm. She hissed.

And bled.

The Queen staggered back, staring at the crimson dripping from her skin. It shimmered like molten starlight.

"You shouldn't be able to wound me."

Ashren raised his blade again.

"I'm not your weapon anymore."

The god inside him roared—wanting out.

And Ashren let it come halfway.

Enough to burn. Not enough to break.

---

Selene

Far from the throne, Selene watched the sky fracture. Black lightning spidered across the heavens. The divine thread was unraveling.

"He's slipping," Liora warned.

Selene held the relic seal between trembling fingers.

"If we use this too early—"

"He'll die," Liora finished.

Selene's eyes filled with tears she didn't have time to cry.

"Then we wait… until we see the god's eyes."

---

Ashren

The Queen's form rippled. She was no longer entirely human—if she ever had been. Wings of bone extended from her back. Her mouth split wide and wrong.

Ashren was bleeding, burning. His heart pumped poison and power. Every strike against her drained more of himself.

"Why do you still resist?" she whispered. "You are me."

"No," Ashren growled. "I'm what comes after you."

He dropped to one knee—then surged upward, driving his blade into her chest.

The scream that followed was not hers alone.

It was divine.

It was ending.

---

Selene

Selene collapsed as the shockwave reached them.

She looked to the sky—where the clouds were bleeding.

"Ashren," she whispered. "Hold on."

And she prepared the relic.

Because gods don't die easily.

But this time… they would.