The Veil Burns
I. The Bait
Ejimo moved under the false moonlight, cloaked in shadows and hubris.
She believed herself clever—
believed Zion gone,
the gods distracted,
Nouvo Lakay weakened by fear.
She had sabotaged the outer wards,
manipulated the faint-hearted,
and sent falsified omens to the priests of the subordinate tribes.
All of it for one moment:
to let the rift open fully
and invite the Beast Gods through.
II. A Heaven of Beasts
The sky cracked open above the old river bend.
Not one—not two—
but seven Beast Gods emerged.
Goroth, the Maw Without End.
Veliag, the Iron-Hide Hunger.
Skurak, the Howling Many.
Yuthri, the Silk-Tongued Plague.
Ashami, the Mother of Teeth.
Drakhol, the Burning Mane.
And Zhal, the Beast That Dreams of Fire.
They did not roar.
They did not speak.
They only stepped forward
as if they already owned the land.
Ejimo stood at the edge of the gate,
smiling, trembling, exalting in her imagined victory.
III. Behind the Veil
Unseen, beyond the veil of mortal sight,
Zion watched.
So did the Lwa, cloaked in cosmic silence.
Papa Legba, seated at the crossroads of reality.
Baron Samedi, arms folded, grinning without humor.
Erzulie Freda, her eyes sharp and tearless.
Ogou Feray, fingers twitching over a blade not yet drawn.
Maman Brigitte, already digging the graves with her gaze.
The gods had returned long ago.
They had never left.
But they waited.
They watched.
And when Zhal raised a clawed hand toward Nouvo Lakay,
Zion turned to the others and said only:
"Enough."
IV. The Veil Breaks
The wind stopped.
Time blinked.
And then the gods descended.
Papa Legba opened every locked path in a single gesture.
Ogou dropped from the sky like a falling star, blade blazing.
Baron Samedi walked through a wall of flame, laughing.
Maman Brigitte cracked the earth beneath the beasts' feet.
Erzulie Freda whispered—and every beast's lust turned to fear.
Zion appeared last.
No longer only man,
no longer only myth.
His presence stilled the wind,
his eyes burned with a thousand silent truths.
The rift flickered, uncertain.
The Beast Gods paused.
And for the first time,
Ejimo's smile faltered.
V. The Reckoning Begins
Zion's voice carried across the blood-drenched fields:
"You were warned.
The veil was mercy.
Now you face judgment."
Ejimo fell to her knees.
Not in repentance.
But in terror.
Because the gods no longer hid.
And Nouvo Lakay was no longer unprotected