The echoes of the Celestial Church bells still trembled through the stone corridors as Kael followed the golden child deeper into the catacombs. His bare feet left faintly glowing prints on the damp stone, each step sending ripples through the puddles of black water that dotted their path. The boy moved with unnatural grace, his brass-like skin reflecting the torchlight in disorienting patterns that made Kael's eyes ache if he stared too long.
Lilith trailed behind them, her claws clicking a rhythmic counterpoint to their footsteps. "You should have killed the girl," she murmured, her voice barely louder than the distant dripping of water. "That mercy will cost you."
Kael's hands clenched into fists. The memory of Maren's last spark of hope still fluttered in his chest like a dying moth trapped behind his ribs. He could feel it even now - that tiny fragment of stolen innocence resisting the gnawing hunger that had taken root in his gut. The golden energy pulsed in response, sending waves of heat through his veins as if offended by his hesitation.
The corridor walls gradually changed as they descended - from rough-hewn stone to smooth obsidian veined with gold. The air grew thicker, carrying the scent of damp earth and something metallic that coated Kael's tongue. Strange carvings began appearing along the walls, depicting scenes that shifted when viewed from different angles:
A great feast where the guests consumed their own limbs.
A child sitting upon a throne of bones.
A cathedral crumbling into an open maw.
The golden child paused before an archway woven from what appeared to be living shadows. "Beyond this lies the Banquet Hall of the Forgotten," he said, his voice carrying an odd echo, as if multiple versions of him spoke just out of sync.
The shadows parted at his touch, revealing a cavern so vast the ceiling disappeared into gloom. Dozens of figures turned as one to watch their entrance, their movements eerily synchronized. Some resembled the specters from the throne room, their forms shifting between solid and mist. Others looked nearly human, save for the golden veins pulsing beneath their skin or the extra joints in their fingers.
At the chamber's center stood a massive stone table shaped like a crescent moon, its surface laden with food that moved when untouched:
Fruits that pulsed like living hearts, their skins translucent enough to see the seeds squirming within.
Roasts that twitched as if still connected to nervous systems.
Loaves of bread whose crusts rose and fell with simulated breath.
The golden child spread his arms wide, his shadow stretching unnaturally across the cavern wall. "Welcome to your first true feast, brother."
A murmur rippled through the assembled figures. One of the near-human ones approached, her golden eyes wide with something between reverence and hunger. She moved with the jerky precision of a marionette, her limbs not quite obeying normal physics.
"We've waited so long for the cycle to renew," she breathed, reaching to touch Kael's face with fingers that had too many knuckles. Her skin was fever-warm, the golden veins beneath glowing faintly.
Kael recoiled, the golden energy flaring defensively along his arms. "What are you?"
"Fragments," the boy answered, plucking a grape from the table. The fruit let out a high-pitched scream as he popped it into his mouth, which he chewed with deliberate slowness. "Failed attempts. Half-gods who never learned to properly hunger."
Lilith pushed Kael forward, her claws pricking at the small of his back. "They'll serve you now. Just as they served those before you."
As if on cue, the gathered figures knelt in perfect unison, their voices rising in a chant that made the cavern walls vibrate:
*"Primordial reborn, hollow and holy,*
*Feast upon the lies we were told,*
*Break the chains, claim your glory,*
*The hungry shall inherit the world."*
The sound resonated with the golden energy inside Kael, stoking its hunger into a roaring blaze. His vision tinted gold at the edges, the scents in the room intensifying until he could taste each individual's fear and devotion on his tongue.
The boy pressed a goblet into Kael's hands. The liquid inside swirled with colors that had no name in any human language, shifting between hues that hurt to perceive. "Drink," he urged, his brass fingers cool against Kael's wrist. "And see what truly waits above."
Kael hesitated only a moment before tilting the cup to his lips. The liquid burned like fire and ice together, sending jagged visions crashing through his mind:
The Celestial Church's grand cathedral, its seven towering spires piercing the dawn sky like accusing fingers. The stained glass windows depicting saints whose eyes followed him as the vision swept past.
The Hall of Inquisitors, where a thousand golden masks hung on the walls - each representing a life taken in the Church's name, their empty eye sockets weeping black tears.
The High Chapel's altar, where a massive tome bound in human skin lay open to a page showing drawings of children with golden eyes.
And beneath it all, something vast and ancient stirring in its chains, its form too large to comprehend, its hunger mirroring Kael's own.
Kael gasped as the vision released him, stumbling back into Lilith's waiting arms. The gathered half-gods stared expectantly, their golden eyes reflecting his pained expression back at him a hundredfold.
The golden child smiled, his needle-teeth glinting. "Now you understand. The feast isn't here." He pointed upward, his arm elongating unnaturally to emphasize the direction. "It's there."
Lilith's fingers intertwined with Kael's, her claws careful not to break his skin. "We'll show you how to dine on kings and saints," she purred, her breath warm against his ear. "How to siphon the devotion from a thousand faithful hearts. How to turn their precious 'miracles' against them."
Kael looked down at his hands, now glowing steadily without fading. The last resistance in his chest - that stubborn fragment of Maren's hope - gave one final flutter before quieting.
Above them, the bells tolled again, their vibrations faint but growing stronger. But now, to Kael's altered hearing, they sounded less like a warning.
More like a dinner chime.
The golden child's laughter echoed through the cavern as the half-gods resumed their chanting. Kael felt the words carving themselves into his bones, the hunger in his gut swelling to meet their rhythm.
Lilith pressed close, her voice barely audible beneath the rising chorus. "Tomorrow we ascend. Tomorrow the feast begins in earnest."
Kael closed his eyes, letting the golden energy wash through him completely. When he opened them again, the world had taken on a new clarity - every flicker of fear in the half-gods' eyes, every tremor of anticipation in their limbs, all laid bare before him like dishes on a banquet table.
He smiled, and felt something inside him fracture beautifully.