On the Subject of [REDACTED]

(Journal Entry 1.590.006)

Cycles ago, when my [REDACTED] took me out to the [REDACTED] to look at the [REDACTED] for the first time, he told me a lot of things I regret hearing. His lectures on “being a man,” his strictures on my character, the histories of the Five Ages. But few things have haunted my mind quite as much as when he dragged me up to the [REDACTED] and forced me to stare at the corpse of a [REDACTED]. For a full day, he refused to let me look away.

Despite the eons between now and that moment, I still see that thing in my dreams. While the term [REDACTED] might not sound that intimidating to the ears of an unexperienced [REDACTED], I simply cannot describe the sight of one, and each new one I see scars my mind further and further. And to think that my own ancestors were not so different from them—it sickens me. When we emerged from [REDACTED], we had no idea the scope of our duty, did we? Of all the things we failed to inherit, [REDACTED] was surely the greatest loss.

The [REDACTED], of course, are [REDACTED] that first coalesced in the Three Spheres just after the dawn of the Second Age. Similar to [REDACTED], they have and have not always existed, yet shall always and can never be, despite the cries of the realities they pervert. In their mindless greed, they consume, half-asleep as their endless maws feed on mortals and [REDACTED] alike, until either another of their kin cannibalizes them or [REDACTED] choose to intervene. I doubt they do this out of malice, but because they simply do not, and perhaps cannot care. Their unholy size simply precludes them from comprehending the destruction they wreak.

Because of that, I daresay that out of everything I have encountered in the Three Spheres, these are the only beings I’ve found that are truly irredeemable.

Hello, friends! If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon! If you'd like more stories, I post new chapters to my mainline series every Monday and Friday, and I upload a new short story every other Wednesday! Below are some of my other stories.

The Old Brand-New: Lena lives in a lonely mansion, but one snowy night, a vengeful clone of herself comes to make her pay for the life she never got to live.
Little Comforts: The world ends, and two men, Dan and Andrew, must rush to the shore for safety, pursued by a vengeful soldier and the remains of her family.