THE BURIED GOD
Chapter 6: The Heart of the Mountain
The door opened into darkness.
Not the darkness of the tunnel — a deeper darkness. An older darkness. A darkness that had been waiting for centuries. A darkness that was hungry.
Damon stepped through.
His torch flickered.
The shadows lunged.
He raised the flame higher.
The shadows retreated.
They did not disappear.
They were watching. Waiting. Hungry.
The chamber beyond was vast.
Larger than any chamber had a right to be. The ceiling was lost in shadow, the walls lost in shadow, the floor lost in shadow. But there was light. At the center. Pulsing. Silver.
The heart of the mountain.
The heart of the god.
“He’s here,” Vespera whispered.
“He’s sleeping,” Lyssa said.
“He’s dreaming.”
“Can he see us?”
Vespera was silent for a long moment.
“He can feel us. He can taste us. He can hunger for us.”
They walked toward the light.
The floor was smooth, worn by centuries of feet. The walls were carved with symbols — more symbols, older symbols, symbols that seemed to move when Damon looked away.
The light grew brighter.
The hunger grew stronger.
And then —
They saw it.
The heart.
Not a heart of flesh. Not a heart of stone. A heart of light. Pulsing. Silver. Alive.
And around the heart, figures.
Priests.
Dozens of them. Hundreds. Their robes black, their faces hidden, their hands raised.
They were praying.
They were feeding.
They were waiting.
“The high priest,” Lyssa whispered. “At the center. The one with the crown of bones.”
Damon looked.
The figure was taller than the others, thinner, older. His robe was blacker, his hands longer, his crown a tangle of finger bones and skulls.
He was facing the heart.
He was not moving.
He was not praying.
He was listening.
“He knows we’re here,” Vespera said.
“Can he see us?”
“He can feel us. He can taste us. He can hunger for us.”
The high priest turned.
His face was hidden beneath a mask of bone.
But his eyes were visible.
They were silver.
Like Vespera’s.
Like the heart.
Like the god.
“The priestess,” he said. “You have returned.”
“I have.”
“You were dead.”
“I was.”
“You should have stayed dead.”
“The god called me. The god needs me. The god hungers for me.”
“The god hungers for all of us. You are not special.”
“I am the one who buried him. I am the one who sealed him. I am the one who can wake him.”
The high priest stepped closer.
His silver eyes gleamed.
“You cannot wake him. Only I can wake him. I have been preparing for centuries. I have been feeding him. I have been strengthening him. I have been making him ready.”
“Ready for what?”
The high priest smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
“Ready to rise.”
The heart pulsed.
The light blazed.
The priests screamed.
The ground trembled.
Damon grabbed Vespera’s arm.
“We need to leave.”
“We cannot leave. The door is closed.”
“Then we need to hide.”
“Where?”
Damon looked at the shadows.
At the darkness.
At the hunger.
“Behind them.”