by Scott Hale
Arbo said, “What are you?”
Mr. Haemo glanced back at the Virion and gave his wings a shake. “I’m a mosquito. I’ve tasted just about everything this part of the Membrane has to offer. I prefer the clarity of filth, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“So, you’re going to do the universe a favor by bringing Exuviae to it?”
Mr. Haemo laughed, wagged his claw at Arbo. “I’m curious is all. We’ve seen what Heaven’s had to offer. There it is—” He nodded at the remnants of Earth, splattered like blood against the sun. “Who’s to say Hell is any different? But at least it’s honest.
“Anyway, now that God is gone, the Green Worm is free to do what it pleases, right?”
Arbo nodded. “Yes.”
“Now that God is gone…” Mr. Haemo laughed and took a deep a breath. “I suppose anything is possible.”
“They will want another one,” Arbo said.
“Another what?”
“God.”
Mr. Haemo stared at the Virion with all his eyes, thought about what he’d said, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to smile.
THE END
you have been reading
“the Eight apostates.”
Glossary
The Abyss: Where all who die are said to go.
Amon Ashcroft: The former Archivist of Eldrus.
Arachne: Half-human, half-spider creatures from Atlach.
Alexander Blodworth: Understudy of Samuel Turov, an exemplar of Penance. He was given the task of going to Geharra to create a smokescreen for the disappearance of the Holy Child. Instead, he planted the Crossbreed in the city-state’s sewer system and used it to control the entire populace. Along with the people of Alluvia, a neighboring Night Terror village to the city, Geharra’s population was sacrificed by Alexander to birth the Red Worm.
Alluvia: The nearest Night Terror village to Geharra. It is the home of R’lyeh.
The Anointed One: Harbinger for the Disciples of the Deep.
Angheuawl: A small mining town in Kistvaen’s range. The hometown of Hex and Ichor. The Cult of the Worm attempted to gather their followers here as a staging point before Aeson killed the Witch.
Ashen Man: His real name is Seth Barker. Partner of Herbert North. He was a supernatural investigator from the twentieth century who was investigating deaths and disappearances in the town Nachtla. There, he discovered the Witch, and fell in love with her. She took him into the Void and transformed him into one of her grotesque servants.
Audra: King Edgar’s sister. The only other surviving member of the royal family. She is a gifted botanist and has the ability to communicate with and manipulate the shadows of the Deep. She was allowed to escape from her confines in Pyra by Felix and Justine after being sent there by Alexander Blodworth as a prisoner.
The Binding Road: A road, much like the Spine, that cuts through the Nameless Forest. It is one of the few places untouched by the Forest’s chaos.
Black Hour: A temporal aberration that occurs at midnight and lasts for one hour. During this period of time, anything that has happened, will happen, or may never happen is possible. The Skeleton currently holds the heart of the Black Hour in his chest.
Bloodless: A mythological plant, like the Crossbreed, that is said to be capable of draining an entire town’s worth of blood in one night.
Blue Worm: A Worm of the Earth that was awoken on Lacuna by the Night Terrors to learn ancient knowledge. The Blue Worm taught the Night Terrors about magic, as well as how to procreate more effectively. Vrana put it to sleep with a sealing stone.
Cadence: The small southern village where Vrana leaves the little boy who she later learns was the Holy Child. Upon learning the Holy Child is there, Penance rides into the town, kills everyone, and returns the Holy Child to Penance.
Caldera: Vrana’s home, and the southern-most Night Terror village. The village is built at the base of Kistvaen, a massive mountain. It was destroyed after the elders forced Kistvaen to erupt.
Corrupted: A derogatory term used by the Night Terrors to identify humans. Humans are called this due to the crimson pigmentation in the skin of their right arms. The Night Terrors believe this defect is evidence of humanity’s pre-disposition to violence; they use this as justification to murder the humans.
Corruption: A genetic marker created by the Vermillion God to identify Its followers.
Crossbreed: A massive plant created from ingredients that are not supposed to work together. It secretes fluids that cause those who ingest them to become extremely susceptible to suggestion.
The Cult of the Worm: It began as a collection of Lucanans who were being manipulated by the Witch via the Blue Worm’s necklace. She forced her followers into depraved sexual acts, which often resulted in massive amount of flesh fiends. This was to be her new congregation and source of power.
Dead City: An Old World city of skyscrapers and modern technology that is unreachable due to the poisonous fumes that cover the peninsula it sits upon. The Virions live here and keep the dying Green Worm sustained.
Deimos: A Night Terror who wears a bat skull. He was a watcher of Geharra. His husband, Johannes, was killed by Corrupted. He hunted down Johannes’ killers, but in doing so neglected his duties of keeping watch over Geharra. This allowed Penance to enter the city and take over its people. He was last seen escaping Pyra with Lucan and Audra.
Derleth: A Night Terror who wears an eel skull. R’lyeh had a crush on him. He is responsible for tricking R’lyeh into planting the Crossbreed’s roots in Alluvia’s water supply, thus giving Alexander Blodworth the ability to easily take over the village on his way to Penance.
The Disciples of the Deep: Eldrus’ new religion – one which Archivist Amon had been putting together for centuries. It is the true religion of the Vermillion God.
The Divide: The massive river that cuts through the content, separating the snowy lands of Penance from the Heartland.
The Dread Clock: Rumored to be the origin of the Black Hour; a grandfather clock once located deep in the Nameless Forest. Now, the heart of the Black Hour resides in the Skeleton’s chest.
Edgar: The youngest of the royal family of Eldrus. He became King of Eldrus by murdering his family and overtaking the Nameless Forest.
Eldrus: The northern city-state that sits above the Heartland. It is governed by a monarchy that is led by King Edgar.
Exemplars: Six individuals who are meant to be the embodiment of a certain skill or trait. They are meant to be examples for the people of Penance to follow.
Exuviae: A plane accessible by the Black Hour. Little is known about it, other than it appears to be Mr. Haemo’s birthplace.
Flesh fiends: Subterranean creatures with a conflicted mythology. They wear the flesh and body parts of their victims. When a Corrupted and a Night Terror mate, there is a chance a flesh fiend will be born. Flesh fiends are older, less evolved Night Terrors.
Geharra: The western-most city-state. The Night Terrors favor this city due to its lack of interest in war and expansion. Now, due to Alexander Blodworth, the entire population is dead; they have become one with the Red Worm.
The Heartland: The lifeblood of Eldrus; many towns and villages exist here, including Gallows, Bedlam, Nyxis, Hrothas, Islaos, and Cathedra.
Herbert North: Seth Barker’s (the Ashen Man) partner in supernatural investigations. Freed from the Membrane with the Skeleton and his family and now a part of the Marrow Cabal.
Holy Child: Believed to be the speaker for Penance’s god. Only the Mother Abbess is higher than him in importance in the Holy Order of Penance. Samuel Turov stole the Holy Child away into the South for unknown reasons, and kept him there until Vrana killed Samuel. His name is Felix, and his religion is a lie.
Ichor: Hex’s brother. He was transformed by exposure to a seed of heaven in the Dismal Sticks. He and Hex have a troubled relationship where in which they play game to inflict the maximum amount of pain upon one another.
&n
bsp; Johannes: A Night Terror who wears a fox skull. He was Deimos’ husband.
Kistvaen: The massive mountain that sits behind Caldera. It was a supervolcano kept in check by eldritch powers granted to the spellweavers of Caldera by the Blue Worm.
Lacuna: An island off the eastern coast. It sits within the Widening Gyre, and it is hidden from prying eyes by spellweavers. The Blue Worm was awakened on this island, and used by Mara and other Night Terrors to learn its secrets, as well as to discover a way to repopulate the Night Terror people.
Lucunans: Also know as children of Lacuna, these individuals were born and bred on Lacuna for the purpose of not only repopulating the Night Terrors, but to also act as sleeper agents in Corrupted cities due to their ability to pass for human. Each Lacunan possess an extra organ within their brains that allows for telepathy; it is by this and the Blue Worm’s necklace the Witch controlled the Cult of the Worm.
Lotus: The mayor of Threadbare.
Lucan: A Night Terror who wears a beetle skull. He escaped Pyra with Deimos and Audra, albeit badly injured.
The Maiden of Joy: Also known as Crestfallen, Joy, or Adelaide. She is the sister of Pain. She has a storied history, and encountered Edgar in the Nameless Forest, as her and her offspring were its rulers before he took over. Joy’s offspring are distant relatives of Edgar’s. She reunited with Pain after giving him the Forest, and then betrayed her, saving herself when she encountered Aeson.
Mara: A Night Terror who wears a mask made out of centipedes. She was in control of Lacuna’s fertility project. She has had run-ins with the Witch in the past.
The Marrow Cabal: A resistance group led by the Skeleton and Hex. Notable members include R’lyeh, Elizabeth, Miranda, Warren, James, and Herbert North. And, of course, Mr. Haemo. They have hundreds of followers across the continent and were based out of Gallows before the Skeleton scattered them when the war between Eldrus and Penance started.
The Membrane: A plane that exists between life and death; an area that may connect to additional planes and horrible dwellings. The dead pass through here.
Mother Abbess Justine: The ultimate authority of the Holy Order of Penance. Also known as the Hydra of Penance. She is the White Worm of the Earth.
Nacthla: A small, abandoned town where it is believed a portal may exist into the Witch’s Void.
The Nameless Forest: Like the Black Hour, anything is possible here; except the Nameless Forest is not bound by time, so the chaos it contains is constant. It is from here the vermillion veins are said to originate. Now the Dread Clock has been taken out of it, the creatues inside are free to escape.
Night Terror: A race of humanoids whose entire culture and purpose is to understand and murder the Corrupted. They are believed to be supernatural creatures, though their origins are a mystery. The only actual observable difference between Night Terrors and Corrupted is that Night Terrors lack Corruption. Night Terrors are actually highly-evolved and more civilized flesh fiends. They originated from human experimentation with guidance from a place named Exuviae. Their purpose was to be better than humans in every way.
Old World: The world before the Trauma.
Ossuary: A massive desert located at the southern-most point of the continent. No one goes there, and nothing is said to thrive there.
Penance: The eastern-most city-state. It is the home of the Holy Order of Penance.
Pyra: The headquarters for the Holy Order of Penance.
Red Worm: A Worm of the Earth that was summoned from the ten thousand dead that had been raped and murdered in the bowels of Geharra. It was killed by the Skeleton in Gallows.
R’lyeh: A thirteen-year-old Night Terror who wears an octopus as a mask. One of the few survivors from the genocide of Geharra. Her hometown is Alluvia. She was Vrana’s companion. She is now a member of the Marrow Cabal.
Samuel Turov: The Exemplar of Restraint. He stole the Holy Child as means by which to stage an attack on Geharra. He was killed by Vrana.
Scavengers: A splinter group of the Lillians (who were an older incarnation of the Holy Order of Penance). They reside outside Geharra, where they worship a large, achromatic tower. They believe god lives inside the tower.
Shadows: Remnants of the unbelievers that were killed and sentenced to eternal damnation by the Vermillion God. They reside in the Membrane, but are able to communicate with Audra.
Silver Necklaces with (colored) gems: Objects which are essential in the rituals used to summon the Worms of the Earth. When a Worm is summoned, it leaves behind a sealing stone, which is used to put the Worm back to sleep. When a Worm is put back to sleep, it leaves behind a silver necklace.
Six Pillars: An older name of Penance.
The Skeleton: A mysterious individual who Vrana sees twice in her journey. She meets him once in the Black Hour, and once again on the island of Lacuna. The Skeleton was instrumental in leading the failed rebellion against King Edgar.
Spellweavers: Individuals who are capable of magic.
The Spine: A massive highway system that once spanned the entire continent but has since fallen into disrepair.
The Trauma: A catastrophic event of unknown origin that has led the world to the state it is in now.
The Void: The home of the Witch.
The Woman in White Satin: Another name for the Maiden of Joy. She is an ancient witch. She ruled over the Nameless Forest for many years. Her sons acted as wardens over the various places in the Nameless Forest.
The Worms of the Earth: Biological weapons of destruction brought about by ritualistic depravity and sacrifice. They are powerful creatures that have to be sustained by death. One Worm generally provokes the birth of another Worm.
Vermillion Veins: Growths thought to only exist in the Nameless Forest. They are the veins of the Vermillion God and a physical representation of Its influence in the world.
Victor Mors: A philosopher who was assassinated for his studies into the Membrane and the Worms of the Earth.
Vrana: A Night Terror who wears the mask of a raven. She was mutated by the Witch into a grotesque raven-like creature, and has since escaped the Void with Aeson.
Winnowers’ Chapter: An elitist group of Holy Order members who disagree with the direction the Mother Abbess is taking the religion. They abandoned the Holy Order for the Disciples of the Deep and fled Penance. They now control Rime, a Night Terror village.
The Witch: Also known as the Maiden of Pain, the Witch has been responsible for countless deaths over untold years. She attacked Vrana’s village of Caldera, and had been using Vrana as a way by which to spread her influence, so as to increase in power and relevance. The Witch has been influencing individuals in an attempt to build what is referred to as The Cult of the Worm.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SCOTT HALE is the author of The Bones of the Earth series. He is a graduate from Northern Kentucky University with a Bachelors in Psychology and Masters in Social Work. He has completed The Bones of the Earth series, and has since begun working on a standalone novel entitled In Sheep’s Skin. Scott Hale currently resides in Norwood, Ohio with his wife and frequent collaborator, Hannah Graff, and their three cats, Oona, Bashik, and Bellatrix.