Apotheosis: Stories of Human Survival After the Rise of the Elder Gods Read Online Free Page B

like a cross between a bird and a reptile. It has a thin humanoid form, made of bones and skin. Its head is pointed with glittering eyes and great leather wings block out the sky behind it. Its feet are claws, and it grips the wall as it perches there. It screams out a cry at us both and stalks towards us, reaching out with long sharp fingers.
    I want to run, but Tom pulls the gun from his belt. He fires at the creature four times quickly. Three of the bullets find their mark, spraying both of us with its yellow blood. The creature staggers back, its screams gurgling as blood fills its throat. Tom smiles at me in victory as the creature falls backwards to slip down the wall.
    I meet Tom’s gaze just in time to see another creature pluck him from the wall in front of me. It lifts him off his feet in seconds. As it does so its wings smash into me and knock me from the wall. I fall, tumbling and turning down the steep hillside. I hear bones crack under me, but can’t be sure if they are mine. Shards of steel slice and bash me as I slip along the broken edifice.
    As I fall, I hear Tom’s gun fire, but I can’t tell how many times. It seems far away, up in the sky, but how high I can’t tell. Then I hear a crunch not too far away as I slowly come to a rest. Opening my eyes and uncurling myself, I try to look around. Every part of me hurts and I can’t tell if the thick liquid that covers me is my blood or more slime from the wall. Tom lies on his back a few feet away, his eyes staring skyward. One of the creatures squirms nearby, flapping its wings in death throes as it sprays yellow blood around it. Another creature lands next to it, but ignores me. It tears the head from its kinsman, almost in annoyance at the noise it was making. Then it fixes me with a glare, struts over to Tom’s body, and begins tearing into his stomach. His body lurches as it rips out his succulent organs, while his eyes continue to stare blindly at the sky.
    I crawl away as best I can. It will come for me next and there is nothing I can do to stop it. As I drag myself away from the wall onto the dry earth, I look up to see smiling people all around. They stand in a great crowd facing me, and they seem eager for something. I force myself to kneel, then to stand, so I can face them. It is over for me. I don’t know how I can stay alive, or even if I want to anymore. But I will at least keep some of my dignity.
    “Go on, then,” I shout at them. “Just kill me and get it over with.”
    I’m waiting for their usual silence, but instead, one of them opens his mouth a little and in a quiet voice full of echoes says, “No.”
    I step back in shock. They have never spoken before, at least not to anyone who has talked about it.
    “Why not?” is all I can think to say.
    “We have not finished.”
    “Finished what? Is this some experiment? You just want to see what it takes to break us, what you need to do to make us beg? Why? What is the city for?”
    “To entertain us.”
    “That’s it?”
    “We have no other use for you.”
    The smiling person tilts his head to one side, curious I should think I had any importance. It continues to smile at me.
    “Why the blasted smiling faces?”
    “We thought it would put you at your ease, so you might continue your business without interference. Do you find us unsettling? We do our best to observe without influencing. You are more entertaining that way.”
    “That’s why you won’t kill me then? I’m still entertaining?”
    “Yes, and we have a question, as there is something about you we do not understand.”
    I’m almost laughing with hysteria. “Well, what’s your question?” I ask, consoling myself that I can at least deny them an answer.
    “We don’t entirely understand the importance of the ring.”
    They know. They have everything, and the force of that pushes me to my knees in front of them. I look down and see Tom’s gun lies fallen beside me in the dust. I pick it up cradling its