A nightmare lay among the flowers and asked “who of you would walk with me?”
Emerging from the petals a spider answered, “I would.”
Ezekiel called the spider as it was, Misumena Vatia. The tiny thing ran about their hands freely, perched on their body, nestled within their hair like the flowers. It had become the pet of a depraved cult leader, who claimed of course that the arachnid spoke to them; whispered of new worlds beyond a dying reality. Ezekiel would watch, transfixed by the ever changing colors of the creature which molded to each environment like the magic of a world that never deserved such beauty. This spider was to the cult leader the perfect example of a new species, a breed of beasts to populate and stalk the developing phantasm behind the veil. With every ritual accomplished and every right passed at the hands of Ezekiel, the spider was promised greater power at the end of the world.
“You will relish in all the delights of annihilation.” Ezekiel vowed softly to their pet as it sunk its fangs into the flesh of their hand and drank in the tar-like stream that ran in the veins. It was the final ritual, the fall of one reality for the next as the wall between worlds crumbled at the altar. Ezekiel reached beyond the fresh gateway with the tiny arachnid perched at their fingertips with hands cupped to submerge it into a gathered cluster of deep pink hydrangeas, when they pulled back they held the chin of a new being. Humanoid, though a monstrosity nonetheless.
“Liment, my pet.” The new god cooed at their first creation. And he was Octavia Kávouras Aranea, the deceit of the nightmare.
