Falling, falling...

What I saw within my eyes was the sanguine void I had come to know, but any control I previously possessed I had now relinquished. I was at its mercy and prepared to embrace my new reality.

The anima of the void began to writhe and grow tiresome. It stretched and pulled at itself angrily. The disturbances within the matter became more and more agitated, and it began to siphon itself into dancing tubules like those that had come at Ixh’reya’s call.

I watched, powerless, as the tubules performed their hypnotic acrobatics and made their way toward me.  The matter made contact with my skin and began to flow across my body. It was like no other sensation I had felt before—enlightening, ataractic, draining, powerful—it was all of these things at once and yet so much more; truly a state of matter that defied all understanding of what a state of matter should be, physically and metaphysically.

The void continued to feed itself into the anima cocoon that formed around me. My limbs felt more and more constricted but at the same time protected and nourished, as if the ichor itself saw my existence as precious and with meaning.

***

And then, a point of light shone through the sanguine wall. One point turned to ten, ten to a hundred. The light rays expanded and ate away at the void as more of the matter was siphoned into my cocoon. A world of blinding, colorless light began to wash around me, and carved from the dwindling darkness I could see them. As the remaining anima funneled into me, their figures became more discernible, their presence more potent. There were six of them; humanoid in size but otherworldly in shape and features, they radiated auras of knowledge and command as they encircled my position. As I fell endlessly through that colorless beyond, they remained unwavering. My body felt tamed by their arrival.

You have relinquished the mind.
The flesh is ready. 

These were the unfamiliar voices. They spoke in unison with a menagerie of timbres—guttural and oppressing to angelic and scheming—exuding true freedom of will. 

I could feel the anima begin to assimilate with my body. Memories of dimensions and realities from an infinite time’s past crawled across my skin. The enlightenment I had desired was being revealed to me. The fear I held had been banished with my mind, a reality that no longer existed; my only truth was one of the flesh.

Pray to us and be reborn.
This is the path you seek.
Embrace the Oe’rj.

Oe’rj. The matter that had acted as the glue between worlds, the manipulative manifestation of the Umbradawn’s reality—of their power. It’s name rang true to my ears. It was as if I myself had been born from it a thousand times over. I knew the Oe’rj, and it knew me.

My cells boiled as the matter began to solidify into a tough, rubbery shell. Not only was the Oe’rj revelationary, but transformative. I felt a pain no mortal soul could muster, but this pain was my will—my path to higher purpose. My eyes burned with the heat of a dying sun as my flesh began to tear. And at the same time the blinding light began to dim, and I could see the looming haze of shadowy clouds rising above my falling form, obscuring the figures of the council surrounding me as they passed.

Pray, and your purpose shall be known.
Our flesh is your font.
Drink.

From the fissures of my body new cells began to accumulate. Rigid limbs, bone after bone, sprouted from my shoulders and pressed against the cocoon, testing its durability. Another set grew aside my breasts; but with these I felt in control. I stretched and squeezed emerging fingers like they had been with me since the beginning; a sense of dark energy surged through them.

***

The rising clouds grew thinner as my descent continued, trapped within the Oe’rj shell as my transformation carried on. From the diminishing fog I could see it below—Ahm’qir Tzoa—their reality. But where a realm of scattered monuments and desolation once stood, now stood a burgeoning civilization of unimaginable scale. Temples and pyramids that rose above the clouds, raging storms and legions of winged creatures terrorizing the skies, torrents of malefic magic that erupted from crevices all over the land—this was their truth. Their vision was now mine as well.

All that you see will be yours.
Break free from the Oe’rj.
Claim the new flesh.

The growing limbs had weakened the integrity of the cocoon. I clawed at the anima with taloned fingers, breaking through to feel the chilling gust of wind surge into the confines of the shell. The branches from my shoulders continued to extend with ever-increasing pressure until finally bursting through the Oe’rj to display a pair of achromatically-feathered wings.

I was free, but I continued to plummet, the image of Ahm’qir Tzoa fast approaching with every passing second. The wings at my back felt weak, incapable of saving me from crashing into the ground below. The Umbradawn continued to follow my descent.

The power is in the flesh.
Embrace the path.
Your will lies in your desire.
Pray to us.

The wind rushed past me and through the feathers of my wings as thoughts of my journey, my revelations, and my transformation imbued my skin. My path had been one of ignorance and fear, and one that lacked perspective. With this new sight, with the understanding of the Oe’rj, my perspective became ubiquitous, my potential unhinged. The Umbradawn had bestowed upon me a gift of everflowing generosity, and for that I prayed to them.

A sensation of control began to flow from my body into my wings. In my previous life the thought of falling to my death would have brought on an overwhelming desperation, but what was once desperation had now turned to faith. Ixh’reya had come for me, and for that there must have been reason. 

Trust the path.
Claim your place.

I could see clearly the ground below. A monolithic plateau that overlooked the realm, adorned with sinister blades of stone jutting from all angles.  Directly beneath me a large clearing among the blades was painted with a ring of vividly burning runes, the same runes that had branded the angel’s skin.

Despite the advancing demise my will remained indomitable. I held high the spoils of the body given to me, and I trusted in the Umbradawn. My wings began to breathe. I could feel the gusts of wind flow between my feathers.

Your path is clear.
You are ready.
Claim your flesh.
Claim your throne.

***

My wings flailed as my form tumbled, the circle below now only seconds away. With every thresh the clarity of my faith, my understanding, and my purpose was amplified. I felt the memory of Ixh’reya in my flesh. The embers of her eyes had called out to me. My lust to replace my reality with hers was no trick of the Oe’rj or the Umbradawn, but a dormant hunger that was concealed by the limitations of my humanity. The embrace I had felt was true. She had chosen me. 

And as my descent neared its end, my belief reached its apotheosis, and my wings heaved with a force that bridged worlds. A familiar shockwave reverberated out from the plateau across the realm as my feathers burst to life with explosions of gold-tinged reds and browns. My feet hung above the ground as my wings beat with the strength of a thousand lives past. The Umbradawn stood along the circle around me, beings I had known before I knew myself.

You have walked the path.
You are our seventh.
You are Eyhir’jh, our Angel of Blood.

I planted my feet on the ground, looking to the council; faces painted with pride and satisfaction stared back. They filled me with a sense of purpose and zeal. I was unbound, and I was reborn.