The Eating Woods, #2
Eldritch
by Keri Lake
Contents
Chapter 79
Overview
Zevander awakens in a surreal battlefield of black roses, where Morsana approaches and mistakes him for Deimos. Her kiss fails to stir Deimos, and Zevander affirms his love for Maevyth. Morsana grants Zevander time only until Maevyth’s transcendence, revealing it will occur through her fated death, before dismissing him.
Summary
Zevander jolts awake in a field of silver-tipped black roses strewn with mutilated corpses, his hands bloodied. Nearby lies Cadavros, pallid and motionless. A willowy, silver-eyed woman approaches—Morsana—who resembles Maevyth. She calls Zevander “Deimos,” claiming he has returned to her.
Morsana insists Deimos was banished to sablefyre and chose Zevander as his vessel, just as she chose Maevyth as hers, so they could reunite. She urges him to transcend and abandon his mortal flesh, then seizes his mouth in a kiss.
The kiss feels wrong; Zevander does not respond. Morsana senses Deimos within but realizes he does not want her. Zevander states that although Deimos may inhabit him, his heart belongs to Maevyth, and nothing—distance, dismemberment, or death—would keep him from returning to her.
Moved, Morsana softens and grants Zevander time “until the time she transcends,” when she and Maevyth will become one. When Zevander asks how Maevyth will transcend, Morsana reveals it will be through death and that Maevyth is fated to die.
Shaken by the revelation yet resolute, Zevander is told to go. Morsana fades, and a consuming darkness swallows him, ending the encounter and setting a dire clock on Maevyth’s fate.
Who Appears
- Zevander RydainnAwakens in a vision-void; rejects Morsana; declares love for Maevyth; learns Maevyth must die to transcend.
- MorsanaGoddess who chose Maevyth as vessel; mistakes Zev for Deimos; reveals Maevyth’s fated death; grants Zev limited time.
- DeimosBanished entity residing in Zev; desired by Morsana; does not respond to her kiss.
- CadavrosLies pallid and unmoving in Zev’s vision, suggesting aftermath of a battle.
- MaevythAbsent but central; Morsana’s chosen vessel; revealed to be fated to die to transcend.