Hen're'it lay there, her eyes a fiery red, her skin seemingly melting away. Above her, the orchestrator of her demise stood – the mother of the Ghezzak, surrounded by a field of poison that constantly changed, pushing the great goddess to the verge of a painful death.
Death, as history would say, was the end of life. But what if death wasn't truly the end but just a step to overcome? Geo'rgge was achieving such a step with the integration of the Ghezzak mother's codex. His regeneration was nothing short of miraculous, a defiance of mortality.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, having cheated death again, this time for a considerable duration. His mind and body were finally syncing into a unification, and as he turned quickly, his eyes fell upon Hen're'it, laying there, her body breaking down into a world of nothingness.
"No...no...no..no.....NO..!!!!!....!!!!!!"
His yell of anguish echoed through the valley as he closed the distance and knelt next to his life mate, frantically trying to alter her genetic makeup to save her. Hen're'it stared up at him, a soft smile playing on her lips.
"~You're still trying to save me. This time there is nothing to save. I am sorry, my burning star, that I will not be with you on this journey.~"
His hands moved faster as tears swelled, falling down his cheeks.
The mother of the Ghezzak stood behind him, her focus no longer on him but on what he left behind. She could taste them in the air—the essence of her people. As Geo'rgge clung to a fleeting hope, she moved, devouring the air, her senses guiding her to consume. As she did, her body began to change, the red exoskeleton shifting into a black ooze, bringing a higher level of intelligence.
"~We are the great mother, the mother of all we survey. We have defeated the great goddess and now claim this as our doma—~"
Suddenly, her hand moved up where once a mouth was; nothing remained, smooth and flat.
"~She was the better of us two... she was the light that guided me... she was the reason I never thought to be such a male... but you took that from me... and doomed everyone!~"
The Ghezzak mother stood there, perplexed by his words. Did they not just kill him moments ago? What would make this moment different? She felt a prick at first, gradually spreading across her body. Soon, the air in her lungs lessened, her now bare hands clawing at her throat.
What was this stifling feeling? As if on cue, her eyes bore witness to the transformation – that male was no longer a male. He stood towering over her, as tall as the sky itself, his body as wide as the valley they called home.
She couldn't move, falling to her knees, the pressure of his gaze chaining her to the very spot. What was this feeling, and why couldn't she escape it?
When Geo'rgge began to speak, Hen're'it, his life mate, ceased to breathe. Regardless of what he tried, it mattered not. The moment she died, something in his mind broke, sending his codex into a spiral of almost unknown complexity. When the moment stopped, his body seemed no different, but in truth, it had changed dramatically. His skin glimmered like the Ghezzak mother's poison, evolving every second.
This allowed his mind to explain and contemplate his sense of self, unlocking the understanding of what was befalling the Ghezzak mother.
His hands moved with grace and swiftness, a savagery worse than what her people had felt just mere expanses ago. With every movement of his fingers, pieces of her codex were separated, dying or consumed by other atomic entities. The savagery intensified, and what seemed like eons was mere seconds as he stood there, having removed all that made her a Ghezzak, leaving her just a bare female. With a quick grab and pull, her last moment was seeing her head and spine being removed from her body.