Narrator Perspective Change: Dior
I have watched the heavens fall as a child. All of its splendor rained down on us and blessed us with its fertility. The demigods frequented my mothers tent, she was our village whore.
I had too many siblings to count and none of us knew of our father. The village elders didn't know what to do with us so he made us follow the shepherds hunt, hoping we would die off on our own.
Several of us did, but those of us who remained were the most fierce children in the village. We were often half the age of the average shepherd but we doubled their kills.
I learned to stick close to my brother, Tyrin, when we went skimming. That's what the shepherds called it; skimming the abyss of its impure invaders: the divers.
Many of them wore weapons that spit fire, most of them could even breath it; but the abyss was our home, and the misty air that was sacred to our lungs was poison to theirs.
All we had to do was create a breach in their armor and they would rot inside their coffin, a shell of metal plates that they forged in hopes of deterring our ghouls.
They had access to godsblood, a miracle elixir that could enchant their equipment but nothing rivaled the horrors of the abyss. We run this hell, this is our domain, and the invaders will burn for it.
Tryin was five years older than me, that made him nine. The elders hated us so much that they would send us out as soon as we could walk. My first skimming was when I was two. I was strapped in swaddling clothes to the back of my brother who was seven.
He is gifted with musical talent and even as a child he was able to wield his flute like a master. We rode a Pegasus black stallion ghoul and a legion of turtle bats was used as our ammunition.
With the toot of Tyrin's flute, they would dive into the divers, smashing into them with their hardened shells, and shattering their precious enchanted armor with ease.
I remember how I used to laugh and giggle from his back, watching the humans attempting to crawl out of their shell only to be met with the fog that burns their flesh.
Most of our skimming hunts were fond memories. I was only a child but I was familiar with the heat of war. Too familiar. It made my mind twisted, craving the blood shed of humans and finding joy in their torment.
When I turned five I was able to play the flute well enough to shepherd a ghoul of my own: a single panther mole. We weren't supposed to name them but since I was only able to command one ghoul, we got close.
I named her gold digger because of her bright yellow fur. We would burrow our way through the abyss and kill several dozen divers with ease, jumping out from under them and slashing their legs with my spear that phases through them.
We would often emerge from the abyss to the coast and have to chase a few divers who fled. Many of our ghouls would wander and kill a few stragglers that were locals to the coast.
They are the outcasts of the peaks, mostly orphans and a few androids. I never cared about their deaths, they were still human. All humans are weak, feeble and parasites to our world.
The fog is not acidic by nature, it only burns the impurity of humanity out of them. It cleanses their soul, leaving their corpse rotting because of the sheer contents of their impure thoughts.
I learned to speak through my third eye around the same time that I started hunting alone. The other shepherds used it to invade the divers mind, understanding their inner workings to target them better.
We also use it to communicate with each other. Oral language dies out around the age of five and everyone speaks telepathically. When we enter into each other's minds it can be overwhelming at first.
Full transparency of emotions as well as images of thoughts can be read clearly without a filter. We must not push further than what they allow for us to know to respect their privacy.
There are boundaries when invading a fellow abyss dwellers mind in order to speak.
We must always "knock" before entering into their minds to avoid walking in on a private thought.
We do this with a form of an image that is uncommon to think about: an absurd intrusive thought to warn of our minds invasion.
Many villages and tribes have their own "knock". For our village it is the image of a kitten sucking on a lollipop paired with the sound of a heavenly harp strum.
It is silly at first, but it becomes familiar and easy to identify when someone wants to communicate with you. Hence the purpose of a random call sign to initiate the telepathic mind tether.
I had a particularly special experience when first unlocking my third eye. After smoking the pipe, I was able to clearly hear everyone's thoughts without their knowledge.
Usually when you use your third eye you must establish a tether with the person you want to enter before seeing their mind; but I was an outlier.
Because of the tether you create, people are able to distinguish who and what enters their mind; but I was able to enter into anyone's without going noticed.
I kept this a secret from the elders but I told Tyrin. He marveled at first, not believing me, but eventually as he witnessed me effortlessly reading everyone's thoughts without them reacting, he praised my gift.
You see, everyone in the village calls my mother a whore, a witch that births babies to discard into the abyss; but my siblings and I share knowledge of a special secret my mother carries.
She is a vessel of the demon of lust, and every child she bares is born with an innate gift. Not a blessing that has to be balanced with a curse but a gift that does not demand any form of return.
Like I said, my brother was blessed with music. I was blessed with the ability to use my third eye in discretion and open up the contents of everyone's thoughts without their consent.
Tyrin warned me to not pry around too much but I was a child in the playground of people's secrets. It was too tempting to avoid.
Every dark thought, every hidden desire, was like a treasure chest for me to open and marvel at. I learned the hidden truths behind my world at the young age of five.
I learned of the racism of my people. I lived among the abyss where the locals skins were dark pink, they grew red horns and had bright yellow eyes with silver hair that turned dark when old.
My mother birthed mixed children (with how many men she slept with) and introduced them into this forsaken world. I am half human and those traits dim out my abyssal side of genetics. Tyrin was half demigod and half abyssal.
The demigods hailed from the oasis that floats in the heavens, the humans called them Atlanics for they used to dwell in the oceans of water that covered this planet before the elevation.
Hundreds of years ago, the event entitled: elevation, evaporated all of the major bodies of water in this world and created a firmament of water called the oasis in the sky.
All this knowledge and the dark thoughts that the elders held of my siblings was like free money that I could pick up from anyone's minds.
Not only was my mind able to read others, but I was able to understand and fully comprehend my own mind. It is said that humans only use 30% of their brains at a time.
My gifted mind was able to use all of it. Every part of the brain was elevated, hence making my world exponentially more potent.
I have crystal clear memory, and each thought is carried with precise clairvoyance. My senses, my emotions, and logic is calculated and executed with perfection.
I lost my home and family at the age of six. When I returned from my solo hunt, my village was overrun by divers. I watched from a distance as the smoke rose from my burning home.
We lived in catacombs of coral caves deep within the abyss, near the portals where the demigods craft the ghouls. Usually divers can't make it this close to a portal without being devoured, but this pack got lucky.
I saw the alphie (the leader of the diver pack), drenched in the blood of my home turf. I knew it was the alphie by the painting of a golden crescent moon on its back.
I have slaughtered many them easily before, so I was tempted to do it again. Me, a six year old shepherd with my little gold digger, was ready to challenge them all.