Rays of light beamed upon an old fountain, weathered by age and the elements. Moist moss protruded from the grey stone, consuming it. Only slight bits of the grey stone could be seen, and even then, the stone was dotted with black spots from age.

Inside the fountain flowed a viscous white liquid that glowed, perhaps because of the beams of light or maybe on its own. Maybe the power which dwelled in the liquid could not quite contain itself. It bubbled and settled just like it had done the eons it had before.

The fountain had a tall spire protruding from the middle, on top of the structure floated a statue. It looked to be made from gold, a holy luminescence emanated from it. Contradictory to its sacred aura, if you were to stand close by and gaze upon it you would not be greeted with a soothing feeling or enlightenment from the supposed holy aura, but you would feel the passage of unending time. You would feel old and young simultaneously. You would feel the beginning of this fantastical world of Mardoria and the desolate destruction of Mardoria.

The statue showed a symbol.

A circle that rotated slowly, inside said circle was the symbol that represented infinity, a perfectly symmetrical figure of eight.

Surrounding this contradictory structure were towering oak trees, the many trees hid this area from prying eyes above and below. Littered around the enclosing of trees were many bodies. Some bisected from the middle, gushes of red blood flowed out. Some had their heads crushed, a white jellylike substance lay around. And some seemed perfectly fine apart from their eyes glazed over.

The cohort of corpses where in the hundreds. Freshly slaughtered. Perplexingly there was no sign of the culprit, it was silent.

If one stumbled upon this abominable mess, one might have the thought that the deities simply took out their rage on this unfortunate group.

But non the less, it was silent, no birds where chirping, the wind did flow through the trees. And the trees did not creak. But if you listened carefully maybe it wasn't that silent at all.

The symbol above the fountain hummed. A quiet constant humming. If one were to listen extremely closely maybe you could hear slight tones of delight coming from within this humming.

The Circle upon the fountain started to turn faster. It sped up again and again. Why it was doing this I could not tell you. But if one were to guess I would say it was exited. It was happy. Almost gleeful.

Why was it gleeful you may ask. I only caution a guess. But I would likely say that this was the cause of the mass of deceased bodies that lay at the foot of the fountain.

The circle of the symbol was now a whirlwind of gold. In the next second the symbol of infinity lit up in a blinding light. The light condensed into tendrils and quick as light should be it grabbed at the bodies and pulled them into the fountain. The bodies after encountering the fountain started to melt. The lumps of flesh condensed with the already present viscous white liquid like the bodies never existed. They disappeared. Never to be seen again.

If you were to look at the viscous white liquid and compare it to before it seemed to have a bit more of a glow to it.

The area surrounding the fountain started to liven up again. Birds chirped. Trees creaked. And the leaves rustled. The grass looked untrodden, and the puddles of blood were gone.

The Circle of the symbol started to slow down until it stopped entirely.

Now normally for this forbidden fountain, because what else could this fountain be apart from forbidden, it would go untouched until another party of the organic variety chanced upon it again.

Unfortunately for it. From behind a towering oak tree peered a man. This man slowly looked around the area. The memory of what happened to his party still fresh in his mind. His brow was wrung with sweat, his eyes wide with what was certainly fear. He turned slowly around seemingly to venture out into the opposite direction from the fountain. He took a few steps. Then some more. Until he was seemingly out of sight from the fountain.

Oh, perhaps I was wrong. Maybe the fountain was fortunate. It had a great harvest of bodies and now that the man was gone it had time to replenish its power for yet another harvest, many hundreds of years into the future.

Yes, that was how it was supposed to go.

All is fine, no one could be stupid or greedy enough to approach the fountain after what-

Appearing from the hem of the trees rushed the very same man who turned heel. Sprinting towards it at a frantic pace. He looked almost mad the way his mouth smiled. And it smiled with glee. When he was only but a few feet away from the fountain he dived. Right into the viscous white liquid in the fountain's basin.