"With my tenderest sacrifices, my heart's most fervent prayers, and my most passionate plea, I implore thee: Grant me thy presence."
Silence greeted her supplication. Moments stretched into forever, and just as despair began to creep into her heart, a soft light shone upon the altar.
"Why do you call upon me, consort of beauty? What sought thee?" From the light, a voice spoke.
Swallowing, Raneya felt her throat dry and her hands tremble. "I yearn to be made a god, that I might bring about a new dawn. I want to purge this world and land anew."
Clenching her hands at her sides, Raneya dug her nails into her palms. She couldn't allow the atrocities of the king to continue any more. For he had slain people from the Ashkarath tribe in their thousands. He saw only their flesh and lives as mere offerings to some twisted pursuit of ascension into godhood. He was on the losing side of war, so he sought for an ultimate weapon.
She couldn't sit and watch as the Ashkarath tribe was being captured and slaughtered for their flesh. Raneya had to step in for them—she had to climb the vault of divinity to become what those people were killed for.
That was the only way to stop the killing… and perhaps atone for her own mistakes and failures.
The voice from the light moved towards her. "What about your humanity, Raneya? Are you willing to give that up?"
Raneya's lips quivered. These people were humans like her. Why should she stand and watch while others reduced them to the barest mechanics of existence?
"My humanity?" She sobbed, her voice breaking. "What value does my humanity hold if I do nothing?"
The figure said with a sad smile, "Very well, Raneya, what are your offerings? The cost for what you seek?"
With a trembling hand, Raneya reached for the folds in her robe and brought forth an item—a small pouch containing three pieces of copper.
"I'll sell my nation, this world perhaps, for three pieces of copper in exchange," Raneya said, hoping her thought-out plans go well.
She understood the significance of little offerings—something small in value in exchange for a greater price. Sometimes, sacrifices don't necessitate grand gestures.
What Raneya offered surprised the being. "Thy offerings are humble, yet the significance is profound. To sell your country for three pieces of copper speaks volumes of the depth of your desperation." It paused before continuing.
"I can't ignore your offer. Once this is done, there is no buyer's remorse!"
Raneya's breath hitched, her eyes welling with tears as she refused to let fall. "Just do it. I'm nothing but a consort who had failed her nation. I am already lost. Let me be lost with a purpose."
What followed the next minute was a sudden rush of wind that almost ripped her bare, and shaking the altar down to its foundation. The light from the figure shone brighter and brighter, blurring Raneya's vision while it consumed her from the inside out as she passed out.
The next time she awoke, her vision cleared. The figure of light that once glowed at the altar had vanished like it never appeared. When Raneya gazed down at her pale body, she discovered something had changed. She was no longer the 'her' she knew before—for she had metamorphosed into something different.
Standing up on her feet, she descended the altar.
Walking barefooted, Raneya approached the throne room, where she could hear voices coming from the other side of the door.
"Bring forth the girl!" King Malakai commanded.
The guards, their faces covered by steel helms, obeyed without question and dragged a girl towards a wooden table. The girl struggled against the iron chains that bound her, but she was powerless against the mighty soldiers who chained her to a wooden table.
Driven by obsession, the king and his people believed the Ashkarath tribe's skin held the essence of purity. This essence, once distilled into a perfume, promised an ascension to godhood.
To him, their unique skin was more than a genetic trait: it was a vessel for divinity itself. Therefore, he ordered the capture and subjugation of the Ashkarath tribe, which resulted in unspeakable horrors.
As the chief alchemist approached with a sharp blade in his right hand, the girl who was strapped to a wooden table struggled against her shackles.
"Please, my lord, have mercy!" She cried and pleaded, hoping they spared her from the fate that awaited her.
One royal advisor let out a mocking laugh. "Look at her groveling, as if her life bears meaning beyond this noble cause. We are at war, young lady, and we need a secret weapon to win!"
Tenderly and precisely, the chief alchemist began to cut, slicing through the girl's skin while she screamed in agony. The other tribe members, chained at the far end of the room, were compelled to watch in fear and horror. They could do nothing but bear witness to the cruelty inflicted upon their kin.
Her skin was peeled away, revealing raw, bloody muscle beneath.
The chief alchemist, having collected the strips of skin, placed them into a bronze cauldron of boiling liquid. As it dissolved, he chanted incantations, hoping to unlock the divine essence that was hidden within.
"Behold!" cried the chief alchemist. "Let the perfume of purity made out of their flesh rise and cleanse us, that we may ascend!"
Despite the rising steam from the pot, a sudden disappointment awaited them.
Something was wrong.
The cauldron boiled violently, erupting and spilling red-hot liquid fire everywhere. The king and all who were with him ran towards the door to escape, leaving the rest of the Ashkarath tribe behind to the consuming fire.
Upon reaching the throne room door, they discovered someone had locked it.
Banging the door and screaming in fear, horror consumed their faces as the hot liquid burned each of them beyond recognition.
Raneya stood at the other end of the heavy oak door. She had closed the door, knowing the fate that awaited them inside the throne room as she unleashed her 'new' powers on them.
She watched while flames devoured the throne room. Once their screams had subsided, Raneya entered the throne room.
Ash and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.
She continued walking until she reached the throne. As she turned, she bent to retrieve the golden crown fallen amidst the ashes.
"Out of these ashes," Raneya declared, placing the crown upon her head. "I will create a new dawn. And those who fail to bow to the majesty of my dominion shall all meet death."