The Last Offering
The Last Offering
By Zanbaq Alma
"There is no greater sacrifice than the one made in love. But love alone cannot stop the abyss from hungering."
For centuries, the city of Ashkar has upheld a chilling tradition the centennial offering. Every hundred years, one life is chosen to descend into the abyss, a sacrifice meant to appease the ancient darkness lurking below. When seventeen-year-old Seraphine’s beloved younger brother is selected, she refuses to accept his fate. Driven by love and defiance, she takes his place, willingly stepping into the unknown.
But the abyss is not what the council claimed it to be. Beneath the city lies a cursed labyrinth where past offerings linger some as whispers in the dark, others as monstrous creatures barely clinging to humanity. At the heart of it all is the Ancient One, a being that was once human, now corrupted by centuries of sacrifice and greed.
As Seraphine navigates the abyss’s horrors, she uncovers long-buried secrets: the truth behind the ritual, the city’s bloodstained past, and a prophecy that ties her fate to the darkness itself. With the help of Aric, a scarred survivor of the last offering, and Kael, a rogue cultist seeking redemption, she must challenge the cycle of sacrifice before she, too, is consumed.
But the abyss changes those who enter it. And as the darkness seeps into her soul, Seraphine must decide will she destroy the abyss, or become its last and greatest offering?
A dark fantasy tale of sacrifice, corruption, and the fine line between monster and savior.