"Weeks of hardship. Always walking, step after step. Ceaselessly moving forward with hardly a rest. But it was worth it. Totally worth it.", thought the Pilgrim upon walking to the Gates of the Temple of Cessation. Finally, his treck fully laden with tributes to the Eternal Queen has arrived at its destination. Maybe it would turn out to be his new home... or he would return to his village, spreading the word, gathering tributes, making his way back, next year.



The sheer height of the walls was the more imposing, the closer the procession came. He couldn't make out any bricks or any subparts. The walls seemed... as if made out of one single piece? The whole city wall? How..?

And then he saw tiny translucent bubbles, glistening in the evening sun. They crawled, no glided with unknown purpose over the walls. He sped up a little, asking his Harbinger, wildly pointing, what by the Unspoken's name these were?

"They are the OMCETS. Noone understands their full name or how they perform their miracles, but at the behest of the queen, they build the temple. Originally, they were instruments of the Endless, those who abandoned us. But the Queen controls them now and they become just another tool against the gods. These workers dissolve some of the tributes we bring and grow the temple, slowly but steadily. They build homes, facilities, shrines...

And when the city needs to grow, the OMCETS dissolve the inner side of the wall and paste it back on the outer side, moving the wall forward at a glacier's pace."



The Pilgrim listened with rapt attention to the Harbinger, all the while marveling at these surreal creatures. Like bubbles fixed to the ground, some strange lights weakly shining inside them, they worked tirelessly.

Before he knew it, they stood at the gate itself. He couldn't see any hinges, so perfect was its fixture. Only the muted lights that outlined it and the countless bones ornamenting it would tell that there was any kind of entry. Besides the road leading right into the wall, of course.

The Harbinger stood before the gate and shouted, clear and loud, the first phrase of prayer to the End:

"Darkness shelter me,

before the wrath of the unworthy gods."

A phrase to the queen, a prayer of protection. A phrase that apparently opened the gates to the Darkness, silently gliding open and revealing a sight that seemed to diminish the very power of the sun, absorbing it, instead of reflecting it. A comfortable home for the cultists of the Eternal End.



The treck set on, again, making its way to the center, even more slowly. All the pilgrims were gawking, admiring the perfect symmetry and muted colours. Yes, this was definitely a work by the Eternal Queen. Although...

Some claws and spikes stuck to the buildings, breaking the perfection and order. There was some confusion among his group, how could this be..?

And the Harbinger prayed the second phrase:

"Light sear my enemies,

as it shall burn away the impure,

tainted by the dust."

Finally, he understood. The Unspoken had come, adding constructions of light. Surreal crystals, small and big, glowing brightly and menacingly. They symbolized their anger, their thirst for retribution. He was even more exhilarated than before. He wanted to...



But the Harbiger continued the prayer:

"Ordered be my mind,

to see through their Endless machinations,

to not believe in false idols,

to find those that will serve."

And he calmed down, reluctantly. There is no use in pointless rage or undirected violence. With so many infidels in the world, his rage would have its time. So long, he could save it up... For the will of the Queen is as her skin: Impenetrable and unbreakable. As symmetric and orderly as all the districts of this city. He would know control...

They came closer and closer to the center. The very part that stuck out, different than all the rest. This was the taint, this was the enemy, this was their tool of revenge and their way to salvation. The ruin of the old gods brought back to life, where the Queen had been entombed.



And the Harbinger chanted:

"And Chaos be my life, my heart,

my soul to its very core,

never to be frozen solid,

in the winter's unforgiving grasp,

called upon us by the Doomed."

Yes, this was the second prayer to the Unspoken. The undying resolve and random nature. As long as one Cultist was alive, there was a way to revenge. And they would find it. Be it peaceful or littered with corpses, they...



He was pulled out of his thoughts the moment they reached the center of the temple. Below him, below this factory, the Eternal Queen watched them all, directing them all. Above him, the old facility of the Endless hummed with new purpose. And right before him, treck after treck was unloaded by the Chosen he so envied, at the instructions of the Voices of the Queen herself. Countless pilgrims were kneeling and praying. And he joined them:

"Directed by the Unspoken,

in service to the queen,

to end eternity,

I may die, yet...

I shall not rest,

I shall not yield,

I shall never forgive!"



Indeed, this shall be the home of his heart, his mind and his sword arm. He would go back to his village and spread the word. Many others should view this magnificence... And one day, his kind would be among the Chosen.