A thing with the semblance of an owl, but an owl from *before time*. From a dimension without names. Its body was cloaked in gray-blue feathers, the color of a tomb woven from plumage. It had *four faces* fused together in a grotesque symmetry, four twisted beaks, and seven eyes —all a dark, hollow blue, swirling with coiled symbols that might have been writing... or screaming.
Behind it hovered *two suns*—not true suns, but manifestations of madness given geometric form. Jagged golden rays erupted from the twin discs, their light not illuminating, but mimicking the glow of nightmares.
On the entity's chest pulsed a sigil—
A multi-headed star, each point branching into tangled lines that interlaced like inverted cosmic laws. It throbbed with a faint glow, like the dying pulse of a creature that refused to believe it was dead.
Beneath the entity, upon the fleshy gray earth, stood rows of figures. Not human. Skeletal forms draped in black robes, their upturned skulls chanting silent hymns to the owl-god. Golden spirals rose from their heads like smoke from a sealed hell.
And on the ground, a golden symbol was carved—
A cross, yet *wrong*. Alien. Belonging to no known culture. As if the universe itself had bowed before it.
Gabriel did not move.
He *knew* it.
He *felt* it.
Before him stood the Cosmic Owl.
The wind stilled.
The frost knelt.
Time shattered
---
Gabriel's Whisper
Gabriel murmured through trembling lips:
"This is no creature... This is the mirror of fear in the eyes of gods."
Then his knees buckled, striking the frozen ground with a hollow thud. Tears streamed down his face—only to freeze upon his cheeks, crystallizing his despair into icy scars.
---
---
Gabriel continued on his way...
The leathery earth stretched endlessly beneath his feet, emitting faint sounds like the moans of hides stretched over a smoldering fire. Each step sank into the surface as if he were walking on a living body silently enduring pain. This was no ordinary ground... but a slab of compressed screams turned to leather.
The fog returned, but this time, he was not alone.
Creatures emerged from the mist. They did not attack him, but watched. They harmonized with the air, as if their very existence was part of the terrifying melody the wind played on the strings of madness.
The first was a skeletal Wendigo, emaciated with cracked skin and limbs too long—longer than anything living had a right to be. Its face was a skull veiled in black snow, eye sockets emitting a dead blue light, like a spirit slowly rotting.
Then came a mist-wreathed being with tattered wings, gliding soundlessly above him, leaving a trail of cracking and reforming ice. Its head was split in two, each half gazing in opposite directions, as if seeing every angle at once.
At the edges of the path, giant spiders crawled, their bodies crowned with white fur, limbs ending in octopus-like tendrils that slithered over the leather walls as if searching for prey.
Yet Gabriel did not stop.
He walked on.
Until...
The fog split.
The air froze.
And the Tower appeared.
The first thing he saw was the red moon, hanging in the sky like the eye of some ancient entity, staring unblinking at the world. Behind it, clouds gathered to form a larger eye, as if the sky itself watched him through some hidden gateway.
Then the Tower manifested.
A stone tower, black tinged with sickly green, erupting from the leather earth like a petrified finger pointing to the limits of reason. Its tall windows bled a radioactive green light, as if something inside burned with invisible flames—only their aftermath visible.
The stones of the Tower were uneven, some carved with strange glyphs resembling the bones of extinct creatures, others pulsing every few seconds... Yes, pulsing. As if the stones themselves were hearts torn out and forced to beat one last time.
The stairway leading up was carved into the leather ground, but it was no ordinary staircase... It was overgrown with thorned roses and tangled brambles.
And at the Tower's gate... stood four statues.
A raven statue, perched atop a nameless grave, gazing indifferently to the left as if nothing held its interest.
A stone owl, head tilted to the side, its glass-red eyes reflecting the faces of all who beheld it.
And two colossal skeletal figures, the most towering beings Gabriel had ever seen. Their bodies were pure bone, draped in dark ashen robes, staring forward while gripping massive swords. One had a skull resembling the sun—a skeletal sun with dangling skulls at its rays.
Gabriel felt like an ant—nothing more—beneath the feet of these stone sentinels. He dared not raise his head fully. He dared not even think. He simply stood before the Tower, breathing heavily, his heart pounding as if trying to escape his chest.
Gabriel understood the truth...
This was no mere tower...