37. P O W E R : Tower, Part I

CHAPTER VII - The Escape.

The hyena prowled about on the invisible ground, giggling uneasily as he made his way through the seemingly-infinite expanse of crimson and black.

Food. Food.

Yes... he was hungry. He had been hungry for so long.

As he sniffed and licked the unseen floor, a snuffling sound came from behind him. The hyena looked over his shoulder, nose twitching, and watched as the rhino lumbered by, aimlessly wandering the darkness as usual.

Fisi...

That voice again. The one he'd heard every day since he'd been brought here.

Day? No, he knew nothing of days. Nothing of the day. There was no sun, no moon, no means by which to measure the time. It was just darkness. Endless, boundless, merciless darkness.

Fisi...

The hyena spoke no languages, but had come to know that this was his name. She always called him by it; therefore it must be his identity. Just like the rhino called "Kifaru", the elephant called "Tembo", and all the others. She would call them, and they would gingerly make their way to where she resided, hovering in the nothingness in a fetal position, unmoving, unbreathing, yet speaking.

Now it was the hyena's turn; he padded over to the Mad Mother and obediently sat back on his haunches, tongue lolling out of his mouth and laughing all the while.

The Mad Mother twitched but did not wake. There is... a changing, her unspoken voice whispered. A doorway... opening.

The hyena cocked his head curiously, still panting.

You must go, the Mad Mother murmured. My Maniae... you must go. Step out into the world beyond our own, and bring the two together. That is the only way to survive. That is the only way to rule. That is the only way... to FEAST.

The hyena backed away quickly as the Mad Mother suddenly moved, her right hand slowly and shakily extending out of her curled-up position. Don't fear, she rasped. Come closer.

The hyena's nose twitched again as he sniffed the air, warily moving back toward the Mad Mother. He sniffed her extended hand, the finger unraveling from her fist, caught a whiff of Wonder and ambrosia and ichor—the blood of gods.

This is the last of my Wonder, the Mad Mother breathed. The only thing keeping me awake. This time, when I sleep, I will sleep in silence. It is up to you to wake me. She caressed the hyena's face with her hand. Open the Way, Fisi. You and all my precious Maniae. Open the Way... and find yourself.

A flash of white light enveloped the hyena's sight, and before he knew what was happening...

...he knew.

-

Fisi let out a horrible scream—one almost identical to the one he'd unleashed upon first arriving in the Bila ya Nyota—as his mind reforged itself out of broken, shattered pieces.

And as he screamed, a name formed in his mouth.

"BUUUUUUNDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" the Dark Celestial shrieked, clutching his head as he fell to his knees. "BUUUUUUUUUUUUNDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"