Imara Diversifies The Beastmen World

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Five: A Cloak and a Calling

It began with starlight.

Light that spoke from the stars, not the sun—soft and scattered, shimmering like breath over gently flowing waters. But I didn't look up to find its beauty in the midnight sky where it lives among the heavens. I saw it closer than that. It was beneath me, rising in waves that reached the shore to kiss my bare feet.

Starlight shimmered beneath my feet, reaching in every direction like it longed to wash over me, inviting me to wade into its light. So I sat within the glow, cupping it gently in my hands, humming softly into its warmth. I knew it was alive, and I wanted it to feel how deeply I adored it. This light, so tender and divinely made.

I knew this place... my soul would always remember it.

A flutter of nerves stirred in my chest as I touched it, confirming what I already knew. That same warm, rain-like feeling spread across my fingers. This was the sacredness I had flowed down from when I descended from the Beast God born from the moment we shared.

Yes. This was the very same starlight, and my heart bloomed wildly in recognition.

"My Lord...?" I whispered, my breath wrapped in a soft trembling awe.

An answer came as a warmth that brushed against me gentle, like a hand without shape, yet full of presence and unmistakably near.

The soft glow thickened in front of me, pulsing slow and steady as it drifted into my hands. The starlight sand I had gathered flowed out between my fingers, pouring away, making room for what was coming, like it knew something greater had arrived.

What bloomed across my skin was a feeling of completeness. A quiet sense of peace... wholeness... love.

It felt like everything meant for me was finally coming. Slow, certain, and mine. That's the only way I can explain it.

I remembered the moment I asked Him for a sign, a way to know when it was time to return to Him.

So I whispered again, barely breathing, "Is this... our sign? Are you calling me back to You?"

The light shifted, flickering gently—as if it was telling me yes. That's what I thought.

But then, the glow slipped from my fingers and floated ahead of me, slow and patient, like it was inviting me to follow. Inviting me somewhere.

So I rose, watching the starlight flow from my lap and return to the sea of waves flickering beneath my feet.

I said, "I'm coming, my Lord..."

The starlight rippled beneath my feet, brightening with every step as I followed the glow into a place I had never seen before.

It carved a path through the dark, and as I walked, the light began to rise, ascending into the sky ahead of me. When I lifted my gaze to follow it, a sun so radiant broke through the heavens that I had to shield my eyes.

"My Lord, wait for me, please... I'm coming. Don't leave."

When the blinding glow began to soften, I lowered my hand and looked down. The path was still there, waiting. So I kept walking, drawn forward by a sound that rumbled gently in the distance, and by scents that drifted into the air around me.

I walked toward the sound, toward the place calling me.

A towering stone pillar stood ahead—ancient and imposing, carved with deep grooves I couldn't understand. I reached out and placed my hand against it. The marks were sharp along the edges, etched deep... layered upon layer, as if something had been written over and over again.

Something inside my chest tightened, though I didn't know why. A ripple of jitters crept across my skin, like my body sensed something my mind hadn't caught up to yet.