"The gods sleep with their eyes open—not because they dream, but because they fear what wakes beneath them."
---
The winds fell silent as Asma-Ra crossed the boundary stone—an archway of bleached ribs standing like the fangs of some ancient beast. Beyond it, the world grew unnaturally still. No birds. No trees. Just the faint hum of bones grinding in the dark.
This was Kaapala Mandira—the Temple of Bone.
Here, no god spoke. No prayers echoed. Only one thing lived here now: the Curse That Sleeps.
Inside the temple, the floor was paved with skulls, all facing upward. Some were small—children, monks. Others were giants, twisted Asuras whose jaws bore the cracks of dying screams. All of them—silent.
Asma-Ra descended the spiral steps.
And he began to dream—while awake.
---
In the dream, he was a monk again. At peace. At rest. The wars were gone. The Tree had never existed. He stood beside a child—a brother? A friend? Someone he had buried long ago.
But it was a lie.
And he knew it.
He reached into the dream and shattered it like glass.
---
He awoke.
Before him lay a stone dais. And on it—a sleeping god.
She was carved of ivory and bone, yet alive. Her chest rose and fell. Around her floated chains of prayer, whispering mantras in ancient tongues.
This was Māri-Māya, once a goddess of healing, now bound to the Curse of Sleep. She had chosen to slumber eternally, sealing away something beneath her—the Wound Beneath the World.
Asma-Ra stepped closer.
Her eyes opened.
> "You carry fire, child of ash," she said, her voice like falling snow. "Do you wish to burn the roots of the world, or heal them?"
He knelt.
"I don't know."
She smiled, sad and bright.
> "Then take this—my blood, turned to moonlight. The Lunar Offering. It will awaken what sleeps… and lull what should not wake."
He accepted the silver vial.
But as he stood, the walls began to tremble.
From beneath the dais, something stirred.
The Wound… was hungry.
> "Go," Māri-Māya whispered. "Go before it sees you."
And as he fled the temple, a single crack formed in her chest.
The curse… was beginning to awaken.
---
END OF CHAPTER X
Next: Chapter XI – "The Hunter of Forgotten Oaths"