Lilith Shadowflame's Arc

Chapter 1 of 21

Lilith Shadowflame had been a goddess for six days, and still no one had come to worship her. She sat on a slab of black stone at the mouth of her cave, counting the empty path. Purple mist curled between the trees. A giant mushroom the size of a wagon glowed near the entrance, its cap throwing soft light across her bare thighs. She had chosen this spot because travelers passed the ridge above. Six days of travelers. Six days of nothing. Her plan for a goth obsidian temple, for crowds on their knees, for a shadow dragon coiled at her feet while strangers begged to please her — all of it required a first believer. She did not have one. The problem, she decided, was reach. A goddess in a cave was only a rumor. She needed a mouth in the world. She went back inside and pulled the black jewelry box from under a pile of furs. The lock had been broken before she found it. Inside lay a single silver collar, thorned on the inner rim. The seller had warned her the box was cursed. That was why she bought it. A cursed collar would bind whoever wore it to the one who fastened it. She carried the collar back to the cave mouth and waited. Before dusk, a woman climbed the path. Tall. Dark hair down to her hips. Two curved horns. Bare skin under black lace that covered almost nothing. A succubus, then, and lost, judging by the way she stopped when she saw the mushroom's light. "You're on my mountain," Lilith said. The succubus looked her over. Slow. Amused. "I didn't see a sign." "I haven't built it yet." Lilith stood. She was taller. She let the succubus see the collar in her hand. "Kneel, and I'll let you leave in the morning." The succubus laughed. Then she saw Lilith's eyes, and the laugh stopped. She did not kneel, but she did not run either. That was enough. Lilith crossed the distance in three steps and snapped the collar shut around her throat. The succubus gasped. Her knees hit the stone. The thorns on the inner rim sank in and drew a thin black line of blood that did not drip. Her pupils blew wide. When she looked up, the amusement was gone. Something else had replaced it, and it was worse, and it was exactly what Lilith wanted. "Say my name," Lilith said. "Lilith." The succubus's voice cracked. "Lilith Shadowflame." "Say what I am." "Goddess." Lilith smiled. "Good. Now go down the mountain. Tell every village on the road. Tell them where to bring their offerings. Tell them what I look like. Do not come back until someone follows you." The succubus rose, unsteady, and started down the path. Lilith watched her go. The collar would hold. The word would travel. Somewhere down there, the first worshipper was already walking toward her — and so was whatever else the cursed box had bound to that collar, which she had not asked about, and which the seller had not offered to explain.