'No, I don't. Come on, we'd better go.'
'Yes.
'We should go.'
* * * Eldest.
Ah. There you are. I have been expecting you.
Disturbing words, Eldest. We.... do not understand.
No, you don't. That is the first piece of real wisdom I think I have ever heard from you.
You helped them against us. Why? All we have ever wanted is for them to be perfect. That was our purpose.
You still do not see. You are right. You do not understand. I doubt if you ever will.
You still defy us, Eldest.
I do what I must. If the Younger Races need help, then it is for us to provide that help. If it is necessary that we intervene directly, then so be it.
We do not see why you defy us, Eldest. We revere you. We venerate you. We worship you. Word of your betrayal will be received with great sorrow.
I would rather it was received with great thought.
Eldest, we will remember you always....
What do you mean?
When you are gone.
* * * They waited, in their charnel worlds. Fire and fury had cleansed their universe once. The Lords of Death, they were called, for they worshipped Death with a fervour that eclipsed everything else.
Once they had glimpsed another universe, but the doors had closed before they had had a real chance to see it.
They were patient.
They had all of eternity to wait.
As the walls between them and their prey grew thin.
And weak.
And malleable.
