He gripped tightly to Aegislash. He didn’t know what awaited him at the peak. All he knew was that he was going to end it. He climbed over the final crest. And he saw his mother. No… a demon.

Her limbs sprawled into roots that pierced the earth and anchored her in place. Branches broke free of her skin and stretched to the sky, coiling and forming a canopy of grasping hands. Glassy eyes, wide open and unblinking, gazed into an unfathomable distance.

She turned towards her son. Wood snapped as her neck craned. Her smile wide and hollow, her voice stiff, she spoke to Gladion. With every syllable came a cracking of branches.

“Gladion,” she said. “I’m so glad to see-ee-ee you.”

Gladion stood frozen. A hammer beat against his chest. His legs lost their feeling. It was the eyes. They didn’t look like any human, nor animal. They didn’t look real at all. And yet the bore into him. Dug deep into his soul. What was she looking at? What did she see?

“What have you done?” he said.

She grinned. “Power. I finally found more power.”

- Ragnarust Round 5