"The Unmasking" in Ailoxicon is "⊢ђΣ ∪ͶӍ𐌰ϞӃΪͶǤ"
When everything turned green, the world inhaled.
Not the forest—the Tree.Its branches pulled the light back into itself, drinking every drop until the clearing dimmed to a deep, pulsing green shadow.
The mist shifted.
From within it, silhouettes began to rise.Slow.Shaking.Ancient.
Ezra felt them before he saw them—the weight of years in every footstep, the cold hush of forgotten centuries pressing against his skin.
They stepped out of the fog.
None were young.None even looked alive.Their forms were long, thin, distorted by age and something deeper—like their bodies had once been human,and then… kept going.
They stood in silence.
Then their mouths opened.
No scream.No breath.Just a deep, resonant vibration, as if they were unfolding something within themselves.
And the centipedes came out their mouth.
Not insects. Not creatures. Something else. Something wrong.
They slithered out, each one the length of a human spine, glistening with green mucus. As they emerged, they grew—stretching grotesquely until they towered eight feet high. Their legs were arms. Dozens of them. Each arm ended in a palm riddled with eyes, spinning in slow, deliberate circles, scanning the world with a hunger that felt ancient.
From those eyes, tears did not fall.
Instead, they secreted a thick, glowing green fluid that hissed as it touched the earth, burning the roots and feeding the tree.
Then came the three.
Niya. Ziya. Eilen.
They did not birth monsters. They became them.
Their flesh split, revealing their true forms—larger, more grotesque, more complete.
Eilen's transformation was the most violent. His mouth opened not forward, but outward, a ring of jagged teeth spiraling in every direction. From within, a tongue slithered out, forked and twitching, until it split again—revealing three eyes.
One violet. One green. One pitch black.
The black eye did not reflect light. It consumed it.
Ezra hung nearby, cocooned. The tongue reached toward him, trembling with anticipation.
Then the one of the creature spoked in Ailoxicon.
Their voices were dry, like leaves crushed underfoot.
"⊢ђΣ ϞþΪͶΣ ϞΪͶǤ Ӎ∪Ϟ⊢."
"⊢ђΣ ΣҮΣϞ ɃᒪΣΣÐ Ӎ∪Ϟ⊢."
"⊢ђΣ ѶΣϞϞΣᒪ ϜӨЯǤΣ⊢ Ӎ∪Ϟ⊢."
(Translation: "The spine must sing.", "The eyes must bleed.", "The vessel must forget.")
Eilen's voice followed, colder than the others.
"𐌰ͶÐ ωђΣͶ ⊢ђΣ Ƀᒪ𐌰ϾӃ ΣҮΣ ӨþΣͶϞ ÐӨΣϞ,⊢ђΣ ϜӨЯΣϞ⊢ ЯΣӍΣӍɃΣЯ ωΪᒪᒪ."
(Translation: "And when the black eye opens, the forest will remember.")
The ritual began.
Niya stepped forward, her many-eyed hands raised. She whispered in a tongue that made the air shiver.
"Ẕ𐌰ЯΣ⊢ђ ͶΪӃђ𐌰ᒪ.ΣẔЯ𐌰⊢ђ ѶΣҮ.ͶΪҮ𐌰⊢ђ Ϟђ∪ᒪ."
(Translation: "Zar'eth ni'khal. Ezra'th vey. Niya'th shul.")
Ziya joined her, voice trembling like a blade.
"The cocoon is the silence. The silence must scream."
Eilen's tongue touched the cocoon.
Ezra felt the tongue brush the cocoon.
Memories flickered—his Mellody's voice, the smell of rain, the taste of salt.
Then the black eye opened.
And he screamed.
But the forest did not echo.
It swallowed the sound.