All creatures are made by the same process and for the same purpose. All life is the same, from the humble ant to the proud Ahamkara; evolution was their maker, and survival was their goal. Humanity is no different. On the cusp of extinction, all creatures must either adapt or die. Birds must change the shapes of their beaks and fish must change the location of their eyes and insects must change the color of their carapaces evolution does not demand change: evolution is change. Of this I can assure you.

Ahamkara were made to feed upon desire of all kinds, and the desire of sentient creatures was the most effective way to sate their hunger. To inspire lust— sexual desire —the Ahamkara evolved venomous stingers equipped with a hallucinogen and an aphrodisiac, with a paralyzing agent to keep their prey from running away and wasting that desire. To inspire higher desires— desires for knowledge or power or fame —the Ahamkara evolved the ability to bend reality; to grant wishes, strike bargains with prey and use their power to obtain sustenance. To inspire the desire to sate one's desire, the Ahamkara evolved hallucinogenic tissue. Everything from their blood to their ancient, sun-bleached, fossilized bones could cause auditory hallucinations in any sentient creature who came near them. The bones, claws, scales, and skulls of the Ahamkara taunted humanity with knowledge and power, the knowledge and power they needed to survive extinction, and farmed people into beings with desires vast enough to feed cities of Ahamkara.

But the Ahamkara's niche was a fragile one. Their power made them dangerous, and humanity would eventually claim all of the power and knowledge it was willing to take from the wish-dragons. Humanity would then call for the Great Hunt, and the Ahamkara would be made extinct; their prey becoming their predators.

One Ahamkara had seen this possibility and had chosen to use its power to ensure its lineage would continue. She granted a wish for a human who desired a child, driven by that same immutable force. And in that wish, she wove her power around the child, passing on the lineage of the Ahamkara by forcing evolution.

All creatures are made with a single goal: Defy Extinction.

The Ahamkara live on. Of this, I assure you, O reader mine.

Author's Note

Just a little something for y'all while I work on the next real chapter. Shit's been crazy lately.

~GjallarFox