All the eyes, all the gods, they are all part of the same. Mother Earth, Christ, all the religious sects across the globe, the sun, the earth, the moon, the planets, the stars, man and beast, gods and devils, all of existence. All of it, one thing!

A hard grimace set on Abitha’s face. “If it is a witch they want,” she hissed, “then a witch they shall have.”

The serpent closed in, closer and closer, its lethal promise igniting something deep within Abitha’s breast: the primordial need of every creature that has ever been hurt by another—the need to bite back.

one cannot know the best of times until they are gone, until they are lost.

“You were not always the Devil; you were once a great forest spirit and the wilderness was your kingdom. It is the wildfolk who twisted you, they who set the demons to you, they who begged Mother Earth to make you so.”

But this belief, this absolute conviction that this evil they were doing was good, was God’s work—how, she wondered, how could such a dark conviction ever be overcome?

“Life is nothing but riddles … we spend our whole lives puzzling them out. Sadly, as soon as we find the answer, the riddle changes. Does it not?”

“You speak often of gods and devils. What is the difference?” “That’s easy,” Abitha said. “Gods are benevolent, looking over their flock in return for their devotion. Devils vex and torment.” “And what if it is not that simple?” Samson asked. “Can a god be both slayer and shepherd? Reward and vex? Does your god only do good?” Abitha started to say

“That is not what you want, that is what you need. You are not made out of needs, you are made out of your dreams and desires. What is it you wish and dream of?”