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In the place that some call Hades and others the Abyss, where the depths of the earth and the depths of the sea are one and the same, where carbon pyramids fell from above to pile up in great heaps on the pitted sea below, a new life began to stir.

It was life born of hatred, life born of pain. It was life barely living, and life full of rage.

It was a being with breath and thought, and that thought was, '[b]B̸̨̡U͜R̀N͠ ́̕TH͢E̕͘ ̕B̵̨RI͢͢D͞G͠͏É̵͘[/b]'.

The great worm uncoiled, and stretched from the tearing iron that had been its silent home, emerging from a cavity long since dormant. It grew as it moved, and in the folds of its body five slits emerged, and they opened wide, became eyes.

And the rippled face of the being split open, and was filled with teeth.

The worm began to move.

[b][i]B͘͝͡UR̡͡N̴̨ ̢T̷̶H́E̢͠ ̶̴BR̴̀I̛͝͞DG͘͢E̕̕.[/i][/b]

Whole reefs crumbled beneath its weight, and great floods burst at its sides. The wrinkles on its surface split further, deeper, and branched tentacles ripped from its body.

It travelled east.

A cliff stood before the being, and a cliff was surmounted. The sun scorched its back, for so huge it had grown that only the abyss could support it. It crawled towards the land. Its head began to bifurcate.

And before it stood a wall.

[b]B̷͢U̷͏͝Ŗ̷̕͡N͟҉̡͠ ̡͝͠T̶̀͡͏͞Ḩ̸͠Ę̀͟͠͏ ̢͟B̶͘͏̕R̨̢I͝͠D̡҉҉̴̛G̸̨E̕҉͞[/b]

The great worm started to accelerate, for that was what it was made to do.

Stone rose above and beyond it, stretching towards either side for ever and ever.

[b]B҉͘͝U̴̡҉̧Ŗ͘͠͞N̵̛͘͜[/b]

Unstoppable force met immovable object.

[b]T̸̨͠H̡͜E̴̡[/b]

The being collided with the wall with a shudder that rocked the globe.

[b]҉̸̸͏B̶̸҉̧R҉̶͘͠I҉̵̢͘͜D̛̀͢͞G̡͠҉͟͝E̴̡̢͘͝[/b]

From end to end, the land bridge stretching between the Firewind and the southern ice began to crumble. The worm chewed and thrashed and roiled, and did not cease falling to pieces, but split again and again into halves and quarters, worms upon worms that latched on to the great stone wall, and crushed it with their teeth. By the time the moons were full, there was nothing but dust.

Dust, and the mountainous shells of worms, rising like islands across an ocean once halved.