The Law of the Thirty-Fourth Year

1 And it shall come to pass every thirty-four years,

that the Abyssal Flood shall rise,

and Azraghul shall awaken-

Bringer of Rot, Devourer of Souls, Judge of Hate, Confusion, Waywardness, and Stagnation.

2 For thirty-four days the laws of men are silenced.

The police are powerless,

the courts are empty,

the governments are stripped of voice.

3 Their uniforms, their gavels, their pulpits, their stethoscopes-

none shall protect them,

for only the soul shall be weighed.

4 The child is shielded until the twelfth year.

Before twelve, the sins rest upon the parents.

But after twelve, the soul stands alone before judgment.

5 Azraghul hunts not by race nor by wealth,

but by the toxins within.

The bitter, the arrogant, the stagnant, the loveless-

these He marks and devours.

6 The proud are torn first.

The abuser is carved with his crimes.

The hypocrite is silenced at the pulpit.

The healer without compassion is found lifeless upon the bed.

7 Yet there is a Light.

Luminar, The Eternal One,

greater than gods, greater than men, greater than death.

8 He convicts the soul with truth,

and spares the one who grows.

Compassion glorifies Him.

Provision honors Him.

Journaling, storytelling, building communities-

these are worship in His sight.

9 And there is a secret:

a Book hidden in plain sight.

A Do-Over that begins the Detox.

The first step of survival.

10 Thirty-four years pass like smoke.

The Flood rises again.

Who then shall glorify,

and who shall be consumed?