THE THIRTEEN

“I gave them fire and they called it sin. I gave them mirrors and they called it pride.”

“I do not end things. I open them.”

“Every verdict I carry was written by a human hand.”

“I wrote down everything. No one asked me what it meant.”

“Every secret I keep is a door someone died trying to open.”

“I count the moons. They count you.”

“I raise the dead so they can answer for the living.”

“I have seen the end. It looks exactly like the beginning.”

“I test you because heaven does not trust you. Neither do you.”

“You built altars out of everything you were afraid to want.”

“Gold is just faith that learned to shine.”

“I arrive as a swarm and leave as a silence.”

“I was human. Then I was taken. No one asked which I preferred.”