Episode 105: Devil’s Tower

Written By Karl White

For as long as he could remember, Kirby felt like something was missing from his life. Now, hundreds of miles from home, standing beneath the shadow of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, he knew some unseen force had compelled him to come. But he didn’t know why.  

The spot was a sacred place to some. A mystery to others. For generations, people had traveled there seeking visions, answers, encounters with things they couldn’t explain. Kirby knew about the tower from geography class, and remembered it from Close Encounters, but he had no clue why he’d been drawn there, only that his mind was finally at ease. So Kirby sat, waiting...it’s not like he had a choice.

Even if he tried, he couldn't physically leave. He was somehow anchored to the land in the shadow of the natural monolith. 

Standing in the shadow of Devil’s Tower - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Shortly after noon, as the sun ticked across the prairie, Kirby noticed a figure approaching. It was a guy around the same age, with dark hair and eyes, just like him. Kirby could hear his thoughts before he even made it to him. His name was Caleb...and like Kirby, something had commanded him there.  

Over the course of the day, others arrived. Men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 36. Though different races, from different walks of life, there was one undeniable fact, everyone gathering shared similar physical traits. A look, a complexion, dark hair, dark eyes, features near identical. At first there were dozens, then hundreds, with others continuing to filter in. Introductions were made. Stories were shared. And with every conversation, astonishing truth emerged. Each possessed extraordinary abilities. Telepathy. Telekinesis. Precognition. Memory manipulation.  

Days began to pass, and the gathering continued to grow. The atmosphere took on the feeling of a festival, filled with laughter, and the simple joy of finally belonging. Though none could explain why they’d been called to that place, more and more, including Kirby, realized they were witnessing something that resembled a family reunion. 

Every one of them was fatherless. Some had been raised by men they lovingly called “Dad”. Others by stepfathers or adoptive parents. But their real father was unknown. There was talk of the man in their dreams. The visions in the waking world. The figure with dark hair and eyes, watching them grow up from afar. And so within the crowd, an undeniable truth began to trickle through the growing legion -- they’d been called there because “father” was finally coming to greet them.

The gathering crowd - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

It took nearly five days before the final arrivals reached the Devil's Tower. The most distant had traveled from England, Germany, Belize, and Japan. In all, over seven thousand had amassed. Among them songs were sung, moments were shared, there was an overwhelming sense of joy, and anticipation.

Then, as evening settled over the prairie, a profound silence rippled outward through the gathering like a wave crossing still water. The powers of some had felt a growing presence drawing near, and passed it along. And as the moon sat perfectly overhead, on that calm and peaceful summer night, Kasson appeared at the center of the assembly at the foot of Devil’s Tower.

Father appears - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

KASSON: My beautiful children... all together at once. My heart is full at the sight of you. For so long I’ve watched. Through first moments. Through every tear you've shed. I’ve felt every fear you've carried, every empty night you've spent wondering who you truly were. I know you’ve suffered. Feeling different and isolated. Never belonging or having a place in this cruel world. But within you, powers have grown. It’s amplified the loneliness and the sorrow...making you all ask the same question. Why me? Why am I different? Why do I feel so alone? Look around you. You’re not alone… 

Hope spread among them. 

KASSON: For the first time in your lives, you stand among family. Your brothers. Your sisters. Your blood. Everything you’ve endured, has led you here, to me, your father. There’s never been a moment when I didn’t know or love you. And that’s because each of you carries a part of me. An inheritance. The rare and beautiful gifts stirring inside, is not an accident. It’s a lineage that’s about to be made whole.

But beneath Kasson's comforting words, Kirby, and others gifted with telepathy, heard something else entirely. Buried beneath the warmth of their father's voice lay thoughts that were impossibly dark.

KASSON: You believed these gifts belonged to you. And in a sense...they did. You were stewards, the keepers. But all things eventually return to their source. Every river finds the sea. Every branch returns to the tree. Every child...returns to their father. You’ve fulfilled your purpose, and become exactly what you were meant to be. So...be not afraid.

Every fiber of Kirby’s being was telling him to scream out and warn the others. To tell them to run far away. As this man, their father, meant them all harm. But a power pressing against Kirby silenced him, and stopped him from fleeing.

Then the warmth in Kasson's voice vanished, replaced by a chilling presence, dark and malicious.

KASSON: Through your sacrifice...something magnificent shall be born.

A pulse of energy began to build. A glow emanated from beneath Kasson’s skin. At first, subtle, little more than a shimmer of vermilion. Then it grew brighter.

The earth trembled beneath his feet as gravity seemed to loosen its hold. Slowly, Kasson rose into the air, suspended within the shadow of the Tower.

Kasson hovers above - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Across the vast gathering, thousands stood motionless, their eyes fixed upon him. None could move. An unseen force held every one of them in place.

Then the world seemed to exhale, as a wind came. Not a natural wind, but something putrid and hungry. It spiraled outward from Kasson in widening circles, sweeping across the gathered crowd. Yet it carried no dust. Bent no grass. Disturbed no stone. Instead, it touched only his children. And wherever it passed, something unseen began to loosen.

A gasp escaped one young woman as a pale ribbon of light spilled from her chest and was drawn skyward.

Feeding on the souls of his children - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

A man collapsed to his knees as wisps of luminous vapor streamed from his eyes and mouth.

All around the Tower, thousands cried out in pain, confusion, and terror as invisible hooks sank into places no mortal hand could reach.

The night air filled with spectral currents. Thousands of shimmering strands twisted through the sky like rivers of moonlight, all converging upon Kasson suspended above them. His crimson radiance deepened, growing.

The invisible torrent pulled harder and harder, stripping away something far more fundamental than flesh or blood. It was drawing out their gifts. Their essence. Their souls.

The sky darkened even more. The ancient Tower groaned. And in it’s glory hovered Kasson, drinking from a harvest of energy from his Spirit-Bound children.

And then, the spectral currents vanished. The wind ceased. All at once, the impossible violence was over. The bodies of his children fell one-by-one, like dominos, until thousands lay motionless in the shadow of the Tower -- sacrificed to their dark sire.

Kasson himself plummeted from the sky, striking the earth with sickening force. For several moments he didn’t move. The glow that surrounded him burned away. Yet an energy remained. The Brimstone harvested from thousands of Spirit-Bound souls coursed through his being in quantities no demon had ever possessed.

For millennia, there were whispers of a state beyond the Ninth. A threshold no infernal creature ever crossed. It was believed impossible, as that much energy would certainly destroy any demon foolish enough to pursue it.  

Kasson opened his eyes. The Incubus sought ascension. Instead he became something else...as within him, something vast, chaotic, and almost godlike awakened.

The Tenth State awakens - © 2026 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC

Watching nearby was Death. He’d come because Kasson had quietly enacted a Procession, and the ancient entity suspected he’d done so with forbidden knowledge.

But Death made no attempt to interfere. Instead, Kasson could sense his presence and turned his gaze towards the harvester of souls.

That’s when Death saw what resided behind his eyes -- The Behemoth, the destroyer of our world had been born.

TO BE CONTINUED…