Under the black vaults of an ancient Hadean prison, the King of Dying Planets rested in a cold slumber. Tricked by Jupiter’s pride, the once-gaseous dwarf, now a dwindling shell of dust was reduced to wearing a helmet of stars and moons; concealing him from the pantheon of space and time as he floated towards the edge of infinity, lonely and resentful. With fell planets, orphan moons, and dark stars, he’d ferry them along a molten river of blue fire; until they gazed upon the face of a god whose eyes dripped with tears of gas and ice, pouring out into the hungering mouth of Tartarus’ lips.  

Languishing on a throne built from the bones of Titans, he sat smiling with a terrible grin, surrounded by treasure hordes of mortal gold, silver, and gems that towered to heights unimaginable while the scent of metal, blood, and bone permeated the halls of his lavish palace carved from ash and obsidian. As cosmic horizon continued to expand under the sagging gravitational weight of the fat wraith of Time, Jupiter panicked, his brethren seemingly doomed by the inevitable fate that would consume him and his noble pantheon. However, the Dead King had no notion or concern of such catastrophes, for his existence had always been. The Fates consulted him, the Graeae worshipped him, and the Hyades wept for him; while all others pitied the King under that Helmet of Ice, who labored in Plutonian sadness, relishing in the endless voids at his disposal.         

As the stars were congealed into a black mass by the fingers of that faceless thing, the King of Dying Planets could only watch as his riches simply grew, this time with more than mere mortal treasures. Ancient glittering jewels filled the halls as the gods cried from above, their precious immortality crushed into ancient star powder to be collected into the King’s great horde. Jupiter himself cried out one last time, but there was nothing to be heard, for under the black vaults of an ancient Hadean prison, the King of Dying Planets rested in a cold slumber.

[Maxwell I. Gold is an emerging writer of weird fiction and dark fantasy short stories and prose fiction. He’s been writing since 2017 with stories published in literary journals and magazines including; Weirdbook Magazine and Hinnom Magazine. In addition, Maxwell has had works put out by publishing houses that also include Planet X Publications, Hippocampus Press, and more.

His short story “Cyber God” will be published in the fall issue of Bete Noire Magazine and his prose piece “The God of Phlegm” will be published in issue #11 of Spectral Realms. He’ll also have a prose piece titled, “A Credible Fear” which will be published in the Offbeat Journal from Michigan State University’s Department of Creative Writing, Rhetoric, and American Culture.

Maxwell was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and studied philosophy and political science at the University of Toledo. He’s currently writing a musical based on the life and times of H.P. Lovecraft titled, “I am Providence: The Lovecraft Musical.”]