Only once a generation will a vessel be born… blessings on his poor, empty soul. Jakob has shown all the signs, but he can’t believe it’s really happening. Could he be a vessel? How is it that his remote water village far south of Tiebern would need such intervention? Only sin draws the gods’ attention. When evil coalesces, they send a vessel to drain the weighty muck of it from lost souls, hoping to save their creations from generations of doomed torment. He’s supposed to die. He’s to be the sacrifice to save his people from damnation. Instead… his people do not deserve to be saved. When a vessel finds a use for sin… he’ll find the strength to Awaken. “The Awakening” is an expanded version of a 2017 Parsec Short Story Finalist.