"Lord Einor," a soft delicate voice whispered in my ear casting away the curtains of sleep, "it's time to wake up."
The comforting fingers of a plump pillow filled to the brim with feathers supported my weary head while my body was ensnared by the warmth of a weighted blanket. The fine silk of my pajamas felt smooth against my body lolling me to sleep. My eyes shot open with the sound of the blinds being moved allowing the morning sun to overcome the darkness. Sweat began to form all over my body as an excruciating headache set in with untold visions of death. I stared at my hands that changed drastically for a split second.
My right hand was bloodied and calloused like father's from years spent wielding a sword while my left was missing. I balled my fists hoping to feel my soft palms that never laid a finger on a blade. I had always been tutored by mother in the art of spellcraft while Veronica studied under father to become a strong swordswoman. I closed my eyes and opened them as relief set in from the sight of my hands as they should be. Yet, I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with the room around me or was it something wrong with me.
[(That dream must have seemed real but the details are fuzzy at the moment. Maybe a walk along the forest path will help remember it. Still, I can't help but feel as if I'm missing something.)]
"Lord," the voice that brought me from the bowels of sleep spoke once more, "is everything ok? Shall I fetch your mother and father?"
I turned to the voice and saw an elegant maid standing in a dignified yet concerned posture in front of the window. Her long silvery was held back by the white frilly headband allowing several loose strands to cascade around her shoulders. The white and black of her uniform were brightened by her sun-kissed almond skin. Anyone that looked at the made would be trapped by the emerald green eyes that reflected back their image. The maid had worked for my family for years ever since I was a newborn babe and if I remembered correctly her name was Nyxis.
My eyes widened with confused shock as her image changed from how it's supposed to be to something entirely different just like my hands before. Her concerned face changed to that of a seductress with a coil smile enticing me to follow her to a distant place where the two of us could be alone. Her hair was no longer behind the headband that most maids wore and was tightly braided on top while the bottom was able to freely move. The uniform was now a leather corset that laid over an armless chainmail shirt with a halter neckline. Black cloth pants were tucked inside a pair of heeled boots that stopped just above the knee. My eyes were especially drawn to a ring that I felt held significant thought.
"Wake up," a foreign yet familiar whispery voice spoke inside my mind as pain began to set in once more, "this is only an illusion before you. You must--"
Arms pulled me into a soft comforting chest as finger strokes through my hair. "Lord," Nyxis's soft voice drowned out the one I heard in my mind, "why don't you rest a little while longer? I'll tell your parents that you felt a little under the weather and decided to stay in bed."
I felt her arms leave me and listened to the sound of her footsteps against the wood floor followed by the click of the door being shut. My mind felt like pieces of shattered glass strewn across the floor with pieces missing here and there. I laid back down pulling the cover over my mouth just enough for my nose to tower over it. I closed my eyes hoping to find some relief from the vision inducing pain that I was being affected with. A number of possibilities could be the cause however each one would require time that I somehow knew that I didn't have the luxury of.
[(Maybe if I try recalling the dream last night. The problem is, how? Magic could be of use but so far mother only taught offensive magic that would help in battle. However, just like the visions, something seemed out of place. For one reason or another, I recall being the one trained by father while Veronica was more proficient in the use of magic. If I could only reminisce about the dream from last night.)]
The pain seemed to escalate even more, preventing me from focusing on the dream. "Little sparrow," the voice boomed in my head once more, "the dream you seek isn't a dream and the visions you're experiencing are fragments of the real world. You must remember or those you cherish w--"
The voice became silent once more upon the sudden feeling of extreme exhaustion overcame my body. I didn't understand where such tiredness came from, especially since I woke up not too long ago and hadn't had the chance to do my morning routine of racing Veronica through the obstacle course father had built to keep in shape. My eyes felt heavy with the suffocating dreariness that made sleep a wonderful idea. Slowly, I felt the hands of the soft bed begin caressing my body with slumber while my pillow engulfed my head. I started to drift away becoming unaware of the phantom that loomed in the corner watching over me.
[(One or two more hours of sleep couldn't hurt. Could it?)]
I stood frozen in the mirror examining my chest that seemed to be riddled in old scars along with fresh wounds still red with blood that wasn't there before I fell asleep. Placing my hand on the large scar etched in the center of my chest, unfamiliar faces flashed in my mind with the cheers of unseen spectres. The cold eyes burned into my soul as they breathed their last gasp of air. It was as if I looked through someone else's eyes and felt their sorrow at the loss of so many. My hand twitched as phantom pain began to spread throughout the scars and wounds that I knew weren't actually there. I closed my eyes to calm my beating heart before it could burst through my ribs and splatter against the mirror. When I opened my eyes, I found that each wound healed or not was no longer there just as I had thought.
Sighing, I finished getting undressed and made my way to the large tub filled with bubbly warm water hoping to calm myself for the celebration later. Today was my and Veronica's thirteenth birthday and the first day of our adulthood. I had waited for this moment ever since my magic first awakened because I was officially able to enroll into the Magic Academy to further my knowledge. For years, I have trained under my mother in hopes to become a powerful mage like her and now my chance has finally come to take the first step towards that goal. With luck, my knowledge would aid me in the preliminary trials set by the Academy to weed out the students.
With such grand thoughts, I submerged under the water hoping to relax myself before tonight and possibly rid myself of the nagging headache. I felt my heart slow to a faint thump from the declining supply of air sending my other senses on high alert. My lungs burned after moments without fresh air yet I didn't break the water's surface begging for air instead I stayed under, allowing my mind to clear. Often I would put myself through such stress to condition my body for anything that may be thrown at me during the preliminaries and to help remember my past dreams. Water was a necessary element as it flowed free without end like our memories we stow away for safekeeping.
Images began to form in the darkness of my mind as my lungs became used to the lack of life giving air. From my position, I was looking up at a cloud filled night sky accompanied by the sounds of crackling thunder. A lone raindrop fell on my cheek and slowly crawled down the side of my face followed by several more. However, what I thought to be droplets of rain were tears fallen from the weeping image of a woman. I couldn't make out her face from it being buried into my hair but I knew the woman was someone I cherished most in the world. Seeing her in such a state broke my heart even more when I could do nothing except watch her weep.
The image of a fierce battle enveloped my eyes just as a grotesque creature made from sewn bodies plunged the head of what looked like a woman with three eyes deep into the stalactites of the cavern wall. Its massive foot repeatedly stomped the woman's face in only to find a broken blade plunged deep into its calf. The horrifying screech it bellowed before catching a stray sabre of a man with the same dark complexion as the woman sent a chill down my spine. Though I couldn't make out their faces, I felt like I knew them and yearned to aid them. The same went for the large shape shifting wolf and the woman with the glowing rapier fighting a large dragon clad in loose flesh and exposed bone. I wanted to scream out to them only to have their images fade back into darkness.
Opening my eyes, I jolted to the surface and took in all the air like a thief stealing all the gold they could carry without being caught. My heart began to beat hard against my chest upon seeing a shadowy figure looming over me with two burning crimson orbs that pierced my very soul. Looking around the bathroom, I could not find any explanation for the entity I saw. I knew deep down that it wasn't my mind playing tricks on me for one reason or another. That being the case, I didn't sense any hostility in those eyes, but sorrow as if seeing a deceased relative. I didn't know why everything was happening to me from the constant headache to the visions or the feeling of something not being right, but I finally remembered a name from my dream.
[(Erebus!?)]
After getting dressed, I made my way down the spiral staircase as I tried ignoring the three maids sweeping overgrown grass and the fact the staircase ended in a plot of dirt. Taking a right, I found myself in the large dining room decorated in elegant tapestries that cost a fortune to acquire. At the center of the room was a large wooden table that could seat eight people yet only held four chairs. A purple crimson tablecloth sat elegantly over the table matching the silver candle holder with crimson and purple gems professionally placed around the opening where each candle sat undisturbed. From the ceiling, a glass chandelier hung over the table reflecting the afternoon sun throughout the room.
With my mind elsewhere, I sat in the seat opposite of Veronica who was in the process of telling mother of the upcoming tournament she would be in and began to slowly eat. "Well now," my mother leaned over and kissed my cheek, "the birthday boy finally decides to join his family for a meal."
I smiled hearing her melody of a laugh that for an unknown reason made my eyes water a little before wiping them away so that no one noticed. I felt her hand press against my cheek, "Nyxis said you didn't seem well but you don't feel warm. That's a good sign at least but why don't you take it easy today. We'll skip your lessons for today and hit it hard tomorrow. How does that sound?"
I nodded my head placing a green pea in my mouth and began to chew. "Tell me Einor," my father's deep toned voice chuckled in hopes to cheer me up, "are you excited to finally be able to officially attend the Academy?"
"I know I am father," Veronica chimed in, "I can't wait to show them what a VonKnight is made of. I'm going to be a great knight just like you, father and someday become queen of a nation where Theo and his friends are locked away forever."
"That's some dream," mother laughed, "Well Einor, tell us!"
Smiling, I looked up to face my family only to be frozen in fear at the sight of their blank featureless faces. "I-I," I muttered, focusing on how my mother's food disappeared where her mouth should be.
"I am excited to finally attend such a school," I answered hoping not to draw attention.
"That's good," my father's voice escaped from his non-existent mouth as he drank some wine, "with luck, you'll be able to surpass your mother."
I nodded in agreement, unable to look away from each of their faces as food and drink would vanish from sight. Blinking, I hoped that everything would return to normal but unlike the incidents in the mirror and my missing arm, their features remained non-existent. Their voices and laughter filled my ears as I examined each of them. Under the table, I dug my nails deep into my clothed lap hoping to jolt myself awake if I was still asleep even though I knew I wasn't. My eyes moved from each one in turn as fear continued to grow in the pit of my stomach to the point that I couldn't eat. That however was just the beginning of my downward spiral into insanity as voices began their relentless pursuit to be heard.
Like a cyclone determined to destroy my sanity, a menagerie of voices filled my ears all at once that grew louder by the second. Pleading voices begging for someone to come back to them as if they had died. Calm merciful voices speaking words of encouragement like those one would say at a funeral. Shouts of incantations being used followed by sounds of unseen battle and shouts of pained screams. Voices that sounded so familiar yet I had know idea who they belonged just like the voice from this morning. I closed my eyes hoping it would all go away soon but that only made it worse.
I felt hands touch my shoulder gaining my attention. I found my faceless mother staring at me as her throat moved with words that didn't match what was heard. "Einor," her body was severely burnt and covered in fresh cuts, "run and don't look back!"
Instinctively, my focus changed to my father who towered over me with his hands on either of my cheeks. His body was the same as my mother's was but with a large narrow hole in the center of his chest allowing spurts of blood to cover my face. "Einor," he spoke through labored breaths, "you must live for us."
I felt as if I was about to faint as even more voices boomed in my ears all calling me by a different name. They each screamed at the top of their imaginative lungs, "Jackal!"
Pulling free from my parents, I ran toward the stairs and into my room with hands over my ears hoping to block the voices out. I locked the door behind me so that I wouldn't see the featureless faces once more. I screamed and begged for the voices to stop but they continued their jumbled words hoping to gain my attention at the same time. I ran to my dresser and knocked everything free from it in desperate attempts to drown the voices with noises I knew should be heard. I continued to break things and knock over furniture until my legs gave out at the center of the wreckage. I screamed ignoring the pain of the embedded glass in the back of my hands and knuckles with my eyes closed.
I buried my face into the wooden floor with my hands over my head at the mercy of the voices that plagued me. "Jackal," a woman's voice boomed, "please come back!"
A surprised man's voice followed, "Twenty...twenty-one, it's not possible. I heard everyone died during the riot!"
More and more voices screamed in my head shallowing the faint creaks of the wooden floor that drew closer. "Silence," a whispered voice that I recognized from earlier commanded, "you're all driving him mad."
One by one the voices slowly faded to a faint whisper along with the headache that plagued me throughout the day. Cautiously, I removed my arms and slowly looked to face the owner of the boots I saw before me as the last of the voices dissipated. I watched as dark shadows began to disappear and reveal a pair of dark blue trousers held firm by a strap of leather. The figure wore a white overcoat that stopped just above the ankles and a blue vest underneath. From its chin hung a braided crimson beard that was lost in the wake of the two crimson eyes. Two pointed ears poked through a mismatch of white and red medium length hair.
I was lost in the entity's face that looked so familiar. I searched my mind for the owner of the face but all the ones I thought of didn't match. My eyes fell to a shard of broken glass that reflected my deranged image. My head was covered in blood from the broken glass and my once brushed hair looked like a nest periodically used by rats. Swollen mismatched eyes looked back at me dyed with wet streaks of falling tears. I looked more of a vagabond than the son of a noble but that wasn't what bothered me. What did, was how the man's face looked like a more mature version of mine.
"This," the entity spoke as it brushed away my tears with a gentle stroke, "is how you truly look, little sparrow."
Without resistance, I allowed the man to move my head so that I could stare into his eyes filled with worried joy. "Do you," he helped me to my feet and over to my bed away from the broken glass, "remember who I am, little sparrow?"
My mind felt numb watching the man be swallowed by shadows once more as I scoured my memories for all the names I knew. I knew it started with an E or maybe an A but the faces that appeared didn't match the one hidden away in darkness. Digging further into the recesses of the mind, I thought of the dreams that I tucked away for further study. The dreams that I submerge myself to bring back to the light and dust away the cobwebs that blurred it. I then remembered the one name that materialized in my consciousness. A name that I assumed was nothing but a part of an unwanted dream.
"Ere--" I began to say the name but was stopped by the shrill screech that sounded throughout the room as if there were multiple creatures calling out.
Looking at the man, I saw that his eyes moved from the doorway, up the wall and stopped at the center of the ceiling as if tracing the unseen path of what made the awful sound. A cold sweat began to form all over my body as I watched long bony fingers peeked through a slit that slowly expanded with each tung. With curiosity winning, I positioned myself at a better angle hoping to see what made the opening even though my mind screamed against such a stupid decision to make. A pale featureless face slowly protruded from the hole that was attached to a thin elongated neck allowing whatever the creature was to gaze into my eyes. The flesh down the middle of the blank face seemed to slowly spread apart until a circular maw filled with serrated teeth was all I could see.
I felt a firm hand tug on the back of my collar moving me from the clawed fingers that swiped the air where I once was. Stunned, I watched the man materialize a black sword and took a swipe at the foul creature. The sound of blade and bone colliding brought the scenes of battle to my mind blocking me from noticing the danger that struck from the bed itself. Breaking bones caught my attention just in time to see a long malnourished arm rising between the small gap of the wall and bed. Horrified, I watched the elbow bend in the wrong direction as bone pierced through pale flesh. The arm continued to grow without end hoping to wrap its bony digits around my neck.
Looking to the man for aid, I saw the faceless figure in its entirety that forced my eyes to stare and unable to look away. A malnourished body of loose skin hanging on bone was attached to two long bowlegged legs that just almost touched the ceiling. Like the legs, the arms of the creature were extremely long and bent to allow movement in the given space. Its elongated neck stopped at the center of the ribbed chest where the featureless head screeched. Even though not at full height, the creature seemed to be able to use its full speed as it lunged toward the man.
[(I have to do something or I'll be killed, but what could I do?)]
Backing to the wall next to the window, I watched as another creature fully revealed itself cracking broken bones back into place without so much a whimper. It crawled slowly toward me on all fours like a Streguar stalking prey. Fear began to rise as the distance between the creature and me slowly declined with each creak of the floorboards. I turned my gaze out the window contemplating to make a break for it and take my chances to run for help, but the headache began to set in once more. The pain was worse than it once had been, driving me to my knees making me unable to move.
Through clenched eyes, I saw the creature towering over me as if taking in the scent of my piss stained clothes. Its head examined me as it swayed between both sides, lapping up the fear it sensed emitting from its corned prey. The fang filled maw opened ready to surround me as a limb slowly crept its way to pull me in, knowing I had nowhere to go. Suddenly with a loud crash of wood and furniture, I found myself on the main floor and inside the ballroom that was large enough to house hundreds of guests along with the accompanying decor. When the dust settled, I found that I wasn't quite on the floor and that the awful creature had been impaled on wooden spikes placed throughout the room.
"Damn Reekers," a loud arrogant voice chuckled, "don't know when to stop even when near death."
I watched a lichen covered arm extend toward the creature and listened to the sound of large roots breaking through the Manor's floor to encircle it. Shrill pain filled screeches were followed by trails of black blood staining the red carpet underneath with every entangling root that squeezed life from the creature. As my feet touched the ground, the roots began to sink back into the depths from whence they came, taking the creature with it like a mad god's hand claiming a lost lamb. Even though its lower waist was swallowed, the creature still struggled to free itself, ripping away roots and digging its long fingers into the ground hoping to slow its descent. To my side, a hand of hardened vines and roots closed, grasping the air signaled the end as I watched loose limbs severed at the elbow, and the shrill screeches cut short.
A menacingly grim voice asked, "Can you blame them?"
On instinct, my head turned to the overwhelming aura coming from the far wall where a figure leaned with its arms crossed and head bowed as if bored. The figure looked like a human but I sensed something hidden away. His white braided hair hung gently around his right shoulder to disappear within the folds of the black billowy cloak he wore. Just like me, the man had a sickly pale complexion covered in smooth diamond scales reminding me of a snake or one of the fierce dragons in the stories Veronica told. Healed thin scars with a dull crimson hue ran across the part of his chest that was seen through the cloak.
My eyes drifted to the two gilded serpent heads that protected the man's knees and followed their coiling obsidian bodies down to his feet. Bodies of several more creatures laid dead around him wearing tattered uniforms the maids wore. Each one was bound by serpents of different sizes and color with their venomous fangs dug deep into their prey. My focus then changed to the dangling feet that hung just off the ground. My mind began to swarm with pain and voices at the sight of four more creatures dressed in the tattered clothing of my family.
Two golden slits swimming in an ocean of crimson stared into my eyes as the pain and voices subsided to a low rumble, "It's not everyday that they are given the chance to feast on such an interesting soul. I'd be the same way if it meant digging into such a feast even close to death."
[(Soul? What does that mean?)]
I turned to look at the one who saved me earlier and found a man that looked like a humanoid tree. Wooden flesh was covered in decayed foliage and bound by moss covered vines that held the being together. A moss covered head with deep set aqua green eyes stared back at me as it smiled grimly. Analyzing the creature, two large stumps left from chopping trees made the creature's feet that boomed with each step it took. A robe of intertwined vines trailed gently behind it as if it were a cloak caught in a delicate breeze.
"I will not be a slave," the wooden man's voice rung in my ears yet his mouth didn't move as pain enveloped me.
I fell to my knees as more creatures appeared through the gateways they created and slowly made their way forward ignoring the damage they sustained. "This is getting us nowhere," a clawed hand grasped my throat pinning me against the wall and off the ground, "we have two options, either remember who you are or I toss you to them."
Like the tree man, the scaled man's voice echoed in my ears yet his mouth did not move, "You are not worthy to wield my soul!"
The shadow man roared after jumping through the hole above, "Tartarus!"
Upon hearing the name, visions of a familiar dwarf handing over a sheathed blade to me popped into my mind. Two clasps of opposite facing serpents glimmering in the sunlight as blue runes burned in an obsidian blade. A crystal dangling from a chain housing the enchantments imbued into the weapon. The etched thorns of the hilt that felt smooth against the skin and elegant dancing serpents climbing for the hilt. The sapphire eyes of the pommel formed in the shape of a jackal's head glimmered bright. All of these things seemed so familiar yet I had never held a sword before.
[(Veronica was the swordswoman of the two of us. Why does the blade feel so familiar?)]
"I," placing a hand on the wrist that held me, "I don't understand what is happening. The voices I hear and the visions I'm seeing don't make sense. It's like someone else's memories are playing out before me. Please, help me understand."
I slid to the floor when the scaled man, Tartarus, released my throat allowing me to take in breaths of air once more. I saw a disgusted smile spread across the man's face as he caught the wrist of one of the creatures poised to kill me for an unknown reason. With one movement, he brought his free hand forward, punching the creature in the gut with enough force that black blood poured from its maw. As the shadow man cut down a stray creature near me, I was entranced by Tartarus as he flung the creature he toyed with over his shoulder and placed his foot on its head. Slowly, its head began to be squished underneath an extreme weight that seemed unnatural for the size of the man until finally nothing but pieces of skull and a headless corpse laid at his feet.
"Those visions and voices," he muttered tossing the corpse into a group knocking them to the side, "are your memories trying to reach out to you. This world you see around you is nothing but an illusion created by the death god for the souls stuck between the worlds of the living and the dead."
He proceeded to grab another creature by its neck after severing its limbs, "These are dämon called Reekers who hunt the in-between world for souls just as yours. Souls that wander without a destination to reach. That being said, you're the one summoning them to us and they will not stop until either they have you or you break free."
[(Break free? My memories? Living and Dead? Am I dead?)]
I closed my eyes and pulled my knees close to my chest as hundreds of voices once again fluttered throughout my head. Voices that accompanied visions that felt all too familiar yet blurred. Visions of an oasis where two figures became one in the moonlight that lead to a proposal in the crow's nest of a ship. How the woman's eyes sparkled in the night reflecting the gleam of the set stones. Her name was one I cherished the most in life and now in death as I realize how naive I was to forget about my life.
For the first time in this horrid world, I listened to each voice that overpowered the sounds of battle happening around me. Piece by piece as if a puzzle coming together, my memory returned in fuzzy sections that I tried to make clear. I remember Siegfried and her people who looked to me for protection and considered me one of them. The meeting with so many ghosts from the past in Ironclad and the promises that had been made. The destruction of the Grotto that led to the severing of my arm as I made my vows to the denizens that survived. I then remembered being killed by that bastard Ghoul and blindsided by his pet.
[(They will burn. Every single one of them will burn for the pain they caused for Nyxis and the others.)]
I remembered the tears I felt against my skin as Nyxis wept begging me to return. The trust Zeke displayed by removing his bandages and putting his life on the line by using his cursed eye to buy me time. The same went for Scarlett who revealed her true self and the belief she held for me even if it meant dying beside me. My hands balled into fists as I felt Veronica kiss my cheek and declaring her belief in me after so many years. I sensed each of them fighting for dear life through the bonds we shared and the pain they were enduring.
[(They have waited long enough.)]
Opening my eyes, I found a Reeker staring at me with its nonexistent eyes as if waiting to taste the fear of the soul it wished to consume. Its mouth opened wide as it let out a loud screech and brought its limb forward aiming for my chest. The scent of blood filled my nose as I stood behind the dämon and listened to the spouting life source as it crumbled to the ground. Looking to my left arm, I found that it was once again severed just above the elbow like it should be and smiled as I made my way to a shattered mirror. I ignored the sharp pain throughout my hand as the glass drew blood with the applied pressure.
"So what you said was true," muttering as I stared at my reflection that appeared as it should be, "that form was how I looked, Erebus."
I turned and made my way down the path where the disguised Reekers hung despite the mob of their brood in the way. One charged forward hoping to claim its prize only to be cut in half by unseen blades. With each step I took, more and more dämons were slain until the remainder parted forming a path toward the far wall where the image of Nyxis stood unscathed. Her uniform was undisturbed by the soot that danced in the air from the crumbling wood or the blaze that burned from a knocked over candle. She smiled as I stood before her and wrapped her arms around me as I heard Erebus start to say something but was stopped by Tartarus who I saw hold up a clawed hand from the corner of my eye.
"Lord Einor," the image wept in my shoulder, "they killed your family and now wish to kill me. Please save me and I shall be yours."
[(I was a fool to believe this was reality but it seemed so real. Deep down inside, it's how I wished that day would have been. To celebrate with them and be merry with all who would attend, presents in tow. The sweet fudge mother baked for special occasions and the stories father promised to tell. I was naive to forget that life is a cruel bitch and now I know death is much crueler.)]
In my right ear, I heard the image gasp for air as my hand passed through its chest and pulled free the black heart. Surprise filled the image's face as it backed away from me with its hands over the hole in its chest. Its eyes moved from my emotionless face to the still beating heart balanced in my palm. Fear began to fill the air with each step I took forward, backing the image against the wall where it sat looking up at me with pleading eyes still trying to convince me that it was merely the victim. Seeing the dämon willingly use the appearance and voice of the woman I loved disgusted me and fueled my growing rage.
The world became void of color as my shadow expanded just like in Ironclad to consume everything around me from the dämon trying to flee to the dead on the floor. All of it would be consumed until nothing but darkness remained with those chosen behind. The shrill screeches were cut short as darkness enveloped their owners in the process of returning to the portals they came from. Black tendrils expanded throughout their malnourished bodies resembling those that died from the miasma that protected the shack. Once everything was engulfed by shadow, small cracks began to spread like those of the broken mirror as the mana used to hold such a place together was consumed from within.
As the world began to crumble, my gaze remained fixed on the dämon who began to show its true appearance but still held Nyxis' face. "How dare you," I squeezed the heart until paste rested in my hand, "how dare you use her eyes to look at me."
The last of the world disappeared taking the shriveled dämon along with it and out of my sight leaving the four of us in a room of black stone. To be honest, the room looked more like a cell especially with barred windows and the wooden door with a small window near the top allowing those inside and out to see on the other side. Torches burned with white flames in each corner of the cell giving enough light to see a patch of used hay and the shackled remnants of the previous user. Cold air came from small cracks set in the wall from either people trying to escape or how the architect designed the wall to give a false sense of freedom. A freedom that many didn't receive before meeting their end.
[(Now to kill a god.)]