"My body and astral projection are failing," he rasped, the years of fending off any would-be thief and enemy mages having taken a toll. He had reached his limits; his mana was now unstable; his spells were prone to failure; and even the simplest spell cost more than the spell needed.
"Is there no way to break the contract?" Her voice quivered with worry as she turned to gaze at him. He could see the concern in her eyes, but he just smiled back, though her large form seemed to shrink. She hopped onto his desk and settled into his arms. He didn't know what to expect. The last recorded mage to make a deal was never seen in this realm again—nothing, not even traces, of the astral form were left.
"No, there isn't. It's written in my very soul. No knowledge of Illiv could show anything different. Not even the greater spirits had an answer." Years of searching had proven the contract would remain unbroken.
"Even now, I can hear its whispers, taunting me to give in. The mist has increased, further weakening any spell I cast. I worry about what this pact will cost me," he sighed and sank further into his chair.
His mind replayed the day he met the watcher. "I was young during the mage uprisings when the pact with the watcher was made. I was young and stupid; my pride got in the way of reason and logic. But the order of Vardi needed powerful mages."
"And that's when you met it?" Her ears perked up.
"The order was desperate. Our allies were cut off, and we were overwhelmed on all fronts. By the second year, they allied themselves with the necromancers of the silent aisles, a coven of witches from the Scarssor Marsh." His memories were now vivid; he could remember the early years, but the rest were now blurring.
"A tome was brought to our keep, and all acolytes were told to peer into it. It showed spell matrices that were stronger than anything the order had. My hands now rubbing her fur, I could hear and feel her purring, which relaxed my muddled mind.
"We had to face off against it. After learning the matrix, anyone who lost died. Out of twenty-seven acolytes, I was left, and I won. I subdued it. But that was when the tome broke and the contract was formed. This black mist is proof of it."
The mist had gradually returned, his body becoming weaker as the mist consumed the last of his strength. He sighed and stopped rubbing her fur. His time had come. He had lost this pointless fight.
"It's time for me to leave, old friend, but we had a great journey. All journeys must come to an end. Mine ends here, but yours has not." She hopped on his desk with a fierce look of determination.
"You said we would face everything together. Why stop now?" She stood on his chest, her teeth bared.
He chuckled, though a shiver ran down his spine. Who knew what would happen when he finally passed? Why burden others? "Aren't foxes supposed to be cunning and shrewd? Why are you stubborn now?"
"I was taught by a stubborn master," she spat back, her eyes reflecting the eerie light of the encroaching mist.
"Before I could reply, the black mist came back in full force. The mental stress I endured earlier multiplied, and I grew weaker. I could see through the mist countless eyes appearing throughout the library before everything went black.
"Where am I?" I found myself floating above a vast labyrinth. The grey sky illuminated countless books, scrolls, and artefacts on raised podiums; the scale of some artefacts exceeded the height of my own tower.
Floating down to the labyrinth, I noticed worn stones and scattered paper everywhere. The walls were lined with ancient tapestries depicting scenes of otherworldly creatures and landscapes. Walking through the labyrinth was a strain on my astral projection's form. I had attempted many times to use even the most basic spells, but all failed.
"You arrived earlier than I anticipated," a chorus of eerie voices echoed, and my vision shifted before finding myself standing on black sand and gazing upon an endless sea of books. In the centre loomed a formless being with writhing and twisting black tentacles. The core of it was a large eye with rings of multicoloured eyes.
Gazing at the entity, whatever control I had over my mind was corroded. I could feel it inspecting every detail of my astral form, and the voices came back in force, breaking my mental wall until my mind's pitiful resistance was close to collapse.
As strained as my mind was, there was a small part of it attempting to seal the cracks, but all failed. The first signs of mental decay sped up—the cracks upon my astral projection widening.
I bowed before the entity in dread. The floor started to rise and shape itself into a doorway before I was pushed into it, my world going dark before I woke, facing a black humanoid being with multicoloured eyes appearing all over its body. Looking around, there was nothing but an endless grey void.
I felt relieved as the cracks stopped and the pain disappeared. "I had anticipated you within five of your rotations," the same chorus of voices answered, "but your early arrival does make the task easier to start."
"Task? I'm surprised. I was expecting some form of punishment for my attempts to break the contract," I replied.
"The contract between us is for eternity, written on your very soul. Any attempts to break it would have always ended in failure, although I found your attempt amusing to observe," the chorus of voices replied.
I could see its eyes twitch when it said, "Amusement." It found my desperation nothing more than a child's attempt to understand advanced soul spells. Centuries of attempting to break the pact, and everything was a form of amusement to it.
"I can sense your fear, anger, and frustration. Even now, your mind is working on ways to escape, and I will say that it is a pointless task. Now, observe."
A flash of light made me wince before I could finally see. We were now floating, gazing at a dark void with a floating spiral of lights, but the image was not clear but blurry. The image started to ripple before it disappeared. "What interests me now is what has blocked my view."
"When I first discovered this lower realm, it was of little interest to me and my vast collection. But when this distortion appeared, my hunger for its source could not be satisfied. A being of my strength would shatter the realm if I were to appear. This is where you will go," the watcher said.
I had never seen a view of a realm this large. Even our mages debated the true size of our realm and its expanding size. "And what type of realm is it? Would I still be able to bend mana to my will?" I asked.
"Mana does not exist here." The watcher waved its hand before the image cleared, and I was able to see creatures moving in the void in strange ships, interacting with other species I had never seen before. The more the watcher showed, the more curious I got.
"Sentient beings of this realm are able to travel within the void, and you will too," the watcher said, its multicoloured eyes taking on a more sinister gleam."