The voice of Alcors Pallen:
After all the incidents of today, being kidnapped and taken hostage, having to fight out way out of an unknown lair, the dinner was a fulfilling one.
My mansion in Alto Mora that I spent days picking out was huge and luxurious but it seemed like only half a mansion compared to this place in the capital where we would be staying.
The walls were so high and the place was so vast that it was tiring to move around from room to room, this felt like the kind of place where a giant could live.
Despite our exhaustion we still had to pick our rooms, it took a long time,but it really was fun to explore this new place.
Fraero kept snooping ahead, laughing like a madman whenever he looked into a new room, saying something around the lines of 'I'm the man of the house now.' even though he pretended he was too old for fun these days.
Askath followed behind us, slower but grinning just the same. Even the man with his scars and his notorious reputation who was meant to be our mature figure couldn't resist the lure of secret rooms and hidden doors. It must've been his adventuring side.
We found a staircase that twisted like a corkscrew and led to nowhere — a hallway lined entirely with mirrors, none of which reflected exactly what they should and above paintings stared at us like ants.
Dinner was a feast so large it felt like the whole city could be fed if the doors to the mansion were opened. Roasted meats, fruits I didn't recognize, bread so soft it collapsed under its own weight.
This was luxury, and I couldn't even think as my teeth ripped into more food. I felt joyous, my shoulders unbuckled and relaxed, by my side were Askath and Fraero and we treated today's matters like a big joke.
That lasted until I returned to my room. I knew someone was there the moment I opened the door. It wasn't just a feeling — the air was different, too still, like even the dust didn't dare move. He sat in my chair, hands folded in his lap, back too straight, his face lit only by the low, flickering glow of the hearth.
I remembered him immediately. After all, I had made a deal with him, one which I had little choice but to accept.
The man from before. From before. When I was lost in the mines, we made a deal.
I saved him, he gave me a choice. Despite my worries, in the heat of the moment I had used his power to gain strength, so that I could survive.
I had used it. And now here he was. I had to break those chains, something bad could've happened. It was a similar situation to the golem, I had to use his powers then aswell, else myself and Fraero might've been in serious trouble.
The demon from the mines. He was back, looking far healthier. His muscles were plumper and more refined, the dark marks under his face had changed shape as his face fat had returned. He was no longer the starving prisoner from before, he looked like a fancy merchant now. His dark hair was tied back into a neat man-bun.
I shut the door, throat dry. "You're… real. If I didn't use your power I might've died."
He smiled, if you could call it that. There was something off about the way his lips moved, it was as if he wasn't used to his body. Like a mask forced to grin. "Of course I'm real. I'm right here. They could never kill me, I will always be here."
I didn't sit down. I didn't trust myself to. My legs felt too light, too likely to buckle. "So, what happens now?"
He unfolded his hands, skin pale as bone. "The deal is done. I gave you power. You used it. Now I need something in return. I told you in your mind, when you were about to use my power the first time, you would owe me something."
I swallowed hard, throat clicking. "What do you want?"
He stood, slower than any man should. Like every movement was a thought, deliberate and heavy. "It should be obvious, I mean where are we right now?"
The word hung there, and I couldn't help but laugh — sharp, panicked. "That's vague. Mr Demon, I hope you aren't demanding anything too-."
He stepped closer, and the light shifted around him like the fire was afraid to touch him. "There is a throne that was stolen from me. My bloodline was broken, they exiled me far away. And then they continued to try to kill me, eventually resorting to sealing me down in the mines. The history books were rewritten, my name etched over despite all I had done."
The air felt thinner, the fire dipping lower in the hearth. I tried to back up, but my heels hit the edge of the bed. "Why me? I don't know anything that's happening... I'm not even that powerful. Why not Askath? There are so many strong people you could've asked."
"But none so empty," he said softly. "You were a vessel waiting to be filled. I saw that when you nearly died. Saw the cracks in you. You were ready for death, yet you fought for your life. That proves your will is greater than death, you may be a child but you understand what I am saying surely?"
I shook my head, heart slamming against my ribs. "I don't even know who you are, you keep saying King but you haven't even told me your real name."
He didn't answer.
"Who are you?" I asked again, louder this time, almost scared of my own question. "If you want me to do things for you, I want to know."
Silence.
His eyes were blazing with a piercing violet tinge, similar to the huge boulder in the cavern many months ago.
He opened his mouth but no sound came out, was he teasing me? He grinned.
"The world is not ready for that answer, not yet. You just need to learn to be good, to be useful. I will use you and I will claim what I must."
I clenched my fists, a rare feeling of anger creeping up my spine. "I'm not some weapon. I'm not some puppet."
"You already are."
He raised his hand, and I felt the veins in my arm pulse — those cursed purple veins, the ones that had saved me, broken me, reshaped me into whatever I was now. They lit up, glowing faintly under my skin, and I felt him pulling at them, like strings threaded through my bones. Eventually the pain built up until I was crawling on the ground, burling out in agony.
I stumbled forward a step before resting on the ground briefly. "Stop. I-. I understand. Your power is not something I can fight against."
His smile stretched a little wider, like a crack opening in stone. "You can fight it if you want. I expect you will. But every time you use the power I gave you — every time you draw on it — you walk one step closer into my hand. I will tell you now, every time you use my power you become stronger and I become weaker. But you become a little more corrupted by me, and eventually you will entirely be mine. I will take over your body, just as I took over this form long ago."
My body? He was going to posess me? But only if I continued to use his powers...
"Honestly, the corruption process might be happening as we speak, you never know.
I shook my head. "That can't be. You gave me power. I paid with a favor. That's the deal." My voice trembled with uncertainty, I felt tears well in my eyes.
He tilted his head, that inhuman smile never fading. "Did you read the whole contract? Did you expect a fair contract with a demon?"
My stomach twisted. There had been no contract. Just a voice in the dark, and my shaking hands reaching for salvation.
"Sleep well, Alcor," he said, stepping backward — and the shadows swallowed him whole. One blink, and he was gone. "I appreciate you taking my deal, listen to my orders carefully when the time comes. Else you don't want to know what I can do, torture you for hours. Kill your loved ones, burn down everything you love. It's all been done before, you wouldn't be the first, so just do what I ask and you may continue to live a good life."
I stood there, trembling, my breath too loud in the empty room. My veins still faintly glowed, even as the fire dimmed to nothing. I stared at my veiny arms in horror, I felt his horrible presence within me for a split-second.
"No-. I'll only use his power if death is the only other option. I can't become his puppet. There's no way."
I was a fool to think power came without chains. But all I could do now was become stronger, so his power became something I could forget, something I could act like never existed.
"An exiled king who is a demon and who also wants the throne..."
"I don't understand any of this..."