It was a mild and dry summer night in the mid-industrialization city of Harberton, the capital of Albion. After a short flight over the tin rooftops, gone out lanterns and sooty chimneys of the sleeping city, Lenn and his feline companion Lafaar reached a block housing working class people. Their shabby clothes were lined up in a narrow dirty alleyway in the yard and the repelling smell of the sewage even reached Lenn flying high above the ground. These rundown tenements were spread all across Harberton, dominating the cityscape that was only completed by the dystopian sight of industrial districts and empty squares housing businesses and shops. Lenn imagined the city in its bustling daytime frenzy, each corner teeming with life.
After Lenn flew further towards the inland and crossed a wide muddy river running right through the city the landscape became more hilly. "We are on track, these are the foothills of the Betony Mountains. The Betony hills contain the most wealthy neighborhoods in the city" Lafaar explained.
"Maple Village is one of these neighborhoods?" Lenn asked.
"Not just any of them, it is the most magnificent," Lafaar answered. "They say even Queen Mary has one of her summer residences there."
"And soon so shall I..." Lenn murmured, a covetous gleam lighting his demonic eyes.
After flying over the forested slopes of the Betony Hills, Lenn arrived at the extravagant mansions of the Maple Village, adorned with spacious gardens.
"Do you see the mansion right next to the garden with the hedge maze? This is the mansion" Lafaar pointed his paw at an open window on the left side of the mansion. "And that is Lord Aaron's bedroom."
Lenn slowed down before he prepared for landing on the window sill of Lord Aaron's chamber. He tried hard to cushion his landing and flapped his wings rapidly.
First Lafaar jumped past the half-open velvet curtain into the dark bedroom. Then Lenn grabbed the window sill with his crawls and pulled himself up, propping up his massive weight on his forearms.
Lenn's limbs were too long so he was squatting on the window sill with his back humped. His eyes were glaring into the lightless room containing a spacious puffy four-poster bed in front of a wall decorated with several landscape paintings. On the wall opposite of the bed there was a large mirror with a golden frame.
In the mirror Lenn could see a glimpse of Lord Aaron lying alone in his bed that seemed too large for one person. The young nobleman was sleeping uneasily. He cocooned himself in a soft wool blanket wearing a thin white dressing gown.
Lenn started to lick his lips "This is the body I have always dreamed of. I will be irresistible!"
Lafaar dashed to the bedroom door where he positioned his amulet on the ground. The crystal in the middle of the amulet began to bathe the room into a crimson glow "A banishing stone," Lafaar whispered, his face illuminated by the red light.
Lord Aaron grew even more restless, now turning from one side to another. In the meanwhile Lenn came crawling into the bedroom that was too small for his monstrous size. The demon lord was slowly creeping up to Lord Aaron's bed.
"I shall not hurt him, for his form will soon be mine" Lenn mused, plotting as he sat on the foot of Aaron's bed and stared at him with his chilling demonic eyes. "My vessel shall not move, or he might put himself in danger. I need to cast an immobilization spell on him." Lenn was certain he could put Lord Aaron into a state of stasis similar to sleep paralysis in which he could convince him of the pact.
Lenn focused to channel his demonic power on Lord Aaron while giving his victim a soul-piercing stare. Lenn saw how the liquid flowing through his body gradually vaporized and left his demonic shell. The misty substance was under Lenn's telekinetic sway and formed waves that slowly undulated towards Lord Aaron like tendrils.
〔Infernal Energy: 99.99%〕
"To stone!"
When the waves arrived at the young nobleman, they formed a veil around his limbs and his mouth, before he panically woke up and opened his hazelnut colored doe-eyes that were expressing the overwhelming shock he experienced once he saw Lenn sitting in front of him. His eyes started to twitch but he could not close them anymore.
Lord Aaron tried to sit up when he realized that his entire body was paralyzed. The terror in Lord Aaron's eyes after realizing his complete powerlessness reminded Lenn of his own mortal demise but he lacked any glimpse of genuine empathy.
"What did I turn into?" Lenn asked himself. He realized that something inside of him had changed. It was not only his appearance, it went much deeper. It was like there was a parasitic entity living inside of him, that made him push these moral questions down, urging him to fulfill his sinister destiny. Lost in his sudden self-reflections Lenn looked at Lord Aaron and his eyes mirrored the torment he was inflicting.
"Master?" Lafaar looked at Lenn worriedly.
Lenn's face suddenly contorted into a hauntingly sadistic grin, the triumphant self-content smile of his heartless demonic self.
He moved closer to Lord Aaron intensively inspecting his body and smelling the fear in his scent. Lenn was bending over him like a carnivore over fresh prey.
Lord Aaron's body was thin yet healthy and masculine. His wavy chestnut-colored hair complemented his pale skin and framed his soft cheeks and his angular jaw. His features looked fragile and pure, granting him an aristocratic appearance.
Lenn laid his cold hand on Lord Aaron's chest feeling his racing heartbeat. "You are more than satisfying" Lenn said with a deep gravelly voice, carefully choosing his words.
"I am not your enemy. I admire your shell. Your beauty. Your youth."
Lenn's voice had a tempting cadence "You know that youth is not everlasting. It is the truth you cannot run from, the Damocles sword over your pretty head. All you are, all that is around you is beauty and pleasure. Once your youth is gone, there will be nothing. Like all mortals your boon appears meaningless to you unless you have lost it. But deep inside you know that this loss will be the bane of your existence until the day you die. Unless you decide to avert it…" Lenn noticed how Lord Aaron's heart skipped a beat when he said that.
"No harm, no sickness, no wrinkles?" Lenn smirked. "Lord Aaron, you are the one I have chosen for this gift. But nothing comes without a price. Your shell will become my vessel, I will act through you, I will feel through you. Your soul will forever be mine" Lenn proposed his demonic pact while carefully lifting the veil over Lord Aaron's mouth. "How will you decide?"