‘Ok… well… I can try to get to the door and hope for the best… Or I can fight it…’
I didn’t like my odds with either option. Even if I made it to the door… It was reinforced with magic… I wasn’t breaking it down.
‘Fight it then…’
Even before I resumed time, I felt a chill run through me, which shouldn’t have even been possible.
‘Either way, I need to get out of the mote.’ I swam up for air, climbing out of the sludge and running back for the door. ‘Even if I can’t open it I need my back to be against a wall.’
The screeching began to sound in the room again, and the blackened void started to move, growing with each pulse as if it was breathing.
My heart continued to race, and I started to lose control of my manna. As my muscles tensed I increased the flow to make sure it was bright enough to see, but that only caused my legs to burn until they went numb and I started to overheat.
It would move from one end of the room to the other before I could even focus my eyes on it. Every time I turned towards it, it changed to the opposite side of the room, the screeching of its voice starting to sound like it was surrounding me coming from every angle.
‘I can’t trust my ears… I can’t see it with my eyes…’
My legs burned, but I still kept up the light trying to find it before it attacked and it was too late. I knew the moment the light died things wouldn’t be good for me but I was starting to fail. ‘I need to calm down… need to… stop time… And calm–’
Eventually, everything went pitch black. My body had overheated from the intensity at which I was channeling the manna. ‘I was careless…’
Even though everything went black I could still hear myself breathing. It hadn’t taken my senses like before. ‘I might still have a chance.’ My body started filling back up from the thick manna surrounding us in the air.
I felt a warm rush of air down my neck and flinched so badly that I accidentally hit myself in the head. “Boo.”
I felt another chill as I grabbed my neck, almost like I had been bitten, and was trying to cover the wound.
A mouthless scream echoed from within the chamber and I shut my eyes. Without even looking I could tell it was right next to me. It was just standing there, motionless, but I didn’t dare move, lest it do the same.
My body was petrified, but my mouth started to run. “Stop toying with me!”
It backed away with another rush of wind before I could lay my eyes on it. “Not UnTill MorE AFrAID.”
Its words sounded like they were patched together from the dying screams of ravens. I wanted to fight it, but I couldn’t see it. I wanted to run but the door was blocked.
There was nothing I could do. ‘Come on… There's always another option… It can talk’ I grimaced, thinking negotiating was probably a stretch, but I had to try something.
“Can’t we talk about this? If this is about me touching that black void I’m really sorry.”
I heard what sounded like the last breath a dead man would give out hours after passing away. Metal joints creaked like rusty hinges and it spoke again with a voice that made my ears bleed. “AfrAid”
Everything went silent, and although I hated to admit it, it was right. I was scared, terrified that it would tear me apart like a ragdoll.
I had studied every monster in this corner of the world, the fact that I had never seen the one before me only meant one thing. It was a demon.
The silence continued.
It grabbed my ankle and dragged me across the floor until I was back underwater. Then, just as I looked back it vanished. I tried to swim up for air but it was like trying to escape from the bottom of the ocean. No matter how far I swam I only felt further away.
I struggled, reaching out with every stroke, praying somehow I would reach the surface, but it was just like before, my destination was forever out of reach as space warped around me.
Finally, my body stopped moving altogether, giving in to fatigue and the last of the oxygen being spent. Reflexively, I inhaled, and somehow it worked. I couldn’t explain it, but somehow my body was treating the strange manna-filled sludge like oxygen.
Every breath made me gag, but my body began to recover, and I could move again.
For several minutes I felt the sensation of drowning, constantly inhaling water to try and survive, never reaching the surface. I could see it in front of me just a few feet away, but somehow it was still out of reach.
The demons' chains shot out in every direction piercing the walls and rattling everything. The waves of sound vibrated and rippled through the water, and when it reached me it felt like it was tearing me apart.
I tried to hold onto my bearings, staring down at it. Suddenly I could see the massive ravine that had formed in the ground. It was suspended in between the walls, hanging its faceless head like a corpse.
As far away as it was I still felt like it could somehow reach me. There was no chance of me fighting it, but it wasn’t moving.
I didn’t have a real plan and I was too rattled to stop time. Even if I did there was no way I would have come to a conclusion that involved something I wasn’t already doing.
To survive there were only two options, kill it, or get away. Khazack, real or an illusion, could use magic, so if I got to the center and lit up the whole room he might be able to help.
That was the only plan there was, at the very least it was all I could come up with.
Special thanks to my very first patron members
Franananachi,
Fiedems,
Magda.
Thank you guys for your support.
‘Ok… well… I can try to get to the door and hope for the best… Or I can fight it…’
I didn’t like my odds with either option. Even if I made it to the door… It was reinforced with magic… I wasn’t breaking it down.
‘Fight it then…’
Even before I resumed time, I felt a chill run through me, which shouldn’t have even been possible.
‘Either way, I need to get out of the mote.’ I swam up for air, climbing out of the sludge and running back for the door. ‘Even if I can’t open it I need my back to be against a wall.’
The screeching began to sound in the room again, and the blackened void started to move, growing with each pulse as if it was breathing.
My heart continued to race, and I started to lose control of my manna. As my muscles tensed I increased the flow to make sure it was bright enough to see, but that only caused my legs to burn until they went numb and I started to overheat.
It would move from one end of the room to the other before I could even focus my eyes on it. Every time I turned towards it, it changed to the opposite side of the room, the screeching of its voice starting to sound like it was surrounding me coming from every angle.
‘I can’t trust my ears… I can’t see it with my eyes…’
My legs burned, but I still kept up the light trying to find it before it attacked and it was too late. I knew the moment the light died things wouldn’t be good for me but I was starting to fail. ‘I need to calm down… need to… stop time… And calm–’
Eventually, everything went pitch black. My body had overheated from the intensity at which I was channeling the manna. ‘I was careless…’
Even though everything went black I could still hear myself breathing. It hadn’t taken my senses like before. ‘I might still have a chance.’ My body started filling back up from the thick manna surrounding us in the air.
I felt a warm rush of air down my neck and flinched so badly that I accidentally hit myself in the head. “Boo.”
I felt another chill as I grabbed my neck, almost like I had been bitten, and was trying to cover the wound.
A mouthless scream echoed from within the chamber and I shut my eyes. Without even looking I could tell it was right next to me. It was just standing there, motionless, but I didn’t dare move, lest it do the same.
My body was petrified, but my mouth started to run. “Stop toying with me!”
It backed away with another rush of wind before I could lay my eyes on it. “Not UnTill MorE AFrAID.”
Its words sounded like they were patched together from the dying screams of ravens. I wanted to fight it, but I couldn’t see it. I wanted to run but the door was blocked.
There was nothing I could do. ‘Come on… There's always another option… It can talk’ I grimaced, thinking negotiating was probably a stretch, but I had to try something.
“Can’t we talk about this? If this is about me touching that black void I’m really sorry.”
I heard what sounded like the last breath a dead man would give out hours after passing away. Metal joints creaked like rusty hinges and it spoke again with a voice that made my ears bleed. “AfrAid”
Everything went silent, and although I hated to admit it, it was right. I was scared, terrified that it would tear me apart like a ragdoll.
I had studied every monster in this corner of the world, the fact that I had never seen the one before me only meant one thing. It was a demon.
The silence continued.
It grabbed my ankle and dragged me across the floor until I was back underwater. Then, just as I looked back it vanished. I tried to swim up for air but it was like trying to escape from the bottom of the ocean. No matter how far I swam I only felt further away.
I struggled, reaching out with every stroke, praying somehow I would reach the surface, but it was just like before, my destination was forever out of reach as space warped around me.
Finally, my body stopped moving altogether, giving in to fatigue and the last of the oxygen being spent. Reflexively, I inhaled, and somehow it worked. I couldn’t explain it, but somehow my body was treating the strange manna-filled sludge like oxygen.
Every breath made me gag, but my body began to recover, and I could move again.
For several minutes I felt the sensation of drowning, constantly inhaling water to try and survive, never reaching the surface. I could see it in front of me just a few feet away, but somehow it was still out of reach.
The demons' chains shot out in every direction piercing the walls and rattling everything. The waves of sound vibrated and rippled through the water, and when it reached me it felt like it was tearing me apart.
I tried to hold onto my bearings, staring down at it. Suddenly I could see the massive ravine that had formed in the ground. It was suspended in between the walls, hanging its faceless head like a corpse.
As far away as it was I still felt like it could somehow reach me. There was no chance of me fighting it, but it wasn’t moving.
I didn’t have a real plan and I was too rattled to stop time. Even if I did there was no way I would have come to a conclusion that involved something I wasn’t already doing.
To survive there were only two options, kill it, or get away. Khazack, real or an illusion, could use magic, so if I got to the center and lit up the whole room he might be able to help.
That was the only plan there was, at the very least it was all I could come up with.
Special thanks to my very first patron members
Franananachi,
Fiedems,
Magda.
Thank you guys for your support.
