The Master of Names

Chapter 17- The Monster

  Cold... he was so cold.

  A frigid heart-numbing bite coursed through his soul. He was shrouded in pure darkness. Wait... was this a lucid dream? He was thinking... but wait, no. Was this another vision?

  "Oh look, he's here," said a familiar voice.

  Out in the blackness, came a recognizable voice. Female, smooth, ancient. No doubt about it.

  It was death.

  She sat in the middle of the inky void, knees tucked under a long flowing skirt as the lantern hung off a stick on her shoulders. She was making idle chatter with the someone who faced directly away from Keldon, staring out into the nothingness not bothering to respond to her back. She tucked a strand of fine silver hair behind her ears before glancing over to Keldon's position.

  "Won't you come to join us old friend? He's been waiting far too long to see you again,"

  "Who?" Keldon thought, wanting to ask aloud. But he choked on the words, his voice lumped in his throat. He couldn't speak, so instead, he willed himself forwards, drifting towards death and the figure who faced away from him.

  Deaths' eyes were as infinite as ever, a seemingly boundless sea of sparkles and oblivion. She smiled gently, looking both beautiful and unnerving at the same time.

  "Well, don't be shy," she said. He honestly didn't know who she was talking to. But the figure didn't move, frozen in time as it gazed into the infinite darkness. Keldon couldn't feel his body, but he shuddered just looking at the figure's back.

  He reached out. "H-hello?" Keldon thought

  The person... no, the monster's neck snapped around, twisting its neck in a vile 180 degrees as the popping of bones resonated through his core. It cocked its head at Keldon, staring in silence.

"Retreat!" Keldon thought, pulling himself back.

Its head was shaped like a fly, moving sporadically as it analyzed Keldon, gazing into the depths of his mind. Two sickly blue eyes bulged from the sides of its head, wide as dinner plates as...

  No. This wasn't just any monster. Apart from the repugnant blue eyes, the soulless stare, and the deafening silence, there was...a human aspect to it. One that turned his insides green and twisted reality.

    Brown hair, sickly skin, ragged robes. Deformities or not, Keldon could tell.

    The abomination looked like him.

    "Become... a... hero" it wheezed in a raspy voice.

     "No..." Keldon thought.

     "Do it Keldon... for me." the monster croaked.

     "Stop it." Keldon cried in his mind.

     "Be... the hero... I couldn't ... Keldon. Save... Stringston." wheezed the monster.

     "NO MORE!!!" yelled Keldon, retreating.

      And suddenly the monster vanished. Death faded from his vision as Keldon backed in fear, looking for something to press his back against for safety, but there was no such comfort in the abyss. Keldon curled himself into a ball, feeling as if an inky black hand had torn at the back of his heart and crushed his mind.