The Wish of the Dead

Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything but darkness. I seemed to be on a platform of some kind. It wasn't clear whether there was ground around me or not. As Monique took a step in front of me I could hear a rock tumbling off the edge of what I assumed was a cliff.
    "One... Two... Three... Four... Five," I started counting.
    "Shut up," Monique yelled from in front of me.
    "Coming," I muttered.
    The trail seemed to wind about and because I was unsure of the world around me I made sure to stay in what I thought was the middle of the trial. As I took in more of my surroundings I saw that there was a dark fog that steadily got thicker and thicker as we walked along the path.
    "Where are you taking me," I asked.
    "You'll find out," Monique stated.
    "Why me," I tried asking
    "You'll find out."
    "Why won't you tell me?"
    Monique stopped in her tracks and spun on her heel, "I can't answer any questions otherwise he will kill me as he did with his other 'helper'. Now stop asking these stupid questions or I will push you into the spirits."
    "The spirits?"
    "Did you not just hear me?"
    This caused me to quickly stop talking. As we continued walking our surroundings quickly changed. From the endless abyss, that was surrounding us for the past several minutes, to a more enclosed space with large stalactites spearing through the mist and Stalagmites barely visible in the mist below. The mist seemed to be cooler and darker than the other form of mist. It didn't take long for us to reach a wider circular arena-like area with a large throne that had something sitting on it. From that figure, more mist seemed to ebb. As we stepped into the room the mist surrounded our feet. In front of us, two glowing red eyes opened on the figure.
    "Good Monique. Good. Hello again Liver," I felt chills go down my spine as I heard the same voice that had spoken to me when my first home burned down and my entire family was killed.
    "Who are you and why do you keep appearing when I experience something bad," I asked.
    "It could be a long story, but some people called Guardians are working with someone that has a strong soul that I need to add to my delicious collection," the familiar figure chuckled.
    "Ok, but what is your name?"
    "Oh, my name? It's not important now is it."
    I have never been so scared and confused at the same time before. I wasn't sure who this figure was or what they wanted from me, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't good. It didn't help that I didn't know how to do magic very well, I mean I know the basics but I didn't have any sort of specialty nor could I do anything that would cause any damage yet. As the three of us stood there the figure glanced at Monique and nodded slightly. I glanced back over at Monique who nodded back at the figure before turning to me.
    "Come," Monique said.
    Not bothering to question where we were going I followed Monique to the edge of the arena. I watched as Monique stepped into the mist over the edge. Glancing back at the figure I could almost visualize the figure rolling its eyes.
    "You are less dense than the souls. So don't worry about falling," The figure grumbled.
    I could feel my eyes growing wider at that statement. Souls!? I thought. Not only was the mist not mist, as I just learned, but I could also walk on it. I was even more terrified of what was on the other side of the wall of souls.
    "Liver. Come" Monique's accented voice echoed throughout the cavern.
    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and stepped forwards. Half expecting to fall I stifled a scream as I felt myself sink slightly. The souls that surrounded me were cold to the touch and surprisingly wet. Occasionally I could hear one whisper something or scream. As I followed Monique with shaking steps I could sort of make out another arena-like area not too far away.
    As we crept closer Monique turned to me and said, "You will be staying here. I will bring you food seeing as we can not eat the souls unlike him. I will be bringing you an instrument that he enjoys listening to. Play it as often as you can and if you don't already know how to play it then he will allow you to sound bad for a while. Other than that, you are free to do whatever as long as you stay inside the cage he won't get mad."
    I stared at her, "Cage?"
    "Yes, cage. That is where you will sleep, eat, and live. Don't expect anyone to help you out of that cage and if you escape that cage he will know and will kill you."
    "What does he want to do with me?"
    "Did you not hear him when he was talking to you earlier?"
    "Yes?"
    "Then you know that he wants you to be a lure for the Guardians' friend. I'm not one-hundred percent certain on the specifics, but I believe that she is a gnome named Sova and that she has run into both him and his previous assistant multiple times."
    I stared at her confused. I was going to be living in a cage, being a lure for someone named Sova and playing music for my captor's entertainment? Not only did that sound afoul, but this would all be taking place in this dreary place. At least this place probably couldn't catch on fire. After our short conversation, I had to follow Monique to the arena-like area that I had previously considered to be in the distance. As we got closer I quickly recognized that there was a cube-shaped cage in the center of the circle. This circle was less dreary than the previous one and it was smaller. The cage took up approximately one-quarter of the area. The cage seemed to be made of some sort of black metal. The metal seemed to ebb the same soul-like substance that the figure had coming off of him. This caused me to look back at Monique.
    "It's not going to hurt me right," I asked Monique
    "I don't know Liver, how about you touch it," I could hear the annoyance in her voice as she pulled out a key made of the same material as the cage.
    Quietly I gulped as I watched her unlock a lock that I hadn't even noticed when we first got in the area. The click of the lock was much louder than any lock that I had heard before. Click. One. Click. Two. Click. Three. Click. Four. Click. Five. As the fifth click sounded gears and wires started to sprout from the lock. Different warped animal shapes started to emerge from the souls around us and the screaming from these souls started to overwhelm me.
    "Theolorios the elf of magic no one knew saved and forever saved Junala of the gnomes and as gnomes, we proudly say that Theolorios we love you," I heard a masculine voice call from the souls.
    "Lier! Lier," an angry feminine voice yelled back, "We never said that! We never said that!"
    "Then who told the children?"
    "The children! The children!"
    "Theolorios the elf of magic no one knew saved and forever saved Junala of the gnomes and as gnomes, we proudly say that Theolorios we love you!"
    I could feel the nonsense that the souls were saying streaming into my head. Things like red are yellow, waterfalls fall upside down to walk forward, and something about the children caused me to start to whimper.    "Sprinkle Sprinkle little rain how I wonder how you bleed."
    "Liver!"
    "Down bellow the world so low. Like the dark elves in the ground."
    "Liver!"
    "Sprinkle sprinkle little rain how I wonder how you bleed."
    "Oh, he's so gonna kill me now."