The Parasite

Chapter 25: Whistling in the Dark

Henry smashed branches and vines against the hatch of the machine until it became apparent that his efforts were in vain. Turning around to face the small tunnel that extended out from the chamber he was in, he began crawling, hoping to find some way out.

It wasn't long until Henry found the small metal tunnel he was crawling through led impossibly deep into the heart of the machine. At some point the metal pipes gave way to stone and roots as Henry descended deeper into the tunnel. Eventually the light from the various bulbs in the machine faded away, forcing Henry to grow a bioluminescent bulb out of his hand before he could continue on.

After more crawling through the cramped tunnels, Henry came upon a cave entrance which led out into a forest shrouded in darkness. In the distance a sound could be heard, but Henry was unable to discern what it was. With no other options Henry trekked into the forest in an attempt to find the source of the sound.

Henry walked for what seemed like hours as the sound he searched for surrounded him and the forest grew more and more dense with trees. Eventually Henry came across a spot where he could pinpoint the source of the sound, and when moving toward it Henry found a clearing with a large being sitting on a mechanical throne whistling to itself.

As Henry came to the edge of the clearing the creature stopped and turned to look at Henry with glowing yellow eyes. "Is it that time again?" the creature's voice sounded feeble, as if it were forcing out every word. "Come forth, and snuff out that light, you're disturbing the trees." Henry stepped out into the clearing and squashed the bulb in his hand. "What is this place?" he asked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "A machine of my own creation, although I do get bored of the metal every now and then, so you can see I've redecorated." the creature said as it rested on the mechanical throne.

After hearing this Henry knelt down to inspect the ground and found pipes growing from it like mushrooms. "Well, this certainly is a weird place you've got here." he said, standing back up. "So, what exactly do you do here?"

"I am one in a long line of guild masters, we are the true controllers of the mages guild." Henry tensed up at the realization of who he was speaking to. "Don't worry, this is no trial, but a cycle must be repeated, my time has come and yours shall arrive." the creature said as it looked away from Henry. The creature held out it's hand as a glowing orb appeared hovering over it. "You have proven yourself decisive, so you will make one wish, it doesn't matter what it is, any wish is enough to hand this power over to you, all you need to do is accept it, and this will all be yours." Henry thought for a moment before speaking up. "This is an awfully long way to go for a job offer." The creature glared at Henry. "Our selection process is without flaw, and I cannot lie about it, all you need to do is accept it and make a wish."

Henry shrugged and said. "Alright I know what wish I want to make, but I'm not accepting the power right now, I can't be sure this isn't a trick, I'm sure you can understand."

The creature hesitated for a moment before responding. "What is it you request?" Henry stepped forward, removing his cap. "This cap has been with me for as long as I can remember, it's a magical trait that draws the cap towards me at all times." The creature hunched forward before interrupting Henry. "Do not try to bore me with anecdotes." Henry shook his head and pulled out a pocket knife. "Well in summary, this attraction has nothing to do with the cap itself." As Henry spoke he began cutting into the felt on the inside of the cap. "It's what's inside that matters don't you know, the fact that it's hidden in a cap is just to make it less conspicuous." With that Henry pulled a piece of paper from the torn up felt and presented it to the creature. "This note, where is it from, who wrote it, why is it attracted to me."

The creature inspected the note, finding hastily scrawled writing that simply said, Don't trust the guild. The creature looked up from the note and said. "If it is the truth you seek then I must comply, please allow me to illuminate it for you." As the creature spoke the environment around Henry suddenly changed to the inside of a vault, lined with filing cabinets, the creature, hunched over in the tight space, gestured to a far corner of the room where a mummified corpse sat next to an audio recorder.

The corpse was dressed in what appeared to be a guild uniform, but with a few differences, the insignia was different, the holster was wrapped around the chest rather than the hip and the uniform followed a gray color scheme rather than a blue one, but nevertheless it was undeniably a guild uniform. Henry knelt down over the body and compared his cap to the uniform, finding the two to be a perfect match. The creature reached out from behind Henry and pointed at the audio recorder that lay on the floor beside the corpse. "There, that is what you seek, listen to what it has to say and you will know the truth." Turning on the audio recorder Henry was greeted with a list of all recordings saved on the device, totaling out to fifty two recordings with the final one showing at the top of the list. Without a second thought Henry clicked the play button on the side of the device and began listening to the recording.