The Wild Spirit, full of hunger and feral rage.
The Huntress, demented and broken.
The Haunter, watching from the dark.
The Khaos, never truly bound by any master.
The Predator, always seeking a greater prize.
The Puppet Master, ever present.
The P...
The Black Demon flipped a page in his book while his cane floated in the air next to him, its usually-spasmodic gaze currently fixed on Lyssa. "Yes," he responded without looking up. "Have you prepared the... distractions?"
"My Maniae are working on it right now." Lyssa narrowed her eyes and took a step toward the man. "How did you do that to them?"
"Do what?" the Black Demon asked distractedly.
"You know... make them... different?"
The Black Demon stopped reading and looked up at Lyssa with a bored expression on his face. "You doubt my power?"
"I don't know the first thing about your power!" Lyssa retorted. "How could I, when I don't know the first thing about you?" She began to walk around the Black Demon in a circle, snarling, "All I know is that you showed up and promised me Wonder, in exchange for signing that book and speaking the incantation at the temple of the gods. Besides that... I don't even know who you are!" She let out a dark cackle, adding, "You know, I'm beginning to think I made a bad deal!"
"And so what if you did? There's no backing out now," the Black Demon told her in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. "You signed the book, thus sealing the deal. Per the agreement, should you back out, your essence—your will—shall become mine to command."
Lyssa paused, her eyes widening slightly. "What?" she whispered.
"Oh. Hm-hm-hm." The Black Demon chuckled, seeming pleasantly surprised. "You didn't really think I'd just have you sign the Book of Azathoth without any... fine print?"
He suddenly shifted position so that he was looming over Lyssa, staring down at her with wide eyes and a thin smile on his face. "Did you?" he asked in a low voice, all of his facial features melting away save for his mouth.
Lyssa stared at the man in horror, startled by the sudden change. "I—I—"
"Oh, come now," the Black Demon murmured, raising a hand and running it through Lyssa's head fur. "There's no need to be scared. Simply do as you were told, and everything will go exactly as you want it to." He cocked his head, adding in a warning tone, "Only do not break the contract, for it was signed in your blood upon pages enchanted by the Daemon Sultan. Once broken, you will be MINE. FOREVER." The Black Demon's body distorted, growing longer and taller and disproportionate as he looked down upon Lyssa with no eyes. "Do you understand, Lyssa?" he asked in a frighteningly-calm, deceptively-human voice.
Lyssa flattened herself against the ground, whimpering like a scolded dog. "Yes," she whispered. "I understand. I'll do as I'm told."
"Hm. Good." The Black Demon's body let out several pops and cracks as he shrank and shifted back into a normal human shape, albeit without any facial features save for a mouth. "The stars align at midnight," he informed the feral spirit. "I will see you then." With that, he went back to reading the book, walking off into the shadows.
His cane remained where it was, staring at Lyssa with that pulsating scarlet eye.
Lyssa slowly got to her feet, glaring at the eye with shame and anger . "B----d," she hissed.
An ominous chuckle rang out through Erebus in response.
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