Sugar - Vessel / SleepToken ff

~ 25 ~

<<•° Jade °•>>

Heat is all I could feel. The darkness my eyes could perceive was broken in speckles of dim light, presumably from a sort of fabric. My head still felt dizzy; a sharp pain in my head began to pulse, and there was a blood smell emanating from my hands.

There was nothing but silence and the crackling of fire to accompany me, but my hands were tied together, by what I gathered was some type of rope. I was too tired to move anyway; a heavy wave of tiredness fell over me, and I slumped back into a state of rest.

I would drift in and out, never fully asleep and never fully awake, but none the less, I was there for hours and nothing had happened.

As I was finally losing hope that I would ever see life out of this mask, it was ripped off my face forcefully and with a large amount of strength.

A wave of fresh air washed over me. I felt free for a second before I saw what had pulled the fabric from my face. In front of me stood. A lanky, skinny creature, bare bone poking out to show its ribcage. It was human-like, but just... not right, well apart for the feet being... Well not feet but gives. . It had fabric covering some part of its body, and I could easily make out the same symbols that I know as 'Edelic'.

I have no idea what it says... I haven't gotten that far yet.

It held a Mace-type thing across its shoulder and had a type of mask with six holes in it, the mask looked wooden. There were also four horns protruding from each corner of its face behind the mask, defining my feeling that this ain't human. I felt like I recognised it from somewhere, but I couldn't put my finger on where it's from.
It didn't speak; this being was just watching me like a statue.

I could see it breathing slightly, but it just began to point its head at me while I stared at it. The black cloth from earlier was hanging loosely from its hand. I sat there and examined the specimen in front of me. It's silhouette being darker because of the fire that it stood in front of, which gave it an organic, embery glow behind it.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. The creature chuckled, its voice sending shivers down my spine. It didn't speak at first, just letting out a series of repeated huffs while staring menacingly into my soul with its back and beady eyes, the immense number of which then overwhelmed me.

I had heard tales of creatures, ancient evil that wanted to bring darkness to the rest of Eden, to "balance the food chain," as there was little to no human conflict between the people here, meaning we were even stronger than usual humans because we worked together, and didn't fight one another. But now I was face-to-face with one.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, trying to buy time, hoping something would come and lend me a hand. He leant in closer, his hot breath making the sweat in my forehead drip down, adding to the heat from the fire on my face.

"I want you to provide to me. Your powers and beauty are of great use to me; I wouldn't want to pass this opportunity to bring myself higher in the hierarchy. Having a little pet such as yourself would make me close to royalty." I shook my head at its breathy tone, refusing to give in to its demands. The whisper added to it's voice—or voices, I guess. It sounded like many people were walking at once.

"I. Would. Rather. Die." I expressed my distaste for the idea and replied with confidence once I reassured myself that it was the better choice, unknowing of their intentions. The creature laughed, its grip on me tightening as its eyes became slits. "Then you will die." The tone made my eyes widen in realisation, and my brain started to frantically come up with a solution.

Just as it was about to strike, the mace looked even more menacing when it hung in the air. I closed my eyes, ready for the impact of the heavy metal on my face. I thought about it. A Way to get out, using anything in my power to come up with a solution. I was thinking about my life and everything I was going to lose if this moment were to be my last. A flash of my life was shown before my eyes as I did so. The emotions pulsing through my mind became overwhelming. Then it all stopped. A loud, booming voice sounded in my head.