ELDRITCH NIGHT (Rough Draft)

Chapter Eighteen: The Band Sets Outs

"What is this place?" I asked.

I floated through an infinite grey void on an island of iridescent glass. The island was a perfectly circular disk perhaps a dozen meters wide. In the distance I could see a hexagonal column crackling with lighting. Atop the pillar sat a man completely hidden within the folds of a billowing black cloak.

"I thought you might not recognize it. Kind of empty, don't you think?" The man's laughter was like a peal of thunder, intense and foreboding.

"This is your mind, or at least the part of it you kindly made my home. We bargain for knowledge, what better place to impart it?"

"Name your price, Demon," I said. "I'm tired of games."

"Price? Demon?" the voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I think not. Does the angler bargain with the worm? No, he guides his bait upon the hook and with the hand of fate casts out his line beneath the frigid waves."

"And what prey do you hope to lure?" I asked.

"An enemy, old and new," the creature said. "At the heart of that which binds you, dead my quarry waits dreaming. His visions unfold, twisted and stolen by the fleas that walk upon his pallid flesh." His voice took on an acerbic quality dripping with rage.

"No more," it said. "Three questions asked, thrice answered a boon of words I seek. Three words whispered at my call, three answers now I'll speak."

"I'll play," I said. "You give me my answers, and in return you want me to say three words? That's it?" It felt wrong, too easy, and yet I couldn't imagine how just speaking three words could be dangerous. There wasn't even anything keeping me from prefacing the words or adding an explanation after.

"An accord, then? Freely given?'

"We have a deal," I said. The creatures cloak fell back away from his face revealing a skeletal smile upon a bleached skull.

"Then ask and be done."

"For now, I just need you to guide me through the best way for me to create a class with my current resources. It needs to be a class capable of both magic and melee and should combine my Reactive Adaptability with my ability to manipulate eldritch energy."

"Best?" it said. "I can lay no guarantees, your mind still lost might be. But to be your guide, that I can do. A catalyst you require, a vessel to carry your intent. Three drops of blood and freedom I petition."

"What kind of freedom? I'm not setting you loose to kill or infect others. I'm not giving you my blood either."

I stood up straighter trying to confront the creature. The wind began to pick up, twirling around me, and I could feel a force pressing down upon my shoulders. The creature looked from its perch with empty eyes and a permanent skeletal grin, his cloak pressing tight against him as it rose and fluttered behind.

I let out a gasp as the pressure lessened, not even realizing I had been holding my breath.

"The catalyst requires blood, I can give you naught without. My freedom is a simple matter, I desire to be set upon the world, but we are bound. Let my eyes follow your path and my talons strike your foes. Your allies need not fear my wrath, for I shall hide my nature in friendly garb."

"Fine," I said. "You can have your freedom, but I will banish you right back to this void if you so much as give me a hint of harming me or my friends."

"It shall be as you say," it said. "I shall heed your call and spare your allies."

"Then we have a deal." As I said the final words I pulled my sword from its sheath on my hip and drew the blade across my palm. "Take my blood then and fulfill your part of the bargain."