The Keepers: Song of Sorrow

Chapter Nine

The world was a swirl of darkness and bright, stinging pain across the side of his head. Jesper blinked his eyes in the darkness, it was a tunnel made of stone. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he saw at the far end of the tunnel a figure, humanoid in form. Jesper recognized the figure, chronologically speaking he'd been held prisoner by him only a few months before he'd escaped, his name as far as Jesper remembered was Clover. The Eldritch hiding in human form, turned and looked back and Jesper his black eyes seemed to stare right through him and into something deeper inside the half demon.
"Finally awake are you? Good, good." He said and made his way back to his prisoner. Jesper tried to move but found himself unable to.
"Did you think I'd have dragged you here without a simple binding spell to hold you still?"
"Of course not Clover, you seem to always think of all the important details." He said, disdainfully. Clover smiled.
"How sweet of you to say, Pathos." Jesper flinched at the use of his real name.
"Don't call me that."
"Why because now you're Jesper? Do you really think a name change is going to change who you truly are?" He leaned in close nearly nose to nose with Jesper.
"You are the Dancing God of Death, you are Pathos. But there's also one more thing that you need to know about yourself." He grabbed Jesper by the hair and dragged the half demon to his feet by his scalp, Jesper bit back a yell of pain. The spell binding him was removed as Clover laughed.
"Oh please feel free to scream no one is going to hear you this deep in the mountain." He chirped using his grip on Jesper to force him to bend over as he dragged him.
"I just want you to know that everything I've done to you so far has been extremely personal," Clover said, "it's not that I don't like you, it's just that I need an old friend to wake up. I've been lonely for these past seven thousand years since Chaos came and locked him in this mountain."
"The Sleeping God, what does he have to do with me?"
"Oh so much, you have no idea."  They finally came to the end of the tunnel and walked into a large room with four short balconies looking down at a vast darkness below, in between the balconies hung a large, round cage made of gold bars and filled with blankets and pillows.
"What is that?" Jesper asked.
"The resting place of the Sleeping God, or should I say, your resting place?" Clover said letting go of his grip on Jesper's scalp and shoving him into the cage. It swung back and Jesper had to grab it or risk losing his balance. Something stirred inside and he caught a glimpse of blonde hair and vermillion eyes.
"How is that possible?" He asked, turning to Clover. "That can't be me I awoke with the Dream."
"You awoke?" Clover said mockingly. "Pathos, you were placed into sleep, and like many who sleep you are wandering around your own dream with no realization that you are dreaming."
"But this is a Dream it's called a Dream!"
"Just because that's what we call doesn't mean it's not completely real to you."
"But how?" Clover sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Are you being purposely stupid or have you spent so long with that halfling you seem so fond of that you simply forgot? Six thousand years ago you gained tremendous power, you could've destroyed universes, it was beautiful. But you gained too much unwanted attention, the All Fathers came down and sealed you away here."
"Where do you fit into this?" Jesper demanded.
"Me? Why, dear Pathos I was your closest companion." He pressed his hands to his chest and tilted his head to the side smiling impossibly wide. Jesper glared.
"So that's why you needed me, destroying me will wake him up."
"Exactly, now can we please get to it?"
"Wait."
"What?" Clover said in annoyance.
"I have one more question."
"Very well," Clover sighed as he unsheathed his knife, "what?"
"You took the binding spell off so I could walk?"
"Yes."
"Good." Jesper threw himself forward grabbing hold of Clover's wrist and slamming the other to the floor. The knife clattered across the balcony and off the edge falling into the black below. Jesper continued pinning Clover down.
"Oh just wonderful, now look what you've done. It's going to take ages to find that again." Clover groaned.
"You're not finding anything." Jesper growled, just then everything stopped existing. When it all reappeared Clover had gotten up and moved away, he had another knife.
"My, my, my, he's waking up and I have a knife to set off the alarm." Jesper stood slowly.
"Any last words?" Clover asked.
"I'm going to skin you slowly when this is over." Jesper spat.
"Unlikely." Clover dashed forward and Jesper felt the knife dig in and hit something. He saw his only opportunity and took it; he grabbed Clover with his claws and held tight.
"Oh what's the matter? Do you think you've still got a chance?" Jesper said nothing and swung around releasing Clover. The other Eldritch slammed into the cage, it swung and Clover slipped down into the darkness. Laughing the whole way down.