A Demon's Tale

Chapter Eight

- Dæmonium -

I had settled down under a big tree sitting with my back against the trunk. There was a small gap up to the sky from where the moonlight could shine through, and so I had stopped. I held out my demon arm into the light and watched as the blue substance recharged its energy and increased its glow. I had to just stop and organize my thoughts. I felt so anxious and uneasy with all the things I had seen. There was something so unsettling about them, a feeling that I could not seem to make sense of. It was not just their freakish nature and vile tendencies that bothered me. Sure, they were true manifestations of terror, but this incommodious feeling originated from something else.

I tried to close my eyes and get a break, but every time I closed my eyes it was as if my mind moved away from my body. As if, -as soon as my eyes got shut, a new kind of vision replaced my first-person view, and it was as if I could see myself sitting there alone by the tree, surrounded by darkness, as if I was being watched by somebody else. It creeped me out. I opened my eyes again and looked out into the darkness from where I was sitting, but nothing was there. I shook my head, I refused to let my own mind play tricks on me, and so I determinedly closed my eyes again.

But then, again, it was as if I was standing there, looking at myself from many different angles all at the same time, as if multiple different entities were watching me... judging me. Some angles, like someone peeking out from behind trees, some as if from higher up in the branches above, looking down.

Suddenly, I thought I heard a twig snatch. I instantly opened my eyes and stood up. I grabbed ahold of my amulet with my human hand, but I waited to summon the sword in order to not draw any attention in case it was just some creature passing by. I began seeing movements in the darkness all around me, like shapes moving across the gaps between the trees. I began seeing branches sway and bushes rattle.

Then, strange shadows stretched out from the darkness along the ground, nudging my feet to then quickly get drawn back into the darkness again. It was very strange and didn't make sense, since the light was coming from above me, and if anything, the shadow ought to have been produced by me. But then as I looked down behind me from where my own body ought to have cast a shadow, I realized; I had no shadow of my own. I frowned, confused by this realization but was quickly distracted by the strange activity going on around me.

"He-he-he-he..." I heard, like strange slow laughter from a deep and sinister voice.

I looked around with anxiousness. It seemed I was surrounded, and every now and then, the shadows stretched out from different directions towards me, as if connecting to where I was standing, as if it was what would have been my own shadow, as the silhouette produced was very much like different versions of what mine ought to have been dependent upon from where the light was coming from. The strange shapes and shadows circulated around me and I was getting more and more nervous. The dust and ash-like sand began waving up as the movement became more vivid.

"See the dust, whirl around us, as we walk with determined steps." A very strange voice spoke from somewhere within the darkness.

'What the hell?' I thought to myself as I realized it could speak, and in a language that I could understand.

"Let our intent, lead us to the end, while the rest settles in, for a new beginning." The voice continued.

I spun around to try and locate where the voice was coming from.

"Follow the lead, carry on, and proceed, to fulfill, a meaningless deed." The voice said.

I squeezed my amulet tight and my sword was summoned in my hand.

"Selfishness, that's all we've ever achieved, all we'll ever need, and all we'll ever leave... behind." It said.

The shapes kept moving swiftly across the gaps between the trees and branches from within the darkness as they seemed to come closer. I moved closer to the middle of the little circle of light I was standing in to get as much distance as possible from the trees from every direction in case something was to jump out at me.