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A horrible dread shook my spirit, a dark power that gripped my soul so tightly that even a mere human surely would have felt it. "You and my sister had a deal, didn't you?" Awed as I was, no fear sounded in my voice as I addressed the fiend, any terror long since banished by bitter acceptance of the fact I could not possibly overcome this horror. A cacophony erupted from the darkness before me, a chorus of hushed whispers, hisses, and maddening chants that reverberated infinitely within the depths of the thing, each voice arising again and again, bleeding into the others and even itself in the sea of discordant sounds. Amazingly, I found myself able to understand the words of the beast, the single train of thought within the mess of tongues. "I promised her eternal life, but I never said where...." Inky essence began to pool underneath the creature, surging outward across the ground like shadows stretching in the fading light of dusk. The darkness surrounded my feet and swept over them, inexplicably becoming a tangible force a moment later. As I tried to step back, I found my feet held fast, as if encased in solid stone. The wave of shadow retracted violently in response, flowing back toward the fiend with such power that I instantly lost all sense of balance and went crashing onto the hard floor. Instinctively, I clawed at the cold stone beneath me, desperately trying to stave off the force drew me inexorably toward the heart of the monster. Within seconds my legs had begun to pass into the living gloom, each inch of flesh swallowed by darkness was overcome with a frigid, numbing cold at the instant of contact. I closed my eyes tightly and ceased struggling in grim acceptance of my fate.... Arcane words filled my ears and ripples of magical might sent shivers down my spine. An otherworldly howl of frustration and rage shook the very foundations of the castle, bringing a cringe to my lips. After a long moment without any fresh torments, I opened my eyes to find the demon replaced by the silhouette of a drow warrior with twin blades in my field of view.... "This one seems to have survived." As I drifted once more into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but wonder why his voice was grim and mournful in making such a proclamation. I would discover the answer soon enough… Cold. A dreadful chill permeates this place. There is no breeze, no variation; only constant, biting cold. Even in the subterranean halls of the drow there exist subtle winds, shifts in the air caused by the heat radiating from anything that lives and breathes. Never before coming here did I realize that I was even capable of detecting such minute changes, but now I feel their absence as a gaping hole in my world. Another harsh reminder that nothing in this place is real. Not even me.... The air doesn't change when she approaches. I can sense her, just the same. The vibrations her aura casts throughout the abyss make her every movement as clear to me as if she were completely visible. She knows this, and stops a dozen yards short, staring me down with her cold, sightless eyes. |
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