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No matter how much of my heart and soul I pour into my blades, no matter how much faster I swing the deadly weapons, I come no closer to my target. Every time she takes a simple step back or to the side, moving only a matter of inches to narrowly escape danger. Too late, I realize that exhaustion is finally catching up to me, whereas she is hardly expending any energy in avoiding my attacks… The final blow comes at an almost leisurely pace, but I am utterly powerless to stop it. The swords seem to weigh a thousand pounds in my weary hands, rising far too slowly to deflect the almost casual cut across my midsection. A breathless gasp escapes my lips as I crumple into a heap on the ground, suddenly feeling every ounce of strain I had put on my body trying to keep up with her. "Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone." The words seem to taunt me, a none-too-gentle reminder of how helpless I am to control the course of events in this timeless void. Unable to even silence the spectral voice, I do the only thing I can do. I close my eyes, and think back to a time when I was real, if just as helpless… There was no way to know how large the chamber was. The ceiling and distant corners were lost entirely in darkness. The single shaft of radiance that shined down on me was the only source of illumination in the entire room, leaving me plainly visible to anyone within, but unable to discern them in turn. There was no doubt in my mind that it was designed that way intentionally to cause inhabitants to feel as exposed and vulnerable as I did at that moment. I could dimly make out a podium of sorts in the darkness before me, visible only as a vague outline looming above. A central dais arose from two others even to one another at roughly half its height, the primary pinnacle towering high and even seeming to lean out over me, filling me with a sort of claustrophobic dread despite the airy openness of the massive chamber. A triad of dark forms was perched on the podiums, clad in heavy cloaks that made them seem as broad shouldered as giants. There was no clear demarcation between where the pedestals ended and the shadowy figures began, and for a moment I entertained the notion that they could be dark titans of the underworld, preparing to pass judgment on my soul. Deep down, I knew they were in fact dark elves like myself. Legends among the drow, perhaps-the seats on the Tribunal were filled by the most senior (and feared) members of the nigh-mythical Society of Shadows, a clandestine organization of dark elf nobility and infamous assassins that controlled virtually every aspect of life in our subterranean world-but mortals, nonetheless. My hands worked nervously in the uncomfortable silence. They had not bothered to shackle them, confident as they no doubt were that they could obliterate me at the first sign of danger. The freedom of movement was a small blessing, trapped as I was under the crushing weight of fear of what might be lingering in the shadows. |
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