My mind was muddled as I came to my senses. The world was spinning and my vision was blurry. Slowly, it cleared and I managed to orient myself. “This definitely isn’t the desert,” I muttered as I glanced around the stone room.
It was barren, with no windows, and the only light came from torches that were mounted on the wall in regular intervals. Dust and cobwebs filled the room, making it clear that it had seen better days. One piece of furniture dominated the far side of the room: A golden throne. And on top of that throne sat a monster.
A reptilian beast, with pitch-black scales and an elongated snout, glared at me. Its burning eyes made me shiver. I recognised them. They were the eyes of the monster from my dream. The beast from my dream and this creature were different, especially considering the size, but the similarities were there. The scales, the eyes, and countless claws that were covering the armrest. This was the beast in a humanoid form.
Despite the inhuman look its face still managed to convey a sly smile that radiated malevolence. It radiated an aura that twisted the world around it. The throne started changing turning from gold, to wood, to sand, and finally flesh in a matter of seconds. Reality was warping and it seemed to be spreading.
I was familiar with fear. The fear of death was the most obvious one, but I also knew the fear of loneliness and the fear of uncertainty. This was an entirely different fear. The fear of existence. How fragile it was and how other creatures could end it with a snap. I turned around. An old wooden door was on the other side of the room. I turned back towards the monster. It smiled. I ran.
I threw it open and ran down an empty hallway, not looking back. My instincts led me through countless corridors and rooms until I finally emerged through a giant double door into the outside. ‘I'm definitely not in my world’ was the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the red sky. No stars or disks, only red. And beneath it, a war was being waged.
The building I had escaped from was in the middle of a massive stone fortress with walls that were six times my size and adorned with countless small towers. All of them were manned by human-looking creatures. They had the form of humans with pale skin but also possessed a claw covered in black scales. All of these identical individuals looked familiar. They were- my eyes widened in recognition. Me! Hundreds of copies of me manned the walls and fought with various weapons.
This was the biggest gathering of creatures I had ever seen, but I couldn’t focus on them for long as my eyes drifted toward the attackers. My copies fought a swarm of monsters that all bore a striking resemblance to the beast I had just run from. They came in all shapes and sizes, with four-legged beasts as well as towering humanoids, which used their claws and teeth to rip apart the defenders.
My copies had superior numbers, but they were clumsy and it was obvious that they didn't know how to use the weapons they held. Their blows were weak and the few feathered bolts that they managed to launch never hit their target. The only reason they were still holding their ground was because of the red shroud that covered their weapons, which seemed to automatically push the monsters back.
Tracing the red light back to its source, I noticed that the walls were inscribed with a repeating pattern of symbols. A bleeding eye. The red energy emanated from them but it looked to be weakening. The monsters were attacking ferociously and I feared what would happen if they reached me.
The screaming and screeching of the fighters made my stomach twist. ’Where am I?' The red sky made it clear that this wasn’t the world I was familiar with. But how did I get here? The last thing I remembered was the mage standing over me, ready to cast another spell. This is your mind. My eyes widened when my inner voice answered the unspoken question. I frantically looked around but there was nobody close. That voice… I had heard it before. I remembered brief remarks that had felt a bit out of place for the situation. I had attributed it to me speaking to myself but now… I looked around again. “Hello? Who are you?” The voice stayed silent.
I took a step back as my breathing quickened. ‘Calm down! This isn't the time to panic! If what I just heard is true then this is all my imagination. Nothing can hurt me-‘ The world rumbled and all the monsters simultaneously let out a howl. One of the eyes on the wall completely darkened, making the shroud around the weapons of one section of defenders disappear. They were immediately overrun and hacked to pieces. No blood was spilled, only some kind of purple energy. Suddenly, everything flashed and I could have sworn that the beast from my dreams was standing before me in all its glory. I blinked and it disappeared.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself and stop my fluttering nerves. I didn’t know what was going on but ignoring it wasn’t a solution. The monsters seemed to be the problem so if I managed to somehow defeat them, then maybe everything would be alright.
I was about to throw myself into battle when a calm voice interrupted me.
You won't make a difference. You're still too weak. The only way you will survive is by listening to me. Come down to the dungeon and free me. Release me and I shall help you. I can help you extend your life by just a few moments, body stealer.
It took a while before I processed what the voice was saying. The instructions were very clear but I really didn’t want to follow them. Following the instructions of some voice in your head didn’t sound like a good plan. Sadly, I didn't have a lot of choices. Either the monster from my dreams would kill me or I could trust the mysterious voice that was in my mind.
I choose the latter option and turned around to reenter the building I had come from, leaving the cacophony of fighting behind. The thought that I didn't know the location of the dungeon briefly crossed my mind, but my body instinctively knew where to go. I passed countless rooms and descended down a wide staircase at the end of a long hallway.
The air grew increasingly stale the farther I got down and the number of torches lighting the steps dwindled, making everything seem gloomy. Finally, I reached the end of the staircase leaving me standing in front of a tall iron door. Without me touching the door, it swung open with a loud creak that echoed through the stairs. I shuddered and stepped through. This was the only choice.
What greeted me was a long brick hallway lined with prison cells. Everything was covered in a thin layer of mold and all the iron bars had turned brown from rust. This part of the fortress was in an even worse condition than the rest. Unblinking stone eyes followed my every move as I stepped in.
The sound of my steps echoed through the dungeon and mixed with the low chuckle that could be heard coming from up ahead. As I got closer and my eyes adjusted to the low lighting, I could finally make out where it was coming from. The very last cell on the left side was different from the rest. The bars looked brand new and not a single spot of rust could be found on them. I stopped in front of it and tried to take a look at its inhabitant, but the light from outside didn't reach inside.
The inhabitant stepped out of the darkness and slowly clapped. "Congratulations, you managed to screw up so badly that you need my help,” the person said in an amused tone. At first, I thought I was looking at one of my copies but my eyes widened when I saw both of their arms. Human arms. I was standing before a human replica of me. His clothing was in tatters but a smile lit up his face as he saw my expression. “Do you know who I am?” No, I didn’t but I could make a guess. “Why did you call me body stealer?” I asked. “Because you are one,” was the response. More and more pieces were starting to fit together.
“This-“ I gestured around me. “This is your body, isn’t it? Or to better put it, was.” The human smiled and nodded. “So, you finally figured it out.” He cleared his throat. “Let me introduce myself: My name is Sarvad and for eighteen years this body you possess was mine. I had the chance to become something greater but it seems like something went wrong. You appeared and took control. Now you are the one losing control. If you don’t do something soon, the parasite will take control. I can already feel it, your mental defenses are weakening by the second and its control is getting stronger. Free me and I will help you.”
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What he said slowly sank in. I had trapped Sarvad inside this world. It wasn’t on purpose but I felt horrible about it. Just because of that, I wanted to free him. But something was stopping me.
“Why should I trust you?” I asked. Sarvad seemed to be human and I knew very well that humans could be evil. The mage and mercenaries were perfect examples. I had no guarantee that this one wouldn’t be like them.
Suddenly, Sarvad laughed. “That is true, you can't trust me. There is no guarantee I can give you, but we don’t have a lot of choices. The parasite is spreading its corruption as we speak and if it gains full control, then I will also be screwed. Your mental defenses, the ones I perfected, are running on autopilot, which severely weakens them. You can’t properly activate them, I can.”
Looking past the fact that he had just read my mind, he was right. Since I had gotten here, I had felt it spreading. A sense of powerlessness, of me losing control. It was a bad feeling and I feared trusting someone with it. But I feared the monster in my mind even more.
“I free you and you’ll help me. Afterward, we can find an arrangement that works.” Sarvad smiled. “That sounds good.”
I pulled at the bars but they didn’t budge. Sarvad tried very hard to hide his facepalm but I still noticed. “Don’t think of this as being real,” he explained. “This world is the mindscape, a separate reality to the physical one. You have to use your intent to change it. Simply think of something and it will happen.” I frowned. Didn’t that mean I could simply will the parasite away?
Reading my thoughts, Sarvad shook his head. “First of all, you have no practice in manipulating mental essence. Secondly, even if you were extremely talented you wouldn’t be able to just will it away. The parasite is a sentient entity with its own intent. Even I will only be able to push it back, not actually destroy it.”
Looks like there wasn’t an easy out for me. Grumbling I started focusing again. A sloshing sound broke my concentration and I looked down the corridor. When Sarvad had spoken of corruption it hadn’t registered properly what he had meant. Now I could see it. In one moment I was looking at a gloomy dungeon hallway and the next it had transformed into the maggot-infested innards of a giant.
The white worms squirmed inside the mess of flesh, blood, and organs, which was slowly moving toward me. The blood splashed everywhere and the only thing keeping it from swallowing me was the fact that it was confined to the corruptions area of influence. It was a grisly sight to behold that didn't help my concentration at all. The sheer suddenness of it made me pause. If I wanted to survive then I needed to act now.
‘Ok, you can do it.’ I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and envisioned the cell in front of me. Sarvad had thankfully gone quiet, which helped my concentration a lot. After a few seconds, the cell appeared in my head, bars included. Then I imagined the iron that was keeping him inside, disappearing. At first, nothing happened and I tried to focus harder, ignoring the splashing of the blood that was approaching.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy and my world started spinning. To keep myself from falling, I leaned against the wall opposite the cell. Slow clapping prompted me to open my eyes again and see Sarvad walking out of the room with a giant grin.
"Good Job! Honestly, I didn't think you had it in you, but look at you! You're first mental manipulation and only slight vertigo! If you keep it up then in a couple of centuries you won't even need me to fight your battles.” I just nodded, too tired to respond to the praise. Sarvad looked dismissively to his right, at the approaching gore wave. "Oh, you still here. I thought you would have fled in fear like the little mind parasite you are. Let me fix that." He took a step forward and the air around him started shimmering. The parasite stopped approaching.
Suddenly, it flinched backward and slowly started retreating. Sarvad, apparently dissatisfied, snapped his finger and the air started glowing brighter. The slow retreat turned into a rush and before I knew it all traces of the parasite had completely disappeared. Everything looked exactly as it had been before being forcibly changed and not a single drop of blood could be found.
A quick look towards my savior showed him standing tall and grinning victoriously. Still, there were a few things that painted a different picture, like the tightening of his eyes and his stiff shoulders. These details, which I would have never noticed in the real world, were painfully obvious here and showed that what he had done hadn't been as effortless as he wanted me to believe.
“Of course, I'm exhausted after pushing a foreign invader out of the inner part of the mindscape,” he responded to my thought. “You wouldn't believe how much mind essence that cost me.” I didn’t even know what mind essence was, so that was probably true. “Thank you for saving me,” I honestly stated. “I don’t know how I trapped you in here but I am terribly sorry. I will do my best to fix it.”
Sarvad just waved his hand and smiled. “No problem. Although…” He frowned. There is something I have to do in the real world, so it would be very kind if you helped me do that.” I nodded my head. “Of course. What do you need me to do?”
“You'll-" He stopped and looked towards the ceiling. "It looks like we're out of time. But don't worry, you'll hear from me again. Goodbye for now... what do I call you?” Sarvad thought for a second before he got an idea. “Vindict. Yes, Vindict is a good name for you. It comes from an old language and translates into something very fitting for you,” he said with a smile. With that, everything turned black.
I slowly opened my eyes with a groan. Everything was shaking and my entire body felt ragged. "Finally your awake!" The familiar voice of Pecta said with evident relief. "Could you speak a bit more quietly?" I groaned while lifting my throbbing head to get a better look at where I was.
The shaking came from the fact that I was lying on a moving lamec and lamec riding wasn't very comfortable. That, coupled with the fact that my head was hurting like crazy, made me want to double over. Seeing my expression Pecta chuckled. He was riding on another lamec in front of me and had tied the reins of mine to his.
A couple of makeshift bandages adorned his body in various places. Behind us, I could see a third lamec that was tied to mine and held a lot of luggage. "You have been out for four fucking days. If I hadn't seen you kill all those bastards I would accuse you of laziness. You won't believe how much work it was to keep the animals from running away!" I smiled at hearing his familiar voice. It was a surprise that my mind trip had lasted for so long, but it felt good to be back in the real world. You make it sound like you didn't enjoy my presence.
A look of surprise crossed my face. "Is something wrong?" Pecta asked with concern. "Everything is fine,” I quickly reassured him and put on my best smile. Are you surprised to hear me? I am literally inside your mind. Pecta looked at me with a raised eyebrow but let it go. “But seriously there is one question I have to ask you. What the fuck was that!?" I look at him quizzically and motion for him to elaborate.
"First you get your ass kicked by those bandits," he started his rant. "Then suddenly you turn into crazy mode, with your eyes glowing and black veins popping out, and kill all of the other bandits with ease. Do you realise what kind of power you showed there?" He shudders involuntarily. "It honestly scared me shitless," he whispers as almost an afterthought. "Not that I am not grateful for that rescue,” he reassured me. “But it would be nice to know what happened there.
I avoided eye contact and look at the moving ground. That feeling of pleasure when the violence started. That completely wrong and unnatural feeling. Now it was my turn to shudder. "I... I don't know," I answer honestly. But I could guess. The parasite had briefly taken control of my body and used it to channel its power. It had saved me but I didn’t feel very grateful.
"My memory... is foggy. I can only remember glimpses of what happened when I was awake. But I get you. I remember so little of it and that alone scares me - a lot." He searched my face for answers but eventually gave up and let out an unhappy sigh. "We are about to reach Seran, so we should prepare. Don't think that this conversation is over, we're only delaying it!" My heart started beating faster and I licked my lips in anticipation. My first human city. 'This will be interesting.’
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Sarvad’s smile slipped as the body stealer disappeared. Pushing the parasite out of the heartland of the mind scape had cost him a lot but removing this second parasite shouldn’t be a problem. “Can you hear me ADAM?” An emotionless voice sounded from everywhere at once.
“Affirmative.”
“Disengage passive mode. Remove the entity that is currently controlling the body. I don’t care what Protocol you use, just get it done.”
“Negative”
The human frowned in anger. “Why the hell not?”
“Former User does not have the authority necessary to remove a Probational User.”
“What do you mean?! I literally created you, you stupid defence system!” He protested.
“Status as Creator acknowledged. No extra authority comes with the status.”
Sarvad clenched his fist. He couldn’t believe what was happening. In anger, he punched a wall but it didn’t budge. Shaking his hand, not out of pain but out of habit, he frowned and looked up at the ceiling. “Looks like I still need you. For now.”