CHAPTER 12.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, my dreams were plagued with nightmares of beautiful women with perfect features that suddenly transformed into fanged and forked tongued monsters.

I saw myself taken repeatedly as my pleasure turned to pain, and then pleasure once again.

On some level, I knew I was only dreaming, but my mind refused to escape the trauma I'd just experienced. I tried to wake up but each time, I kept getting pulled back into the perverse cycle of pleasure and the pain that assaulted me.

Just when I thought I was going to drown in this miasma of shame and helplessness, the scene shifted from demon ladies to an obelisk that stood alone on a sea of sand, my feet sunk within the sand and I looked about, wondering why my dreams had brought me to this place.

The place was strange and I felt a strong sense of danger standing in this empty desert. There was nothing as far as the eyes could see, save for the slightly glowing obelisk; my only source of illumination in this sea of darkness.

I had to be dreaming right, how else could AI possibly explain being transported to the hell I'd just experienced to this empty and desolate place. I'd never imagined, much less being in a place like this. So why did my dreams bring me here?

It did not feel like a dream. I examined myself and my environment trying every test I knew to determine if I was still dreaming. Everything felt so real and I wondered how I got here. If this was real, how did I get here? What is this place?

Looking up, all I could see was void blace; a negation of light, void of anything and empty. Or at least it looked empty, until I saw something moving in the darkness; a barely distinct ripple in the void.

I tried accessing the implant; the only anchor I had to my own world, and then I remembered that this might be just a dream and I'd be unable to use it.

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Warning; Telemetry data inconclusive. Location data cannot be acquired at this time.

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Does this mean I'm not dreaming, that I've somehow been transported to yet another world or was I able to gain access to the implant even while unconscious?

Or it could be that I was dreaming up the implant and I was most likely close to death under the lascivious ministrations of demons and vampires.

While I was still trying to determine whether I was awake or asleep, I felt a cold gaze on my person.

Slowly like prey that knows it's in the sight of a powerful predator, I looked up to see glowing red eyes staring down at me. Then I began to notice that the entire sky was alive with movement and one by one, more glowing eyes turned towards me. It was then that it occurred to me that the sky wasn't dark because it was night in this place.

I considered running, but when I looked around, all I could see were eyes everywhere.

From what I could tell, the creature came in different shapes and sizes. The only thing they had in common was that they were all midnight black. I could only see them because of their glowing red eyes and they were all agitated; moving rapidly and staring at me with what I could only interpret as hunger.

Soon the sky was filled with glowing red eyes and black bodies, black maws, black tongue, black teeth, just black everything. I was beginning to sense a theme here and I nearly lost control of my bowels.

Horror began to slowly creep up on me, as I was forced to entertain the possibility that there was no sky in this damned place and all that darkness was simply an uncountable mass of monsters. I wondered what kept them from attacking me; from reaching out through the vastness to consume me.

But they remained in place; writhing and swirling over one another, kept back by some kind of barrier I couldn't see.

I looked upon the obelisk and I felt a pulse of power from it. Curious, I tried to get closer when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around quickly hoping to catch whoever it was off guard.

There is an old white man in white robes and a white wooden staff behind me. His beard was a white so pure that it glowed, his eyes white orbs brimming with power and although his face and hands looked gnarled like a normal old person, there was no hint of decay or fragility to him.

He stood on the soft sand like me but unlike me, his feet did not sink within. For some reason I was unable to put my finger on, I got the impression that this being was somehow keeping the dark hungry away.

But what was shocking to me wasn't the old man appearing out of nowhere or the possibility that he was keeping the dark things away. No, it was the fact that for the first time since my implant was injected into my neck; it was silent. At the moment I was not assaulted by warnings and I felt a relief for a quiet I did not know I was in desperate need of.

"Who are you? What are you? What is this place?" I raised myself to my full height and asked, trying to mask my anxiety and at the same time attempting to display an aura of confidence I did not feel.

The man rubbed me the way most authority figures did and I reacted the way I'd always done when faced with their judgement.

But the old man's gaze remained fixed on me as he ignored both my questions and my attempt at bluster.

After a moment of silence that felt a little too long and made me feel very uncomfortable, he said, "You have traveled far and suffered much to get here, but you have farther to go and much to overcome if you're to succeed in your task."

His expression remained the same even as he spoke to me and no matter how hard I looked, I could read no emotions on his face.

Who is this guy and what task was he talking about?

"Sir, I don't know how or why you've brought me to this monster infested place, but I'll like to head back to Zomyr or if possible my home planet Earth." I said that last part with hope in my voice.

"I want you to survive, to persist, to succeed." He continued like I hadn't spoken. "But there is only so much I can do to aid you. Any attempt at intervention could upset the already tenuous balance and lead to collapse.”

I’m terrified by this being and the power I feel pouring off him. Each time I look into his eyes, it feels like I'm staring into a vast endlessness and if I looked any deeper, I would fall into him, never to find my way again.

I replied, trying to tamp down the tremor in my voice, and summoning all the courage I could muster, I said to him, "This place is dangerous and I don't know if I'm dreaming or not, but you need to get me out of here. Now!"

The being just stared at me and I got the strong impression that this old man is merely a facade, a stand in for something infinitely more, something not necessarily bound by the corporeal.

"There is very little time, this construct was not built to last. Already the chaospawn undermine the barrier." I tried to make sense of what he just said.

"Why would you bring me here knowing this place was going to collapse." I said trepidation in my voice.

"To do what you must, the sum of your authority must be awakened. This will be impossible to achieve on your own as you currently are, but I have set you on the path to begin the process. That is all the interference I can attempt. The rest will be up to you."

As soon as he spoke the last words, my legs buckled and I fell to my arms and knees, soon even my arms failed to hold me, and I fell face first into the sand. Something pulsed within me, shaking me to my very core.

I felt something different within me. I couldn't place my finger on it but the old man had done something to me. For lack of a better term, it felt like he made me more than I was, am, will be, and for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I no longer felt alone.

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Tears rushed from my eyes, drenching the sand, choking sobs came out of my mouth as joy I didn’t know was possible to feel flooded me. I don't know what he did but I couldn't stop myself from crying in gratitude. I tried several times to thank him but the flood of joy moving through me kept overwhelming me. For the very first time in my life, I felt complete

"What did you do to me? Why? Thank you. Thank you so much." It took a while to gather myself and say even that much.

The old man, true to form, ignored my questions and gratitude and turned to the dark hungry above. "This construct is failing, soon the chaos-spawned will break through this shallow firmament." He stopped turning back to me. I was still lying down face first before him, feeling the same yet fundamentally different.

"You'll soon leave this place and be out of reach for a while. I cannot directly aid you but I can tell you seven things that will aid you on your journey. Remember this moment."

After he was done, I felt a sharp pain in my chest as I struggled to remember everything he had told me and what it all meant. It felt like the weight of the truths this being had pressed on me were overwhelming my soul and I began to flop bonelessly on the floor in anguish.

“Don’t worry, you do not need to remember them in depth, it is merely their overarching themes that I wish to press upon you.”

Suddenly whatever was keeping the monsters at bay failed and the chaospawn rushed in like a wave towards me. They crashed into me and my eyes opened.

I was back in the small room where I met Zalla, but I could also feel the monsters ripping into me. I struggled to stay awake so I wouldn't fall back into the nightmare.

My body felt heavy and every movement was torture as I struggled between two realities. One where I was on the bed and another where I was being torn apart. But slowly as I felt my other self die; the dream receded.

Or was it a dream?

For a while I was unable to move as my mind tried to deal with all the horror and abuse I had suffered since I was kidnapped. I wore my mind out with scenes from my kidnapping, my torture at the hands of my parents killer, my rape by the demons; the feeling of my body betraying, the loss of control and the overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

And then I felt a pulse within me, it felt like coming home, like my mom’s hugs or one of my father’s rare smiles. For a moment, I felt complete. Then the feeling was gone, leaving me bereft and empty. I tried to hold on, only to feel it slip through my metaphorical fingers.

Then the rage and anger at what the High Mistress put me through came crashing down like a tidal wave on me. The pain, the humiliation, the feeling of complete and utter weakness.

I refuse to feel like that ever again, I don't care how long it takes, but I will use whatever resource within reach and maybe some that should be beyond, to increase my power. I'm tired of being weak, tired of having no control. If strength is what the world requires, then I'll choke it with my strength, I'll drown this place in my power.

I felt a maniacal glee welling up within me at the thought of burning this shit hole to the ground, burning everything to the ground. But I suppressed my thoughts in fear of my own sanity, horrified by where they led.

As much as I wanted to grow in power, I refused to let everything that had happened make me a monster. To take my mind off my burgeoning madness, I looked around trying to get my bearings.

The room is small and barely lit. Zalla sat on a chair near the bed; her head next to my hand asleep, her hand in mine. I could feel the energy she used to heal me before entering me. But she was pale and she looked so thin and frail.

She must have drained herself to keep me alive, nobody since my parents had put themselves on the line like that for me. I remembered the feeling of completeness I felt after the old man transformed my soul: I had no other words for what else it could have been, and looking at Zalla, I was hit with the realization that I didn’t need a realm of darkness and an old man filled with darkness to replicate that piece of heaven. I could find it right here in mundane, if only I looked hard enough.

As I looked at Zalla, something in me swelled with that realization. I don't know what or how, but I just knew that I was more than I was a second ago. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what the old man told me. Some of it made sense but most of it was a mystery to me.

After some time I felt Zalla move and looked beside me to see her eyes were now open and staring at me.

Her relief over my survival was obvious, even to me, and her face lit up in a radiant smile that tightened something in my chest.

"Thank the Great Ones you are awake, you've been unconscious for the past six days; teetering on the brink of life and death. Mistress Astrel ordered me to keep you alive by any means. I've been feeding you soup and healing you with rejuvenation techniques to hasten your recovery."

She stopped to gather herself, a pensive look on her face. "The Twilight court is lethal to the weak and if you're to survive the attentions of the mistresses, you'll have to become much stronger than you currently are."

She then helped me into a sitting position on the bed. My body ached with pain all over and each movement was a struggle. But Zalla was patient and careful with me, slowly guiding me ito a sitting position. It was then that I noticed I was naked. I felt my face heat in embarrassment and I was at that moment, grateful for my dark skin.

Zalla didn't seem to notice, not my embarrassment nor my nakedness and I wondered about half-elf relationships and if they were interested in humans as sexual partners.

She tried to help me bathe, but I sent her away; embarrassed by my reaction to her and also disappointed by her obvious lack of interest.

After I cleaned up and ate the food Zalla left on the table for me, I stepped outside only to see the beautiful half-elf standing by the door obviously waiting for me. Her already pale face was even paler and there were deep shadows around her eyes.

"You must be exhausted from taking care of me, you need to rest and recover your strength." I insisted, trying to convince her to rest.

But she shook her head "I'm better, you do not need to worry over me. I am a practitioner and my rank affords me the ability to do so with very little sleep or food."

She smiled at me and for a few seconds I lost my train of thought, her beauty overwhelming my faculties. If all elves and half-elves were this beautiful, then I was at risk of a heart attack if I ever encountered a large number of either group. I even forgot to ask what she meant by cultivation or rank.

"There is much to be done if you're to survive and grow strong. You need to learn the common tongue so that you'll be able to read about techniques and gather information about cultivation."

That one threw me for a loop. Wasn't she speaking english? If she wasn't, how was I able to talk to her?

She saw the confused look on my face and smiled tiredly. "You don't know the common tongue and you are only able to talk with me because of this." She raised her right hand to show me a small plain circlet on her wrist that I hadn't noticed earlier. "And this," she fingered the collar on my neck.

"They're called "mind bridges" and they come in various shapes and sizes. Among other functions, they allow for mind link connections between two individuals each wearing a mind bridge. It will also protect you from weak attempts of mental manipulation and from unauthorized mental intrusion."

I was confused by that last part "What do you mean by "unauthorized mental intrusion", who authorizes attempts to invade the mind of others?"

She said nothing for some time and looked at me with pity in her eyes. "This is not your world William, the Mistresses and those provided access can bypass the mind bridge and right now your mind is vulnerable to any practitioner or cultivator with mind bending abilities."

She saw the look on my face as I considered if she had been manipulating me the whole time and said, "No, I have not done anything to tamper with your mind and the mind bridge does not confer mind commanding abilities either, merely facilitates communication and protects the mind."

I observed that she did not deny having psionic abilities, merely that she's never used them on me. After a second she continued, "You need to cultivate if you're to survive. You will be weaker than the smallest child until you can increase the power of your mind and body.

But first you must take an affinity test to determine what elements you are aligned with and to know the direction and growth rate of your inner power.

She looked around carefully as if she was about to do something illegal and pulled a small bottle with a green liquid out of her dress pocket."This is a mind enhancer, I filched this from one of the junior clerics at great risk. It is an alchemical potion that would improve the retention of any information absorbed in the last four hours after its consumption. With this potion, you should be able to learn the language quickly. I'll try and teach you about techniques and some spells when I find time, but until then keep the potion safe."

I considered telling her about the implant and its ability to gather information. But then it occurred to me for the first time that I had no way of controlling the damn thing, the only interaction I've had so far with it was when it screamed warnings in my head.

Zalla tried to continue speaking, but stumbled,

I caught her before she fell and insisted again that she did not need to take care of me now that I had recovered.

She tried to insist but I let her know I'll be alright.

After she left I returned to my room and hid the potion. I sat on the bed waiting to be called for my affinity test while trying to think of a way to use the knowledge the old man gave me.

He said he had awakened my “the sum of my authority”, I had no idea what that even meant. I felt the energy around and pulled it in, but I crashed back on the bed, Immediately feeling the same sharp pain from the first time I tried to cultivate.

Multiple warnings began to move through my mind from the implant. But this time when I wanted the pain to stop, for a moment I felt a response within myself, like I'd been heard and the pain began to lessen until it stopped altogether and my implant stopped sending warnings.

What did I do differently this time? As far as I could tell I did the exact same thing as last time but then I remembered what the old man had done and a feeling of hope and renewal flooded me. Now that my soul had been awakened, it felt alive; aware and somehow separate from my person, yet the same.

I was conflicted, on one hand this change brought me a measure of peace from the shit storm that is my life, but I was also worried about an unknown entity living within me. Just another example of how little control I had over my life.

While I was thinking, the door to my room opened without invitation and Orla stepped into the room. "Siesta is over human, I've been commanded to take you to the infernal chapel for your affinity test."

I sat up from the bed, curious as to what my "affinity" will be. But also trying not to laugh at an obviously cliché name like "the infernal chapel." But I was also curious regarding what cultivation path I would take. Maybe now I would begin to gain the power necessary to take my life back into my hands.