There, in that bed, was my last memory before I awoke. The sound of skittering startled me back to reality. As soon as I woke up, a heavy ache formed in my chest. The sort that was as if something had recently struck me. It was cold and darkness was all around. At first, I thought I had been struck blind. I rolled onto my side and froze. My hands touched cold, uneven stone. I felt a cold sweat form as I lay listening for any noise. The only thing that came to me was the soft pulsing of the blood in my veins. My jaw tightened.

  I sat there, a feeling of terror rising in me. A half coherent set of scenarios filtered through my mind. Each too disjointed to be anything more than mere concepts. Trying to push the imaginings from my mind, I resolved myself to figure out where I was first. Trying to stay calm, I turned my eyes about in the darkness for anything. I was only met by the total darkness. Was I in a cave or some basement? The skittering occurred again, a bit closer now. I froze, focusing on it and desperately tried to think of how to get out of this place.

  Finally, as I lay there stiff, a soft brush of cold air touched my skin. It carried a scent of grass, causing some hope to form in me. As slow as I could, I began to crawl towards the direction it had come from. The skittering moved forward, and I felt the urge to jump to my feet and run. I suppressed it. Whatever was causing it was barely moving and my legs were completely numb. If it charged, I knew I'd not escape.

  After a few seconds, I came to a wall and gently ran my hand against it. Now I was certain. I was underground. My attention turned back to whatever it was that was following me. Whatever had happened could be dealt with later. Given that it hadn't killed me; I hoped it was some manner of animal. Yet the sound brought to mind images of giant spiders.

  A few more feet and I heard the noise again. Turning my head, the faint caress of the wind brushed my face again. My heart pounded against my chest. Each pulse was a jolt of a small amount of pain. It felt like a horrific balancing act. Too fast or too slow and it was certain death.

  The soft breeze grew as I moved. My heart leapt as I found a corner and looked past. I saw pale light on a far wall of the cave. I let out an audible noise. Then, A cold bolt of terror rushed down my spine as there was a horrid increase to the skittering. Whatever it was moved closer at a steady pace.

  With wobbling on my unsteady legs, I used the wall as my crutch, and tried to move as fast as possible to the light. As I rounded the corner, the light was soft and dim. The creature let out a screech and charged.

  Panic took over and I did my best to run. At the opening of the cave, it was right behind me. Dread sunk into my very core.

  I was struck square in the back by something heavy. Sent forward a good four or five steps forward, hitting the ground with a thud. The strike ripped the air from me and left me gasping. Almost by instinct, I flipped over, grabbing a rock from the ground. I lay there holding it up, staring at it as it stood at the mouth of the cave. My hands shook wildly.

  There in the cave was something that resembled a spider in a vague sense. Where its head would have been was a single large, circular mouth of small teeth. Nowhere on its body were any eyes that I could see. It sat there tapping on the cave floor, turning about and then finally to where I was.

  It let out an awful hissing noise. I lay there with my heart pounding at the sight of this horrid thing. It moved forward, but stopped. The horror was tapping its legs on the ground rhythmically. I looked at the rock in my hand and threw it against the wall next to it. The beast leapt at the spot, crashing hard into the solid stone.

  I tried to control my breath and remain as silent as I could. I began to crawl backwards. The creature turned back again, came to the mouth of the cave, tapping and skittering. It would tap outside the cave, then retreat.

  I kept retreating as the thing hissed. It wasn't till I had moved a good ten or so yards did I attempt to stand on my still somewhat numb legs. The monster turned to where I was. For a moment, I froze in place. After a few minutes, the thing began to retreat back into the darkness of the cave.

  I ran. Glancing back at that hole in the side of a small cliff, I didn't see the thing. Even then, I didn't stop. A want to survive drove me forward with no consideration for where I was going. I kept going despite the pain. I ran till my body could not go further. Gasping, I fell to my knees, my hands planted firmly into the grass. I gripped the green blades tight. Looking down at myself, I saw that I still wore the same clothes I had gone to bed in.

  I let myself fall sideways. Shivering from the adrenaline and exertion, my mind turned to a question. What had happened? The feeling of fear gave way to a familiar anger.

  I lay there, hugging myself as my mind raced with every potential reason someone would do this. There was something I felt I had forgotten and it was eating away at me. I felt as if there were actually people who would do this to me on purpose. In my mind's eyes, I saw the priest's face. That memory of the smile brought a cold hatred to me.

  Then my mind turned. Had that chained woman done something to me? I bit hard on my lip, desperate to remember. That elf had stared at me with such a cold look. Was she my enemy?

  Even if the town was near, I wondered if I'd go there. Someone had dragged me there and left me to die. I looked about in paranoia of potential enemies.

  Then I thought of the monster again. Whatever that was, I couldn't be sure it was the only threat in the area. It appeared I was alone, but I didn't trust that there wouldn't be something watching somewhere.

  I took a deep breath to try and steady myself. Then, I stood up as best as I could and looked about. How did they manage to drag me so far out in a single night? I didn't even see any signs of roads. The night's darkness obscured everything in the distance. I felt my stomach begin to growl.

  The moon was high in the sky. A misery took hold then. Turning, I began to walk. It was all I could think to do. The wind seemed to never die down.

  Time marched on, yet I still hadn't seen anything related to civilization. These fields seemed to not end. I wondered if I had been spirited away to yet another world. The thought terrified me. I froze in place as something began to feel off.

  As I stood there, the wind died out completely. The sound of chirping insects disappeared. Everything went dead quiet beside a thudding of my heart. The hair on my neck rose as I heard a small, soft noise behind me. I spun around. What met me first brought confusion. At first I thought it was a person, but only for a moment.

  Upside down, floating, with a grin showing her sharp teeth, was what appeared to be a woman. Her hair was long and white like paper, her eyes pure black except for the small red circles. Her skin was a pale color like she never saw the sun. She wore a plain white dress covered in small chains. Little wooden tokens hung off them. She had a pair of white horns that grew from her forehead. Both curbed back along her head for a bit then, once at the top of her skull, went straight upwards. Her petit form shifted a little as she floated there.

  A long tail, segmented by what looked like some sort of bone plate, swished back and forth. The horrid blade at its end looked sharp enough to cut through me like hot butter. Red marks spiraled up her arms. She giggled and shoved me to the ground. I felt the tips of her claws poke me. Staring down, she said, "Look at you. I saw them drag you in there and here you are. Alive here. Amazing. Wonderful."

  Her voice was strange. Pretty and melodic like an idol as it was, but I wasn't sure how I was even understanding her. The words she actually spoke were nonsense to me. I couldn't even call them words. None of them remained in my mind.

  She spun herself till she was upright. The strange woman's mouth curving into a frown, her teeth still on full display. I sat there as my body trembled. I was already so tired. I knew I couldn't escape; even if I tried.

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  She said, "You smell. Did you know that? You smell awful. Dead awful. But you live. I saw it. They dump your corpse in that cave and the monster dragged you in. You had to be dead. Here you are. Somehow alive."

  I stared at her, unsure of how to even take that information. She narrowed her eyes as she began swaying side to side in almost a dance-like rhythm. With a sigh, she asked, "Why even bother asking? Can't understand a word. Wander Tongues is fun to speak. Sad. Pathetic looking. Weak little man. He is alive. He was dead. Test?"

  As her tail slowly raised, the blade-like tip pointing at me, she muttered, "Kill. Yes. That's a good test."

  I, with a stammering like a madman, said, "K-kill? W-w-what?"

  Her eyes snapped to mine and she got uncomfortably close, her nose touching mine. She said, "Speak. You spoke. Words. Yes? Human. Yes. Who?"

  I crawled back and began to get up, but her tail snapped out and wrapped around me like a python. I struggled and shouted out, "Let go!"

  Her eyes widened and her smile returned as she stopped her wavering to the sides. She brought me face to face, her breath against my face. She asked, "You spoke again. Understand? Outsider like me?"

  Her tail squeezed hard, forcing out a gasp of pain. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack from the sheer fear and stress. I said, "I don't know what you want! Who are you?"

  There was silence for a moment. Then she leaned in and pulled my cheek painfully. After letting go, a grin formed on the monstrous woman's face. She leaned back and began to giggle, holding me off the ground with her tail and she floated. She looked about and said, "Name. Does the human want that? Silly. Who is human first?"

  I looked at her, trying and failing to calm myself in any way. I asked, "My name?"

  She brought me in close again. Her eyes narrowed as she said, "You do understand me. You understand. Ha! Yes!"

  In twisted joy, she rolled in the air cackling. Every time I tried to struggle she'd squeeze me painfully until I stopped. Finally she stopped, flopping her entire upper half forward. She spoke again, this time in a normal language, "Hello. I am happy to meet you. You died. Corpse man. You were dead."

  I stared at her confused. She bobbed up and down where she floated almost like she was bouncing on her heels. I asked, scared but also befuddled beyond my limits, "What do you mean I was dead?"

  She stopped and held me out a bit with her tail. She turned me about, like I was a toy she was admiring. The monstrous woman said, "A human. Hilarious. Not elf. Human. Great. You died. You were a corpse. Then you were not."

  There was a pause as her head bent back, up to the sky. She pursed her lips, a red taking to her cheeks suddenly. Her head lulled back forward, she put a hand on my cheek, and whispered, "Want me?"

  I wanted nothing more than to run away. My body ached and my mind whirled in a storm of confusion. The question was absurd. Everything she had said sounded like madness. I asked, "'Want' you?"

  Her head bobbed side to side as she said, "Yep. You're perfect. Looked around a lot for someone. Found you! Perfect."

  I began to wonder if one of those gods were playing some fucked up joke on me. A headache began to form somewhere in my head. I felt awkward as she held me with her tail, bobbing her head side to side and giggling lightly. I wanted to say no to that. The idea disgusted me and felt wrong. The bladed part of the tail flicked past my eyes.

  With a deep breath, I braced myself. If it meant survival, then I would. Defeat colored my voice as I said, "Sure."

  A small, high pitched noise escaped her as her mouth grew into an even larger grin. She threw her head back and let out a gleeful, maniac laugh. Bouncing around in the air, she shouted, "Good! Contract! Yay! Bound? YES! Immortal Master!"

  Before I could even process that statement, her tail unwrapped from around me. I braced, but never hit the ground. Some force held me in place and she spread out her arms. The little wood trinkets began to clack wildly and she spread her arms out. The air took on an electric feel against my skin. Over her chest was a glowing symbol of what looked like a grinning theater mask. She said, this time in that weird speech again, "Father Cathurnalt, I hereby proclaim myself! I bind myself in contract! Sealed now till final rest, together, I share my life as life shared! Proclaim your name, my master!"

  If I could scream, I would, but the energy that rushed around us somehow kept my mouth shut. The air roared around us as bolts of light arched about. No matter what I tried, I couldn't move and couldn't say a thing. With no other option, I shouted out, "Alexander Moores!"

  She shouted back, "Oh Father Cathurnalt! Make manifest our pact! I, Veline Scheltia, bind my all to my Master! As one heart beats, so does the other! As one stops, so must both!"

  I felt a burning over in my heart and with a pulse, the energy around us dissipated. I was instantly dropped to the ground. All that power in the air struck me. The world spun as my tired mind and body gave out. My tether to the waking world snapped by the ordeal.

  When I next awoke, the pale woman knelt down over me with a huge grin on her face. That menacing tail was slowly lulling in a serpent-like way behind her. I stared at her, wondering what the hell I'd done. I didn't remember much at that second, but I knew I had made some sort of contract with this being.

  She said, "Hi. Feeling good? You slept for a good while. Aching. I see."

  I wanted to close my eyes and pretend that nothing had happened. Yet, I knew nothing would come of that. As I sat up, she backed up a little. Her feet were bare, but that didn't seem to bother her at all as she stood in the grass. I could almost feel how happy she was as the demon-like woman said, "This. This is good. You and me. The world. Wonderful."

  I stared at her for a few more moments before the soft orange sky caught my eyes. For a moment, I let the morning view of the fields. After taking that moment of solace, I let out a small sigh, and asked, "What was anything that just happened?"

  She pouted lightly and said, "Not just. Hours ago. Contract. You and I are contracted together. Our lives are linked. Die and I die. You don't stay dead. Immortality. Perfect."

  For a few more moments I didn't move. Asking in as calm a manner as I could, "Can you speak in complete sentences?"

  She grinned again, this time more impishly, and said, "Yeah."

  I then asked, "Who and what are you?"

  The woman looked me over, her face going more neutral, and said, "Veline Scheltia. I am Deamuri. Father Cathurnalt makes us. We bind ourselves with contracts. We serve. Our purpose is that."

  I sighed and got up, brushing dirt from my body. Veline lifted off the ground, floating a few inches above it. The thought of having an ally of any form suited me. I said, "I thought you were a demon, but guess not."

  I watched as she began to float up higher and circle about me. There was a flicker of annoyance on her face for a split second as she stared. The chains she wore, I realized, were what kept her dress in place as she flipped upside down. Without them, I would have been staring at what was underneath.

  She said, "Deamuri are not demons. Awful thing to think. Not divine, though? Something else. Yeah. Made by divine? Yeah. Come to the world to find a contractor. Live as long as a contractor. Serve. No idea why, though. Father Cathurnalt never explained."

  That didn't answer anything I was worried about at that moment. At least I felt confident this woman wasn't going to hurt me. I wasn't sure why, but I knew it was absolute truth that she was in a literal life bond with me. My mind turned back to the cave and how I was dead. I didn't believe that, but voicing that seemed like a bad idea. Shaking it away, I said, "Fine. OK. Well, first off we need to find a town...I guess."

  I didn't want to go back to the city, but I wouldn't last in the wild. Even with a magic servant like Veline, I knew next to nothing about survival. I had vague at best memories of watching people explain it somewhere. Such shaky things would not be enough.

  Veline spun upright again. She looked around and said, "Contract new. Feeling very weak still. Hungry. Find a town. Right. Left?"

  As if on queue, my own stomach gnawed. Veline then turned away, a look of annoyance on her face, while saying, "No idea how to find a town. Sorry."

  With a sigh, I said, "Then I suppose we will have to walk till we find a road. Unless you can fly up high enough to see anything."

  Veline stared at me for a moment before looking around sheepishly. She frowned and said, "I can't go up high."

  The entire situation weighed on my shoulders as I stood there. If we starved? Nothing would matter. I let out the breath and began walking. The dull aches pulsed. I still didn't want to trust Veline, either. Somehow I knew that she was loyal, but I didn't want to. Something in my head kept telling me not to. A moment flashed through my mind of a woman's face. A smile that lit a cold hatred in me.

  As I walked, she floated along behind me. She kept muttering and asking random questions but I pretended to not even hear her. My entire goal was to not die. The gnawing fear in me drowned her out. She didn't even seem to even notice my lack of attention.

  My eyes darted about. I could swear I saw someone following. Every twitch of a shadow, every sway of a plant. Everything seemed hostile. I tried to keep my mind in order, but the thoughts kept edging their way back into my consciousness. It felt like something cruel was worming its way into my very mind. I knew if I didn't focus, it'd eat away at me. I tried to ignore everything and focus on finding some way to survive.

  When I saw a small dirt road, instead of hope, all I felt was pressure. What would I say when I got to a town? This woman looked like a demon to me. Would they think she was one? I had no money. Where would I get any? Was I wanted for running from the church? Did I actually die? I froze before the road, staring at it and fist tightening. I felt my heart thudding. I clenched my jaw and tried to keep calm. I breathed deep, yet shaking breaths. I had to remain calm and think clearly. I had to focus.

  Veline's babbling stopped and then she said, annoyed, "You have stopped. Why?"

  I didn't answer as I stared down at the road. I was struggling to keep a steady breath as something felt so wrong about it. The road seems all too familiar. Some vague image was pounding on the walls of my mind. Veline's voice became more unsure as she asked, "Need rest? Humans need rest. Rest?"

  Then, a small drop of water fell and struck the ground. Another feeling of dreaded familiarity. My heart rate grew heavy and fast. I was tired, cold, hungry, and miserable. My mind raced endlessly. Vague memories slowly took proper form. The sounds of a man's angry voice as I stared down upon the road. I dropped onto my knees, my entire body giving out.

  My eyes shut tight. I could feel my teeth grinding as rage and despair took full hold. I grabbed hold on the spot on my body; a dark memory of what had happened. The first death and the cruel injustice that made it so. I became lost in the memories I wished I no longer held.