The room was bathed in flickering light released by a lone candle. Golden-hued shadows danced on walls decorated with magical scenes and stories untold. These shadows seemed to be filled with joy, with expectation and… with longing.

They stretched across the room, briefly pausing over the numerous rugs which littered the floor. These rugs were decorated with mysterious symbols, and, with the light from the candles, seemed almost ethereal.

The pause, as brief as it was, soon came to an end, and the shadows continued on before stopping at what lay at the heart of the room: a chair.

The chair itself was marred with imperfections, scars and remnants of a bygone era. Its legs, although beaten and weathered with age, still glistened in the candlelight. The red gems, which were inlaid into the arms and back, seemed to attract the light, which only served to highlight the indescribable darkness that lurked below its surface.

The chair seemed almost fragmented, as if it were missing a part of itself. Yet, despite this, the chair seemed to emit a sense of regality; a sense of majesty.

Suddenly, the candlelight flickered, and, just as fast as they appeared, the golden-hued shadows vanished.

A wave of darkness slowly began to ominously envelop the room. The darkness was both unnerving and otherworldly. In fact, it was almost suffocating, the way it seemed like it desired to suffocate all light it came across.

At the forefront of such darkness stood a humanoid figure wrapped in sheets of shadows.

It seemed to belong to the shadows and emitted the innate air of a ruler. The darkness was more than willing to bow before such a king, and so the figure advanced as the shadows did, a ruler carried by its loyal servants.

Before long the shadow drifted towards the chair. As it approached, the chair started to emit an air of excitement. The shadow briefly hovered over the chair before sitting down. As it did, the chair flew upwards, expressing its joy of being whole again.

The shadow let out an indulgent chuckle, and, with this chuckle, the air stilled. It seemed that, without its permission, the air would not dare to flow again. 

It was a rare moment of stillness in the shadow’s chaotic life. However, this moment was not destined to last. Soon, the sound of footsteps broke the silence.

The shadow sighed.

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“Well.” A raspy voice rang out from the chair, “I do so love it when you show up uninvited, #!$#%@, however, I do not believe now is the time for idle chitchat. Excuse me for my rudeness, but I must be blunt. Tell me, for what did you come for?”

“I believe that you know what I seek, &$^I(!#. The question is, will you bestow it upon me?”

“I believe we both know that ‘that’ is not something a mere being like you should possess. It exceeds the limits of your authority.”                                          

“I am aware.”

“And yet you still ask?” The shadow questioned, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“And yet I still ask.” The other voice agreed.

“Why do you persist? It has been more than a millennium already."

"You and I both know that such a thing means nothing to our kind. It is far too…”

The creature paused, searching for a word.

“...human,” it spat.

A sad sigh echoed out from the back of the chair.

"Indeed."

"So, will you bestow it upon me?"

"I suppose I must. At the very least, it will stop your insufferable pestering."  

The creature laughed.

"I am glad it was successful."

The shadow grunted.

“Protocol must be obeyed. Kneel and swear the oath.”

The other creature knelt down, placed a hand upon its heart and let out a string of unidentifiable words. A ray of light radiated out from his forehead and floated towards the shadow.

“Let it be done.”

“Yes, let it be done.”

The shadow turned around, his eyes portraying a hint of interest.

“The method?”

“It shall remain a secret.”

“Interesting.”

The shadow smiled and tapped his fingers against the armrest.

“And the stakes?”

“The extinction of their race.”

“How extreme of you.”

“It is necessary. However, due to the principles of equal exchange, I shall offer them the chance to gain unimaginable power.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes, I do. As I am oath-sworn, I must obey protocol, however...:”

The creature grinned.

“I have decided to activate the tenets of old. I shall name it…”

The creature paused to think for a moment, before baring its teeth in an unsightly grin.

“The Lucid Game.”