The following day, Melganoth stepped out into the crisp morning air. The snow had stopped some time in the night. The winter sun cast down its rays and helped some in warming those caught in them. He took a long deep inhale as he stood on the steps of the keep, his wings flapping gently as they stretched and flexed.
The jar containing the slug was strapped to a belt at his waist, the cloth was wrapped tightly around it as the slug seemed to stay calmer in the dark. He would use different mixtures of herbs and minerals as well as some types of metals and see how the slug reacted to them when in contact. He would find a way to cure himself and be rid of the darkness for good. He could then get back to his life just being himself again and no longer be at the mercy of the abyss. He hoped.
Once outside the castle gates he broke into a run, his wings flapping beside him. He could take off from the ground from a stance but it put less strain on his wings if he were to run and besides, he enjoyed a nice run. His wings caught the air and he was off the ground. The sound of heavy leather pushing against the dense cold air could be heard from the castle walls. The knights upon the battlements waved their goodbyes as he left their sight. He had made an impact on the townsfolk and they enjoyed his company. He was a good man after all.
From high up in the clouds, the land could be seen from a broader view. It was a beautiful painting of pure white as the snow covered the land in its frozen embrace. There was something about the purity of snow that made the world seem like it was not on the brink of war. He took in the sight all the more. The light from the sun bounced off the snow and warmed the trees.
His home came into view, the caves at the foot of Merat Mountain where he spent all of his time after the war. With its sight he thought of his family again. Even after living for over five-thousand years, family was still the only thing he craved.
The wind was loud this high up but he paid it no mind, flying was the one thing he greatly enjoyed now. His wings continued to subconsciously flap beside him as he began his descent. He began to pick up speed as he angled his body downward and just before he would collide with the landing before his cave, his wings stretched out and scooped the wind to bring him to an almost complete stop. He landed with heavy falling steps as he walked off the rest of the momentum.
He folded his wings behind him as he took one last look at the snowy tundra before him. Trees laden with snow blew in the gentle breeze that swept over them at the foot of Merat Mountain. He knew not when he would see the light of day again as his work had a knack for taking all of his time.
And that is exactly what it did. It had been three days since he arrived home and he had yet to sit down and rest. He did not sleep nor did he eat, but for a demon sleeping and eating were not serious for survival. Demons had very slow metabolisms so they could go weeks without eating and sleep was much the same way. He lit a nice fire in the place to his left. It had a stone door that he used as a kiln to heat any ingredients if need be. When not in use for that purpose, it was used to heat the cave.
Melganoth had cut a small hole into the lid of the jar to keep the slug from escaping but that way he could drop small bits of potion and record the reactions. On his desk lay papers of the past three days' experiments and each of the responses to each ingredient. If a negative response was observed, he would diagnose which material caused it until he was able to fine tune the exact response he wished. And ultimately he wished that the slug would begin to wither away and die. But no such result would present itself.
After the fourth day came and went, the light from the moon shone into the hall of his cave. He decided he would go out and take in the air but not before securing the slug. He took no chances with it. As he had told the Trust, he locked it away into a chest. He also plugged up the hole he had created just in case the slug had an ability to squeeze through small openings.
He stepped onto his cave balcony and breathed in the cold air, filling his massive lungs with the fresh smell of the pine trees around him. The fresh air helped him greatly in clearing his mind and finding paths ahead of any barriers in his experiments.
He thought for a while until his theories ran dry. It seemed that this was just going to be a matter of time of trial and error until he found the correct mixture. He observed the dying light of the sun before he would retire and get some rest. He would then try his hand again come morning.
It had been a few hours since he had laid down to sleep, the sun had fallen well below the horizon. The full moon had risen and sent its borrowed light down upon the tundra. The locked chest containing the slug sat upon the table across from the sleeping demon.
It jumped.
A small jump that went unnoticed as it hardly made a sound. Then, from the side of the chest out came what looked like black sludge. The slug. It was escaping from the chest as if it were water through a crack. It plopped down onto the table and morphed itself into a tiny goblin-shaped creature. It had large ears, long fingers and a bony body. It smiled wickedly with sharp teeth and a crooked mouth. Its eyes swam with that deep purple amidst solid black as it watched the demon sleeping peacefully.
Watch out for your friend.
It dropped down from the desk and skittered over to the bed post with a shallow giggle. Melganoth's eyes shot open but he did not stir. Something was off. Something wasn't right.
The goblin peaked its head over the edge of the bed and Melganoth spotted it quickly. A massive fist sprang out and pelted the goblin into the far wall. He splattered into paste and fell to the floor. But it would not be so easily killed.
It morphed into a serpent then and hid in the shadows as it waited for the time to strike. Melganoth stared intently at the spot where it splattered the wall, nothing left behind. Without his knowledge it had climbed a shelf behind him and it lunged out at his neck. He dodge to the side and grabbed ahold of its tail and threw it into the fireplace. He ran over and shut the stone door over it, caging the thing inside.
He held the door shut with his body weight as the thing inside screeched and melted as it burned to ash. He then locked it with the pin, sliding it through the two steel loops, one on the door and one on the wall.
He felt something tickle at his chest where his heart was. He leaned back away from the wall to get light from the moon but he could not see what made him itch. Until it burrowed its way into his flesh. A small bit of the abyss had broken off and hid while he had been distracted with the snake. It had waited for him to believe he was safe and then it struck.
It burned like hot fire as it burrowed deeper. He scratched at his chest trying to get at it and pull it out but it was too fast and too small to see. He stumbled backward into his desk which held all of his work and knocked most of it onto the floor. Still he struggled to free himself.
It can't end like this, he thought. Not after all I have done. Not like this.
He fell over onto his hands and knees which shook the cave under the fall of his weight. He clutched his chest and vomited blood onto the stone floor. He coughed and groaned with the pain. Slowly, his dark blue skin began to putrefy into the iconic sickly abyssal black. His wings stayed their same size but the bones within them grew short dagger-like spines all across them. He wept as he had finally been caught by the abyss after so long of resisting it.
"This...is how it ends for me..." His voice slowly lost its soft, tender tone that was his own and became deeper and more hateful, "This... is how it shall end for all who oppose me." He fought the abyss for as long as he could but in the end, it consumed him. His bright purple eyes darkened as his iris turned the sickly dark black shade of corruption.
He heard a noise that sounded like wind blowing as black smoke appeared in front of him. As it slowly faded away, a man was revealed sitting in the large chair beside his bed. He did not know this man but he bared a striking resemblance to a man he did know, except this man was missing his right arm.
"Well, well. Good evening, my friend," the man said. "It seems that they did not watch out for you at all."
Melganoth stood to his full height, "Who are you, puny man?" He said with a hateful demanding voice.
"You do not know me yet, but you will." He fiddled with something in his hand, the one hand he had. "But as I know it, you know my brother."
Melganoth did not even know that Evander had a brother, if that was who the man was referring to. "What is it that you want? Speak quickly for I have no patience for rats."
The man's arm morphed into a spiked whip and he lashed Melganoth across the chest in a flash. As the demon dropped to his knees, the man was upon him, "You better watch your tone when you speak to me. I am the one who completed you. Did you like my little present? The little piece you have been prodding?"
"This is your doing?" he looked up to the man angrily. "You made me this way?" he stood to attack the man but he was much too slow. The man swept his legs out from beneath him and he fell hard to the cave floor. The man sauntered over back to his chair.
"Are you quite done?" the man said. "I have a deal to make with you."
"What deal?" Melganoth spat from his position on the floor, "You have nothing I want."
"Oh but I think I do. I have information on the man you want to kill and if you work with me, we can make that happen."
"I'm listening," Melganoth said finally.38Please respect copyright.PENANAVzxwKv03Pq