Voices and Shadows

I was walking home, my hands thrust deep in my jacket pockets to ward off the chill that had set in during the night. My breath fogged as it left my mouth, and my nose was beginning to grow numb, though my crystallized breaths felt warm and moist against it. I looked down the alley to my right and thought about going down there. It would shave some 10 minutes off of my walk home, but it was very late and very dark. The darkness of the alley was foreboding, yet familiar. Memories rose within me to avoid the danger that lurked within it, but also to jump and accept where that danger would lead me.

Then the voices started.

Whispering gently, they reassured me and told me to enter the darkness. That it was safe, that it was too cold to stand in the dark waiting for someone to come by, that the street was not too quiet and I could shout for help if I needed to. I took step towards it and the whispers grew. Another step and they filled my ears entirely. Another step and they clouded my mind, leaving no room for though. Another step and memories of those exact bricks rose unbidden into my mind. My legs moved against my will now as the flash of a gunshot played out in my mind. I tried to pull myself back now, to stop moving as I felt pain lance through my ankle, the memory of falling and injuring it. Memories of temples and anti-magic women, of alien cities and magic. Of telepathy.

I sent tendrils of power out to catch against the rough brick walls. My movement was halted, but not without difficulty. It felt like it was than my body disobeying me, there was a **** pushing me forwards too, or perhaps pulling me. That thought terrified me and I remembered to conjure a magical shield over mind, not that it stopped the voices at all. Telekinesis was still new to me, and I struggled to resist the influence of... whatever it was, or perhaps whatever they were. And those damned voices kept getting louder, they seemed agitated now. Some even screamed and I tried to raise my hands to cover my ears, but my body seemed paralyzed.

Then, through it all, a deeper voice rang through the darkness, and one singular eye. For a second I felt relief, my savior had returned, but then it turned to terror as I realized that eye was different from the other. This was purple, with a yellow iris and a black pupil.

**** IS CLOSE the voice said above the others.

My mental grip began to fade.

YOU ARE WEAK it echoed across my mind, seeming to bounce against the insides of my skull.

Sweat poured down my back as I felt myself begin to let go.

YOU SHALL BE MY NEW CHAMPION

I felt myself be wrapped in some vine or tentacle that pulled me to the shadows, I was almost within them and I hoped for these maddening voices to stop.

THE FIRST OF MY NEW BLACK PANTHEON

And then there was the roar.

Louder than any of the voices, but it did not echo through my brain. I heard it through my ears as it shook the ground and set my teeth on edge.

But the voices stopped, and so did whatever was pulling me. My limbs gave out beneath me, but I caught myself before I fell all the way to the ground as I stood inches from the edge of the shadow. Warm air as blown across my back, a warmth that dispelled the cold as well. I turned to see my savior.

The first thing I noticed was that eye that saved me previously, so full of protection and power. Then I saw the rest of it, the scale of it, the immeasurable size of the black dragon that stood high above me. Its scales were as larger if not larger than my house, each claw dug deep into the ground and its wings completely blocked the sky. He drew a deep breath in through his massive snout, and exhaled down onto me, once again warming me.

"I have so many questions" was I all could say.

But it did not answer, it merely lowered its head to my level and turned it so I could see into one eye that was large than me.

Please I tentatively said into its mind, what is all this.

A deep rumble of a voice answered. Not full of hate and malice like the other, but as if the earth itself was speaking to me. It was a voice of warmth and reassurance.

It is corruption, and it knows you now. They have always been seeking you, and now they will try to bend you to their will, just as they did to me.

What? They defeated you? And how have they always been seeking me, this all started a few days ago? Is there some way to stop them, to fight them? To protect myself in my sleep?

I heard what could have been described as a bitter laugh from the dragon, oh no child, this has been going on since far before the birth of you or your world.

No answers to any of my questions though. I struggled to understand all that had been said, but I could only think of one more question.

What do I call you?

It raised its mighty head and looked down at me with both eyes. It raised its wings and the draft that followed billowed my clothes around me.

I have many names, more attributed to when I was consumed by their madness then when I was free from it. Some names still hold power in my world, some can still call forth the loyalty of the elements and ring forth with the power of creation. There was a time when any of those names would have been accompanied by the din of the greatest dragon flight the world had ever seen. Now, I have only one that I will bear, only one that I may have earned in the years since my passing, only one that I feel I still deserve. So, young one, it is a pleasure to meet you once more, and you may call me Neltharion.

It launched itself into the air and its wings created a tempest that threatened to lift me of the ground. As it soared high above, my vision shifted and my body felt like it was falling, perhaps through that huge night sky above me, or perhaps I was flying with the dragon, with Neltharion. The wind whipped through my ears and the stars grew brighter

as I woke up, my chest heaving, my back dripping in sweat, and sunlight drifting in through the frosted windows. My mouth felt thick and my mind felt heavy, but I swung my legs out of bed. I reached for some of the tea from the last night, now cold, and took a sip. It was refreshing and I felt it cool me all the way through to my stomach.

Neltharion, those voices, and what did it mean about them looking for me? And for how long too? How old were they, and how old was that dragon? As ever, I had more questions than answers, but I was more assured of myself and my now revealed protector.

I felt her coming before I heard her footsteps or her knock on my door.

"Come in Mel" I said to the woman on the other side. She entered wearing a white blouse with a delicately decorated leather corset. Her legs and fantastic ass were bound in a pair of black pants with leather boots that went up to her thighs. Her eyes settled on my bed and sweat stains on the sheets, but she made no mention of them. She looked up at me with uncertainty.

"So, I think we should talk about last night."

I sat down at the edge of my bed, still wearing those silk pajama pants, but I had shed my shirt, dripping as it was in my own sweat. Still, I was aware of my own body odor.

"Sure, sit where you want" I said as I gestured to the chairs around the round table in front of me and the edge of the bed next to me. "Also, how did you cast that spell that cleaned me in that alleyway?"

She gave a nervous smile but quickly described the wording of it, as well as how to cast it without speaking.

"Wow, and that can take away body odor too, incredible." I was stalling and I knew it, so did she. What Sedva had done to Mel, and to the rest of the staff, was wrong, but did that make it any better to do it to her? Last night it felt right after I caught her with Mel, but what would happen in the cold light of day? Would that little mind programming hold? Would Ral learn of what happened and punish me? Was Sedva allowed to do that to keep everyone in order?

But no, she had questioned Ral when I saw Eritrea's memories of her. Surely she was not acting with his approval.

"Eric, we need to talk."

I sighed and looked down, equal parts ashamed and afraid.

"I know."

"Look at me" she said softly. My eyes met hers and I saw reassurance beneath the uncertainty. "You are not in trouble, if Sedva were to tell Ral than she would have to explain what she was doing to me, what she had done to others as well. She only got away with it because it was... mostly consensual with everyone else. I mean, the idea of consent is foggy when it comes to mind powers like that, but it was. Last night was different, she was different. I completely resisted, but she... did it anyways. And before you ask, I am ok. I have spent a long time working for Ral, and I have gotten into tough spots before. Nothing... quite like that, but I am fine. Mostly, I wanted to thank you. For stopping last night and making he reprisal SO FUCKING GOOD. I mean, gods above how did you learn to swap and change pleasures like that? Moreover, how did you get so good so fast? I mean, I can read and lightly control thoughts, but that is something even Sedva would have some difficulty with I think, ands she knows it. And that is the other thing, you upset the balance. She is not the most powerful one here after Ral anymore. You defeated her with, what, one day's worth of lessons? Sure you caught her by surprise, but you still beat her afterwards when she surprised you. I think... I think her dominion over everyone is on the way out, and with how aggressive she got last night, I think that is for the best. So, in essence, thank you." She blew a lock of hair out of her face and sat down next to me on the bed.

Well, that did explain a lot about Sedva and her... leadership methods, as well as why nothing was ever done about it. Still, the idea that mind control could so affect a person and make them question their own experiences like that. It was somewhat terrifying that I had that power and how good dominating her last night had felt. Was I bad person?

"No, you're not" she whispered. "You did the right thing by stopping her, and if you want to think about this way, you gave her a taste of her own medicine."

I smiled and leaned back a bit. "To be fair, I think she tasted the both of us." Mel tossed her head back and laughed, her nervousness fading with the joke.

I smiled wider as I watched her laugh. Though obviously sexy, she was beautiful, which always felt like a different type of attractive.