13 The Bargain. The Loss.

'Master! Master! B-B scared, wake! Master!'

I groaned, both at the screeching in my mind and the painful pricks that erratically assaulted my heart. Confusion and disorientation were my best friends at the moment. I had no idea where I was and the last thing I remembered was that disturbing voice and being yanked upward into the trees.

'Master! Awake? B-B scared! Tainted Thing took you, Feral Fur Thing called in anger. Still taken.'

Tainted Thing? The Creature that took me? Whatever it was it was capable of both speech and either superb climbing or fucking flight. Somehow B-B could understand Saga as well. The how of that eluded me since there was no possible way for her to hear Saga. I sent what little calm I could through the emotional link toward her, if for no other reason than to stop her fidgeting.

'Shh, B-B. I'm fine, so are you. '

'Master is wrong. We are in danger. Tainted Thing still watches. B-B feels it. Like creeping mold along carapace.'

I heard a dry chuckle then and whipped my head around too fast. The disorientation worsened and I closed my eyes against it a moment. When I opened them again I was met with a truly grizzly visage.

It was a pale a leathery face stretched too tightly over a disturbingly human-looking face. It lacked a nose and the eyes were far too big to be human. The fact that it was nothing but black, no pupil, nothing but the iris, made it all the more alien.

I saw his leathery face stretch to the side and my brain forced me to compare the widening maw to that of a smile. I also saw rows, as in multiple sets, of serrated and dangerous fangs. There was no way you would mistake those for teeth. Those were fucking fangs. Then it spoke, inching closer to my face. Its head was disturbing to watch, almost like it was purposefully trying to imitate me.

"Patriarch Reborn~ You have returned to the world. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes." It paused, its face growing blank and I saw the creatures head twitch to the side before going back to an upright position. It almost seemed as though it was a forced gesture, the righting of his head. It made a shushing sound and then showed me how utterly insane the being was.

"Hush now pretties, hush. We must ensure the Patriarch Reborn remains ours and bind him to bargain." His head whipped around to the side and his body followed so fast after that I couldn't track it with my eyes and an inhuman screech that set my head to pounding while B-B screamed in pain in my head.

"NO!" he roared, "Nature does not control The Shadowed One while dealing with the Patriarch Reborn!" I caught a glimpse of the things body after it stopped moving. It was massive, eight feet tall, but thin and emancipated. It had no visible hair and all of its skin was the same pale leathery color as its face. Spikes poked out beneath the skin in places. I saw the claws when the Creature snarled again and racked his claws against the face of a cave wall. I could only gather that because of the sparks the force of the blow created when mixed with the dim light provided by the strange moss I saw along the wall at places. I also got a rather visual show of its gender being male when it turned back, that disturbingly fake 'smile' back on its face.

It moved back toward me slowly, each motion a jerking oddity that had him take long strides that were done in such a way to make him appear slow. He obviously wasn't.

"You s-t-u-d-y us?" he dragged each letter of study out in an oddly beautiful singsong voice that went against the dry and raspy tone he spoke with normally. It was frightening. So much so I could feel myself start to shake with it. I'd be stupid to not be terrified when in this things presence. "Good, you should study us, Patriarch Reborn~ The more you learn the better. We can bargain then."

I licked my lips slowly, disturbing by how the thing zoomed in on the action and more disturbed when a black forked tongue came out from its mouth to imitate the action. The fact it cut its tongue on the rows of fangs seemed to not bother it.

"W-what are you?" I asked, hating myself for the whisper my voice came out as. I'd never felt this much fear, it was like a physical presence weighing down on me.

The skulking thing continuing crawling toward me while its voice changed in a giggle. It sounded like a little girl happy at being complimented before responding. "We are The Shadowed One! Last, yes, last of our kind. Made before time in the primordial night. What we are, does not matter though. What you are," he suddenly moved snapping his faced less than an inch closed from my nose before continuing. I admit to flinching back at the sudden action of aggression as well, "matters."

"You are the Patriarch Reborn! Bound to Creation itself, bound to the Laws of Life and Death! Yet so young." the thing paused and moved back, its voice growing almost tender and caring as it raised a single clawed digit that would haunt my dreams to my face and dragged it down the side of my face. I winced as the edge parted my skin and drew a drop or two of blood. "So. Very. Tasty!" I openly shuddered as the Creature brought that claw to its mouth, never taking its eyes off of me or losing the imitation of a smile as it sucked the bits of blood from the claw.

It snarled again and seemed to forget I was there, talking to itself. "No more! Nature cannot win, we need the Bargain to be struck!"

What the fuck was going on right now? It flashed its face toward me again. I saw massive fangs in the periphery of my vision and felt them prickling my face while a black tongue lapped at the minor cut the thing had given me before he was gone just as fast, snarling. It suddenly seemed far more animalistic and growled while spitting out horrifying things.

"We can grow stronger from eating him! One bound by the Laws of Life and Death. Of Creation itself! Let us feast!"

"NO!!!" A deep and booming voice echoed from within that emancipated crawling thing and I swear the cave itself shook. "HE IS OURS! HE SHALL BRING US BACK TO HAUNT THE NIGHT!"

Oh Jesus, what is this thing? It wanted me to do what now? It moved before me again, its voice losing all that booming base and hissed into my face while gnashing its fangs. The black depths of its eyes flashing red. "You will accept the bargain or be devoured!"

It moved away a second later and was a foot from me before going still and silent. Oh, fuck me. The thing was insane, literally and figuratively. It spoke again, my own abject horror and fear keeping me silent. "We shall bargain, one bound by the Laws of Creation. You will use your power to bring our kind back. We will once again haunt the dreams of all in this world. You will gain much from the bargain."

It went silent then, stock still, watching me. For my part, I wanted to scream bloody murder. B-B herself was crying in the back of my mind while mumbling about feeling weak and scared. I had no idea what this thing really was, but it actually knew about what I could do somehow. It said I was bound by the Laws of Creation. The Laws of Life and Death. I had no idea what the fuck that meant.

It suddenly smiled and another voice came from within its maw. It was cultured and distinctly female. Sultry even. That was made all the more horrifying at the fact the Creatures body was male.

"The Patriarch Reborn is confused. Adorable. More man than beast. More beast than man. Bound by natures old and new. Bound by Life and Death. Bound to Power~" she all but breathed the last, moaning in ecstasy at the word 'power.' "Prophecy called for one of your ilk when the world was young when our kind hunted the hairy apes of all 'Good' races for sport. The second to ever be born on this World. We planned, we prepared, we h-u-n-t-e-d for your presence. It called us from continents away when you brought into being those bound by Life and Death"

The Creature crawled toward me then, a slow and sensual slink that was definitely not meant for something that looked like it did. That sultry female voice continuing, almost mesmerizing in its nature.

"We know of the Laws that bind you so tightly." she crooned and ran a palm down the side of my face, keeping the claws well away. "We will perish to ensure our kind returns. You will bargain, Crispin~"

I gasped at the mention of my name and I saw that maw crack into a genuine show of pleasure at the action as it inhaled through the gaping maw, sucking in the air I released and moaning in pleasure again.

"Yesss, we know your name, we know all. Your mind, so open, so weak still. The perfect time to force the bargain. Agree, or we will butcher the parents who love you without receiving anything in return." It tilted its head to the side and another voice came out, this one deep and masculine.

"You hide the feelings, fight your nature. It would hurt you if they died. More reason to agree." the hissing sibilant voice came after that.

"Leaving the town allowed us to find you easier, away from protections. No bloodshed needed. Just you, the moon touched, and the little bug on your heart."

B-B cried harder, somehow hearing their words. The sound in my mind startled me since she had been silent for a time, and the Creature let out a dry life before the booming bass voice took over.

"YOU SHALL BIND YOUR FATE TO THAT OF OUR KIND! WE SHALL ALLOW YOU TO KILL US, THE LAST!" the sultry female took hold again.

"The contract is bound to your soul. You will have a year and a day to fulfill it or it will take control and force you to butcher what you love, what you care for. In a year and a day, you will bring our kind back from the Abyss itself to haunt this world anew. Do you agree?"

It brought that same hand up again and looked at me in anticipation. The claws were poised to strike as well. This thing would kill me then everyone around here if I declined. The worst part is that I believed it truly would be able to do so. I had no idea what it was, or how strong it was, but I felt true fear when looking at this insane being. I swallowed and nodded my head slowly. The sultry feminine voice whispered into my ear. "We knew you would agree~"

A black smog like smoke exuded from the thing's mouth and entered my body. B-B screamed in horror while my own scream at the pain of such a vile invading force entered me and soaked into my body. I felt unclean, touched by something so ancient and evil it had no actual name.

I had no idea how long this went on for, but when it ended I found myself being cradled in the thing's arms in a different location. The deep and resonant male voice was speaking to me now. "You will be granted power by us. You are far too weak, you need more of what your bindings can grant you. The filthy green things will provide that boost. Then we shall provide you with a true boon in our death."

I blinked, letting out a shaky breath while looking around. We were up high, really high. The Creature stood at its maximum height, at least eight feet, and was on the tip of a tree. I tried not to gulp at the image of it throwing me to the ground that decided to play through my mind.

That was not how I wanted to die. The Sultry Female took hold again and a soft giggle came from the frightening visage above me. "So very sweet. We will feed your power the largest of the Goblins in this forest. It will even stop the Frenzy. Your kind are so foolish to believe anything short of a King being born would be a tide. That is not to occur until fifteen years from now in a land far away. This is but a Frenzy to grow."

I wanted to ask, to figure out what the fuck was going on but that same fear continued to grip me. I felt like an actual child again. It was very disturbing and made me feel fear all the more. The thing stepped into empty air and we struck the ground a few seconds later with an impact loud enough to be heard from miles around, yet nothing made a noise. Not even the squat child sized Goblins that seemed to be dead where they stood outside of an odd pile of wood that smelled of mud and shit.

"We control all of those of the Dark. It is our Birthright." came an answer to my unasked question by the hissing voice. I was fairly certain that was the one that wanted to devour me.

The Creature dropped me onto the ground with a thud. I hissed at the sudden shock and the Creature moved me forward with a single claws foot. "Non will fight you," said the female voice again, "kill every Goblin here, down to the last squealing babe, with your hands. Six-hundred Dark Ones that will smile as you slit their throats for us. Do this, or we will kill everyone you claim to not care about Patriarch Reborn."

I clenched my teeth and stared at the Creature that stood above me, then at the Goblins that were actually smiling at me like I was the single greatest thing to ever happen to them. I rose unsteadily to my feet and moved toward the one by the gate, taking the rusty knife from a suddenly outstretched hand before placing it against the still smiling Goblins throat and sliding it across in a single hard motion. The other soon followed while whispering 'The Masters will return!"

I let out a shuddering breath, something dying inside of me as I took a step into the crude village of Goblins and was met by over five hundred large black eyes and fang-filled smiles. Behind me, the sultry female voice let loose a loud, seductive sounding, belly laugh while breathing "Yes, destroy your mistaken honor to protect what you claim to care nothing for little Patriarch."

I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. Then I began doing just that. Down to the last happily crooning baby Goblin.