arriving and sabotaging

soon to be named young man pov…..

after I excitedly yelled out "let's do this!" the robes man grinned and beckoned me to follow, which I quickly did.

trailing after him through mud and underbrush as we made our way along a thin path most likely created by small animals.

this thin path lead directly from the forest to the edge of what appeared to be a semi abandoned city, half of the buildings in complete disrepair while the other half were the definition of pristine.

but all of them were dwarfed in comparison to the largest building there, a building that was most obviously a temple or church of some kind.

"here we store the very essence of darkness, something we found in a tunnel not too long ago, with it you should be able to go directly into his realm and do what you wish."(robed man) said in a friendly and informative tone as his bony finger slowly raised and directed my eyes to what I had already guessed to be a church or temple.

"amazing!"(young man) I let out, the man grinning at my words.

"but there is the small matter of repayment, see, this essence is finite and we do so rely upon it, after you have successfully gotten your mother back all we need you to do is go and retrieve some more from the source itself."(robed man) said simply, a kind smile on his face.

"how?"(young man) I asked him, slowly snapping from my momentary amazement and naivety.

"simple, in his realm lays a vault, in that vault he stores his power, just simply use this tool on the door and leave, we'll have everything covered after that and you and your mother will be free to leave and do as you please."(robed man) said with a playful nudge with his elbow at my side and an obvious wink.

"sounds easy enough, I'll do it."(young man) I stated boldly and dramatically.

"perfect."(robed man) said as he shoved his hand onto my shoulder, my vision spinning immediately, fading and distorting before changing altogether.

by the time my sight cleared I was standing in a large open field barely some distance away from what looked to be a city enthralled in a dark night, stars being the only source of light casting downwards as no houses possessed any lights, or warmth.

If not for the various black spirits so dark that they stood out against the night wandering around I would have thought this place abandoned.

what was stranger was when I cast my glance downward I found myself wearing a different appearance, a tall man wrapped in coat and pants of black, as if this place didn't have enough black.

but seeing as it didn't impact or change anything i figured it best to ignore and just kinda shrugged it off, beginning to walk my way to the town, quickly stopping as a castle entered my view the same time a voice entered my ears.

"that castle there, go to it, you wear the shape of their lord as you got here using his essence, you will find no hindrance on entering, the vault will call out to you as you bear his essence."(robed man) spoke in my mind, giving me a clear goal.

and seeing as I had nothing else I wanted or had to do here other than my two missions I figured it best to be on my way, the walk in general taking very little time as every road or path in this place all led to the castle, even the massive metal object in the center of the houses that was wrapped in copper seemed to feed directly to the castle.

and with my walk now over and my feet bringing me to the gates of the stone fortress I uneasily stepped foot inside, pausing momentarily to see if anything would happen.

waiting…..

waiting...

nothing.

and with that concluded I confidently strode inside and straight for my objective, an objective I somehow knew the location of already, quickly finding it in the maze of hallways and passages.

with time not on my side I rushed to the well, plunging my hands deep into it and beginning a process I somehow already knew, only minutes later would a strikingly gorgeous woman with features that puts any succubus to shame came from the well, her eyes immediately locking on me.

"greetings master!"(mom) said in her familiar voice, my mind now secure that it actually worked.

"with that done it's time I do the other thing I'm here for."(young man) I said to myself as I quickly strolled towards the vault, a large and imposing metal door not even a hundred feet away from the well.

it hummed to life as the door creaked open, a massive crystal shining brightly before me, pulsing with joy and recognition.

a sight so strange I found myself distracted, only able to pull myself from my trance when I felt something cold and hard in my hands, an object I didn't even question or glance at as I shoved it directly into the crystal the size of a house, the castle immediately groaning and shaking as stones fell from the ceiling and the stars in the night sky blinked chaotically, cracks and ripples rushed through the ground below as my mother and I vanished, finding ourselves in that partially abandoned town, the night air silent and still, small insects singing loudly among the humidity and trees.

"as promised, you may go now, enjoy your life well friend."(robed man) said gleefully as he waved us in the direction of the towns main gate, an obvious invitation to leave.

an invitation we took immediately as just behind the robed man stood dozens of armed guards, all ominous and intimidating in appearance.

- - -

"GRAHHHHHHH!"(Granularr) I found myself roaring in agony as I collapsed to my knees, my right hand clutching at my chest as sweat formed atop my forehead, heading down my face, my breath quick and ragged, forced.

my body soon forced back within Andrea, my vampire Avente rushed to our side.

"MY LORD!"(Avente) cries out as he too fell to his knees, soon experiencing the same things I was.

all this while Andrea stood up confused, having no idea what was going on while I had plenty.

"THOSE BASTARDS! THEY ACTUALLY MANAGED TO BREAK IN!"(Granularr) I roared enraged, my form quickly vanishing from the void in Andreas mind directly straight to my castle throne room.

the damage was apparent and so too was the cause, the wide open vault door and the cracked core within spoke volumes as memories of what it had seen filled my view.

as soon as the images concluded I could make but one firm deduction.

someone used MY ESSENCE!