Look at them, scrounging about like a bunch of rats. Kicking and fighting. Might as well be biting. I can feel the smirk coming across my face. This form. My avatar. Container. It simply holds me and I mold it but with effort and this smile I hate it. I can feel the air on my teeth this smile is so big. My teeth so Sharp. 

“Congratulations!” I announce to the hooligans and summoner and the giant. The void of white isn’t my choice for decorations but my blackness, my me, does echo so opposite to it. Divine. “You’ve made the first step. Summoner. Little. Small. Tiny.”

The lot of them come to attention. All eyes on me. Wide open and terrified. Perfect. Correct. Why must this smile be so impossible to hide?

“Now that is a fucking demon!” Tye proclaims. He’s pointing at me as he’s lifting himself from the ground using Corbin’s face as assistance…

“Get off me!” Corin shouts. Flailing away at the Lancaster progeny.

The others gasp and the giant actually screams at such a high pitch I’m tempted to catch it. Save it for later. To play with… No, now’s not the time. There will be so much of that to come. Patience. Focus. This lot of rabble will need all your attention. This flock isn’t capable of being lead by anything less than me. Terrible. Destruction. Vengeance. Hate.

“I am…” I intone. Drawing myself before them all at once individually at the same time. “Your guide. Caretaker. I will show you the way out of this… place.”

“The hell you will!” Tye shouts at me. Such an obnoxious brat. I lean into him. All of them. Dagger to their throats. 

“I’m not asking. I’m telling you were it is you are to go.” I say with a tongue lashing smile. Just far enough away from his face to not touch the hairs. It’s warm. I can hear his heart beating. And those eyes. I want to take them. Who stole those jewels out of the vault? Who sold their soul to make them shimmer so? I want to know. I want to eat it. 

Focus.

“I am a friendly. Child Lancaster. Blue. So deep. So true.” I purr into his ear for all to hear. My vail envelops them and vanishes into my avatar again. 

He gulps.

I notice one Corin inching herself away as if I could be distracted by this animals display. “Young lady Corin, you should know better than to break away from the flock when a predator is in the midst.”

I can see her face turn blue. I should probably start thinking about how to carry them all incase they pas out. 

“You are the one I made a deal with?” The summoner asks. She’s standing frozen in place. Eyes wide and terror locked on her face.

“Through.” I reply.

“So to fight a demon you made a deal with a demon?!” Locke shouts.

“I didn’t make a deal with it! It brokered the deal between me and her!” Nora proclaims pointing her finger to Corin. 

Everyone glares at Corin who’s still blue and looks a little out of it.

“Don’t look at me! I don’t know what the hell is going on here!” Corin proclaims. Batting away my avatar remnants but not loosing herself from my clutches.

“Dude! You can’t sell our souls for your dead girlfriend okay?! I don’t agree.” Tye screams. 

“I didn’t make a deal to bring back Malory with some demon okay!?” She yells back. “I swear!”

“It’s hard to believe with the current situation you liar!” The croons

“It is rather hard to believe…” Locke interjects intellectually.

The others make agreeing noises. Good.

“I am not a book that reads itself aloud.” I declare. “You, all of you, are in this together now. I am simply here to get you there.”

“For real guys, I really don’t recall making any deals or nothing with a demon. I know you don’t trust me right now but isn’t that what a demon would do? Sow distrust and chaos and stuff?” Corin pleads. 

“Yeah, okay, let’s use logic in a situation that just shat out two bricks and broke reality into white abyss nothingness demon lady thing here!” Tye screams. “I vote Corin off the island.”

“Dude!” Corin screams

“Here” Locke intones

“…” Brent raises his hand.

“Guys, are you for real. You’re just gonna abandon me to. To. To.  This?!”

“Hey man, I have a crazy dad, Brent’s tall and Locke is two thousand years dumb. We didn’t get us into this shit.” Tye replies.

“I’m not dumb.” Locke complains.

“Like socially man, like modern talking people skills. No offense.” Tye soothes.

“None taken.” Locke replies obviously offended as he closes his eyes and crosses his hands and feet. 

“Enough.” I declare. They all go silent and their attention falls back to me. “I am simply a guide and I am only going to show you how to leave this place. If you wish to stay here in infinite nothingness for all eternity then don’t follow. If you wish to stay alive and not have your throat slit and be my everything for all eternity please refuse to leave.”

“We’ll, when you say it like that…” Tye replies. 

“I vote for not dying.” Corin adds

“I would like to finish my book.” Locke interjects as he flips his bangs from his glasses.

“…” the giant simply nods

“I did not come here to fail.” Nora declares.

“Good. Now…” I say as I withdraw myself from before all of them into myself turning to be before them. “If you’ll just follow me there is a way out.”

They all collect themselves. Brushing off what I imagine they imagine to be dust? This place is a void. Such strange customs. Humans are so peculiar. So interesting. Their screams and terror so relishes. My mouth is salivating.

“I will lead the way. There is a trick to this and you must follow me you’ll never figure it out apes… and mutt…”

“What’s a mutt?” Nora inquires.

“Should we tell her?” Tye asks the group.

“I didn’t hear what she said.” Corin lies fingering her ear and shifting her toe into the ground.

“…” the Goliath states as he pushes past Tye following my lead.

“The ability to pick one’s battles is not a weakness my friend.” Locke tells Tye as he puts his hand on his shoulder walking past him.

“Do not dally it will be a bit of time.” I declare. Tye shoots Nora a glance and shrugs and falls in line. The summoner takes up the rear.

“This is in fact a hallway. Do not touch the walls.” I declare as I send a portion of myself between Tye and the wall he unconsciously reaches out for. “Or you will mix… destroy… change.. alter… some reality.”

“Some reality?” He replies.

“It is… unwise to mess with perfection. Our mere steps and breathing and presence here are doing enough as it is.”

They all gulp at that. 

“Then why bring us here?” Nora asks.

“Because it’s fun. To break what one can.” I reply.  “As much as is allowed.”

“Do not look too close for too long at any one point outside of yourself and each other or be gifted visions unburdened.”

“Dude, you made a deal with that?” Tye asks Corin.

“I told you already I don’t even know her.” Corin replies. 

It hurts me. Like a dagger. The pain. Do I have a heart? It feels so brutal. This avatar is so imbecilic. So disconnected. Could it even be considered a piece of my master? Maybe I should destroy it. For her sake.

The realm shutters at the thought in anger and everyone squeaks and groans. Okay. Fine. I’ll kill it later. Slowly… only a couple dozen times.

“What was that?” Nora asks with trepidation.

“Rules. Limiters. Must obey. Can only do so much. Am only allowed to lead.” I reply.

“Is she saying she wants to kill us?” Corin asks. There is my lady, sharp even when spread so thin…

They all stay silent from that as we draw to the exit. A ripple tore open. An oasis manifesting itself ever more the closer we draw to it. Coming into view sits the young Summoner Nora Nebula on her summoners stone aloft the canyon. The mist thick but not to my eyes.

“Hey isn’t that you?” Tye asks aloud turning his head to Nora pointing at her body ahead of us.

“It is… am I dead?” She replies.

“Projection. Astral. You will wake when you jump through the way. But you go last. Then first.” I reply as I stop at the precipice of the opening. “Know this. They are not strong enough to defeat the demon as is. They will need to return to their realm and recharge. Grow and change. Then they’ll have the strength to destroy.” I finish unable to hide the pleasure from the word as it exits my mouth.

“How do I do that?” Nora asks walking up to me as the others linger. Inspecting the way from a distance.

“I am not a sage. I am not your tutor or beholden to you whatsoever welp. I am only here to see you through this way.” I sneer. 

“That’s not home.” Tye demands.

“No. It’s not.” I answer.

“I have class tomorrow and rent and most importantly I have to unlock like three more characters on my game. I can’t be jumping into some alternate universe.” Tye complains.

“I also have things I need to do I would like to catch the next… way is it?” Locke adds.

“Is that really another reality? Like dimension? Like string theory?” Corin asks peering into the way.

“…”

“If you would like to stay I will be happy to take you with me. Dead. Multiple times. You’re agony would taste so good. I can already picture the ways I’ll peel your skin from…”

The group jumps into the portal before I can finish leaving me with only Nora. 

“It is done. You may go.” I tell her.

“They aren’t strong enough?”

“Yet.”

“I have to find a way to get send them back?”

“Correct.”

“For how long?”

“As it takes.”

“How will I know?”

“You will not ever know if you ask me any more questions or delay any longer.”

Nora yelps and launches herself through the way. As she passes I seal it shut behind her. Take in a deep breath and burst into uncontrollable laughter. This is so fun. I’m going to have so much fun!

I send my essence out and gather all those feelings and sounds and thoughts as they escape this avatar and bring them into me. New creation to torture. It’s already begun. 

Obstacle Sixteen. Oath