“Taunt me all you like; I do not mind. I have all the time in the world to play games with you. Believe me when I tell you that you will never leave this mountain again. I already have full access to your weak mind, and you and I both know that you do not have the power to block me out now that I am in.”
“That may be true, but that does not mean that I know anything of value to you or your new master.” He could not control the fear that was threatening to destroy his resolve.
“I serve no one but myself!” This shout was not heard in his head but in the empty cavern around him. A dark mist began to swirl about a dozen paces in front of him. A large, horned figure rose up out of the eerie-looking cloud. The dark lord was twice the height of Lord Keb and had reddish-black hide that had the look of blood mixed with mud. He had two massive horns that came out of the sides of his head and wrapped around his head in a way that provided some measure of protection. He had a thick muscular figure that did not appear to have an ounce of fat on it anywhere. His eyes were bright red with dark black pupils. He had surprisingly white teeth as he displayed them nastily for Keb.
Lord Keb took advantage of this slight break in the dark one’s concentration to lock down the one secret that he knew he must keep secret. He did this so subtly that the wicked beast did not take notice. Keb looked up at the impressive devil standing in front of him and smiled back. “It’s nice to see that you have not let yourself go after all this time. What have you been doing all these years locked away in that icy fortress?”
“You will soon find that out for yourself, my old friend. You too will have a new eternal home just like I had for all those centuries. This mountain will be your icy fortress for as long as you live. Who knows…I might be able to find a way to end your misery. Of course, it would be easier if you just joined my side. You of all people should appreciate how precious life is. I know that you will do what is best for you. It is time to stop living for others.”
“You should know by now that your smooth talk and subtle coercion does not work on me. I thought you would remember that.”
“People change, Keb….especially right after they realize that they are trapped. So, what is it that you have locked away in your mind?” Keb shifted slightly from this declaration because it meant that his subtlety did not go unnoticed.
“What are you talking about?”
“When I was probing your simple mind, I thought I saw an image of some kind of object of great importance or power. Now, I can no longer see that image. What was it?” His deep voice had a soothing tone as he tried to pry to information from the earth elemental.
“You seem to be a bit touched in the head after all those years alone in that castle. I do not know what you are talking about.” He was trying his best to sound cool and unconcerned. If ever there were a time that I needed help, it would be right now.
“Believe me when I say that there will be no one coming to your rescue. Your friends are all a little busy at the moment. Kana has made sure of that.” A wicked grin flashed across the dark lord’s face as he spoke. He snorted derisively at his prisoner as he inched closer to Keb.
“That may be true, but I have other friends that you do not know of that will rescue me.”
The dark figure looked slightly apprehensive for the first time during their little chat. He did not like the tone in which he referred to these other friends. What is this little fool hiding from me?
“So, you have invisible friends that will break you out of this prison?”
“Yes, they will come to my aid when the time is right.”
“I think that you have the very dementia that you accused me of having earlier. Your arrogance will be your downfall. I see through your lies and deception, old friend.”
“You may believe whatever you want; that does not change the fact that they will come. Mark my words.” His tone took on a very serious edge to it as he said these words. His bold words were giving him confidence to stand firm against the devil in front of him.
“Considered your weak words marked. Now, you will tell me everything you know about that image I saw in your feeble mind.” His eyes began to burn bright red and looked as though flames were about to shoot out of them. His impatience was rising to the surface and his anticipation of discovering important information was causing him to lose control.
“Torture me all you like, Drogan; you know you cannot kill me.” Keb had a definite edge to his voice as he spat back at his dark tormentor. His confidence began to waver once more as the demon continue his deliberate approach.
“Well, well…you are not afraid to speak my name aloud anymore. Impressive.” He had a wicked gleam in his fiery eyes that told Keb that he had better prepare for the worst. He had seen that look before from his villainous captor. He braced for the physical and mental attacks that were about to be unleashed upon him with ferocity that he knew all too well.
“You must do what you feel is necessary, of course. Know this…friend, any information you find in my mind will not help you or your cause. Remember, limitations beset everything in this world; you should know this by now.”
“We shall see…” The dark one raised his hands above his head, which caused a blackish fire to ignite in his outstretched hands. He lowered his arms dramatically and sent balls of fire directly at the defenseless guardian. In an instant, he was engulfed in fiery blackness. His very substance burned painfully hot while the real threat of this attack bored into his mind. The blackness was a foreign spirit that penetrated most of his mental barriers within a few seconds.
Lord Keb dropped to his knees as he clasped his head, which was engulfed in flames. He was reeling from the power of the dark spirit Drogan was using on him to extract the information he desired. The spirit easily circumvented the magical barriers he had placed around a secret race he had knowledge of. However, the spirit quickly moved on because that was not what its master was looking for. There was a particular image that needed to be found and identified. Keb tried his best to fend off the relentless assault on his mental facilities to no avail. His walls seemed to melt away at the whim of the intruder. It was a very uncomfortable feeling having one’s mind read like an open book. The strain of trying to fend off the evil spirit was draining any remaining strength he had left after his encounters with Kana, the serpent, and most recently Drogan.
After only a few minutes of perusing, the spirit lurched suddenly while in Keb’s head. The image that he was sent to find was just behind a series of mental barriers. Keb tried desperately to conceal the secret that he knew he must not reveal. Drogan sensed the iron will of his captive increase in intensity and knew that he needed to do something immediately to distract the Elemental long enough to give his spirit creature the edge needed to gain access to the concealed information. He held aloft a jet-black staff that had appeared in his hands out of thin air. He pointed the tip of the staff at the burning guardian and sent a cloud of ferocious vampire bats swirling at him. The bats began to bite and generally torment the beleaguered Keb as he struggled to fend them off. They did not do much damage physically, but mentally he let his guard slip slightly.
During the split second that Keb was distracted, the demon spirit smashed through the magical barriers and captured the information that the guardian had tried so desperately to conceal. Once the creature had the information, it withdrew from the battered mind he had invaded and returned to its master. A broad smile crept across the demon lord’s face. This was a very unpleasant sight to behold and sent chills down the spine of the hunched figure of the broken Lord Keb. He knew that he had given his enemy a secret that would alter the fate of Tuwa and its people forever. He silently hoped that Drogan would not know what to do with the information that he had successfully retrieved for his new master. Kana would know what to do with this intelligence. Keb did not doubt that. He hoped that the dark lord would try to keep his findings a secret and not divulge it to the now twisted elder guardian. That was really the only hope he had for this horrific situation he found himself in.