A Fox in the Dark: Chapter 7
Story by Revresbo on SoFurry
A group of warriors-in-training and their mentor literally fall on hard times. Lost in a dark cave system, can they find their way out in one piece?
CONTENT WARNING: The following chapter includes some body horror and the Eye Scream trope.
Chapter 7
Shanlai whirled at the strange voice that seemed to come from behind her, leveling her rapier toward the sound. The voice was unlike any she had heard before, deep and yet light, and musical, like gently chiming bells. It was not unpleasant, but there was a hint of dissonance in the notes, not enough to grate, but enough to make Shanlai uneasy. Or perhaps they were harmonies meant for different ears.
"Who are you?" Shanlai was proud that her voice remained steady. Internally, she was shaking like a leaf.
"I'm an 'anyone' who can help." The voice came from her left this time, and Shanlai turned again to face it. "Is that not what you wanted?"
"Do you have a name?"
"Not as you understand names." It was behind her again, as if trying to make her dizzy. "Do you always point weapons at those who help you?"
"How do I know it's not a trick?"
"I do not lie, little mortal. Come, let us talk. What assistance do you need?"
Slowly, cautiously, Shanlai sheathed her blade. Others in her situation would say things could hardly get worse. Shanlai didn't believe that--in fact, she could imagine a hundred ways the situation could get worse--but she was willing to risk the chance to make it better.
"We're lost down here, and being attacked by some," she paused, looking for the right word, "things. If we can't find our way out, we'll die."
"Will death not simply bring you to your god?" It was in front of her still, but it seemed to be drifting to her left. The chiming voice seemed genuinely curious to her ears. "Is it not desirable?"
"We're not ready to go just yet. There's more to do here."
"Indeed." Behind her and to the right. She craned her neck even though sight was useless. "I can help you. But I will require something from you as well."
Shanlai was very much on edge. A deal with a fiend? It wasn't how she imagined a fiend would sound, but that meant nothing. And if it wasn't from the lower planes, what was it? "How can you help, and what do you need?"
"I can give you sight in the darkness. You will be able to find your way out then, yes? All I need in return is your eye."
"My eye?" Shanlai cried out in shock.
"Your left eye." The voice was on her left again.
"Why do you need it?"
"The power I give cannot be granted without sacrifice." Shanlai could never predict where the voice would come from next. There were no sounds of movement, no disturbance in the air. Just the voice in the darkness, always in a different place.
"Could you use my eye to influence me? Will taking your 'gift' damn me to hell or the abyss?"
"I cannot dictate your actions, little mortal, and I have no interest in your soul or your gods."
"If I accept, will this be the end of the deal? Or will you come back in a month or a year and say I still owe you?"
"Time is different for me than for you; a month, a day, a year, all are meaningless to me. But it is irrelevant. Your left eye in exchange for my gift. That is the entirety of the deal. You may find new uses, new abilities with my gift with time and practice, but this one sacrifice is all I require to grant it to you."
"Why my eye, though? You never answered."
"I did, but you try to find hidden meaning behind plain words. In order to grant you my gift, you must give up your eye. Without that, I cannot give it to you."
"So you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart? No coming back looking for more?"
"I may certainly visit to see what you do with my gift, but as I said, I will require nothing further from you. As for why I do it, my reasons are my own, and I doubt you could fully comprehend them. However," the voice paused, and Shanlai could practically feel its appraising gaze, "you are interesting. I'm curious to see what may become of you."
At no point did Shanlai sense a lie in its words, but she wasn't sure she would be able to tell. She didn't trust it, but did she have a choice?
"Time flows differently for me, but I will not wait forever. Will you accept my help, little mortal? All it takes is a little pain for a greater reward."
Shanlai's mind raced. This could easily be the biggest decision she ever made in her life. If she refused, she would probably die in the caves. But could she accept? She glanced toward the cave where her friends slept. Then, she turned to the centre of the room, straightened her shoulders, and said, "I accept."
Abruptly, for the first time in days, there was light. The light was dim, but it was still enough to make Shanlai blink. As her vision cleared, she stared in wonder at the figure before her.
The figure was tall, about eight feet in height, and humanoid. It was clad in a pure white robe that went to the floor with long, voluminous sleeves and a hood that extended down over its face like an opaque veil. Its limbs were proportioned longer than a human's, and its fingers were long and slender, steepled at chest height. The skin she could see was pale. Large, white-feathered wings extended from its back, and a circular halo behind its head provided the dim, golden light Shanlai could see by. Lines crossed the halo in an irregular pattern, looking vaguely like an arcane circle or pentagram. A necklace with a gold plate adorned in gems of different colours, sizes, and cuts hung from its neck. Despite the long, slim proportions, it was a figure of angelic beauty that filled Shanlai with awe. Still, it wasn't enough to completely dispel her unease.
Shanlai thought she heard the soft chime of its voice, but she couldn't hear any words in it. Then, it reached out its long-fingered right hand towards her.
As its finger traced a line down the left side of her face, Shanlai couldn't tell if it actually touched her or if its finger hovered a millimetre from the surface. What she did feel was something like a line of fire starting just above her brow following the path of its finger down to her cheekbone. Both her eyes watered with the sudden pain, and her dull claws bit into her hands hard enough to draw blood. But nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.
She felt her skin separate down the line, pulling away from her eye. The line of fire was joined by a feeling of interest discomfort and wrongness, and it took every ounce of willpower she had to not reach up and try to push it back together again. She saw the not-angel, for how could any angel make her feel like this, reach out, and once again, she couldn't say if it touched her or hovered around her eye, but the effect was immediate.
As her eye was pulled from its socket, the pain, already agonizing, became completely debilitating. She tried to scream, but her vocal cords seemed paralyzed, and she couldn't breathe. She fell to her hands and knees. The pain was like there was a gout of flame bursting from her eye socket, spreading over her face. Her remaining eye was half-blinded by tears. With superhuman effort, she blinked the tears away and looked up.
The figure was holding her eye in its long-fingered hand, or perhaps it hovered between its fingers. It rotated her eye slowly, as if peering at it from behind its hood. As it did so, its fingers blocked her eye from her vision, and when it should have come back into view, it was gone, with nothing in the not-angel's hand.
"Our deal?" she gasped, shuddering with pain.
Its laugh, like its voice, was musical, a pleasant chime with a hint of dissonance. "Do not fret, little mortal. I always keep my promises."
Its right hand reached for its necklace, and out of the gold plate it plucked a cerulean gem, perfectly smooth and spherical. It held the gem in front of its hood, and with its left hand, it traced white runes into it. Shanlai couldn't tell if they were engraved on the gem or hovered just beneath the surface of it. Then, it reached out its hand, crouching to reach her face, and Shanlai braced herself.
Blessed, cool relief spread out from the gem, quieting the fire she felt. Shanlai gasped, and a tear of relief dropped from her right eye. Her head dropped, looking at the floor, as her face pressed back together and what felt like a cool line of ice flowed up to seal it back together. When it finished a moment later, the pain was gone, though phantom twinges ran through her face as a reminder.
More amazingly, Shanlai could see the floor with perfect clarity despite the dimness of the lighting. Where before shadows had hidden dips in the rock, she could see clearly, though without colour. With amazement, she looked up toward her benefactor, then fell back on her tail as she recoiled in horror.
The most basic outline of the thing remained the same, but it had changed. Its limbs bent in impossible angles while maintaining their shape. The centre of its chest had a hole that was too deep to see the end of. The halo had become golden patterns of wheels within wheels and impossible geometries. The halo was still behind the figure's head, but Shanlai could somehow see the whole pattern despite the not-angel's head being in the way. Its hood was now transparent, and Shanlai saw blank skin with no eyes, ears, nose, or hair, just a mouth stretching in a smile slightly too wide. It was uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but despite the alien features and incomprehensibility of its form, it was still awe-inspiring to behold. It was simultaneously impossibly beautiful and exquisitely painful to look at.
With a mixture of fear, wonder, and curiosity, Shanlai closed her new left eye. Once again, it appeared as a tall angel in a white robe. Opening her eye revealed its true form once again. Or was it its true form? Shanlai didn't know how to tell. With a start, she realized that with her new eye, she could see lines, runes, and what looked like pupils etched into the gemstones remaining in its necklace. It seemed to be staring back at her with them. Are those its eyes? And if so...
With a shaky hand, she touched her left eye. It was hard and cool to the touch. Once again, she looked at her benefactor. It seemed amused and delighted by her fear, awe, and confusion.
"Good luck, little mortal." The chime of its voice sparkled with its joy in a way that caused Shanlai to smile even as her heart squeezed in her chest. "I can't wait to see what you do with my gift."
And as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone.
AN: This is it. The chapter I really wanted to write. Shanlai's meeting with the... well, the not-angel. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tune in tomorrow to see how much the gift helps. Tell me what you think of the meeting!