The air around it is oppressive, charged with a stifling heat that prickles my skin. Even the faintest movement sends ripples of tension through the room, as if the very space is alive and recoiling from its presence. The crackle of the fire in the fireplace is muted now, insignificant against the suffocating energy radiating from this thing wearing my face.
“This… Soul of yours,” it continues, gesturing with a clawed hand that has reshaped itself to look almost human, “is fascinating. A cage for me, yes… but also a treasure trove. Every memory, every fear, every weakness…” It leans forward, its breath hot and sulfuric as it sneers. “It’s all here laid bare for me to savor. .”
I force myself to breathe, my chest tight with dread. Time feels irrelevant here—trapped in this room, this memory of my father’s study. Days, hours, minutes? They blend, stretching endlessly. The creature’s hunger has shifted, its desire no longer limited to destruction and consumption. Now, it craves knowledge, understanding, and power. Yet one word it used lingers in my mind, sharp and insistent: .
“Soul Forge?” I ask, the words catching in my throat as I meet its gaze. “What is that?”
The creature tilts its head, mimicking curiosity, its cracked lips curling into a smile that doesn’t reach its smoldering eyes. “I don’t know,” it admits, its tone carrying a strange weight, almost… genuine. “It feels right, as if it’s something I’ve always known, but forgotten. A truth buried so deep; it only just surfaced.”
I stare back, my instinct to look away screaming in the back of my mind, but I refuse to yield. The tension between us crackles, an electric charge that makes my skin prickle and my breath shallow. I can feel the heat radiating from it, oppressive like standing too close to an open flame. My hands tremble, sweat slicking my palms.
“That’s not an answer,” I say, trying to sound firm though my voice wavers. “Why does this place exist? What is it supposed to be?”
The creature paces now, its movements fluid and unnervingly graceful, shadows clinging to it like living things. It runs a clawed hand along the edge of my father’s desk, its touch leaving faint trails of mist that dissipate almost instantly.
“Questions,” it murmurs, more to itself than to me. “Always questions. You humans love to ask, but rarely do you understand. Do you even know what you are, Alaric? What
am?”
My throat tightens, but I force the words out. “Do you? Do you even know what you are?” I meet its gaze, my voice rising with defiance. “To me, you’re nothing but a monster… a parasite.”
It halts mid-step, its head twisting toward me with a sharp, unnatural precision that sends a chill down my spine. I tense, bracing for an attack, but instead, it laughs—a high-pitched, chilling sound that cuts through the air like shards of ice, grating against my nerves.
“A parasite,” it repeats, the words soaked in mockery, each syllable a taunt. “Perhaps!” Its grin stretches wider, almost feral, as its molten eyes bore into mine. “But I’ve forgotten what I am… what they called me. Those humans!” It spits the word with a twisted relish, as if savoring the taste of it, like a predator savoring the promise of a meal.
Its eyes blaze with a molten yellow-red intensity, like embers stoked to a searing flame, radiating an unsettling, predatory heat., “When I was only instinct. When all I had was…” Its voice drops into a guttural growl, the word trembling with intensity. “Hunger.”
The word reverberates through the room, heavy and primal. I feel it like a vibration in my bones, as if the hunger itself is alive and clawing at the edges of this space.
The creature steps closer, its presence pressing down on me like a suffocating weight. Every nerve in my body screams to flee, but I am frozen, trapped beneath its molten gaze. The flickering light from the phantom fireplace reflects off its dark misty form, veins of molten red pulsing beneath its surface like a storm cloud brewing with flashes of fire. The air itself feels heavy, suffused with something primal and predatory, carrying the faint scent of smoke and iron, sharp and stifling.
“I’ve been asking myself the same questions, Alaric,” it says, its voice eerily smooth now, a dark mirror of my own but laced with a sinister undercurrent. “Why am I here? Why do I… think now?” Its eyes burn with intensity as it tilts its head, studying me like prey pinned beneath its claws. “Before, there was only Hunger. Endless Hunger. I fed without thought, without reason, until now.”
The fire crackles behind me, its light failing to pierce the dense shadows creeping closer. My breathing is shallow, my chest tight as the weight of its words settle in. Hunger—an all-consuming force, devoid of meaning or purpose. My mind races as I sink into my father’s chair, the creak of the worn wood barely registering over the pounding of my heart.
“And now?” I ask, my voice a whisper, quaking with uncertainty. “Now you question everything? Why we exist?”
It stops pacing and turns sharply, its molten eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my skin crawl. “Exactly,” it hisses. “Why do you exist, Alaric? Why do I? Why does anyone?” The words are a challenge, a blade turned inward and out, cutting through me.
My thoughts spiral, grasping for answers that I know don’t exist. I force my eyes to meet its gaze, though every instinct screams to look away. The heat of its presence brushes against my skin, prickling like the sting of fire too close to bare flesh.
“What am I supposed to say?” I manage, my voice barely above a whisper. “You’re asking for the meaning of life itself. I don’t know.”
It smiles then, a slow, grotesque grin that stretches across its twisted face. The dark mist shifts around it, flickering like smoke caught in a windless room. “And yet,” it says, “I know your thoughts. Your fears. They taste… exquisite.” Its voice lowers to a growl, reverberating through the space. “Your mind is my mind now. Do you not feel it? The chaos we share.”
My blood runs cold, the words hitting me like a physical blow. My thoughts aren’t safe. Every memory, every moment of doubt—this creature sees it all. My stomach churns as nausea rises, and the phantom warmth of the fire does nothing to stave off the chill settling deep in my bones.
“You think of escape,” it sneers, leaning forward, its face inches from mine. Its breath is hot, rancid, carrying the metallic tang of ash and decay. “But there is none, Alaric. Not for you.”
Suddenly, the room flickers, the familiar walls of my father’s study dissolve into a void of pure darkness. The air shifts, cold and empty, pressing against me like a vacuum. When the study snaps back into existence, the creature is above me, its clawed hand closing around my throat.
I gasp, clawing at its grip as it lifts me effortlessly from the chair. The sharp, biting cold of its touch seeps into my skin, spreading through my veins like ice. Its eyes glow brighter, the predator’s hunger unmistakable now.
“Your body,” it growls, its voice dripping with malice, “is gaining strength again. It can house only one soul. One consciousness. And YOU—” it shakes me violently, laughing as I struggle— “can no longer teach me anything.”
Its laugh is jagged, a guttural sound that grates against my ears. It yanks me closer, whispering in my ear, its voice like a blade dragging over stone. “You are weak! You are nothing! You. Are. !!!!!!”
With a sudden, violent motion, it throws me across the room. I crash into the fireplace, embers scattering, but there is no heat, no pain. Only the crushing weight of despair. The walls flicker again, the study disintegrating into that oppressive void, shadows curling and twisting as the creature stalks toward me. Its form shifts, the dark mist swirling around it, leaving only those burning, hellish eyes visible.
It grabs me by the hair, wrenching my head back. I cry out in protest, but its grip is unyielding. Its clawed hand rises, and I see it—a wound in its palm, circular and lined with jagged teeth, writhing as if alive.
“Do you see?” it hisses, holding its twisted hand above my heaving chest, “do you see what you are to me?”
My breath catches in my throat as it presses the wound against my chest.
Pain explodes through me, sharp and all-consuming. I scream as I feel the rows of teeth bite into my flesh, tearing at skin and bone, an agony so raw it drowns out every other sensation. My vision blurs, darkness creeping in at the edges as the creature’s laughter echoes, not aloud but inside my head, reverberating through my very being.
The study begins to fade, the fire dimming to embers, the warmth and light of my memories consumed by the encroaching void. I feel myself slipping, my strength waning, and for a moment, I think of letting go. It would be easier, I tell myself.
But then, flickers of memory surface—my father’s steady hand polishing his sword, my mother’s soft humming as she embroidered intricate patterns, my brother’s determined smile as we trained together with swords, and my sister’s loving face as she told us fantastical stories she would make up as she longed for adventure. Their faces, their voices, their love, they flood through me, anchoring me even as the creature pulls me deeper.
“No,” I whisper, the word barely audible over the chaos. I dig into the remnants of my strength, my defiance sparking like the last ember in a dying fire. “You… will not… take me.”
The void swirls, the creature’s laughter faltering for a fraction of a second, and I feel it—an ember of hope, faint but steady.
*****
The creature studies Alaric intently, its molten yellow-red eyes gleaming with anticipation as it speaks. The room flickers again, walls dissolving into nothingness before reassembling in jagged fragments, like a shattered mirror trying to reform. It feels the shift, the instability rippling through the Soul Forge. It is almost time. The thought slithers through its mind, accompanied by a shiver of excitement. Alaric’s body is gaining strength, his soul radiating with a light that the creature can feel burning at the edges of its shadowy essence. The glow grows brighter with every flicker of the room, pushing against the suffocating void that binds them.
The creature savors the sight, inhaling deeply as if it could taste the luminous energy emanating from Alaric. The scent is intoxicating—a blend of vitality and purity, laced with a power it cannot yet fully comprehend. It yearns to claim that power, to make it its own, to revel in the sensations of flesh, of breath, of life. The thought of escaping this eternal prison fills it with a feral hunger that twists and writhes within its misty form. The souls of the outside world call to it, tantalizing, even from this confinement.
“Forge,” the creature murmurs in its mind, the word surfacing unbidden. Why does it call this place a forge? It cannot say, yet it knows instinctively that the name fits, like an ancient truth buried deep within its fragmented awareness. The why does not matter. What matters is the now—this moment, this prey, this chance. Its time is almost at hand.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What am I supposed to say?” Alaric’s voice breaks through the creature’s thoughts, trembling but defiant. “You’re asking for the meaning of life itself. I don’t know.”
The creature’s lips curl into a grotesque grin, sharp and mocking. Of course, its prey does not know. This human, this strange anomaly, is a tangle of ignorance and untapped potential. The creature has seen every memory, every fragment of Alaric’s life laid bare in the books of this Soul Forge. And yet, the human remains blind to the glow that surrounds him, the pure light encasing his soul, a light growing stronger with every passing moment. It feels the urgency mounting within itself, a primal need to devour, to dominate, before that light burns too brightly even for it.
"You think of escape," it hisses, its voice dark and rich, like molten metal dripping into water. The creature leans forward, its face inches from Alaric’s, relishing the way the human recoils.
“There is none, Alaric,” it whispers, its voice soft but sharp enough to cut. “Not for you.”
The room flickers violently, the study dissolves into an endless void before snapping back into existence, the transition jarring and chaotic. This is the moment. The creature moves like a shadow given form, rushing at Alaric with inhuman speed. Its claws wrap around his neck, the sharp tips biting into his skin as it lifts him effortlessly, savoring the panic in his wide eyes. It taunts its prey before tossing him into the fireplace, embers scattering harmlessly across the room. The creature sheds its human guise, its black mist swirling and thickening around it as it looms over Alaric, a writhing cloud of darkness threaded with veins of molten red.
The creature grabs Alaric by the hair, yanking his head back with cruel precision. It laughs—that high-pitch, chilling sound that reverberates through the space, shaking the air itself. Its clawed hand shifts, a circular wound forming in its palm, lined with rows of jagged, writhing teeth.
“Do you see?” it hisses, holding its twisted hand above Alaric’s chest. “Do you see what you are to me?”
The creature presses its palm into Alaric’s chest, and the teeth sink in. The first bite is agony, a searing, tearing pain that rips through him. Alaric screams, the sound raw and broken, echoing through the study. A sweet melody to the feeding monster. It feels the light of his soul flickering beneath its touch, and it revels in the sensation, the sweetness of the energy slipping into its being.
But then… the light does not fade. It dims, yes, but it persists—a stubborn ember refusing to die. The creature snarls, pressing harder, its other claw digs into Alaric’s shoulders to hold him in place. The burning pain sears through its shadowy form, an affront to its dominance.
? It thinks, pushing its palm deeper but feeling a force beginning to repel it.
Its rage and frustration build as the light begins to grow again, brighter, hotter. Alaric’s screams change, shifting from raw terror to something else—resistance. The creature senses it, a defiance taking root within its prey, and it recoils slightly, hissing in irritation.
“No!” it snarls, doubling its efforts, its misty form writhing with fury. “You are mine!”
But the light surges, a blinding beam shooting upward into the void. The room shakes violently, the air splitting with a deafening crack as a sphere of light forms around Alaric, separating him from the creature. The force throws the creature back, its mist scattering as it screeches in pain. It regroups, glaring at the glowing orb with hatred and confusion.
From within the light, a figure emerges—ethereal and radiant, its presence overwhelming. Alaric collapses to the ground, panting, his body trembling from the pain and effort. The creature hovers, watching with burning eyes as the figure steps forward, its form shrouded in brilliance.
The predator’s growl fills the room, low and guttural, as it prepares to strike again. But for the first time, doubt creeps into its mind. The light is not just an obstacle, it is something more, something it cannot yet comprehend.
“Who are you?” it snarls as its mist form begin to retract and his human form takes place once again.
*****
The pain is unbearable, worse than anything I’ve ever felt—like molten fire searing every nerve, radiating through my body in relentless waves. My chest feels like it’s been ripped open, the mark where the creature’s clawed hand tried to devour me still burning with a heat that refuses to fade. But then, there’s something else. A warmth—not the suffocating, oppressive kind from the creature’s attack, but something softer, purer. It’s like standing in the first rays of sunlight after endless, frozen nights, and it leaves me breathless.
The air around me hums with energy, the tension so thick it presses against my skin. Then, she steps forward—a figure from a giant orb of light in front of me. My breath catches in my throat. She’s radiant, her golden hair cascading in waves that shimmer like molten sunlight. Her eyes are luminous, golden, and piercing, seeming to see straight through the shadows and right into me. Her expression is calm, almost detached, but I can feel the storm beneath her surface, a power so immense it feels like it could reshape the world.
I’m not the only one who feels it. The creature snarls, its molten, yellow-red eyes narrowing as it recoils. Its form flickers, the dark mist coiling and writhing as if struggling to maintain shape. Even its fury seems restrained, like it’s weighing its chances against the woman standing before it.
“You have no place here,” she says, her voice calm but resonant, each word ringing with authority. She turns around to face the creature.
“You are but a fragment of primordial hunger, gnawing endlessly but never whole. I will rip you from here like the disease you are.” Her voice is not loud, it doesn’t need to be. Her words carry a weight that seems to push the very air out of the room.
“Disease?” it echoes, the word dripping with venom.
“You, too, are but a fragment—a shadow left behind. Do not dare to think yourself above me.” The creature sneers, its jagged smile spreading wide as it lets out a mocking laugh.
The woman raises her hand, and a wave of light arcs from her palm, filling the room with fiery brilliance. The creature hisses, recoiling as the light cuts through its misty form. The acrid stench of scorched shadow fills the air, sharp and choking, but there’s also a sweetness to her power—a scent like wildflowers after a rainstorm. It’s grounding, even as the chaos around me grows.
“You exist only to destroy,” she says, her golden gaze unwavering. “To consume. An insatiable void. But this soul is not yours to sate your endless hunger.”
The creature’s laughter deepens, low and guttural, vibrating through the room. The walls of the study tremble under the force of it. “This ‘soul,’ as you call it, is mine to consume!”
It roars in defiance, “ have marked him, have made him one with me! have kept him alive. I will not be sent away like some child scolded by its keeper.” It spits the words like a sharp rebuke, its molten eyes blazing.
“Can you not feel it, Keeper? That body, outside, grows in strength. It does not reject my power—it embraces it. It is MY body now!” the creature laughs as it stretches its claws wide, ready to attack.
Its jagged laughter echoes, and then its tone drops, cold and sharp. “And it is ready. Only one soul, one consciousness, can occupy it.”
The air grows colder with those final words, the creature’s eyes narrowing as it stops laughing. Then, it moves. It lunges, fast and vicious, sidestepping the woman with the precision of a predator. Its claws stretch toward me.
I don’t have time to react. My breath catches, my body frozen, but the woman doesn’t flinch. With a swift motion, she sweeps her arm again, releasing another wave of light. It collides with the creature mid-leap, the impact deafening—a clash of light and shadow that crackles like thunder, reverberating through my chest.
I shield my face with trembling hands, my body trembling as I try to comprehend what’s happening. The air is suffocating, the oppressive heat of the creature’s presence warring against the radiant warmth of the woman’s light. Each clash of their power sends ripples through the room, the tension making it impossible to think. I can’t keep track of their movements—each exchange is a blur of light and shadow, an overwhelming spectacle that leaves me gasping for air. The edges of my vision darken, my body growing heavy as my mind reels from the chaos.
“You think you can stop me?” the creature snarls, its voice slicing through the chaos. “The body rages outside, waiting for me. I will NOT be denied.”
“You will not prevail,” she counters, her light surging brighter. “You may be bound to him, but his will is stronger than you realize. You will only ever be second in this soul, a parasite. And I will ensure you stay that way.”
I try to hold on, my mind straining to make sense of their words, but the effort feels like trying to grasp smoke. Their voices clash like blades, each word sharp and jarring, reverberating through my skull. The light grows blinding, a searing brilliance that presses against my senses like a vise tightening around my head.
A sharp, splitting pain lances through my temples, so intense it feels as if my skull might crack open. I clutch at my head, gasping, but the pressure only mounts, each pulse driving jagged spikes of agony deeper. My knees buckle under the weight of it, my body trembling as though the air itself has turned against me.
Their words dissolve into noise, their forms a chaotic blur of light and shadow, and I can no longer tell where one ends and the other begins. My vision fades, the room spinning into darkness as the pain swallows me whole.
The last thing I hear is the creature’s snarling defiance, its voice crackling with malice and triumph. Then, mercifully, the world disappears.
*****
I wake with a strangled gasp, my back pressed into damp, cold earth. Pain radiates through my chest like someone is driving a burning stake into me. My hand shoots to the spot instinctively, fingers trembling as they press against the bruise. It feels swollen, tender, and strangely alive under my touch. When I glance down, I see it clearly—darker than before, spreading across my skin like an angry storm cloud. Encircling it are strange markings, glowing faintly in the dim light filtering through the canopy above. The lines seem to pulse in time with my ragged breaths, each beat sending a jolt of unease through me.
I roll to my side with a groan, my muscles stiff and uncooperative, the motion dragging a hiss of pain from my throat. My palms sink into the soil, cool and gritty beneath my skin, grounding me for a moment as I try to catch my breath. The coppery scent of blood is sharp and overpowering, hitting me like a wave and making my stomach churn. I glance down again, and my heart sinks.
I’m covered in blood. And I am completely naked.
It’s smeared across my bare chest, my arms, my legs. It clings to my skin, sticky and congealed in some places, still wet in others. The smell is thick and cloying, mingling with the damp, earthy aroma of the forest around me. I gag, the metallic taste of blood still lingering in my mouth like a bitter reminder of whatever just happened.
Forcing myself onto my knees, I dig my hands into the dirt, trying to steady the shaking in my limbs. The forest looms around me, vast and unrelenting, its towering trees stretching toward the pale dawn sky. Shafts of light break through the canopy, scattering golden patches across the undergrowth. The air is alive with sound—the rustle of leaves, the faint chirping of unseen birds—but it feels too loud, too sharp, like my senses are tuned to an unbearable level.
Then, a chime cuts through the noise, clear and mechanical, ringing in my ears like a bell struck far too close.
[System initialized. Body acclimated to new environment. Preparing for metamorphosis.]
I freeze, the voice slamming into my mind like a hammer. It’s not external—no one’s speaking. It’s in my head, cold and detached, each word slicing through me with brutal clarity. Pain explodes in my temples, sharp and unrelenting. I clutch my head, my fingers digging into my scalp as I try to block it out.
“Stop,” I manage to croak, my voice hoarse and broken, but the voice doesn’t stop.
[Warning: Mind state is fractured. Evolution may result in instability.]
The words are distant and alien, their meaning slipping through my grasp even as they echo again and again. The pain intensifies, each syllable reverberating like thunder.
[Attempting Evolution… Error… Attempting Evolution… Error… Attempting Evolution…Error]
I shout as the voices ring in my temple. I grab my head with both hands and slam it onto the ground with so much force I feel fresh blood slipping down from my head. The cool earth scraping against my skin as I pant, trying to push through the agony. My head throbs with every beat of my heart, the pressure mounting until it feels like my skull might split open.
[Unique evolution required… Begin initiation… Must bypass fractured mind state. Process commencing…]
The voice fades, but the damage is done. I’m shaking uncontrollably, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My chest heaves as I try to fight the growing darkness at the edges of my vision.
Then I hear it.
Laughter.
It’s faint at first, a twisted, high-pitched giggle that seems to echo from everywhere at once. The sound grows louder, warped, and eerie, crawling under my skin like a thousand tiny insects.
I force myself to lift my head, my arms trembling under the weight of my body. My vision swims, but I see them—eyes glowing in the shadows. Too many of them to count. Their forms flicker like something caught between this world and another, shifting and jerking in unnatural movements.
They’re humanoid, but only just. Their limbs are too long, their proportions wrong. They step closer, and their laughter grows, a mocking, discordant melody that makes my stomach churn. Words tumble from their mouths, sharp and guttural, but I can’t understand them.
My heart pounds, my mind racing as the terror sets in. The glowing markings on my chest pulse faster, and the pain flares anew, sharp and searing.
I can’t. I can’t do this. My arms buckle again, and I collapse onto my side, the cold earth pressing against my cheek. My vision blurs, the laughter surrounding me like a suffocating fog.
As the darkness claims me, the last thought that flickers through my mind is bitter and desperate: What now?