Silence and darkness ate away at Khor’s flesh and mind. He had followed the sound of the stream and it had led him to the place that had nearly killed him. Khor closed his eyes to soak up the small sound and allowed it to fill him up.

He slowly reached into his pocket and drew out a silver ring. There was only a small, red jewel placed in the center. He slipped in onto his index finger and the magic in it drew the natural warmth from his finger and used it to cast a dim glow all around him.

The shadows of the chasm ran and hid, even in the faint light of his ring. Why was this placed calling to him so strongly? And why had it lured him into its depths then rescued him?

A moan seemed to come from within the chasm. Khor took a step back and willed his ring to draw upon more of his warmth, extending and intensifying the light it shed. Movement came from inside the rift and the shadows fought against the light. They crawled out of the fissure and began to form themselves.

Khor’s instant impulse was to turn and run but his eyes were locked upon the thing as it built itself a body. Its limbs were thin and long, it had five fingers that ended in points. Its skin was a pure black and its eyes were a pointed, fiery red.

The creature towered ten feet tall over Khor. The boy’s breathing had quickened and it felt as though his heart was caught in his throat. The thing extended a long arm and forefinger and pointed at Khor.

“.” The language it spoke was beautiful and stayed in Khor’s head, echoing and fixing itself firmly in his memory. Khor didn’t know what to do. If he turned and ran it could obviously catch and possibly kill him, if he stayed the same could happen. So he stood in awe of the creature.

The thing’s voice became warped, quickly changing from the mystifying language to human speak. “You… survived.” it managed to say. Then the creature pointed first at itself and then at the boy. “Me, you… teach.”

“You want me to teach you?” Khor suggested. The shadow partially melted, dissolving into thousands of strands of shadows and reformed itself, this time with its face up to Khor’s.

Khor gazed into its vast red eyes. It poked itself with a massive finger and then did the same to Khor, prodding him in the chest and nearly pushing him over. “You want to teach me.” Khor said silently.

The creature smiled, and leaned back, nodding. Khor swallowed. “Why?” was all he was able to say. “You, survived.” Khor continually stared at the creature, unable to think or speak. “What do you want to teach me?” he finally said.

The shadow held out its massive hand and a fire erupted there, not burning its hand and hovering directly over it. It closed its fingers and immediately extinguished the blaze, casting rings of smoke into the night air.

“Magic?” Khor asked. The creature smiled once more. Why would it be a bad thing if Khoralie were to become a sorcerer? His father’s words rang inside his head as he remembered their argument.

“You, choose.” The creature said. Khor turned to the behemoth and looked it n the eyes. Through the shadow and fire, he saw a soul. Khor stole a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“Yes.” he said. And for the last time that night, the creature smiled and pointed to the sky that was blocked by the canopy of trees. “Same moon. One sun away.” It took a moment of thought for Khor to decipher this phrase.

“The same time tomorrow night?” he asked. The creature nodded and began to melt away. It faded and met with the shadows that hid in the chasm, eventually disappearing completely.

Khor briskly inhaled the cold winter’s air and turned, following the stream back to his house. “It appears as if you’ve gotten yourself into quite a situation.” Khor said to himself and the night sky stretched out far above him and he drew nearer to his home.

“Faster!” the voice shouted. The tendrils swept at his feet and he jumped just in time, his ankles barely missing the shadow. He ran on, ducking and rolling as he made his way across the shadow course. He came upon a gaping maw and jumped, hands clamping firmly upon a tendril that shot through the air and used it to swing himself to the other side.

A path opened up and shadow walls built themselves up on both sides of him. At the end of the hall was Kelsa. Khor ran, feeling the end at hand and he slipped, his boot skidding upon the slippery puddle of shadow.

He fell face first in the material that felt part water and part solid. All the shadow slipped back into Kelsa and built him up, growing to his full height of nearly ten feet tall. Khor could barely see him in the dim light his ring cast but he could see his master had his arms crossed.

“So close.” he said in his warped voice. “It wasn’t fair, there was no way I could’ve seen that puddle.” Khor said on his back, looking up at Kelsa. The creature said nothing as Khor got to his feet and brushed off the dirt his cloak had collected.

“What is the obstacle path meant for anyway? I thought you were going to teach me magic.”

“Course opens mind and then opens heart,” he said. The creature bent down and thrust a finger onto Khor’s chest. The watery solid–like skin chilled him even through his layers of clothing. “And heart opens magic.” Kelsa looked deep into Khor’s eyes and smiled. “Much heart.”

The creature righted himself and spoke again. “Break.” He turned and sat upon a nearby boulder, while Khor sat upon the ground not far away, leaning against the trunk of a black tree to catch his breath.

His father had left that morning, before Khor had awakened. When he did finally wake, he found his mother crying at the dining table with her morning robe still on. Soon after, Trannil had served breakfast but his mother left for her room and hadn’t come out for the rest of the day.

Khor had stayed inside for the day with Trannil receiving his lessons. The manservant was thorough and very knowledgeable but incredibly boring. By that time he was anticipating the creature’s training hungrily. The course was interesting, never the same and always full of surprises. Pit holes, spikes, and walls, that he had to think fast and wisely to avoid or navigate around.

“Who are you Kelsa? If I’m going to be your student I should know more about my master.” The creature kept his gaze fixed ahead and stole a breath.

“I am… Deamon.” was all he said before abruptly standing and shouting, “Course, again!”