text: A short vague-ish story I wrote to curb my Insomnia, figured I'd post it for Shiggles... Enjoy my weird mind. &#x200B; **Hello?** Amongst the cover of darkness a lone traveller stumbles upon the scene, wolves slain strewn over the clearing. A lone figure lies unmoving in the centre, the traveller walks over and kneels down. “What have I found here? The lone traveller raises their hand and taps the figure’s forehead and as they feel the warmth of blood, the body stirs to life. **The man lays there, he feels immense pain from his wounds and.... Unfortunately cannot feel any of his arms...** “I’ll be quick, you don’t have much time left...” The traveller spoke out the truth as he would any other, peering down at the man’s visage... **“.......Who..... Who’s there?...”** **The man’s eyes... or what’s left of them... he tries to blink, but to no avail** “I’m a passing traveller... your eyes...” The traveller... slowly traces their fingers down from the man’s forehead down to his eyes... and slowly closes his eyelids. **“I can’t.... See any more...”** **He sputters as he hacks up blood... what can be seen as tears flow from his lost eyes... dyed in the crimson that flows from his wounds** “........” The traveller lingers their fingers over the man’s eyelids... as if calming down a crying child, they stay knelt and listens to the man’s final words **“Who are you?”** **The man speaks uninterrupted by his spasms of pain and only manages to speak those three words** “I... you could say I'm the reaper of the underworld... or the lord of darkness... I could even be one of the Gods..” The traveller evades the question with his words. Trailing their fingers down to the man’s neck, **He feels the sharpness of their nails trailing down his face** **“You’re... a.. Demon...”** **Fading from the loss of blood he sputters an exhausted accusation, the vitriol in his voice was palpable** “An Exiled mind you... though you aren’t long for this world anymore mister paladin, you should focus on joining your god before slaying another demon, though I would point your sword at those fools who exiled me first. Their voice was masked by malice, the hate of their own kind seeped out into the surroundings, **The man felt the intensity of the Traveller’s malice and again hacked up a sizable amount of blood** “You humans always seem to have too much blood, how do you even keep it all inside” **Struggling to stay awake, the man thinks of his beloved... the reason he fought and bled for...** “You... hmm.. I see now... why you haven't passed into the otherworld yet...” The traveller places their palm on the man’s chest. **He feels a strange warmth enter his chest, an alien feeling invading his soul as he spasms in pain** “Hold still... I’m doing you a favour... a favour I’ll collect in the future...” **The pain was immeasurable... but as it faded into none, he awoke... in the middle of the field... the traveller nowhere in sight and as he held out his hand to inspect his eyes he saw... a crest on the back of his hand.** “You’ll be needing this” The familiar voice blew in the wind as the man’s sword fell beside him, **As he grabbed the hilt of his blade his crest lit up and...** He felt power... beyond imagination and as he stood up.. With his sword supporting him he walked into the woods, to the main road and towards home, unknown to him that he would bring change to the entire continent. **“Hmm... Indeed It was a good choice to entrust him with my soul... may you bring the fools to their knees, my dear vessel”** **The traveller is no more....