The stench of decay hung heavy in the cavern as Midnight advanced, ethereal malevolence trailing in her wake. The sprites had permitted her passage through the barricade of bones, but had pushed her out of the darkness immediately afterward, their distorted laughter the only explanation for their motives.
In her pathera form, Midnight used the darkness to heighten her senses. The passageway was flanked by an array of skeletal pillars, remnants of grand creatures that seemed out of place in the confining spaces. Their size and age spoke of beings that met their end elsewhere before finding a final resting place within the Albweiss Mountains.
Persistently shadowing her, the sprites alternated between floating at her sides and hovering annoyingly close overhead. Their ethereal forms occasionally traversed the walls, vanishing momentarily only to reappear from beneath Midnight, a constant effort to disrupt her stride. Their dissonant laughter reverberated through the caverns, unnerving sounds that betrayed Midnight’s presence to any lurking dangers.
Midnight attempted to meld with the darkness two more times, but the sprites thwarted her efforts each time, seemingly deriving pleasure from impeding her progress and leaving her well exposed.
You are doing it wrong!
You are wrong.
So wrong.
Poor little shadow.
So, so wrong.
Try again!
Yes, try again!
She did, and again a burst of something pushed her right back.
Wrong again!
Oh, look at her, you nearly ripped her!
No, no, I did not.
Yes, just look at her face! She’s not all there yet.
No, that is just her normal face. Her normal, little, stupid face.
She has a stupid face.
Are you all there yet?
No, she is not.
Oh dear, I nearly ripped her, didn’t I?
Oh yes, you did!
Oh yes, I did!
The sprites revelled with shrieks of laughter, jeering in discordant unison.
Try again, little shadow!
Do it!
Do it!
But don’t rip her — yet!
I promise, I won’t rip you.
Yet.
Yes.
Yes?
Well, yet.
Do it again!
But don’t do the same!
Yes, again —
Not same!
It’s not sane
To do the same
Ever again.
Yes, don’t ever do that again.
But do try again.
Do it!
Midnight did not do it. She continued on foot, upon which the sprites unleashed a barrage of commentary on her disappointing attitude.
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